More on Aunt Elsie

My dad's cousin Petie surprised me last night with two photographs of Aunt Elsie and an essay written by our Aunt Sissy. Although Elsie Brooke Snowden did not have any children of her own, her great-niece Petie definitely received Elsie's aesthetic inheritance. First, I would like to say a few words about Petie.

Artist Petie Brigham is a landscape painter working mostly in alkyd oils but I've seen some of her lovely watercolors and sketches as well. Her subjects are usually the sea, beaches, sounds and marshes of the Outer Banks. She studied painting in Woodstock, NY from 1969-73. Her approach to painting is to work from the abstract, loosely at first, toward realism. Petie layers paint opaquely and transparently, juxtaposing subtlety-mixed neutral colors against brighter more saturated color, until she achieves a sense of atmosphere and distance, but not necessarily detail, that reads to her eye. I am privileged to have two of her paintings hanging in my home. Petie Brigham lives and works on Roanoke Island. She is passionate, intelligent, and delightful to visit. Her work is custom-framed by Lynn Atkins Custom Framing in Manteo--Lynn is equally delightful. Petie's artwork is available through Greenleaf Art Gallery in Duck, North Carolina.

Marjorie Brigham Miller was the author of the essay below. We lovingly call her Aunt Sissy. She was Petie's aunt and my great-aunt. In turn, Aunt Elsie was Sissy's aunt and Petie's great-aunt. Sissy was 23 years old when Elsie died on December 21, 1945; Sissy was 72 years old when she wrote this down for Petie. There are some minor typos and historical inaccuracies, but I have not corrected them. I will share this essay with you as it was given to me, same as it was given to Petie. As Petie wrote to me, our Aunt Elsie "was a Mystery Woman in many respects."



Elsie Brooke Snowden

Excerpt from a letter written to my niece in Virginia with requested information about my Aunt Elsie Brooke Snowden. (Written in 1994 by Marjorie Brigham Miller)

This morning I have betaken myself to a faraway place, where only the green fields, distant hills, morning mist and lovely sounds of the birds claim my attention. Ever since you asked me to write a little about Elsie, my mind has been crowded with such a myriad of thoughts of her that had been stored away for many, many years. The mere mention of her name brought such a rush of childhood memories, with a combination of deep sadness and affection which swept over me so suddenly my eyes were filled with tears. All at once I realized that this woman, my aunt, had influenced my whole life, probably more than I had ever before realized, and I had an overwhelming desire to pull back as many memories as I could, to be given the privilege of, as an adult, being able to absorb the impressions and lessons and images with which she fired my childhood imagination so long ago.

There was always an air of sadness about her, and I always knew her life was a hard one. She was the eldest of five children and the two pictures that come to my mind are the first of her as a child with a pouty mouth, a toddler early displaced by other babies. The same mouth in adulthood became sensitive in early years and then firmly, grimly set as the dreams faded and the cruel years of the Great Depression made earning a livelihood next to impossible in the fine arts world. She had one fling at world travel; and that as a companion to a wealthy lady who traveled a few weeks “abroad” in Europe. On that wonderful journey, she sketched enough vistas and objets d’art to last all her life and had great memories of Rome and Paris.

Foremost among her talents must surely have been her gift for portraiture for which she won the Corcoran Art Gallery Gold Medal. As far as I know, any training she received was there, and it was there also she met her two dearest lifelong friends. There was the hint of an early love, but I never heard much about it. I only know she always seemed a very pensive, sad kind of person who had a deep sense of appreciation for beauty and nature and enjoyed funny situations and little jokes. She always made me feel that “if you could see something, you could draw it” and I always believed it and listened enraptured as she explained the wonderful mysteries of color, mixing, perspective and balance. Her teaching has remained with me all my life, although it was only the tag-along fun of a little girl watching a friendly aunt who enjoyed answering all my questions. I still remember the importance of ox-gall, the fragility of pastels, the sin of leaving brushes stiff with paint – not because she ever let me do any art work in her studio, but just because I was fascinated just to be allowed to watch her and listen to her.

Just the mention of the name ”Elsie” brings a picture to my mind of large serious sea-blue eyes, an ample sensitive mouth, and a mass of strawberry-blonde hair piled above a sad, pale face.

Blessed with a very practical and forward-thinking little Quaker mother, she was ever somewhat at odds with her viewpoint. After my grandmother gathered her girls together and gave them a brief explanation of feminine hygiene and an even briefer summary on the facts of live, Elsie’s only comment was: “I think the whole thing is perfectly disgusting!”

Ever the artist and aesthete, she recoiled as her elderly semi-invalid little mother would retire for her afternoon nap and say, “Now, Elsie, thee has two hours. Go and paint!” So many nights, her weary but inspired artist-daughter could be found painting beautiful flower still-life creations by the flickering light of a kerosene lamp. After a hard day’s work keeping house in a large old house and caring for her demanding, aging parents, the spark of her talent still managed to produce lovely rich creations on her canvas.

In order to make money when the market would not demand expensive oil paintings, she put “pride in her pocket” and taught herself heraldry – researching it out at the Library of Congress. She did coats of arms and sold them, framed, for $25.00 each, hating every minute of the exacting, detailed, unimaginative work, all the while longing to be working with her beloved oils.

Her only years of freedom were the two or three she had lived alone in a Washington, D.C. basement studio-apartment at Henderson’s Castle on 16th St. After that it was back to the old family home “Ingleside” in Ashton with no electricity, an aged pump, woodstoves and in later years, needy parents.

Somehow, almost osmotically, her appreciation for beauty, her love of color, delicate fragrances, the exquisiteness of Nature – all seemed to absorb into my own being, just from sharing days with her. I realize now how great was the privilege of my brief association with her and I wish the world of art could have known her better. The cursing blight of those hard years must have smothered many great creative talents, forced to scratch out a livelihood under rigorous, grueling conditions. Like Monet, she gardened all her life, carefully raising the flowers she wanted in her pictures. The delicate blues, soft rose tones and pure whites for light effects, the rich golds, crimsons and tawny oranges to group with rich blue plates and aged crockery.

The rare opportunities to do portrait work gave us glimpses of the depth of her talent, kin to that of the Dutch Masters and sadly, not many remain in the family. She requested that all unfinished works be burned at her death. Looking back, I'm reminded of Wordsworth’s “Lucy”. “She dwelt among untrodden ways” and spent her life at a period when times were hard and maintaining even “genteel poverty” was almost impossible.

She longed for a trip, a rest, a break from so much care. In her mid-fifties she required surgery for abdominal malignancy. She welcomed the “rest”, saying to her sisters, “I am the only one of you girls who has never had a good rest in the hospital”. She enjoyed the cards, flowers, pretty lingerie and being cared for. Two days after surgery, she died in her sleep – the one thing in her life that was easy. Until I began to write, I had never realized the indelible mark my dear aunt left in my personal outlook on life. Perhaps her greatest legacy lies in the great appreciation of beauty she gave by example, which I, in turn, have so enjoyed sharing with my children. She never knew them, but a lot of what they know and are may well have come from what she taught me by attitudes and example. To me, she was what Robert Henri would term “a true art spirit”.

[More on Elsie Brooke Snowden's life and artwork is here.]

Elsie Brooke Snowden

Elsie Brooke Snowden, born March 4, 1887, at Ingleside in Ashton, Maryland, was the oldest child of Francis "Frank" Snowden and Frances "Fannie" Brooke Stabler. She had three sisters (Miriam, Anna, and Marjorie) and one brother (Edward). Her sister Marjorie was my great-grandmother. Elsie never married or had children. Instead she studied art at what is now the Corcoran College of Art & Design in Washington, DC, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Elsie was awarded the prestigious Cresson Travelling Scholarship twice (I am trying to verify this info with PAFA archives) and used the prize money to travel to Europe in the summers of 1913 and 1914. Exhibiting regularly with the Society of Washington Artists and Washington Watercolor Association, and at the Corcoran Gallery Biennials, Elsie became known for her atmospheric landscapes and city scenes. Elsie Brooke Snowden died December 21, 1945, and was buried next to her parents in the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting Graveyard marked by a granite marker in Row L, Plot 3, Site 3.



What follows are excerpts from The Annals of Sandy Spring that provide snapshots of Elsie Brooke Snowden's life and career as an artist. They also reveal Elsie the avid gardener and Elsie the caregiver to her ailing widowed mother. Because most of Elsie's life, aside from art school and Europe, was spent at the family home in Ashton, Maryland, where she was born, I have also excerpted a section of the Snowden family history that describes Ingleside (or Engleside as Mr. Cook spells it). Throughout the excerpts my own notations are in brackets. You may click on the images for a larger view and more information about each. As always, I strive for accuracy--please notify me of any factual or typographical errors.


(This is a photo of art students at the Corcoran around 1890--not a photo of Elsie--but probably similar to her classes there 20 years later. I am surprised that the group is mostly women. From the Smithsonian collection.)

Excerpts from The Annals of Sandy Spring, Volume IV, 1909-1929:

p. 10 - May 28th [1909] Elsie B. Snowden finished a successful year at the Corcoran Art School in Washington, receiving from her instructors honorable mention of her work and $25.00 in gold as a more substantial reward. Some time during the following winter she resumed her studies at this institution. [This entry appears to have been added a year too late. I found an article in the Washington Times dated May 29, 1908, about the award.]



p. 93 - [Early 1912] Elsie B. Snowden has again distinguished herself by having some of her work accepted at the water color exhibition in New York and by the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts where she is a student, at its exhibition in oil.

p. 151 - [June 1913] About this time Elsie Snowden who had been attending the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, went abroad with some of her artist friends to spend a number of weeks on the continent of Europe. [I believe this travel was because Elsie received the Cresson Travelling Scholarship for the first time.]



p. 187 - [June 1914] Elsie B. Snowden in early June won a $500 scholarship at the Art League in Philadelphia. This gifted young woman sailed soon after for Europe, where the skies, unclouded at the time, were soon darkened by the terrible war clouds. Her experiences there were both interesting and exciting, and her family were most anxious when all communication was cut off. Her safe return home without previous notice, was a great relief. [The award was Elsie's second Cresson Travelling Scholarship.]

p. 209 - [January 1915] Elsie B. Snowden won still another prize for a picture at the New York Art League, the amount being $50.00.  The subject given her was "Equal Opportunity", and her interpretation was given first place and first prize.



p. 216 - [May 1915] Again we record with pleasure the prize of $100 won by Elsie B. Snowden at the Philadelphia Art League, in the May competitions, giving Sandy Spring a thrill of pride that this one of her daughters continues to distinguish herself and honor her birthplace.

p. 442 - [Winter and Spring 1924] During the winter, Elsie B. Snowden received several more agreeable recognitions of her unusual talent as an artist. A picture hung at the Independent exhibition at the Waldorf in New York was bought by Phelps Stokes, a well known connoisseur, for $100.00, and a French count who had seen some of her work in this country wrote for a French Art Magazine an article describing it in most appreciative terms. [The exhibition was the 9th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists. The "connoisseur" was most likely architect Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes.]



p. 523 - [1926] Elsie B. Snowden's work at the Exhibition of Water Color Artists in Washington received high honor; hers was one of the only four paintings that sold and was bought by Mrs. John B. Henderson.  Miss Leila Mechlin, prominent art critic of Washington, wrote of the painting as a notable work. [According to the Corcoran Archives, this exhibition was either the 30th Annual Exhibition of the Washington Water Color Club from February 5 - 28, 1926 or the 31st Annual Exhibition of same from December 18, 1926 - January 16, 1927. Mrs. Henderson was Mary Foote Henderson wife of the Senator from Missouri. At this time Leila Mechlin was art critic for The Washington Daily News, also known as The Star.]

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. 207-8 -  [Winter 1941-1942] Fannie B. Snowden and daughter Elsie again spent the winter at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Louis and Anna Bussler at Ashton. [Elsie's father Francis Snowden died September 11, 1936. And the latter years of Fannie's life were spent as a partial invalid, so mother and daughter wintering with "Doc" and "Nan" makes a lot of sense. The Bussler's home was located less than half a mile away from Ingleside. Elsie's mother died March 25th, 1943.]



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.) [Garfield Hospital merged with several other facilities to become present day MedStar Washington Hospital Center. I had photographed Elsie's parents' headstone a few years ago; next time I'm in Sandy Spring I will photograph Elsie's marker. Elsie Brooke Snowden was 58 years old when she died.]

Excerpts from Montpelier & The Snowden Family by William G. Cook:

p. 52 - ENGLESIDE [sic.]  At 17720 New Hampshire Avenue in Ashton, Md. still stands Engleside, built after 1800. A sign post on the highway marks the lane leading to this delightful home that sits several hundred yards back.

William Henry Stabler built this home for his son William. Henrietta (Stabler) Snowden, the daughter of William, Jr., moved here wit her children after her father's death in 1867. She and her husband, Nicholas Snowden, had made their home at Avondale in Laurel, Md. until he lost his life fighting with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Henrietta lived at this place for forty years where she passed away in 1907. Her son Francis, who married Frances Stabler, took over his mother's home and lived there until his death in 1936. Elsie Snowden, who never married, was the last of the family to own the home place. She passed away in 1945. Engleside was sold to a Mr. McLaury who sold the place to William F. Bowling. Today the residence is occupied by the James P. O'Connor family.

Hand-hewn pine uprights were used in the building of this home in place of studding for the outside walls of brick. In some places the brick had been left exposed on the inside walls.

A large living room, hall, and dining room, library with a fireplace, and a kitchen made up the first floor. Many changes and additions have been made since the Snowdens have gone. A few have been made on the inside and several rooms have been added on the outside.



[More on Elsie Brooke Snowden is here. Entry updated 3/5/2013.]

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...

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