USA > Maryland > Anne Arundel County > Historical notices of St. Ann's parish in Ann Arundel county, Maryland, extending from 1649 to 1857, a period of 208 years > Part 5
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The addition to the church is now shown, October 1st, to have cost £310.17s., about $826. The single pews are mentioned as being four feet wide, besides which there were double ones. In the old part, the plastering was ordered to be pulled down, and all was to be repaired.
Still, the church does not appear to have furnished room enough for the congregation, for on the 2nd of February, 1741, A. Sutton, Samuel Middleton, Wil- liam Roberts, Jonas Green, Edward Rumney, Wil- liam Reynolds, Maj. Munroe, J. Reynolds, Hance, Garrett, Wolf, and Samuel Suman, obtained leave to build a gallery in the new addition with eleven pews. It was to be entered from the outside of the church, and the benefit of the Assembly's pews were devoted to the use of the Rector.
The inside of the Chapel of Ease was ordered to be painted, and also the outside, with tar and red paint.
September 5, 1742, the accounts for the repairs of the church were found to amount to £186. 10s. 9d. A pew is mentioned at this time, as sold to Onorio Rosolino, for Elizabeth Calvert a minor, for £24 cur- rency, being about $64. This shows not only that the pews of the church were sold, but also somewhat the value then set upon them.
In Bacon, chapter 7, 1732, there is an Act for the naturalization of this gentleman. He seems to have been the guardian of Elizabeth Calvert, see Bacon, chapter 20, 1747. He was an Italian.
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
In October, 1742, an Act was passed, to enable Gov. Bladen, or the Governor for the time being, to purchase four acres within the fence of the city, and to build thereon a dwelling house for the use of the Governor. See Eddis, 167. Materials were provi- ded and the building was nearly completed in style of superior magnificence, when an unhappy conten- tion took place between the Governor and delegates, which caused the further prosecution of building it to be discontinued. A very trifling sum would have rendered it a noble habitation. It is now St. John's College.
On the 6th of September, 1743, Mr. Lake attend- ed the meetings of the vestry for the last time. Where he removed to, has not been ascertained. But in 1748, five years after this, he became the Rector of St. James's Herring Creek, Ann Arundel, and con- tinned there till his death, in July, 1764, when he died at an advanced age.
REV. SAMUEL EDGAR, TENTII INCUMBENT.
Mr. Edgar presented his letters of induction from Gov. Bladen to the vestry on the 17th of January, 1744, and thus became the incumbent of the parish. In 1730, we find him to have been the Rector of West- minster Parish. But from that date to the present, we learn nothing of him. May he not have been the Rector of King William's school ?
The last meeting of the vestry at which he was present, was November 14, 1744, and this is the last mention of him which has been found in the parish records. But his will dated December 14, 1744, and proved April 29th, 1745. He directed that there
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should be no funeral sermon at his burial, and left his affairs to be settled by Dr. George Steuart of An- napolis. His things were to be sold, and the money sent to Wni. Bowden, merchant, London, but his clothes he gave to Mrs. Rogers's children, with whom he appears to have lived. He died a bachelor.
REV. JOHN GORDON, D. D., ELEVENTH INCUMBENT.
Mr. Gordon presented his letters of induction to the vestry from Gov. Bladen, May 7, 1745, and thus became the incumbent of the parish.
In the Maryland Gazette of October 14, 1746, there is advertised a sermon preached by Mr. Gordon on the suppression of the Scotch rebellion from Exodus 14: 13, "And Moses said unto the people, fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord."
This Gazette, first published as we have seen by Parks in 1728, was re-commenced, January 27th, 1745. And we learn from the "Annals of Annapo- lis," that it continued to be edited by Mr. Jonas Green for twenty-one years. After his death, it was conducted by his widow, Mrs. Anne Catharine Green, aided by her son William, and continued to be pub- lished by some one of his descendants, down to 1840. An unbroken series of this paper, preserved by the family, is now in the State Library. It is a chroni- cle of great value, to those interested in the history of Annapolis, during its day.
The rebellion which was suppressed, was that of the pretender to the throne of England. The victory of the Duke of Cumberland over him, delivered Eng- land from popery and invasion, and secured the pro- testant succession. It was celebrated in the Province,
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by a day of thanksgiving, on which, sermons were preached, and a number of them published. Besides religious services, there was in Annapolis, the firing of guns, drinking of loyal healths, a ball, the illu- mination of the city, and a bon-fire, at which punch was freely distributed to the populace. A year since, horse racing had been established here. These things serve to give us a specimen of Annapolis as it then was, in reference at least to its amusements.
On the 5th November, thanksgiving day, the Rev. George Whitfield preached upon the occasion, from Proverbs 14 : 28, " Righteousness exalteth a nation." "A good suitable sermon," says the Gazette.
There was at this time, considerable trade and commerce here. It was no unusual thing, to see some ten to twenty ships and other vessels leaving the har- bor and the port was frequently visited by the King's ships of war.
On the 18th of August, the vestry note, that Mrs. Alicia Ross left to the church, a pall of gold cloth. Amidst all the prosperity and worldliness that pre- · vailed, this small remembrance of the proprieties of burial, is worth a passing mention.
On the 11th of July, 1747, an Act of the General Assembly was passed, to enable the vestry to lease certain lots in the city of Annapolis, numbered 59, 60, 61, for three lives, or 63 years, the yearly rents of which, were declared to belong to the Rector for- ever. And the vestry's records show, that they were leased to the Rev. Mr. Gordon, William Reynolds and Thomas King respectively, for £3, £4. 5s., £4; in all, £11.5s. per annum. These leases of course reached down to 1800.
The annals of Annapolis note, page 118, that a ship arrived here with (Scotch) rebels, who were termed the "King's passengers," and who were said to have been "favored with transportation."
6*
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Mr. Gordon was present for the last time in vestry, March 27, 1749. Soon after this date, he removed to, and became rector of St. Michael's Parish, Tal- bot County. In the following year, June 25, he preached a Masonic Sermon at Annapolis, which was published. At the Revolution he was a whig. His name is among those who took the oath of fidelity to the American Government in 1778. In 1785, he re- ceived the degree of D. D. from Washington College, Kent County. His residence in Talbot was at the glebe, a little east of Miles River ferry. He died April 12th, 1790, leaving a widow and children. Some of his autograph sermons and letters are pre- served in the archives of the Convention of Maryland. His portrait still hangs in the hall at Myrtle Grove, Talbot County, the residence of the late Hon. Robert H. Goldsborough.
REV. ANDREW LENDRUM, TWELFTH INCUMBENT.
Mr. Lendrum presented his letters of induction from Gov. Ogle to the vestry, April 4th, 1749, and was received as the Rector of the Parish. Where he had ministered before coming here, we do not learn. But he must have been licensed by the Bishop of Lon- don, previous to 1745. He continued here however but for a few months, for on the 26th of September, he resigned his rectorship of this parish, and became the incumbent of St. George's Parish, then in Balti- more, but now Harford County, where he continued till his death in 1772. In a sermon of the Rev. Thom- as Cradock of 1753 he speaks of Mr. Lendrum, as a very worthy minister, and this testimony from such a source is well worth being perpetuated.
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
At this date, one hundred years had passed away, since the emigrants from Virginia had settled in the territory of this parish. And it may be worth while to take a passing retrospect of the changes here during this period. The original inhabitants, the Indians, were all gone. The Puritans, they too as such, were no longer heard of, their places of worship were desolate, and their grave yards-where are they? At their Proctors Landing, a city had grown up, it was the seat of government for the province. The State House, the church, the school houses, and mag- nificent dwellings, some of which still remain, had taken the place of the log hut of the emigrant, and the wigwam of the Indian. Luxury, fashion and commerce, with their attendant dissipations and ex- travagance, had taken the place of the severe and stern simplicity of the early settlers. The battles and war of its first days had been forgotten, and the full. congregations worshiping at the parish church and the chapel at the head of Severn, show that Pur- itanism had passed away. And this last mentioned change, what had produced it? The descendants of the early puritans were not few, and many of them were still here, but were they puritans? How came all this? Was it, that there were lacking in Puri- tanism the elements of perpetuity ? True, in return- ing to the church which their fathers had left, they sacrificed no doctrinal belief. Still, the ecclesiastical government, and the forms of worship which their ancestors had called by such harsh names, and so ut- terly repudiated, were the same. Certainly then, we are left to the conclusion, that while the Church of England did embody whatever was needful to self- preservation and purity, the system which had here passed away, did not possess them. For could earn- estness, zeal and devotion have preserved them, they had continued to flourish,
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REV. ALEXANDER MALCOLM, THIRTEENTH INCUMBENT.
On the 26th September, 1749, the same day on which Mr. Lendrum resigned, Mr. Malcolm present- ed to the vestry his letters of induction. Mr. Malcolm came here from Marblehead, Massachusetts, where he had been one of the Missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for ten years. Hc went there from New York, where had he previously been a school master. He removed to Marblehead,
strongly recommended for his good life and learning. And the reports of the society show him to have been very popular and successful there. The dissenters went in great crowds to hear him. It appears thus, that he was well calculated to win his way among the descendants of the Puritans in St. Ann's Parish, where he was the third rector within the same year.
In ordinary times-and so now especially-1749, the church in the city, having been so recently re- paired and enlarged, the Chapel of Ease built, and the glebe lots leased, the vestry had little to do at their meetings, which the law required to be monthly, but to audit and settle accounts, and ask the Coun- ty Justices for assessments of tobacco on the parish, to meet their current expenses. They had however oth- er duties imposed upon them by law, to which they were obliged to attend. Such were the cases which occurred of unlawful cohabitation, violations of the sabbath, cases of profaneness, the nomination annually to the Governor for his confirmation of the inspectors of to- bacco for the Port of Annapolis, and at the Indian Landing, called head of Severn, and subsequently, the return of a list annually of the bachelors of the
-
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISII.
Parish. These things of course, could not be neglect- ed, and therefore occupied much of their time, but it has not been thought necessary to notice them in de- tail.
In January, 1850, the General Assembly passed an Act, enabling the Rector and visitors of King Wil- liam's school, to sell 650 acres of land in Dorchester County, devised to them by the last will of Thomas Smithson, then late of Talbot County, and invest the proceeds, &c. It is rather a singular coincidence, that one of the same name should, in after times so liberally provide for an institution in the capitol of the United States, now bearing his name.
It may deserve mention here, that, as early as 1752, a theatre was built in this city-Annals of Annapolis, page 149.
Mr. Malcolm appears in the vestry for the last time, May 6, 1754, soon after which, he resigned the pa- rish and became the Rector of St. Paul's, Queen Anne County, to which he removed. There he continued till his death in 1763, at an advanced age. In the Maryland Gazette of January 20, 1763, in an obitua- ry, it is mentioned that he was the author of several learned works, on Grammar, Music and Mathematics. Would that copies of them could yet be found.
REV. JOHN MYERS, FOURTEENTH INCUMBENT.
On the 27th of May, 1754, Mr. Myers presented to the vestry his letters of induction from Gov. Sharpe. He appears to have been licensed by the Bishop of Lon- don previous to 1745, but how long he had been in Maryland, or where, does not appear. He is never mentioned as present at any vestry meeting, and it is
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probable that he resigned in less than two months, as his place here was occupied by another at that time. He removed from here to Caroline County, and became the Rector of St. Mary's White Chapel, and continued there till his death, which we learn from the Maryland Gazette, took place February 21, 1760. His removal thus, made way for a third cler- gyman in this parish, within the year, the second oc- currence as we have seen of the same kind.
REV. JOHN McPHERSON, D. D., MINISTER.
Mr. McPherson was licensed for Maryland by the Bishop of London, April 17, 1751. But where he had officiated to the time of his appearing here, has not been ascertained. Hc commenced his services here July the 20th, 1754. This appears from a com- munication addressed by him to the vestry, dated May 6th, 1755, which shows that he had not then enter- ed into any engagement with them. And while thus it is certain, that he had not been inducted into the parish, as its incumbent, it appears that he had been appointed by the Governor, to officiate temporarily.
In March, 1756, an Act of Assembly was passed, for raising a sinking fund, for the supply of his Maj- esty's service, in other words, for protecting the fron- tier of this province against the Indians, then at war with the colonies. And not only were spirits, wines, billiard tables, horses, &c., &c., taxed, but also bach- clors, the list of which, in each parish, it was made the duty of the vestry to return to the Government.
In the return from St. Ann's Parish in 1750, the vestry ordered the Register to insert the names of his excellency, Gov. Sharpe, and the Rev. John McPher-
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISII,
son, they being both bachelors, inasmuch as they did not take it upon themselves to determine whether they came within the Act or not.
It may be a matter of curiosity to some, to know who were the bachelors of that day. Their names therefore are here given. All over 25 years of age, assessed under £300 and over £100 were taxed five shillings each, and it was so continued for six years. Their names were, Joshua Frazier, Richard Green, 1756, 1757, 1758, 1759, 1760, 1761; Allen Quinn till 1761; Baldwin Lusby for 1756; Caleb Davis and Emanuel Marriott, for 1756-7; and Rezin Gaither, at the head of Severn, for 1756-7 and 8.
Those assessed over £300, paid 20s. cach and were, William Stuart, for the six years, also John Ridont, Esq., John Gilliss, and Daniel Wolfstenhome, Ste- phen Bordley, and Charles Carroll, Barrister. For fives years, James Maccubbin, Beale Nicholson of An- napolis, William Gaither, head of Severn, Charles Hammond of Philip, and John Griffith. For four years, Col. Benjamin Tasker and Lancelot Jaques ; for three years, James Johnson, John Leadler, and Zachariah, Hood; for two years, Moses Maccubbin and John Davis; and those for one year, S. Lowe, Charles Cole, William Thornton, Charles Carroll, Esq., Dr. Upton Scott, Robert Strain, Robert Couden, Benjamin Beall, and John Bennett. This law was clearly a bounty on matrimony, of which, some cer- tainly availed themselves.
This year, a house, near the chapel at the head of the Severn, 20 feet by 12, was ordered by the vestry to be built. From which it would appear, that the one ordered twenty-five years before, either had not been built, or, had been in some way destroyed.
On the 1st of September, 1756, Mr. MePherson had removed and become the Rector of William and Mary's Parish, Charles County, There he continued
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
till his death, in June 21, 1785. He was buried in the church-yard. Just before his death, he had re- ceived the degree of D. D. from Washington College. From the carefulness with which such honors were then conferred, this shows him to have been consid- ered of some note in the Church.
REV. CLEMENT BROOKE, MINISTER.
Mr. Brooke was a native of Prince George's Coun- ty, and was licensed for North Carolina, July 5th, 1755. But, instead of going there, he was sent by the society to New Castle, Delaware. After remain- ing there a year, he came to this city. His name does not appear in the vestry's records, and conse- quently, he was not the rector of the parish. But, on the ministerial records, baptisms are recorded as having been administered by him, in February, April, and December, of 1757. He was, no doubt, officiating here in . the same capacity as did Mr. McPherson. It is probable that he continued here till 1759, when he became the curate of the Rector of Prince George's Parish, now in Montgomery County. From thence, December, 1761, he removed to St. An- drew's Parish, St. Mary's County-of which parish he was curate two years. In 1778, he was residing in St. Paul's, Baltimore County ; and in 1795, on his estate in Prince George's County -- where he died in In 1819, his two sons were still resident there. The master of the free school, King William's, at this time was Mr. Isaac Dakien, and is mentioned nine years after as still being so.
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISHI.
REV. ALEXANDER WILLIAMSON, FIFIEENTHI INCUMBENT.
Mr. Williamson presented his letters of induction from Gov. Sharpe to the Vestry, April 23d, 1759. (Query was he not the son of the Rev. Alexander Wil- liaison, Rector of St. Paul's, Kent County, who died there in 1740?) He was licensed by the Bishop of London for Maryland, December 27th, 1755, and be- came curate in St. Andrew's Parish, St. Mary's Coun- ty, and from thence removed here. He was at this time unmarried, and so continued during his rector- ship here, being found on the list of bachelors in 1760 and 61.
His attendance in a meeting of the vestry for the last time, was November 4th, 1760. In February, 1761, he was presented to the curacy of Prince George Parish, then Frederick County., but now Montgom- ery. And it was at this time doubtless, that he re- signed St. Ann's. In the following year, on the death of its rector, he became the incumbent and continued to be so till the Fall of 1776, when by act of the State Convention, the clergy ceased to be longer supported by law. He was known as a tory, but continued to reside on his estate above Georgetown, D. C., till his death in -.
REV. SAM. KEENE, D. D., SIXTEENTH INCUMBENT.
Mr. Keene was a native of Baltimore County, and born May 11, 1734. He graduated at the college in
7
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
Philadelphia, June 1759, and was ordained deacon, by the Bishop of Rochester acting for the Bishop of London, at the Palace at Fulham, County of Middle- sex, Sunday September 21st, 1760, and by the same, at the same place, priest on the 29th of the same month, it being the feast of St. Michael's. The next day he was licensed by the Bishop of London for Ma- ryland. He appears to have been in Annapolis at the time of Mr. Williamson's leaving, for he is on the list of bachelors returned from this parish, for 1761 and '62, and certainly thus carly officiated.
On the 29th of June, 1761, an organ-loft was or- dered by the vestry to be made, in the new addition in the church. This is the first mention of an organ remembered to have been met with on the records. And the fact of now building a gallery to place it in, shows that before this there was none in the church.
On the 6th of October, £10 was paid to Frederick Victor, as organist, for his care and trouble in fixing the organ. How the organ was procured, or when it came, nothing is stated.
But his letters of induction were not given Mr. Keene by Gov. Sharpe till March 23, 1762, and on the 30th he presented them to the vestry and became the incumbent of the parish.
After July 3rd, 1763, Mr. Keene is not recorded as having been present at the meetings of the vestry, though for some years thereafter rector.
On the 6th of December, it is stated that Mrs. Hen- rietta Maria Dorsey had left as a legacy £50, with which the vestry had purchased, being probably so directed by her, a crimson velvet cushion and pulpit cloth with gold fringe, and three handsome church prayer-books bound in calf and brass on the corners, having on the covers in letters of gilt, "The gift of Mrs. Henrietta Maria Dorsey, to St. Ann's Church, 1762." She also gave the parish £100, to be distrib- uted to the poor, as the vestry should think fit.
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
After September 13, 1764, there are three blank leaves, and the next entry dates April, 1767.
On the 2nd of March, 1767, it is recorded, that the Rev. Thomas Alkin of St. John's Queen Ann's Conn- ty, was married to Ellen Middleton. He was Rector of St. John's.
Mr. Keene having been presented to St. Luke's Parish, Queen Anne County, July 27th, 1767, he ac- cordingly resigned this parish and removed thither. His residence is noted on Griffith's map of Maryland, as being in the northern extremity of Caroline County, a small part of which county is in St. Luke's parish.
In 1779, he became the Rector of Chester Parish, where he remained but two years, and then took charge of St. John's Parish, Queen Anne and Caro- line Counties, probably in Connection with St. Luke's, where he continued till 1792, living on his own es- tate. In 1755 he received the degree of D. D. from Washington College. . In 1803 he appears to have resigned St. Luke's though continuing to reside there. In 1805 he became the Rector of St. Michael's, Tal- bot County. After 1807 he ceased to be its rector, though he continued to reside there till his death, May 8th, 1810, at. 76, leaving no family.
He was a prominent man in the church of his day, and one to whom the church in Maryland owes much. During the Revolution, see Hawks' Maryland, page 290, the General Assembly took up the subject of or- ganizing the church in the State, and particularly of appointing ordainers to the ministry. Hearing of this, Dr. Keene at once hastened to Annapolis, and on being heard before the House of Delegates, was chiefly instrumental in causing the plan to be aban- doned. He was one of the Committee of Examiners appointed in 1783, one of the Superintending Com- mittee of 1788-89, and one of the Standing Committee from 1788 to 1795 inclusive.
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REV. BENNET ALLEN, SEVENTEENTH INCUMBENT.
On the 20th of April, 1767, Mr. Allen presented his letters of induction to the vestry from Gov. Sharpe, and became the rector.
Mr. Allen was a graduate and fellow of Wadham College, Oxford, England, and ordained deacon by the Bishop of Oxford, September 23d, 1759, and priest by the same, September 20, 1761. His license by the Bishop of London for Maryland, bears date Septem- ber 30, 1766. He was a particular friend of Lord Baltimore, who on Mr. Allen's coming over in 1767, wrote to Gov. Sharpe to give him whatever he wished in the province. St. Luke's, Queen Anne's was the best living then vacant. But having an eye on All Saints, Frederick, the rector of which, was then old and near his end, he preferred to remain in Annapo- lis. Mr. Keene consequently was induced to resign St. Anne's, and accept St. Luke's as we have seen, and thus Mr. Allen came into Mr. Keene's place.
He was designed by Lord Baltimore, to be the Bish- op of London's Commissary in Maryland. But he preferred, on his arrival here, the place of receiver- general, and that he obtained, being also made Lord Baltimore's agent. Having however as just stated, his eye on the parish in Frederick, he accepted mean- while this of St. Ann's, and was also Lord Baltimore's chaplain. Md. Gaz., November 3rd, 1768. On the 24th of November a new surplice was ordered.
For a year it is said, he lived quite retired, he did his duty in the parish regularly, and was generally liked, and continued to be so. See Md. Gazette, No- vember 10th, 1768, he expended one whole year's in- come upon the glebe house.
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
On the 24th of October, Mr. Allen received from the Governor, a license as curate of St. James', Ann Arundel, and the rector soon after dying on the 11th of February, 1768, he received letters of induction there and became its rector, holding that and St. Ann's at the same time, though contrary to law unless with the consent of the two vestries which it appears that he obtained by unfair means, and received a challenge from one of St. James' vestry.
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