USA > Maryland > Talbot County > History of Talbot county, Maryland, 1661-1861, Volume II > Part 33
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the conquests which were made by the fiery zeal and exhausting labors of less cultured, but hardly less able men. He arrived, as he himself says, in Talbot in July, 1778, and "labored for two weeks, night and day with tears." Those who were attracted to Methodism by his preaching and that of his co-laborers, he united into societies. In November of this year he attended a quarterly meeting in this county, at the house of Mr. Parrott, near St. Michaels, and after the business meeting had concluded, a prayer meeting was held, at which fifteen persons were present. As yet the conception of a separate ecclesiasti- cal body was imperfectly formed, and the "societies" were considered still within the Church of England, although of course that church as an "establishment" had disappeared with the adoption of the constitu- tion of the State of Maryland in 1776. From July, 1778, therefore, organized Methodism in Talbot, and of course in Bayside, must date its existence.
Associated with Freeborn Garrettson on the great Kent circuit, with which Talbot after the formation of the societies had been incorporated, was Joseph Hartley. If Cromwell was the pioneer and founder of Methodism here, and Garrettson the organizer, Hartley was the proto- martyr. The story of the arrest and imprisonment of this preacher, both in Queen Anne's and in Talbot; of his being committed to jail in Easton for teaching and preaching the gospel contrary to the Act of Assembly, made and provided; of his conscientious scruples about taking the oath of allegiance to the new State of Maryland, after having taken a similar oath to the State of Delaware; of his preaching to as- sembled crowds from his jail window; of his being taken from prison to the dying bed of one of the justices that had committed him; of the testimony of this dying magistrate to his being "the servant of God," and of his request that Hartley would preach his funeral sermon; of the release, after a while, of this servant of God, upon his recognizance to appear at court, from day to day, until discharged-this whole story has been so often told, that it need not be here repeated. Joseph Hart- ley married, settled, and died here. His place of sepulture is not known, and as the bones of the Methodist saints have no power of discovering themselves by working miracles like the relics of the saints of other communions, the grave of this confessor cannot be made the shrine to which the devout may repair; but nevertheless his services to Method -. ism, his patience under affliction, and his holy zeal should not fail to have their due recognition in this year, which is really the centennial .. anniversary of his imprisonment, and of his preaching like St. Paul
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at Rome, in bonds. Garrettson also suffered imprisonment, in Cam- bridge. Hartley lived at Dundee, in Miles River Neck, and was prob- ably buried in the burial ground that surrounded the Chapel of the Church of England, which was on that farm.
When these early preachers appeared in Talbot, religion was at a low ebb. It was characterized by formality and indifference. The Church of England, which was the established church of the province, was very inadequately performing its duty towards the people. The clergy were few in number, and as their stipends were sure, and their positions enjoyed without rivalry, their clerical functions were per- formed with a kind of official regularity, and an official apathy. There had been many of these clergymen of improper character, but at the time when Methodism came in the three ministers of the church, within this county, were men of exemplary lives. These were the Rev. Jacob Henderson Hindman, in St. Peter's Parish, who was succeeded by the Rev. John Bowie in 1780; theRev. John Gordon, in St. Michaels Parish; and the Rev. Hugh Neill, in St. Paul's Parish (Wye). Of these the Rev. Mr. Bowie and the Rev. Mr. Neill were non-jurors or tories. The church, even before the revolution, and particularly since the political contest over the vestry act in 1770, had lost much of the affection of the people, among whom there was a growing opposition to the pay- ment of the tax for the support of the clergy. The sittings were very inadequate for the accommodation of the worshippers. In the whole county there were but three churches and two chapels of ease belonging to the established church, to accommodate a population which in 1780 amounted to at least 12,000 souls. The two chapels of ease were at this time in ruins. In the Bayside, the church at St. Michaels was the only place of worship, except a little Quaker meeting house near the head of Harris's Creek. The Friends had in the county three other houses-one near Easton, one near Trappe, and a third in King's Creek, or Tuckahoe. Even these good people, who at an earlier day had shown so much fervor, were sharing in the general indifference to re- ligion, and were not only cooling in their ardor of an hundred years before, but relaxing in the rigidity of their discipline. They were also declining in numbers. The only other denomination of Christians within the county were the Roman Catholics, of which there was a mission chapel at St. Joseph's, founded in 1765. There were so few Romanists that their presence, however devoted they may have been, did not perceptibly change the religious aspect of society. So there were in the whole county, at the date of the introduction of Methodism,
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but two houses of worship, where according to the present ratio, between church and people, there should have been more than thirty. In the whole Bayside, below Easton, there were but two, where there are now fifteen or more. When the Methodist preachers came in, what houses of worship there were, were closed against them: and until their converts became sufficiently numerous and wealthy to build meeting houses their public services were held in private houses, in barns, in hired rooms in the towns, or in the open field, the woods or orchards. Camp meet- ings among these people were of later introduction, and were adopted because there was a lack of sufficient house accommodation for the immense throngs that often assembled at their meetings. It is said that one of the earliest preaching places in Bayside was at the residence of Mr. Richard Parrott, near St. Michaels, on the farm now owned by Mr. Alexander Harrison. There is an early record of a quarterly meeting at this place, in these words: "In November, 1778, on a quar- terly meeting occasion in Talbot county, about fifteen persons met to hold a prayer meeting at Mr. Parrott's the night after quarterly meet- ing ended. Mr. Garrettson was assisted at this meeting by Mr. Hart- ley, and his brother, Richard Garrettson. This was a powerful meet- ing and lasted six hours-ending at two o'clock in the morning. Five souls-Dr. White, his two sisters and two other young ladies-were set at liberty." Mr. Garrettson, from whose book of reminiscences of his ministry this extract has been made, speaks of this meeting as an actual epiphany of the Diety, in such words as these: "the Lord was with us in truth"-"the power of the Lord was sensibly felt"-"His presence filled the room." From other declarations of Mr. Garrettson, and from the well-known opinions of some of the more enthusiastic of his followers these expressions can hardly be considered metaphorical. There is another interesting record of a meeting at Mr. Parrott's house, to this effect: "William Waters, about the year 1779, in a barn on Parrott's Point farm, held a two days' meet- ing. Seven persons were converted, and a class formed in St. Michaels." The place where this barn stood, therefore, may be considered a hallowed spot to Bayside Methodism. Another family, which if not living in this section at the time, became identified with it subsequently, opened its house to these early apostles of this faith. This was that of the Bruffs. Mr. Robert Newcomb, belonging to Bayside and living just above Royal Oak, was a friend of the preachers, and probably had serv- ices at his house. In Ferry Neck, Arthur Rigby, a blind man of good fortune, excellence sense, and ardent piety, permitted the use of his
,
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HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
house, which was of ample dimensions. A little later, Henry Banning, living in Hopkins's Neck, whose wife has been canonized, so far as having her name mentioned by all the hagiographers of Methodist saintliness, extended like hospitality to the preachers. Doubtless there were many others of similar liberality, but their names have unfortunate- ly not been transmitted by either written record or oral tradition.
It is not certainly known where the first meeting house that was erected for the use of the Methodists of Talbot, was built: but inasmuch as very soon after the preachers began their labors in this county, these people became very numerous in Bayside, it is highly probable that to them belongs the honor of building the first house dedicated to worship according to these forms.
Certain it is, that the first recorded deed for land to be used for this purpose bears the date of 1781, and was for a lot in the town of St. Michaels.1 The following is an abstract of this deed:
This Indenture, made the sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord, seventeen hundred and eighty-one, witnesseth that James Braddock, of Talbot County, Gentleman, having a pious zeal and peculiar love for the society of people called Methodists, as also for other divers good causes and considerations thereunto moving, Doth by these presents willingly, freely and voluntarily give and grant unto
JAMES BENSON, ROBERT LAMBDIN,
RICHARD PARROTT,
JOSEPH HARRISON,
JOHN KERSEY,
JOSEPH DENNY,
THOMAS HARRISON,
JOHN MACDONALD,
and DANIEL FAIRBANK,
(Trustees specially appointed by the said society of people called Method- ists) the half of two town lots of land, distinguishing on the platt of St. Michaels, by lots number thirty-seven and thirty-eight, [here fol- lows a description of the property which fronted on St. Mary's Square],
1 In the year 1790, a lot of ground in the town of Easton, on Goldsborough street, on the east side of Thoroughgood lane, was purchased for five shillings from James Seth, by Alexander McCullum, Moses Allen, John Blake, Geo. Miller, William Martin and James Vansant for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. As this was the site of the Chapel that for many years was used by the Methodists of Easton, until the house on West street was erected in 1829-30, it is persumable that the date of the deed was the date of the erection of the building. Unquestionably these people had a place of worship before this time, and tradition asserts that this original chapel, which may have been a hired house, stood on Washington street, nearly opposite the Brick Hotel. It has been found to be impossible to verify this tradition by any documentary evidence. But Garrettson relates that in 1787 he preached in the "little chapel" at Talbot Court House-that is before the date of the above mentioned deed.
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in order that they may build thereon a good and convenient house, agreeable to the instructions of the people called Methodists, for the public worship of Almighty God, and to and for the said use and pur- pose, and to no other use, intent or meaning whatsoever.
The remainder of the instrument is purely formal. The witnesses were Jonathan Harrison and Jos. [or Jas.] Wrightson. The date of the building of this house was the date of the formation of Talbot cir- cuit, to which these preachers were sent, viz .: Henry Willis and Jere- miah Lambert. The house erected on this lot was quite commodious and was built of brick. It had what was called a hipped roof, and stood with the side to the square. This house was removed in the year 183- when the building now used as a High School was erected.
The meeting house next erected in Bayside was that upon or near the Bay shore, upon land called "Miles End," and purchased for seven shillings and sixpence from John and Mary Lambdin Kersey. The deed was dated May 1, 1804, and was made to the following persons as Trustees, viz:
JOHN McDANIEL,
ROB'T LAMBDIN, JR.,
ROBERT LAMBDIN, JOSEPH HOPKINS,
ROBERT COLLOSON, DANIEL LAMBDIN,
JAMES McDANIEL,
JAMES HADDAWAY.
There are provisions in the deed for maintaining the number of nine trustees. Mr. Kersey probably made the ninth, though not mentioned as such, as he was the party of the first part to the deed. This meeting house was transferred to the colored people not long ago, and a new one erected near by, for the white congregation.
The third meeting house of the Methodists of the Bayside section of the county, that was built, was that erected about a mile above the Royal Oak, in the year 1808, upon land acquired from Henry Banning, whose house had been a preaching place anterior to that date. The names of the Trustees were as follows, viz:
ARTHUR RIGBY, THOMAS TOWNSEND,
JOSEPH ESGATE,
JAMES JONES, CHARLES RIGBY, JOSEPH HOPKINS,
RICHARD DAWSON.
This house was very recently removed to the village of Royal Oak, and extensively improved, in order that the old Methodists might com- pete on equal terms with the Southern church.
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HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
The fourth house of worship of the Methodists in this section of the county, that was erected, was in Ferry Neck, upon land obtained of Mr. Henry Colson. The Trustees of this little chapel at the date of its building, 1817, were:
SPEDDEN OREM, JOHN W. BATTIE,
JOHN HARRIS, ARTHUR RIGBY,
RICHARD EATON.
This house still stands, being used by the colored people, a new one having been built a short distance above for the white congregation. The last mentioned of these trustees was the hierophant at this little shrine, being a class-leader and exhorter. He was a man of great sim- plicity of mind and sincerity of heart, but he made no pretensions to saintliness of character, for the natural man in him was never com- pletely subdued. He was a good man, and died in the sweetness of peace if not in the odor of sanctity.
It is not necessary further to extend this recital of the dates of the erection of the numerous meeting houses that have been built in Bayside. This would be to enter upon the era of modern Methodism. This modern Methodism continues to build shrines and to nurture saints, but time is necessary to hallow with sacred associations the one, and the vista of years is required to enable us to perceive the nimbus of sanctity that surrounds the heads of the other. What has been, shall be; so when the present times shall become the old times-when another hundred years shall have passed-then many a place that is now trod- den with careless feet will be marked as the scene of some divine mani- festation, and many a person whom we daily pass with indifferent recog- nition, shall have had his name enrolled among those the church has beatified.
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EPISCOPAL CHURCHES IN SAINT MICHAELS THE OLD CHURCH AND THE NEW
Work was begun on the new Parish church of St. Michaels Parish, Talbot County, Md., Tuesday, June 25, 1878.
In tearing down the old church the parts near the walls were found to be entirely decayed, and the walls themselves cracked from the top to the foundation and started out of plumb from three to five inches. The workmen found the tomb of Rev. Henry Nicols under the chancel in good preservation, and also the tomb of Rev. Mr. Chamberlaine on the interior of the west gable; these were carefully protected from injury. The following is the Latin inscription on the slab over Rev. Mr. Nicols's tomb, which was covered by the chancel floor, and exposed when the chancel was removed:
H. S.
Jacent Exuviae H. Nicols, A. M.
Coll. Jesu Ox: Olim Socii Hujus Ecclesiae Pastoris. Indignissimi per Annos 41. Nati Aprilis 1 mo 1687
Denati Feb'y 12 mo 1748
Salvam fac Animam Christe pro meritis fuis Vixit Annos 70 Sal fatuum conculcate Haccipsc jussit insculpenda
This inscription may be translated thus:
Here lies the remains of Henry Nicols, A.M., formerly a fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and a pastor of this church for 41 years-most unworthy. Born April 1st, 1678; died Feb. 12, 1748. Save his soul, O Christ, for Thy own merits. He lived 70 years. Tread upon salt without savor. He ordered these to be inscribed.
The present church is not very old, having been built in 1812. It is the third church on the same spot.
The first recorded baptism took place in 1672. These different churches judging from the records cost the sparse and scattered popu- lation much labor and self-denial, and the present congregation cannot expect to finish the work which they have now begun without experi-
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encing the same self-sacrifice. The church would not be a worthy offering to God if it cost them nothing.
The plan of the new church is by Henry M. Congdon, 111 Broadway, New York; it is, we believe, of the early English transition style. The dimensions, in length, from west gable of tower, to east gable of chancel is 100 feet, full width from outside to outside 52 feet; within these walls there is a vestibule in the tower 12x15} feet, a nave or audience room 48x48 feet, a chancel including choir 25x25 feet, an organ room 10x12 feet and a vestry room 10x12 feet. The central aisle will be 7} feet wide with two side aisles along the walls. Beside the entrance through the tower there will be an entrance through a south porch. The Sunday school room is placed in a gallery over the north gable, it will be a handsome room, throughly lighted and ventilated, ap- proached through a winding stair-way in the tower, dimensions about 18x48 feet. When finished it will be so arranged that after the school is over it can be turned into a pleasant and roomy seating-place for the colored people. The front elevation of this church with tower and spire is very beautifully proportioned, and when finished will be a great ornament to the town of St. Michaels. The outside dimensions of the tower are about 20x20 feet, stone-work running up about 60 feet, fin- ished with a spire including cross, about 45 feet, making in all 105 feet. The whole church is plain but beautifully proportioned and if finished as designed by the architect will do credit to the vestry of St. Michaels Parish, be an honor to the neighborhood, and enhance the fame of the architect.
When the floor of the old church was taken up, some old flint-and- steel muskets were found. It is known that during the war of 1812 the church was occupied by soldiery, and these old muskets have doubt- less been there since that time.
EARLIEST CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN TALBOT COUNTY
The ancient town of Doncaster stood on the tract of land in Miles River neck which continues to perpetuate the name of Doncaster farm. It was located at the mouth of Wye River, opposite Bennett's point. Bruff's Island was separated from the town of Doncaster by a narrow, but deep, channel through which the largest sailing vessels could pass. The stone foundation of a large building that was evidently a tobacco warehouse, and which had been completely covered by the sand for more than a century was unearthed, in 1912, by some work- men engaged in building a concrete sea-wall for Mr. Sidney S. Schuyler, the present owner of Bruff's Island, and also of a part of the Doncaster farm. There is a plat of the town of Doncaster still preserved by Mr. Charles Howard Lloyd upon which is marked a Roman Catholic Chapel with a steeple on it. This was doubtless the chapel which Frances Sayer, the widow of Col. Peter Sayer, in her will probated 27th Sep- tember, 1698, ordered built of lime and brick over the burial place of her late husband, who was High Sheriff of Talbot County, and who died less than a year before her. In his will, probated 2nd November, 1697, he devises one-third of his estate "to the English Benedictine Nuns and English Benedictine Monks at Paris, and to English Friars." He also directed his Executors, (his wife, Frances, and nephew, Charles Blake,) "to sell Proptr's Island, or some other piece of property, and out of the proceeds to pay certain personalty to Thomas Lifeholly, to each of testator's grandchildren (unnamed), and to all priests in the Province." The Island referred to was Crouch's or Bruff's Island, which, however, he had sold before his death to Edmond O'Dwyer.
Philemon Lloyd the only child of Edward Lloyd, the Puritan, married Henrietta Maria Bennett, the widow of Richard Bennett, of Bennett's Point. He was accidentlly drowned in Wye River, leaving her a young widow with an infant son, Richard Bennett, Jr. She brought to her second husband a large fortune, and bore him three sons and four daugh- ters. Among the many tracts of land mentioned in her will, probated June 2, 1697, she mentioned the Great Island in Wye River bought of
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HISTORY OF TALBOT COUNTY
Charles Hemsley. Being a daughter of Captain James Neale and Henrietta Maria Gill, who were Romanists, she was a devout Catholic, as is evidenced by the following devises in her will. "To the priests at the Chapel at Wye River 100 acres, 'Town Road,' bought of Richard Hazelten and also land bequeathed testatrix by John Londy of Chester River." John Londey, by his will executed April 2, 1693, devised one- third of his estate to Roman Catholic Chapel at mouth of Wye River.
OLD ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH
Rev. Joseph Mosley, a Jesuit Priest, who came to Cecil County in 1760, had charge of a Catholic mission at Bohemia Manor until 1787. He travelled all over the Eastern Shore, and in the journal, left by him, he says he baptized about 600 persons, many of whom were negro slaves, and that between the years 1766 and 1787, the accessions to the Catholic Churches to which he ministered, including some on the Western shore, numbered 185, and he performed the marriage ceremony 170 times and officiated at about 175 funerals. In 1764, he organized a church at St. Joseph's in Talbot County, and probably with a view of founding another mission similar to the one at Bohemia, purchased about three hundred and fifty acres of land in Chapel District, near the border line of Queen Anne's County. The next year he placed eight negroes, which he brought from Prince George's County at a cost of £10, each on this farm. These negroes are supposed to have been in charge of an overseer. Father Mosley's journal contains many curious entries illustrative of the manners and customs of society at the time they were made. Among them are the following: "4th November, 1770, I married Jerry, a negro of ours to Jenny, a negro belonging to Mr. Charles Blake, but afterwards bought by us. Test,-many negroes, both ours and others, at St. Joseph's, Talbot. 23rd July, 1777, I married Davy, a negro of ours, to Hannah, a negro of John Lockerman, by his consent. Many negroes of his and our family being present. September, 1795, married at home a wench of John Connell (Senior), named Hannah to a fellow of Tullies Neck, by note." There are many entries in Father Mosley's journal of marriages of negroes "by note," which meant that the sable couples had notes from their owners requesting or authorizing him to perform the marriage ceremony. The above data, in relation to Father Joseph Mosley is taken from Johnston's History of Cecil County. The Catholics continued to hold this farm until 1882, when they sold it to John P. Stelle. They, however, retained the Church
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EARLIEST CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN TALBOT COUNTY 1
and a few acres surrounding it. This ancient brick edifice although now (1914), just a hundred and fifty years old, is in a good state of preser- vation and regular weekly services are held in it by Priests from the Parish Church in Easton. The Jesuits had conveyed this entire property in 1874, to the Bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington. Father Albert Peters was the last resident Pastor of the Jesuit Society.
ORIGIN OF TALBOT GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Choptank River takes its name from a tribe of Indians that inhab- ited both shores of this stream before its settlement by the English. They were men of large stature. In the Academy of Natural Sciences in Baltimore, there are several skeletons of these Indians (taken from an Indian mound at Sandy Hill on the Choptank near Cambridge) that measure nearly seven feet in height with skulls of unusually large size.
Miles River, or St. Miles River, is a corruption of Saint Michaels, its original name. In colonial times all grants of land from the Lords Baltimore were in the shape of leases subject to small and merely nomi- nal ground rents, reserved by the Proprietary, and payable annually at Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, which in the calendar of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches occurs on Sep- tember 29; hence St. Michael was considered to be the patron saint of colonial Maryland, and as such was honored by the river being named for him.
The change of name was due to the fact that the Quakers, a large colony of whom were among the earliest settlers in Talbot County, having no reverence for saints, persisted in dropping the word saint and calling the river Michaels River, which readily became corrupted into Miles.
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