USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume I > Part 14
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Wenlock Christison has now been followed in his devious and thorny path of life down to a time somewhat subsequent to the year 1665.
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He had just come up to Boston from Rhode Island with Alice Ambrose, alias Gary and Mary Tompkins, under the protection of Sir Robt. Carr, a Commissioner of the King, for the purpose of embarking for the West Indies; but they were foiled in this intention by the cruel diligence of the authorities, for they were immediately arrested, and driven with blows, from the jurisdiction. From the known character of these Friends whom no amount of suffering deterred from following a course which they verily believed was marked out for them by a Divine hand, it is not likely they were diverted from their purpose of visiting Friends in the Bermudas and the Barbadoes, but it is altogether probable they subsequently, and at no distant day, carried their design into successful execution and that they escaped out of the "bloody town of Boston" as Bishope calls it, and the "Habitations of Cruelty" of New England. It may be that the journey to the West Indies was only a part of that circuit of travel followed by many of the early Quaker Preachers, which circuit was completed by going from those islands to Virginia and Mary- land, and thence through the "Woods" to Long Island and back again to New England. At the period of these events, Pennsylvania had not been founded by William Penn. Religion is apt to follow the track of commerce and there was an active intercourse between the W. I. Islands and the New England Colonies, and also between those islands and the settlements of Virginia and our own State. But conjecture aside it is known from actual and authoritative records that Wenlock Christison, and one of those women with whom he last suffered in Boston, were in the State of Maryland, as early at least as the year 1672 and no doubt some time before, and that he himself, as early as 1670, was in Talbot county. In the Register's office of Calvery county there is recorded the Will of Peter Sharpe, "Chirurgion," who is also called "Peter Sharpe of the Cliffs," meaning the Cliffs of the Patuxent, (in Liber No. 1, for the year 1635 to 1674) bearing date of the year 1672. The following is an extract from the Will, as given by L. L. Davis in his "Day Star."
I give to Friends in ye ministry, viz: Alice Garey, William Cole, and Sarah Marsh, if then in being; Wenlock Christison and his wife; John Burnett and Daniel Gould; in money or goods, at the choice of my executors, forty shillings worth apiece; also for a perpetual standing, a horse, for the use of Friends in ye ministry, and to be placed at the convenient place for their use.
But there is a yet earlier record of the presence of Wenlock Christi- son in this State, and of his being a resident of this county, a record in which the same Peter Sharpe is mentioned in connection with the sub-
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ject of this article. From the Land Records of Talbot county No. 1 fol. 120 it appears that on the first of August 1670 Peter Sharpe of the Cliffs of Calvert county, surgeon, and Judith his wife transferred to Wenlock Christison
in consideration of true affection and brotherly love which we have and beare unto our well beloved brother Wenlock Christison, in Talbot County, and also for other divers good causes and considerations wee att this present especially moving,
one hundred and fifty acres of Land, part of Hausley, [evidently an error of the transcribing clerk for Fausley, as other records plainly show, for it must be noted that the first volume of our county records is a transcript and not an original, unfortunately] on Faisley [Fausley] Creek, southside of St. Michaels river and known by the name of "End- ing of Controversy." What more appropriate name could there be for the home of a man whose life had been spent in strife and dispute! It will not escape notice that this conveyance expresses no "consideration" but "true affection and brotherly love." There can be but little doubt that the good Quaker Physician of Calvert, who was a man of large possessions, bestowed this little farm upon the poor wanderer, because of his sympathy for him in his sufferings and privations and in recog- nition of his services in the cause of "Truth," and "Light." This gift of land was not the only act of kindness on the part of Peter Sharpe, to- wards Wenlock Christison. He with others was remembered in the Will of the Calvert worthy, and had a legacy of two pounds sterling, not an insignificant sum at a time and in a place where money was so scarce, and worth probably ten times as much as now. Nor was Peter Sharpe the only sympathising friend who bestowed worldly goods upon Wenlock. What was land worth unless it could be cultivated, and what could Wenlock do with One Hundred and fifty acres of wild land, covered with heavy timber, and perhaps not one acre under the plough,- he a preacher, often called away on long journeys, having "a concern to visit Friends" in distant quarters? Henry Wilcocks, another Friend, sets about remedying this trouble, and on the 20th 1st month 1670-1 (March 1671) he, for no consideration, as far as expressed in the convey- ance, assigns and makes over to him a servant man, named Francis Lloyd. This was really a valuable addition to his wealth, for labor then as now was the great want and demand of the people of this county, and indentured servants were sought after, with even greater avidity than we are now seeking German emigrants. Other records of the
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court for 1675, and for 1676 show that Wenlock became possessed, probably by purchase, of other servants, for in the former year, he brought his servant Edward Gibson into court to have his age and time of service to be adjudged, and in the latter year, he brought his servant John Stacy before the Justices for a similar purpose. It may be mentioned that this John Stacy was set free by the will of Christison, and he left him legacies in consideration of his good behavior.
It will be understood, of course, that these servants were white men, that had been brought from the old country and sold for a term of years to defray the cost of their transportation. They were not necessarily, criminals, for many most estimable people came over as bond servants and there are families now in this county who are as respectable as any, whose ancestors, it is known, left their old home under indentures to serve a specified time in the new for the price of their passage across the ocean. No more reproach should attach to such families than to those whose friends gave their founders a few pounds to pay for their berths in the ship; and not as much as to those wealthy connections were glad to defray the cost of their journey across the sea, that they might be rid of worthless dependants, and scapegraces that disgraced them at home.
But to return: Wenlock Christison not only became possessed of white servants, but we shall see in the sequel he was interested in colored ones also. In the year 1673 the landed estate of Wenlock was enlarged by the acquisition of One Hundred acres. This was derived from John Edmondson, another very wealthy Quaker, before referred to in this memoir, a merchant, in good repute with the society, but one whose extensive dealings often brought him under discipline by his brethren, for the early Quakers scrutinized a man's conduct with great sharpness, and they were very particular to keep themselves without reproach, n the eye of the world. John Edmondson on the 18th Nov. 1673 conveyed to Wenlock Christison One Hundred Acres of land on "Faus- ley Creek" called "Addition." It apparently joined "Ending of Contro- versy" and in the conveyance no consideration is mentioned. This too may have been a gift, and in all probability it was. Again, in the 15th Oct. 1677, Wenlock buys (but there the consideration is not mentioned and this too may have been "for true affection and brotherly love") from one John Davis another tract of land on Fausley Creek "lying between Fausley Branch and the Eastern branch of St. Michaels River" and being a part of the land laid out for one Roger Gross, called and known by the name of "Ashby." So it appears Wenlock prospered
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in this world, and became the possessor of broad estates and troups of servants, verifying the truth of the declaration of the great founder of doctrinal Christianity, that Godliness is profitable unto all things having the promise of this world and of that which is to come.
From what is here said of the lands acquired by Wenlock Christison, whether any gift or by purchase, we are enabled to determine almost precisely the place of his residence. There is no doubt that he owned that point of land formed by what are now called Glebe and Golds- borough's creeks, and owned by Addison Randall Esq.,-one of the most charming sites in Talbot county, and now adorned by the beauti- ful villa built by Mr. Rich'd France. It is certain also that he owned a part of the tract of land adjoining the "Ending of Controversy," called "Fausley."-Family tradition establishes the fact that the residence of William Dixon, who married the widow and obtained the estate of Christison, and who bequeathed this estate to his nephew Isaac Dixon, in the absence of direct heirs, was the brick dwelling, in part yet standing in a dilapidated condition upon the "Woodstock" property, which now embraces a part of "Fausley." It is therefore probable almost to certainty, that at this house Wendock Christison lived and died. It is possible, of course that Will Dixon may have built this house, and may not have built it upon the exact site of the residence of his wife's former husband. Fausley-not Woodstock-has another title to celebrity beside being once in the ownership of the Quaker worthy: it was the birth place of the Hon. William Tilghman, the distinguished Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and one of the purest and best of men. The precise spot where he first saw the light may yet be pointed out to the curious in local antiquities, or to devotees at the shrines of civic merit or private virtue, by Mr. Thomas Kirby, now living upon the place.
"Fausley Creek" was what is now improperly called "Glebe Creek." It could not have been called by its present name until the year 1714, for it was not until then that the lands, from which the name is derived were devised by Col. Thomas Smithson to St. Michael's Parish for a Glebe. What is now called Goldsborough's creek, was in the early record designated by the Eastern Branch of the St. Michaels river. It will be perceived that the home of Wenlock Christison situated where- ever it may have been, on Glebe creek or Goldsborough's Creek, was very convenient for attendance upon his place of worship at Betty's Cove, to which it was but a short passage by water, of less than two miles. In those early days our beautiful rivers and creeks
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were more generally used for local travel and transportation than now, and the canoe or barge then took the place. in the absence of carriage roads, of the wheeled vehicles we now so commonly employ. At his house, probably to accommodate Friends in the upper eastern and lower parts of the county, meetings were occasionally held. as was shown in the first of these articles, for it must be remembered that the cross road over Court House bridge, from what is now Easton, to the Bay side road, was not then constructed. and people from what is now the Trappe district, to get to Betty's Cove meeting. went round by the Glebe road. and those from Tuckahoe had to take the same route, so they could get to Wenlock's house almost as easily as to the meeting house itself. In 1676 then, when the minutes of the Friends Meeting in Talbot county commence, the first men's or business meeting of which any record remains was held at Wenlock Christison's. But that he held a station of honor and confidence among his people before this date is known by the fact that in 1674 he was one of the petitioners to the General Assembly of Maryland for a modification of the law with regard to oaths, so as to allow Friends to make their solemn affirmations, instead of swearing, which they say in their prayer for relief they "dare not do." He was doubtless one of those appointed by the meetings to present the petition to the Governor and his council, and as his name heads the list, the text of this address which is on record, was probably from his pen. This petition was sent by the upper to the lower house. but some doubt arising as to the right of the assembly to alter the form of oath prescribed by the law of England, it was referred back again to the upper house, which ordered it to remain upon the journal until the opinion of the Lord Proprietary could be obtained. who declared, when it was laid before him. that though he formerly had intentions of gratifying the desire of the Friends in this matter. he wished "all pro- ceedings therein to be for the present suspended." assigning no reason for this course. The object of this petition was not attained until the year 1702. when the "Act for the establishment of religious worship in this province, according to the church of England." was passed. upon which a section was engrafted declaring that "the solemn affirms- tion or declaration of the people called Quakers shall be accepted instead of an oath in the usual form." For so long a time were good citizens subjected to vexations and losses. But while presenting this petition to the Governor and Council of Maryland we see Wenlock Christison in a very different position from that he occupied when before Governor Endicott and the General Court of Massachusetts. The committee
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of the Friends meeting, of which he was apparently the chairman, or speaker, were received courteously by Governor Charles Calvert, subsequently Lord Proprietary, and his council, and their complaint respectfully considered. Let us indulge the fancy, that Wenlock was allowed to wear his hat in the Governor's presence, a privilege so estima- ble that rather than forego it he was once ready to be led to the gallows.
But Wenlock Christison did not enjoy the confidence of Friends only, for we have indubitable evidence of the respect and esteem in which he was held by the citizens of the country at large in the fact that he was elected by their suffrages to the highly honor- able place of Burgess or Delegate to the General Assembly. Not yet having examined the Journals of Proceedings of the House, at Annap- olis, opportunity has not offered to determine the date of his election, but it is known that a proclamation for an election was made in April 1676, and that Wenlock Christison is mentioned as being one of the Lower House in 1681 though at that date his death is noted. It is presumable he was chosen in the former years, and held his seat until his death. He was probably the first Quaker who had occupied a politi- cal position in this county. John Edmundson appears to have been elected Sept. 2, 1681, to fill the place of W. C. and he took his seat in the General Assembly in November of that year. Although Friends, by reason of their scruples upon many matters with which government has to deal, have been for the most part excluded from political and civil position, it is certain that about the time of the event here related they were members of Lower House, and Justices of the Peace. In 1685 no less than three of the ten Justices or Judges of this county were Quakers, namely, William Sharp, Will. Stephen and Ralph Fishbourne. It would appear that the election of Wenlock Christison, or of Quakers, did not give entire satisfaction, and that politicians were pretty much the same then as now, as the following incident, apropos of the election of the Quaker delegate from Talbot, will show. Col. Vincent Lowe of this county, circulated a report "of Friends that were chosen Assembly men," the purport of which was that "Friends should be the occasion of the Leavyes [levies or taxes] being raised soe high." This report of which we know no more, seems to have so scandalized the Friends, that it was first noticed by the monthly meeting at Third Haven, and then by it referred to the Yearly meeting. A committee was appointed, 3rd day 8th month, 1677, composed of John Edmondson, Bryon O'Mealy and Ralph Fishbourne, "to treat with Lowe for ye clearing of Friends and ye Truth"-so solicitous were these people of covering all reproach.
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No doubt Wenlock Christison's conduct as an "Assembly man" was the subject of Col. Vincent Lowe's animadversions, and of this early com- mittee's investigations.
There is nothing in the book of Bishope to lead one to believe that W. Christison while undergoing the persecutions in New England was a man of family. No reference is made to his having a wife, but among the first notices of him in Maryland, namely that made in the will of Peter Sharpe already quoted, is a reference to him as a married man, for the devise is to "Wenlock Christison and his wife." But we have in the minutes of the meeting other references to this fact, some of which are exceedingly curious. The following minute needs no apology for its insertion here, being so interesting and suggestive.
Att our men's meeting att Wenlock Christison's the 14th day of the 5th month 1676,
Wenlock Christison declared in the meeting that if the world, or any particular person should speak Evilly of the Truth, or Reproach friends concerning his proceedings in taking his wife, that then he will give further satisfaction and clere the Truth and friends by giving forth a paper to condemn his hasty. and forward proceedings in that matter, and said that were the thing to do again he would not proceed so hasty, nor without the consent of friends.
Now it is very clear from this that Wenlock Christison had recently married, that he had married either without having made the proper advertisement in meeting, or had married out of the society, some one not a member, for which he had been called to account. It is likely therefore this was a second marriage, for Friends would certainly not have called him to an account for a marriage contracted anterior to 1672 and at least four years before. So it appears that Wenlock prophet and apostle, and almost martyr as he was, was not insensible to female charms, and he whom the threats of Judges and the whip of Constables could not subdue, yielded to the blandishments of a fair lady, so far as to forget not the requirements of rectitude we may be sure, but the exactions of ecclesiastical rule. There was on his part no lapse from virtue, nor fall from grace, but a little obliviousness of canonical law more readily pardoned by the "world" than by church authorities, even though these authorities be Friends who have always been very indulgent to the infirmities of human nature, when the "Truth" was not compromised thereby. That W. Christison had children born to him is well attested. His eldest daughter Mary married one John Dine, who lived upon St. Michaels river, but subsequently removed to
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Kent Island, where he may have representatives to this day. It is thought that another daughter married Peter Harrod, or Harwood, who lived and died in this county. A third daughter is referred to prob- ably in the following minute from the records of the Friends meeting held 5th day of 12th month 1692. It must be premised that William Dixon, who is mentioned in the minute married the widow of Wenlock Christison, and hence he may properly accordingly to an erroneous usage, have called a daughter of his wife a daughter-in-law. He cer- tainly had no children of his own.
William Dixon informs this meeting yt his Daughter-in-law is stole away and married by a priest in ye night, contrary to his and his wife's minds; that he has opposed ye same, and refused to pay her portion, for which he is cited to appear before ye Commissary generalle, and now he desires to know whether ye meeting would stand by him, if he should sue ye priest yt so married her. Ye meeting assents to it, and promises to stand by him in it, he taking ye meetings advice from time to time in his proceedings therein.
Nothing seems to have afflicted Friends in Talbot more than the "outgoings" of members of the society in marriage. To be married with license by a magistrate, or by a "hireling priest" was an abomina- tion in their eyes, that could not go unreproved. At a meeting held the 4th month 1681, the committee that was appointed to wait on the Lord Proprietary
concerning friends children being taken away from them and married by the priest without their consent or knowledge,
gave an answer to the effect that they were treated "very civilly" by the Proprietary who said among other things
that for ye future he would take care in all his councels that the like should be prevented .- The evil continuing unabated, the quarterly meeting held 10th of 6th month 1688, recommended that Friends should disinherit their disobedient children, and give them 'no part nor parcel of their outward substance.'
This action of the quarterly was confirmed by the yearly meeting held at Third Haven the 9th of the 8th month 1688, with a supplementary recommendation that
Priests or magistrates that do marry Friend's children without their parent's or guardian's consent should be prosecuted.
This explains the conduct of William Dixon in his appeal to the meeting to "stand by him" in his refusal to pay over the portion due
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to a daughter of Wenlock Christison (probably) and his proposal to sue the Priest who married her. History is silent as to the name of the offenders-William Dixon died without heirs of his body leaving the estate derived through his marriage with Wenlock Christison's widow, to Isaac Dixon, the son of a brother, he having bought out the interest of Mary Christison Dine in 1684.
The precise date of Wenlock Christison's death is no where given, and unfortunately the will that he made is neither in the Court Records, nor in those of the Third Haven meeting. But it is pretty certain he died about 1678 or 9, and that he made a will appointing his wife Eliza- beth, jointly with Will. Sharpe and Thomas Taylor, executrix. In 1679 it is stated in the minutes she was about to marry again, and the meeting took measures to have the estate of Wenlock Christison properly partitioned to the heirs and legatees. John Edmondson, Bryon O' Melia and William Southbee were appointed by the meeting, in accord- ance with a custom among the Friends, to counsel, advise and assist the executrix in the settlement of the estate. It is worthy of note that the early Friends took especial care of the interests of orphans, and pro- tected their estates by other than legal guards. They even had a register whose duty it was to record wills, at a time when there seems to have been no legal registration. In his will Wenlock set free his servant, John Salter, the same whom, as mentioned above, he carried into court to have his time of service adjudged. This John Salter was a carpenter as it appears, and after obtaining his freedom he became the contractor for and builder of the "Great Meeting House at Third Haven"-that which we see standing at the present day in the near vicinity of Easton. This contract to build was dated in 1682. The first meeting held in the house was on the 24th of the 8th month (24th Oct.) 1684.
Where Wenlock Christison was buried is not known, but probably at the meeting house at Betty's Cove, for there was a grave yard attached to that house. No monumental stone marks the grave of this worthy, for "the people called Quakers" will not minister to a vanity that seeks even posthumous display, by erecting memorials to their dead, nor gratify the pride or affection of the living by blazoning on tombstones in false or fulsome praise the virtues of departed Friends. They who look with such confidence to an immortality beyond the grave are not apt to be so- licitous for that transitory immortality the most glowing epitaphs upon perishable marble bestow. So Wenlock Christison sleeps in an undistinguished tomb, and yet he is more secure of a lasting memory
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than if his last resting place was marked by "storied urn or animated bust."
Here properly should terminate this memoir, but an occurrence that happened after his death reveals an incident in the life of this Quaker worthy, so strange and startling that, although the absence of date has prevented its incorporation in this essay in its chronological position, it must not be omitted. It will be recollected it was stated that there is sufficient evidence on record to render it probable that Wenlock Christi- son, after leaving New England, some time between the years of 1665 and 1670, went to Barbadoes; also, in another place, that he had in his possession after settling in Talbot, African slaves, as well as European indentured servants. Now this evidence is furnished by a brief minute of the Third Haven meeting, under date of 16th of 7th month, (16th Sept.) 1681. The minute is to the effect that the executors of his last will and testament, namely, his wife, William Sharpe and Thomas Taylor, had been arrested at the suit of "one Diggs concerning of some negroes sent by Wenlock Christison out of Barbadoes to this country." Not unprobably this Diggs was that Col. Diggs who was at one time a Justice of the Provincial Court and member of the Upper House of Assem- bly, and who commanded at St. Mary's when the archives of the State were surrendered to John Coode, who was leader of the forces of the Protestant Association at the time of the revolution of 1689. The phraseology of the minutes would seem to indicate that these negroes were not purchased from a cargo imported by Col. Diggs, but that they were sent by Christison out of Barbadoes, he himself being present in the island, and making the shipment. It is well known that the West India islands were depots for the reception of slaves brought from the coast of Africa, and that from the barracoons upon those islands they were sold to shippers trading with the various colonies. The Quakers have been so long, and they were such early opponents of the whole sys- tem of slavery, that many suppose that their "testimony" has always been against the holding of man in bondage. This is of course erroneous. Well informed Friends know that negro slaves were held by the early members of the society. The records of their meetings here, as well as the records of our Court, indicate the fact. The glory of the society is that at so early a period, even before the public conscience had been awakened, it should have uttered first its advice, and then its command against the holding of slaves.3 But even before there was even advice
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