The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1877-06-22
MI iscelIan Q O u 8.
For The -Hgis Dc Mtelsgencer.
A Family Re- Union.


Here and there throughout our country
is found on some lonely hill top, or in the
midst of pasture lot or cultivated field
what we recognize at once as the resting
place of the forgotten. Sunken graves
overgrown with weeds, marble headstones
overtopped by bushes and brambles mark
a family burial ground no longer used. =
The family has passed away, or is scatter
ed !; the estate has passed into the hands
of others who have no interest in what was
once so dear and cared for, and it has be-
come the neglected, saddening spot we
look on. In such a grave yard in this
county were buried Col. Thomas White
and his wife, the father and mother of
Bishop William White, we'll known and
honored as among the first of the Ameri-
can Bishops, and as prominent among those
who adapted what is now known as the
Protestant Episcopal Church to the changed
circumstances resulting from the separa-
ton of the colonies from England. Rev
ercnce for the memory of one so loved and
honored, we may suppose, moved the rec.
tor and vestry of ST. Georges Church.
Spesutia, to communicate with descendants
of Col. White and to propose that the re-
mains of their ancestors should be remov-
ed from the private cemetery, not far dis.
tant, to their church-yard. Those thus
addressed consulted with others, and the
proposal of the vestry was gladly met. At
the same time it was suggested that the
removal be made the occasion of general
assembling of the descendants of Col.
White. A time was fixed and the members
of the family, so far as known, were invited
to attend. Accordingly on Thursday the
18th instant, bright and pleasant day, the
quiet church-yard presented an unusual
scene. From North and South by rail,
and from this and the neighboring county
in. carriages came members of the family
interested, young and old. with warm
greetings for old friends, and pleased ac-
acknowledgements of common tie among
new acquaintance. By midday all who
were expected had arrived they were then
called into the church which was pretty
we'll filled by the family, the vestry and
few friends. A special service had been
prepared for this special and private occa-
sion of re-interment, somewhat similar to
the Burial Service of the Prayer Book,
and remarkable for its beauty and appro-
priateness. In the church were said few
collects, a lesson and psalm of the Psalter
were read, and hymn was sung. The
lesson being the 113 Wv. of Xiv Ecclesias-
ticus, beginning: "Let us now praise
famous men, and our fathers that begot
u.s." The congregation, preceded by four
vested clergymen, then assembled around
the open grave, in which the remains had
been already deposited. During the service
of the recommittal paper was read by
Rev. VIM. White Brown, to which the
Rector Rev. Mr.. Christian, on the, part of
the vestry, responded. Rev. Mr.. Leakin,
of Baltimore, also made short address,
chiefly dwelling on historical facts associa-
ted with the neighborhood and with the
church of which Col White had long been
vestryman or warden. The services were
both simple and touching, touching al
though there could not be under such cir
cumstances any of the sorrow which be-
longs to burial. These being ended the
assembly repaired to Sophia's Dairy, few
miles distant, a large and handsome man.
sion, bearing aIdate prior to the Revolution,
given to the daughter of Col. White, by
her father-in-law, on the occasion of her
marriage, and built, as houses are not now
put together, honestly, with purpose that
it should endure. The materials of this
house were brought from England, and so
were the workmen, who were convicts or
redemptionists, and whose subsequent free
dom was their pay. To eat and to drink