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 7
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It thus appears, that he ceased to be minister here in August, 1780. But he continued to be the minis-
.
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
ter of Westminster parish till his death, which took place March 25th, 1784.
He left behind him a widow as the above statement shows, but whether any children is not stated.
REV. THOMAS GATES, TWENTY-SEVENTH MINISTER.
From August, 1780, for near a year there appears to have been no parish minister. And it is only from a document of subsequent date, that we learn that on the 14th of July, 1781 .Mr. Gates an English clergy- man became the ministe there, on a salary of £200- $532, raised by subscription.
In the years 1781, 1782, 1783 and 1784, it ap- pears that the vestry met only at Easter, and that then no record was made of what they did.
On the 16th of July, 1784, we find the following: Thomas Jennings gave notice, that he would continue his subscription no longer, also Col. James Price, Col. Tootell and Thomas Johnson. On the 17th Col. William Hyde and John Bullen gave the same no- tice. Mr. Goldsmith was now appointed to collect subscriptions, and J. Brice was directed to pay them over to Mr. Gates, so much as would make up, with the money already received by said Gates, £200 a year, for three years from July 14th, 1781. And now Mr. James Ringgold, William Goldsmith and Cor- nelius Mills take their names off the subscription-list for a minister.
On the 17th therefore, the following letter was written to Mr. Gates: "Many of the subscribers for the support of a minister of this parish, have discon- tinued their subscriptions, a list of which you have endorsed. We believe the reason of most withdraw-
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
ing their subscription is, their having subscribed more than they are well able to pay. However, that was assigned by several of them. As you are going to the Warm Springs, and it has been reported that if your health is not soon re-established, you intend to leave the continent, we wish to know under all the circumstances if you mean to continue as minister of this parish after this year; that if you do not, we may have the opportunity of engaging another in time. Signed, J. Brice, T. Johnson Jr., J. Ring- gold, T. Hyde."
August 17th, Rev. R. Higginbotham was appoint- ed Master of King William's school.
On the 20th of June previous, there had been held in this city, the first convention of the clergy and lay delegates of the parishes of the State, at which some fundamental principles were agreed to, and some pro- gress made towards the reorganization of the church in Maryland.
Whether this movement of the church in Mary- land, had any influence in waking up an interest in church matters here, we know not; but now it was that the first movement was made towards re-building the church, after nine years were past from the time when the old one was taken down, but the only thing that was now done, was to advertise in the Maryland Gazette, for the bricks, of which the church was to be built, which had been taken away to be returned. This was done by the trustees originally appointed by the General Assembly to carry out the work of build- ing a new church.
It will be perceived that the names signed to the letter addressed Mr. Gates, were the same that had been withdrawn from the subscription-list, and that they do not ask him to remain. This way of getting rid of a minister, though sometimes adopted, is cer-
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
tainly of very questionable propriety. But Mr. Gates does not appear to have answered it.
At the November session of the General Assembly, 1784, Hanson 37, a college was established on the Western Shore, by the name of St. John's, having no religious test, with a Principal, Vice-Principal, Pro- fessors, Masters, Tutors, &c., irrespective of their re- ligious profession. And the Rev. John Carroll, D. D., Roman Catholic, Rev. William Smith D. D., Protestant Epis., and the Rev. Patrick Allison D. D., Presbyterian, Richard Sprigg P. E., John Ster- ett Presbyterian, and George Digges R. C., were ap- pointed soliciting agents for subscriptions, for this and Washington College, Kent County. The two, to be called the University of Maryland.
On the 21st February, 1785, the vestry declared the parish vacant. The question then came up, shall Mr. Gates, or Mr. Higginbotham be appointed to the parish. Mr. Gates had one vote, that of Mr. Ring- gold, and Mr. Higginbotham had the other six, and was consequently elected.
Mr. Gates then removed from Annapolis and be- came the Rector of St. Peter's Parish, Talbot County, where he appears to have remained five years. In 1789 he was a member of the standing committee, af- ter which it appears that he removed to South Caro- lina. There he married and remained till his death.
REV. RALPH HIGGINBOTHAM, RECTOR-TWEN- TY-EIGHTH MINISTER.
Mr. Higginbotham was a native of Waterford, Ire- land, and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He was ordained priest by the Bishop of Waterford
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISII.
and Lismore, March 12th, 1774, in the church of St. Patrick, in the city of Waterford, and was now, by the election of the vestry, the Rector of this Parish, as well as Master of King William's School.
On the 28th of February, Mr. Higginbotham pro- duced his letters of orders and entered on the Rector- ship of the parish.
March 28th the vestry requested Messrs. Ringgold and Tootell to have the bell hung.
In April of this year, is found the last entry in the ministerial records.
On the 18th of April, the vestry directed their reg- ister to write to the trustees for building the church, and he accordingly wrote as follows :-
"The vestrymen of St. Ann's Parish, Annapolis, have directed me to request the favor of you to ren- der an account of the monies levied and raised for building a church in this city. I am gentlemen, your obliged servant, Thomas Pryse, Register."
Thus again, another year having nearly passed away, the matter of building a new church had come into mind.
On account of the negligence in paying Mr. Gates' salary, on the 6th of June, warrants were directed against all refusing to pay their subscription of July 17th, 1781. But the warrants were not issued. On the 14th of July however, Col. A. Chisholm, Wm. Wilkins, Wm. Faris, J. Brewer, J. Maccubin and J. West, were selected by ballot from the rest of the subscribers, to be warranted in order to settle the dis- pute by a legal decision. What the grounds of dis- pute were, is not stated.
December 20th, the sexton was authorized to re- ceive for digging a grave and attending a funeral 15s. and for a grave vaulted 22s. 6d.
By an Act of Assembly, November session, 1785, chapter 39, Kilty, the funds and property were trans-
F
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
ferred from King William's school, to the visitors and governors of St. John's College.
In 1784, the vestry as we have seen, had adver- tised for the materials for building the church which had been taken away, to be returned. But two years were now passed away, and it had not been done. So on the 8th of March, 1786, see Kilty, November ses- sion, 1785, chapter 44. The General Assembly pass- ed an act, which after mentioning, that the trustees appointed by the Act of 1774 for building a new church were prevented from proceeding therein by the commencement of the war, they were now empower- ed to proceed, compelling those who had taken away materials to account and pay for them, and in consid- eration that several of the original subscribers to a considerable amount had died and removed, author- izing a new subscription and cancelling the old one. Thus, so much was now accomplished, and as the matter of building the new church was in the hands of trustees appointed by the General Assembly, no account of the progress of the work is found in the vestry's records.
At the May session of the General Assembly, 1786, chapter 16, a supplementary act for the building the new church, states, that in 1774, the trustees then appointed, were directed to build an elegant church &c., at the estimated cost of £6,000 currency, one half to be raised by subscription, and the other to be paid by the public and the parishioners equally, that the trustees purchased a large amount of mate- rials, which during the war were taken away, partly by individuals, and partly by order of the Council for the construction of batteries and barracks, and the work was suspended, that according to a subsequent act, a new subscription had been raised, amounting to £3,450, and that the estimated amount of materi- als taken by order of the Council of safety was £742.
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISII.
15. This was ordered to be paid with interest. And others having taken away materials, were to have suits entered against them for the same with dama- ges and costs, and new subscribers also who had not paid their subscriptions.
May 5th, 1788, a letter was received from St. Paul's vestry, Baltimore, urging the appointment of a del- egate to the convention of the Diocese, to be held in Baltimore, on the fourth Tuesday of this month ; Mr. Brooke Hodgkin was appointed ; but he did not at- tend, Mr. Joseph Clark however, attended in his place.
Originally in the plan of building, a handsome steeple had been designed, but the subscribers now thought it might be dispensed with, and so wrote to the trustees. The trustees however, determined to carry up the tower so high as to place the bell there- in, and made this statement of their funds :-
Due the trustees on claims that can-
not be disputed, -
- -
Due on accounts already settled,
£2,043.07.6. 448.19.5.
And they had further claims for materials carried away, and on the sheriffs of the County. for 100,000. lbs. Tobacco, ordered by act of the Assembly to have been collected in 1775 and 1776.
This is dated September 5th, 1788, and signed by William Paca, John Ridout, Upton Scott, Thom- as Hyde. They were the surviving trustees.
On the 11th of November, 1789, St. John's Col- lege was opened and dedicated with much solemni- ty, in the presence of a numerous and respectable con- course of people. The members of the General As- sembly, the chancellor, judges of the General Court, the gentlemen of the bar, the corporate authorities of the city, and the principal inhabitants preceeded by 9
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
the students and faculty, and governors and visitors of the college, walked in procession from the State. House to the college hall.
An eloquent sermon, well adapted to the occasion was preached by the Rev. Dr. William Smith, who presided for the day. An oration was also delivered by the Rev. Ralph Higginbotham, on the advantages of a classical education.
As keeping in memory the property of the parish, it may be mentioned, that on the 8th of March, 1790, Mr. Ringgold was appointed by the vestry, to settle with Mr. Daniel Dulaney and Capt. John Pitts for their dues on the glebe lands.
At the December session of the General Assembly, Kilty, chapter 47, 1790, an Act was passed, in which it appears that the whole money subscribed for build- ing the new church, had been expended, and that the church was yet unfinished. Charles Wallace, James Brice, and Major John Davidson therefore, were em- powered to open a new subscription and proceed to the finishing the same, as originally directed.
This year, Mr. John Randall was appointed dele- gate to the convention of the Diocese, as also in the year following, 1791.
The church was now, eighteen years having pass- ed away since it was first begun, at length comple- ted; and on
Sunday, November 24th, 1792, it was consecrated and set apart to the service and worship of Almighty God, by the Right Rev. Thomas John Claggett, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese. He had been consecrated to the Episcopate of Maryland, on September 13th, preceding at New York. He was the fifth Bishop in the United States.
In December, an Act of the Assembly was passed, enabling the trustees to provide for the subscribers choosing their pews in the church. This was accord-
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
ingly done, and as recorded July 13th, 1797, the pews were held as follows :-
1 John Rogers,
2 John Randall,
3 Nicholas Carroll,
4 James Brice,
5 John E. Howard,
6 Christ'r. Richmond,
7 Gen. John Davidson,
8 Rand. B. Latimer,
9 Thomas Harwood,
10 The Parson's Pew,
11 Alexander and Long.
12 Upton Scott,
13 Daniel Wells,
14 The Church Wardens,
15 John Shaw,
16 Richard Owen,
17 Thomas D. Merick,
18 Strangers Pew,
19 John F. Mercer,
20 Benjamin Fairburn.
21 John Welsh,
22 Jurymen's Pew,
23
24 Gen. Assembly's Pew,
25 26 66 66
27 President of Senate and Speaker of the House,
28 Judges of Gen. Court, 29 William Campbell, 30 William Cook,
31 Dr. James Murray,
32 Thomas Stone,
33 Thomas Hyde,
34 George Mann, 35 Benjamin Ogle,
36 Mary Dulany,
37 John Ridout, 38 Elizabeth Bordley, 39 Charles Wallace,
40 Richard Sprigg,
41 Joshua Frazier,
42 James Maccubin,
43 Captain James Smith, 44 John H. Stone,
45 Thomas B. Hodgkin, 46 John Hall,
47 Charles Maccubin,
48 Nicholas Brewer,
49 John Brice,
50 Philip B. Key,
51 James Ringgold,
52 Jeremiah T. Chase,
53 John Addison, now J. Davidson,
54 Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer,
55 John Callahan, 56 William Hammond, 57 Matthias Hammond, 58 Edward Lloyd,
59 Thomas Jennings,
60 William Smallwood, 61 Council's Pew,
62 Governor's " 63 Gen. Assembly's pew, 64 66
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
65 Gen. Assembly's pew, 66 Jurymen's
95 Vacant,
96 Bachelors,
67
97 James Williams,
68 John Wells,
69 Archibald Golden,
70 William Coe,
71 Abraham Claude,
101 Vacant,
72 John Johnson,
102 John Brewer,
73 Henry Sibell,
103 Gilbert Middleton,
74 Frederick Grammar,
104 Vacant,
105 Stephen Clark,
106 Jas. McDowell,
107 Benjamin Harwood,
78 Thomas Wilson,
79 Thomas Callahan,
80 Lewis Neth,
110 Frederick Green,
81 John Pitt,
82 William Goldsmith,
83 Nich. Worthington,
113 A. C. Hanson,
84 Nich. Harwood,
114 Thomas Johnson, Jr.
85 William Paca,
115 Vacant,
116 Wm. Whetcroft,
117 John Quinn,
88 Gabriel Duvall,
118 Vacant,
89 Beriah Mayberry,
119 Nich. Maccubin,
90 Joseph Clark,
91 Vacant,
92
121 Thomas Price,
93 Allen Quinn,
122 Vacant.
94 William Wilkins,
The church is 110 feet long, by 90 broad, having a tower, and pilasters on the walls outside, dividing it into panels; inside, it is frescoed.
April 1st, 1793, Henry Whetcroft, Register, was requested to purchase a folio bound blank book, for the recording marriages, births, burials, &c. What
98 Vacant,
99 Richard Maccubin,
100 Absalom Ridgely,
75 Joseph Williams,
76 James Carroll, ,
77 Archibald Chisholm,
108 Joseph Maccubin,
109 Vacant,
111 John Petty,
112 Vacant,
86 John Muir,
87 Bachelors' Pew.
120 Charles Carroll of Carrollton,
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISH.
has become of that book ? James Williams was then appointed delegate to the diocesan convention and to that, too, of 1794, and was present.
In 1795 Jonathan Wilmer was appointed and at- tended.
In 1796 Samuel Ridout was appointed and went.
In 1797 Henry Ridgely was appointed but did not attend. For ten or eleven years following, none were appointed and consequently the parish was not repre- sented in Convention, nor did Mr. Higginbotham himself attend. Religious matters in the parish seem to have attracted very little interest.
The Rev. Dr. Bend, the Rector of St. Paul's, Balti- more, a member of the standing committee, was at this time a visiter of the churches and parishes under the canon then existing, of Baltimore and Ann Arun- del Counties. On the 7th of June he reports to the Bishop, that he appointed May the 8th, to preach in St. Ann's in the afternoon. But Mr. Higginbotham objected, as it was not customary [ to have service in that part of the day] and did not wish any innova- tions. The Doctor then appointed half past 6 o'clock, P. M. to meet the vestry, but not one came.
Although it had not been customary to have ser- vice in the afternoon of the sabbath, it seems that it was desired that there should be, and consequently on the 13th of July, 1697, the vestry requested Mr. Higginbotham to perform divine service on Sunday afternoons. The congregation thus appear to have been more in earnest about the worship of God, at that hour, than was the Rector himself. That in a city church, there should have been no second service on the Sabbath, shows certainly a very great indif- ference in the performance of religious duties, and an undervaluing of christian privileges.
John Jacob Tschudy, in 1799, was Register and clerk, and was afterwards, in 1807, or laine !! to the
9*
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
ministry by Bishop Claggett, and settled in S. C. where he became Rector of a parish, and died there.
In 1800, the vestry enforced the fines which the law imposed on those who refused to serve as vestry- men, showing how little interest some of the laity then took in church matters.
July 23d, 1801, the Register was ordered to get a book, to register the names of the churchmen of the parish in, a canon of that day requiring it. It would be an interesting document could it now be found.
On the 27th of February, 1804, Mr. Higginbotham resigned St. Ann's Parish, after having been its rec- tor nineteen years.
He continued to be the Vice-Principal of St. John's College, till his death, which took place in 1813, April 31st. He left two sons and two daughters.
As a scholar, he is remembered as one of high or- der, but as a clergyman his reputation suffered ma-
terially from his irregular habits. He was unques- tionably more devoted to his professorship in the col- lege, than to his recetorship in the church. How much of this was owing to his being compelled to derive his support from the former may readily be imagined, and the parish certainly had no right to complain.
REV. WILLIAM DUKE, TWENTY-NINTH MINISTER.
On the same day that Mr. Higginbotham's resig- nation was accepted, February 7th, 1804, the Rev. William Duke was appointed by the vestry to the Rectorship of the parish.
Mr. Duke was a native of Patapsco neck, Balti- more County, and born in 1757. At the age of six- teen, he became a licensed exhorter among the Methi-
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISII.
odists, who had then recently made their appearance in Maryland, and in the subsequent years was ap- pointed to travel in various parts of Virginia, Penn- sylvania and this State. But in 1779, "he desisted from travelling" as the minutes of the conference state, and was employed for five years in teaching in the families in which he successively was. engaged. In 1784, when the Methodists constituted themselves into a church, Mr. Duke left them, and in the follow- ing year, was admitted to orders by Bishop Seabury of Connecticut. There was then no other Bishop in the United States. For the six following years he was minister in Queen Caroline Parish, Ann Arun- del County, and St. Paul's, Prince George's, where he became the intimate friend of Bishop Claggett, as he did soon afterwards of Dr. Bend's while officiating for a year in St. Paul's Chapel, in his own native neighborhood. Meanwhile, he had published an oc- tavo pamphlet, called Thoughts on Repentance. He then became the Rector of the North West Parish of Cecil County, and married the daughter of his pre- decessor in the parish. About this time he published a volume called a Clew to Truth, a small volume of Hymns and Poems, a pamphlet on education, and an- other on the State of Religion in Maryland. In 1797, having lost his wife, he removed and took charge of Westminster Parish, but his health failing him, he accepted a home in Gov. Lloyd's family in Kent County, and officiated occasionally in the church in that neighborhood, but soon returned to Cecil. At length in 1803 at the solicitation of Bishop Claggett, he accepted the appointment of professor of the Languages, in St. John's College in Annapolis. Soon after which, he was elected as before stated, the Rec- tor of the Parish. He was the first pastor which the parish had had that was ordained in the United States.
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
The entries of the vestry's records as we have seen, furnished little, for some time past worth noticing, so now-and the only note made by the examiner during the present rectorship is one of Act. 14, 1805, stating that a pamphlet containing the canons, &c., of the General and Maryland Conventions, with a short address had been published by the Diocesan Convention, and one hundred copies had been sent to the vestry for which they ordered $4 to be returned.
In 1806 the General Assembly at its November term, Maxy, chapter 85, withdrew the funds origi- nally appropriated to St. John's College, and the in- stitution was thereby broken up. Consequently, Mr. Duke resigned his rectorship, and returned to Cecil. In 1811, at the earnest solicitation of the Bishop and others, Mr. Duke became the Principal of Charlotte Hall School, St. Mary's County. But after two years he returned again to Cecil, where he took charge of the Academy at Elkton, and performed the duties of his ministry there statedly. He was a large con- tributor to the periodicals of his day. But was al- ways a man of feeble health, still he lived on to the age of 83, dying in 1840. He left behind him a daugh- ter who still survives him. He was an extensively learned man, and a faithful and evangelical preacher. He was often a member of the Standing Committee and preached the Convention Sermon in 1797. The valuable remains of his library have been presented by his daughter to St. James's College, consisting of about 500 volumes.
REV. WILLIAM L. GIBSON, THIRTIETH MINISTER.
Mr. Gibson was elected by the vestry, April 28th, 1806. He was a native of Kent County, and was or-
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OF ST. ANN'S PARISHI.
dained to the work of the ministry by Bishop White, in April, 1804, and took charge of a parish in Dela- ware.
He remained rector of St. Ann's parish but a year, during which time, January 1, 1807, the vestry closed up the vacancy in the church with plank, and on the 2nd of February ordered a sounding board to be linng over the pulpit.
Mr. Gibson on leaving here, took charge of Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia. In 1812, he had the charge of St. John's Havre de Grace. In 1813, St. Peter's, Montgomery. In 1814, he became the Ree- tor of Queen Anne's, Prince George's. In 1818, he was subjected to an ecclesiastical trial on the charge of intemperance, and was censured by the court. But on being released therefrom by the Bishop, he became in 1819, the Rector of All Hallow's Ann Arundel. In the year following-feeling himself much aggriev- ed, by what he was pleased to call persecution in the church, he left it, and was displaced from the minis- try. Hle then connected himself with the Methodists, and subsequently with the Lutherans. Becoming at length, very infirm, he took up his residence in Reis- terstown, Baltimore County, where he died in 1845, leaving a widow who still survives him. He was held to be a very eloquent and faithful preacher, but la- bored under a diseased nervous constitution, and suf- fered much from morbid sensibility, and was at times undoubtedly deranged. Physicians held this to be the cause of all the censures which he brought upon himself.
At a meeting of the vestry May 5, 1807, an effort was made to elect Mr. Higginbotham again, but he was negatived by five to two of the members present. It was then ordered that a minister be advertised for in the Maryland Gazette and Baltimore American for three successive weeks. This was a mode not unfre- quently adopted at that time by vacant parishes, in
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HISTORICAL NOTICES
order to obtain a minister. Seeing this, letters came before the vestry, from Dr. Hobart of New York, and Dr. Bend of Baltimore on the first of September, re- commending the
REV. BETHEL JUDD, D. D., THIRTY-FIRST MINISTER.
Who was that day unanimously elected. The next day at a meeting of the vestry, a subscription was or- dered, and Messrs. Samuel Ridout, James Williams, John Muir and Jonathan Pinkney were appointed to solicit it. They agreed that the subscription should be made up to $700 but they would not be answera- ble for its collection. Nevertheless under these terms, Mr. Judd accepted. He was from Connecticut and had been ordained deacon by Bishop Jarvis of Con- necticut, September 30th, 1798. But before being ordained priest, he appears to have removed to New York, and from thence came here.
As showing how the glebe lots had changed hands, we find that on the 6th of October, there was ground rents due from Messrs. Davidson, Dulaney, and Gol- . den.
July 15th, 1809, Mr. Judd made application to the vestry, to have the glebe house repaired at his own expense, not to exceed $200, he paying 20 per cent. on the $200 per year. This was granted.
On the 17th November, 1810, a committee was ap- pointed, to consider whether the leases of 1747 should be renewed. On the 24th, Allen Quinn applied for the renewal of the one hield by him, which was origi- nally Thomas King's, and it was renewed for 21 years at £4, 5s. stg. Eleanor Davidson renewed that which was formerly William Reynolds; for 21 years at £4.
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