USA > Maryland > Baltimore County > The Garrison Church; sketches of the history of St. Thomas' Parish, Garrison Forest, Baltimore County, Maryland, 1742-1852 > Part 2
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(1) Mr. Cradock's Letters of Orders are among the Records of the Diocese in the Mary- land Episcopal Library.
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The Garrison Church.
1743, when he was ordained Presbyter by the above- mentioned bishop, as appears from his letters of priest's orders. The next day, September 26th, he was licensed by the bishop to be Curate of Blurton, and occasional assistant at Kingsbury, Warwickshire. That comee- tion, however, did not long continue, for on the twenty- first of February, 1744, he received a license from the Bishop of London to be a minister in the Province of Maryland, and during that year he came over. On his arrival he became the chaplain to the commissioners, who met that year at Lancaster, Pa., to forin a treaty with the Indians. His preaching there is spoken of as received with great acceptance.(1) It is said that the Duke of Bedford's influence with Lord Baltimore, the proprie- tary of the province, procured him the promise of a good parish. His patron, doubtless, looked forward to the Episcopate for him in this country. The subject of providing bishops for the American colonies was at that time very warmly pressed in England. In the Histori- eal Collections of the Episcopal Church, p. 141, it is stated that the necessity of a bishop over the church- men of America was now, A. D. 1740, again publicly alluded to. Bishop, afterward Archbishop, Secker "depicted in lively colors the inconveniences suffered in America, and pleaded with affectionate earnestness for a resident bishop there as the only remedy for its manifold spiritual privations." The privations were
(1) See Appendix C for Journal of Secretary of the Commission to treat with the Six Nations.
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Tobacco Tar.
indeed great. No one could be ordained to the work of the ministry without going over to England, and being exposed thus to all the perils of the ocean and incurring great expense. No confirmations of church members could be administered, and there was no one to effectively oversee the clergy or church, or exercise discipline. The Governor of the Province, by Lord Baltimore's authority, could appoint a clergyman to a parish ; but there his authority ended. He had no power to remove him for any cause, or to control him in any respect. But from motives of state policy no bishop from the colonies was permitted to be appointed, and the Duke's intentions in respect to the Episcopate for Thomas Cradock were never realized.
Mr. Cradock's salary on taking charge of the Parish was small. The clergy were then supported by a tax on every white male, and every servant over sixteen years of age, of forty pounds of tobacco each. This tax was collected and paid over by the sheriff of the county. It was collected from all whether they were Church of England men, or Presbyterians, Quakers and Romanists; these being the only dissenters from the church in the colony at that time. The number of taxables, as they were called, is found this year to have amounted to 675-yielding about $325. The parish then was a north-western frontier parish. But the frontier parishes were in prospect better than those on the bay shore; for in those on the bay the land, after having been cultivated for eighty years in tobacco,
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The Garrison Church.
was being worn out, and planters were removing into the interior. Thus, while the older parishes were, in some instances, diminishing in population, the new ones were becoming more populous every year. And so rapidly. did the settlement extend in St. Thomas' that at the time of Mr. Cradock's death the salary was more than four times the amount when he entered upon his charge.
In a little more than a year after his induction into this Parish, Mr. Cradock was married, March 31, 1746, by the Rev. Mr. Chase of St. Paul's, to Catharine, daughter of John Risteau, Esq., the High Sheriff of the county. Mr. Risteau was a Huguenot, who had fled to Maryland from France in consequence of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Strong in his protestant prepossessions, he was so much pleased with his daughter marrying a protestant clergyman that he presented her with a farm, a part of his estate, which would otherwise have descended to her brother. This farm Mr. Cradock called Trentham, doubtless from his fond recollections of the place in England, where he had been master of the free school. It is ten miles from Baltimore city, and one and a half south from the Church. It was his residence during his life time, and is now (1854) the residence of his grandson Dr. Thomas Cradock Walker.(1)
(1) It is now (rs98) in the possession of the widow and children of Mr. Thomas Cradock (died July 16, 1896) son of Dr. Thomas Cradock Walker. Mr. Cradock was the great grandson of the first Rector in the line both of his father and mother. His name was changed from Walker to Cradock by act of Legislature, at the desire of his father.
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On the day above mentioned five of the above porson Namely Nath Winchcomb. John Hamitton John Gile Jos Fournir. Gov. Ochman, Die qualifio by tobom eleverna Cash prescribed by bit of chambly for. besty men of the ? Gaslek, Offrent muel Owings the of his toriohis Justices for Getting County
let the dome Tima Bets: Gosnell. Burlifi as Sures warten of thed" Parrish" 1
And On the Day a love den the Red . grande Gratache (Card Sheis) his Letters mandate fromis Geellance Tomas Foladen & # Governor ofthe Province of maryland, to Benice the Gyja of mineder of this Barrich, and after where Bathe required of him was received is wants he thitbestraten and flach Gardens of J. Parrish Guarding to für induction from. Excellence the Governor
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CHAPTER III.
VESTRY PROCEEDINGS, 1745-1770.
T THEIR second meeting, May 2, 1745, the Vestry ordered two books to be pro- cured for the use of the Parish, one for recording the proceedings of the Vestry, the other for registering births, marriages and deaths, as was then by law required ; and during Mr. Cradock's ministry the requisition seems to have been generally complied with. These books, together with the book of accounts procured soon after, are still in possession of the Vestry and in fair condition. On the twenty-eighth of the same month the Vestry agreed with Col. William Hammond for levelling the Church floor with earth, "within three bricks of the water table -the said floor to be well rammed and hardened." He was also to floor a part of the Church with brick, for which he was to have 20 shillings, or $2.66 per thousand; and on the brick he was to lay a floor of pine plank, on sleepers of red or spanish oak-as also, to build fine pews thereon; they were to be of panel work. This record certainly shows that the Vestry intended what was done to be well and substantially done.
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The Garrison Church.
On the eighteenth of June they also agreed with Col. Hammond, to build a brick Vestry House, 16 feet by 12, in the clear. The floor was to be laid with brick, the roof to be covered with cypress shingles, the doors. windows, boxing and barge-boards to be of pine plank and painted. For this the Vestry agreed to give {24 current money, being $63.84.
The first contract Col. Hammond failed in part to fulfil, and on the twentieth of January, 1746, the Vestry agreed with Mr. William Cromwell for building the whole set of pews in their church, and to make the communion table, rails and balusters around the chancel. The balusters were to be of walnut and handsomely turned. They were to give {140 equal to $372 and find the materials. These entries on the record are interesting, not only as showing the progress towards finishing the building, but also the expense of - those portions of it mentioned, and the cost of such work at that time. This was all done and paid for by money raised by private subscriptions in the Parish. The General Assembly's provisions thus had not proved sufficient.
On the third of March the church warden was allowed IS shillings, or $2 40, for furnishing the Holy Communion during the year. The fact shows us that the Holy Communion was provided for then, as it always should be, and by canon is required to be, by the warden.
At their meeting, July 19. the Vestry agreed with
,
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Bodily Refreshment of the Vestry.
Col. Hammond, "to paint with red the window shutters, doors. window frames, and cornice, twice over, in the best manner, workmanlike", for which he was to have {If current money, equal to $29.26, he allowing £5 thereof, that is $13.30, provided he is seated in a pew at the discretion of the Rector.
On the seventh of October the pews were finished and accepted, being nineteen in number. This may seem now to have been a very small number to have filled up the area within the walls. But it must be remem- bered that these pews were not made after the modern sofa or settee fashion, for that would have given nearly fifty. They were made, after the fashion of that day, nearly square, having seats on three sides, with straight backs as high as the neck of the person seated. Thirty years ago there was not a country church in Maryland but had these pews.
Little is recorded for some years of any particular interest, other than the ordinary routine of business, save the fining of vestrymen occasionally for absence from vestry meetings, the rather frequent cases of administering discipline in case of moral delinquency, and the provisions made for the bodily refreshment of the members of the vestry on vestry days. There were, at different times, sundry duties imposed upon vestries, by the General Assembly, which were civil rather than ecclesiastical. Such were the nominations of inspectors of tobacco, the returning annually a list of the bachelors of the Parish for taxation, the taking
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The Garrison Church.
cognizance of violations of the Sabbath, of disorderly houses and of lewdness, fornication and adultery. All these came before the Vestry for their action, and some of them were not a little troublesome.
In providing, as referred to, for their bodily refreshment, under date of April 16, 1750, there is this entry : "Agreed to have a quart of rum and sugar equivalent on each vestry day, and as much diet as will give the Vestry a dinner, at the Parish expense " The sexton was to provide the dinner, and have for it S shillings, or $1.06. But on January 7, 1752, it was ordered "that each vestryman and warden, in his turn, find a dinner, and a quart of rum and sugar; to take off the great scandle and charge the Parish has labored under." It was thus at that time, considered a great scandal, and a great charge also, and the Register, or some one else, has drawn on the margin of the first mentioned entry a large open eye attentively gazing at it. But, for the rector, six vestrymen, two wardens and the register, ten men in all, this was certainly no great amount provided for their drinking, and the provision was beyond all question reasonable. There was then no tavern or planter's house at hand, and some of the Vestry lived ten miles distant. There was this distance to ride, and much of it through the forest, and the business before them often occupied many hours But the circumstance is referred to neither to apologize for, nor to find fault with, but as showing something of the habits of the day. A Vestry
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The Use of the Surplice.
at this time was nothing less than a parish court, and very little of the business imposed upon it by law was strictly of a religious character. Besides what was just now stated, the settlement of current accounts, the providing for parish assessments and the settling of tobacco accounts was the business of these meetings for many years. The office was no sinecure-it was labor and expense without pay.
February 6, 1750, we find the Vestry ordering linen for a surplice, which cost, with the making, £4. 25. 6d., or nearly $11. Its use in that day, in the celebration of public worship, was common in the province, and it was provided always at the parish expense.
In May, 1751, it was ordered that the sexton pro- vide a sufficient quantity of water every Sunday, and that he be paid for it £3, about $8 a year.
In February, 1753, it was agreed and ordered that two of the vestrymen of this parish, or any two of the parishioners, shall meet any two of the vestrymen of St. John's Parish, or any two of the parishioners thereof, at any time and place the Rev. Thomas Cradock and the Rev. Hugh Deans, then Rector of St. John's, shall appoint, to settle the limits and extent of the Run, commonly called the Western Run, and that the Rev. Mr. Cradock give notice thereof to the Rev. Mr. Deans. This shows that the Western Run, whatever might be settled as to its extent, was then the dividing line between the two parishes, and so it continued to be.
In July, 1755, there was ordered a large Bible from
4 1
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The Garrison Church.
England and two large prayer books for the use of the Church, and they were obtained. They were large folios, noble volumes, such as the reading desks and communion tables of the present day rarely exhibit anywhere. They cost {8. 8s., about $22.35. It is worth noticing here, also, that the communion expenses for the year were £3. Is., that is $8. This indicates either the frequency of the communion or the consid- erable numbers attending it, perhaps, indeed, both.
In the year, 1756, the Vestry agreed with Solomon Wooden and William Barney to put up a gallery for £53, or $141. Before this, consequently, there had been no gallery in the Church, and the erection of one now gives ground for the inference that the congregation had much increased. The gallery was put up across the west end of the Church.
The period to which we have now come still found comparatively few inhabitants north of the Church, and the country was mostly one unbroken wild-wood, where the Indians and wolves prowled not infrequently, and the wild deer were often seen and hunted. After the defeat of Braddock, in 1755, at what is now Pittsburg, the Indians passed down this side of Fort Cumberland, to within sixty or seventy miles of St. Thomas', in large parties, for murder and plunder. It created great aların over all this region, and it was probably at this time that we hear of those who attended the Church on the Lord's Day, burnishing their arms and preparing their ammunition on Saturday evening, and next day at the
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Bachelors Cared.
sanctuary placing their arms in the corner of the pews during the hours of Divine service.
1756. BACHELOR TAX .- About this time there was an act passed by the General Assembly, in order to repay the money expended in protecting the frontiers, to tax all bachelors, twenty-five years of age and upwards, worth foo and under £300, about 75 cents each, and all worth $300 and upward, $2.66 each. And the return of these taxables was required to be made by the Parish Vestry. Under this law, therefore, the following named bachelors of St. Thomas' Parish were returned during the eight years of its continuance, as here ex- hibited, 1756-1763.(1)
1763. At the November session of the General Assembly, in 1763, there was an aet passed by which the forty pound tobacco poll-tax, for the support of the clergy, was reduced to thirty pounds per poll, thus cutting off one-fourth of the minister's living. This act was to continue in force three years, but in each successive three years it continued to be renewed. In Mr. Cradock's case, however, what was thus taken away was more than made up by the increase in the number of taxables as the population extended in the new "Hundreds" which were created. These "Hundreds", it may be remarked here, were much what our election districts now are.
The number of taxables in the parish as returned in 1766 were 1522, giving the amount of tobacco for the
(1) See Appendix D
1
1
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The Garrison Church.
rector 45,660 pounds, subject, however, to the usual deduction of five per cent. to the sheriff for collecting ; 1000 pounds for the parish clerk and losses by failure to pay which were always considerable. The increase of taxables thus was 847, from the time of Mr. Cradock's coming here, showing a population of more than 6000. The amount of the living in this parish, as returned by government to the Bishop of London, in 1767, was £191. 75. 6d. sterling, certainly no very considerable sum for a population of 6000.
1759. THE CHURCH PLASTERED .- July 3, 1759, the Vestry made an agreement with Alexander Wells to plaster and whitewash the Church; he finding all the materials, and to have for it £70, or $186, and one year's time to do the work in. Sixteen years had now passed away since the walls of the building had been erected, and the congregation had worshipped in an unplastered church.
1761. NEW ROOF .- The Church was scarcely com- pleted, as just mentioned, when it was found that the roof was in such condition as to require to be newly shingled. The old shingles were, therefore, taken off, and for putting on the new the Vestry paid the work- men 20s., or $2.66 per square. This, it is imagined, would now be considered a high price, but it is to be remembered that the end of every shingle exposed to the weather was made circular. It was designed that it should be a finished piece of work.
1763. NEW SURPLICE .- In this year a new
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The Vestry's Police Jurisdiction.
surplice was needed and one was procured, the cost of which to the Vestry was £5. 135. 6d., or about $15.
THE VESTRY'S POLICE JURISDICTION .- In June occurs an instance, in the records, of what has before been shown to be one of the duties imposed on the Vestry, illustrating what may be termed its police juris- diction. Four persons there named were cited to appear before the Vestry for keeping irregular houses and bad company. In obedience to the summons they appeared and were admonished. The Vestry could not, indeed, inflict any higher penalty. If, in fact, such or other cases required any further punishment it was inflicted by the Court of the County Justices, to which the Vestry was required to report them.
CHAPTER IV.
THOMAS CRADOCK.
N THE Maryland Gazette, then published at the city of Anapolis, and the only paper printed in the colony, under date of May 5, 1747, the Rev. Mr. Cradock advertised to take young gentlemen into his family and teach them the Latin and Greek languages, and to furnish them with board at £20, Maryland currency, that is, about $53.20, in advance. This school was accordingly opened. It was prompted probably by desire of useful- ness, for schools conducted by men qualified for teaching, -and Mr. Cradock was an accomplished scholar,-were rare ; and also by his love of literary pursuits rather than for adding to his means of support, for,-besides his parish income, which was then indeed small, not amounting to $300, after deducting charges and losses,- it will be recollected that he was in possession of a good farm. This school was continued by him for some years. And while some in its immediate vicinity were benefited by it, it was much patronized from the more southern counties of the Province. Among the pupils are remembered Lee of St. Mary's, Barnes of Charles,
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The Rector's School.
the Spriggs and Bowies of Prince George's, the Dula- neys of Anne Arundel and the celebrated Col. Cresap. The value of such schools can now hardly be estimated. Mr. Cradock was, indeed, devoted to his studies; so mittel so that not infrequently, when company was visiting his house to enjoy the hospitality and socia- bility for which he was celebrated, he was known to withdraw himself unobserved, and when enquired for was certain to be found quietly ensconced in his study. The present remains of his theological and classical library show that it certainly presented some temptation to such a seclusion.
During the year 1747 Mr. Cradock published two sermons, one of which was preached in St. Thomas' Church on the day of the Governor's Thanksgiving on the occasion of the suppression of the Scotch rebel- lion, from Psalin 122: 6, 7, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love thee ; peace be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces." The other was preached, on the same occasion, in St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, of which the Rev. Thomas Chase, father of the celebrated Judge Samuel Chase, was rector, from Prov. 17: 22, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." Success in this rebellion would have again placed a papist on the throne of England. The defeat, therefore, of the Pretender was the triumph of the Protestants, and cause of great rejoicings and patriotic professions among them. Thus, in the latter discourse Mr. Cradock exclaims, " Yes, my
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The Garrison Church.
brethren and fellow-citizens, let us remember what we are, whence we came and from whom we sprung; that we are Britons ; that we are the sons of those who valued life less than liberty, and readily gave their blood to leave that liberty to posterity. Let us remember what rights every Englishman enjoys ; and that the proudest of us all cannot, dare not oppress his meanest, lowest brother. And, oh, let us remember that we can choose our religion likewise, and need not tamely, basely submit to the slavish yoke of a Roman Pontiff; a yoke, which I hope I may now boldly say, our proud enemies attempted to put upon us in vain, and which every honest man would have rejected with the loss of his last blood. These, all these, let us remember, and can we then be otherwise than merry and joyful, and pour forth our whole soul in grateful acknowledgment to the Divine Being ?"
On the twenty-second of August, 1753, there was a meeting of the clergy at Annapolis, to hear and reply to letters from Lord Baltimore, to welcome the new Governor and consider some existing grievances. There were seventeen of the forty-one clergy of the province present, five of whom were from the Eastern Shore. On both days of their meeting the prayers were read by Mr. Cradock. This meeting was adjourned to meet again at Annapolis, on the second Tuesday after the meeting of the General Assembly on the second of October.
It was on this occasion that a sermon was preached
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A Translation of the Psalms.
by Mr. Cradock. It was requested for publication, but whether it was printed I have not ascertained. Its object was, from the statements made, to show the necessity of an Episcopate in Maryland. It is able and eloquent, earnest and manly, and contains some startling revelations.(1)
In this same year, 1753, Mr. Cradock published a version of the Psalms. It was a translation from the Hebrew into verse. It was published by subscription, as the notice of it in the Maryland Gazette of that day shows; and the number and character of the subscribers, some of whom subscribed for many copies, indicate something of the popularity and public estimate of the author. It is a monument of Mr. Cradock's learning and is well worthy of remembrance. For more than five years before his death Mr. Cradock attended none of the meetings of the Vestry. He was prevented from so doing, it is said, by a most remarkable paralysis with which he was visited, which continned till the day of his death. His whole body was so paralyzed that he was unable of himself to change the position of his limbs, and yet his mind retained its full vigor and activity. During all this time he seldom failed to fulfill his Sabbath appointments, though he had to be carried to the church, and then placed by his servant in a chair. He could not stand even while officiating, and if his head happened to sway over on his shoulder the sexton had to come and place it in an upright position. He
(1) A copy of this sermon is preserved in Dr. Allen's manuscript.
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The Garrison Church.
was a large man, exceeding in weight 250 pounds. His sermons he was obliged to dietate to an amanuensis, and Mr. George Howard, a brother of Col. Jolin Eager Howard, one of the young gentlemen educated by Mr. Cradock, was for some years thus employed. After Mr. Howard's death, Mr. Cradock's OW11 son performed that task for him.
In the year 1769, February 23, Mr. Cradock was called to meet with a heavy affliction, in the death of his eldest son Arthur. He was born July 19, 1747, and was consequently in the twenty-second year of his age. He was looking forward to the ministry, for which he was already prepared and was awaiting the return ves- sels in the spring to repair to England for orders, when lie was seized with a fatal illness. He had already, under his father's direction, commenced his work. He was accustomed to perform divine service as Lay Reader thir- teen miles west of St. Thomas' Church where the chapel was subsequently built; at a village now called Westmin- ster, twenty miles distant ; and in the neighborhood of what is now known as the stone (Lutheran) Church nearly the same distance north. He was long remem- bered for his earnest piety and zeal. They were such as to gain for him in his day the name of Methodist.
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