USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume III > Part 24
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Modesty and humility were hers in such measure as to shut out self-esteem entirely, and she would have been the last person to realize the extent of her influ- ence for good, and the high place she occupied in the love and honor of the community.
Her hospitality was most generous, and everyone who came within the charmed circle of her home life, always remembered it as a happy experience.
"But the epithet that belongs to her- perhaps more . than any other-is 'faithful.' She was a faithful daughter and friend; she was a faithful wife and companion ; a faithful mother and grandmother; a faithful neighbor to all, rich and poor, white and colored.
"She was happily constituted in being able to think for herself, to draw her own conclusions, and to remain true to them. She was never overbearing, or unmindful of the opinions of others.
"Her love worked out in her every-day life, towards
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all her neighbors. Truly many are they who will be thankful that they had the privilege of knowing her." (Home Interest Memorial.)
"She was an active and deeply concerned member of the Society of Friends, and for many years clerk of Sandy Spring Monthly Meeting; she was, at an early age, appointed an elder. She frequently at- tended quarterly and yearly meetings, where her quiet devotion to duty, and the justness of her judg- ment made her opinions a strong support to others. She lived always within the light of her Heavenly Father's love, and with gentle sweetness trod the path leading into everlasting peace." (M. B. M. in Friends' Intelligencer.)
During November there were within our borders three large auction sales in ten days. On November 13, Estelle T. Moore sold farm implemen's, stock, etc., as she had rented her farm; and Caleb Stabler on the 15, and E. P. Taylor on the 22, sold theirs preparatory to leaving the neighborhood.
It is not often that we lose two families at one time, but at the close of 1906, Caleb and Mina L. Stabler, with their children, went to live in Wilming- ton, Del., where he has a position with the Delaware Roofing Company; and E. P. and Sallie E. Taylor went to California with a view to making their home there. When they left Cherry Grove, F. D. and Mary P. T. Jackson moved there from Melrose.
On the evening of November 27, the ladies of the M. E. church held an oyster supper at Myrtlebank. Ashton, which gave them good returns for their labor.
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"December 1, at her home in Ashton, Sarah H. Stone died, at the advanced age of eighty-five years.
"In 1858, her marriage with James H. Stone brought her to Sandy Spring, from her home at Hope- well, Va., and fifty years of her life were spent here.
"In her new surroundings she had trials and cares to encounter altogether new to her, but she patiently met them, bravely surmounting all difficulties that beset her path, and proving a most exemplary wife and step-mother.
"Her husband's son and daughter have paid the highest tribute to her judicious training, always ex- pressing the fullest appreciation for her worth, and making heartfelt acknowledgment of the wise care and guidance she ever extended to them.
"The true and fond affection that existed between them in the latter years of her life shows the warm gratitude her children and grand-children felt for her just and true efforts on their behalf.
"She was very reserved in character, but though everyone respected her honesty and integrity of pur- pose, very few knew her really warm-hearted disposi- tion. She was a true and sincere friend to those who knew her well and loved her." (E. B.)
Sandy Spring has the reputation of having more and worse fires than any other rural district in the State. and on the night of December 4 the worst one that ever occurred here took place at Lucknough. Starting in the barn, the flames, fanned by a south wind. devoured the dwelling and all the farm build-
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ings except a silo and a small dairy at some distance to windward of the origin of the fire. In the differ- ent houses were thirty-one cows, thirteen horses, a number of calves, corn, hay, vehicles, etc., which were destroyed, and a large part of 2,000 bushels of potatoes were roasted. This conflagration is sup- posed to be one more sacrifice on the altar of the par- lor match.
Furniture and trimmings from the house were saved. A new barn is now in process of construction, but the house will not be replaced at present.
"On December 7, 1906, died Annie T. Porter, widow of Edward Porter, Jr., and daughter of Wil- liam and Mary Ann (Roberts) Kennard of Chester County, Pennsylvania.
"A resident of Sandy Spring from early childhood, she received an excellent education in her native State, and she became a teacher when hardly eighteen years of age, her first pupils being three little sisters in the home of Richard T. and Edith D. Bentley. Later, in the public school, hundreds of children came under her strong but gentle influence, and we believe it is no exaggeration to say that there was neither boy nor girl, however unpromising, in whom she did not discover 'the spark Divine,' and who was not made better by her companionship.
"We can hardly measure the extent of her power for good, which she exercised not so much by occa- sional precept as by constant example.
"Cheerfulness, unvarying truth, industry, innate
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refinement in word and deed, and a love of the beau- tiful were her most striking characteristics.
"She needs no monument ; it has long been building in the hearts of grateful pupils, who are solving some of life's problems today by rules she taught them, unawares, in childhood." (M. B. T.)
Sandy Spring has everything that other people have except a railroad-it even has several wireless telegraph stations now, the first one being installed at Fair Hill during Christmas week by Harold B. Stabler. With it he caught flying messages from a variety of distant points, though he did not succeed in getting it so pitched as to be able to communi- cate with Fred Iddings, who also has a station at Riverside.
One of the most interesting events that the Ly- ceum has witnessed for many years occurred on De- cember 28, when J. E. Tylor gave his lecture on "Hunting with a Camera," illustrated by superb lantern slides from photographs of his own taking. It was almost incredible that any man should have had the patient perseverance, the ingenuity and the luck to have secured those scenes from the wild life of birds, beasts and reptiles which were enjoyed by a large and enthusiastic assembly.
"In the death of Beulah Iddings Lea, on Decem- ber 29, 1906, the neighborhood loses one of its oldest members.
"Born in Philadelphia in 1824. she had just cele- brated her eighty-second birthday a few days before she was called away.
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"One of a family of eleven, nine of whom reached maturity, she had outlived all but one of her brothers and sisters, some of whom were older and some younger than herself.
"She was educated at the Moravian Female Semi- nary, at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which has the dis- tinction of being the oldest school for girls in the United States; and soon after she left school her parents moved to Baltimore County, Maryland, where in 1844 she was married to Thomas Lea, and came to live in Sandy Spring. Here she and her husband spent the remainder of their lives, occupying during that time four different homes.
"Four children were born to them, three of whom married and made homes of their own, while the eld- est daughter remained with her parents until both were laid to rest.
"All who knew Beulah Lea in her prime will re- member her distinct individuality, and would choose such words as 'warm-hearted,' 'whole-souled' and 'hos- pitable' to describe her.
"There was an energy and a buoyant elasticity about her nature that often found vent in whistling or singing about her work, and even in her old age her voice was still sweet.
"When eyesight and memory failed her. the loving heart was unchanged, and had room for children and grandchildren, friends and relations till the very last ; and the many whom she loved, and who loved her in return, will find no one to fill her place." (F. P. I.)
T
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January, 1907, opened with a clear sky and a tem- perature of 48° ; and it gradually rose till it stood at 70° at noon on January 7. The frogs sang that night, and wild geese were seen going north before the mid- dle of the month. The poor birds were sadly "previ- ous," however, for winter took a new lease of life the latter part of the month. In January there were only four clear days, but at 6 a. m. on the 10, there was an earthquake shock that was felt by a number of people at different places in Sandy Spring.
The first weeks of the new year brought three more sales-the effects of Annie T. Porter and Sarah H. Stone were put up at auction, and Mr. Snyder disposed of his farm outfit before returning to Balti- more to live.
About the first of the year, Henry T. Moore went to Wilmington, where he had found a position, mak- ing the latest addition to the large and growing Sandy Spring colony there; and Granville and Martha T. Farquhar went to California for a short stay.
On January 14, Lucy S. Lea and her daughter Doris came to make their home in the house formerly occupied by Sarah H. Stone, in Ashton, which they have named Leacroft.
Recently a very striking, artistic and life-like oil portrait of Joseph T. Moore has been hung in the main room of the Insurance Office at Sandy Spring. he having been president of the Company for a time, and a very active and influential member of the board of directors for over thirty years.
During the first six weeks of 1907, Dr. Augustus
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Stabler was busy lecturing before Fanners' Insti- tutes, mainly on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where his efforts were most acceptable. At the same time A. A. Bingham was engaged in similar work in South Dakota and Nebraska.
The many friends of Miss Haviland in Sandy Spring were saddened by the news of her death in Baltimore on the 11 February. She had spent sev- eral months of each of the past twelve years among us, sewing in many homes, and wherever she went her sweet spirit and genial, kindly nature made her a valued friend as well as a helper.
The thirty-fourth Annual Farmers' Convention was held in the Lyceum on the 12 February. As usual, the meeting was replete with interest, and the attendance, though not large, was representative of the best type of farmers who make up the five clubs uniting in the Convention, the latest addition, the Goshen Club, making a particularly strong showing.
. The Shoemaker road law was one of the main subjects of the day, and a proposal to try once more for a dog-tax law was very strongly approved. A committee was named to draft a bill to be presented to the Legislature next year and to conduct a vigorous campaign of public education before the election and assembling of that body.
The road question again came up in discussing the problem of disposing of farm products. With such highways as we now have it was generally thought best to feed to stock all that the farm produces except wheat.
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It was the opinion of the majority that for each district to elect its own county commissioner would be better than the present plan of having a general ticket before the whole County.
By no means the least interesting feature of the day's program was the noontide luncheon served by a large committee of ladies to 140 men, whose appe- tites were vigorous, but hardly in proportion to the abundant provision furnished.
On February 20, Richard Dupont, son of Eliza M. H. and W. B. Chicester, was born at Springland.
February 22, the remains of John Stabler were buried in the old family graveyard at Spring Garden.
Washington's Birthday was interestingly celebrat- ed by Sherwood School, the children giving appro- priate recitations, songs and original papers, and J. C. Bentley and Dr. Augustus Stabler making inter- . esting and helpful addresses.
On Maryland day, a month later (March 25), the children did quite as well as on February 22, but the orator of the occasion, by the manner and the matter of his discourse to the pupils, made a striking illus- tration of the effect of taking politics into the schools. It is an outrage that our young people should be forced to listen to such foolish babble from such a man as the aspirant to the State's Attorneyship who talked to them that morning, when there are scores of able, honorable citizens who would have done the duty willingly and acceptably.
On the 23 February, Ellen and Ethel Farquhar
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and Dorothy Brooke sailed from New York for a delightful month in Bermuda.
Those of us who pin our faith to the groundhog as a weather prophet began to prepare for gardening and spring sewing when the 2 February proved cloudy from beginning to end, and they fondly quoted the old rhyme :
"Candlemas Day ! Candlemas Day !
Half our fire and half our hay.
If Candlemas Day be fine and clear Corn and fruits will then be dear.
"If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another fight.
But if Candlemas Day bring cloud and rain
Winter is gone and won't come again."
But alas for their confidence! Instead of beating a retreat in good order by the end of February, win- ter hung on till late in March. The only good sleigh- ing of the season began with six inches of snow on the 4 March.
There was a snowfall of about eight inches on March 10, and some sleighing the next day; there was a thunder storm on the 12, the balckbirds came on the 5, and the robins on the 13 March.
With an occasional mild day and more sunshine than during the rest of the winter, March was still wintry until the 22, which was one of the most re- markable days on record. According to the Weather Bureau, and our no less reliable farmer meteorilog- ist, Allan Farquhar, there was a wider range of
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temperature between sunrise and sunset on that date, than on any since regular weather satistics have been kept. Beginning at 38° in the morning-a heavy hoar frost and the ground somewhat frozen-the mer- cury rose to 90° in Sandy Spring-before 3 p. m .; and we hardly knew what to do, with our fires in- doors, the hot sunshine out of doors, and all our winter clothing besides !
The 23 March was another summer day, and the rest of the month would have done credit to the last of May; there were two other days when the mercury went up to 80°, and all sorts of things came out as if by magic.
The jonquils bloomed on the 24, followed fast by apricot, peach and plum trees; the lawns and wheat fields put on green velvet mantles, and everyone trembled for the consequences of the frost that must come later, though we had to enjoy the beauty of this sudden and premature spring. It ended on Easter Sunday, March 31, with a cold drizzle all day, equally discouraging to the fruit buds and the Easter bonnet, but we will hope without lasting det- riment to either.
But weather is not all that we have to record at this time. Those benighted folks who believe that country life in winter is synonymous with rest, quiet and loneliness might be enlightened by studying a list of Sandy Spring "functions," .kept for eighteen days during February and March : the Farmers' Con- vention, three Agricultural Clubs, two meetings of the Wednesday Club, Olney and Brighton Granges,
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the W. C. T. U., the Association, the Home Interest, the Neighbors, two dances, the Pitch Club, a Whist party, a large wedding reception, and an afternoon meeting and a social gathering of Friends both large- ly attended. There were also, considering the time of year, an unusual number of strangers within our gates.
There seems now to be a livelier interest in affairs of the Meeting than there was some time back; and in harmony with a general movement throughout the Society, Sandy Spring meeting has appointed a Committee for the Advancement of Friends' Princi- ples, which arranged for March 2-3, a most enjoy- able and very profitable week-end conference. It was thus described by one who attended its sessions :
"The exercises began with a meeting Seventh day afternoon (March 2), at which Dr. Jesse H. Holmes, of Swarthmore College, made a thoughtful and in- spiring address upon the question, 'Are Friends' Principles Adapted to Present Needs ?'
"Ida Palmer Stabler read an excellent paper on 'Religious Instruction of Children ;' and 'The Super- vision of Literature for the Young' was the title of a short but suggestive paper by Dorothy Brooke.
"At 7.30 the same evening many interested Friends, from both branches of the Society, and some from other denominations, met at Belmont, the home of Edward P. Thomas, and a very live interest was manifested in a number of questions brought up by the chairman. Sarah T. Miller, Dr. Holmes, Mr. Carey, of Baltimore, Alberta Wilson, of Washing-
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ton, and many others, made informal addresses, and there were excellent papers read by Cornelia H. Bentley and Allan Farquhar.
"At the meeting-house on first day morning, the regular meeting for worship was much larger than usual, and all listened with the deepest interest to a fine sermon by Dr. Holmes.
"Many friends have expressed the hope that the conference, which has proved such a successful ex- periment, may become a periodical occurrence." (M. M. T.)
The Wednesday Club, which has been as active and enthusiastic as ever all winter, on March 7, gave itself and its friends the treat of listening to a most pleasant and instructive talk on "Home Life in Ja- pan," by our new neighbor, Mrs. Brigham, whose five years residence at the Agricultural College, at Sappora, gave her wide knowledge of her subject ; and her large collection of household articles, such as are in daily use by the Mikado's subjects was very illus- trative.
This afternoon-at Stanmore-was a sort of post- script to the Club's last year's course of study on Japan, and on March 29 it offered the neighborhood another delightful opportunity, a propos of its work of the present season. At its invitation Dr. O. E. Janney, of Baltimore, gave his illustrated lecture on "Italian Days" at the Lyceum, where a large audi- ence followed him appreciatively from Naples to Switzerland, up the Italian peninsula ; his pleasant descriptions and beautiful pictures making us feel
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almost as if we had seen the places visited in imagi- nation.
Nor did Dr. Janney's services end with his lecture ; he spent the following day visiting among the Friends in the neighborhood, and on Sunday at meeting, he gave us a most suggestive and helpful sermon.
March was unusually full of opportunities for im- provement for such of our people as chose to take advantage of them. The Farmers' Institute, at Ol- ney, March 22-23, was one which, judging by the attendance, was not appreciated.
In the absence of Director Amoss, who is ill, one of his speakers, Mr. Watts, of Pennsylvania, presided over the meetings, besides talking in an interesting and practical way on the fertilization of soils, etc. Mr. Campbell, the chicken expert, seemed to have a good working knowledge of his subject, and Mr. Oswald gave an address on budding and grafting and one on corn testing which might have been of use to many more people if they had only come to hear. Even the up-to-date Sandy Spring farmers might get a few points from the specialists who do Institute work, if they would take the trouble to attend the meetings.
On March 20, at Mt. Airy, Miss May Stone, of Kentucky, gave a most interesting account of the work for the Kentucky mountaineers being done by the W. C. T. U. Social Settlement and Industrial School at Hindman: and the speaker's personality was a charming index to the character of the effort. The eighty people who listened to her with the deep-
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est attention proved their interest by their contribu- tions.
On March 23, John Hall, a worthy colored man, while burning sedge on a field near Snell's bridge, was stricken with paralysis, and falling into the fire. his body was badly burned, though the stroke and not the fire is believed to have been the cause of his death which followed.
About 4.30 on the morning of March 25 Richard I. Lea's barn was burned. He was in Howard County, where he now lives as manager of a farm belonging to Governor Warfield, and the barn was locked up and unused, so the fire is believed to have been started with malice aforethought. Besides the building. some wheat and some valuable tools were lost.
On Mrach 24, Estelle Newsome, daughter of Jo- seph E. and Huldah N. Janney, was born at Har- wood.
"The officers of our Savings Institution have, for many years, looked with much interest for the time . to arrive when their annual statement should show a holding of one million dollars. This point was reached and passed on March 1, 1907, when the total of the sheet was $1,010,538.50, and a blue ribbon was attached to the report.
"The National Bank also reached its highest de- posit in March-$98,000.00-with a surplus and un- divided profit of over $10,000.00." (A. G. T.)
Two other Sandy Spring institutions of real im- portance of late should claim a share of our atten-
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tion, one being the industrial hour at the colored school at Sharp Street. The project originated with Mary E. Thomas, who has given much time and thought to make the work a success; and every Fri- day afternoon all through the winter she and a num- ber of interested helpers have devoted themselves to teaching the colored children. Instruction was given in sewing and knitting to the girls, who made fair progress along these lines ; while the boys took much interest in their cobbling lessons, and as a result of their study of mat-making they sold over forty husk mats of their own manufacture. And along with this practical work the teachers tried to give both boys and girls a moral uplift.
The Philanthropic Committee of the Monthly Meeting and the County school fund furnished the financial backing for the enterprise.
The other institution referred to is the Reading Circle, which Henry W. Wilbur inaugurated in the fall of 1905. It met every week that winter during the First-day School hour after meeting, and the . members took a lively interest in its deliberations till it adjourned for the summer. The meetings were resumed about the first of 1907, and the new course, based on the life and writings of Jobn Wilhelm Rowntree and of John G. Whittier, and on the His- tory of Friends in America, promises to be as valua- ble as the first proved to be.
Having no legislature of our own to supervise this year, we have kept in practice by trying our hand on Congress. Several of our people made strenuous
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efforts against a bill requiring all wagons of more than a certain weight entering Washington to have four-inch tires, and with the help of other inter- ested parties it was defeated. A former resident of Sandy Spring, who is still a member of our Monthly Meeting-George B. Farquhar-was largely instru- mental in securing an enactment making it illegal for any dairyman in Washington to have in his pos- session milk bottles bearing another dealer's mark.
Another of our young men, E. Clifton Thomas, has invented and is interested in the manufacture of a paper milk bottle, which is expected to be widely used.
A highly respected physician of our neighborhood. Dr. William E. Magruder, has of late won recogni- tion from the medical profession elsewhere for his discovery that sulphuric acid is a cure for exophthal- mic goitre. This rare disease was long regarded as incurable, but in 1884 he began the use of the sul- phuric acid treatment with such success that in 1888 it was described in the Medical News. In a Bulletin published last October by the George Washington University, Dr. Dwight Gordon Smith reports a series of cases beginning in 1904, treated in the George Washington Hospital according to Dr. Ma- gruder's plan, all of which up to the time of his writ- ing seemed to be cured, and his article concludes thus: "It is too early to state that sulphuric acid is a specific for exophthalmic goitre, but in view of the two cases cured by Dr. Magruder and three by his son, and the five cases cured in our clinic, and no
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failures in ten trials, sulphuric acid should have the benefit of a thorough test in every case of exophthal- mic goitre."
Another of our neighbors, John Thomas, has also won appreciation outside of his home circle, having been made foreman of the grand jury at the March term of Court, and last fall he was elected president of the Milk Producers' Association of Washington, composed of dairymen of the several counties of Maryland and Virginia adjacent to the District of Columbia.
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