Maryland Roots

Luckily most of our Maryland ancestors were Quaker and, thus, meticulous record keepers. In this post I have traced each family connection as far back as I could and pinpointed the initial emigrants to America in the Brooke, Johns, Snowden, and Thomas families. As you see I still have a way to go filling in the blanks and will update this post as I continue my research. [Originally posted 8/26/09; updated 10/13/09.]

Genealogy notations:
b. - born
d. - died
bur. - buried
m. - married
m1. - first marriage
m2. - second marriage
div. - divorced
Names appear as First Middle "Nickname" LAST.
Dates appear as Day Month Year (1 Jan 1900).
Blanks indicate missing information.
Connections between generations appear in green.
Initial emigrants and arrival information appears in red.

1st Generation

Robert BROOKE, son of ____________, b. 3 Jun 1602, arrived in Maryland from England on 29 Jun 1650, d. 20 Jul 1655, m1. Mary BAKER, daughter of ________, b. ___, 4 children, d. ___, m2. Mary MAINWARING, daughter of Roger MAINWARING, b. ___, 10 children, d. 29 Nov 1663
1. Baker BROOKE b. 16 Nov 1628, d. ___
2. Mary BROOKE b. 19 Feb 1630/1, d. ___
3. Thomas BROOKE b. 23 Jun 1632, d. ___
4. Barnaby BROOKE b. ___, d. ___
5. Charles BROOKE b. 3 Apr 1636, d. ___
6. Roger BROOKE, Sr. b. 20 Sept 1637, d. 8 Apr 1700, m1. Dorothy NEALE, m2. Mary WOLSLEY
7. Robert BROOKE b. 21 Apr 1639, d. ___
8. John BROOKE b. 20 Sept 1640, d. ___
9. Mary BROOKE b. 14 Apr 1642, d. ___
10. Ann BROOKE b. 22 Jan 1645/6, d. ___
11. Frances BROOKE b. 30 May 1648, d. ___
12. Elizabeth & Henry (twins) BROOKE b. 28 Nov 1652, d. ___
13. Basil BROOKE b. 1651, d. 1651 (same day)

Hugh KENSEY, son of _______________, b. ___, d. ___, m. Margaret ___________, daughter of ____________, b. ___, d. ___
1. Elizabeth KENSEY b. ___, d. 1 Feb 1715/16, m1. Thomas SPARROW (d. 1674/5), m2. Richard JOHNS

2nd Generation

Roger BROOKE, Sr., son of Robert BROOKE and Mary MAINWARING, b. 20 Sept 1637 at Bretonew (Brecknock) College, England, d. 8 Apr 1700, bur. at Battel Creek Plantation, MD, m1. Dorothy NEALE, daughter of ________, b. ___, mother of Roger BROOKE, Jr., d. ___, m2. Mary WOLSLEY, daughter of ________, b. ___, mother of Cassandra and Mary BROOKE, d. ___
1. Roger BROOKE, Jr. b. 12 Apr 1673, d. ___, m. Eliza HUTCHINS
2. Cassandra BROOKE
3. Mary BROOKE

William COALE, son of __________, b. ___, d. 30 Oct 1678 , minister of Society of Friends, resided in Anne Arundel County, m1. Hester ---, b. ___, 1 child, d. ___, m2. Hannah ---, b. ___, 1 child, d. 20 Nov 1669, m3. Elizabeth THOMAS, daughter of Philip THOMAS and Sarah HARRISON, b. ___, 3 children, (after William COALE's death, Elizabeth THOMAS married Edward TALBOT), d. __ 1726 (see Note A)
1. William COALE b. 21 Sept 1655, d. __ 1700, m. Eliza SKIPWITH +
2. William COALE, Jr. b. 20 Oct 1667, d. __ 1715, m. Elizabeth SPARROW +
3. Elizabeth COALE b. 30 Aug 1671, d. ___, m. Nathan SMITH
4. Philip COALE b. 6 Sept 1673, d. ___, m. Cassandra SKIPWITH
5. Samuel COALE b. 9 Apr 1676, d. ___
[+ Need to research further which William Coale was the father of Elizabeth Jane Coale, daughter of William and Eliza Coale, b. 1692, d. 1713, m. Richard Snowden the Youngest]

Garrard (Gerard) "Planter" HOPKINS, son of ___________, b. ___, d. ___, made will 12 Oct 1691 describing property in Anne Arundel Co., m. Tomsin ---, b. ___, d. ___
1. Gerrard HOPKINS b. ___, d. __ Jan 1743/4, m. Margaret JOHNS
2. Ann HOPKINS b. ___, d. ___
3. Thomson HOPKINS (f.) b. ___, d. ___
4. Mary HOPKINS b. ___, d. ___

Francis HUTCHINS, son of _____________, b. ___, d. ___, made will 20 Feb 1698/9 in Calvert County where he was a Burgess, m. Elizabeth ---, b. ___, d. ___
1. John HUTCHINS b. ___, d.___
2. Margaret HUTCHINS b. ___, d. ___, m. Abraham JOHNS
3. Eliza HUTCHINS b. ___, d. ___, m. Roger BROOKE, Jr.
4. Sarah HUTCHINS b. ___, d. ___, m. Nehemia BIRCKHEAD
5. Frances HUTCHINS, b. ___, d. ___
6. Priscilla HUTCHINS b. ___, d. ___, m. Richard JOHNS
7. Mary HUTCHINS b. ___, d. ___, m. Benjamin HANCE

Richard JOHNS, son of __________, b. ___, d. ___, arrived in Maryland from Bristol, England in 1675, settled near Calvert Cliffs, m. Elizabeth KENSEY, widow of Thomas SPARROW (d. 1674/5), daughter of Hugh and Margaret KENSEY, b. ___, d. 1 Feb 1715/16
1. Thomas SPARROW b. ___, d. ___, m1. Ann BURGES, m2. Sophia RICHARDSON
2. Elizabeth SPARROW b. ___, d. ___, m. William COALE
3. Abraham JOHNS b. 24 Jun 1677, d. 10 Dec 1707, m. Margaret HUTCHINS
4. Aquilla JOHNS b. 30 Sept 1679, d. 11 May 1682
5. Priscilla JOHNS b. 21 Mar 1681/2, d. 1 Apr 1725, m. Robert ROBERTS
6. Margaret JOHNS b. 11 Oct 1683, d. ___, m. Gerrard HOPKINS
7. Aquilla JOHNS b. 5 Feb 1684/5, d. 16 Jan 1709, m. Mary HOZIER
8. Richard JOHNS b. 4 Apr 1687, d. 16 Aug 1719, m. Priscilla HUTCHINS
9. Kensey JOHNS b. 12 July 1689, d. 2 Apr 1729, m. Elizabeth CHEW
10. Isaac JOHNS b. 10 May 1692, d. 29 Nov 1728, m. Ann GALLOWAY
11. Elizabeth JOHNS b. 26 May 1694, d. 19 Dec 1772, m1. Henry TROTH, m2. John STEVENS

Sir George SKIPWITH, son of _________, b. ___, d. ___, m. Elizabeth ___________, daughter of ______________, b. ___, d. ___
1. Cassandra SKIPWITH b. 29 Oct 1678, d. ___, m. Philip COALE

Richard SNOWDEN Sr., son of ____, b. ___ 1640, Birmingham, England, emigrated to Maryland in 1659, d. ___ 1711, m1. Deborah ABBOTT b. ____, d. ____; m2. Elizabeth GROSSE b.____, d. __ 1675
1. Richard SNOWDEN, b. __ 1666, d. __ 1720, m. Mary LINTHICUM

Philip THOMAS, son of Evan THOMAS of Swanslea, Glamorganshire, Wales, b. circa 1600, Bristol, England, d. ___, made will 9 Sept 1674, arrived in Maryland from England in 1651, settled near West River, m. Sarah HARRISON, daughter of ___________, b.___, d. __ 1687
1. Philip THOMAS, Jr. b. ___, d. bef. 1688
2. Sarah THOMAS b. ___, d. __ 1675, m. John MEARS
3. Elizabeth THOMAS b. ___, d. __ 1726, m1. William COALE, m2. Edward TALBOT (see Note A)
4. Martha THOMAS b. ___, d. bef 1688, m. Richard ARNELL (or ARNOLD)
5. Samuel THOMAS b. circa 1655, d. bef. 10 Feb 1743, m. Mary HUTCHINS

3rd Generation

Roger BROOKE, Jr., son of Roger BROOKE Sr. and Dorothy NEALE, b. 12 Apr 1673, d. ___, m. 23 Feb 1702 Eliza HUTCHINS, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth HUTCHINS, b. ___, d. ___
1. Roger BROOK III b. 3 Dec 1703, d. 28 May 1705
2. James BROOKE b. 21 Feb 1705, d. ___, m. Deborah SNOWDEN
3. Eliza BROOKE b. 23 Nov 1707, d. ___
4. Dorothy BROOKE b. 3 Jul 1709, d. ___
5. Mary BROOKE b. 29 Dec 1710, d. ___
6. Ann BROOKE b. 29 Mar 1712, d. ___
7. Roger BROOKE b. 10 Jun 1714, d. ___
8. Cassandra BROOKE b. 3 Apr 1716, d. ___
9. Priscilla & Basil (twins) BROOKE b. 16 Nov 1717, d. ___

Philip COALE, son of William COALE and Elizabeth THOMAS, b. 6 Sept 1673, officer in British army, d. ___, m. 6 Apr 1697 Cassandra SKIPWITH, daughter of Sir George SKIPWITH and Elizabeth ---, b. 29 Oct 1678, d. ___
1. Cassandra COALE b. ___, d. ___
2. Elizabeth COALE b. ___, d. ___
3. Skipwith COALE b. ___, d. bef. 1759, m. Margaret HOLLAND

William COALE, son of William COALE and _________, b. ___, d. ___, m. Eliza ___________, daughter of ______________, b. ___, d. ___
1. Elizabeth Jane COALE b. ___ 1692, d. ___ 1713, m. Richard Snowden the Youngest

Gerrard HOPKINS, son of Garrard (Gerard) HOPKINS and Tomsin ---, b. ___, d. __ Jan 1743/44, m. Margaret JOHNS, daughter of Richard JOHNS and Elizabeth KENSEY, b. 11 Oct 1683, d. ___
1. Margaret HOPKINS b. ___, d. ___, m. Aquilla JOHNS
2. Elizabeth HOPKINS b. 13 Jun 1703, d. 27 Feb 1772, m. Levin HILL
3. Joseph HOPKINS b. 2 Nov 1706, d. ___
4. Gerrard HOPKINS b. 7 Mar 1709, d. ___, m. Mary HALL
5. Philip HOPKINS b. 9 Aug 1711, d. ___, m. Elizabeth HALL
6. Samuel HOPKINS b. 16 Jan 1713/14, d. ___
7. Richard HOPKINS b. 12 May 1715, d. ___, m. Katherine TODD
8. William HOPKINS b. 8 Aug 1717, d. ___
9. Johns HOPKINS b. 30 Oct 1720, d. ___, m1. Mary GILLISS, m2. Mary RICHARDSON, m3. Elizabeth THOMAS (see Note B)

Richard SNOWDEN Jr., son of Richard SNOWDEN Sr. and ____, b. ___ 1666, d. ___1720, m. Mary LINTHICUM, daughter of _______, b. ___ 1667, d. ___
1. Richard SNOWDEN b. __ 1688, d. __ 1763, m1. Elizabeth Jane COALE, m2. Elizabeth THOMAS
2. Elizabeth SNOWDEN b. ___, d. bef.1749, m. John THOMAS

Samuel THOMAS, son of Philip THOMAS and Sarah HARRISON, b. circa 1655, d. bef. 10 Feb 1743, m. 15 May 1688 Mary HUTCHINS, daughter of Francis HUTCHINS of Calvert Co., b. ___, d. __ Jul 1751
1. Sarah THOMAS b. 31 Mar 1689, d. ___, m. Joseph RICHARDSON
2. Samuel THOMAS b. 1 Feb 1691, d. as infant
3. Samuel THOMAS (2d.) b. 11 Mar 1693, d. as infant
4. Philip THOMAS b. 1 Mar 1694, d. 23 Nov 1762, m1. Frances HOLLAND, m2. Ann CHEW
5. John THOMAS b. 15 Apr 1697, d. __ Feb 1749/50, m. Elizabeth SNOWDEN
6. Elizabeth THOMAS b. 28 Dec 1698, d. ___, m. Richard SNOWDEN
7. Mary THOMAS b. 6 Nov 1700, d. ___, m. John GALLOWAY
8. Samuel THOMAS (3d.) b. 12 Nov 1702, d. ___
9. Ann THOMAS b. ___, d. __ 1743, m. Edward FELL
10. Margaret THOMAS b. __1710, d. ___, m. William HARRIS

4th Generation

James BROOKE, son of Roger BROOKE Jr. and Eliza HUTCHINS, b. 21 Feb 1705, d. __ 1784, m. Deborah SNOWDEN daughter of Richard SNOWDEN and Elizabeth Jane COALE, b. __ 1710, d. __ 1758
1. James BROOKE b. __1731, d. 21 Aug 1767, m. ___
2. Roger BROOKE b. 9 Aug 1734, d. ___
3. Richard BROOKE b. 8 Jul 1736, d. ___, m. ___
4. Basil BROOKE b. 13 Dec 1738, d. 22 Aug 1799, m. Elizabeth HOPKINS
5. Elizabeth BROOKE b. 22 Mar 1740/1, d. ___, m. Thomas PLEASANTS
6. Thomas BROOKE b. 8 Mar 1743/4, d. ___

Skipwith COALE, son of Philip COALE and Cassandra SKIPWITH, b. ___, became a Baltimore Sheriff in 1742, d. bef. 1759, m. Margaret HOLLAND, daughter of __________, b. ___, d. ___ (birth order is uncertain)
1. Philip COALE b. ___, d. ___
2. William COALE b. ___, d. ___, m. Sarah WEBSTER
3. Skipwith COALE b. ___, d. ___, m. Sarah HOPKINS
4. Samuel COALE b. ___, d. ___
5. Cassandra COALE b. ___, d. ___
6. Sarah COALE b. ___, d. ___, m. Richard THOMAS
7. Susan COALE b. ___, d. ___

Gerrard HOPKINS, son of Gerrard HOPKINS and Margaret JOHNS, b. 3 Mar 1709, d. 3 Jul 1777, m. 7 May 1730 Mary HALL, daughter of _________, b. ___, d. ___
1. Margaret HOPKINS b. 11 Jan 1730/1, d. ___, m. John THOMAS
2. Gerard HOPKINS b. 25 Aug 1732, d. ___
3. Mary HOPKINS b. 11 Nov 1734, d. ___, m. Philip GOVER
4. Sarah HOPKINS b. 20 Sept 1737, d. ___, m. John COWMAN
5. Richard HOPKINS b. 7 Feb 1739/40, d. as infant
6. Elizabeth HOPKINS b. __ 1741, d. 17 Aug 1794, m. Basil BROOKE
7. Rachel HOPKINS b. 30 Dec 1742, d. ___, m. Evan THOMAS
8. Joseph HOPKINS b. 11 Jan 1744/45, d. ___, m. Elizabeth HOWELL
9. Richard HOPKINS b. 20 Mar 1747/48, d. ___
10. Hannah HOPKINS b. 29 Aug 1749, d. ___
11. Elisha HOPKINS b. 15 Oct 1752, d. ___, m1. Hannah HOWELL, m2. Sarah SNOWDEN

Richard "Youngest" "Ironmaster" SNOWDEN, son of Richard SNOWDEN Jr. and Mary LINTHICUM, b. ___ 1688, d. ___ 1763, m1. 19 May 1709 Elizabeth Jane COALE, daughter of William and Eliza COALE, b. ___ 1692, 3 children, d. ___ 1713; m2. 19 Dec 1717 Elizabeth THOMAS, daughter of _________, b. ___ 1697, 7 children, d. ___ Aug 1775
1. Deborah SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___, m. James BROOKE
2. Eliza SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___, m. John THOMAS
3. Mary SNOWDEN b. ___ 1712, d. ___, m. Samuel THOMAS
4. Richard SNOWDEN b. ___ 1719, d. 18 Mar 1753, m. Elizabeth CROWLEY
5. Thomas SNOWDEN b. ___ 1722, d. ___ May 1770, m. Mary WRIGHT
6. Ann SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___, m. Henry Wright CRABB
7. Margaret SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___, m. John CONTEE
8. Samuel SNOWDEN b. ___ 1728, d. ___
9. Elizabeth SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ____, m. Joseph COWMAN
10. John SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ____

John THOMAS, son of Samuel THOMAS and Mary HUTCHINS, b. 15 Apr 1697, d. __ Feb 1749/50, m. __ Apr 1727 Elizabeth SNOWDEN, daughter of Richard SNOWDEN, Jr. and Mary LINTHICUM, b. ___, d. ___ (predeceased husband)
1. Richard THOMAS b. __ 1728, d. ___, m. Sarah COALE
2. Samuel THOMAS b. ___, d. ___
3. Elizabeth THOMAS b. ___, d. ___, m. Richard RICHARDSON
4. John THOMAS b. __ 1734, d. 15 Feb 1826, m. Margaret HOPKINS

5th Generation

Basil BROOKE Sr., son of James BROOKE and Deborah SNOWDEN, b. 13 Dec 1738, d. 22 Aug 1794, m. Elizabeth HOPKINS, daughter of Gerard HOPKINS and Mary HALL, b. __ 1741, d. 17 Aug 1794
1. James BROOKE b. 5 May 1766, d. ___, m. Hesther BOONE
2. Gerard BROOKE b. 12 Aug 1768, d. __ 1821, m. Margaret THOMAS
3. Deborah BROOKE b. 4 Sept 1770, d. 21 Feb 1835, m. James Brooke PLEASANTS
4. Basil BROOKE Jr. b. 28 Apr 1772, d. 1 Aug 1851, m. Mary PATRICK

Thomas PLEASANTS, son of ___________, b. ___, d. ___, m. Elizabeth BROOKE, daughter of James BROOKE and Deborah SNOWDEN, b. 22 Mar 1740/1, d. ___
1. James Brooke PLEASANTS, b. ___, d. ___, m. Deborah BROOKE
2. Deborah PLEASANTS b. __ 1763, d. 27 June 1845, m. William STABLER
3. Thomas Snowden PLEASANTS b. ___, d. ___
4. William Henry PLEASANTS b. ___, d. ___
5. Mary PLEASANTS b. ___, d. ___
6. Elizabeth PLEASANTS b. ___, d. ___

Thomas SNOWDEN, son of Richard SNOWDEN the Youngest and Elizabeth THOMAS, b. ___ 1722, d. ___ May 1770, m. bef. 1744 Mary WRIGHT, daughter of Henry WRIGHT and Elizabeth SPRIGG, b. ___ 1728, d. ___ 1770
1. Henry SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___ Apr 1775
2. Richard SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___, m. Eliza RUTLAND
3. Thomas SNOWDEN (Major) b. ___ 1751, d. ___ 1803, m. Anne Dorsey RIDGELY

Richard THOMAS Sr., son of John THOMAS and Elizabeth SNOWDEN, b. __ 1728, d. ___, m. Sarah COALE, daughter of Skipwith COALE and Margaret HOLLAND, b. ___, d. ___
1. Samuel THOMAS (3d.) b. 2 Dec 1753, d. bef. 1808, m. Mary COWMAN
2. Elizabeth THOMAS b. 28 Oct 1755, d. ___, m. Roger JOHNSON
3. Richard THOMAS Jr. b. 21 Feb 1758, d. 6 Nov 1821, m. Deborah BROOKE
4. John THOMAS b. 27 Sept 1760, d. ___
5. Mary THOMAS b. 12 Mar 1762, d. ___, m. William ROBERTSON
6. Sarah THOMAS b. 26 Nov 1764, d. 29 Apr 1805, m. Bernard GILPIN
7. Henrietta THOMAS b. 17 Feb 1767, d. as infant
8. Margaret THOMAS b. 11 Jun 1769, d. Mar 1797, m. Gerard BROOKE
9. William THOMAS b. 11 Dec 1771, d. 22 Jan 1851, m. Martha PATRICK
10. Ann THOMAS b. 25 May 1774, d. ___
11. Henrietta THOMAS (2d.) b. 7 Mar 1777, d. ___

6th Generation

Gerard BROOKE, son of Basil BROOKE and Elizabeth HOPKINS, b. 12 Aug 1768, d. __ 1821, m. 22 Apr 1789 Margaret THOMAS, daughter of Richard THOMAS and Sarah COALE, b. 11 Jun 1769, d. 5 Mar 1797
1. Richard BROOKE b. 6 Jan 1790, d. ___ 1862, m. Mary BROOKE
2. John Thomas BROOKE b. 12 Nov 1791, d. ___
3. Elizabeth P. BROOKE b. 12 Aug 1794, d. ___, m. Thomas Pleasants STABLER

Major Thomas SNOWDEN, son of Thomas SNOWDEN and Mary WRIGHT, b. ___ 1751, d. ___ 1803, m. Anne Dorsey RIDGELY, daughter of _________, b. ___ 1754, d. ___ 1824
1. Richard SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___, m1. Eliza WARFIELD, m2. Louisa Victoria WARFIELD
2. Thomas SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___
3. Mary SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___, m. John C. HERBERT
4. Nicholas SNOWDEN b. 21 Oct 1786, d. 8 Mar 1831, m. Elizabeth Thomas WARFIELD
5. Caroline Eliza SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___ (died at the age of 8 years)

William STABLER, son of Edward STABLER and ___, b. ___ 1767, lived at Cherry Grove, d. 24 Jan 1806, m. 4 Jun 1789 Deborah PLEASANTS, daughter of Thomas PLEASANTS and Elizabeth BROOKE, b. ___ 1763, d. 27 Jun 1845
1. Thomas Pleasants STABLER b. 5 Nov 1791, d. 30 Apr 1864, m. Elizabeth P. BROOKE
2. Edward STABLER b. 26 Sept 1794, d. 1 Sept 1883, m. Ann R. ---
3. James P. STABLER b. 14 Sept 1796, d. 13 Feb 1840, m1. Elizabeth GILPIN, m2. Sarah B. BRIGGS
4. Caleb Bentley STABLER b. 24 Jan 1799, d. 26 Oct 1888, m. Anna MOORE
5. William Henry STABLER b. 13 Apr 1802, d. 22 Feb 1883, m. Eliza THOMAS

William THOMAS, son of Richard THOMAS and Sarah COALE, b. 11 Dec 1771, d. bef. 20 Dec 1799, m. Martha PATRICK, daughter of ___________, b. ___, d. ___
1. Anne Poultney THOMAS b. 14 Apr 1801, d. 5 Mar 1830
2. Eliza THOMAS b. 10 Apr 1803, d. 18 Dec 1883, m. William Henry STABLER
3. Maria R. THOMAS b. 23 Nov 1804, d. ___
4. Henrietta THOMAS b. 21 Feb 1807, d. 14 Oct 1821
5. Richard THOMAS b. 19 Apr 1809, d. 15 Oct 1820
6. Edward THOMAS b. 22 Jun 1811, d. 4 Sept 1882, m. Lydia S. GILPIN
7. William John THOMAS b. 15 Sept 1813, d. 21 Mar 1884, m. Rebecca M. ---
8. Samuel Patrick THOMAS b. 23 Jan 1816, d. 12 Dec 1898, m. Elizabeth Gassaway PORTER
9. Jane THOMAS b. 20 May 1818, d. 8 Dec 1896, m. Charles G. PORTER
10. Martha THOMAS b. 3 Feb 1822, d. 9 Jul 1881, m. Thomas P. HARVEY

Samuel WARFIELD, son of ____________, b. ___, d. ___, m. Anna THOMAS, daughter of ___________, b. ___, d. ___
1. Elizabeth Thomas WARFIELD b. 14 Nov 1790, d. 16 Jun 1866, m. Nicholas SNOWDEN

7th Generation

Joseph E. BENTLEY, son of ______, b. ___, d. ____, m. _____________, daughter of _______, b. ___, d. ___
1. Alice Ann BENTLEY b. ___, d. ___, m. John STABLER

Nicholas SNOWDEN, son of Major Thomas SNOWDEN and Anne Dorsey RIDGELY, b. 21 Oct 1786 at Montpelier, Laurel, MD, d. 8 Mar 1831 at Montpelier, Laurel, MD, m. 7 Oct 1806 Elizabeth WARFIELD, daughter of Samuel WARFIELD and Anna THOMAS, b. 14 Nov 1790, d. 16 Jun 1866, Avondale, MD.
1. Ann Elizabeth SNOWDEN b. 3 Jul 1808, d. ___, m. Francis M. HALL
2. Thomas J. SNOWDEN b. 12 Feb 1810, d. 3 Jul 1835
3. Louisa SNOWDEN b. 3 Jun 1811 , d. 27 Mar 1849, m. Col. Horace CAPRON
4. Juliana Maria SNOWDEN b. 28 Jan 1813, d. 15 Dec 1866, m. Dr. Theodore JENKINS
5. Adeline SNOWDEN b. 9 Oct 1814, m. W. W. W. BOWIE
6. Edward SNOWDEN b. 29 Oct 1816, d. ___, m. Mary Thomas WARFIELD
7. DeWilton SNOWDEN (Dr.) b. 19 Aug 1818, d. ____, m. Emma C. CAPRON
8. Henry SNOWDEN b. 29 Sept 1820, d. ____, m. Mary C. COWMAN
9. Eliza SNOWDEN (Sister Anna Maria) b. 8 __ 1822, entered Georgetown Convent in 1847
10. George SNOWDEN b. ___, d. ___
11. Emily Roseville SNOWDEN b. 24 Jun 1824, d. ___, m. Charles C. HILL
12. Nicholas SNOWDEN (2nd Lt.) b. 7 Apr 1828, d. 6 Jun 1862, m. Henrietta STABLER
13. Arthur Montieth SNOWDEN (Dr.) b. 30 Dec 1830, d. 28 Aug 1869 (drowned), m1. Ella SNOWDEN, m2. Mary VAUX

Thomas Pleasants STABLER, son of William STABLER and Deborah PLEASANTS, b. 5 Nov 1791, d. 5 Nov 1791, m. 2 Jun 1813 Elizabeth P. BROOKE, daughter of Gerard BROOKE and Margaret THOMAS, b. 12 Aug 1794, d. ___
1. Brooke STABLER b. 25 Apr 1814, d. ____
2. Sarah STABLER b. 31 Jan 1816, d. ___, m. Augustus JORDAN
3. George STABLER b. 18 May 1818, d. ___, m. Mary W. PAXTON
4. John STABLER b. 13 Apr 1820, d. ___, m. Alice Ann BENTLEY
5. Deborah STABLER b. 7 Apr 1822, d. ___
6. James STABLER b. 30 May 1827, d. 13 Jan 1909, m. Phebe A. RUSSELL
7. Howard STABLER b. 5 Aug 1829, d. 18 Jul 1876, m. Esther G. MOORE
8. William STABLER b. 11 July 1831, d. 19 Nov 1832
9. William Henry STABLER b. 6 May 1833, d. ___
10. Deborah STABLER b. 27 Jun 1836, d. ___
11. Thomas Pleasants STABLER, Jr. b. 30 Aug 1840, d. ___

William Henry “Henry” STABLER, of William STABLER and Deborah PLEASANTS, b. 13 Apr 1802, d. 22 Feb 1883, m. Eliza THOMAS, daughter of William THOMAS and Martha PATRICK, b. 10 Apr 1803, d. 18 Dec 1883
1. Martha STABLER b. __ Feb 1826, d. ___, m. Thomas Moore REESE
2. Joseph STABLER b. 24 Jan 1827, d. 3 Jan 1915
3. Henrietta STABLER b. 27 Jan 1829, d. 21 May 1907, m. Lt. Nicholas SNOWDEN
4. Lucy STABLER b. __ Sept 1830, d. 28 Apr 1897
5. William STABLER b. 16 Mar 1832, d. 9 Feb 1867
6. Ellen STABLER b. 16 Feb 1834, d. 6 Jan 1924

8th Generation

George BEALL, son of ______, b. ___, d. ___, m. Margaret BARBER, daughter of ______, b. ___, d. ___
1. William Vernon BEALL b. __ 1857, d. 22 Oct 1931, m. Mary Elizabeth PURDUM

Lieutenant Nicholas N. SNOWDEN, son of Nicholas SNOWDEN and Elizabeth WARFIELD, b. 7 Apr 1828 at Montpelier in Laurel, MD, d. 6 Jun 1862, Harrisonburg, VA, m. 28 May 1850 at Philadephia, PA, Henrietta STABLER, daughter of William Henry STABLER and Eliza THOMAS, b. 27 Jan 1829, Sandy Spring, MD, d. 21 May 1907, Sandy Spring, MD
1. Emily Roseville SNOWDEN b. 7 Apr 1851, d. ___ m. Gerard HOPKINS
2. Marion SNOWDEN b. 28 Jun 1853, d. 7 Jan 1857
3. Lucy SNOWDEN b. 13 Mar 1855, d. ___, m1. ______ LEA, m2. William W. MOORE
4. Helen SNOWDEN b. 7 Apr 1857, d. 18 Sept 1927, m. Augustus STABLER
5. Francis SNOWDEN b. 19 Mar 1859, d. 11 Sept 1936, m. Frances Brooke STABLER
6. Mary Thomas SNOWDEN b. 3 Jun 1861, d. 31 Dec 1932, m. Charles Dorsey WARFIELD

John STABLER, son of Thomas Pleasants STABLER and Elizabeth P. BROOKE, b. 13 Apr 1820, d. ____, m. 8 May 1851 Alice Ann BENTLEY, daughter of Joseph E. BENTLEY b. ___, d. ___.
1. Florence M. STABLER b. 24 Jun 1852, d. ___, m. Charles M. BOND
2. Alice Evelyn STABLER b. 14 Aug 1854, d. ___
3. Cora STABLER b. 6 Oct 1856, d. ___
4. Anna B. STABLER b. 24 Feb 1859, d. ___
5. Frances Brooke STABLER b. 25 Oct 1860, d. 25 Mar 1943, m. Francis SNOWDEN
6. Eliza Brooke STABLER b. 15 May 1863, d. ___
7. John STABLER Jr. b. 15 Nov 1865, d. ___
8. Alice Bentley STABLER b. 8 Jan 1868, d. ___
9. Evangeline STABLER b. ___, d. ___, m. William H. GILPIN (23 Oct 1902)

9th Generation

William Vernon BEALL, son of George BEALL and Margaret BARBER, b. __ 1857 at Cedar Grove, d. 22 Oct 1931, bur. Rockville Cemetery, m. Mary Elizabeth PURDUM, daughter of ________, b. 24 Mar 1859 at Cedar Grove, d. 18 Dec 1920, both bur. at Rockville
1. Infant BEALL – unnamed (bur. at Rockville)
2. Forrest Purdum BEALL b. ___ 1888, d. 21 Aug 1963, m. Flora M. DILL

Francis "Frank" SNOWDEN, son of Lt. Nicholas SNOWDEN and Elizabeth WARFIELD, b. 19 Mar 1859, d. 11 Sept 1936, m. 18 May 1886 at Ingleside in Sandy Spring, MD, Frances "Fannie" Brooke STABLER, daughter of John STABLER and Alice Ann BENTLEY, b. 15 Oct 1860, d. 25 Mar 1943
1. Elsie Brooke SNOWDEN b. 4 Mar 1887, d. 21 Dec 1945
2. Miriam SNOWDEN b. 14 Apr 1891, d. 26 Nov 1950, m1. Samuel P. THOMAS Jr., m2. James H. LAMPTON
3. Edward SNOWDEN b. 13 Dec 1893, d. 15 Oct 1955, m. Nellie KELLY
4. Anna McFarland SNOWDEN b. 27 Jul 1896, d. ___, m. Louis Theodore "Doc" BUSSLER
5. Marjorie SNOWDEN b. __ 1888, d. __ 1970, m. Reuben BRIGHAM

Arthur Amber BRIGHAM, son of John Winslow BRIGHAM and Mary Rebecca PUTNAM, b. 6 Oct 1856, Marlboro, MA, d. 12 Nov 1938, Lakeland, FL, m. 6 Oct 1881 Charlotte Warren BRIGHAM, daughter of Dennison BRIGHAM and Sarah WEEKS, b. __ 1857, Marlboro, MA, d. __ 1933
1. Reuben BRIGHAM b. 13 Dec 1887, d. 6 Dec 1946, m. Marjorie SNOWDEN
2. Ruth Putnam BRIGHAM b. 12 Sept 1892, d. ___ (bur. at Woodside)

10th Generation

Forrest Purdum "Blue" BEALL, son of William Vernon BEALL and Mary Elizabeth PURDUM, b. ___ 1888, d. 21 Aug 1963, m. Flora M. DILL, daughter of ____________, b. ___ 1891, d. 13 Jun 1934, both bur. at Rockville
1. Gladys Lucille BEALL b. 7 Oct 1915, d. 29 Dec 2008, m. David Lewis BRIGHAM
2. Dorothy BEALL b. __, still living, m. Vernon SWIGER
3. Anna BEALL b. ___, d. ___, m. Dr. George HOPKINS
4. Miriam BEALL b. ___, d. ___, m. Arthur HORNER
5. Dolores BEALL b. ___, still living, m. Joseph KNOWLAND Jr.
6. Flora BEALL b. 22 Feb 1934, still living, m. Gil MOORE
7. Elaine BEALL (Flora’s twin) b. 22 Feb 1934, d. same day (bur. at Rockville)

Reuben BRIGHAM, son of Arthur Amber BRIGHAM and Charlotte Warren BRIGHAM, b. 13 Dec 1887, Marlboro, MA, d. 6 Dec 1946, Chicago, IL, m. 7 Jun 1915 at Ingleside in Sandy Spring, MD, Marjorie SNOWDEN, daughter of Frances SNOWDEN and Francis Brooke STABLER, b. 1888, d. 1970
1. David Lewis BRIGHAM b. 10 Dec 1916, d. 6 Sept 1999, Olney, MD, m. Gladys BEALL
2. Francis Snowden BRIGHAM, b. ___, d. ___, m. Dorothy LEMON
3. Marjorie Amber BRIGHAM b. 22 Feb 1922, still living, m. 18 July 1944 Robert Whitney MILLER
4. Arthur Putnam BRIGHAM b. 29 May 1928, d. 22 Jan 1992, Bella Vista, AR, m. Helen CASE

References:
1. The Annals of Sandy Spring (1863-1883), by William Henry Fahrquhar, Cushings & Bailey, 1884 (full text and pdf scan of book)
2. The Annals of Sandy Spring Vol. 2 (1883-1895), by Eliza N. Moore, Thomas & Evans, 1902 (full text and pdf scan of book)
3. The Annals of Sandy Spring Vol. 3 (1895-1909), by Rebecca T. Miller, King Brothers, 1909
4. The Annals of Sandy Spring Vol. 4 (1909-1929), by Annie B. Kirk, The Times Printing Company, 1929
5. The Annals of Sandy Spring Vol. 5 (1929-1947), by Herbert O. Stabler, American Publishing Co., 1950
6. Genealogical Notes: containing the pedigree of the Thomas family of Maryland, and of the following connected families: Snowden--Buckley--Lawrence--Chew--Ellicott--Hopkins--Johnson--Rutherford--Fairfax--Schieffelin--Tyson and others .., by Lawrence Buckley Thomas, 1877 (full text and pdf scan of book)
7. The Thomas Book: giving the Genealogies of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, K.G., the Thomas Family descended from him, and some Allied Families, by Lawrence Buckley Thomas, published by The Henry T. Thomas Company, New York, NY, 1896 (Googlebooks scan of book)
8. Burials at The Sandy Spring Friends Meeting Graveyard and at The Woodside Cemetery, 1754 to 2003: A listing of burials and the writing on grave stones of a Quaker Community, published by the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting

Note A: Among the 2nd Generation offspring I have highlighted Elizabeth Thomas (daughter of Philip Thomas and Sarah Harrison) in green to indicate that she is a connection between generations. But she married William Coale who was among the 2nd Generation parents, the same generation as her own parents. Elizabeth Thomas was William Coale’s third wife and must have been quite young at the time of their marriage. They had 3 children together before William Coale’s death in 1678. Elizabeth Thomas went on to marry Edward Talbot. She died in 1726--forty-eight years after the death of William Coale.

Note B: Among the 3rd Generation offspring Johns Hopkins born 30 Oct 1720 was the grandfather of Johns Hopkins the Quaker philanthropist born 19 May 1795. Here is the progression: Gerrard Hopkins married Margaret Johns and named their ninth child Johns Hopkins, "Johns" being Margaret's family name. Johns Hopkins and his third wife Elizabeth Thomas named their oldest son Samuel Hopkins. Samuel Hopkins married Hannah Janney, and their second son was called Johns Hopkins. This Johns Hopkins was born 19 May 1795 and died 24 Dec 1873 without issue but left behind a significant legacy.

August 1971

They were both big men and the muscles vibrated in the forearms above the clublike hands. One had just called the other a water witch and I backed up to the honeysuckled fence row. A boy didn't belong too close at that moment.

A kid raised in the country learns some words the city kids never hear. A clodhopper or just a plain clod; a briar jumper or a hick; a hawg jaw or an apple knocker; a slew foot or a hay seed. I knew 'em all and could take each one from the bigger kids who had walked a furrow or jumped a black berry patch while chasing a rabbit. It was routine to slop the pigs and easy to use a long stick to shake the apples off the tree.

You don't mind being a hay seed when you have mowed, raked, loaded, forked and worked hay into the mow of the old barracks. Still fresh in memory are the wheat shocks, the pitch forks, the bundles pitched up to the top of the wagon, and the "first and last snake" tossed up with the last bundle. Tass Carter sailed off that topped out load and was running before he hit the ground. He said something about k-k-killin' the next boy who did that trick. But, he was kidding, or was he?

Anyway, this was country talk and farm boys understood. There was always work and time for fun. The oversized, old felt hat was a trademark. The ever present hound could handle the rabbits, quail, squirrels and even a skunk. The collie brought the cows in for milking and there was always a horse to ride or work as the occasion might demand. There was no real need for parks, golf courses, organized recreation, and planned activities by associations and organizations.

Most of us lived in the country and knew what those folks who drove out to see us on Sunday were called. We whispered about city-slickers with fancy suits and tourin' cars. They needed watching a little but they didn't have the real smarts a county kid comes by kinda natural.

We showed 'em the birds and bees and the stock and the chickens. What was the use of talking about things you lived with every day of your life. If they were half-way with us, we steered them around poison ivy, beggars lice, sumac and chuckle burrs.

It was fun to try the young fellow from town our on corn silk, Indian cigars, grape vine and Brown's Mule. Smokin' and chewin' was all the same, they got white, wobbly and then sick to the stomach. That was good clean fun and recreation the old way. We didn't mean no harm by it and they had something to talk about when they got back to the city.

I guess they talked about Dad rollin' his own and the checked dress Mom had made from some feed sack goods. We got in our licks about the patent leather shoes, the striped pants and the starched collars.

But all of us enjoyed the coming and the going. Those city words that identified a nationality and degraded many first generation Americans were lost on our untrained ears. It was better that way. We walked the country roads and they walked the city streets.

Once in a while the youngsters were afraid of the dark and needed some reassurance. But there was always someone to make you feel safe and not much happened to make newspaper headlines. I guess it happened some but when you have a piece of hay in the corner of your mouth and whistle up your dog a fellow feels mighty comfortable and secure.

So I watched the two big men. You don't call a man a Water Witch, even in the country and get by with it. There had to be the inevitable collision.

The one stood sort of sizing up the antagonist and then fondled the forked peach stick. It looked sort of like a sling shot without the leather cup and rubber innertube strips. I thought of David and Goliath. Perhaps history would repeat. Then the startling first words, "It's a gift, sort of like extrasensory perception."

The forked stick is held in both hands with the bottom of the Y pointed upward. It is known as a Divining Rod and when the gifted carrier walks over a good stream of water the stick turns over and points to the water. Next the "witch" takes a limber twig and holds it over the spot selected by the peach stick.

Like a pump handle the twig dips down and then comes back to the starting position. Each circuit indicates 10 feet and if it bows 8 times you must go 80 feet to strike water. At the end of the measurement the twig will shake sideways before staring over again.

Fantastic? Perhaps it is. But, this same man told me where to drill and that I would need to go down 128 feet to strike water. I believed and hit at 126 feet. We have good water in a country well and if you understand the meaning of the title even a Water Witch can be a mighty regular guy.

If some of my city colleagues feel like being a LFRA Witch, we'll let them use a Diving Rod to find discounts, travel opportunity, recreation and more members. Success is fun!

David L. Brigham
Executive Witch

Tombstone Transcription Projects

Some days I love the internet. While surfing around for genealogical information, I stumbled upon a terrific resource in the National Tombstone Project. Volunteers transcribe the inscriptions of headstones suffering the ravages of time, sometimes taking photographs and adding information found in the cemetery's records, and share their findings in a national database. Here is the Maryland site, which I used to locate the Beall Family Cemetery off of Bel Pre Road.

Family Cemetery at Glyndon

Each Memorial Day the gravesite is groomed and bedecked with fresh flowers and an American flag. But most of the year it is quiet and plain and tucked in the edge of the woods.



The monuments here are as follows: headstones for Reuben Brigham and Marjorie Snowden Brigham; a bench given by University of Maryland class of 1908; and a sundial "from friends in agriculture."



The inscription on Reuben's headstone is "The Old Knight's Vigil" by Alfred Noyes:

ONCE, in this chapel, Lord,
Young and undaunted,
Over my virgin sword
Lightly I chaunted,
" Dawn ends my watch. I go
Shining to meet the foe.

" Swift with Thy dawn," I said,
Set the lists ringing !
Soon shall Thy foe be sped,
And the world singing :
Bless my bright plume for me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.

War-worn I kneel to-night,
Lord, at Thine altar.
O, in to-morrow's fight,
Let me not falter.
Bless my dark arms for me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.

Keep Thou my broken sword
All the long night through
While I keep watch and ward.
Then, the red fight through,
Bless the wrenched haft for me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.

Keep, in Thy pierced hands,
Still the bruised helmet.
Let not their hostile bands
Wholly o'erwhelm it.
Bless my poor shield for me,
Christ, King of Chivalry.

Keep Thou the sullied mail,
Lord, that I tender
Here at Thine altar-rail,
Then let Thy splendour
Touch it once . . . and I go
Stainless to meet the foe.



The inscription on Marjorie's headstone reads, "To thine ownself be true."

July 1971

It was June and a beautiful afternoon as I slipped across the parking lot apparently unseen. Then came the well recognized voice of the Duty Guard. "Watch that cuttin' out early and leaving the rest of us to carry on!"

This meant a little slow-down and a valued minute or two of conversation and rich, homey philosophy. You can't beat it for relaxing frayed nerves, cutting life into focus.

He didn't know I was about to spend some money I didn't really have. Some things are essential even if you are scratching for the change it takes to accomplish the responsibility. That's why I was wishing for the new LFRA Buyers Guide, wondering where I could find the best price for something appropriate, and asking myself why money seemed so hard to come by.

So it's June and we began our "expert" conversation with that fact; after we had covered the weather. June is the month when we spend more money for gifts than any other except December. There are the many graduations and weddings by the dozen. Those bright eyed girls are experts at removing ribbons and seals and colorful wrapping from multi-shaped packages. The guys just look dumbfounded, ill at ease or like the floor should separate and make room for them in the basement.

Then there is Father's Day and more is spent on the old guy than the family release to make Mother's Day perfect for the best. It isn't that we think more of Dad, he just costs more to buy for. Mom likes the blouse, stockings, perfume, some costume jewelry and a pretty card with the right words.

But Dad is something else...a shirt and tie perhaps, something for libation purposes, golf togs or equipment, possibly a rod and reel, or a box of cigars. It costs to keep Dad and it costs more to find a card that will tell the truth about him than it does to shower love on Mom.

I reached down in the pocket which had been worn through by change and car keys. Nothing there! The other side held the reassuring feel of soft leather over three or four dollars. How was that going to guy a graduation present today?

It was easy to drop the question and start with the days when we had even less in our pockets, if we had pockets at all. June was that great month when you kissed school goodbye for a few weeks and headed for the Patuxent River. There were mud slides, tadpoles, dragon flies, snapping turtles, box turtles, frogs, eels, sun perch, catfish, craw dads, black snakes, a raft and rapids, land nettles on bare legs and the buzz of a mosquito.

The home cut poplar pole, an earthworm, hook, sinker, some green line and a cork from the vinegar jug did the trick for the young fisherman. If they didn't bite there was always skinny dippin in the deep hole, until the neighbors came around the bend in a canoe very much unannounced.

How about the heavy rains and the river jumping the banks, coming across the marsh and right up to the mouth of the pup tent placed on the knoll just off the woods road. We answered that one by jumping in the main current at Mink Hollow and flying downstream to Snells Bridge. Over and over this thrill was repeated and nobody was lost in the flood or snagged by an under the water tree limb. The blankets got wet and moldy, dry wood was hard to come by, and the oil off the top of a jar of peanut butter served as lubricant for the pancake griddle.

This was the same river, still a little muddy, and it was June 1971. The Guard had wanted me to tell him about our neighborhood minister and the river.

There had been a confirmation class for 10 teen age youngsters. They learned about baptism and were given a choice. The unanimous decision for kids whose parent had been sprinkled some years before was immersion. Now the choice was where it would be done. The prompt verdict was the Patuxent River behind Dave Brigham's place. Shades of the Jordan and a man named John.

It had rained and the banks were muddy, right where the old slide used to be. The minister walked out in his good shoes and suit, waist deep in the center stream. Parents and friends sang "Shall We Gather At The River" and one by one the white robed ten made their sometimes shaky way to a memorable experience and a new hope. Once safely back on shore, a fellow who had not been as unsure as the rest peeled off his robe to reveal a T-shirt bearing the inscription "Aqua Club - Expert Swimmer."

So, it is June and I am in the parking lot going to buy a graduation present. The Guard waned to know if it was high school or college. He was coming out next year from high school. I told him this was a college graduate in nursing, the third to finish the University. My three were all out of the nest and going along. That's why I was ducking out early to get a present for the last one. It was June I told him.

"My, my," he replied, "You must feel like the man that has gone and swum the river!"

Funny how a guy can put it so you just can't help but understand it. There is so much uphill in life and we struggle along. All of a sudden it is over, done, accomplished and completed. The old river that you fought so hard to swim has been conquered. Now you are on the other side. What's the next move?

Turn around and start back. You must cross again. Life is always a struggle and both Home and Success are on the other side.

David L. Brigham
Executive Director

Annals - Volume V

I am in the process of combing through The Annals of Sandy Spring for family history tidbits and started with Volume V, 1929-1947, edited by Herbert Osburn Stabler, published by American Publishing Co., copyright 1950. As always, I welcome corrections and additions. First I have pasted in a couple branches of family tree for your reference, followed by passages from the Annals. For convenience sake, I designated the generations by their relation to me. I have highlighted individuals mentioned in Vol. V of the Annals.

Third Great Grandparents

Lieutenant Nicholas N. SNOWDEN, son of Nicholas SNOWDEN and Elizabeth WARFIELD, b. 7 Apr 1828 at Montpelier in Laurel, MD, d. 6 Jun 1862, near Harrisonburg, VA, married 28 May 1850 at Philadephia, PA, Henrietta STABLER, daughter of William Henry STABLER and Eliza THOMAS, b. 27 Jan 1829, Sandy Spring, MD, d. 21 May 1907, Sandy Spring, MD
1. Emily Roseville SNOWDEN b. 7 Apr 1851, m. Gerard HOPKINS
2. Marion SNOWDEN b. 28 Jun 1853, d. 7 Jan 1857
3. Lucy SNOWDEN b. 13 Mar 1855, m1. ___ LEA, m2. William W. MOORE
4. Helen SNOWDEN b. 7 Apr 1857, m. Dr. Augustus STABLER
5. Francis SNOWDEN b. 19 Mar 1859, d. 11 Sept 1936, m. Fannie Brooke STABLER
6. Mary Thomas SNOWDEN b. 3 Jun 1861, d. 31 Dec 1932, m. Charles Dorsey WARFIELD

John STABLER, son of Thomas Pleasants STABLER and Elizabeth P. BROOKE, b. 13 Apr 1820, married 8 May 1851 Alice Ann BENTLEY, daughter of Joseph E. BENTLEY
1. Florence M. STABLER b. 24 Jun 1852, m. Charles M. BOND
2. Alice Evelyn STABLER b. 14 Aug 1854
3. Cora STABLER b. 6 Oct 1856
4. Anna B. STABLER b. 24 Feb 1859
5. Frances "Fannie" Brooke STABLER b. 25 Oct 1860, d. 25 Mar 1943, m. Francis SNOWDEN
6. Eliza Brooke STABLER b. 15 May 1863
7. John STABLER Jr. b. 15 Nov 1865
8. Alice Bentley STABLER b. 8 Jan 1868
9. Evangeline STABLER m. William H. GILPIN

Second Great Grandparents

Arthur Amber BRIGHAM, son of John Winslow BRIGHAM and Mary Rebecca PUTNAM, b. 6 Oct 1856, Marlboro, MA, d. 12 Nov 1938, Lakeland, FL, married 6 Oct 1881 Charlotte Warren BRIGHAM, daughter of Dennison BRIGHAM and Sarah WEEKS, b. 1857, Marlboro, MA, d. 1933
1. Reuben BRIGHAM b. 13 Dec 1887, d. 6 Dec 1946, m. Marjorie SNOWDEN
2. Ruth BRIGHAM b. 12 Sept 1892

Francis "Frank" SNOWDEN, son of Lt. Nicholas SNOWDEN and Henrietta STABLER, b. 19 Mar 1859, d. 11 Sept 1936, married 18 May 1886 Frances "Fannie" Brooke STABLER, daughter of John STABLER and Alice Ann BENTLEY, b. 15 Oct 1860, d. 25 Mar 1943
1. Elsie Brooke SNOWDEN b. 4 Mar 1887, d. 21 Dec 1945
2. Miriam SNOWDEN b. 15 Apr 1891, d. Nov 1950, m1. Samuel P. THOMAS, m2. James H. LAMPTON
3. Edward SNOWDEN b. 13 Dec 1893, m. Nellie KELLEY
4. Anna McFarland SNOWDEN b. 27 Jul 1896, m. Louis Theodore "Doc" BUSSLER
5. Marjorie SNOWDEN b. 1888, d. 1970, m. Reuben BRIGHAM

Great Grandparents

Reuben BRIGHAM, son of Arthur Amber BRIGHAM and Charlotte Warren BRIGHAM, b. 13 Dec 1887, Marlboro, MA, d. 6 Dec 1946, Chicago, IL, married 7 Jun 1915 at Ingleside in Sandy Spring, MD, Marjorie SNOWDEN, daughter of Frances SNOWDEN and Francis Brooke STABLER, b. 1888, d. 1970
1. David Lewis BRIGHAM b. 1916, d. Oct 1999, Olney, MD, m. 28 Dec 1938 Gladys BEALL b. 7 Oct 1915, d. 29 Dec 2008, Mt. Airy, MD
2. Francis Snowden BRIGHAM, deceased, m. Dorothy LEMON, deceased
3. Marjorie Amber BRIGHAM b. 22 Feb 1922, still living, m. 18 July 1944 Robert Whitney MILLER, deceased
4. Arthur Putnam BRIGHAM b. 1928, d. 22 Jan 1992, Bella Vista, AR, m. Helen CASE, still living

Excerpts from The Annals of Sandy Spring, Volume V, 1929-1947:

p. 16 - Sept. 15 [1930] a large number of people visited the unusual and beautiful detura plants of Elsie Snowden at Engleside [sic]. During the night of bloom two plants had 90 bell-shaped blooms, six inches in length and three inches in diameter, and very fragrant. There was also a night-blooming cereus with fourteen blooms. The garden lovers of the neighborhood visiting this unusual sight felt that this was the most beautiful display of floraculture ever seen in Sandy Spring.

p. 47 - Mary Snowden Warfield was my friend and the friendship strengthened and deepened with the years. As a homemaker, a mother, and a friend she lived a life so fully ripe in good deeds, she must have been tenderly gathered into the great Garner House of the Lord when on December 31 [1932], with the dying year, she passed into the Great Beyond. She lied in the family lot in Oak Grove Cemetery at Glenwood, Maryland.

p. 84 - The obituary for Miriam Snowden Lampton is tucked into the pages here, about October 1935. Although the article contains no date of death, I believe that she died in November 1950. She was married to Samuel P. Thomas and widowed before she wed James H. Lampton. The text of the notice is as follows:

Miriam Lampton Buried Saturday. Burial services were held Saturday for Mrs. Miriam Snowden Lampton, of Ashton and Washington, D.C., at the Friends Meeting House, Sandy Spring. A native of Montgomery County, Mrs. Lampton was employed by the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington. She was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Francis Snowden, of Ashton. Death came at the Sibley hospital in Washington last week, following a brief illness, brought on by a severe brain hemorrhage. Mrs. Lampton is survived by her two sons, Evan S. Thomas, of Seattle, Washington, and Edward P. Thomas, Wheaton. She is also survied by two sisters, Mrs. Reuben Brigham [Marjorie], of Ashton, and Mrs. Louis T. Bussler [Anna], also of Ashton, and a brother, Edward Snowden of Sandy Spring.

p. 106-7 - Francis Snowden was born at "Avondale" near Laurel, Maryland, March 19, 1859. His grandmother, Elizabeth Warfield Snowden, tiring of so large an establishment as "Montepelier" [sic] divided her possessions among her six sons and six daughters reserving five hundred acres of the manor upon which she built a brick house and asked her son Nicholas to live with her. He was to inherit it at her death. In 1850 he took his bride Henrietta Stabler there. When the Civil War was declared, Captain [sic] Nicholas Snowden and his militia company joined the Confederate ranks, providing their own horses and uniforms. He lost his life in an engagement at Harrisonburg, Virginia, June 6, 1862. Three years later his mother died and Henrietta Snowden returned to her birthplace, Sandy Spring, to occupy, with her five children "Ingleside" a house her father Wm. Henry Stabler built for her and there Francis was reared.

He married Fannie Brooke [Frances] Stabler May 18, 1886 in Sandy Spring Meeting House. They went to "Ingleside" to live with his mother where their four daughters and one son were born. There they lived for a little over fifty years. He passed away on September 11, 1936, and was laid to rest at Sandy Spring. (E.T.S.)

p. 137 - E. Clifton Thomas bought a tract of woodland adjoining Ashton from Fanny B. Snowden [1937-8].

p. 148-9 - Nov. 12th [1938]. Arthur A. Brigham, aged 82 years, died in Lakeland, Florida, where he had gone to spend the winter; his remains were interred a few days later in Woodside Cemetery. Mr. Brigham was a Past Master of Massachusetts State Grange. For a time he was Professor of Agriculture at the Imperial College of Agriculture at Sapporo, Japan. Later he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Goettingen, Germany. He then occupied the position of Professor of Agriculture at the Experiment State of Rhode Island. He went from there to Ithaca, New York, where he became general manager of the Cornell Incubator Co. he then moved his family to South Dakota where he became the organizer and first Principal of the South Dakota School of Agriculture. Mr. Brigham was largely responsible for the establishment of the Grange in Rhode Island and was instrumental in the formation of two in Florida.

p. 151 - Dec. 28th [1938]--David Lewis Brigham, son of Reuben and Marjorie Brigham and Gladys Beall, daughter of Forest and the late Flora Dill Beall were married in Rockville. The young people have gone to live in Des Moines, Iowa, where David has a position.

p. 181 - On June 7th [1940], the Brigham children gave Reuben and Marjorie a reception in honor of their 25th anniversary.

p. 194 - [April 1941] About this time Reuben and Marjorie Brigham returned from an extensive trip to Mexico and the South.

p. 198-9 - [August 1941] Through Reuben Brigham, it seems the Agricultural Dept. has become interested in the Sandy Spring Community as an advanced social and agricultural section; so for several months they have been preparing an educational film based on our past history and the efforts of the three farmers' clubs and especially the Farmers' Convention from which so much of our advancement in agriculture has emanated. They have taken shots on farms at Rockland, Plainfield, Willow Grove, The Highlands, Oakley, The Briars and perhaps some others along with some of the old Meeting House and Community House where the first Farmers Convention was held over seventy years ago. When completed and rounded out it ought to make a very creditable showing of the records and accomplishments of Sandy Spring farmers.

p. 205 - Augustus Stabler was born at Roslyn, near Brighton August 25th, 1858. As a young man he took courses at Johns Hopkins University and studied medicine at Howard University. On September 18th, 1884 he married Helen Snowden and went to live in Lawrence, Mass. where he practiced medicine. In Sept. 1888, he returned to Roslyn to live, bringing his wife and two children, Isabel and Austin. He practiced medicine and farmed until the summer of 1911, where he entered the service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. In 1915 he went to Fairfax County, Va. where he operated a nursery with his son Henry. He died March 27th [1942] and is survived by five children, Isabel S. Moore, Sydney Snowden, Henry, Nicholas Snowden and N. Graham Stabler. Interment was at Woodside. (E.H.L.)

p. 207-8 - Fannie B. Snowden and daughter Elsie again spent the winter [1941-2] at the home of her daughter and son-in-law Louis and Anna Bussler at Ashton.

p. 210 - I feel it is fitting that we should record here the names of our neighborhood boys who joined one or another branch of our Nation's services: Francis Brigham... [1941-2]

p. 224 - Frances Brooke Snowden, daughter of John and Alice Bentley Stabler, was born Oct. 15th, 1860 at "Oreola" near Brookeville, Md. She received her education in the schools of Philadelphia. Returning to Sandy Spring she made her home at "Harewood" with her cousins Arthur and Anna Stabler, and from there was married May 18th, 1886, to Francis Snowden. As a bride, she went to Ingleside where she lived until her death on march 25th, 1943, having survived her husband by over five years. She faithfully performed the duties of the busy wife and helpmate and gave the loving care of a mother to their five children. The latter years of her life were spent as a partial invalid. She was always cheerful and uncomplaining, an outstanding example to all who knew her. (M.S.M.)

p. 252 - The following is a list of the Community young men that are now serving their country in one or another branch of the armed forces. These are the boys and men that went in during the year [1943-4] or who were inadvertently missed from last year's record: ...Francis Snowden...David Brigham...Francis Brigham...

p. 257-8 - On July 18th [1944] Marjorie Amber, daughter of Reuben and Marjorie S. Brigham was married to Staff Sgt. Robert Whittley Miller, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Miller of Silver Spring, Maryland. Later, Sgt. Miller was stationed at Ascension Island with the weather division of the Army Air Corps and Marjorie went to Camp Swift for basic training in the Army Nursing Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant. During July the Fifth War Loan was largely oversubscribed by the Sandy Spring section.

p. 260 - On Aug. 28th [1944] a telegram was received by Louis T. Bussler from the War Department bearing the sad news that his nephew Paul Bussler had been killed in action in France on Aug. 11th.

p. 262 - Oct 21st [1944] Virginia, daughter of Edward and Nellie Kelley Snowden was married to Mr. Rudolph Bouquet, son of Mr. and Mrs. G.P. Bouquet of Houma, La.

p. 271 - A list of Sherwood High School graduates discloses the fact that during the past year [1944-5] the following have entered the service of their country:...Marjorie Brigham Miller.

p. 278 - About this time [Sept. 1945] Marjorie Brigham Miller went to the Pacific Coast in her capacity as an Army nurse; she sailed from New York by way of the Panama Canal.

p. 279 - Elsie Brooke Snowden passed away Dec. 21st [1945] after a brief illness at Garfield Hospital in Washington. The daughter of Francis and Frances Brooke Snowden, she was born at Ingleside March 4th, 1887. After training at the Corcoran Art School in Washington and the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, she twice traveled abroad on scholarships from the Philadelphia Academy. She received recognition in the United States and Europe for her landscape and portrait paintings, and the Corcoran School honored her with its Annual Gold Medal. Interment was in the Friends Meeting House grounds at Sandy Spring. (E.T.S.)

p. 301 - On Dec. 6th [1946] Reuben Brigham died suddenly on a trip to the midwest where he had gone in his capacity as an extension worker in the Agriculture Department. This huge, somewhat gaunt, somewhat Lincolnesque fellow, who lumbered along like an old fashioned farm wagon, was biological mass of electronically fortified atoms. Born in Marlboro, Mass. in 1887, he grew up all over the world, wherever his father taught agriculture. In 1908 he graduated from the University of Maryland and spent the next five years farming in this state.

In 1913 he turned up as secretary and general assistant to Pres. Harry J. Patterson of the University of Maryland. Two years later he became Maryland's extension editor and also assumed charge of boys 4-H Club work. In 1917 he entered USDA to develop visual and editorial materials for extension work. He himself developed into a human institution. But all that doesn't say it. He was more than a man. He was a force. Warm, human, friendly, dynamic, as earthy as his pure farmer name, he was known all over the nation where many times he seemed to be the Department of Agriculture personified. No place was too small, no individual too inconsequential for him. He passed none by. Indefatigable, boundless in energy, incredible in production, outstanding career employee, Nature's own nobleman, a product of the soil--is interests never once flagged--until Dec. 6th when Reuben Brigham took off for more boundless horizons where his restless mind will find many unfinished tasks. (From USDA.)

p. 308 - On Friday, Feb. 7 [1947], a "Talent Show" was presented in the [Sherwood] auditorium. Barbara Woodward won first prize with a ballet dance, Dolores Beall, who sang and accompanied herself on the piano won second prize and the Heil sisters were third when they harmonized "Ol' Buttermilk Skies."

p. 308-9 - Among the transfers of property during the year [1946-7]... Robert W. and Margery [sic] Brigham Miller built and moved into a house on a portion of the Brigham property...

June 1971

It was just a short article in a promotion booklet. I took time to see it had been written in, for and about conditions in another country. Nevertheless, I could hum the opening lines:

"Everybody's talkin' at me
Don't hear a word they're sayin',
Only the echoes of my mind."

The message kept ringing as I walked alone on the streets of the Capital City of the greatest nation on earth.

These words were from the them song of the film Midnight Cowboy telling of a lonely young man in a big city. The small town boy had lost his ability to communicate and thereby the essential ingredient to keeping one spiritually alive. To me they asked what happened? Why do we experience such uncertainty? What is there for us to hold to? What gives life direction? Who sets the pace? Who leads? Why make the effort? Who botched up what? Why am I urged to straighten out some of the mess?

Several of my friends had a vital discussion over a simple lunch. Can't you hear the reaction? What's the use of writing a column, or even a letter? People don't take time to read anymore. A glance through the newspaper and never a good book!

We are in a great rush to nowhere and we have the means to pay for things to be done for us. Why fight it?

These thoughts don't help when you are looking for the right way to communicate something you want to say or that you hope folks will want to hear and relate to.

Then came the bold. YOU ARE PART AND PARCEL OF THE PILL GENERATION. It all began with that aspirin your mother gave you years ago. Certainly your kids have known nothing else. Every shape and color; in fancy containers and plain; but always handy.

True, it all began with mom. She tranquilized by reading stories children liked to hear, reciting poetry by the hour and re-telling those "hand-me-downs" from previous generations. All were designed to relate to the peace of mind and the education of the upcoming generation.

We were supposed to be a little poor, maybe a little hungry, clothes a little worn and torn, hands grubby on occasion, and discouragement part of a regular diet.

If treatment was needed, there was a home remedy--like lemon, sugar and kerosene for coughing spells; iodine that stung for cuts and scratches; mustard plaster for congestion; argerol and ipicac [ipecac] (can't spell 'em but sure can taste 'em); and then the spring "line up kids and we'll clean out the winter"--each in turn gulped a tablespoon of castor oil.

What happened to the Sunday visits? The picnic trips with the whole family? Are there still places to go and things to do--as a family? Do we need a pill to escape or to relax? Do we need another to sharpen the intellect, to reassure, to give courage? Whey do I need to be confused to boost my morale and pull me out of a depression? My old Sunday School teacher used to say, "Don't count sheep; talk to the Shepherd." Sometimes that worked.

So many are worried. Things are already distorted and we either don't know how to face our times or we don't want to. It's so easy to pick up the many-sided safety valve "The devil made me do it." There's a pill for everything and we are the generation of pills.

It's tough to relate when the terms are over your head and the kids see you and your limited exposure as the root of the problem. To you a trip is travel, a pot belongs under a bed, and hooked is something mom did to make a rug.

The youngsters can't relate to the hydraulic ram, the wooden water tank, a stopped overflow and water from the attic to the basement with plaster falling behind. Coal oil lamps and candles, chunk stoves and feather ticks, soap stones and crocks, three point two and Goose Goslin, all need explaining.

So they come back with kicks and distortions, pot and love-in, beautiful and Hotline, grass and hard rock music, Mary Jane and free love.

Maybe we need to find the time to study our vocabulary. We who are older have made the journey and we know. Those who are younger will soon be the ones who can recount the experience and just hope the even younger generation will not go quite as far and fast as they did. But they know they will!

Somehow, I don't mind telling you about a 19 year old boy and his dad. They related and understood, although the language was a shade different. The young fellow came down to breakfast on Sunday morning. He was greeted with "Son, you turned in mighty late last night." There was a ready explanation for the 2:00 a.m. arrival. "Don't you see, Dad, the ole Model-A froze up and she boiled over. I took the radiator cap off to see what happened and it blew off in the big snow drift over on the middle pike. I looked and looked but never did find it again."

The response was unexpected. "Yes, Son. Well some years ago your Mother and I were courting. We had old Nancy to the buggy and came around past Highland and over Mink Hollow Road. On the way the lap robe bounced out of the back of the buggy, and it took up tow hours to locate that darn thing."

Sometimes there are older people who have a story to tell. I remember the same 19 year old boy who managed to get pifilated on 3.2 beer when he was two years below the legal age limit for purchase and consumption.

I have seen parents who must cap a difficult and frustrating week with "just a few" to put the memories away for a spell. Then they wonder what makes a kid seek escape from a hard and frustrating week at school with a slightly different approach.

There is a role for recreation in our society. Simple things like walks in the woods, picnics and croquet. Maybe we can read a little to relax. When did you learn you last poem or listen to the birds sing early in the morning.

There is a free society and we do have a free life. There is even freedom to self-destruct if we don't find the way to relate and communicate and love in the broadest sense.

Don't look for answers in terms of economic or social levels. Race and religion are both involved and concerned, nor have they found all the answers in the image of man or the hope of faith. When I was a youth I asked for guidance. My college professor said, "You are often guilty by association." From my mother came, "A man is known by the company he keeps." Dad got right to the point, "If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas."

David L. Brigham
Executive Director

Auction Alert

Elsie Brooke Snowden (1887-1945) -- or "Aunt Elsie" as we think of her -- is hitting the auction block on Sunday, September 27th, 2009, at 10:00am EST, at Sloans & Kenyon located at 7034 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, 301-634-2330. The painting to be auctioned, shown here, is called "Misty Market Scene." It hung in my grandparents' bedroom for years. "Misty Market Scene" is an oil painting, unframed, 41" x 54". The painting is in Sale Number 45, as Lot Number 1337, minimum bid of $350, with an estimated auction value of $700-$900. According to the auctioneers:

Snowden, from Ashton, MD, studied painting at the Corcoran School of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she won the prestigious Cresson Traveling Scholarship in 1914. Exhibiting regularly with the Society of Washington Artists and Washington Watercolor Club, and at the Corcoran Gallery Biennials, Snowden became known for her atmospheric landscapes and city scenes.

It would be great to see this stay in the family. Makes me wish I had some disposable income! Here is a link to the auction house and to the details about the auction lot.
--Barb

Confederate Field Trip

Lieutenant Nicholas Snowden was the last in our branch of the Snowden line to be born (7 Apr 1828) at Montpelier Mansion in Laurel, MD. He was a graduate of Georgetown University and enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861. Nicholas served in the Ist MD Infantry, Company D and fought in the First Battle of Manassas. In the Battle of Harrisonburg, he charged into gunfire from Yankee troops concealed behind a fence. He fell pierced by three balls and died in the arms of his cousin Capt. James R. Herbert. The date was June 6, 1862. General Jackson posthumously awarded Nicholas the rank of Major for his valor in battle. He was briefly buried next to the Harrisonburg road and then interred at Union Church Cemetery in Cross Keys, VA. In 1884 his body and tombstone were transferred to Loudon Park Cemetery in Baltimore, MD, to the Confederate Hill section.

There are several historical markers that commemorate the Battle of Harrisonburg. I borrowed a map from Google Maps and indicated the locations of three of the relevant markers. You will note that all three of the sites are related to the place of death of General Turner Ashby. It is doubtful that we would be able to determine the place where Nicholas died with any certainty. But we do know that he was fighting under Ashby, that they both perished in this battle, and that Nicholas was temporarily buried near the Harrisonburg road (present day Route 11). So we can infer that Lt. Nicholas Snowden met his death in the vicinity of the triangle made by the three historical markers, just south of the present day campus of James Madison University. Since the battle map shows the Ist Maryland at the south end of the Confederate line, perhaps Lt. Nicholas Snowden was fighting closer to Port Republic Road.

A-30 - Located on Route 11 (S. Main Street) Harrisonburg, VA, between Edgelawn Drive and Port Republic Road. This marker indicates that General Turner Ashby, the "Black Knight," fell 1.5 miles east of the marker site, on Chestnut Ridge. The text of the marker reads:

"Where Ashby Fell. A mile and a half east of this point, Turner Ashby, Stonewall Jackson's cavalry commander, was killed, June 6, 1862, while opposing Fremont's advance."

A-35 - Located on Route 11 (S. Main Street) in Harrisonburg, VA, between Miller Circle and Rocco Drive, near the railroad crossing. The text of the marker reads:

"End of the Campaign. Here Stonewall Jackson, retreating up the Valley before the converging columns of Fremont and Shields, turned at bay, June, 1862. A mile southeast Jackson's cavalry commander, Ashby, was killed, June 6. At Cross Keys, six miles southeast, Ewell of Jackson's army defeated Fremont, June 8. Near Port Republic, ten miles southeast, Jackson defeated Shields, June 9. This was the end of Jackson's Valley Campaign."

Chestnut Ridge - Located on Turner Ashby Lane, off of Neff Avenue (as direct access from Port Republic Road has been closed). The text of the marker reads:

"Chestnut Ridge - Death of Ashby - 1862 Valley Campaign. On June 6, 1862, the vanguard of Union Gen. John C. Frémont’s force, pursuing Confederate Gen. Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson’s army south up the Shenandoah Valley, reached this point near Harrisonburg. Jackson’s rear guard, led by Gen. Turner Ashby, engaged Federal cavalry here and captured Col. Sir Percy Wyndham, the English commander of the 1st New Jersey Cavalry who had earlier boasted that he would 'bag Ashby.' The 1st Maryland Inf. and 58th Virginia Inf. set an ambush for the Federals. At about 6 p.m., however, Union forces appeared not in the road as expected, but in a concealed position near Ashby’s force. When Ashby’s horse was shot from under him, he rolled off the mount, regained his footing and ordered his men to stop shooting and use the bayonet, shouting, 'Charge, men! For God’s sake charge!' Then a Union bullet pierced Ashby’s side and passed through his chest. He fell dead while his men cleared the Federals from the woodline. The next day, Ashby’s body lay in state in the Frank Kemper house in Port Republic, where a brief funeral service was held. Jackson viewed the body there in private. Although Ashby’s lack of discipline had drawn Jackson’s sharp rebuke two months earlier, he later praised Ashby. 'As a partisan officer I never knew his superior,' Jackson wrote. 'His daring was proverbial ... his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes of the enemy.'"



Ashby's forces were defending Jackson's progress from the rear and did battle with Fremont's cavalry led by General George Bayard. Among that Yankee force were the Ist Pennsylvania Rifles, Company B (a.k.a. the Bucktails, the Morgan Rifles, Kane's Rifle Regiment, 13th Pennsylvania Reserve, etc.). The Bucktails claim credit for felling Turner Ashby after his horse was killed and he continued to do battle on foot, although contemporary accounts also claim that Ashby was a victim of friendly fire. The Bucktails history website features an excerpt from the Southern Historical Society Papers called the Fight with the Bucktails, which I have reproduced here in full. It appears to have been composed by General Bradley Tyler Johnson for the Southern Historical Society Papers 10 (1882: Jan/Dec) 103. The emphasis is my addition to highlight portions that refer directly to Lt. Nicholas Snowden.

Memoirs of the First Maryland Regiment
FIGHT WITH THE BUCKTAILS

On the evening of the 5th of June we arrived early at Harrisonburg, and leaving the Valley road turned to the left and went into camp. For the last two days we had been marching leisurely along closing up stragglers, and feeding the horses and men pretty well with the provisions the country afforded. Fremont had been very pertinacious, and was continually on our rear. From Strasburg up, the artillery---either of the pursuer or pursued---sounded continually in our ears from day-light until dark. But as we diminished our pace he slackened his, and indicated that though eager to strike a flying foe, he was not so well prepared to fight one which faced him. Since leaving New Market, such had been our attitude, willingness to fight him whenever the position suited us. On Friday morning, June 6th, we marched late. General Steuart had been relieved of his cavalry command and returned to the " Maryland line," consisting of the regiment, the Baltimore Light Artillery, Captain Brockenbrough, and Captain Brown's cavalry company, which had joined us just after the fight at Winchester. He had also assigned to him the Fifty-eighth, Forty-fourth, and two other Virginia regiments.

That morning being the rear-guard we were late starting, and delayed by the enormous trains which were carrying off the plunder of the expedition, by the afternoon we had not marched more than three miles. The head of this column was then at Fort Republic, five miles distant, where a bridge spans the Shenandoah. While the cavalry under Ashby had dismounted, during one of those numerous halts, which render the movement of a long column so tiresome, a regiment of Yankee cavalry suddenly dashed through them. Quick as the Yankees were, however, they were not quick enough for Ashby, who instantly formed and charged, routing them totally, and capturing prisoners and horses.

Among his prizes was Sir Percy Wyndham--an itinerant Englishman-a soldier of fortune, who though without rank or position at home, had served in the Italian campaign of Garibaldi, and was a man of gallantry and courage. He was eagerly caught up by the Lincoln Government, when personal courage and dash were at a premium, made Colonel of cavalry, and sent off to the Valley to meet Ashby. His only interview with the Virginia Cavalier was when he was riding bareheaded behind one of Ashby’s troopers---a prisoner. He expressed profound disgust at the arrant cowardice of his men, to which he attributed his whole disaster. As soon as Ashby chased the remnants of the Yankees back he returned, and reported to General Ewell that he had discovered an infantry force coming rapidly on us, and showed him that by a quick detour through the woods he could strike them in flank. Ewell, delighted at the prospect, ordered Steuart's command back at once. The regiment in the order of march in the morning had been last. In thus reversing the direction it should have been first, but having been placed to support a battery, two Virginia regiments got ahead of us. The Colonel however soon managed to cut in. and got up next to the Fifty-eighth Virginia. Ewell and Ashby rode at the head of the column---the latter explaining to the former the nature of the ground, the position of the roads, and the direction of the enemy. Though too far off to hear what he said, his dark face was lit up in a blaze of enthusiasm, and his eloquent gesticulation indicated his meaning as intelligibly as words. "Look at Ashby," said the Colonel to the Adjutant, "see how happy be is!" In a few moments we entered a thick wood, then changed direction in line of battle. Companies D and G of the regiment out as skirmishers under Ashby's immediate command. Moving cautiously along, in the quiet woods, every sound was exaggerated in the stillness, and at last without a moment's warning the Fifty-eighth gave way and ran back. " Steady there men, steady First Maryland," shouted our Colonel as pistol in hand he headed the broken mass. " Form behind there!" pointing to our solid ranks. The panic was only momentary, one of those strange accidents which occur in battle, and almost immediately the Fifty-eighth re-formed and went on. In a minute the sputter of the skirmishers was heard immediately followed by the volley of the Fifty-eighth. "Charge, Colonel." cried General Ewell, who was just by us---" charge men," said Colonel Johnson, and down the hill we went with a cheer, in a run. But we found no enemy. The fire on our right was excessive we were made to lie down, but balls began exploding and smacking among the men on the rocks. "Those Virginians are killing our men." Off galloped General Ewell and the Colonel, both to stop the firing, but directly returned finding out they were Yankee bullets. " I see one, Colonel can I kill him," cried Southoron of Company H. Assent was given, and he pulled away, but his cap snapped. Coolly putting on another he fired. "There I've killed you," said he. "Let us charge them, let us charge them, Colonel," came from several. " Very' well," said he. "Up men, forward, file right, march"-and as soon as the colors came into line, " By the right flank charge!!!” in a voice that could be heard far above the crash of small arms. The right companies and colors went in on a run, the left companies catching up, they closed with the Bucktails, who were strongly posted behind a worm fence full of undergrowth and briars, and drove them out, and as they ran across the open field, poured a most deadly fire into them, which melted them away like frost before the sun.

We afterwards heard that of over 200 Bucktails who went into that fight only fifty came out. After driving them off, a brigade of infantry was seen a short distance off, and a six-gun battery of brass pieces with an apparently large force of cavalry. They had had enough though for the evening, and it only being General Ewell's instruction to check Fremont sharply, he retired. The fight, short as it was, had cost us dearly. Ashby's horse fell at the first fire, immediately jumping to his feet, he half turned round to the Fifty-eighth, in front of whose second company he was brandishing his right hand with his pistol, ordering them to charge. The confusion was such that they did not obey him, and he fell, a ball entering his right side just above his hip and passing diagonally upward, came out under his left arm, showing that the ball was fired by someone lying down. Though in front of the Fifty-eighth, he was not more than thirty yards from the enemy, who were lying flat behind the fence. The opinion of Lieutenant Booth, who saw him fall and was closer to him than anyone, is that a shot from the Yankees killed him. We lost Captain Michael S. Robertson, Company I, killed instantly; as he fell, he said, " Go on, boys, don't mind me." He was a native and resident of Charles County, one of our oldest families---wealthy and highly educated. At the same time fell Lieutenant Nicholas Snowden, Company D, from Prince George of that well known family. At the time of the Baltimore outbreak he a cavalry company, which he immediately put under arms until, like so many others, he found Hicks had betrayed the State, and he came to Virginia. No braver, or more gallant gentlemen than these have died for Southern Independence. With them fell six or eight more dead, Color-Sergeant Doyle was shot down, Color-Corporal Taylor caught the colors, but soon went down, the next Corporal to him caught them, but instantly falling, Corporal Shanks, Company H, seized them, lifting them arms length above his head, carried them safely through the fight.

Colonel Johnson had been that afternoon to see General Jackson, and was in full uniform, rather an unusual sight in that army where few officers wore any sign of rank. As the regiment charged, his horse was shot in the shoulder; then directly received in his forehead a ball, intended for his rider, and as he fell, another in the pommel of the saddle. His uniform doubtless procured him these compliments, as he was not more than thirty yards from the Bucktails. Captain Nicholas, Company “G,”- found Lieutenant-Colonel Kane, their commander, sitting on a stump with a broken leg, who invoked the Captain to shoot the cowardly hounds who had run off and left him. Although this fight was quickly over, it was one of the bloodiest of the war, considering the time and number engaged. Our loss was about one hundred killed and wounded, and that of the enemy probably one hundred and fifty in all, including prisoners, of whom there were very few. Dr. Johnson, the surgeon of the First Maryland, the next morning had Lieutenant Snowden buried near the Harrisonburg road, and his company buried Captain Robertson in Union church-yard by the brick wall opposite the gate the first church on the road from Harrisonburg to Port Republic. Feelings of sorrow at the loss of so many friends strongly impressed us all, and Saturday was quietly spent in taking position and going into camp near the Shenandoah. General Jackson had the day before directed the Colonel to pick out a good camp and recruit his men. " Drill them four hours a day," said he. Friday evening we had one drill, which has just been described. Fate had reserved such another in store for us.

May 1971

It was a conference of sorts...In fact, it was a big meeting under the auspices of the President's Committee for the Employment of the Handicapped. People came from all over the world, for disability and rehabilitation cannot be walled in for only a few to endure or enjoy.

Recreation entered in as wheelchair athletes demonstrated the fruits of competition and the therapy of physical activity. Fertile minds exposed ingenious devices and a grim determination to achieve in spite of...The strength, desire and grit of the real man was never better demonstrated. You can do so much with so little. We who have so much with which to meet life may indeed feel shame.

Somehow you are convinced recreation is something you must earn. And what was happening on the streets outside? Not all of the handicaps and disabilities were in the hotel. Not all of the mental capacity of the city was assembled on the concourse level. Much was on the streets of our Capitol. Vets against the War, controversy about sleeping in a national park, women talking about liberation for the ladies, youngsters saying that the establishment failed to recognize the grey area where truth really lies, and the obvious contrasts...

There are the beards, the mutton chops, the blue jeans, sandals, bare feet, thongs, micro-mini skirts and maxi coats on the same frame, and an unmistakable gleam in a number of old eyes. Who is right and who is wrong? Who's old fashioned and who just plain nuts?

They are sleeping in the park tonight. The supreme judicial body of our greatest country on the globe says they cannot. But, they are and they did and I guess they will. Some are physically handicapped. They left a part of themselves overseas. They were in the battle. They have a right to speak. I'm talking about the Vets. There are times when I'm proud to be identified as one of them; and then there are times when I want to join the kids who ask some of the authorities to justify all of it. My response about a different war and purpose has a hollow ring. I want a real answer for it all.

These amputees and the paraplegics who zip about and do things. These guys who complain so little and smile so much. I carry a big torch for those who find one of the greatest challenges in life is working with the handicapped.

The flag must have been flying from my pole as I went to lunch with three friends - all handicapped. One had to take the elevator because crutches don't work on escalators. Another has a victory over cancer and calls himself one of those successful colostomies. The third had just received the golden word and his handicap was unemployment.

Our placemat was "The Story of Our Flag." In the center was the Star Spangled Banner of Fort McHenry fame. On the flanks were such colorful reminders of our heritage as the Viking Flag, Cross of St. George, Royal Standard of Spain, French Fleur-de-Leis, British Union, Bunker Hill, Rattlesnake, Alamo, Confederate, Betsy Ross Flag, and more...

In bold letters the caption spoke - "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I kept my thoughts to myself, but I thought! Yes, we are a long way from home sometimes. And we are a long way from base, and truth, and right, and giving, and dedication, and devotion, and faith, and trust, and charity, and love. We must be worthy of our keep and earn what we enjoy. Maybe recreation means re-Creation.

Congressman Jack Marsh of Virginia shared a situation report with me some months ago. I drew on this as I ate with my friends who have suffered, with men who had known war, and with the symbol of our great America adding nourishment. Why are we there? Why here? Who has a right to question? Was it earned? Will it be?

The emerging nation in question has a population of about two and one-half million spread along a coastline of about twelve hundred miles. Forests are perilous due to hostility of indigenous natives.

Loyalty to the home government is unquestioned but for the past few years, civilian unrest has been growing due to economic exploitation of local products and markets.

Continued petitions by the populace for a revision of policy have been rebuffed. This has led to outbreaks of armed conflict against the regular troops throughout the territory. The dominant nation is a foremost world power. Their army, although below wartime strength, nevertheless, is substantial in size.

There is no political cohesion or political stability. Privately, many influential supporters of the insurgency are pessimistic of success and some blandly forecast defeat, at best hoping for some compromise which more radical leaders are fast making impossible.

Knowledgeable foreign observers predict a quick, crushing military defeat, with severe penalties to Rebel leaders as an example to others harboring aspirations of Independence.

THE TIME -- 1775. THE PLACE -- America.

David L. Brigham
Executive Director