The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1913-03-28

This little Meeting House known
as "Octoraro" and shown in cut here
with, stood few hundred feet to
the north of the public road leading
from the Susquehanna River bridge,
near. Conowingo, to Rising Sun, in
the 9Th district of Cecil county,
Maryland probably three miles east
of the bridge and midway between
the bridge and Rising Sun.
My earliest experience, in a place
of worship was in this small frame
house, about 1860, whittier as a
small bey, !, with my parents and an
older brother, wended our way on
First Day. mornings.
This building was erected and the
Meeting established by Jonas Pres
ton (my grandfatherl and his bro
ther William, who bought farms and
moved into that neighborhoOd from
New London Pa, about the year
1920. The latter owned the farm
adjacent to the Meeting House and
he or his son Joseph donated the
ground ON which the house stood
together with the graveyard adjacent
- Friends as long as 1T should be
used in connection with a Friends
Meeting.
The Meeting was quite well attend
ed in 1850 and was continued, am
quite sure, until after the Civil War,
when by reason of lessening attend
ance, caused by death and removals.
it was discontinued
The building was perhaps 80 feet
sduarea frame structure, or pos
sibly log weatherboarded, and had "a
shingle roof. It had six small win
dows some three feet high by two
feet wide and could not have cost
over five hundred dollars.
At the Women's side was porch
and inside was the usual low parti-
tion, between men and women, pc
culiar to Friends Meeting Houses of
that day.
There were two gallery seats" on
each side, that is benches facing the
body.sof the Meeting, the rear one
slightly raised for the use of Minis
ters and Elders.
The stove burned wood, was
about four feet long. stood on legs
about one foot high, and was set
obliquely thru an opening in the par
tition; the door thru which the wood
was placed being on the mems side,
of course.
Some who read this will remember
Betsy Faux" who, tho not a
Friend" lived near by and for many
years cared for the Meeting House,
keeping it always clean, and in the
winter warm. She was highly es-
teemed woman, having no family of
her own she was ever ready to re-
spond to the call of her neighbors in
times of need.
During the Civil War some Union
soldiers found shelter in this build
ing, tho briefly, perhaps, for a day or
two only After they left there we're
found on the door, or whiteWashed
weatherboards, written with pencil.
these lines:
Remember me as pass by,
"As you are now SO once was I,
AS am now so you will be,
Prepare for death and follow me. !"
Some sacrilegious wag wrote be-
meath:
ITO follow you I'll not consent
Until know which way you went. !"
My recollection Is there were quite
a sprinkling of other than Friends
attended this Meeting when I was a
boy Among them Addison Hem
shaw and family, the Garvins and the
well known Washington Hill, who on
being solicited for "a subscription to-
wards the purchase of an organ for
a neighboring church, after some hes
itation, said, well, if we are going to
worship by machinery we must have
a good machine-~here's a dollar"
"Octoraro" was branch of Not
tingham Meeting and. as give few
names of those best remember some
recollections may be revived:
David Moore and wife Leah, Jonas
Preston and wife Elizabeth, Francis
P. Smith and wife Deborah, with a
few others were Gallery Friends
Among the regular attendants
were:
Joseph Preston and wife Rebecca.
tReynolds), who lived ON the adjoin-
ing farm, and their eight children,
the youngest of whom, Ilena, mar
ried John Turner, well known bus
mess man of Baltimore; she was the
mother OF three sons. one of whom
.drifted into the engineering profess
sion. and one a professor in a college,
and another, William p. Turner, Is
now Passenger Traffic Manager" for