USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume III > Part 10
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At Ashton they have had a sort of game of "Bos- ton" : the Winpenny family left Melrose for Spencer- ville, F. D. Jackson and family moving in after them from Parkhurst, next door; while Thomas J. and Anna G. Lea, who have returned from Baltimore County to live among us once more, took up a tem- porary residence at Parkhurst; and W. H. Skinner and family have taken possession of Myrtlebank with- in the last week.
It is pleasant to record Frauk T. Lea's return from Africa for a brief visit among the friends of his child- hood ; the presence of a number of the Yearly Meet- ing's Visiting Committee in our homes and at our meeting on the 15 of April has been a source of grati- fication to many in Sandy Spring, and the sermon of
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John J. Cornell that morning was a noble and edify- ing discourse.
And now our tale of the year is told-a tale so quiet and free from stirring events that it is hard for us to realize that two iniquitous wars are vexing the world.
Before another Annual Meeting comes around the nineteenth century will have ended ; may the dawn of the twentieth shine upon universal peace!
CHAPTER VI.
1900-1901.
A unique experience is always interesting, hence the widespread discussion of all matters and condi- tions attending the century's close and the century's beginning; for it is given to but few to see such a change more than once in a life time. Hence also, even at this late date, I venture on a few reflections apropos.
If by an means it were possible for us to conjure up a picture of the somewhat indefinite area known . as Sandy Spring neighborhood, as it stood one hun- dred years ago, a majority of us here present, if not all of us, would find it as absolutely strange as if it were a bit of some foreign land.
And even in the thirty-eight years since this record
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began, the changes have been almost incredible, when viewed as a whole.
He who denies the prosperity of the country, and bewails the the condition of the farmer today, should indulge in a retrospect.
Where is there a home in the community that has not been either created, or enlarged to almost double its original size within the generation, and more than doubled in the comfort, and even in the luxury of its appointments ? Thirty-eight years ago the "old oaken bucket" and a windlas, a tin pail carried from the spring, or a pump in the yard furnished the farm- er's family with water; whereas, now, the farm with- out its water plant is the exception ; and the advance in heating and lighting is equally great.
True, we do not boast gas or electric lights, but who so blind as not to perceive the superiority of a B. and H. lamp over the home-made tallow dips of our grandmothers? And if the Hagey heater, and the steam radiator lack in esthetic qualities, they are none the less effective on that account, and the warm- ing pan has now become an article of "bigotry and virtue" on the parlor wall instead of being in nightly use as the only mitigation to the discomfort of frigid bedrooms.
Though our roads still leave much to be desired, and though our prayers for a railroad are still an- swered in the negative, vet even the worst county by- way is better than it used to be when we can first remember, and the much-maligned turnpikes have
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lessened our distance from Washington one-half in time.
The average of culture among our people is much higher, and the quantity of reading matter in any one of our homes today is probably equal to that enjoyed by the whole community in our grandfathers' time.
Yes, all our conditions are better; therefore we should gratefully make the best of ours, as our fore- bears did of theirs, and not fall into slothful content and enervating self-complacency. Therein lies our danger.
At the time of our last Annual Meeting, April 16, 1900, there was no appearance of spring, though the weather was mild; and the usual crowd was present on that occasion.
April 18, Frank T. Lea gave a most interesting talk on his African experiences to a small audience in the Lyceum; bad weather being the excuse for absence on this occasion.
The handful of Sandy Springers who were not made of sugar or salt on that night gained much inter- esting information as to conditions of life and travel in the Dark Continent, and renewed respect and ad- miration for the earnest simplicity of the speaker and his devotion to the work he feels called to do. He had many curios to illustrate his remarks, and all who tasted the Boer bread and looked at the dried and smooked deer meat he generously offered us, decided that Maryland biscuit and fried chicken were good enough for us.
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May 9, Frank Lea again left Sandy Spring, en route for Equatorville, Central Africa, and he was ordained a minister of the Christian Church in Wash- ington, on the 11 May.
April 20, Winder Laird, son of Caleb and Wilhel- mina G. Stabler, was born at Oak Hill.
In the last ten days of April the fruit trees bloomed and the leaves began to show green. The foliage de- veloped gradually, and the varied tints of spring merged into the full green of summer only after month of slow growth. There was little rain during this time.
May 8, was the first hot day of a memorable sea- son ; the mercury rose to 88°; on the 10 we were re- duced to 37°, and three days later we again rejoiced in a temperature of 88°, increasing to 91° on the 16, with a fall of 18° in four hours that day.
About May 1, Edward R. Stabler went to Alex- andria to join E. S. Leadbeater's Sons in the drug business, and a little later Phil and Pole Robison went to Montana, prospecting, but returned in Octo- be1.
May 13, Lucy Lewis, daughter of Wm. T. and Elizabeth P. M. Thom was born at Mt. Airy.
The sixth Phrenaskeia Banquet, held at Belmont, on the 26 May, was no less delightful than its pre- decessors, and the novelty of having the table ar- ranged in a hollow square made seeing and hearing all that went on easier than ever before. Edna V. Thomas presided; the varied speeches and songs of
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the program, together with her clever interludes were most creditable to all concerned, and banqueters and spectators alike enjoyed the letters of regret purport- ing to come from several famous people and the hand- some birthday cake that appeared in Greek on the bill-of-fare.
May 28, all Sandy Spring turned out to view the eclipse of the sun, which, though weird and strange, did not at any time make it dark enough to hide sundry smuts and smears of lamp black on many faces that peered eagerly through smoked glass at the wonderful phenomenon. A party of eleven went from here to Norfolk to witness it in its totality.
May 29, Eleanor, daughter of Robert H. and Mariana S. Miller, was born at Alloway.
Quarterly Meeting, June 9-11, was well attended by our own members and other friends ; John J. Cor- nell, Martha S. Townsend, A. Haviland Hull, and Pauline W. Holme were the ministers present.
Probably this season saw the largest crop of straw- berries ever raised in Sandy Spring, Alloway, Luck- nough and Clifton farms being the chief producers. From these three places 45,888 boxes were sold, most of them being shipped to Pittsburg.
June 12, Roger B. Farquhar, Jr., graduated at Swarthmore, and went immediately to New York, to superintend the erection of a thirteen-story apart- ment hotel.
The 12 June, also saw the beginning of a week of rainy weather, and for the first time since April the ground was wet.
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The wheat was harvested and put under shelter with- out a drop of rain, so there was nothing to mar the farmers' satisfaction in one of the best crops ever raised about here; the yield of hay, however, was small, owing to the spring drought. The corn crop was good and potatoes were a failure.
June 24, we had our first real experience of what the summer could do. For six days the mercury soared among the nineties, with high winds from all points of the compass. Three days of very cool weather came about the first of July, and then the heat finally settled upon us, and there were few days until nearly the middle of October when the tempera- ture failed to reach 90°, one day in July attaining the maximum of 102° in the shade.
July 7, Evelyn Janvier, daughter of May W. and Mahlon Kirk, Jr., was born in Washington.
July 12, the marriage of Esther 'I'. Moore to Wil- liam Hyde Appleton, of Swarthmore, took place at Norwood, the home of the bride's brother, in the pres- ence of the immediate family and a few intimate friends. The bride and groom soon after set out for a year of travel in Europe and the Orient.
The W. C. T. U. camp-meeting, at Washington Grove, July 17-23, was a success in spite of extreme heat, heavy showers, and the camp of the D. C. N. G., at Gaithersburg, only about two miles off. This proved a strong counter attraction to the people of that region, though the soldier boys attended the meetings in considerable numbers.
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July 23, William Taplor Thom removed his family from Mt. Airy to Oakleigh.
From the 20-26 of July, a dozen or so Sandy Spring girls, with their guests, enjoyed the delights of camp life, and the old Abert mansion was the scene of a week's merry junketings. Whether its title, "Pine Knot," was a word of consolation addressed to the campers in their solitude, or an encoraging word offered to those not of the band, or whether it was meant to convey a polite suggestion of their toughness to unsuspecting visitors, has not yet been made pub- lic.
On July 23, Helen L. Thomas returned home from her nine months' sojourn in Europe.
August 1, a tournament for the benefit of the Catholic church, at Olney, was held on the farm of J. W. Jones.
August S, E. W. Haviland and Sadie M. Edge were married at the home of the bride's uncle, Alfred Edge, at Darlington, Md., and came to live at Havi- land's Mill.
Though August was dry, on the 24 came one of the severest electric storm on record, accompanied by high wind. William M. Canby's barn was struck by lightning and burned; Henry C. Chaney's barn was blown down, and Mr. Chaney and his man nar- rowly escaped being crushed.
W. B. Chichester had three horses killed by light- ning, and Robert H. Miller, an ox. It was yoked with its fellow to a cart, and had been driven under
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a shed for protection from the storm. The other ox was unhurt.
A tree and twenty-one fence posts were struck at Amersley. Plainfield barn, and the houses at Ingle- side and Burnside were struck and injured; four trees between Norwood and Pen-y-bryn were struck, and one at Brooke Place-Dr. Brooke being stunned by the shock. Very little rain accompanied all this disturbance.
During August the new store at Ednor was fin- ished and opened for business, and the hall above it was the scene of several dances before the summer was over.
A census of Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting taken about this time showed the meeting to consist of eighty-nine families and parts of families, of whom eighty-nine are male adults; ninety-eight female adults ; twenty-four male minors; and thirty female minors; the total membership is 240, a good many of whom are non-resident.
August 19, a party of thirteen Sandy Springers went to the Friends' General Conference, at Chau- tauqua, and came home enthusiastic over the beauty of the place and the interest of the meetings.
September 1, the First National Bank of Sandy Spring was opened for business. It was incorporated by Alban G. Thomas, Allan Farquhar, Charles F. Kirk, Francis Thomas, John Bready, J. W. Jones and Edward C. Gilpin, and these seven gentlemen. together with Asa M. Stabler and William W. Moore, are its directors; Alban G. Thomas being president,
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John Bready, vice-president, George F. Nesbitt, Jr., cashier, and Henry H. Miller, assistant-cashier.
Though the weather was extremely oppressive, and the dust more so, the County Fair, at Rockville, was well attended, September 4-7. The display was poor in the garden and household departments, but those of our neighborhood who exhibited took many premi- ums.
A speech on the second day by Rev. Anna H. Shaw was a pleasing innovation among the attractions of the Fair, and if the authorities had done as well by her as she did by them and her audience, she would have had no cause for complaint. But to stand in the broiling sun with no shelter but an umbrella, held at arm's length by a patient and long suffering man, and talk to a standing audience without even so much shelter, is a severe test for any orator; nevertheless Miss Shaw held her hearers in spite of the counter attractions of dinner and a horse race.
September 6, Mary M. Stabler sailed from New York for three months abroad.
September 12, James Holland's barn, near Hol- land's Corner, was burned, with its contents of hay, fertilizers, farm implements, wagons, harness, etc.
The first rain that wet the ground since July 24, began on September 15, and lasted for 12 hours; it interfered very seriously with a lawn party for the benefit of a piano for the Ednor Hall, held at Luck- nough that night.
September 18, Anna Moore, daughter of Margaret C. and Milton H. Bancroft, was born at Norwood.
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Sherwood School which opened September 17, had made some changes in its faculty : Elizabeth P. M. Thom still occupying the position of principal, Alice V. Farquhar being now associate principal, and Augusta N. Thomas and Nora L. Stabler, assistants.
The attendance continues good, and the school is the pride of the neighborhood.
During the year M. Gertude Massey began a course of training in nursing in a Philadelphia hospital, and later Madge E. Massey undertook a similar course in Baltimore.
"The serene repose of our usually quiet neighbor- hood was rudely disturbed by strange, unwelcome visitors in the early morning of October 4. Though a few days before the First National Bank had hung out its shingle of similar pattern to that of the Sav- ings Institution, and on the opposite side of the same door, still no one suspected that the double prize would so soon attract the attention of professional burglars.
"Between one and two o'clock a. m., the sound of an explosion in the bank was heard, soon followed by a second. S. B. Wetherald, who lives next to the bank, was without arms more formidable than a pis- tol, but he lost no time in arousing others in the village, including 'Central.'
"The startling telephone message, 'Burglars in the bank' brought several men to the scene, some in bug- gies and one even on a bicycle. (The report that he was in his shirt sleeves, that his lantern was lighted, and that he rang his bell every few seconds is false,
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or at least, as Mark Twain said about the rumor of his death, 'greatly exaggerated.') As the bicycle passed the bank a shot was fired by the watcher out- side, which was quickly answered by two more a little way down the road; the dim light in the bank was then extinguished, and the thieves decamped, but so silently that none of the rescue partly heard a sound from them after the first pistol shot, and it was too dark to see.
"Not knowing that the burglars were not still in the building, it was too great a risk to try to enter, and a guard was kept till the first signs of daylight, when the party went in with guns levelled, to find the birds flown.
"The vault doors were blown to atoms, and an at- tempt had been made on the safe; the cracks were filled with wax or soap, a wedge had been driven in, a cup made for the nitro-glycerine, but the power of the safe to resist an explosion had not been tested. Nothing of any value was taken.
"Telegrams and telephone messages were sent in all directions, crowds gathered to look at the spectacle, and the excitement was increased by the news that Allan Farquhar's buggy and James H. Scott's horse were missing. Persons above Olney heard a vehicle pass rapidly before daylight, and the horse and buggy were found near Washington Grove. Although de- tectives from Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washing- ton were put to work the rascals had got too long a start, they had left no clue to their identity, and further search was fruitless.
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"Three months later, at about the same hour on January 11, the bank was again entered, the vault door damaged by an explosion, and as before the burg- lars were foiled by the bravery and watchfulness of S. B. Wetherald. This time he had a Winchester re- peating rifle, and if anybody was in the building when he put five bullets through one pane of glass in quick succession, and right in front of the vault door, that particular man is not likely to undertake that particular job again in the near future.
"This time the burglars stole a horse and buggy from Ella Leizear, of Olney, after lunching in the public school house there, and escaped to the east, as the vehicle was found back of Spencerville, near the Patuxent River. All efforts to trace them beyond that point were unavailing.
"We have not been singled out for special attack, by any means; there has been an epidemic of burglaries this past winter all over Maryland and neighboring States. But the whole business. is very uncomfort- able and disquieting. Even those persons who are not naturally fearful have had their nerves shaken and unstrung by the repeated alarms.
"It is to be hoped, however, that after the display of marksmanship on the last occasion, and now that the bank has all its doors and windows encased in steel bars, we may have a long rest from such dis- turbances." (A. F.)
The Orthodox Quarterly Meeting was held at Ash- ton, October 6-8, with a good attendance. Eight visiting ministers were present, and the occasion was
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one of unusual interest; the discussions on the even- ing of the Conference being especially practical and helpful.
October was warm and cloudy till the 13, when the first killing frost cecurred, and there was ice on the 15. The foliage hardly began to turn till the 23; though very beautiful, it was less brilliant than last year, and the leaves clung to the trees far into Novem- ber.
October 11, the colored people had a trade parade, in which the blacksmith, the carpenter, the barber, the whitewasher, the seamstress and the huckster were all represented either at work or with the tools of their trade. A wagon load of children with ban- ners symbolized the States of the Union, and the Godess of Liberty presided over all; but none of the participants in the affair knew any more of its reason for being than that it was "something about the Africa race."
October 16, Mildred H., daughter of Huldah and Joseph E. Janney, was born at Harwood.
About this time Anna M. Farquhar put up a violet house, about eight feet by fifty and did something in the way of raising violets for market. It is the first time that such an attempt has been made here, and we are all interested in the success of her venture.
October 9, Odorian Robey and Grace Irvin were married at Ashton Church, by Rev. H. P. West, and made a home for themselves at Parkhurst, Ashton.
October 19, Edward T. Brooke began work in the office of the Atlantic Coast Line, at Wilmington, N.
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C .; and about the first of the new year Tarlton Brooke took a position in the same place.
Twenty-seven people from Sandy Spring attended Yearly Meeting, in Baltimore, the last week in Octo- ber.
But the chief topic of interest all the fall was the approaching presidential election. Party feeling ran high, and each side, or at least two sides, felt abso- lutely sure of victory; for in this remarkable cam- paign there were no less than seven tickets before the people, and the name of a born Sandy Springer- Arthur B. Farquhar, of York, Pa .- headed one of them. But when he declined to run, the National party collapsed and was heard of no more!
Political meetings were of more than daily occur- rence, and on October 23, William Jennings Bryan made a brief speech, at Rockville, to about 3,000 people. The old, the middle-aged and the young went from this neighborhood to hear him, and were duly impressed by his eloquence and by his unconventional dress and behavior.
As November approached the excitement and sus- pense became positively nerve-racking, for however sure of victory, neither Democrat nor Republican could be certain that his man would win! But Mr. Bryan's followers accepted the situation on November 7, with noble courage and self-control, saying "Just wait till next time."
The first event of note in November after the elec- tion, was a snow storm on the 9; the ground was white, and in places the snow lay for twenty-four
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hours, but it was not cold enough to kill the chrysan- themum blossoms.
November 14, Frederick Stabler, son of Rose M. and Clarence L. Gilpin, was born at Della Brooke.
November 12, James F. Barnsley died, aged eigh- ty-four years.
"He was born at Olney, and lived nearly all of his long, busy and useful life there. Besides following the trade of a blacksmith until quite old, he bought a tract of very poor land and improved it.
"He raised a family of eight children, five of whom were boys whom he set up in business as very successful fariners.
"He and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary October 11, 1888. He had a remarkable memory for facts, never forgetting an incident with which he was connected; so he was consulted as al authority.
"He often said that he began life with twenty-five cents in his pocket-the sum total of his possessions. We would look to his success as a bright example, and the foundation of that success was his energy and trustworthiness, his honesty and integrity, that won the confidence of everyone with whom he did business.
"One who lived very near him for over fifty years said : 'No one ever had a better neighbor.' " (G. F.)
November 14, Bessie Thompson and Edgar Irvin were married at Ashton M. E. church by Mr. Ham- mack, and went immediately to housekeeping on Springdale farm.
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November 17, a meeting was called at Sandy Spring meeting house for Henry W. Wilbur of New York, and the large congregation who assembled to hear him were greatly pleased and edified by his ser- mon.
"November 22, 1900, Margaret S., widow of the late James S. Hallowell, died, aged seventy-six years. The interment took place on the 25 at the Friends' burial ground at Sandy Spring.
"She was the daughter of the late Edward and Ann R. Stabler, and the oldest of ten children. She was a birthright member of Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting, and always took a deep interest in the So- ciety, and in the general welfare and advancement of the neighborhood in which she lived.
"Her death, after only a few days' illness of car- diac asthma, occurred while visiting her daughter, Annie Bush, in Philadelphia. Four daughters and one son survive her.
"Her husband in 1842 began to teach in Alexan- dria, Virginia, till the outbreak of the Civil War; then at Fulford in Sandy Spring. There he opened a boarding school for girls, which he conducted for some years, until he went to live on a farm near Brookeville.
"During these years, filled with the heavy care and responsibility of the large household in Alexan- dria, and at later at Fulford, his wife was ever the energetie and sympathetic helper of her husband, and many of their former pupils will recall with pleas- ureable emotions her motherly counsel and bright,
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tractful ways with those so fortunate as to be placed under her care during the tender and formative pe- riod of their lives." (Friends' Intelligencer.)'
"Perhaps we can pay no higher tribute to her mem- ory than to record the simple fact that she loved everybody and saw the best side of people and of cir- cumstances. As she lived, she died-at peace with the whole world." (M. B. T., for Association.)
About the first of November, Thomas J. and Anna G. Lea returned to their own home at Argyle, and at once began to alter and improve their house.
During the first week in December the National W. C. T. U. met in Washington, and it was attended by a number of Sandy Spring ladies, to their pleas- ure and profit.
After a mild and pleasant fall, winter began De- cember 10, and with the mercury at 10° on the 15, the ice harvest was begun.
December 19, Isaac Hartshorne died at Leawood, aged seventy-three years.
"The Christmas season, which brings joy to many, must yet bring sadness to some; and in more than one household, this year, there was a shadow on the brightness of the day because of the quiet, white- haired little gentleman who had just passed from among us.
"But at Leawood and at another home in far- away New England the shadow hung darkest, for the dear father and grandfather would never again hold with either family an earthly festival.
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