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- NEWS AND NOTES FROM The Prince Georges County Historical Society
- PRINCE GEORGE
- PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, MARYLAND ERECTED ON ST. GEORGES DAY, APR I L 23, 1696
NEWS AND NOTES FROM The Prince George's County Historical Society Vol. XIII, no. 12 December 1985 The Christmas Party at Montpelier: December 21 Come celebrate the holidays with the Prince George's County Historical Society at the annual Christmas Party on Saturday, December 21. This year the party returns to its traditional site, Montpelier, the Snowden mansion south of Laurel. The house will be beautifully decorated, and there will be food, drink, and good cheer aplenty. The party begins at 2 p.m. Each year we invite members to bring along a Christmas specialty of theirs to share‑‑a dessert, a snack, or the like. The bountiful spread adds to the Christmas spirit. Guests are welcome, too. Bring a friend or neighbor and show off this magnificent 18th century Georgian mansion at its best. There is no admission fee. Montpelier is located on the Laurel‑Bowie Road (Route 197) just north of the Baltimore‑Washington Parkway interchange. Exit from the Parkway and turn left (north) onto Route 197. Montpelier is less than a mile away. Turn left opposite the Montpelier shopping center where signs will direct you onto the mansion grounds. Christmas Open House at Marietta: December 22 The Society will open its new home, Marietta, to the public on Sunday afternoon, December 22, between the hours of noon and 4 p.m. The house will be decorated for the season, and docents will lead visitors on informative and interesting tours. There will be a small admission fee ($2.00 for adults, $1.50 for seniors and students, $1.00 for children). Proceeds will benefit the restoration fund. Come see the house in all its Christmas finery and support its preservation at the same time. Refreshments will be served. The public is invited. Marietta is a brick Federal‑style house built about 1810 by U.S. Supreme Court justice Gabriel Duvall. Marietta is located in Glenn Dale on Bell Station Road, just north of the intersection of Annapolis Road (Route 450) and Glenn Dale Boulevard‑Enterprise, Road. From the Beltway, take Exit 20‑West (Annapolis Road) and follow Annapolis Road about 4 miles. Turn left (at the light) onto Glenn Dale Boulevard, and then make a quick left onto Bell Station Road. Join us at Marietta on December 22! New Members of the Society We welcome the following individuals to membership in the Prince George's County Historical Society: Sponsor Mr & Mrs. Louis R. Winemiller College Heights Dr/Mrs Etienne John B. Bourne College Heights R. Bowie Dorothy Gonthier Greenbelt Mary Dunn Bill & Dianne Wilkerson Greenbelt A. Virta Dr. Rita G. Cameron Tantallon W.C. Dutton Margaret H. Reilly Hyattsville J. Giannetti Patricia & William Cramer Silver Spring F. De Marr Col. Robert S. Drake Adelphi F. De Marr Mary K. Jones Hyattsville Mary Dunne Mrs. Leo M. Swift College Park Jean Anderson Karen D. Miles Dunkirk F. De Marr Clinton F. Wells, Jr. Dickerson F. De Marr Adele W. Worthington College Park F. De Marr Officers for 1986 The incumbent slate of officers was reelected to serve another year at the Society's November meeting. The officers are John Giannetti, President; Alan Virta, Vice president; Warren Rhoads, Recording Secretary; Margo Ritchie, Corresponding Secretary; Herbert Embrey, Treasurer; Frederick S. De Marr, Historian; and the following directors: Susanna Cristofane, W.C. (Bud) Dutton, Ann Ferguson, Col. Sam Crook, Paul Lanham, John Mitchell, and Don Skarda. Thanks to Vera Rollo, chair of the Nominating Committee, for her service in that capacity again this year. Christmas Open Houses By now all members should have received a mailing announcing the open houses at the various historic sites in the county. To refresh your memories: Belair in Bowie: December 8 (262‑2854); Montpelier in Laurel: December 11‑14 (776‑0752); Riversdale in Riverdale: December 14‑15 (842‑8041); Oxon Hill Manor: December 15 (839‑7782); Surratt House: December 15‑17 (868‑1121). Autograph Party: George Callcott's Maryland and America The Maryland Book Exchange in College Park invites Society members to an autograph party and reception for Dr. George H. Callcott celebrating the publication of his recent book, Maryland and America, 1940 to 1980. It will be held on Sunday afternoon, December 8, 1985, at the book exchange, 4500 College Avenue (opposite the south gate of the University of Maryland). Please call 927‑2510, ext. 22, if you plan to attend. Doctor William Beanes: Physician, Gentleman, Prisoner‑of‑War High above the town of Upper Marlboro, on the schoolhouse hill, the remains of Dr. William Beanes and his wife rest in a tiny family graveyard. In recent years the graveyard acquired a forlorn look, its stones cracked, its fence in disrepair, and trees invading its hallowed ground. Over the course of the summer and fall, the Prince George’s County Committee Of the Maryland Historical Trust undertook to restore the graveyard. That good work was recently completed, and on November 12, 1985, ceremonies were held rededicating the gravesite. The following memoir of Dr. Beanes was read at the ceremony. It was written by Shirley Baltz, a member of the Prince George's County Historical Society. Dr. William Beanes Doctor William Beanes, the son of William Beanes, Jr., and his first wife Mary (Bowie) Beanes, was born 24 January 1749, probably at Brookridge, a tract which appears to have been the home plantation of his father. On 25 November 1773 Beanes married Sarah Hawkins Hanson, the daughter of Samuel and Anne (Hawkins) Hanson of Charles County and niece of John Hanson, the first president of the Continental Congress after the adoption of the Articles of Confederation. By the 1770s he had earned the title "Doctor." One of the officers who met him as the British marched on Washington in 1814 wrote that Beanes was a Scotsman, having migrated about twenty years before, and that he "still retained his native dialect in all its doric richness." That he was born in Scotland is untrue inasmuch as he was at least the third generation of his family born in Maryland. Perhaps, however, there is an explanation for the Scottish accent. In colonial times many Americans seeking a career in medicine took their training at the University of Edinburgh, a school of world renown. It's possible Dr. Beanes received his education in Scotland and, at the same time, acquired an accent which remained with him the rest of his life. At the time of the Revolutionary War, was it the father, the son, or a cousin (another William Beanes) who was on the Committee of Observation for Prince George's County in 1775, on the committee to raise supplies for the army in 1778, and county tax assessor in 1779 and 1781? It is difficult to determine. At a meeting of the Maryland Convention on 4 September 1777, there is no doubt; it was Doctor Beanes who was appointed Surgeon to the Maryland Marching Militia. He is reputed to have tended the patients in the military hospital in Philadelphia. In August 1779 his father, primarily a planter, purchased one acre of land adjoining Upper Marlboro, "lying on the west side of the street that leads from the Landing up towards the Ball House at the corner of Richard Snowden's lot," from William Sprigg Bowie. The price paid‑‑2000 pounds‑‑would indicate that the dwelling houses, out buildings, and other improvements mentioned in the conveyance were substantial in size and value. Perhaps when Dr. Beanes returned to civilian life he took up residence immediately at that locale for when the father, by deed of gift, conveyed the acre to his son in 1793, the deed noted that William Beanes, physician, was already residing there. When the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland was established in, 1799 Dr. Beanes was listed as one of the incorporators, and at the initial meeting of the organization in Annapolis he was selected to serve on the Board of Examiners for the Western Shore. He sat on the county Levy Court in 1808 and was one of the founders of Trinity Episcopal Church in 1810. He was named to the first Vestry of the new parish and helped to draw up the bounds of the lot to be donated to the congregation by David Craufurd. Dr. Beanes was a gentleman of untainted character, a man universally esteemed and respected by his fellow citizens, when he was caught up unwittingly in a stream of events which would imprint his name in our national history. During the War of 1812, when the British began their march from Benedict to Washington, the rural village of Upper Marlboro lay in their path. A sub‑altern in the army recorded that the troops made camp in advance of the village which, on a search for provisions, they found deserted. The army remained at rest the next morning and several men took advantage of the respite to stroll back into the village. The only inhabitant they found in his house was Dr. Beanes who assured them he was a Federalist and, therefore, an opponent of the war with Great Britain. The men commandeered what they needed, but because of the doctor's civility in offering them anything within his house and on his farm, the comissary paid him full value for the supplies taken. The troops soon marched off toward Bladensburg where they were engaged by the hastily‑gathered defenders of the capital city. The battle was of short duration, and with little further interference the British continued into Washington. After completing their plan, of destruction, they pulled out of the city and headed back for their ships waiting at Benedict. Late in the afternoon of the 26th of August, 1814, they passed through Upper Marlboro without incident and camped to the south. The next day, Saturday, former governor Robert Bowie went to Dr. Beanes' farm, and as the two walked over the land, they met and arrested an enemy straggler. Three others were also taken and all were brought into Upper Marlboro. Governor Bowie dispatched one man to Queen Anne Town in the company of Robert Bowie, his son, and Benjamin Oden, Jr., who along the way took another captive. A deserter was turned over to William Lansdale for delivery to Queen Anne. Then, fearing the other men detained in the village might be freed by the alarmed citizenry [fearful of British reprisal], Bowie, with the aid of John and Benjamin Hodges, escorted them to Queen Anne where the entire group was placed under guard. In all, six men were held, four stragglers and two deserters. When news of the captives reached British command a detachment of cavalry was ordered to Upper Marlboro to demand their return. Entering the town about midnight finding, after the search of several houses, that the prisoners had been moved, the officer in charge, Major Evans, delivered an ultimatum: unless the men were turned over by noon the next day, the town would be destroyed. To insure compliance, the cavalry carried off Dr. Beanes, whom they had roused unceremoniously from his bed, Philip Weems, and Dr. William Hill as hostages. Believing the British meant to make good their threat, on Sunday morning the Hodges brothers went to Queen Anne where John Hodges' determined arguing with the men on guard finally secured the release of the prisoners. While Hodges marched the four stragglers to meet the British, the two deserters, facing a possible firing squad, were left in the custody of Benjamin Oden, Jr., who did virtually nothing to prevent their escape. With the return of the stragglers, Mr. Weems and Dr. Hill were released, but the British refused to free Dr. Beanes, taking him along as they returned to their ships and sailed down the Patuxent. Concerned for the doctor's safety, some of his friends hastily took action. Richard W. West, inheritor of the Woodyard from his father Stephen, also a close family friend and patient of Dr. Beanes, headed for Georgetown to request help from his brother‑in‑law, Francis Scott Key. The wives of the two men were sisters, the daughters of Edward Lloyd IV. Key, a prominent attorney, went to President Madison who gave permission for him to seek out the British fleet, ordering John S. Skinner, our agent in charge of exchanging prisoners, to accompany him. The men started from Baltimore aboard the Minden and two days later located the English ships at the mouth of the Potomac. Under a flag of truce they were permitted to board the flagship Tonnant where they met with General Ross and Admiral Cochrane. Although Key and Skinner were treated cordially, they found that Dr. Beanes, still wearing the same clothes as when he was seized, was being held in solitary confinement and had been dealt with harshly by his captors. At first the officers, and especially General Ross, refused to consider the release of Dr. Beanes, but after Mr. Skinner displayed some letters written by wounded British soldiers left behind in Bladensburg, letters in which they told of the kind treatment they had received, they relented. They would honor the request but not at that moment; they were preparing to sail for Baltimore and so that their plans would not be revealed to the Americans, the men would have to accompany them. The story of the subsequent bombardment of Fort McHenry [and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner] is well known and will not be covered here. On September 14, 1814, after the enemy ceased their shelling and as the flag still flew over the fort, the Americans were permitted to go ashore. Dr. Beanes returned to Upper Marlboro to spend the rest of his days. In 1817 he was among those who incorporated the Philmanthanean Society, an organization dedicated to promoting literature and science. His wife died 15 July 1822, and the doctor was laid beside her in October 1828, "in the 80th year of his age”. The couple left no children. In his will Beanes devised "my present dwelling and all the grounds, gardens and buildings...attached thereto, also the mill, Meadows and all the land... adjoining the same" to John Read Magruder as trustee for the benefit of his brother Colmore. After the latter's death the bequest was to descend to his nephew Philip Key, grandson of Colmore, but only if he, Philip, had issue. Otherwise the property was to be sold. Key died unmarried in 1833 and Dr. Beanes' other heirs went into the Court of Equity petitioning for the sale as directed. It wasn't until 1841 that John B. Brooke, the court‑appointed trustee, conveyed the house to William N. Boteler. In the meantime, in 1835 the Upper Marlboro Academy was established, with William N. Boteler as one of its trustees. Perhaps Boteler donated the site to the Academy for it appears to have been situated on Dr. Beanes' lot, yet there is no conveyance recorded. In 1855, unfortunately, the school and the principal's house, "one of the oldest in the village and for many years the dwelling of the late Dr. William Beanes," burned to the ground. The insurance payment, plus a subscription raised in the county, enabled the trustees to rebuild the school. In 1908 it became Marlboro High School and in 1917 the facility was turned over to the Prince George's County Board of Education. A new high school built on the site of the old, was dedicated in 1921, and that is the core of the present building which stands there now. The tombs of Dr. Beanes and his wife were originally restored in conjunction with the centennial celebration of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. In a speech delivered 3 September 1914, C.C. Magruder noted that "A few months ago the tombs...were broken into many fragments. The walls surrounding were nearly level with the ground, and unsightly, gnarled sassafras trees were undermining the foundations.... Today such pieces of the old tombs as could be recovered, pieced with new marble to the original size, rest on marble supporters above repaired vaults." In the past seventy years trees have done their work again, and so the Prince George's County Committee of the Maryland Historical Trust has undertaken to remove the huge stump invading the enclosure, to reconstruct the wall it had damaged, to repair the slabs, and to replace the cannonball missing from one of the fence pillars. We are pleased to act as latter‑day agents to implement Dr. Beanes, wish that "the Graveyard in the Garden... is to be kept up and in complete order." ‑‑Shirley Baltz Zoning Update: Good News for Now On November 18 the County Council voted to put on hold all re‑zoning applications in the vicinity of Marietta. The previous decision to re‑zone as commercial the large tract between Marietta and Annapolis Road Was reversed and the case returned to the Zoning Hearing Examiner. The Council directed the Planning Board to undertake a special study of the area and make recommendations for orderly development. The Historical Society, the city of Bowie, and citizens of Glenn Dale‑had objected‑to what they believed was the beginning of a piece‑meal rezoning of the area and are pleased to see the reversal and the special study. Thanks to the many members who contacted their Council members and to President John Giannetti who so ably represented the Society at the many hearings and meetings held the past few months. 
The Prince George's County Historical Society Vol. XIV, no. 1‑2 Jan‑Feb. 1986 The Winter Recess There will be no meeting of the Society in January or February. The first meeting of 1986 will be on Saturday, March 8, at Riversdale, the Calvert mansion. Forest Tree Arboretum at National Colonial Farm The nation's first arboretum for native forest trees soon be planted at the National Colonial Farm in Accokeek, in southern Prince George’s County. Society member Frederick Tilp -- best known as a marine historian, but a qualified forest historian as well ‑‑ is guiding the development of the program. He hopes the arboretum in Prince George’s County will serve as a pilot project, and that similar arboretums will be planted in the other southern Maryland counties. Only trees similar to those seen by Maryland's first settlers will be planted in the arboretum. Regional forester Gene Piotrowski of the Maryland Forest, Park, and Wildlife Service has suggested five rows of thirteen trees each, spaced fifty feet apart; a total of sixty‑five trees. According to Tilp, "With no primeval forest hazards such as poison ivy, thorny underbrush, snakes, or even big worms, this will be a pleasant place for students to study each species of sixty‑five different native trees when grown in an open field under favorable environmental conditions. Officials of the U.S. Forest Service, American Forestry Association, National Arboretum, and Mount Vernon (directly across the river from the planned arboretum) reviewed the plans and specifications and hope for cooperation from local garden clubs, chambers of commerce, civic and school groups. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Annapolis and Richmond expressed hope that this idea would spread to the sixteen Maryland tidewater counties and the twenty‑four Virginia tidewater counties, Dedication is planned for Maryland's Arbor Day, the first Wednesday in April_ For more details phone the regional forester at 301‑888‑1638.
ERECTED ON ST. GEORGE'S DAY, APRIL 23,1696 New Members of the Society We welcome the following individuals to membership in the Prince George's County Historical Society: Sponsor
Jan Jennier Bowie Mr. De Marr, Margaret McKnew Riverdale Mr. Giannetti Dorothy L. Davidson Riverdale Mr. Giannetti Helen E. Gillions Hyattsville Mrs. Skarda William Z. Haskell Upper Marlboro Mr. De Marr Josef & Gloria Brown Hyattsville Mr. Dutton Dues Reminder Members are reminded to return their renewal notices with their dues promptly to Mr. Embrey, the treasurer. Dues for individuals are now $10.00 for couples the dues are $15.00. Mr. Embrey's address: 10414 Tullymore Drive, Adelphi, Md. 20783. Phone: 434‑2958 Dates to Note Feb. 4‑6: Lecture‑demonstrations of Black American dance and local Black history, at Publick Playhouse, Cheverly. Sponsored by the University of Maryland Dance Dept., History Division of M‑NCPPC, and Publick Playhouse. 10 a.m. and noon. Phone 277‑1710 for more information. Feb. 9: Belair Mansion open for tours, 2 to 4 p.m. Donation requested Mansion location: 12207 Tulip Grove Drive. Feb 20‑23: Maryland Antiques Show and Sale to benefit the Maryland Historical Society, at the Convention Center, Baltimore. Admission fee of $15.00 includes catalog. Opens noon each day. "Formidable Operation" "Caesarean Operation: This rare and formidable operation has recently been performed by Dr. John H. Bayne of this county, with the assistance of Drs Heiskell, Wood and Hill, on a servant of Mr. R.Q. Bowling. The woman has entirely recovered." ‑‑Planters' Advocate, October 1, 1856 The Patuxent River The National Park Service has completed an admirable project of marking the roads and streams over which the Baltimore‑Washington Parkway passes. The "Little Patuxent River" is correctly identified; however, the sign‑painters got a little carried away in designating its sister stream the "Big Patuxent River." For that gentle stream, "Patuxent River" is quite sufficient. The Black Public Schools, 1924 Until the 1950s, Prince George's County operated dual school systems‑‑one for white students, another for blacks. A superintendent was appointed for each; there were parallel administrative structures. An interesting look at the black public school system, 1924, is contained in a survey published by the Colored Public School Trustees Association. A committee of the association visited each of the forty‑two black public schools in Prince George's County during the months of December, 1923 and January 1924, and they reported on the state of each. We publish selections from that report below. Our thanks to Bianca Floyd, coordinator of the county's black history survey, for passing along a copy of the report. The original is located in the Moorland‑Spingarn Library of Howard University. A SURVEY of COLORED PUBLIC SCHOOLS of PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY MARYLAND Trustees, Teachers and Patrons of Colored Public Schools, Prince George's County, Maryland, Friends, Fellow‑Citizens,
Chairman, Thos. J. Calloway, Lincoln, Glendale, Md. [The introductory letter was also signed by the other committee members: Secretary, George D. Brown, Collington; Ignatius Mitchell, Oak Grove, Marlboro; and Isaiah Gray, Poplar Hill, Aquasco. It was addressed to the president of the Colored Trustees' Association, S.J. Trotter, of Seat Pleasant.] [Selected school reports follow] Accokeek: Miss Mabel Parker, Teacher. Trustees: Henry Lewis, Henry Munson, William Gladden This school is in the extreme southwest corner of the County, near the line of Charles County. There is an enrollment of 33 pupils. The outbuildings need attention. Otherwise the plant appeared to be in fair condition. The community spirit was shown by the presence of a representative of the parents to greet the committee. We suggest to the people of this community that if they have not already a strong working community club that they lose no time in organizing and making a drive for a better public road to the school and to create a social life for the young people about the school. Aquasco; Miss Matilda F. Glascoe and Miss Blanche B. Johnson, Teachers. Trustees: James M. Douglas, John B. Tolson, John Glascoe This is a two‑room, two‑teacher school with an enrollment of 67 pupils. The community was found to be co‑operating with their teachers, having provided through proceeds from entertainments for the purchase of a bell, flag and other equipment. School desks are seriously needed, particularly for the little children. It was suggested that the community proposes to fence in the school grounds and it was under consideration to use barbed wire. We do not feel that fencing is a good policy for school yards, and under no circumstances would we use barbed wire because of the danger to clothing and person of the children. Bladensburgh: Mrs: Lucy S. Robinson and Mrs. Virginia Q. Jenkins, Teachers. Trustees: Burdett Culley, George Queen, Mrs. E.J.L. Bowler. One of the oldest towns in the county, is located at junction of Washington highways leading to Baltimore and Annapolis. The building is modern, has recently been put in good repair and is fairly well equipped. There are both front and rear entrances, cloak rooms and spacious playgrounds. The Community Club has recently raised $100 and presented it to the Board of Education to apply on purchase of pupils' desks, and they are raising other funds to meet expenses for some instructional material not provided by School Board. The principal and her assistant seem to have won the full co‑operation of their patrons. Out buildings are in urgent need of rebuilding. They are not only insanitary but lacking in proper privacy as between the sexes. Bowie: Mrs. Inez Prout and Miss M. Myrtle Holmes, Teachers. Trustees: L.S. James, J.H. Prout, Jr., Benjamin Cole. Bowie is the junction of the main line and the Pope's Creek branch of the Pennsylvania Railway. The public school lies between the town and the State Normal School [Bowie State College]. From the location one would expect to find a model public school. On the contrary we found one of the three worst plants in the County. There is an old building, that the most backward district should be ashamed of, out of repair, ancient school desks that have been carved and whacked, little or no blackboards, and the grounds are muddy and illkept. The portable building nearby is out of repair, lacks paint, has kindergarten chairs for the pupils to sit in, cannot be properly heated. There was no evidence of community spirit of helpfulness behind the teachers. Certainly, a new two‑room school building is urgently needed, but we feel that the people of Bowie should learn from their near neighbors at Ducketsville and Fletchertown to form a strong organization and make a drive for better local organization. Better school is sure to follow. Glen Arden: Mrs. Anna B. Cosey, Teacher. Trustees: G.W. Washington, Mrs. G. Hamilton, H.S. Wildy. This is the best built and best equipped two‑room Rosenwald school in the county. It is located upon a sloping elevation in full view of the W.B. & A Electric and the Pennsylvania, Railroads. Only one room is used, but both will certainly soon be in demand. The parent ‑ teacher association has presented the school with a sewing machine. Other donors have given shades, a cook stove, etc. The electric light fixtures are very handsome, the interior decoration is attractive and there is nothing lacking. We were sorry that the community so well favored did not feel able to contribute $3 asked to meet the expenses of this survey. Laurel: Mrs. Rosa E. Neal, Miss Lucy Gardner, Teachers. Trustees: George Jonson, Walter McCoy, Colbert Addison. It would be supposed that a town as large as Laurel with 80 to 100 children of school age would have a creditable school. On the contrary, the committee found, without question, the worst condition of any school in the county. For while other places, such as Bowie and Lakeland, have similar school conditions as to the buildings, at Laurel we found the two buildings placed, one behind the other on the narrow lot, probably 50 by 150 feet. We are informed that no demand has been made upon the public funds for better conditions. We can not understand why the spirit that has resulted in a new concrete stone church, tastily built, has not been extended to the public school. We doubt if any of the stables of the Laurel race track would be permitted for a horse if they were as run down as these two places in which teachers are forced to labor. Get busy, Laurel, or hang your heads in shame. Lincoln: Mrs. Elizabeth D. Snowden, Mrs. Maude S. Socks, Teachers. Trustees: T.J. Calloway, J.H. Sanders, W.E. Gibson. The Lincoln school is the result of community team work. Four or five years ago the community club decided to work for a new building to replace the one‑room building similar to many now in the county. Entertainments were given, subscriptions taken and committees appointed. Finally, after $700 or more was in the treasury of the club it was decided to ask the school board for $5,000 with the promise that the community would match it with a like amount. The building is not yet completed, but it has cost about $12,000, of which the county has paid a half. There are four class rooms, a library, cloak rooms, teachers' lockers and a large community hall. The building is lighted with electric lights. Over $600 has been invested in new desks by the community which is buying a piano. The plans are now on foot to install a steam heating plant and sanitary toilets with running water. There are 42 communities in the county with a Negro public school. As imperfect as some of these schools are, each is, nevertheless, the largest single influence in every one of the communities. Community clubs and parent‑teacher associations have proven the best means of extending the work of the teacher to the adult population. The result of this extension service where seriously attempted has been very marked and has given promise of greater results yet to follow. Those forward looking citizens in each community who wish to be of the largest service should dedicate themselves to working in a community organization in co‑operation with the school teacher. There are few, if any, white people now who are opposed to Negro education. They recognize that an illiterate person is of little value and that some education and training are essential to every human being. It is true that officials, up to this time, have administered public funds on the theory that a colored teacher should receive less than a white teacher and that white schools should have a longer year than the colored. This inequity should be corrected. Since we have separate schools for the white and colored people simple justice would seem to dictate that equal pay for equal service was the only true Americanism that can be depended upon for fair adjustment. We pray that public opinion will soon convince statesmen of this plain right. Other counties of Maryland and other States having separate schools will be able to appreciate such efforts as have been made for the solution of the problems of our county. The Committee feels that since Prince George's County constituted the larger part of the suburban zone of the National Capital this county should become a model of rural efficiency in education and industry of its people. In so far as the Colored Trustees' Association of this county can contribute to these ends its service is sincerely pledged. THE COMMITTEE. [In 1923, there were 2,619 pupils at the 42 black schools. There were 6,806 students at 73 white schools. "Rosenwald schools" named in the text were built with the assistance of the Rosenwald Fund, a national trust established by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald to support the construction of rural black schools.]
The Prince George's County Historical Society Vol. XIV, no. 3 March 1986 Meeting on March 22: The Design of Formal Gardens The Prince George's County Historical Society's first meeting of the spring season will be held on Saturday, March 22, at 2 p.m. at Riversdale, the Calvert mansion. Our guest speaker will be Lucy Coggin, horticulturist for Historic Annapolis at the William Paca Garden. She will present a slide show and talk on formal gardens entitled "Classic Elements of Design Displayed in the William Paca Garden." Lucy Coggin graduated from Occidental College in California, where she studied botany and art history. She was awarded a fellowship at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum and has worked independently as a garden designer. She has also written a newspaper column on gardening. Her slide show will include photos of English and European gardens, and she will illustrate how the William Paca Garden exemplifies many of the classic garden design elements. Please take note that this meeting will be held on March 22, not on the usual second Saturday of the month. Riversdale, the Calvert mansion, is located at 4811 Riverdale Road in Riverdale. Guests are welcome, and refreshments will be served. For more information, call Alan Virta at 474‑7524 (evenings). Please come and join with us to begin the spring season with this most timely presentation on formal gardens. St. George's Day Dinner and Awards The Society will celebrate St. George's Day, the anniversary of the founding of our county, on the evening of April 23 with the annual St. George's Day Dinner. The Board of Directors solicits nominations for the St. George's Day Awards, presented each year to individuals and organizations who have made noteworthy contributions to the preservation of our county's heritage. If you have a nomination, please write to the Board at the Society's mailing address, P.O. Box 14, Riverdale, Maryland 20737, or call President John Giannetti at 422‑8988. PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND ERECTED ON ST. GEORGE'S DAY, APR I L 23, 1696 Where is Westphalia? In November 1985 the Maryland Chamber of Commerce received a letter from the sesquicentennial committee of the town of Westphalia, Michigan. The committee was beginning to compile an anniversary book and was seeking information on other towns in the United States of the same name. An old reference source they had come across stated that there was a Westphalia in Maryland, but they could not locate it in any atlas. Could the chamber assist them? Eventually that letter came to the Prince George's County Historical Society, for Westphalia is a Prince George's County placename. Yes, we were familiar with Westphalia. But close investigation revealed that the name has migrated over the years‑and different people had different ideas on just where Westphalia was. The first Westphalia was a land grant, a 500‑acre tract patented by Robert Wells in 1673. Located on the Western Branch of the Patuxent River, it was immediately south of Largo and just west of Perrywood. During the 18th century it was the home of several generations of the Burgess family, a family of some social importance in colonial Prince George's County, whose names appear frequently in the county histories by Mrs. Bowie, Mrs. Hienton, and Judge Van Horn. Otho Berry Beall acquired the Westphalia plantation early in the 19th century, and during Beall family ownership, the plantation became known as the "White House." White House Road, which connects Largo Road (Route 202) to Ritchie‑Marlboro Road, bisects the old land grant. The name Westphalia reappears on the county map in another context late in the 19th century. In 1891 the federal government authorized a post office to serve the rural community along the upper stretches of Ritchie‑Marlboro Road, northwest of Upper Marlboro, an area heretofore served out of the Forestville post office. Large landowners in this vicinity at the time included Alonzo G. Darcy (county register of wills during the 1880s), Alexander Penn Hill (a county commissioner in the 1870s), Benjamin H. Brown, James C. Marr, William H. Shuler, William Binger, Roderick M. McGregor (a Magruder descendant), and Miss Sarah Ann Osbourne. The community was served by a school, built about 1876, and James C. Marr operated a general store about a mile north of the schoolhouse. There was a Methodist church (Green Mount) at the junction of Ritchie‑Marlboro Road and White House Road. By no means could this area have been considered a town but in an era when the government was establishing post offices in even the smallest of locales, it seemed to have qualified for one. The post office was opened in James C. Marr's general store, and it was given the name Westphalia. The new Westphalia post office was actually located about a mile south of the boundaries of the old land grant, and the schoolhouse (known as the Westphalia school) even farther south. Thus began the migration of the name Westphalia. The Westphalia school was (and though closed, still is) located at the junction of Ritchie‑Marlboro Road and the country road leading three miles west to Forestville. During this century that road has been known as Westphalia Road. This has brought about, in recent decades, another migration of the name Westphalia. The western end of Westphalia Road connects to Pennsylvania Avenue (Route Four) just below the Beltway. There has been some suburban and business development at that end of the road. One of the larger developments is named Westphalia Estates, because of its location on Westphalia Road, and a black church that was built on the road in 1968 took the name Westphalia United Methodist Church. The State Roads Commission has even erected a small sign on Route Four below the Beltway marking the place as "Westphalia." Recent county atlases, in large letters, attach the name Westphalia to this general vicinity at the western end of Westphalia Road. Thus, another Westphalia. So, "Where is Westphalia?" It depends on which one you mean‑the colonial land grant, the rural community of the turn of the century, or the modern suburban locale. Printed below is the Society's response, in somewhat more detail, to Westphalia, Michigan's question, "Where is Westphalia?" They were most interested in the late 19th century rural community, so the story begins there. Westphalia, Maryland Westphalia is the traditional name of a rural neighborhood in Prince George's County, Maryland. Tobacco and corn are its principal crops; it has been farming country for more than three hundred years. Westphalia is located five miles northwest of Upper Marlboro, the county seat. It is also close to Washington, D.C. The suburbs of Washington are just two or three miles to the west and northwest. As the crow flies, it is only ten miles to Capitol Hill. Westphalia is an unincorporated area, so its boundaries are not precisely defined. Traditionally, however, Westphalia has been considered to be that area along Ritchie‑Marlboro Road where it is joined by Westphalia Road (from the west) and Brown Road (from the east). In this vicinity were located the old Westphalia school, the post office, and general store. This stretch of road is no more than a mile or two long. It is entirely rural, as it always has been; the road is a winding and narrow (though well-paved) country byway. Several of the more prominent farms in the Westphalia neighborhood are marked by signs: Turkey Branch Farm, Edgewood Farm, and Meadowview Morgans (Morgan horses) are three of them. There are also a number of small homesteads along the road that are not farmed. They are rural homes for people working in Washington or the suburbs. Ancient Westphalia Westphalia owes its name to the Westphalia plantation, a 500‑acre land grant patented by Robert Wells in the year 1673. The Wells were one of the prominent families of colonial Maryland. The founder of the family in Maryland was Robert's father, Richard Wells, who brought his wife and eleven children to Maryland from Virginia in 1653. In Virginia Richard Wells had attained some degree of prominence, sitting in the House of Burgesses from Norfolk County, 1645‑1647. He was, however, a Puritan, so when the political climate in Virginia turned hostile to Puritanism, he joined the great Virginia Puritan migration to Maryland. Richard Wells acquired several land grants in Maryland, but settled on Herring Creek, in Anne Arundel County, on the Chesapeake Bay. Surviving legal documents reveal that he was a planter, merchant, and physician; he is styled "Chirurgeon and Gentleman" in many of them. During the period of republican government in Britain, he was appointed as one of the Lord Protector's representatives "for ordering directinge and gouverninge all the Affrayers of Maryland." Among Richard Wells' younger children were Robert, Benjamin, and Mary. Robert and Benjamin became merchants; they also invested in lands on the Maryland frontier‑‑now Prince George's County. In 1671 Benjamin patented a tract of land he named the Vail of Benjamin, located along the Western Branch of the Patuxent River. Two years later brother Robert patented an adjoining tract of land and named it Westphalia. The reason for the name Westphalia is unknown; perhaps it signified that the land was on the western frontier. Neither Benjamin nor Robert Wells held their land grants very long and almost certainly never lived there. They apparently assigned their titles to their brother George, for in 1677 he sold both Westphalia and the Vail of Benjamin to sister Mary (Wells) Stockett Yate and her second husband, George Yate. Ten years later, in 1687, the Yates sold Westphalia (500 acres) to Ursula Burgess, widow, of Anne Arundel County. Like the Wells, the Burgesses were one of the prominent families of colonial Maryland. Ursula Burgess' deceased husband, Col. William Burgess, served as high sheriff of Anne Arundel County and deputy governor of the province. The widow Burgess never lived at Westphalia, but her son, Charles Burgess, did. In 1704 he purchased Westphalia for 150 pounds sterling from his step‑father, Mordecai Moore, who had married (and survived) Ursula Burgess. Charles Burgess turned the land grant on the frontier into a prosperous and well‑ordered plantation, and increased its size to 1060 acres. He died in 1740, leaving a sizeable fortune to his heirs. Westphalia remained in the hands of the Burgess family for more than one hundred years. Several of Charles Burgess' children, grandchildren, and great‑grandchildren made their homes at Westphalia. They attained a measure of social prominence in Prince George's County, and local histories refer to them as "the Burgesses of Westphalia." Particularly notable was the Revolutionary war service of Charles Burgess' grandsons, Dr. Richard Burgess and Major John Magruder Burgess. Another grandson, Charles, served as foreman of the county grand jury on several occasions during the Revolutionary era. A fourth grandson, Basil Burgess, served in western Maryland during the French and Indian War. Like their neighbors, the Burgesses were slaveholders; they depended upon slaves to plant, cultivate, and harvest their tobacco crop. An‑account of social life in late 18th and early 19th century Prince George's County was recorded by Col. Richard Burgess of Washington, D.C., in the 1850s. A descendant of Charles Burgess, he knew Westphalia in his youth. The recollection of balls, horse races, and other social events was published in Thomas Scharf's History of Maryland (1879; v. 2, p. 86‑87) and also in News and Notes from, the Prince George's County Historical Society, November 1978, in an article by Herbert Embrey. Westphalia plantation passed out of the hands of the Burgess family early in the 19th century. Otho Berry Beall (1790‑1853) acquired the land, and he passed it on to his descendants. Under the ownership of the Beall family the plantation became known as the "White House Place," and their fine home simply as the "White House." Neither the colonial homes of the Burgesses nor the Bealls' "White House" are still standing. Westphalia in the 19th Century During the course of the 19th century, and particularly after the Civil War, the large plantations in the Westphalia vicinity, including Westphalia itself, were divided into smaller farms. Quite a few of these smaller farms were established along Ritchie Marlboro Road, which passed through the old Westphalia plantation and the land grants to the south. A schoolhouse was built along Ritchie‑Marlboro Road about 1876; a county map of 1878 reveals the presence of a general store to serve the area. The 1878 map does not attach the name Westphalia to this vicinity; nor does an earlier map of 1862. The name was not forgotten, however, for when a post office was established there in 1891 it was named Westphalia. The Post office actually was about a mile south of the boundaries of the old Westphalia land grant; the schoolhouse was even further south. Thus, during the latter part of the 19th century, the name Westphalia came to signify the area slightly to the south of the original 1673 land grant. Westphalia kept its post office until 1909, when it was discontinued with the establishment of rural free delivery out of Upper Marlboro. Even today, the homes in the Westphalia vicinity bear an Upper Marlboro mailing address. In 1898 the Chesapeake Beach Railroad was opened between Washington, D.C., and Upper Marlboro (and later on, to the Chesapeake Bay). It passed through the Westphalia vicinity, and a station was established there. That station, however, was named Brown's Station, as it was built on the property owned by Benjamin Brown. On some maps today the name "Brown" appears, rather than the traditional name Westphalia. Another Westphalia The road from Forestville to old Westphalia (three miles long) is named Westphalia Road. At its eastern end, by old Westphalia, it is a narrow, hilly, country road. At the western end, by Forestville, there has been some suburban development in the past decade or two. One housing subdivision there is named Westphalia Estates; a park there has been named Westphalia Neighborhood Park; and a new black Methodist church is named Westphalia United Methodist Church‑‑their names derived from their location on Westphalia Road. Recent street atlases of Prince George's County thus assign the name Westphalia to the western end of Westphalia Road, rather than the eastern end. To many of the suburban residents who have come to the county in the past few decades, this area on the western end of Westphalia Road, by Forestville and the Capital Beltway, is Westphalia. They are not aware that traditionally the name was associated with the rural neighborhood three miles away at the other end of the road. The "new Westphalia" will almost certainly continue to grow, as more and more suburban development creeps down Route Four from Forestville. This "new Westphalia" is located just a mile from the north gate of Andrews Air Force Base, the home of Air Force One and the ceremonial air gateway to the nation's capital. Old Westphalia is still located out of the main path of suburban development in Prince George's County, but how long that remains so remains to be seen. The state has plans to build an entirely new road from Largo (Enterprise Road) to Melwood (Woodyard Road), a across what has always been countryside. That road will pass through old Westphalia. When (and if) that does indeed take place, the tobacco barns that have marked Westphalia for almost three hundred years may finally given way to housing developments and convenience stores. --Alan Virta Additional notes: The Westphalia schoolhouse, south of the colonial land grant, was built on part of a tract of land known as Alexandria. During the colonial period Alexandria was a Magruder property (patented by Alexander Magruder, 1670). It was adjacent to Dunblane. During the 19th century, the largest part of Alexandria (about 330 acres) was held by Jesse Talburtt (d. 1850), grandfather of the Miss Sarah Osbourne named in the introduction. A tobacco barn built by Jesse Talburtt still stands on Westphalia Road not far from the schoolhouse. "J. Talburtt" is clearly inscribed in one of the hand‑hewn posts. The Vail of Benjamin was immediately to the north of Alexandria, between it and Westphalia land grant. Originally a Wells patent, the Vail of Benjamin was divided in the 1690s into several pieces. Over the years various parcels were held by members of the Berry, Beall, Magruder, and Duvall families, among others. The Vail of Benjamin was home of Mareen Duvall II (b. 1661), his son Mareen Duvall III (1687‑174?), and then Mareen Duvall IV (1714‑1783). Mareen Duvall II (known as Mareen Duvall the Elder) was the son of Mareen Duvall the Immigrant, of Middle Plantation. He was virtually forgotten in the Immigrant's will (save for a bequest of five shillings) and forced to move from Middle Plantation. He moved to the Vail of Benjamin, inherited by his wife, Frances Brackett, from her parents, Thomas Brackett and Mary (Wells) Stockett (later Yate). The Westphalia post office had but two postmasters in its eighteen‑year history: James C. Harr and William Shuler. Westphalia, Michigan, was first settled in 1836 by immigrants from Germany. Sources: Newman, Harry Wright. Anne Arundel Gentry. (Wells family) Bowie, Effie Gwynn. Across the Years in Pr. Geo. County. (Burgess family, Beall family) Newman, Harry Wright. Mareen Duvall of Middle Plantation. (Duvall family)
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Spring Bus Tour to Montgomery County, Maryland Saturday, April 5
Price: $22.50 per person Includes all admission fees and buffet lunch
Make check payable to: Prince George's County Historical Society Mail to: Warren W. Rhoads, 12501 Kemmerton Lane, Bowie, Md. 20715 Download 12.14 Mb. Share with your friends:
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