USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > Sandy Spring > Annals of Sandy Spring history of a rural community in Maryland, Volume III > Part 26
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On August 24, Helen L. Thomas and Anna M. Farquhar sailed from Philadelphia for a few weeks in England, returning October 15.
From August 27-30, came the County Fair, one worthy of remark for certain innovations in its man- agement. The efforts, unsuccessful last year, to pre- vent the issue of the permit for pool-selling, were re- newed early in 1907 to such good purpose that the race-track gambling was forbidden at this fair. So it became the duty of all who had worked for the prohibition to patronize the fair, and thus insure its financial success. Most of them were on hand and many of them enjoyed-the usual reward of virtue ! The exhibition and the weather were good, however, though catch-penny gambling devices were not con- spicuous by their absence.
About the middle of August. a party of Farquhars and others enjoyed a week at their Capon Camp; fol- lowed in September by John C. Bentley and Charles F. Brooke with their families, who in spite of rain and snakes returned refreshed and enthusiastic over their vacation.
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A unique and one of the most interesting events of the year was the coming to Sandy Spring of the Young Friends' Pilgrimage from New York and Philadelphia. The pilgrims were six in number --- Louise E. Haviland, Martha C. Wilson, J. Barnard Walton, Edith M. Longstreth, Emily Ingram Wal- ton, and George A. Walton, and, in the words of one of them :
"At Laurel Station we were met in a drizzling rain by carriages, and driven the twelve miles to Sandy Spring ** * In the long up-hill drive the rain gradu- ally ceased, and the countryside took on a more fertile and flourishing look, in which was found part of the explanation for the fame of this Friendly locality ; the other part we understood after knowing the peo- ple. As always happened later, we were distributed by ones and twos, rarely staying two nights in the same home and often having each of the three meals in a different house, and visiting on this order makes possible a very wide acquaintance.
"First-day meeting was attended, and the after- noon given over to our direction; this resulted in a conference on Preparation for Religious Life. George and Barnard Walton led this ; some appropriate verses were given by Louise Haviland, and we had a few words about Woodbrooke and our own George School Conference. That evening we were invited to meet the young people at the home of Benjamin H. Miller. and by bedtime we felt that life was. indeed, stren- uous.
"Kate D. Thomas had a like informal meeting for
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us next evening at her home, and Third day morn- ing we were driven another twelve miles to the trol- ley for Washington. *
These young Friends feel "that the heroic age of Quakerism has not passed; that it has a glorious fu- ture. How this is to be brought about-what the great work is to be-is not yet certain; but in the meantime * * if the Society be acquainted with itself, the more effectively can the move be furthered. Therefore the Pilgrimage, whose members came, not as ministers and elders-for their age and experience do not warrant that-was made actually to become ac- quainted with their fellow-Friends. Moreover, the 'Pilgrimage Dream' will have largely failed if it does not engender counter pilgrimages." * * * (A PILGRIM, in Friends' Intelligencer. ) Certainly, this neighborhood appreciated the Pilgrims' visit, which did much to inaugurate the better acquaintance it aimed to foster.
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All through the summer we had been expecting certain arrivals that for many years have not failed us at this season, but by the time August was over it had become certain that we were to be disappointed this time. The potato bugs, for reasons unknown, never came near us; and even the house-fly, which like "the poor," we expect to "have always" with us. was, from equally inscrutable causes, very scarce.
The Phrenaskeia, Jr., long since supposed to be dead, gave sudden signs of life in August, and held a banquet at Willow Grove, which, though rather a sur- prise to everybody, was nevertheless a succces. The
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speeches were clever, and Samuel P. Thomas toast- master.
On the evening of September 8, Benjamin D. Pal- mer and wife gave a reception in honor of their son, William P. Palmer, and his bride, Marcia Sworm stedt, of Norfolk, Virginia, whom he had brought home to Woodlawn about a month before. Many guests were invited, but unfortunately Belmont of- fered a rival attraction that evening, and an im- mense crowd gathered there in the hope of being able to help fight fire.
For just at dusk the barn burst into a blaze, which quickly spread until it, with wheat and hay crops, the stable, carriage-house, corn-house and pigpen, was consumed. The dwelling and the creamery building were only saved by an opportune change of the wind; stock, wagons and implements were also rescued.
To be visited thus a second time by a conflagration, and to see the work of years destroyed in an hour, is hard, and to feel any uncertainty as to the cause of the fire would make it the harder to bear; but no one doubted that this disaster resulted from sponta- neous combustion in a hay mow, where all evidence goes to prove that the fire had smouldered for days. Many people think that a number of recent barn fires must have come from a similar canse, especially the one at Lucknough.
"On September 11. Robert O. Coulter died of ty- phoid fever at the home of his father-in-law. Dr. Brooke.
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"Foreseeing the end of his illness, he desired that his wife should bring up their children in the coun- try, and that she should remain with her father's family.
"Robert Coulter came of Scotch ancestry, but was born in Maryland, February 21, 1867. For several years he lived in Howard County, and at nineteen he entered the hardware business with Carey & Co., of Baltimore. There he remained till the beginning of his illness, having risen to the position of secretary and treasurer of the Company.
"In October, 1896, he married at Glenwood, the home of the bride's parents, Emilie Thomas, daugh- ter of Roger and Louisa T. Brooke.
"He was a loving husband and a devoted father, and in the busines world he was honored with the highest esteem by all, especially those who came near- est to him. His life was full of cheer for others, and his innate politeness and thoughtfulness were unfail- ing and will always be remembered by his many friends." (H. L. T.)
The Congress of Religious Liberals, held in Bos- ton, September 22-29, proved a magnet to draw ser- eral Sandy Spring Friends, Alban G. Thomas, Ben- jamin H. and Sarah T. Miller, Caroline L. Brooke and Mary Bentley Thomas attending it.
September 2, Sherwood School opened with 115 pupils, and the same teachers as last yaer in charge; the only difference being that Isabel Stabler instructs the primary grades in the Sandy Spring school house
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and Sallie P. Brooke takes her place at Sherwood. The entrance of still more pupils by Thanksgiving made the addition of more teachers necessary, to ac- commodate whoin the building was again altered, the boys' and girls' vestibules being thrown into one for a classroom. Dorothy Brooke and Nelly T. Jackson were the new instructors engaged.
A movement is now on foot to make over the school property to the County, with the understanding that a new and commodious school building be erected on it.
The exceptionally late spring affected crops all through the rest of the year. As has been mentioned, harvest was very late, which retarded summer plow- ing; and it was the 28 September before the first corn was fit to cut in Sandy Spring, and the corn cutting was not finished till late in November-the husking was not all done till after the beginning of the New Year. Much fodder stood out all winter, and potato digging and seeding were unprecedently late; conse- quently the farmers were rushed, hands were in great demand, and most unreliable when found.
The problem of service on the farms and in the homes, increasingly serious for a number of years, became desperate this summer, and many families were perforce reduced to experimenting with "the simple life," as they had all their household work to do.
Except for a brief time the latter part of July, there was no suggestion of drought all summer, rains being frequent enough and timely. Neither was there
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any continuous warm weather, only occasional hot days; their distribution was the most remarkable thing about them. Beginning March 22-23, with a temperature of 82°, and ending October 3, with 77° at 6 p. m., the highest point reached was 89°, August 8.
There were perhaps fewer thunder storms than usual this summer, but on August 9, during a succes- sion of them that lasted many hours, trees were struck by lightning at Cherry Grove, Mt. Airy and the meeting-house; at Walbrooke wires were knocked from the fence by the electric current, and one hun- dred and nineteen telephones were put out of commis- sion ; while on August 21 a cow and a calf were killed by lightning at Auburn. On September 26, there was frost. All ice was harvested after the 23 January.
As often happens, this dissertation on the weather has led us far afield from our starting point-crops- though there is a deep and close underlying connec- tion between them, nevertheless. Weather to the contrary notwithstanding, all staple crops made rather more than an average yield. Corn was, perhaps, un- usually abundant, but not of the first quality ; owing to the late, wet season much of it was not fully hard when cut, and a good deal of it molded. But all farm products brought higher prices than they have for some years past.
But one marriage has taken place in Sandy Spring this year, though other Sandy Springers have taken that important step elsewhere, as has been noted. On
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October 8, 1907, Richard Bentley Thomas and Ethel Farquhar were married at The Cedars, the home of the bride's parents ; a large company of relatives and friends of the contracting parties witnessing the beau- tiful ceremony, according to the order of Friends. After their wedding journey they made a home for themselves at Burnside, which they have rechristened Kressleigh.
On October 16, a large and interesting meeting of the Anti-Saloon League was held in Sandy Spring meeting-house, representatives from many parts of the County being present. The executive session oc- cupied the morning, and in the afternoon an able address on League methods was given by Marna S. Poulson, Superintendent W. H. Anderson's assistant, and he was followed by Miss Christine I. Tinling of England, who spoke of the more personal phase of the temperance reform from the standpoint of the W. C. T. U. Luncheon was served in the Lyceum by a local committee of ladies.
Sandy Spring's delegation to Baltimore Yearly Meeting was smaller than it sometimes is, twenty- nine from here being in attendance at more or less of the sessions from the 26-30 October.
On October 24, Ellen H. Thomas sailed from New York to Mexico, to spend several months in Aguas- calientes.
November 8-13. Sarah T. and Rebecca T. Miller attended, as delegates, the National W. C. T. U. convention at Nashville, Tenn.
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On the 20 November, Jordan Stabler, now of Bal- timore, but originally from Sandy Spring, gave to the neighborhood, through the Lyceum Company, a very interesting lecture on a recent trip to the West Indies and Panama, illustrated with lantern slides made from photographs of his own taking.
The only event that marked the Thanksgiving sea- son was the coming of seven young girls from the Woman's College of Baltimore and the Girls' Latin School to Melrose, where they "camped" for the week- end, and greatly enjoyed their novel vacation.
In the fall, Walter Rich and his wife moved from Ashton to Laurel. He had been for a number of years an efficient clerk in Ashton store, and after sev- eral unsuccessful efforts to supply his place, Bond and Bentley secured Isaac Smith for the position.
December 10 was the banner day in the history of the Ednor tollgate, $9.00 in cash being collected, mainly from twenty-seven automobiles en route from Baltimore to Washington. These trials to the rural horseman-and especially horsewoman-are more and more often to be met on our roads, Dr. Charles Far- quhar's neat machine being frequently in evidence ; but the prejudice against them does not seem to de- crease in the minds of men, women or horses !
On December 11, Roger B. Farquhar sold at auc- tion all his farm implements, stock, etc., preparatory to retiring from active farming. His son Malcolm will rent a part of the Rock Spring place
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Sandy Spring is not to be outdone by the rest of the world in any good work, and so on December 22 it tried its hand at a Whittier Centennial celebra- tion. The program, arranged by a committee ap- pointed by the Monthly Meeting, was given at the meeting-house at the close of the regular meeting for worship, and was an interesting one, consisting of essays on various phases of the poet's life and work, and selections from his writings.
Christmas day was clear and beautiful, with a temperature of 34° ; there was the usual homecoming for the holidays, and a great deal of gaiety all the week among the young people.
The Farmers' Institute at Olney on the 24-25 Jan- uary was almost the only event of note during the month. "It was attended by a moderate-sized audi- ence of representative citizens, who go regularly each year to their edification, and are as often surprised that more farmers do not take advantage of such an excellent chance to learn the trend of modern thought and practice in their vocation.
"Mr. van Alstyne, of New York, gave practical talks on potato culture, and the care of the orchard, and how to grow enormous crops of hay by high fer- tilization and intense culture.
"Mr. Jeannin, also of New York, made all lovers of flowers happy by a discourse on their culture in the family garden. He gave a practical plan for raising strawberries for market, and went into the details of a successful venture in the chicken business ; and after
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an exhaustive and interesting dissertation, frankly admitted that his success was chiefly due to the care and attention of his business partner, who was his wife.
"The ladies of the W. C. T. U. furnished an ex- cellent lunch for those in attendance at the Institute, and earned all they got thereby for the benefit of their cause." (F. T.)
On January 27, the mortal remains of Mrs. Wil- liam S. Muir were interred in St. John's church yard, Olney.
The daughter of Washington Bowie and Lydia H. Chichester, of Oatlands. Lillie Chichester, from her childhood was a familiar and beautiful presence in Sandy Spring, up to the time of her marriage in 1894, when she went to live in Philadelphia.
Besides unusual personal attractions, love'iness of character was hers in marked degree, and one closely associated with her in her last years said : "Ever since I have known her, her one aim has been to add to the happiness of others."
In February. as usual, came the Farmers' Con- vention
For thirty-five years this convention has been the popular gathering of the mid-winter in Montgomery, and the presence of one hundred and fifty leading tax-pavers, from all parts of the County evidenced the fact that the convention has lost none of its po- tency in shaping public opinion.
Mortimer O. Stabler was the presiding officer, and
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kept the meeting down strictly to business throughout the session. Allan Farquhar had a hopeful report on railroad prospects, and Charles F. Brooke stated that the committee appointed last year to draft a bill for a dog tax, had done the work and sent the document to Annapolis. This bill was passed later. The sub- ject of tuberculosis in cattle was ably treated by Dr. Augustus Stabler, by Dr. S. R. Gilli and of Pennsyl- vania, and Dr. B. T. Woodward, of Washington ; A. G. Thomas advocated bonding the County for public school improvements; and there was much discussion of the road question.
There were a number of freshets during the year- five that the historian noted-the last and greatest coming on February 26, when the road from Havi- land's Mill to Avoca was all under water, as well as the meadow between it and the Pa uxent.
"At Walnut Hill, on March 9, after many weeks of illness, Edward. C. Gilpin died, aged almost sev- enty-nine years.
The son of Samuel and Rachel Gover Gilpin. he was born at Annapolis, May 5, 1829, in what is now known as the 'Chase Home.' He was third in a fam- ily of nine children.
"In his early youth he went to Wilmington. Del., where he entered the drug business as a clerk. While there he received three offers from Baltimore drug- gists ; accepting that of Israel Graham, then the lead- ing retail druggist of the city, he served as his chief clerk for six years.
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"February 23, 1854, he married Annie Feast, and began the drug business for himself. In 1858, he went to Illinois with his family, and settled on a farm in Adams County. He remained there till 1864, when he moved to Coatsburg, and engaged in general merchandizing, also handling grain, cattle, etc.
"In 1867, he returned to Maryland and bought the farm, Walnut Hill, in Sandy Spring, where he re- mained until his death. He was the oldest member of his branch of the Gilpin family left." (J. R. B.)
"He was interested in every thing that promoted the welfare of his county, and was director and vice- president of the Sandy Spring National Bank. He was also an active member of the Farmers' Club.
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"His funeral took place from his late residence, Walnut Hill, on March 10. The love and esteem felt for him was evidenced by the large attendance of friends, neighbors and relatives, many of the latter coming from Baltimore and Washington." (Mont- gomery Press. )
About the first of the year began the greatest revival in the history of Sharp Street church, and it still con- tinues (April 1). A conservative estimate rates the converts at 150, and the most dissolute members of the negro race in the neighborhood have "come through" triumphant. As a consequence a change in the order of colored crowds in public places has been remarked, and we can but hope and pray that the seed sown has fallen on soil where it can make a
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strong and permanent growth. The movement has spread to other churches in the vicinity.
March was unusually gentle and agreeable this year, with more fair days than foul, and little wind. The lowest temperature noted was 24° on the 21, and the highest 76° on the 27. The blackbirds and robins came earlier than last year; the jonquils began to bloom on the 23, and the frogs to sing on the 2 March. By the end of the month there was brilliant verdure on lawns and fields, and films of green and pink began to show on willow and maple, with all sorts of charm- ing hints of spring in orchard, forest and thicket.
Samuel B. Wetherald and Florence and Julia Hal- lowell have recently put water into their houses, and a new kitchen with a bath room over it. has been built at Ernest L. Iddings' during the year. An addition to the dining room has been made at Ingleside, and a new dining room built at Eldon, that two house- holds may be the better accommodated since Fannic L. Dickinson and her family have come to live with her sister Harriet I. Lea. The new barn and farm buildings at Lucknough have been completed, and those destroyed at Belmont, in September, have been replaced by trim new structures. Both of these barns belong to the hip-roofed type, not heretofore generally used here; the frame is built up piecemeal so that the old-time "raising bee" is done away with.
Another neighborhood improvement of interest to us all is the substantial and tasteful new entrance to the graveyard at the meeting-house, where an iron
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gate swings between concrete posts, in the erection of which Alban G. Thomas had an active part.
Dr. Augustus Stabler has again this winter been absent from home for weeks lecturing at Farmers' Institutes in different parts of our State, and Arthur A. Brigham has been similarly employed in the West and South. Charles R. Hartshorne spent the early weeks of the new year organizing Granges in Western Maryland.
Through the early months of 1908, and before, the Anti-Saloon League's local option bill, which it had introduced in the Legislature, was a centre of great interest to Sandy Springers, together with the other temperance workers of Maryland. An active cam- paign for the measure, ably led by William H. Ander- son, State Superintendent of the League, made us hope that the bill might carry, but the liquor forces. .with the political "bosses" as levers, brought such pressure to bear on the lawmakers that on March 21 it was defeated. Though disappointed the League has not lost courage, and the effort will end only when successful.
In July, 1907, Rev. Peter Boyden accepted a call to a parish in Virginia, and his successor at St. John's church is C. D. Lafferty.
Sandy Spring, though proud to claim one of the Maryland Commissioners to the Jamestown Exposi- tion-Allan Farquhar-as a resident, somehow never felt the same enthusiasm for this fair as for those at Chicago, Buffalo and St. Louis. In this Sandy Spring
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was not different from other folks, for Jamestown re- ceived but faint praise from the world at large, though many individuals who visited it said it was not unworthy of real admiration-far more than it ever got ! Nevertheless a considerable number of our people made the pilgrimage down the Chesapeake. But they went and came so quietly, and had so little to say of it on their return that the historian was not able to keep informed on the subject, and kept no record of those from here who attended the Exposi- tion. But it should be noted that Edward P. Thomas was awarded a bronze medal for apples sent to the Fair; and the same fruit afterward took prizes at the Maryland State Horticultural Exhibition in Balti- more.
Our Banks and Insurance Company have not been seriously affected by the financial troubles of the business world at large; and the social organizations of the neighborhood have gone on in their usual way. That it is a good way seems to be indicated by the fact that they have inspired many other communities to imitate them.
Farmers' clubs similar to ours have sprung up far and wide, and there are a number of Home Interest societies in various localities, lineal descendants of the Sandy Spring original. A new one has lately been formed in Washington; while an inquiry has recently come from Florida about the Horticultural, from one who wishes to start some such scheme there. Those among us who are sensitive to the charge some- times made that Sandy Spring is a self-sufficient and
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conceited community may regard these statements just made as smacking too strongly of self-glorifica- tion. They are not so intended-they are merely a record of significant and suggestive facts set down for the information of future generations.
In closing this year's chapter of the Annals let me quote an "appreciation" of Sandy Spring written by Jared van Wagenen, Jr., one who has been here as an Institute worker. It is repeated not to excite our pride and vanity, but to inspire us to live up to the ideals that moved our ancestors, and to be worthy of the good opinion of us formed by an able man and a trained observer, who believes that the highest good in life is not to be expressed in terms of dollars and cents. He says :
"Do these things"-the things which mere money can buy-"give the farmers any greater love for their profession or their community ?
"Up in the rolling country of Maryland, not a . day's drive from Washington, is a settlement of Friends or Quakers, which in my memory stands as the model farm community, though I confess that I know it only from the very cursory viewpoint of the farm institute. It is now more than 200 years since the forebears of these men and women began the work which their descendants still continue. For all those years they have trusted in the soil, and they have proved anew the proverb, 'Take care of the soil and the soil will take care of you.' They tell me there is often substantial wealth in these old farm homes.
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"They are a settled and conservative people. The sense of the past lingers with them still. You see it in their dress, which retains marks of the austerity of earlier generations. You hear it in the 'thee' and the use of the given name, and the quaint and beau- tiful phrases that still fall simply and sweetly among the disciples of George Fox. And these farmer folk, mind you, are aristocrats in the best sense. Proba- bly there is not one among them but would be called poor if judged by the standards of the great cities, but the big old farm houses under the great old trees speak of a people who have owned and loved their land for generations. Down by the severely plain, almost barnlike meeting-house, under the close-clipped turf, marked only by tiny headstones-or none at all-lie their ancestors since the days of Lord Balti- more. They have had time to develop that most pre- cious heritage-the sense of affection for particular . pieces of land. It is the lack of this which lies at the basis of most of our agricultural discontent.
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