The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-08-14
"REMINISCENCES.
MEN AND THINGS OF LONG AGO.

Scott, DR.. L.. w. Armstrong, DIR. Joseph
Wallace, Jere Cos,len, William Holdings
worth, and other Hollingsworth families
Then out in the country there We're other
families: The GilpinS, John Il. Evans, the
SpringerS, William Howard. John ii. Hull
lived in Elllton, and married. think, Miss
Jane Thompson, of the country. Rev. Will
liam Duke, an old and very venerable Epis
copalian minister, was also of Elkton. In
my ti.e he had 4 daughter Miss lletty:
she and the three Misses Armstrong;
Misses Rachel, Lydia, and Ellen--were in
separable companions Phillip Harding,
cashier of the Elkton Bank, married Miss
Amelia Giles, a lady of some literary merit
and character. Henry ID. Miller, who was
one of the elite young men, married a lady
of Philadelphia. Then there was Lam
bert Hyland, who lived there for Il time,
and II Gilbert Smith. An incident occurred
in this reputable society, which influenced
my life in an important matter. 1t was
thus: My father and George Ricketts, and
two others in their walk of life used to meet
at each others house, and spend III evening
betting; it was for mere amusement. They
would become so excited that they would
almost come to blows. From that example
/ determined never to play cards-nOt even
for amusement, and nerer did. My hand
never threw Il card. No inducement has
had the power to overcome that determine
ton In going down the Ohio river in the
| Fall of 1919 the river was so low that steam
ers We're not running, and a company of
forty-tive took passage on fiat boat. The
company consisted in part of young ladies
and gentlemen. Our passage was very
tedious one To pass the time we would
land and stroll along the banks, and, when
fltigued, go on board again. The young
STEERS would form whist parties and play,
but they could never overcome my aversion
to learning to play. If no young lady was
| ut leisure to converse with me, | would take
a book and study it. think am not like
! " to learn at this time of life Since the
9TH of January, 1885, l have belonged to
the NJ L. Church That is an additional
safeguard
l have spoken of Joshua Richardson in
connection with the Fountain Inn, of which
he was proprietor. 1t was the stage house
| in the olden times, for in the days now al
| luded to, all travel was by means of stages
between New York and Baltimore. All
| Baltimore merchants did their travelling by
stage There were three daily stage lines
| through Elkton-the Mail, Pilot, and ENpe-
| dition one evening, the line going west
| was changing at the Fountain Inn, and
! 10 fell
when trunk, a very heavy one, was being
| changed to another stage going west, and
some one made Il remark about its weight.
| The owner was standing by and said a." Yes,
| boys, if you knew what is in that trunk, il
would make you laugh: it is full of lob
| STEERS" The fellows We're sure it was filled
with silver. They struck off at once for the
| BarrenS, dense piece of brush wood four
miles west, and, getting there before the
stage, waited until it came along, and then
running up behind, cut the large, heavy
! trunk loose, which was in the rear and car
| ried it into the bushes and broke II open,
and sure enough it WAS filled with Holsters.
/ The owner was an epicure, and was taking
them to Baltimore to tickle the palates of
| his gormandiZing friends.
| | spoke of old Millv Bristoe, an old maid,
in connection with Joshua Richardson and
the Fountain Inn. Joshua was atianced to
an excellent young lady, a Miss Mary How
ard, of Prospect HILL about four miles north
of Elktou, near the forge. She was n,"e
of Thomas Howard, the wheelwright, i'll
Elkton. Mary Howard had no superior
amongst women. But old Milly, thinking
it would make some difference in her pros
poets in life, interfered, and by some means
broke it eff Miss Howard never married;
Joshua did. Old Milly never married. She
always reminded me of an old Guinea hen.
| Miss Howard died ut South Bend, i'll this
/ Sha fold hurl 10y, Int lntl
concealment, like Il worm in the bud, feed
on her damask cheek
Among the prominent men of Elkton,
when the war of 1872 opened was DIR. Geo
/ +. Mitchell, who was Il perfect gentleman
and at the head of his profession. He was
of fine personal appearance | suppose he
was fully six feet high and finely formed.
He had his office in a small frame building
which adjourned on the east Il brick house,
| where James Purnell afterwards kept tav-
ern. He ut once entered the service i'll Tow
sons artillery rs major, and soon afterwards
became colonel. After the war he married
! Miss Hooper, of Newark. Del, and s40,- |
| 900. 1t is said that, as i marriage foe, they
! paid to Rev. \. X, Russell, of Newark a
| gold purse worth SO, and in it II 500 bill |
! Ny sweetheart, when about Il, was Miss
| Mary Callahan, Step-daughter of James
| Purnell. She was very pretty girl, She
afterwards married Ennch Cloud, Y wild
| ever, and Il Methodist GXlorter==a Very
good man. She now lives with a daughter
in Columbus, Ohio. Miss Eliza Peacock
was another lady of mine. She married
| William Rochester and moved to Balt-
more; both are now dead She left several
| children, who now reside i'll Baltimore.
Eliza was Il lively, sweet girl. have for
gotten the names Of my young associates
| in Il great degree Some Of them still re-
main in my mind. but are, perhaps, not
| Of = T,,St ink
sixty years since | left Elktnn: Friends of
my boylGod. va iita vanished ana gone so
| far as ! know, none are left. /, too, will
soon 90 We'll, thank God, through Christ,
| am also ready.
think that Elkton, when | lived there,
had IL good, sedate, moral population-as
much so as any town | have known since.
They We're not, it is true. 4 church going
people. Very many of them | never saw ut
any religious service: but they We're moral,
| good people, as have known since. There
were seldom other than Mothad ist lreaCh-
ers there. SOMETIMES 4 presbyterian min
| lister came and preached in the court house,
which was generally well attended by the
elite. There was most excellent old Bap-
fist minister, Mr.. Ferrill who often peached
there, and was well received He was pas
tor of church some four miles e;lst-I
think at Iron Hill used " walk out
there to church, There was bullet hole
through the sash of the southwest window,
| think, which tradition says was put there
in the Revolution. The Rev. William Duke
often preached there. He was most ven
cradle man--tall and reverentlal In appear
ance: always dressed in short breecheS and
silver knee and shoe buckles. He was pal
sled to some extent, which affected his voice
and delivery. My first religious impress
SionS We're under these circumstances: Mr..
Duke had school room adjoining his resi-
dence, where he taught few pupils, and
on Saturdays he preached to 4 few godly
women who love4 t. la b-Gelifel LP his
teachings: Was !. log riaSing about the
streets. and often saw women Goingin there
on Saturdays. | had the curiosity one day
to see what was being done there, and went
to the door, which was open, uSt us he read
this text: "What would a man give in ex-
change for his SOUL" That was the first
scripture that | ever remember hearing.
Jacob Knight, Il colored man, living at
the extreme western end of town, used to
often preach to what few 10 pQNll COLLECT at
his own humble resjdSnCe. lie also kept a
little StQle BUT when the meeting house
was built, which was on Back street, and
about opposite Purnell's tavern, it was sup
piled with regular preacher by the confer
ence. \ Nh Tyson. a local brother, used
to preach there And aisaF Il time, Eey.
John sharpley, rom baltimore, moved to
Elkton and kept Store, and often preached
there.
; AS connected, to some good degree, with
my own conviction, an incidental remark
made by preacher, whose name think,
was Collins, impressed me very much There
Was IL camp meeting held near town, east of
! William 4 Law I th.ra he