USA > Maryland > Dorchester County > History of Dorchester County, Maryland > Part 8
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HOOPER'S ISLAND.
Hooper's Island lies south of Taylor's Island. It is about twenty miles in length, though now divided by two navigable
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LAKES
thoroughfares. It is separated from the mainland by Honga River. Its first settlers, like those who settled on Taylor's Island, came from the Western Shore. One of them, Henry Hooper, owned much of the island, consisting of numerous tracts of land, aggregating at that time 2340 acres. On the upper end of the island, then known as Meekin's Neck, a Catholic settlement was made prior to 1692; there the first Catholic church in the county was built. Descen- dants from a number of this religious colony through suc- cessive generations have lived there and still retain the names and lands of their ancestors. Farming, fishing, sailing and oystering have been the successive vocations of these island- ers. To-day oysters are the main source upon which they de- pend for a living and business. The inhabitants are thickly settled on small lots of land, in nice houses that show from a distance like suburban villages. Agencies that make them almost as one social community are good stores, nice churches, public schools and dependent business interests.
LAKES.
Lakes was unknown as a political division of the county until 1829, but in the Revolution of 1776 that section was called "Lakes," after the prominent and patriotic Lake fami- lies, who then lived there, though it was a part of Straits hundred.
Some of the earliest settlers in that section were the Keenes, Hoopers, Gootees, Insleys and Shentons. Its vast tracts of oak and pine timber of old growth were the last in the county to fall before the lumberman's axe.
Some places in and bordering Lakes have peculiar names; there is "Golden Hill," but no gold; "Hunger" River, but always full; "Blackwater" River, but never black; "World's End" Creek, but no end of the world visible there. Some places were given town names, but no towns grew at Lakes Ville, Hungerford or Woodlandtown. The modern name of Crapo represents only one store, post office, a vegetable
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
cannery and five dwellings. The chief occupations of the people in the district are farming and oystering.
STRAITS.
When the county was laid off into eight election districts, Straits retained its original name, first called Straits hundred. At present the mainland extends from the southern boun- dary of Lakes to Bishop's Head, about twelve miles distant. The remainder of the district includes Elliott's Island, Clay Island and Sandy Island, separated from the mainland by Fishing Bay, and Bloodsworth Island and Holland's Island, south of Hooper's Straits. As early as 1660 settlements were made near Hooper's Straits, then called "Limbo" Straits, so named by Captain John Smith, who was caught in a severe storm there during his exploring expedition in 1608. He says the storm blew away their sails, which were repaired by using the shirts of his crew. Honga River that lies west of Straits district, he then named "Rapahanock," the name of an Indian tribe then living near.
The McNamares, Fallins, Brambles and Pritchetts were some of the early settlers, whose descendants still live in Straits.
Not until a market for oysters in cities was established did this district begin to exhibit thrift and develop a dense population, whose numerous dwellings to-day appear like little villages on the mainland, and on Elliott's and Holland's Islands.
There is a peculiar geological land formation in this dis- trict. South of Fishing Bay, along its shore, and on the border of vast bodies of low marshland, are Elliott's and Clay Islands, high sandy hills. On Elliott's Island are evi- dences that Indians lived there, probably the Nantiquacks or Wiwashes, who for generations feasted on oysters along the Bay shore, where Indian arrow heads are found about banks of old oyster shells.
The land in Straits is fertile and produces good crops, but oystering is the chief occupation of the people.
Church History. CHAPTER XIII.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH-THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
A large majority of the people who settled on the Eastern Shore before and after Dorchester County was laid out, were Protestants, a fact conclusively shown by the official acts of the Assembly Delegates and other representative officers in colonial days.
Following the Protestant Revolution of 1689, church in- fluence under the new government made some progress; two churches were then built, and the county divided into two parishers in 1692. Choptank Parish was much the larger, and included a part of what is now Caroline County. This parish was so large that the people who lived a long distance from Cambridge could not regularly attend church service on Sunday. The first partial relief came to them in 1709, when a "Chapel of Ease" was built at Vienna. As the popu- lation increased and expanded, the Assembly authorized the division of great Choptank Parish and the outlining of another called "Saint Mary White Chapel Parish," in 1725, in which, no doubt divine services were held prior to the passage of an Act in 1755, authorizing a chapel to be built in the parish. It was erected on the county road that now leads from Federalsburg to Hunting Creek, about two miles from the latter place.
This religious denomination was prosperous until the out- break of the Revolutionary War, when the rectors, whose oath as clergymen bound them to be loyal and bear true allegiance to the government of England, were obliged to vacate their glebes and churches and return to their native country, or take the oath required to become loyal colonists
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of Maryland. During the Revolutionary struggle for Inde- pendence, and for some years following after, in the absence of the parish rectors of several small churches in the county, their vestrymen, and congregations entirely neglected their parish work and church duties, until the buildings went swift to decay and utter ruin. In the tidal wave of Methodism then passing over the Eastern Shore, many of the Protestants were carried along by that new doctrine into the Wesleyan Societies, chiefly because the Protestant Episcopal Church was supplied by England with a clergy.
At this time there are six Protestant Episcopal churches in Dorchester County, in charge of prominent and scholarly rectors.
In the Parish of Dorchester is old "Trinity Church," which is described in the following part of this chapter.
THE OLD CHURCH. (By Hester Dorsey Richardson.)
In a picturesque spot on the Little Choptank River and on the narrow creek to which it has given its name, stands old Trinity, known until the middle of the nineteenth century as "The Church in Dorchester Parish," and familiarly known to the present generation as "The Old Church."
So long ago was this ancient little edifice built that all record of its date has been lost, the most diligent and careful search having so far failed to throw any light on the subject. It is, however, beyond dispute that this church was standing in the year 1690, two years before the Act of Assembly which directed the division of the counties into parishes, at which time the Great Choptank was cut from the Dorchester Parish, which prior to 1692 included the entire county.
In the year 1690 there were already in existence in the colony of Maryland thirty parish churches and many "Chap- els of Ease."
We find from the colonial records that the Old Church was situated at "Dorchester Town," as the inhabitants of this Parish were instructed to worship in the church at
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TRINITY P. E. CHURCH. CHURCH CREEK.
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THE OLD CHURCH
Dorchester Town, upon the division of the county, and the inhabitants of Great Choptank Parish to worship in Cam- bridge, where the use of the Court House was given for di- vine service, until such time as it should be convenient for them to build their church, which they did not do until 1696 or later, as in that year Mr. Philip Pitt and other vestrymen petitioned the Assembly for the privilege of building a church, which was granted them.
In this same year 1696 the Dorchester Church reported two hundred and twenty-one taxables.
Prior to 1692 Trinity, with all the other early colonial churches, paid tithes to the Bishop of London.
The register of marriages, births and deaths has been pre- served since 1743, but nothing remains of an earlier date other than the names of the rectors from the year 1697.
The law passed by the Council prescribing that vestrymen of all parishes should each year return a list of marriages, was evidently universally disregarded, as in December, 1696, a list of the vestries failing to comply with this and also neglect- ing to send a transcript of their proceedings were read before His Lordship's Council.
The vestrymen of the Dorchester Parish and the Great Choptank were all fined, proving that the records had not been transmitted, most likely because they were not kept, which accounts for the lack of information regarding the early history of this venerable church.
The first rector of whom we have any record was Rev. Thomas Howell, who officiated in both parishes from the year 1697 until 1708. For the next twelve months there were no services at the Dorchester Church, but were resumed upon the arrival of Rev. Thomas Thomson who served as rector for a quarter of a century.
Upon his death in 1736 Mr. William Brogden officiated for three years.
In 1739 and 1740 the name of Mr. Chas. Lake appears as having conducted services on two specified days; he was therefore either a visiting clergyman or a lay reader.
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
In the year 1741 the Rev. Neal McCullum became the rec- tor and so continued until 1770.
After his death or removal the Dorchester Parish remained vacant for a period of eleven years, during which time there is no record of even a special or occasional service being held.
In the year 1768 the following advertisement appeared in the Annapolis Gazette of May 14:
"Wanted in Dorchester Parish a curate. Apply to vestry. "ROGER JONES, Registrar."
As no results came from this invitation it is likely that this was not considered a "good living." Indeed, it is a matter of record that one of the early rectors petitioned to be relieved of his charge because of the poor pay.
In the year 1781 Thomas Brown held service at the Old Church. After this the Rev. Samuel Keene officiated until 1786, in which year he accepted a call to Queen Anne's County, St. Paul's Parish; during his incumbency at the Dor- chester Church, William Keene officiated at some time in 1783.
The church remained without a rector for four years after the departure of Rev. Samuel Keene, until 1793, when Rev. John Keene succeeded him as rector for a little while.
The names of those who conducted occasional services between the years 1794 and 1806 are, I. Slacom, R. Patti- son, I. Braughn, John Anderson. In 1806 the Rev. Mr. Kemp assumed charge of both parishes until 1812, when the Dorchester was again vacant for six years. Rev. G. Weller then became rector for three years.
In the year 1818 the Old Church underwent repairs and the following year a Chapel of Ease was begun on Taylor's Island. The Rev. Jonathan Judd was called to the Parish in 1824. The next rector was Rev. Thomas Bayne, who continued to officiate from 1838 until 1841 when Bishop Whittingham sent the Rev. Wm. Harris to be the resident
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THE OLD CHURCH
rector of the Dorchester Parish, provided sufficient funds could be raised; as he resigned at the end of the year, it is safe to assume that the pay was small.
In the year 1843 the vestry decided it would be expedient to build a frame chapel in the village of Church Creek as more accessible to the people. A building committee was appointed to carry out the plans. This was composed of the following vestrymen: James L. Dorsey, William W. Jones and Wm. T. Staplefort. The project was abandoned in 1848 during the incumbency of Rev. Cyrus Waters, who succeeded the Rev. Meyer Lewin as rector of the Old Church in 1847. Three years later the Rev. James Stephenson was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Waters.
In the Register, the name of the Rev. John W. Nott first appears as rector of the Dorchester Parish in 1854 and although his resignation is not recorded until 1874 in the interim, the names of Rev. James L. Bryan and Rev. Samuel D. Hall are recorded as rectors, the former in 1859 and 1872 and the latter in the year 1869.
After the resignation of Mr. Nott in 1873 the Rev. David Marion Ellwood was elected to succeed him in 1874.
In the year 1877 the Rev. William Wallace Greene of the Virginia Diocese accepted a call to the Old Church, where he continued to officiate until his resignation in 1889. He was succeeded by Rev. Jacob Miller for one year. After his departure another of the many periods of silence fell upon the Old Church, until the Rev. James L. Bryan again held services there.
In 1901 the Rev. Hugh McDonald Martin, of Virginia, responded to a call to this Parish which for ten years had been without a resident rector. Again, after six months' incumbency, it is numbered with the silent churches.
The Old Church was reconsecrated after its restoration from great dilapidation and long vacancy in the middle of the nineteeth century, when it was named Trinity for the first time. This rite was performed by Rt. Rev. Bishop White- house.
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HISTORY OF DORCHESTER COUNTY
During the process of restoration at this time (1850) the high box shaped English pews were removed, also the hand carved wainscoting which is said to have formed part of the interior decoration. A choir gallery, which was suspended above the main entrance, and was approached from the out- side by a circular staircase, was removed "as unsafe and unnecessary."
It is not definitely known at what period the tiled floor was covered with plank in the interest of health. A window above the reredos has long since been bricked up, so that the church in Dorchester Parish has really lost much of its colonial characteristics on the inside.
Tradition says that this and other early churches were built of bricks brought from England, but a close searching of the records fails to bring to light any verification of this oft-told tale.
There is every reason to believe that the bricks were made by the English brickmakers, who were brought into the col- ony, and who were contracting for bricks as early as 1649, in which year one Cornelius Canaday made an agreement to make and deliver to Mr. Thomas Cornwallis twenty-eight thousand bricks within two years.
Many inventories of estates mention brick molds, but no bill of lading of any ship gives "bricks" as a part of a cargo.
A large hollow in the Old Church yard was for many years an object of conjecture and superstition, "because water would not stand in it." That it was from this clay soil the bricks were made which built the church I have no doubt, and indeed there is one tradition to this effect.
While there is no record of the deed of gift of the site of the church there is positive proof that the Busicks, who owned the surrounding land, gave it and the burying ground, for in the will of James Busick probated in the year 1749 he stipulates that "the two acres previously laid off be and do belong to the church so long as a Parish Church is kept and no longer."
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As there is no record of the land ever having been deeded to the vestry, the tenure of the burying ground seems to depend entirely upon the Parish Church being kept.
The land surrounding the church and covering an hundred acres was patented in 1671.
In the year 1767 James Busick (3) upon inheriting the estate had a resurvey made and a new patent granted him by Frederick, sixth Lord Baltimore. This last grant is still in possession of the present owners of "the land."
An old red velvet cushion, which bears the stamp of royal quality, is said to have been sent over by Queen Anne for a prayer cushion in this early church. Indeed, tradition goes so far as to claim that the good queen knelt on it at her coronation. It is certainly the exact shape and size of those used on such occasions.
There still remains one large silver communion cup, in- scribed "To the Church in Dorchester Parish," which bears the English Hall marks of long ago.
The other pieces of the service have disappeared. There is no mention made in the church records of the presentation of the communion service, and while tradition says it also was presented by Queen Anne, the Hall marks indicate a period later than her reign.
During a period of restoration some years back, stained glass windows were presented to the Old Church through Miss Mary Carroll, of Dorchester County, then living in Washington, D. C. Later, many repairs and improvements were made by the Guild of the Parish.
About five years ago the church showed alarming signs of weakness and it was feared that the sacred edifice was about to fall. The Right Reverend William Forbes Adams, Bishop of the Diocese, was, however, enabled to have the original walls buttressed by a timely contribution from a New York lady interested in the preservation of ancient land marks.
The Chapel organ and the handsome communion ser- vice were purchased with money raised in Baltimore for the
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purpose, by Miss Sallie Webster Dorsey, formerly of Balti- more, now of Dorchester. In appreciation of her efforts the vestry of Old Trinity passed resolutions of thanks to Miss Dorsey.
Mrs. Wm. G. Woodside, of Baltimore, gave as a memorial to her son a chancel hanging-lamp, in addition to a hand- some antipendant and stole, embroidered by the Mount Cal- vary Sisters.
Altar hangings have from time to time been donated to Old Trinity by sister churches in Baltimore and Washington.
Within the past two years the interior of the Dorchester church has been repaired, and new windows, protected by stout oaken shutters, have replaced the dilapidated ones. A chancel carpet and new prayer-books and hymnals have also been presented. These latest repairs and improvements were made through the efforts of Mrs. Thomas King Carroll, who contributed liberally to the restoration, as did Mr. John E. Hurst, of Baltimore; Mr. John Richardson, of St. Joseph, Md .; Mrs. James Richardson, of Church Creek, and Mr. Charles O. Willis, of Vicksburg, Miss.
The fact that friends of the church in distant parts of the State have many times come to the rescue and saved the Old Church from falling into utter decay, is proof that the com- munity is not of the Episcopal faith, and while all seem to reverence the ancient edifice there seems little hope of its ever becoming a flourishing parish.
The burying ground is the last resting-place of all denomi- nations, and despite the fact that it is already crowded the vestry of the Old Church have never reserved the privileges of the ground for the membership.
The time must come, however, and shortly, when each church in the community must have its own "God's Acre," when those now sleeping their last sleep in the shadow of Old Trinity will rest undisturbed.
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN DORCHESTER
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN DORCHESTER.
(Data from Hon. Wm. F. A.)
The first settlers who came to this section of Dorchester in colonial days were Catholics. Their first chapel was built in Meekins' Neck, about 1769, in what is now Election Dis- trict No. 6, or Hooper's Island, and near Golden Hill. It was a small and unpretentious looking structure, and could have been easily taken for a barn, but for the presence of a small wooden cross upon it. A short distance from the site of the old chapel, a modern church of that denomination now stands, which was erected in 1872. In full view of the Chesapeake Bay, and opposite the cliffs on the Western Shore, is this divine edifice, "St. Mary's Star of the Sea." From a distant view, tiny white specks appear here and there about the church ground which at closer range prove to be memorial symbols erected over the last resting-places of many departed guardians of that old parish.
The primitive settlers of this Catholic colony in Dorchester, came from St. Mary's County about the year 1660. At that day divine service was held in private dwellings by a miss on- ary Jesuit priest, who crossed the Chesapeake from St. Inigoes.
Before services were regularly conducted in that part of the Eastern Shore, as often as two or three times a year, it was customary for entire families to embark early on Sunday morning in their small crafts and cross the Bay to attend Mass, in St. Mary's.
The descendants of the original Catholics of that epoch, who are still in this parish fold in Dorchester, are the families of Mrs. Richard Tubman, Mrs. George Mace, Frank Tubman, William F. Applegarth, Robert Tubman, Charles Tubman, Mrs. Emma Martin, G. Galon Shenton, Louis B. Keene, Mrs. E. Vickars, Jno. A. Dunnock, Geo. A. Wilson, Wm. H. Dean, Edward Meekins, John D. Meekins, Mrs. Leonard, Eugene Jones, Mrs. Susie Tyler, Job and Mathias Dunnock, Mrs. Foxwell, Mrs. Dorothy Simmons, Alexander Fitzhugh,
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Raymond Shenton, Mrs. Zoe Keene, Mrs. Daniel LeCompte and Mrs. Geo. H. Gillingham.
The old Catholic church was purchased for a public school building in 1872, and is still used for that purpose.
As Protestantism grew strong and oppressive under sec- tarian laws enacted in the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne the Catholics made but little church advance- ment during that period. In 1706 the Sheriffs of the several counties were required by an Act of Assembly to enumerate all Catholics in their respective counties; only seventy-nine were found in Dorchester County.
To check the growth of "Popery," an Act was passed in 1723, for laying an additional duty of twenty shillings current money, per poll, on all Irish servants, being Papists, who were brought into the colony.
The progress of the Catholic Church in Dorchester County has been very slow; at this date there are only about five hun- dred Catholics, and three churches, one each at Cambridge, Secretary, and Golden Hill, or Meekins' Neck. They are sustained by able and influential parishioners. "Mary Refuge of Sinners," the church in Cambridge, was erected in 1894, to replace one built there in 1885. The church at Secretary is the outgrowth of a small Catholic settlement made there about 1886, which has since been steadily increasing.
Prior to the elevation of Right Rev. Alfred A. Curtis to the see of Wilmington, Del., the spiritual wants of Dorchester Catholics were served monthly, by a priest, stationed at Eas- ton, Md., but Bishop Curtis determined to establish better service for the Catholics in the county and to his efforts are due the progress of the church since that time.
CATHOLIC CHURCH, ''MARY REFUGE OF SINNERS."
CHAPTER XIV.
THE PATERNAL BIRTHPLACE OF METHODISM-GERMANS WHO EMIGRATED TO IRELAND, WHERE THEY ARE CONVERTED TO WESLEYAN METHODISM - MANY OF THEM CAME TO AMERICA-FIRST METHODIST SOCIETY ORGAN- IZED IN NEW YORK-EXTRACTS FROM FREEBORN GARRETTSON'S JOURNAL.
EARLY METHODISM.
Nearly two hundred years ago a number of German colo- nists left the Palatinate in the region of the "Rhine," then too near the border line of Imperial France, and settled in Limerick County, in the west part of Ireland. In 1758 Rev. John Wesley visited the descendants of these colonists, at Killiheen, Balligarane, and other places where he preached the "Gospel" and many were converted. As early as 1752, Mr. Wesley had visited that part of Ireland, where the Ger- man-Irish were among the first to welcome him. In that year, under the religious influence of Mr. Wesley's societies there, a young Irishman, Philip Embury was converted. In his family record was written the following :
"On Christmas, being Monday, 25th of December, in the year 1752, the Lord shone into my soul by a glimpse of his redeeming love, being an earnest of my redemption in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. "PHILIP EMBURY."
Mr. Embury became a local preacher in Ireland. He emi- grated to America in 1760, and settled in New York City. About this time a number of emigrants came to New York from Ireland; they had been Methodists in their own land. In one Christian family named Hick that came from Balli- garane, Ireland, was a pious lady, Mrs. Barbara Hick, who
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influenced Mr. Embury to preach in New York. Her appeal to him was: "Brother Embury, you must preach to us, or we shall all go to hell, and God will require our blood at your hands!" With her request he complied. Only six persons attended the first meeting. This society then organized and later enlarged, built the first Methodist meeting house in America, on John Street, New York, in 1768.
In 1760, the year that Mr. Embury game, Robert Straw- bridge, another Irish Methodist, arrived and settled in Fred- erick County, Md. From the work of these pioneers, Methodist societies were organized at many places, and placed in charge of local leaders. Rev. John Wesley sent over some licensed ministers to superintend the Christian work he had started in America. Francis Asbury, the first who arrived in 1771, at twenty-six years of age. traveled extensively as a missionary. In his religious field of labor he was as zealous as the Apostle Paul, and like him in another respect never married. "To him more than any other man in America, Methodism owes its excellent organization and wonderful growth."
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