The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-11-02
Historical Researches that OuiJn
made as bohemian.
"eheral History OF the County from the
Middle oil th" Last Century tai the
Revolutionary War.
CHAPTER NXNfl

OIL MILLS
The first PRESBYTERIAN meeting houses
were generally built Of logs aud had no
hre-piaccS IN them The churches were
far apart and the congregations that
WorShipcd IN them were scattered over
large districts q country: SOME Of these
people probably travelled distance of
twelve or fifteen miles in order 10 at
tend meeting. MANY of the original
members Of the Head of Chri,tiana
church were members OF the church at
New Castle, and 10 doubt wor~hiped
there before the organization of the
iormer church. II l. said that some
\ piouS v"Iug meu who lived near Deer
/ creek IN Hartford county. were in the
habit OF crossing the Su>quchanna river
IN boat which hey used for ;hat
purpose and kept moorcd to the river
bank. near the mouth Of hat stream
and then walking the remainder of tie
way ia order 10 attend the Nottingham
Church y til" first meeting houses
had no ilrr-pIaccs in them. they must
nave been cold. and icing poorly lighted
by windows. must have necessarily
been somewhat cherries aud gloomy.
but the ancestors Of many of the rco-
pie who war>hipcd in them had been
hunted and bounded Ike wild Lca>l- by
tlav"rh"u-r ant his Dragons among
III" highlands Of scotland. aual many Of
them were ailcrwag,i judtc ally murder
cd hv the Infamous .irlir!c-. They had
worshiprd upon their native hratL- and
III the >erlusiun al their naiive -lcns at
the silent hour Of midnight. with SEN
tries posted 10 FIRE uo;irc> Of the ap-
proach "f the hired soldicrv. vino. if
they had found them. would. with mer-
cilc>s fury. have shot them down like
dogs or con>igncd them to the keeping
Of the "ibhci or the prison. 1t meant
something to Ice Christian then. and
the stories Of these wroDgs aud rerse-
BUTTONS We're We! fresh in The minds Of
the founders of the old churches of
which We write No wonder they made
Il" provision for warming the interior
OF the houses in which they wor>hipcd
The ardor aud zeal Of their religious
convictions made il unnecessary, and
had this not been the case. they were 4
tern, uncompromsiny sect that were
ever ready To endure anv hardship or
submit Ia any sacrifice in order to enjoy
the privilege Of worShiping God a. lhcv
pleased 81 II was only after the cree
ton Of the meeting houses that super
seeded the original ones that any pro-
vision was made for the comfort of the
congregations in the Winter time
Then a small house. in which tue scs-
sion met (Which was called the session
house,. was usually erected near the
churches \ rousing lire would be
made in it on Sabbath morning and
those who wished 10 10 - had an ep-
portunitv Of warming themselves before
they entered the meeting house. Foot
stoves were introduced in the latter
part of the past century Thcv were
simply TN boxes with lids and We're
lllied with live Goals from the session
house fire and placed on the floor under
meath the feet of the wor>hiperS The
pastors of these churches. in the earlv
days Of which We write. preached twice
every Sabbath TO the same con.rega-
ton, there being an interval of an hour
IT - between the morning aud after
noon services, during which the CON
grc"atiun partook Of slight repast,
which thev generally carried with them
TO church 10 satisfy their hunger. The
members of these churches nearly all
lived in rude log cabins. which were
generally built in valley near a spring.
They We're u frugal, industrious aad
pious people, different in MANY respects
from those who had settled in he
southern part of the county and in Elk
Neck. They raised their own wool and
flax, from which they manufactured
their wearing apparel. They planted
large apple and peach orchards. from
til" fruit Of which they distilled their
own liquor Those of them who lived
in Nottingham and New Munster dis
posed Of their surplus wheat at Chris
tlana bridge, whici' Was then place
oil much Importance and contained a
population of probably about four hun
drci. Their method OF TRANSPORTING
their wheat TO this place NAV seem odd
10 those who live in this age of rail
roads and STEAMBOATS,. but even nj the
risk of not being believed. the writer
feels constrained 10 relate it here. as
illustrative of a custom that prevailed
a. late as the beginning of the RevuIu-
tionarv war When they wished to
send their wheat 20 market they put it
into bags or sacks, which we're large
enough To hold TWO or three bushels
each. These sacks were securely tied
Oh the backs of three horses. \ lad
was then mounted upon ole of the
horses. and another one OF them was
securely tied To lis tail. and the third
one being in like manner secured to the
tail of the second. the curious caval-
cade started for the place OF lis dcstina-
ton,
Another custom, that has long since
fallen into disuSc, was much in vogue
among these people. We refer TO the
irrigation Of the meadows along the
streams. which were so fortified bv
this means that they produced reason
ably good crop of natural grasses.
which were cut for hay, where otherwise
not blade would have grown. limo
thy and clover were not, introduced ut
the time of which we write. anu It was
very desirable to have n much natural
meadow a. possible upon each planta-
ton: this no doubt, led to the i'll shape
Of some of the early grants of land.
The method of irrigating piece Of
land was 10 construct dam across Z
stream and turn the water into an arti-
fetal channel, constructed in such a
location that by letting the water out
Of H. through openings short distance
apart, the land between the original
aud artificial channels could readily be
covered with it, This was practiced
for many years by the first settlers in
the upper part of the county wherever
there was 4 stream large enough to adj
NIT of it, Many of the races that were