USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume III > Part 14
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Another agency for good, which we do not, per- haps, consider as we should, is the pastor of the colored churches within our borders; and it is cer- tain that some notice should here be given to the faithful work done by Rev. William Harris in a field
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where the harvest, is, indeed, abundant, and the labor- ers all too few. He was for five years in charge of Sharp Street Church, and being transferred by the recent Conference to Laurel; Benjamin Perkins has succeeded him.
Frank T. Lea's mission seems to offer another chance for the betterment of our colored population, such as we have been waiting for long, and which we cannot afford to neglect. He and his wife have al- ready organized a sewing school with forty-one girls enrolled; they have also started a Y. W. C. T. U. of fifteen members, a debating and musical club for young men, and an anti-cigarette league for boys. One evening each week is devoted to a meeting for Sunday School teachers and for choir practice, and on Sundays they both teach large classes at Sharp Street Sunday School. There is also a prospect of inaugurating similar work at Brighton and Good Hope, as the pastor on this circuit is heartily in sym- pathy with the movement.
In the course of the fall and early winter Sherman Tucker caught and sold one hundred and twenty- seven live gray squirrels to Schmidt, the Washington dealer in pets.
The space usually devoted to the historic railroad projects is so far empty. But it shall remain a void no longer, thanks to our late lamented-and lamenta- ble-legislature ; for did it not charter the Laurel and Brookeville R. R., with Dr. Francis Thomas as one of the incorporators ? And would it be possible, in building a railroad from one of these points to the
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other, to go around Sandy Spring? Verily "hope springs eternal," even in he matter of a Sandy Spring railroad !
Yet though we must still depend on the old-fash- ioned horse for all communication with the ou'side world, we still can agree with a sage who never dreamed of modern applications of steam and elec- tricity ; says Marcus Aurelius :
"Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is the current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away."
Recognizing this truth, our "book of remembrance" has been thus kept for almost forty years ; that poster- ity may gain from its pages a true picture of our acts and conditions, we strive to relate things as they really happen and
"Nothing extenuate and naught set down in mal- ice."
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CHAPTER VIII.
1902-1903.
At the Annual Meeting of the Lyceum Company, April 21, 1902, the newest feature was the proposal to raise an endowment fund for Sherwood School, to be a memorial to its late principal, Elizabeth P. M. Thom. Eliza N. Moore, Benjamin H. Miller and A. G. Thomas were appointed a committee to take the matter in charge.
The periods of waiting, so often irksome at former Annual Meetings, were made seasons of pleasure, on this occasion, by the new Lyceum piano, and the kindness of some of our young musicians.
Henry H. Miller, meteorologist, having a year ago proved a most successful weather prophet, now ven- tured another prediction, which later events amply verified.
He foretold that the coming weeks would bring a plague of locusts! Sure enough, from early May to late June, the air was full of their song; the ground was full of their holes; the tree trunks were full of their shells ; the woods were full of their dead twigs: and the chickens and turkeys were full of their plump brown bodies !
A strange feature of the visitation was its spotty distribution ; in some places the locusts were very
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few, and in others they swarmed; but everywhere we will be glad to see them no more for seventeen years.
On April 22, began several days of very hot weather, the mercury reaching 90°; violent winds from all directions prevailed, and the fruit blossoms which had not begun to blow till the 22, opened and blew clear away in two days! While we were swelter- ing in winter clothing and high summer temperature, the newspaper accounts of a severe blizzard in the northwest, helped us to appreciate our blessings!
Before proceeding with the events of the current year, it may be well to note here one that should have been placed in last year's record-the destruc- tion of the one dwelling house remaining of "Center- ville."
"In Remus Q. Hill Sandy Spring lost one of its old and valued citizens. He was born in 1816; his parents, Hazel and Margery Hill, were manumitted by "Mars Dicky" Thomas.
"He was among the first to purchase land at "Cin- cinnatti," and there he built a house, into which he moved in 1842; there he and his wife, Ruthy, lived for the sixty remaining years of their married life, they having occupied but two houses in the sixty-four years they lived together.
"For many years he followed the trade of a carpen- ter; he was regarded as one of the very best men of his race, and was looked up to as a leader by his own people.
"His honesty and integrity were so well recognized
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that he was frequently called upon to administer upon the estates of his deceased neighbors; one of the officials of our Orphans' Court, once said: 'He has settled more estates, and with less worry to the Court, than any other man in the County.'
"He was always highly respected by his white neighbors, and was invariably pleasant and respectful in his intercourse with them.
"He died April 26, 1902, in the eighty-sixth year of his age, his wife and nine children survive him; five of their fourteen children having preceded him to 'the other shore.'" (B. H. M.)
May 1, Benjamin and Lydia T. Hallowell came from Philadelphia to make their home at Oakleigh; and he at once set to work to prepare for raising poultry, building large chicken houses, with runways, and pigeon lofts above.
At the end of December he bought 100 pairs of Antwerp pigeons ; and his first squabs were ready for market by the 7 March. 2
With the opening of spring, automobiles, which had been, for a year or so, occasionally seen on our roads, became a daily menace to the safety of persons driv- ing. The chauffeurs were utterly reckless, and even insolent in their conduct to horsemen, and especially horsewomen, and for a while a sort of "reign of terror" prevailed.
At last, in May, an indignation meeting was called at the Lyceum, and about thirty people assembled to consider what could be done about it. A committee
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was appointed to consult a lawyer, and discover if there was any law to cover the case, and another to interview the Turnpike Companies and see if they could help matters.
Nothing special seems to have come of these in- quiries, but our horses are gradually growing used to the monsters, and the extreme considerateness and civility of the owners of automobiles who summered in the neighborhood, did much to mollify popular sentiment towards this latest innovation in vehicles, which seems to have "come to stay."
"On the 19 of May, 1902, Esther Wetherald died at her home in Sandy Spring, in her eighty-ninth year.
"She was born of English parents, in England, and when only five years old, she came with her father, mother and six brothers and sisters to this country. They were over two months making their perilous voyage on a sailing vessel, which leaked so badly that the crew and all the passengers had to take turns at the pumps, which were going day and night to keep the ship afloat. Provisions ran short, and had to be doled out, and when they were almost hopeless of ever reaching land, they came safely into New York Harbor.
"Her family lived first at Trenton, N. J., and afterwards moved to Washington, where her father, Thomas Wetherald-a noted Quaker preacher-ac- quired such renoun that many prominent officials, in- cluding President Madison, went to hear him preach.
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"After her father's death, in 1832, the family moved to Baltimore, and Esther and her sister Mary opened a school, and were constantly engaged in teaching until they came to live in Sandy Spring in 1847. They rarely left this neighborhood after- wards.
"Esther Wetherald had a bright intelligence, a wonderful memory, and an eager interest in people and events. She wrote many stories for the mag- azines, and also translated many from the French; she was a devoted book-lover and a constant reader.
"The old Wetherald homestead having been sold, her last years were spent in the village of Sandy Spring, where she could often see her friends, and attend meeting, where her small, quaint figure in its conventional Friend's dress was always noticeable.
"She enjoyed remarkable eye-sight, never using spectacles, and her mind was clear until her last ill- ness, which was not of long duration.
"She was laid to rest in the graveyard at the meeting-house." (E. N. M.)
Sometime in May Walter H. and Caroline L. Brooke bought the "Richard Hill place," about mid- way between Sandy Spring and Olney, planning to build there.
May 28, Edith C. and Elsie C. Elbrey sailed from New York for a three months' tour in Europe.
James P. Stabler entered the employ of the C. & P. Telephone Co., in Washington, where his son Harold has been for several years, and whom, as his
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superior officer, he treats with a humorous deference most characteristic.
Although for many years non-resident in Sandy Spring, Edward Farquhar has still been so closely associated with the life of the neighborhood that it seems only right for us to chronicle his marriage to Mary W. Milam, which took place at Asheville, N. C., May 28.
Sometime in the spring or early summer a long- felt need was filled by the establishment of a water- ing-place "in the sand" on the Laurel road. Not a summer resort in the popular acceptation of the term, but a good, old-fashioned well, sheathed inside, with a stout curb, a good pump, and convenient troughs and tin-cup.
This brilliant scheme first took definite shape in the mind of Asa M. Stabler, who suggested his plan at a meeting of the Montgomery Club. It found favor, and enough money to do the work was soon raised. A few square yards of ground for the pur- pose were presented by Mr. Halwig, and deeded in perpetuity to three trustees :- the first board being Mortimer O. Stabler, John C. Bentley and Samuel S. Bond; and the well is there for the good of the public.
Quarterly Meeting, June 7-9, though small in numbers, was one of the best meetings we have ever had; Henry W. Wilbur, Martha S. Townsend, and other speakers were with us, and we were favored with perfect weather.
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On the evening of June 11, the Sandy Spring W. C. T. U. gave a lawn party at Earnshawe, which was a success in spite of a shower about six o'clock. Those interested were divided in their minds between gratitude for the much needed rain, and solicitude lest all the labor of preparing for the fete be lost on account of the resulting dampness ! Besides the usual strawberries, ices, cake and candy, there were drills, songs, tableaux and a graphophone, by way of entertainment ; and after all a good crowd patronized the affair.
Harvest began about the 11 June, and the wheat, which had inspired many gloomy prophecies during the winter and early spring, turned out a far better crop of grain than had seemed possible, as the heads were large and well filled, though the straw was short. Hay was almost a minus quantity. Strawberries at Alloway, Lucknough, and Clifton were a large and successful crop, and potatoes generally yielded well. Frank Snowden gathered 450 bushels, from an acre and a half, at Ingleside. There have seldom been, in this section, such abundant, and excellent, tomatoes. Eggs were produced in plenty all summer, and furthermore, brought a good price, probably owing to meat being very high. The hens continued equal to the situation till after Thanksgiving, and then, perhaps inspired by the example of the anthra- cite miners, they all struck work, and eggs were, for a few weeks, almost as scarce as coal.
June 16, half a dozen young ladies, more or less, chaperoned, and generally more escorted, followed a
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well-established Sandy Spring precedent, and went camping for a week. Triadelphia furnished a very satisfactory location for the frolic.
On the 10 June, Marion Farquhar took her de- gree of B. L., at Swarthmore College, and returned to her home at 'The Cedars.
June 16, George Gilpin, son of George A. and Sara F. Willson, was born at Longmead.
June 24, William S. Brooke died.
"The eldest child of Roger and Sarah Brooke, he was born February 4, 1836, at Willow Grove, where he continued to live until he married Mary S., daugh- ter of Benjamin and Margaret E. Hallowell ; then he moved to his farm, Avon, near Rockville. There two daughters were born to them, Caroline Miller and Mary Hallowell ; but this happy home was soon broken up by the removal of his wife to her eternal home.
"He was a widower for six years, and then married Mary P. Coffin, uniting his family again at Avon, where he spent much of the remainder of his life.
"He was one of the most reserved of men; en- dowed with a bright mind, and an unusually reten- tive memory. He passed quietly through life, bear- ing malice to none, and most lenient in his judg- ment of others.
"He tenderly, lovingly and faithfully cared for and ministered to one of the saddest lives a father has ever been called upon to foster; who knows how much this trial may have tended to blight the prom- ise of his early life ?
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"In his young manhood he took an active interest in the rearing of the Lyceum building; and his voice was often heard there in logical debate or on the lecture platform.
"Ill for the last four years of his life, he received the tenderest care and nursing from his devoted wife and daughter, who testified that his wonderful patience, and his even disposition lasted even after his intellect was impaired." (L. T. B.)
Shortly after her husband's death, Mary C. Brooke went to the Philippine Islands to join her daughter, Caroline Brooke Dinwiddie, who is living there.
Between nine and ten o'clock p. m., on the 9 July, we had one of the worst electrical storms in the mem- ory of the present writer. The glare of lightning and the roll of thunder were incessant, and each person one met the next day said that the storm had certainly centered immediately over his point of ob- servation !
Three and a half inches of rain fell in the hour, cornfields were washed tremendously, and the barns at Alloway and Peny-bryn were struck by lightning without, however, being seriously damaged. Trees were struck at many places; notably one used as a turkey roost at Elburn, and twenty out of over a hundred turkeys in it were killed. A hen and chick- ens were also killed at John Abel's.
"On the morning of July 3, Elizabeth Lea passed quietly away, at the home of her nephew, Richard I. Lea.
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"Although always frail in body, she lived to the advanced age of seventy-seven years. She was the youngest and last surviving child of the late Thomas and Elizabeth E. Lea, and her life was spent within a few miles of her birthplace, Walnut Hill.
"Her simplicity and her deep religious faith were a lesson to all with whom she came in contract.
"She was laid to rest in Woodside Cemetery, July 5, in the presence of a large gathering of friends." (P. T. S.)
July 4 was the day chosen by Dr. Francis Thomas to start for a tour in California and the Yellowstone Park, joining his daughter, Ellen H. Thomas, who had preceded him by some weeks.
In spite of its Quaker birth and breeding, Sandy Spring has a taste for "sport," so a feat of George Tucker's young daughter may not be without inter- est here :- she killed a weasel-by jumping on it! Her father, not long after, found a terrapin marked "E. P. T., 1861," which he returned to the propri- etor of the Belmont Dairy. Without doubt this inci- dent is worthy of record, because it was published in five newspapers !
Apropos of sport, this was the best baseball season that this neighborhood has enjoyed for years. "The Sandy Spring team, without training, without prac- tice, entered the field on July 12, with a 23 to 3 victory, which was only the beginning of a series of games that won for us the championship of the County ! Kensington, Brinklow, Apsen, Wheaton
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was each defeated in turn. The games with Briklow were all close and exciting, and were the prelude to the contests with our old-time rivals, the Rockvillians.
"The first game between Rockville and Sandy Spring was played on the home grounds, and was the most exciting and best played game ever seen in the County, resulting in the professional-like score of 1 to 0 in Rockville's favor.
"The next game was on their field, and in spite of unsportsmanlike treatment, we came off victors, with a score of 16 to 14.
"Five hundred people gathered at The Cedars to witness the final game with Rockville, which, result- ing in a score of 4 to 3, gave to Sandy Spring the Montgomery Championship." (S. B. F.)
July 8, the Sandy Spring Book Club held a sale at Sherwood, with Mortimer O. Stabler as auctioneer; in spite of the heat there was quite a good attendance, and though the books were somewhat the worse for their two and a half years of constant travel, and for having been read by probably about 180 people each, they sold very well.
The 1 August witnessed a coincidence probably unique in this vicinity ; there were four funerals that day, and the body of a fifth citizen lay at his home awaiting burial.
"On the 30 July, 1902, Mary Osburn closed her long, full and useful life at Sunnyside, the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Asa M. and Albina O. Stabler-aged seventy-nine years.
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"Her mother died when she was in her seventeenth year, leaving the care of her father, brother and sister to her. This duty, as every other in her life, she fulfilled most faithfully.
"In 1841 she married Mortimer Osburn, living for a number of years in Loudon County, Va., and moving thence to Baltimore.
"Her husband's health declining, she traveled with him by sailing vessel to Rio Janeiro, the voyage being accomplished in fifty-seven days going out, and thirty-nine returning. The benefit to his health was slight, and he only survived six months after reaching home.
"After the death of her youngest son, she lived at Sunnyside, spending part of each winter in Balti- more at the home of her son-in-law, Llewellyn Miller. She became very ill there on the 11 January, 1902. and while recovering sufficiently to be brought to Sunnyside three months later, she did not regain her strength; and after a long, weary illness, in which her patience, and loving, unselfish thought for others were ever uppermost, she passed quietly away to the rest for which she had longed, and for which her beautiful life had so well prepared her.
"She was not only the center of love and cheerful- ness in her own household, but a bright, sympathetic companion to those of every age in her family con- nection, and among her friends." (L. J. M. and W. P. M.)
On the same day that the beautiful spirit of this dear friend left us, Adeline E. Stabler also died.
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"Adeline E. Stabler, eldest daughter of Meredith and Maria Jones, was born in Charlottesville, Va. She was reared and educated in the University town, and being a bright and intellectual, as well as a hand- some and attractive girl, she became a fine musician and a good linguist.
"After her marriage with Robinson Stabler, which took place in August, 1846, in Philadelphia, they went to live in Lynchburg, Va. Here they made their home for many years, and it was the birthplace of their four children, Francis, Alice G., Mary Annis and Edward R. Stabler.
"In early married life she became a confirmed invalid and was a great sufferer for the rest of her days.
"From 1879 her home was at Gladwyn, in this neighborhood, whither she came to join her children.
"Five and a half years before her death, she fell and broke her hip, after which she was never able to stand, and was confined to her bed most of the time.
"She became very patient under her affliction, and it is the comfort of her friends to know that she at last enjoys the rest and peace she so longed for." (A. G. S.)
"In the death of Benjamin F. Thompson, who died July 31, 1902, we have lost an honest man, an ad- mirable neighbor, an exemplary citizen.
"When the minister at his funeral remarked that 'he was no ordinary man,' he spoke the truth. Born in obscurity, he was reared in poverty and total ignor-
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ance of book learning, and began the struggle of life assisted only by his great industry, good judgment and other valuable personal qualities. And yet, forti- fied with these he made an exceptional success as a farmer, a husband and a father. He left a very large family and numerous friends to call him blessed."
(F. T.)
During July, W. W. Welsh succeeded William Harvey as manager of Mrs. Williams' store at Olney ; and the Enterprise Telephone Company instituted all day service on Sundays.
That supply creates demand has been well illus- trated by the growth of the long-distance telephone service since it was established here. During the year ending February 28, '03, 5591 toll messages were sent from our three long-distance offices, Sandy Spring, Laurel and Rockville, 1780 of these going from Sandy Spring; and the calls from outside have probably been one-fifth more than those from this end. The manifold uses of this "troublesome com- fort" have been cleverly described, thus, by a friend :
"A TROULESOME COMFORT."
"There's a useful little member In this happy neighborhood, And Marconi, notwithstanding, He has come to stay for good. He has a place in every home, And speaks in bell-like tone, He is useful. if not beautiful- Our local telephone.
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Who could give an evening party, who could have his garden made,
Who could buy or sell an ox or horse without this help to trade ?
The Whist Club calls up Central, Home Interest rings the bell Neighbors are called together
Receipts exchanged, as well.
Dates and invitations For club, or tea, or ball ; And grandma hears of baby's tooth His curl, or sock, or fall !
We may call the household doctor, And discuss our aches and ills.
Who knows ?- perhaps by telephone Some day we'll pay our bills.
The weather, the Legislature, Temperance and Anti-Saloon, Suffrage, and even setting-hens, And the faults of the average 'coon'- The education of children, And how to clean white paint- Are talked of till patient 'Central' Must be almost a saint.
If we get a daughter married, Or set a barn on fire, Or take a trip, or build a house. The telephone wont tire.
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But gives us faithful service Every night and day, So let us say 'Hella ! good friend, We hope you've come to stay.' "
(L. J. M.)
On the first of August, Samuel B. and Florence M. Wetherald celebrated the twentieth anniversary of their marriage; a large gathering of friends from far and near came to offer congratulations, and they brought many gifts of handsome china as mementoes of the occasion.
August 13, Gertrude Nye, of Massachusetts, gave a piano recital at the Lyceum-a treat such as does not often come our way. Her playing is that of a finished musician, quickened and vivified by her vigorous and graceful personality. Music like hers must be an inspiration to nobler thought and better living.
August 15, another camping party went up to the Cacapon River, in West Virginia; and at the end of a week came home enthusiastic over their experi- ences, fishing, walking, climbing, driving, and camp- ing generally.
"August 20, the Phrenaskeia, Jr., held its third banquet at The Cedars .. All the members were pres- ent. The prevailing color was red, and the table was beautifully decorated.
"Edith Shoemaker acted as toastmaster, and in response to the toasts Rust Canby gave 'Sherwood
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Friends' School'; Maurice Bentley, 'Phrenaskeia, Sr.'; Catherine Thomas, 'Baseball'; and Gladys Brooke, 'Our Members.'" (D. B.)
The "season" this year was very gay, the neigh- borhood being full of guests through August, and before and after, and there was a good deal going on in the shape of mild entertainment. Sherwood Gym- nasium was the scene of several "small and early" dances, which were much enjoyed; and archery gave signs of returning life. Ping-pong had found its way to Sandy Spring some months before, but the jovial, if not specially intellectual game of "pitch" contin- ues the reigning favorite among amusements.
Besides the flow of "transients"-boarders and visitors-there were a few more permanent summer residents; Dr. Duck and family, of Baltimore, rent- ing Cozy Corner, and Mrs. Jennings, of Philadel- phia, taking part of the house at Eldon.
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