Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1877-08-02
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~ 4 arrived at IL sltsss
fAsle Of Or woke, aud whedS y -
Ting Of the chai1s told o. that the an
chof xss eeesS our hearts gave vent 10
pent-up emotions with which danger and
the sea had SLED them, and whife some
gave thanks toihe Civer, others showed
their appreciation by ..here's To Cobb
Island"! Having arrived shout 8 o'clock
on Friday evepinEs and - yet there
was time to take . cursory glance Of
thu :: MEsas<aona- -Islaad = onr paEty
avsiled themselves, Of II and disem-
barked. We were Get On The wharf BY
Warren Cobb, q son OF Nathan Cobb,
the owner Of the Island. Who gave rs .
kind welcome, and invited rs % the
Hotel. Our comnisssry Vas busily en-
gsged in laying in . stock Of "spols''
Tor our upper. After taking . hsssy
view, dsfknsss overlook US, and We re-
turned to our vessel. Supper vas soon
served, and next came IN order from
the Commissary, Albert Fenwick, thaf
while at the Island the party shosld =
self-supporting, accordingly, he sss-
signed to each member Of the party .
certain duty to be. Psffossned on the
morrow. The following Vas the esm-
position of the several divisions 30 as-
signed. Gunners-Edelen, Freeman,
Simms Fenwick, Neal Henry Combs.
Fishermen-Albert Fenwick, n. C..
Combs, Capts. Tyler and Sol and Ben
Foxwell. Hard crabb~rs, King and
Vile. Shell pickers and Egg hun
tsrs-Drury and Morgan. The said du.
ties having been understood and acqui-
esced in, we retired, and after . repeti-
ton Of "Possum,. fell asleep. Satur-
day July IA. A cloudiess sunrise sprung
out Of the Ocean, and all were on deck
at an early hour. eager to enjoy the
pleasures Of the day. An early break
fast was enjoy<d,1iandb tken came the
stationing OF the several divisions in
their places on land and water. The gun.
ners. after having hired set Of d.coys,
were carried over to Bone Island, asmall
barren place to the south of Cobb Island,
at distance Of about two miles. The
shell pickers and egg hunters were
carried to Cobb's Island, the fishermen
went to the fishing ground, and the
crabbers were left on the boat, plenti-
fully supplied with bait, lines. nets, &c.
While all the others were. engaged in
perfor ming their several duties, your
correspondent was stationed. on Cobb
Island, and as it was understood that
each party should report at night, con-
cerning the pleasure and sights enjoyed,
he will now give his impressions OF the
wonders and sights seen by him. First,
after landing we went 10 the Hotel,
where wesmet pleasant party Of young
men from Northampton county, Va
We enjoyed social talk with them for
an hour or two, after which we called
on Nathan Cobb, the owner Of the Is
land, for the purpose Of gathering some
points Of the early history OF the place.
Mr.. Cobb i, an old man, about IS years
Of age, but time seems not to have
conquered him, and with clear mind,
and in strong voice, he gave us a his
tory OF this wild and wonderful Island.
He gave Us several papers to read,
among which was an original gran,
from George End in 1874. at which
time it was called Sand Shoal Island -
As far as We could gather, We will give
the history Of
CoBB's ISLAND.
The Island at low water is seven
miles long. and not over 400 yards wide
at the widest part. 1t contains about
1000 ;cres OF land, mostly in marsh and
uncultivated. Not over 20 acres are
under cultivation. At high water there
is not over 100 acres dry land, upon
which are built the Hotel and buildings.
The Hotel and buildings are situated
about half way between the wharf,
which is on the inlet side, and the ocean,
being about $50 yards from each. The
buildings consist OF two rows OF houses
running from East to West, and
could easily accommodate 900 guests
There are other smaller buildings cree.
ted by parties who, in former years,
frequented the Island. One building,
called the Baltimore Building" was
erected by citizens Of Baltimore, and
another. called the Virginia House.
erected by virginians. All the build
ings, from some cause, seem to be neg
lected and undergoing decay. But one
thing holds out, as Of old, and that is
the Bar Room. 1t seems that no mat
ter what adverscs overtake men or
places, this institution Is still in full
blast. We patronized it pretty extern
sively, and should be excused, as the
atmosphere Of Cobb's Island leads to ex-
hiiaration. Midway between the two
main buildings is the skeleton of a
whale which aoated up on the beach
many years ago. Many OF the party
brought home relics Of this leviathan.
The original grant of the Island, then
known as "Sand Shoal Island, was made
BY VIM. Gooch, Provincial Governor oil
Va, on the Goth day Of August, 1874.
AT that time. the Island confirmed sc
acres, l Rood and So Poles. The grant
was given to VIM. Satchel and Andre "
John Fahin. 1t was stipulated in the
grant that Satchel and F9bin should pay
to the Crown the sum Of two shillinss
annually, on the feast day Of ST. Mich
Gel, the Archangel. Nathan +. Cobb
purchased the Island in 1910 from Eli
zabe,h Fitchet. q grand daughter Of
Andrew ]. Fabin. one Of the original
grantees. paying therefore one hundred
and City dollars in money. and City
bushels Of salt. In lS40. there was
not Eve acres of the Island that the sea
did not wash over al high tide. A
greater. part Of the Island has been re-
claimed by Mr.. Cobb, by bringing boat
loads Of earth from the main land of
HIruinsa The frxf hosxe erecfed ~