Democratic messenger., 1893-05-06
MAKEMiE REDIVISIONS.
a Communication from Rev. L.
n. Bowen, Who Recently
Visited Old Worcester.

MARSHALL, MO, AprlI @S.-ror ehci
week of our Western life, the regular
visit of the MESSENGER is an expected
and pleasant incident. have been won
dcring how many OF those messenger
birds tfy from your press To the unwean-
ed sons and daughters of Worcester
County. scattered nearly all over the
world You make good, clean paper =
great desideratum in journalism of the
day-and therefore we heartily welcome
its coming and can think of the pure
ocean-brecZes and recall the memories of
the pure hearted, without any feeling of
incongruity as il enters our doors.
suppose am Democrat enough To be
suited by the first half of your heading
but il is the MEssENGER-part, bringing so
many familiar names Of all parties and so
many messages from the Chesapeake to
the great sea. which affords a pleasure
far above that of sect or shibboleth.
NV sudden visit To the Peninsula last
Fall was one of enjoyment unalloyed
one of the most charming of my life.
When hair turns from dark TO gray and
from gray To white. we love the early
haunts and early friends better and better
all the while, aud the wanderer finds him.
self leaning back more and more toward
tue -DitIc. tOOs u Npu
me to he honest, had some little pit
projects on hand-antiquity still pulling
at my skirts, former days and old legends
buzzing i'm mind and heart and seeking
expression before the time of final silence.
You have been pleased 10 speak genially
of my Eastern Shore hooks. 1t is unde-
niabie that as child of that dreamy
cline. have been little ambitious To
act and tait
told story, and perpetuate the fame of
my native Eden. Her sons and daugh-
iers have been too reticent with tongue
and pen, giving her glory wholly over
10 the graveyards And so | had other
books on the way, and | wanted to re-
turn and breathe again the coast-airs and
absorb the landscapes and gather CALLER
les of Worcester faces and drink in in
spiration from parlOr and pine forest and
sunny bays. AS | had hoped, the pen
has gained fresh impetus from smiles of
earth and sky, and smiles of men and
women, and shall he heard from after
awhile.
Surely the name of Mackenzie is a name
TO conjure with The revival OF that
name in The last ten years has aroused
the old historic ground most gloriously
aud the resplendent results are seen in
Snow Hill. Pocomoke City and Rchoboth,
two grand new Churches and another.
solid and venerable with its old English
brick, thoroughly repaired aud delightful
In all these preached and felt brOOding
there the pleasure Of the Apostle Of the
Chesapeake. Two hundred years after
he had reached these river. banks. Ma
kemie had spoken again and his daughters
had started from sleep and seen The morn
ing and dropped their night-robes and
rrtouched their toilets and put on the
bloom of Spring. II was as if there had
been resurrectiOn-thc sacred dust
vauting from beneath the Nandal's cattle
pen on IIolden's Creek and again turning
the PROV OF his sloop To the PccomOke
and sending the blast OF his trumpet re.
verberating up and down the awakened
stream.
Not far away. Buckingham also caught
the echoes and seemed To be renewing
her youth-a beautiful lecture room aud
the cheerful auditorium in pleasing dress
II was well. The longer / examine the
evidence, the firmer grows my cOnvic-
tion that she too is one of the charter
churches. In the hook, The Days OF
Mackenzie. page 533. put it as question
only On the Princess Anne Records,
found an order OF Court in 1905 that
Capt John Franklin and John Goddin
repair the great bridge of PocOmoke
river" This was your own old historic
bridge over which the fathers passed on
foot. Then follows an order that-"No
one drive or catch horse or horses upon
the great bridge of the Pocomoke: this
order To he published nj the churches and
meeting houses at Snow Hill. and on the
seaside" cannot locate the meeting
house on tic seaside anywhere else than at
buckingham. Eight years before (i691)
the Sheriff reports. though very loosely.
The others (Dissenters not Quakers)
hath house in Snow Hill and one on
the road going mp along the seaside, and
one nj Manokin." The one described as
on the seaside road must he the same as
in the preceding order of Court. In
| si3 Rev. James Scangal was called from
Scotland Ia become the pastor of Snow
Hill. the Ferry and Buckingham. and
accepted. This is the first recorded men
ton Of Buckingham Church By name. but
IL is mentioned as il il were already "A
well-known Church. This was only
~ years after Makemie's death n70Sl.
In l14j the eloquent Samuel Davies tells
of a great revival at Buckingham. At
these dates il was evidently no new or
ganization. The Buckingham plantation
from which il takes its name. had been
patented hy Col. Stevens in 1868 and
called for his native Buckinghamshirc in
England.
Wherever there were Presbyierians,
Mackenzie and Trail and Davis and Will
son planted Churches, and there were
settlers of their faith-Whites and Fasseis
&c. North and East of Snow Hill I'm
douhiedly Buckingham was no grand
daughter, but daughter, of Mackenzie.
II was qualification TO me to find the
three Worcester fields, including Reho-
both, under the charge of such brisk, ac-
complished and attractive pastors ms your
Young men Walker Fitzgerald and Howk.
II augurs well for the birthplace of Amer
lean Presbyterianism. was rapidly very
much in love with them all Perhaps their
wives impaired the chief charm Della
ware, Maryland and Indiana rivaling one
another in supplying the best ministerial
outfits and balance heels. And what
an inspiration the young men may gather
too from the footprints of the pioneers
One of my object Eastward was To find
ideals, in The homeland Of ideals, for
heroines in some love. stories possibly
forthcoming. and Snow Hill was not slow
in contributing her share.
Mrs. Margaret Spence who entertained