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In the light of the Convention's protest, in amending the canons under consideration, what becomes of that loose, but not uncommon assertion, that life-tenure of the clergy is the universal underlying principle of the Protestant Episcopal Church? Hoffman's remarks upon the relations of rector and Vestry in New York, are not inappropriate here :
"In closing this important branch of the subject, I beg to remark that clergymen too often forget the new and peculiar relation in which they place themselves, when the church they belong to has been incorporated by the State. Whenever the provisions of such statutes expressly, or by necessary implica- tion, govern his relations with a vestry or congregation, or otherwise, they form the absolute law for him".3
Nothing can be plainer than that, view the case as we may, we are thrown upon the Maryland vestry law for a solution of the question at issue.
Under that law, the vestry may choose a minister for such time as it may think proper, and may agree with him as to salary on such terms and conditions as it may think reasonable and proper; and, upon the expiration of the contract, the vestry may renew it, but if not renewed, the vestry's choice and contract shall remain until it declares its desire to make a new choice or contract.
1 Hoffman, p. 122.
2 Ibid, p. 332.
3 Ecclesiastical Law of New York, p. 77.
CHAPTER XI Some of Maryland's Early Churches
IN 1692, the Church of England became, by law, the estab-
lished Church of the Province. Provision was made for dividing the several counties into parishes, the election of vestrymen for each, and the imposition of a poll tax of 40 lbs. of tobacco upon all the taxable inhabitants of each parish, for the support of the same.1
Under this Act, the counties of the Eastern Shore were divided into thirteen parishes, as follows: Kent, into Saint Paul and Kent Island; Cecil, into North Sassafras and South Sassafras; Talbot, into Saint Paul's, Saint Michael's, and' Saint Peter's; Dorchester, into Great Choptank and Dorches- ter; and Somerset, into Coventry, Somerset, Stepney, and Snow Hill. The counties of the Western Shore were divided into seventeen parishes, as follows: Anne Arundel, into Saint Margaret's, Westminster, Saint Anne's, Saint James', and All Hallow's; Baltimore, into Saint George's, Saint John's and Saint Paul's; Calvert, into All Faith, Saint Paul's, Christ Church, and All Saints; Charles, into William and Mary, Port Tobacco, Durham, and Piscataway or Saint John's; and Saint Mary's, into William and Mary, and King and Queen.2
The following is the record of proceedings for the laying out of Saint Mary's County into parishes :
"To his Excellency the Governor and Council.
"The bounds and limits of Saint Mary's County par- ishes laid out the 5th day of September, Anno Dom. 1692, by virtue of a late Act of Assembly thereunto directing, are as
1 Act, 1692, C. 2.
2 Archives (Cl. Pro. 1692) pp. 472-475; Perry's American Colonial Church; Old Brick Churches in Maryland, pp. 34, 127, 128.
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follows, viz: It was by the Justices and Freeholders of the said County, for the aforesaid end and purpose met at Newton the day and year above said, and then and there agreed that Saint Mary's County be divided into two parishes, and that the same be divided between Newtown hundred and Clement's hundred by Mr. Langworth's (Saint Clement's) branch which leads to Pottuxen main road, the lower whereof to be called by the name of William and Mary Parish, and the upper, by the name of King and Queen Parish.
"Certified from the records of Saint Mary's County Court, this 2nd day of March, in the fifth year of their Majesty's Reign, Anno Dom. 1692.
"P. me Henry Denton, Cl."1
By this division, William and Mary Parish embraced all that part of the County lying between Saint Clements Bay and Point Lookout, its boundaries being, the Potomac River, Saint Clement's Bay and River, the Calvert County line (then near Three Notched road to Pyne Hill Run, and with it to the bay), and the Chesapeake Bay to Point Lookout. And thus it continued, until Saint Andrew's Parish was erected in 1745, when the upper boundary was changed to Poplar Hill Creek, on the Potomac, and from thence by a line through Clifton Mills, (the Factory) to Legrand's Creek on the Patuxent. The records in which the boundaries of the Parishes of Saint Mary's County were recorded, perished when the Court House was burned in 1831, but the above mentioned line, separating William and Mary Parish from Saint Andrews, was ascer- tained and again defined in 1851, when William and Mary was divided into two parishes-Saint Mary's, all that part on the east side, and William and Mary-all that part on the west side of the Saint Mary's River, the latter parish extending up the County to a line drawn from Poplar Hill Creek to Clifton Mills, and the former to a line drawn from Clifton Mills to Legrand's Creek on the Patuxent.2
The first Vestry of William and Mary Parish, elected 1692, was composed of John Campbell, Kenelm Cheseldine, Robert
1 Archives (Pro. Cl. 1692) p. 474.
2 See Proceedings, P. E. Convention, 1851.
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Mason, John Watson, Thomas Beall and John Llewellin.1 Its first Parish Church was "Poplar Hill Church", (now known as Saint George's), and which continued to occupy the same relation to the parish as it now does to that part of it which still bears the original name.
Of this venerable old edifice-erected as early as 1642, and the second Church of England built by the Maryland Colonists ?- unfortunately, but little is known. Its location, however, is still susceptible of identification. It was a brick building, and stood about fifteen feet north of the present Poplar Hill Church, and, as indicated by its still visible out- lines, its dimensions were about thirty-six by fifty feet.
The present church was erected, it is said, about 1750. The early records of the parish are no longer accessible ; but, in the Whittingham Library, there are a few extracts taken from them, shortly before their destruction by fire, early in the present century. Among them, is the following order for some repairs to Poplar Hill Church :
"At a Vestry held at Poplar Hill Church, April 10, 1721, the vestry agreed wth Mr. Josh Doyne to repair the windows of Poplar Hill Church. Vizt. To make four iron casements to be fitted to ye middle light of ye side windows, and to find glass for what is wanting. In consideration thereof, to allow the said Doyne 300 1bs. of Tobo for the iron casements, and for what glass is new, measured from end to end, each light at 12 ibs. of Tobo pr foot. And for what is only mended by putting Paises of glass into the old lead, the lights to be meas- ured and to be allowed 6 ibs. of Tobo pr foot".
"Likewise the same did agree with Mr. Josh Doyne to place a window in the west end of Poplar Hill Church, 6 foot square from out to out, and a new frame, the said Doyne to be allowed 400 1bs. of Tob. for the same".
At this time, Messrs. Richard Hopewell, George Clark. William Harrison, Anthony Semmes, William Canoday, and James Waughop, appear to have been the vestrymen of the parish.
1 Perry's American Colonial Church.
2 Who Were the Early Settlers of Maryland-Allen.
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In the same library, is the following letter, from an early rector of the parish, which shows a cordial and liberal response of its parishioners to the appeal of Governor Sharp in behalf of the suffering people of Boston, consequent upon the destruc- tive fire there, in 1760:
"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY :
"Since my letter of the 17th instant, I received last Sunday, at Poplar Hill Church, (quite unexpected) after divine Service, some more Money on Account of the Sufferers by the late dreadful Fire at Boston. I thought it incumbent on me to acquaint your Excellency of any further Sum that shou'd be collected ; that thereby you may be informed of the Donations received by me. The Sum total now amounts to Seventeen pounds eleven Shillings and four pence half penny, which I have paid the Sheriff in Obedience to your Commands, and am
"Sir, with the greatest Duty and Respect "Your Excellency's Most obedient and humble Servant, "MOSES TABBS.
"St. Mary's County
"June ye 25th 1760. "To his Excellency."
In 1724, the Rev. Leigh Massey reported to the Governor that the parish contained two churches, about 500 parishioners and "an extraordinary glebe of 400 acres, but the house very indifferent".1
In the chancel of the old church was a horizontal slab, still in good preservation, containing the following inscription : "Near this place lyes inter'd the Revd. Mr. Leigh Massey. He was educated at Oxford, Rector of this Parish, the darling of his Flock and Beloved by all who knew him. He dyed. Janu- ary 10, 1732-3; aged 29"." In the isle which led from the
1 Perry's American Colonial Church.
2 The Rev. Leigh Massey, for many years the close friend and spiritual adviser of Washington, was the nephew of Mr. Massey, of Poplar Hill. He married the daughter of the distinguished lawyer and patriot of Virginia, George Johnston, and was the grandfather of
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front door to the altar, is still to be seen another slab, which is to the memory of Joseph Holt who died in 1701. Near these, was discovered in 1886, several inches below the surface, a rectangular slab, to the memory of the Rev. Francis Sourton. On it is engraved a curiously quartered shield, supposed to be his coat-of-arms, and an epitaph in latin, translated as follows: "Francis Sourtin Anglican of Devon- shire, son of Francis minister of evangelic truth. He was sedulous in a life often afflicted, and was buried in 1679". The legend, also in latin, has been translated thus, "And thou reader living in the Lord Jesus Christ, keep the faith, and thou also, though dead, shall live".1
In 1675, Robert Cager, of Saint Mary's, devised his property "for the maintenance of a Protestant ministery in Poplar Hill and Saint George's hundred. The following year the legislature confirmed the devise, and vested the title in the Mayor, Aldermen and Council of Saint Mary's City in trust for said purposes".2 A part of this endowment-one of the earliest in Maryland-is the present glebe of Poplar Hill Parish (separated from William and Mary Parish in 1850) a tract of 400 acres, which still retains its original name "Itch- comb Freehold". It is a curious coincidence that one of the executors of the will of Robert Cager was Mr. Francis Sour- ton,8 of Devonshire, England. In 1701, Mrs. Elizabeth Baker also devised to the parish a tract of 100 acres, called "Town Land" and situated near Saint Mary's City.4
the late Major John T. Stoddert, of "Wicomico," Charles County, Maryland. He is said to have been a ripe scholar and a great wit. It is recorded of him that, he retired from the law, because his "con- science would not suffer him to make the worst appear the better reason;" ceased preaching because of the "loss of his fore teeth;" withdrew from medicine, because he practiced without charge, because he was "sent for by everybody," and declined a judgship, because it "took him too much from his family." He died in 1814, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-six years .- See interesting letters about him from Major J. T. Stoddert, in Meades Virginia.
1 For data as to Trinity Church, on Trinity Creek, and the old State House at Saint Mary's, which was dedicated to public worship, and both within the limits of this parish .- See pp. 39, 40, 75, 76.
2 Archives, Act, 1676, p. 531. 3 Ibid.
‘ Will, Will Record Saint Mary's County.
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A few large, well bound and handsomely marked volumes of the old "Parish Library" established in 1701 by the Rev. Thomas Bray, Commissary of Maryland, have been preserved.1
As the early records have perished, the names of the clergymen who officiated within the limits of the parish, before, as well as after its organization, and obtained from other sources, are here given.
As early as 1639, the Rev. Thomas White was at Saint Mary's, and while there married John Hallis and Restitua Tue,2 servants of Cornwaleys, and which is believed to be the first protestant marriage ceremony performed in Maryland. In 1650, the Rev. William Wilkinson-the first permanent protestant minister in the Province-came to Maryland, located in Saint George's hundred and for thirteen years officiated at Poplar Hill and Saint Mary's.3 He died in 1663, and was succeeded by the Rev. Francis Sourton. Mr. Sourton was probably in the parish as early as 1676." He died in 1679.5 In 1683, the Rev. Duel Pead was in the Parish, and in Novem- ber of that year the Legislature passed a vote of thanks to him "for the learned sermon preached before the two Houses of Assembly on the 14th inst".8 In 1689, the Rev. Paul Bertrand, who four years before had been sent from England to Calvert County, in response to the petition of Mary Taney,' was at Poplar Hill,8 and in 1692, when the Parish was formally organized, the Rev: Thomas Davis was in charge.º He was succeeded in turn, by the Revs. James Crawford in 1694,10 Peregrine Coney in 1696,11 Benjamine Nobbs in 1700,12 Joseph Holt in 1701,13 Henry Jennings in 1706,14 Leigh Massey in 1723 (died there in 1733)," Lawrence De Butts in 1735 (died
1 In the possession of Mrs. Charles Grason.
2 Rev. George A. Leakin, in Maryland Churchman, September, 1892; Neill, p. 78.
Day Star, p. 145. 4 See Will, Robert Cager.
" See tombstone at Poplar Hill. 6 Arch. (Ass. Pro.) pp. 483, 562.
7 Gambrall, p. 67. 8 Rev. M. H. Vaughan.
Allen. 10 Ibid.
11 Scharf, I, p. 352.
12 Ibid, p. 366. 13 Allen.
15 Act, 1723; Tombstone at Poplar Hill.
14 Ibid.
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there in 1752) ;1 Moses Tabbs in 1752, and served until his death, which occurred in 1776;2 Rev. Joseph Messenger, of Saint Andrews Parish, officiated in William and Mary after the death of Mr. Tabbs and until 1786;3 Rev. Benjamine Sebastine in 1786, from Christ Church, Calvert County ;' Rev. James Simpson, from 1788 to 1793; Rev. Andrew Elliott in 1795; Rev. Charles Smoot, made Deacon by Bishop Claggett, June, 1793, Priest, November, 1795, (died there in 1805) ; Rev. Francis Barclay, from 1808 to 1810; Rev. James Jackson, from 1812 to 1816; Rev. John Brady, from 1816 to 1822 (died there in 1822) ; Rev. R. Kearny, from 1824 to 1828;5 Rev. H. N. Hotchkiss, in 1829, during whose min- istry the proposition to pull down the old State House at Saint Mary's was carried. He is said to have displaced the first bricks, died a few days thereafter and is buried in the Northwest corner of the lot upon which it stood.6
The interesting and valuable early records of King and Queen Parish, in Saint Mary's County, have been destroyed, and all that can now be obtained of its earlier history, must be gathered from scattered documents, references, and legislative enactments.7
When it was first laid out, it extended from Saint Clem- ents Bay and Run to the extreme northern end of the county, and then defined, and which embraced within its limits, the territory known as "Newport Hundred", now a part of Charles County. Its boundaries were Saint Clements Bay Run (the latter then called Langworth's Branch), the Calvert County line (then near the Three Notched Road) to the upper extremity of Newport Hundred, thence to the head waters of Wicomico River (now Zachiah Swamp) and with the Wicom- ico and Potomac Rivers to the beginning.8
1 Maryland Gazette, July 9, 1752. 2 Allen.
3 Ibid; Saint Andrew's Records. 4 Allen.
5 Ibid.
6 Pilate and Herod, 13.
7 The substance of this sketch of King and Queen Parish, was given to "The Church Militant," the official organ of the Bishop of Washington, and was published by it in December 1898.
Archives (Cl. Pro. 1694) p. 475.
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In 1706, Newport Hundred was taken away, and united to William and Mary Parish, in Charles County,1 but, in 1715, "it appearing that the severance had been obtained by mis- representation", it was again united to King and Queen Parish,2 where it remained until 1748. In 1744, an Act was passed to unite all that part of King and Queen Parish lying in Charles County, to Trinity Parish, in said County.3 The Act went into effect in 1748,4 thus making the dividing line between Charles and Saint Mary's, the upper boundary of the parish, as it is to-day. In 1745, the lower boundary of the parish was extended down to Bretton's Bay and Run, its east- erly boundary, as established at the same time, being a line drawn, north 421/2 degrees west, from Major Barnes' mill (on Bretton's Bay Run, about half a mile above the plank bridge), to the upper extremity of the county," but, in 1748, on complaint to the General Assembly, that the latter line "did not leave to King and Queen Parish a proportionable number of taxable inhabitants", it was changed, and a line running north 36 degrees west, fro mMajor Barnes' mill, was adopted in its stead, and became the permanent dividing line between the Parishes of King and Queen and All Faith.
The first parish church was probably Newport Church, then located in about the centre of the parish. In 1735, the rector, vestry, and church wardens, were authorized by the General Assembly "to purchase two acres of ground to build a church on, in that part of the parish lying in Saint Mary's County, and to raise a fund, as well as to complete the said purchase and building, as to repair Newport Church within said parish"." The following year a special assessment was ordered for these purposes, and the freeholders of the parish were directed to meet "in order to choose a place to build the said church upon".8 The place selected was Chaptico, and the church was completed in 1737. It is a capacious brick building, with steep roof, arched windows, and recess chancel. The ceiling.
1 Act, 1706, C. 7.
3 Act, 1744, C. 14.
5 Act, 1745, C. 4.
7 Act, 1735, C. 9.
2 Act, 1715, C. 13.
4 Act, 1748, C. 9.
6 Act, 1748, C. 4.
8 Act, 1736, C. 13.
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from front to rear, on both sides, is square to the outer lines of the chancel, and is supported by corinthian columns. From these square ceilings, an arched middle ceiling rises at a grace- ful angle, and, with the chancel ceiling, forms an arched ceiling through the entire middle of the building. It still stands, is in excellent preservation, and is an uncommonly handsome specimen of colonial church architecture.
In 1750, an Act was passed for the erection of "a chapel of ease in King and Queen Parish, in which the minister is to officiate every third Sunday".1 This chapel was a frame building; was called All Saints, and was located on the site of the church still bearing that name, but built within the present century, and said to be the third in order erected on that site.
A little below All Saints, on Saint Paul's Creek, stood the little Episcopal Church of Saint Clement's Manor, erected as early as 1642-the third Protestant church built by the Maryland colonists.2 The land for the site of this church, and a glebe, was given by Thomas Gerrard, the lord of Saint Clements Manor. He was a Roman Catholic, but his wife, Susannah, a sister of Justinian Snow, was a Protestant,3 and under her auspices the chapel was built. How long this little memorial of English church life in early Maryland stood, is not known. In 1696, the Council ordered the vestry of King and Queen Parish' "to have the bounds settled of the one hundred acres of land given to the church by Thomas Ger- rard"." No mention is made of the chapel at that time, and, as another one had been built elsewhere, it may be assumed that it had disappeared.
The latter chapel was at Wicomico (between Plowden's Wharf and Bluff Point), the stream on which it stood still being known as "Church Run". In 1696, Captain Gerard Slye complained to the Council "that the chapel built for the parish at Wicomico was on his land"," and asked that it be
1 Act, 1750, C. 21.
2 Who Were the Early Settlers of Maryland, p. 29.
3 Day Star, p. 55. 4 Archives (Cl. Pro. 1696). 5 Ibid.
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removed. This, however, was not done, and the chapel was still standing in the early part of the present century. It was erected in 1694. On July 30th, of that year, it was reported to the Council "that it was then going forward to be built nigh Captain Coades"1-the Bluff Point estate before men- tioned.
In 1750, the vestry was authorized to sell the glebe land given by Thomas Gerrard, and to purchase a glebe nearer the centre of the parish.2 In 1654, William Marshall gave "three heifers", from which a stock of cattle was to be raised "for the maintenance of a minister which is to be in the now known neck of Wicomico".3 This, and the donation of land by Doctor Gerrard, are worthy of mention as the first church endowments in Maryland. That part of the parish in which the several chapels above referred to were located, is now within the limits of All Saints' Parish, carved out of King and Queen, and erected in 1893.
Among the fragmentary extracts from the early records of the parish, preserved in the "Whittingham Library", is a reference to the purchase in 1770 of "one silver Chalice Cup and cover", "a marble font and pedestal, two Baskerville's Bibles, two Royal Common Prayer Books, with Psalms, and two pulpit cushions". Whether the handsome communion service and marble font now in use at Chaptico church were a part of this purchase, has not been definitely ascertained. A tradition prevails that they were presented to the parish by Queen Anne, and that the service and font purchased in 1770, were for All Saints' Chapel. Be this as it may, it is suscepti- ble of proof that a separate communion service and font were in use at the chapel from an early date and the further fact that there is no evidence extant of the purchase of any other service for the parish, lends color to this much cherished tradi- tion.4 In 1773, an organ, said to have been a superior
1 Cl. Pro. 1694.
2 Act, 1750, C. 17.
3 Archives (Pro. Ct.) p. 393.
4 Ridgely, in her excellent work, "The Old Brick Churches of Maryland," says: "the design of this church, simple but in perfect
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instrument for that day, was purchased for Chaptico Church. The following year the General Assembly authorized an annual levy of five pounds of tobacco per poll, to be made for the support of an organist.1 This is one of the few instances in Maryland in which a church organist was paid by a general taxation. In 1813, the British broke into Chaptico Church, and in addition to other depredations, completely destroyed this old organ.
The first vestry of King and Queen Parish (1692) was composed of Nehemiah Blackston, Richard Clouds, John Dent, Philip Briscoe, John Coade and John Bartcroft." At the com- mencement of the American Revolution the vestry consisted of John Eden, William Thomas, Hanson Briscoe, Zachary Bond, John Dent, Thomas Bond and John Briscoe.3
The first minister in the parish, after its organization as such in 1692, was the Rev. Christopher Platts.4 In 1715, the Rev. John Donaldson was inducted rector of the parish. In his report to the Governor in 1724, he stated that he had been in the parish nine years, and that it contained two churches, a glebe and two hundred families," that "the Parish is 36 miles long and about 7 miles wide". Mr. Donaldson remained rector of the parish until his death, which occurred in 1747." He was succeeded by the Rev. Richard Brown. In 1761, it was proposed that the Rev. Mr. Swift of Port Tobacco and the Rev. Mr. Brown of King and Queen, exchange parishes. In writing Lord Baltimore on the subject, Governor Sharpe took occasion to say, "that the Parishioners of Port Tobacco Parish have nothing against Mr. Swift except that he is a very poor and heavy preacher, and in that respect they would be no better off with the Rev. Mr. Brown"." The exchange was
harmony, is attributed to no less a personage than Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, London." As Sir Chris- topher Wren died in 1723, this error must have proceeded from an un- certainty of the date at which the Church was erected-1735.
1 Act, 1774, C. 7.
2 Perry's American Colonial Church. 8 Hanson.
4 Scharf, I, p. 366. 5 Perry's American Colonial Church.
6 Bacon. Archives, Sharpe's Correspondence, p. 529.
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not made, and Mr. Brown remained in the parish until 1773. when he resigned. His successor was the then Curate, the Rev. George Goldie,1 who continued to fill the position as rector of the parish until the Revolution. There is some evidence, indeed, tending to show that he remained in the parish until the time of his death, 1791, with the exception of the year 1776, but this has not been definitely ascertained. Mr. Goldie was licensed by the Bishop of London in February, 1766; and had been Curate to the Rev. Thomas Bacon in All Saints' Parish, Frederick County.2
Formerly there was situated on the northerly side of the church, and near the front, a frame vestry-house, sur- mounted by a belfry, and which was used also as a school building. At the rear of the church, and immediately beyond the chancel is the Key vault, over the entrance to which is a stone bearing the family coat-of-arms.
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