History Archives
-- General History
Articles previously
published in The Bell Tower
A Record of Our Beginnings
March 2007
Reisterstown Parish was admitted into the Diocese of Maryland in 1871;
however, the local people who founded it trace their church activity to
at least twenty years earlier when they were a part of St. Thomas’
Parish. The so-called “Reisterstown Parish Register (#1)” dates to
1852, making it our oldest official record – a valuable resource.
Within its brittle cover may be found the names of hundreds of people
who were a part of our parish’s early history.
The register, handwritten in that beautiful penmanship so typical of the
nineteenth century, preserves the names and dates of Parish Families,
Baptisms, Confirmations, Communicants, Marriages, and Burials.
Essentially, the book encompasses the years of our first leader, the
Rev. Dr. Arthur John Rich, who served as chaplain at the Hannah More
Academy and as rector at both All Saints’ Chapel and Church.
Section 1 (Families) covers only the year 1894 and lists 141
individuals. Families with six or more members include Bushey, Ireland,
Kinnear, Lockard, Nairn, Reese, Wilson, and Worthington.
In Section 2, beginning in 1852, forty-one years of baptisms are
recorded. Sixteen-year-old Mary Ann Norfolk and her older sister are
listed as the first two to be christened. In 1883, eighteen days after
its opening, All Saints’ Chapel on Bond Avenue witnessed its first
baptism. And on the day of consecration,
October 29, 1891, All Saints’ Church welcomed infant Juliana Brent
Keyser as a member in Christ.
By careful reading, interesting facts may be gleaned from the baptismal
records, including the following:
(1) Multiple baptisms were common, (2) African-American baptisms were
also frequent, (3) The notation “ill” appears next to the names of many
people, especially children, (4) all twelve of Rev. Rich’s children, two
of whom died, are recorded, (5) immediately after the conclusion of the
Civil War, two children of Col. William Norris, CSA, were christened –
Jefferson Davis Norris and William Catesby Norris.
For the period 1853 through 1881, 273 confirmations took place in the
parish, with notable exceptions from 1862-1865, the war years. The
first recorded was on Easter Day, with 12 people being confirmed.
Curiously, the very last baptism in the register was #528, that of
seventy-two year old Col. William Norris in 1893.
Section 4 lists communicants by name for eight specific years. Because
of the composition and location of our pre- and early parish, many
communicants were either pupils or teachers at Hannah More Academy (for
girls) and St. George’s Hall (for boys).
Marriages, from 1853 to 1894, occurred at various locations and included
African-Americans. While this area was known to have both free and
enslaved Negroes during this period, listings such as the following were
typical: William Howard (col.), servant of Henry Ducker, and Emily
Smith (col.), servant of Richard Norris.
Burials (Section 6) cover a forty-year time period. The first was that
of Mary Jeen Gouker (infant) at the Reisterstown Burial Ground. At
least 46 of the 191 people listed were children. Typical causes of
death were consumption, diphtheria, dysentery, and scarlet fever. One
died as the result of a lightning strike. Sadly, in March of 1879,
seven members of the Chinworth Family were buried at the Methodist
Episcopal Burying Ground, six having died of diphtheria. In total, more
than 30 cemeteries, some of them private, are noted in the register.
Near the end of the listings, on July 7, 1893, the name Rev.Arthur J.
Rich appears. He was 64 years of age, having served a long and
distinguished career, both in founding and in overseeing the young
Reisterstown Parish.
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Tracing Our Roots to St. Thomas' Church
February 2002
All Saints’ Church, dating from
1891, is today the only Episcopal church in what is officially known as
Reisterstown Parish in Baltimore County, Maryland. In 1870 our parish
boundaries were carved from two pre-existing parishes, Western Run and
St. Thomas, both still in existence.
But, technically speaking, our
history springs from St. Paul’s Parish, Baltimore, to which all three
parishes trace their roots.
What is known today as Owings
Mills and Garrison was virgin territory in the late 1600s when settlers
first built forts (or garrisons) as protection against native Indians.
The remoteness of the area prompted the establishment of a ‘Chapel of
Ease for the Forest Inhabitants.’ In 1742 members of St. Paul’s Church
became subscribers for its construction, this being just thirteen years
after the incorporation of Baltimore City and a whole generation before
the American Revolution.
Among the many prominent
Marylanders who attended and served St. Thomas’ was John Eager Howard,
Revolutionary War hero and three times governor. The first rector was
the Reverend Thomas Cradock, a native Englishman, whose name is still
linked with this area.
Over the years St. Thomas’ Church
grew in size. Significant additions were made in 1891. Then, in 1970,
the entire interior was removed so that a basement could be constructed;
a narthex and balcony were also added before the original interior was
carefully replaced.
Today the 260-year-old church that
served early settlers and, later, faculty and students of the Hannah
More Academy, still retains its 18th century charm. A stroll through the
surrounding graveyard reveals the names of families readily familiar to
many of us today. Both the people and the church of St. Thomas are an
important part of the All Saints’ heritage.
Neal Haynie,
Parish Archivist
Chartley, Sacred Heart, Somerset,
Glyndon – all familiar place names to current day residents living in
the Reisterstown Parish. But two hundred years ago or more, people who
lived in this area recognized names like Reisters’s Desire, Hanson’s
Chance, The Chase, Brotherly Love, Nathan’s Forest, and Spring Garden –
all at the heart of what we now call Reisterstown.
In the 1880s
William Keyser, in order to provide himself a more direct route from
his estate on Cockeysmill road to the railroad station in Glyndon, had
overseen the construction of Chatsworth Avenue, known by many locals as
Keyser Avenue. When the opportunity arose in 1890 to provide the parish
with a new church, he purchased, for the grand total of $250 three lots
along the new road and deeded it the following year for one dollar to
the Vestry. Fourteen months later All Saints’ Church was a fait acompli.
Thanks to the Maryland Historical Trust we are able to go back in time
and discover how all the pieces fit together. The area now comprising
the intersection of Chatsworth Avenue and Main Street was known as
Spring Garden, dating back to 1732. The founding of Reisters Town
occurred in 1758. The owner of Spring Garden, one Benedict Swope,
actually laid out lots – never developed which he intended to call New
German Town. By 1768, fifty-five acres, including a stone residence were
bought by Daniel Bower and rented to his son-in-law, William Berryman.
(Bower and Berryman are still street names in this area.)
By the end of the eighteenth century a part of the Bower land had been
deeded to his daughter Catharine and her husband Andrew Banks who
operated a general store on the Turnpike. Their son, Daniel Bower Banks,
married Margaret Whitelock in 1830 and is presumed to be the builder,
that same year, of Chatsworth, the two storied stone house which still
sits grandly at the end of West Chatsworth Avenue.
The next generation, Andrew Banks, ties directly to the history of All
Saints’ Church. Born in 1838, he served as a member of the Maryland
House of Delegates and was responsible for improving the Chatsworth
buildings. In 1883 he purchased at auction additional “back land” from
the Forney estate. It is probable that the All Saints’ property came
from this land. What happened to the fortunes of Andrew Banks in the
late 1880s can only be surmised, for he was described as “insolvent” in
1890 on the deed granted to William Keyser. Andrew Banks died in 1909
and is buried at All Saints’ Cemetery along with twelve other members of
the Banks family.
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
Back in March of 2003 we discussed "the land
around us" which included an investigation of ownership of the land on
which All Saints' church was built. Recently we were fortunate in being
visited by two descendents of Andres Banks -- Daniel Bower Banks IV of
San Gabriel, California and William Wallace Banks, Jr., of New Market,
Maryland. Both of these gentlemen are actively involved in preserving
the history of the Banks family and have contributed significantly to
our Archives. Through them we discovered the connection between three
Reisterstown families -- Banks, Godwin, and Bower. Members of the first
two families are buried at All Saints' Cemetery. Eleven generations of
the banks family have now been entered into the all Saints' Genealogies.
As already recorded, the All Saints' property was
purchased at auction by William Keyser in 1890 from the holdings of
Andrew Banks (II) upon his insolvency. Mr. Banks, who owned property on
both the west and east sides of Main Street, also owned a tavern as well
as Chatsworth Farms which still exists at the end of West Chatsworth
Avenue. Two of his sisters are said to have been married at the home in
the 1800s. Andrew was the husband of Rebecca Godwin whose family has
been traced back to the 1700s; nine members of the Godwin family lie at
rest in All Saints' Cemetery.
Reisterstown's Chatsworth House has a lineage of its
own. This home was presumably built by Andrew's father, Daniel Bower
Banks, about 1830, and named after his Baltimore City townhouse of the
same name. The original Chatsworth (pre-1754) on Franklin Street, was
constructed by Dr. George Walker. one of the commissioners who laid out
the City of Baltimore. It was his son-in-law, William Lux, another owner
of Chatsworth, for whom Baltimore's Light Street was named.
The Bowers of Reisterstown who married into the Banks
family in the late 1700s, are also of interest. Tracing their roots back
to a burgomaster of Strasbourg, they arrived via England and
Pennsylvania in Baltimore County in the 1700s. Col. Daniel Bower settled
in German Town (now Reisterstown) where he bought land on both sides of
the highroad. The inn he established was said to have been visited by
George Washington, in whose honor he named his holdings Washington Town.
The name (and the lots he mapped out) did not meet with success, however
it was the Reister family which flourished and gave its name to the
growing region.
The Bower inn was eventually destroyed by fire, and
today the Franklin Middle School property occupies the site. Daniel's
daughter Kitty married Andrew Banks; it was through her that the Bower
property descended to the Banks family, then part of it to All
Saints' Church. And, had circumstances worked out differently, it is
altogether plausible that we might be known today as Banksville!
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
Episcopal church women, by
whatever name they organize themselves, have long been a pillar of
support for their church. Mrs. Fannie Rich, wife of Reisterstown
Parish’s first rector, is generally believed to be the founder of our
Ladies Aid Society, later to be known as the Women’s Guild, the Women’s
Auxiliary, and various other titles.
The main source of information
of this dutiful group is contained in a single, fragile composition
book, now over 100 years old. It is a record of the meetings of the
Society from 1892 to 1905, all recorded in the same elegant handwriting,
probably that of Miss Nannie Dickson, Secretary.
For much of its existence, the
Ladies Aid met bi-weekly (except during the summer) for six hours at a
time. Though they had been formed earlier, the first meeting on
record occurred November 4, 1892, in the Sunday School room of the
church. That space is, today, the pipe room for our organ. The purpose
of the Society was to hold entertainments and to solicit fund-raising
work. This consisted of sewing and selling articles of clothing.
On November 22 (1892) the
group met at the home of Mrs. Ed. Cockey. “Besides spending a pleasant
day, the work accomplished was three night-wrappers – two chemises –
three aprons – making eight pieces finished, which were sold, amounting
to $2.60.”
A report for the spring of
1893 shows that over a five month period 160 pieces had been made, of
which 104 were sold. The largess of the Society paid for the purchase
of a hedge along the front of the cemetery at a cost of $100. (It is
written elsewhere, in a history of All Saints’, that Ladies Aid also
financed the installation of a boardwalk between Reisterstown and
Glyndon.)
The ladies, frequently at
Glyndon Hall, also organized special benefits. hese included a
Strawberry Festival, an Entertainment with “Stereopticon Views & Lecture
on the World’s Fair”, an Oyster Supper, and a Benefit Supper held “in
the woods opposite All Saints Church.”
Two deaths of note were also
recorded in the minutes – in 1893 the death of the Reverend A. J. Rich,
and in 1905 the passing of Treasurer Mrs. A. A. Rich, daughter-in-law of
Reverend Rich.
Most work meetings of Ladies
Aid took place in members’ homes. But in October of 1895, by majority
vote, the ladies decided to move future meetings to the old chapel on
Bond Avenue. After the first meeting there, however, they had
relocated to Miss Dickson’s home. Perhaps the chapel proved unsuitable for a
sociable work site.
With two exceptions, minutes
in the old composition book are missing from 1896 to1903, but resume
briefly in 1904 and early 1905. In the back of the book is contained a
chart of members’ attendance. Presumably, the good works of The Ladies
Aid continued on for some time. Thankfully, they did leave us a small
time capsule of their contributions to our young parish.
Neal Haynie,
Parish Archivist
A bright, fall day greeted several hundred
visitors to the grounds of All Saints’ Church on Thursday,October 29,
1891, upon the invitation of William Keyser, benefactor of the newly
constructed churchin rural Reisterstown. It was a momentous occasion,
marking a permanent home for a parish which had been established twenty
years earlier, and whose roots went back to the 1850s.
In the words of The Baltimore Sun the
following morning:
The Clergy, twenty-nine in number, assembled
in a large tent some distance from the church to don their robes for the
service of consecration. Proceeding two by two, with Bishop Paret, in
his robes of office… the priests wended their way slowly through the
beautiful church-yard over the rustling, fallen leaves and under stately
trees. The procession paused at the entrance and waited for the Bishop
to make his way to the closed doors. Responding to the triple summons
the vestrymen and wardens, awaiting him within, threw open the wide
doors and handed over to the Bishop the key of the church in symbolical
presentation. The consecrator then preceded the train of clergy toward
the chancel, pronouncing slowly and impressively the verses of the
twenty-fourth Psalm … ending, as they neared the chancel, with the
words, “Lift up your heads, O Ye Gates, even lift them up, ye
everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in…”
Mr. Keyser pronounced the sentence of
presentation. One of the vestrymen, Mr. Edward Rich, read the official
deed of gift, which announced that the church was free from debt….”
Rev. J. W. Larmour read the deed of consecration. Rev. Dr. Hodges
delivered the consecration sermon, taking for his text the lines, “What
mean ye by this service.” He made a tribute to the beloved rector of
the parish, Rev. Dr. Arthur J. Rich. At the offertory Miss Elizabeth
Starr rendered an anthem for mezzo-soprano, “The Souls of the Righteous
are in the Hands of God.”
Masses of white and rose-colored
chrysanthemums rose about the cross from vases, and were strewn at their
base. On each window was banked a cluster of the beautiful flowers of
autumn beneath the tablets inlaid in the window inscribed to the memory
of former active workers in the church.
The Sun’s article continues with
an impressive list of citizens from Baltimore, Reisterstown, and out of
state who attended the opening day service of consecration. Members of
the clergy included:
Rev. Savington Crampton (Baltimore County), Rev.
Dr. James Houston Eccleston (Emmanuel Church), Rev. Neilson Falls
(Washington), Rev. Theodore Gambrall (Dean of Annapolis Convocation),
Rev. Frederick Gibson (St. George’s Church), Rev. E. H. C. Goodwin (New
York), Rev. Edward Gray (Editor, Maryland Churchman), Rev. Dr. J. S. B.
Hodges (St. Paul’s Church), Rev. Worrall Larmour (St. John’s Parish),
Rev. Edward Lawrence (Pikesville), Rev. Dr. George A. Leakin (son of
Baltimore’s former mayor), Rev. Walter Mitchell (Hagerstown), Rev.
Francis Moran (Archdeacon of Annapolis), Rev. Joseph Murphy, Rev. Heber
Murphy (Calvert County), Rev. Robert Paine (Mt. Calvary Church), The Rt.
Rev. William Paret (the Sixth Bishop of Maryland), Rev. Adolphus Pindell
(Baltimore and New York), Rev. A. C. Powell (Grace Church), Rev.
Alexander Rich (Deacon, Baltimore County), Rev. Dr. A. J. Rich (Rector,
Reisterstown Parish), Rev. Hobart Smith (St. Thomas’ Church), Rev. Dr.
George Stokes (Church of the Redeemer), Rev. Pierre Trapier (Chaplain,
Hannah More Academy), Rev. William Turner (Grace Church), Rev. W. R.
Webb (Syracuse, NY), Rev. Gilbert Williams (Dean of the Washington
Convocation), and Rev. Thomas J. Wyatt (Baltimore County).
Neal Haynie, Parish Archivist
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Volumes have been written
about the great battles and well known sites of the American Civil War,
but only scattered details can be found about how the war affected life
in Reisterstown which was on the fringe of the major conflicts. In the
mid 1800s Marylanders were divided in their sentiments, and those who
actively supported the South fled to Virginia where they served with the
Confederacy.
Ostensibly, the nation split
apart because of disagreements on tariffs and states' rights. But the
underlying bone of contention was the issue of slavery. Since its
settlement in the 1500s, wealthy Marylanders had owned Negro slaves in
order to support a thriving tobacco and agricultural economy. By 1808
the slave trade was officially outlawed. Slavery itself, however,
flourished for another six decades. \well into the early years of what
was to become the Reisterstown Parish. Locally, the 5000 acre plantation
of the Worthington's is said to have held 83 slaves. (Ms. Annie
Milligan, a Bond Avenue resident recalls her grandfather speaking of a
whipping post on the property." The Kepharts of Walnut Grove Farm, who
later provided land for St. Luke's Church and All Saints' Cemetery, also
owned slaves. One slave known as Fountain Hughes was in service to Major
Shirley, breeder of Clydesdale horses at Chartley Farm.
John Reister, a man of modest
means and no slaves, settled this area in 1758. But by the next
generation, his innkeeper son and Revolutionary War soldier Philip
Reister listed in a 1792 inventory six Negroes with a total value of
over 107 pounds. His widow Eve retained a servant Bill for 40 years. And
his son, also named Philip, manumitted servants Fanny and Walter Little
and their children upon his death in 1845.
In Baltimore County, the
stereotypical slave-beating master was not the norm. According to local
historian Louis Diggs, "many whites were relaxed in their relationships
with their slaves." The terms slave and servant were often
used synonymously, and free blacks and slaves worked side by side. The
majority of blacks in Reisterstown, as in Baltimore, were free men.
Their principal residences were along Bond Avenue, which was supposedly
called "Bondage Row' when slaves were bought and sold there in earlier
times.
In 1834, forty-three
African-Americans received permission to form a class at Asbury Chapel
(now Reisterstown United Methodist); this act was most unusual for the
times, as the education of negroes was usually discouraged. Records show
that in 1846 John Sumwalt, a leader of Asbury Chapel, agreed to manumit
six negroes when they reached the age of 23 years. And on Bond Avenue,
the home of Talbert and Elizabeth Brown served as the first meeting
place for what was to become St. Luke's United Methodist Church.
Seven years before the
outbreak of hostilities, our own "mother church," St. Michael's Chapel
at Hannah More Academy, was consecrated. Mr. and Mrs. John B. Armstrong
served as superintendents, but they resigned and closed the academy upon
the outbreak of the war. The school's chaplain, Dr. Arthur J. Rich, was
forced to cancel a trip to the Eastern Shore in 1861 to recruit students
for the struggling school, but by 1863 he had taken charge and reopened
the academy with a newly organized program. Seven students enrolled,
board and tuition being set at $100.
The names of residents of
Reisterstown who served in the war have been mostly lost to time; how
many there were we do not know. We do have proof, however, that at least
twenty descendants of the Reister family took up arms -- seven for the
Confederacy and thirteen for the Union. The scattered clan served in
units from eight different states.
At least two members of our
pre-parish years are known to have actively assisted the Confederacy.
The first was 21-year-old Edward Rich, brother of the Rev. Arthur J.
Rich. In September of 1862 Dr. Rich wrote to Bishop Whittingham -- one
day after Edward was arrested in Washington for aiding the enemy.
Edward, it seems, was withdrawing his request for consideration of
becoming a candidate for holy orders. He did, however, eventually become
a minister in the Episcopal Church.
The second Southern
sympathizer was William Norris, whose home "Brookland" was on
Cockeysmill Road. He moved with his family to Richmond, serving under
General Magruder. By war's end, Norris had been promoted to colonel and
placed in charge of the Confederate Signal Corps and Secret Service
Bureau. He is said to have been the last Confederate out of uniform at
war's end. Col. Norris's retirement was spent at his home in
Reisterstown where at the age of 76, he died of a stroke and was buried
at All Saint's Cemetery.
In the summer of 1864
Confederate Major Harry Gilmor whose home was Glen Ellen -- now Loch
Raven Reservoir -- was ordered to circle Baltimore to the north, cutting
off rail and telegraph communications. Gilmor passed through Westminster
and apparently marched through Reisterstown on his way toward
Cockeysville and Towson. (It was about this time that Fisher's Tavern,
in the heart of Reisterstown, served as a stop on the underground
railroad.) A return route took Gilmor through the Greenspring Valley
back to Reisterstown Road and Pikesville. Baltimore was thrown into
panic, fearing an attack, and, did in fact, witness incursions down York
Road and Charles Street.
Following the war, and eleven
years after the founding of St. Michael's Chapel, slavery was officially
abolished by the 13th Amendment. But it took another three years before
former slaves were guaranteed U.S. citizenship. Then, in 1870, just one
year before the establishment of Reisterstown Parish, blacks were
assured voting rights under the 15th Amendment. The struggle for equal
rights continued, however, more that 70 years after the building of All
Saints' Church. The African-American nightmare had lasted well over
three hundred years.
Neal Haynie,
Parish Archivist
Sources:
All Saints' Church Archives
Baker, Gary, "Gilmore's Ride Around Baltimore "
Diggs, Louis, Holding on to Their Heritage, 1996
Marks, Lillian Bayly, Reister's Desire, 1975
Maryland Diocesan Archives
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The Land of
Goshen
And Other Local Place Names
May 2007
Nowadays land owners and
developers seem to take delight in attaching colorful names to their
properties. How original -- and how unusual -- we think. But this
practice is actually centuries old. Even in theh Reisterstown area,
settlers were both clever and humorous in naming their land.
Land deeds in this area may be
traced to the Lords Baltimore and to the Carroll family. The settlement
of Reister's Desire can be dated to 1758 when John Reister
selected a 20 acre plot along the Conewago (or Hanover) Road for
construction of a tavern. His land lay within a much larger Soldiers'
Delight.
Adjoining Reister's Desire,
and eventually absorbed into "Reisterstown" were Spring Garden
(now Franklin Middle School), Nathan's Foret (south of Franklin
Elementary), and Brotherly Love (encompassing the intersection of
Main and Glyndon Drive). These and many other land grants formed what we
recognize today as "our town".
A larger tract which now
includes All Saints' Church, from Reisterstown lumber Company to
Mysticwood Road, was called Goshen Resurveyed, patented in 1745
and owned by Dr. Rovert Holliday. (In the Bible, Goshen was the
territory in the Nile Delta that was settled by Jacob and his family
when they fled famine stricken Canaan, and from which their descendents
later escaped from the Egyptians.)
Fanciful property names
abounded, and we can only guess at the reasons behind them. There were
Pork Hall and Beef Hall, Charming Beauty, and
Find Me Out. Near Westminster were Molly's Industry,
Cranberry Plains, and Who could Have Thought It. Puzzling
ones such as Tear Cloths, Brown's Plague, and Alexander's Mistake are
also on record.
Close to home Welshe's
Cradle has found new life near Sacred Heart Church. Devil's
Nursery was situated off Cockeysmill Road. Something, a 250
acre estate owned by David Kephart, Jr., was the location of his
beautiful villa Trevanion."
Two other Reister properties
should be noted. The first was located near Manchester. Named
Reister's Last Shift, this farm was granted to John Reister in 1762
by Frederick, 6th Lord Baltimore. It was probably John's last real
estate transaction.
Finally, a narrow strip of
land running between Reister's Desire and Brotherly Love
fell into dispute at some point. Appropriately, John Reister, who
claimed it, called it Doubtful. Today, if you walk south on Main
Street from Bond Avenue, the property behind the homes and businesses on
your right are Doubtful!!
Neal Haynie,
Parish Archivist
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