The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-03-13

HOPEWELL CEMETERY.
BY +. ".
CHAPTER III.

Man dies as the brute that perishes. HUI
man instinct, nature and especially reveal
ton answer, Yes. thai death is hut tran
stion; that the spirit is immortal, and some
how and somewhere it exists to all eternity.
Hence, from the creation of our race, We
find everywhere especial attention paid TO
the dead and monuments reared to perpet-
! uate their memury. it has been wisely or
dered that time cures or sub':ues all sor-
rows, SO that the heart that has been bruised
when death had stricken its lover and friend
finds healing; and the mind that has been
distressed, almost to imhccility or despair,
! by separations made by death, after & time
regains its brightness and vigor, and the
soul that has been made exceedingly sor-
rowful by the loss of loved ones becomes
joyous again. But the memory never for
gets the departed and the pulSations of III"
heart vibrate more quickly and the soul
communes with soul more tenderly, when
, ever we recall the place of burial or stand
by the grave of our friend, and though years
may have long gone by since we commit
ted the body to the tomb. and not veStlge
that We're buried there may now exist, all
may have crumhled into decay and mould
cred into dust-yct we plant flowers and
evergreen on and around that grave and
water them with our tears: and somehow,
while We stand there, we realize conmu-
Mon Of spirit m;h the spirit Of tie departed,
that we do not feel at any other time or
place. Our hearts best affection accepts
the scriptural declaration that "Hey shall
lire again.
The desire to he buried among our kim
bred is almost universal; and men and wO-
men, who have died III foreign lands and
distant places, have requested that their
bodies be transported thousands of miles
and across oceans that they might be laid
beside their loved ones. As Christians, we
believe in the resurrection of the dead and
life everlasting, and wish to be buried with
our dead that we may arise with them and
be with them in the future state OF exist
ence Then again, we want to be buried
where there is IL reasonable probability tina:
the place Of burial will he unmolestel and
where our graves will not be disturbed by
the ruthless demands of progress.
Hopewell cemetery, for 4 period Of about
forty years, was confined TO less than hall
an acre of ground. and interments had been
made there until scarcely a yard square
could be found in which Il grave could be
dug, without encroaching on some made
before. 1t had no certainty Of continuance
us Il place for burial for the little log meet
ing house was rapidly passing into decay.
The p. +. Chapel, near Battle swamp, WAS
a thing OF the past and the graveyard there
Was in desolation and decay.
Why might not tine same sad fate lie
awaiting Hopewell? Port Deposit felt this
and as her places for burial buckingham
and HopcwelD We're both inconvenienLlv
distant, the subject of providing cemetery
near TO the town was seriously considered
and often discussed. But, in 1919, when
Hopewel Society, aided literally by the
citizens of Port Deposit built 4 new and
substantial brick church, then Port Deposit
was assured of the permanently OF Hope
well cemetery for burial place, and the
project OF Il cemetery near the town was
abandoned, never again Gas | Think TO he
revived. Soon thereafter. engagements of
Hopewell grounds commenced and have
beeu from time to time continued, until the
Enclosure now embraces about seven acres,
well located, and within Il few years, past
has been much adorned and the grounds
receiving yearly more attention. That
which is now required is for some one who
has both the financial ability and the incl-
nation to give say s. 900 or $4,000 t" liz
close the cemetery with n Ire frnco, i'm.
prove its walks, plant ever9recnS, shrub
berry and flowers, adorn and beautify the
place-as Miss Magraw nobly did for
Nottingham and Mrs Carrie (Whtaker)
Coudon for st. Mary AIMS, at North East
then to endow it with an annuity sufficient
to keep the grounds in good order, and pos
terity will entwinc around his OF her tomb
and memory evergreens "more enduring
than Horatian monuments Of marble and
iron"
1t is worthy of note that the first inter
ment at Hopcwcll was that of Mrs. Reed,
the wifi. OF the donor Of the groand lie
had thus prepared for her place of
burial. 1t was not so common in those
days, as nov, to erect monuments and
tombstones; hence many of the dead, their
memory still cherished, have unmarked
graves. OF these. mention may he made of
most estimable sisters The earliest in
scription found there is to Thomas Hall,
who died January lith, la2l He was a
relative of, and lived with, tho MegredyS.
He was greatly afflicted with rheumatism
and his limbs We're so drawn upon his body
hat in death they could not be s:raghten-
ed, and he had to be buried in a square box
coffin. George c. Turner died February 3d.
1924, and his daughter. Margaret A., died
April 5rd, 1924 MIR. Turner and his wife
We're early converts to Me.hodiSm. He has
been referred to in former chapter, rs the
proprietor OF the Rock Run mill, at the
upper end of Port Deposit.
The late George Woolley (son of the Rev
Geo. Woolley, pioneer Methodist preachcr)
married Il daughter Of Mr.. Turner's Mr..
Wooley was we'll known in Cecil county.
For many years he lived on his farm, near
Zion, and afterwards removed to Mort h
East, and WAS agent for the F., W. g. b.
Railroad company. Ills widow survives
him and resides in baltimore. one of his
daug hters married the Rev. f. Il. Newman,
Of the Wilmington Conference of the NJ. E.
Church. y son married L daughter Of the
late George W. Bennett, and resides in
Chesapeake City. Another sou is = mer-
chant in Philadelphia. Elizabeth Hanna,
died ON March 10Th, 1926, and her husband,
Stephen Hanna, died August 1Sth 1926.
He was from Hartford county, and his wife
was Il daughter of John aud Eiizabeth
Megredy. Mr.. Hapna kept the Washington
Hotel, in Port Deposit. Ann Sites, first
wife of General Henry s. Sites, was also :,
daughte of John and Elizabeth Megredy
She died January 9TH, 1928, leaving two
children, William and Elizabeth. William
went into the Mexican WAR aHl is thought
10 have died there Elizabeth, whose grave
is un.l,a, lled, lies hesi,lc her mother. John
Megredy, ,ir.. died, August 10Th la3A. He
WAS young man OF promise and Il t;lvorite
with his associates. His mother (whose
maiden name WAS Elizabeth Job) died,
August 3rd, 1850. She WAS Il descendant OF
the DE Foes, of England. Her husband,
John Megredy, ST., died, ,IUEe laih, 1886.
He was a ScotGhinaN, AND had no immediate
relatives III America. In this row stands Il