davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1915-12-26

and not from the fact that it became
a port" or point of shipment for to-
bacco. In one of the fund publications
Of the Maryland Historical Society it
Is written that the name Port Tobacco
comes from the Indian words Potu-
bago, meaning tobacco leaves.
In the writings of John Smith may
be found a reference to Port Tobacco.
in that work of Smith styled "a Map
of Virginia, With a Description of the
Countrey, the Commodities. People, Gov
ernment and Religion. Written by
Of the Country" This is the book
which Smith dedicated to The Right
Honorable Sir Edward Semer.
Knight. Baron Beauchamp and Earl Of
Hartford" and which was printed at
Oxford by Joseph Barnes in 1912. Smith
gives so many observations relating to
the Potomac that it is worth quoting
at this juncture. He says:
The fourth river is called Patawomeke and is
six or seven miles In bredth 1t Is navigsble
sweet sS fs rf1ers 'a and springs Witch fan from the
bordering hills. These hills many Of them are
r 5sp e rveT With
Of fish. This river Is inhabited on both sides
First on the south side at the very entrance is
WighcocomocOc and hath some 100 men; beyond
them Sekacawone with 30 men. The onawanient
with 100. Then Patawomeke with 16o men
venient rivers; the greatest of the least Is
called tAquia) and treadeth north west. but the
river itself turneth north east and is still
bought is Tauxenent with 40 men. On the north
side of this river. is SecowocomOce with 40 men.
Some what further Potapaco with 90 In the
east part Of the bought of the river Is Pam Ca
cack with 60 men,. After. Moyowsnces with 100
And lastly. Nacotchanke with 80 able men. The
river ten miles above this place maketh its pas
sage downe low pleasant valley overshaddowed
In mamie places with high rocky mountains
from whence distill innumerable sweet and
pleasant springs.
1t is safe assumption that the coun-
try drained by Port Tobacco creek was
quite we'll settled at the time of the
creation of Charles county in 1858 and
in existence for several years. The de-
mand which resulted in the creation of
Charles county was the same which
brings about the organization of new
counties today. A large part of the
people protest that the county town 'is
too far away from them and that new
county should be erected out of the old.
Thus Charles county was;.SErected out
of the northern part of -St.1MaTys and
Port Tobacco was chosen St*Aes county
seat not because 1t was The hesHeograph-
ical center of the county. but because it
was the population center and conve-
niently situated for the waterways
which were the paths of trade, settle
ment not having extended far back in
the interior, and under these conditions
there were few roads, and these, ex-
cepting up and down the "necks" be-
tween the creeks. were mere trails.
A reader of the history of Charles
county might become confused by dates
and metes and bounds in which there is
no agreement. There were two crea-
Evening star., 1915-12-26

name of Calvert county" Prior to
this time the territory included within
the Calvert county, as outlined in 1865.
had been embraced within the limits
of St. Marys. Old Charles and Patuxent
counties, and part of that then in
cluded is now within the jurisdiction of
st. Marys. Charles, Prince Georges and
Anne Arundel counties
The new Charles county. or the
Charles county which we know today.
was erected by the governor and coun-
Gil April 13, 1858. 1t is distinctly said
in some of the old chronicles that the
motive for the erection of this new
county was the accommodation of the
inhabitants in the growing settlements
along Nanjemoy and Port Tobacco
creeks. When settlement had extended
still further up the Potomac river, and
had spread over what is now the site
of Washington, new county, Prince
Georges, was erected out of Charles,
of Rock creek and had flowed down the
valley of the Monocacy from Pennsyl-
vanfa, another new county, Frederick,
was created out of parts of the older
counties on the east
One of the earliest home builders in
the Port Tobacco region of whom the
Rambler has record was Thomas Corn
WALLIS, VINO came with Ine SdlVSTt PHI
grims in 1884 and was one of the COM
missioners of the province. Jerome
Hawley being the other commissioner.
CORVALLIS had been Industrious in
bringing settlers or servants to Mary
land, sometimes from Virginia and
sometimes from England. His holdings
suffered loss through the Ingle revolu-
ton, and in 1852 he petitioned for com
pensation due him, and. in his memo
randum he furnished the names Of the
settlers he had brought into the prov
ince. His petition was to secure the
amount of land due him for the trans
portation of servants" and he gives the
year, the number and, in most cases.
the names of the settlers he brought
in. The list follows:
IL in the ark besides five more received by
death of John Saunders. The same John Saun-
ders) brought from Virginia: Cuthbert Fenwick.
Christopher Martin, John Norton, ST., and John
Norton. jr.
1635-Zachary Mottershead, John Gage. Walter
Watering. Francis Van Eyden
1636-John Cook Thomas York, Daniel Clocker.
Richard Hill. Restitution Tue twho in 1888 mar
Ies7-Charles Maynard. Stephen Gray. Francis
Shirley. Ann wiggn. Alice Moreman married
to Francis Gray. 1880. Nicholas Gwyther. Ed
ward Jaques. Richard Farmer, Edmund Deering.
Evening star., 1915-12-26
She Deserved to Win.

SENATOR LODGE was praising the
~ resourcefulness of Serbia in her un-
even fight against Germany, Austria.
Bulgaria and the Turks.
Serbia keeps her army intact" he
said She reminds me. in the resource
fulness Of her retreat, of a certain girl
at Christmas.
This girl went to spend Christmas in
the country, and she invited her best
young man down. expecting-and with
reason-that under : the mistletoe's Q
stimulus he'd propose.
But when she got to the country she
discovered that not a branch of mistle.
toe was to be procured.
fixed some pearl studs to a sprig OF ap-
pie leaves. and hung them from the
chandelier, and the young man-they're
married and have fve children now
never knew the difference"
Evening star., 1915-12-26

landing, Brentland and Chapel po>,t.
On tha hill above Chapel Point stands
st. Thomas Church. CATHOLIC. and its
burial ground. 1t is one of the old and
sequently historic churches of
southern Maryland. An estuary of Port
Tobacco river indented in a peninsula
between that stream and Nanjemoy
creek. called Cedar Point neck, is Goose
bay A point of land at the juncture of
Port Tobacco river ard the Potomac is
Windmill point, and between that point
side, Matthias, the Potomac is three
miles wide.
Many roads. not much travelled, now
converge at Port Tobacco village. and
this fact testifies that the place was
once important. When Europeans came
to the Potomac country there was an
Indian village on Port Tobacco creek,
but it was probably nearer the mouth
Of the creek, three miles from the site
of the village which the European set
tiers or Adventures" called into being.
The Rambler does not know whether
the site of the Indian village has been
identified, but no doubt this has been
done by some of the students in Wash
ington of the Potomac tribes.
Maryland" where the historian writes
of the conversion and baptism by
Father White of the chief of the Pis-
Getaway Indians, may be read the fol-
lowing paragraph containing a refer
ence to Port Tobacco:
Much was hoped from the conversion of Tayac.
hut in less than year he died. His yong
daughter now became queen of the Pscataways,
and not long after baptised at st. Mary's,
having already learned the English language.
The example OF Tayac and his family fol-
lowed by many other natives. The in 1itants
of the town of Potopaco. now Port Tobacco. to
the number of 130. together with their queen,
were baptised-the chiefs and principal men of
Potomac town, the Virginia shore, and the
chiefs of several .neighboring villages were con-
verted, while AnacOston. sachem of tribe ad-
joining the Piscataways, became so firmly at
tached to the whites that he wished to take up
his residence among them as citizen of the
colony.
In a pamphlet printed at London in
1875, styled "A Relation of Maryland,
Together with a Map of the Country,
the Conditions of Plantation and His
Majesties Charter to the Lord Balti-
more.' and which ARE to be had at.
Master William Peasley, esq.,. his house
on the back side of Drury lane; near
the Cockpit Playhouse: or, in his alb
sence, at Master John Morgan's house,
in High Holbourne, over against the
Dolphin may be read the following
concerning the Potomac Indians:
The women affect to wear Chaines and brace
Evening star., 1915-12-26
MOUNTAIN WOMEN SPINNING.

covery In their homes of books of an
early English period, but which these
people today are unable to read. Their
history is one familiar to everybody
but seldom actually associated with
the mountain people now living in the
southern Appalachians. The men who
pushed their way from the early low
land colonies into the heart of the
unknown Blue Ridge and Allegheniea
were pioneers of the purest Anglo
Saxon blood.
"They were in the Huguenots. who fed
from France after the revocation OF
the Edict of Nantes in 1885. the
Scotch-Irish. who came in great num-
bers from Ulster county to escape the
oppression of England and the Ger
mans of the Rhine Palatinate. 1t is
difficult to realize that the descend
ants OF these progressive pioneers
have drifted into the seclusion and
life of the present mountain people
From the beginning of their life In
the mountains, however, their chief
Evening star., 1915-12-26
A Butter Substitute.

A RMAN-AMERICAN war corre-
spondent with the Austro-German
forces sent on a postal card to
New York editor a funny story about
Germany's shortage of fats-lard,
grease. butter and the like.
Two German women were talking
about the hardships of the war; wrote
Mr.. Won Wiegand. THE first woman
sighed. and said:
81 must say the free dispensaries
are pretty mean to what they were
this time last year
How SO, Gretchen? said the other
woman.
why said Gretchen. I sent little
Hans for some ointment yesterday. and
they only gave him enough to last
till tomorrow. The rest of the week
till pay day we'll all have to eat dry
Evening star., 1915-12-26


change was established four years ago
in the Southern building as a means of
selling woven spreads. baskets and
other work Of the mountain people in
the south. During that time Mrs.
Augusta s. Stone. corresponding secre :
tary of the Southern Industrial Asso-
ciation. has been in charge of the ex-
change. This past month witnessed u
bazaar which proved effectively that
the work done by these mountain wom-
en- and children has developed from II
crude state to one of actual beauty
and merit
"It Is difficult to realize" said Mrs.
Stone, 'just how much the sale of their
goods means to the mountain people.
The women. especially, are experience
ing the possibilities of entrance into
an almost new world. Imagine long
winter months of absolute seclusion
cut OFF from even the nearest neigh
Dor, and with every day alike a strug-
gle for food and warmth.
The men of the mountains frequent
Evening star., 1915-12-26

How the People of Berlin Are Amusing
~ Themselves While the War Goes On

can be seen almost any week. Ibsen
is always popular. but this winter
Strlndberg is the rage and everything
of his has been played from Swan
white" to "a Dream Tale" At Max
Reinhardt's Deutches Theater there is
being given wonderful production of
shc play MARIA Stuart"
1t is said that no German music Is
allowed to be played in London. Far
different is the spirit in Berlin. for
every week at some opera house or
other "Mignon," "Rigoletto," Madame
Butterfly or "Boheme" can be heard.
The German people applaud genius and
bravery, and on all sides one can hear
admiration for the soldiers of France.
Evening star., 1915-12-26

ing to the twentieth century, Ger
tainly it is only their seclusion that
has held them at a standstill, for they
have responded eagerly to the oppor-
tunities for learning. and progress
given them.
1t is to encourage the mountain peo-
pie to revive and perfect the indus
tries that are peculiarly their own
that exchanges have been established
In Washington and other cities. Weav-
ing and discriminating are the only
industries with which they are really
familiar. In many cases even these
have become lost art. for rugs have
been found in the cabin homes that
none of the present Inhabitants is able
to duplicate.
This year has witnessed a new de-
parture in the work of the Southern
Industrial Educational Association,
which formerly confined It's efforts to
the establishment of mountain schools.
A field worker is now entering the
homes In the North Carolina mountains
Evening star., 1915-12-26

tions of a county called Charles in the
middle of the seventeenth century. The
first IS now referred to as "Old Charles
county and it was erected in accord
ance with instructions received from
Lord Baltimore, who seems to have
made an agreement. with his friend,
Robert Brooke, that the latter should
be the commander of a county to be
colonists which Brooke was to bring
over to Maryland.
4
In accordance with these instructions
the governor of the province November
21 1850. with the advice of the council.
erected the south side of the Patux-
ent river beginning at the Susquehan-
nah Point extending itself from thence
into the Middle of the Woods toward
st. Maries southwark and from thence
westward along the Middle of the
Woods betwixt Patomeck and Patuxent
rivers as farr as Matapania toward the
Head of Patuxent river and from
thence againe eastward along the river
side of the said Susquehannah Point
into a County by the name of Charles
County and Robert Brooke, esqr to bee
Commander thereof"
Brooke had from Lord Baltimore this
condition.: I'VE appoint him, the said
Robert Brooke, to be Commander un-
der US. and our lieutenant of our whole
county, to be newly set forth next ad-
joining the place he shall SO settle and
plant in, giving him all the perquisites
of county Commander with power to
appoint six or more inhabitants to ad-
wise with him."
The county thus called Charles in
1850 would correspond with Calvert
county.
Brooke settled at a place called Della
Brooke, and later at Brooke Place, on
. Battle. creek, forty miles from the
mouth of the Patuxent. Two years
after his settlement he appears to have
been in sympathy with and supporting
the settlers. who. principally in Anne
Arundel county. or Providence. were
opposing the government of Lord Bal
timore. In September. 1853. Lord Balti-
more issued instructions discharging
Brooke. and in July. 1854. the governor.
by the advice Of his council. repealed
the act Of 1859 creating Charles coun-
ty. In one of the general reports of
the geologic survey of Maryland. 1t is
said that 1.-The first mention of CAL
vert county occurred in July, 1854, in
accordance with instructions received
from the lord proprietor to erect.
make and appoint both sides of the
Patuxent river into one county by the
Evening star., 1915-12-26

0N the region of Washington are
numerous places which are called
"the lost cities of the Potomac
q valley" or 'the cities of the past"
Sometimes they are spoken of and
written of as dead villages" Dur
ing the period of early settlement, and
for convenience it may be reasonable
to define that period as the latter half
of the seventeenth century, there came
into being villages. generally called
ports" which were important in their
day and which disappeared so long ago
that even the sites they occupied are
matters of dispute. In some instances
a few vestiges of the towns remain by
which the sites may be identified. In
other instances the towns lived on un-
til the nineteenth century, and some
of these. decrepit and moribund, hang
upon the earth today. Towns have
their days of fortune and i'll fortune
Just as do men who live in them. The
story of Port Tobacco goes far back
in the annals of Maryland. 1t began
close upon the beginning of things in
the territory near Washington.
Port Tobacco is fourteen miles south
of Fort Washington. 1t is farther than
tnaL Dy water because the oloihoN
river flowing south from Washington
to Fort Washington turns westerly
and then south to Hallowing point.
southwest as far as Quantico creek on
the Virginia side and Chicomuxen creek
on the Maryland side, south to Aqua
creek and southeast to a line between
Marlboro point on the Virginia side and
Lower Thomas point on the Maryland
side. There the great river turns east
to Maryland point and then northeast
pas, me moutn OF Nanjemoy creek and
Upper Cedar point to the mouth of
Fort Tobacco creek. or as it is laid
down on some of the older maps, Port
Tobacco river.
The Potomac river in it's course from
the capital to the bay makes a wide
sweep around Maryland point and then
a sharp reverse turn around Matthias
point. The turn of the river around
Maryland point is often called by
navigators the Big Bend" One could
go ashore from a steamboat at ely
mont and a walk of nine miles would
bring him to Port Tobacco. but to go
there by water he would have to travel
about forty miles. That statement is
misleading In sense, because the viii
Evening star., 1915-12-26

lets Of beads, some Of the better sort of them
weare ropes of Pearie about their necks and
sort, but spoyled with burning Oysters in the
FIRE and the rude boaring Of them. And they and
es tS ss
things shew a great inclination to &C conform them
selves to the English manner of living. The
werowance OF Paschatoway desired the governo,
to send him a man that could build him house
like the English and In sundry respects com.
than their owne: The Werowanee Of Patuxent
frequently in English ate 50 doth he
clothes Of the English.
The referenceto Port Tobacco. which
the historian. McSherry, used. is taken
from one of the annual letters of the
Jesuits in Maryland. The annual let
ters of the provincials of the Society
of Jesus are the reports which they
were required to make to the general
of the society at Rome Of the chief
events of the province during the pre-
ceding year, and particularly of results
accomplished in the missionary field by
the Jesuit fathers. In the letter Of 1642
is this:
In the mission for Maryland for the yeaf 1912
Just elapsed, we have had only three companions,
fined BY sickness of three months duration. This
was Father Roger Rigby. The other two were
sa na s i"'Gs 1o s s
selves into different places for the purpose Of col
lecting more fruit. The superior Father Philip
remained for the most part at st: Mary's. the
take care OF the English who live there in great
numbers, and also Of the Indians not living far
distant. as we'll as those going and coming hack
wards and forwards. Father Andrew betook
himself to his former station at Pascataway; but
Father Roger went to a new residence, which In
the vulgar idion they can Patuxen where he
could learn the more easily the Indian language
and SO better instruct and strengthen In the faith
certain neophytes, and scatter more widely along
the bank Of that great river the seed of faith.
Not long after, the young princess fas they
town of St. Mary's. and is heing educated there,
and is now proficient in the English language.
Almost at the came time most of the town
called Portobaco received the faith with baptism:
(the inhabitats called 1t Pamake) almost in the
center of the Indians, and SO more convenient
for excursions In all directions, we are deter
mined to make our residence.
The theory Of the Rambler Is that the
Indian village was at what is now
Chapel Point. that the priest took up
his residence and his work there, and
that hence the. name Of that point on
the Port Tobacco river. 1t may be that
Sc. Thomas Church stands on the site
Of the little chapel In which this Jesuit
father preached to Potomac Indians and
baptized them. y
One cannot but notice The various
ways of spelling Port. Tobacco, and the
region had an Indian name which to the
hearing of the white man sounded very
like that. SO that the name Port To-
bacco is derived from an Indian word,
Evening star., 1915-12-26

ly find 1t possible to ride to local meet
ing places or stores, but the women
must keep to their little cabins and
the care of their children. Schools
have been an impossibility. and as a
result the women haven't even the
compensation of reading as a means of
keeping in touch with the world.
"a most interesting fact in connec-
tion with these people," continued
Mrs Stone, 'fs the very frequent dis
Evening star., 1915-12-26

struggle was for food, shelter and
protection against the Indians. Liv-
ing far apart. there was no oppor-
tunity for the development of COM
munity spirit and the provision of
schools. Consequently. after the pass
ing of two generations. the ability to
read and write was lost
Mrs. Stones interest in these noun
tain people is naturally enhanced by
their history. President Frost of
Berea calls them our contemporary
ancestors, beleaguered by nature
Seventeenth century British surviv-
Evening star., 1915-12-26

M EARLY every Office and govern
I'M ment edifice in Washington holds
women whose work Is so far
reaching that it is of interest through
out the country. The variety of enter
prises is not astounding, but 1t is with
something of the spirit of discovery
that one finds in the heart of big
Office building the products of tiny.
windowless cabin homes in the south
ern Appalachian mountains.
Through charita BILE interests an ex-
Evening star., 1915-12-26
Special Correspoodence of The Star.

SPECIAL CorfespODderce OF Tne StAr.
BERLIN, December 16. 1915.
V7SHE gay Berlin of two years ago is
a serious Berlin of today. 1t would
be quite impossible for 1t to be
otherwise, for the German people are
too serious and thoughtful to even wish
to be gay in time of war. when the
fathers, brothers and sons are fighting
at the front.
The business life of the city has hard
ly changed: everything is running full
bIast-all the factories. business houses
and shops. The shops are just as fun
of purchasers as in time Of peace. and
everything, from a Persian rug to
Harz canary. is being bought. 1t seems
that the war. while it has penetrated
the hearts of the people. hSs not
changed their outward life
In America. SO far from the war, II
Is hard to forget even for minute
that the struggle is going on. and so
IL is easy to imagine how much strong
er. more penetrating this feeling is in
Germany Here every one is always
thinking of the war. and the presence
OF so many soldiers on the streets only
emphasizes this fact. Berlin is full OF
soldiers. at least several hundred thou
sand are here all the time. II is a
transient army, some are wOunCeO men,
some are on furioughs. some are being
changed from one fghting front TO an
other. and others are the recruits who
have been sent here TO make some ex
ercises before going to the front
These soldiers seem to be having
fine time. and from the pleased express
sions on most of their faces one can
are on their way back 10 the front. Ii
Is only a small per cent OF the men
that have ever been in Berlin before.
and they wander through the streets of
the metropolis in great delight. and
act as pleased as children. The places
OF amusement charge only half price to
soldiers. and every one seems bent on
showing them a good time.
Even in their happiest moods the
German people are a serious race, and
when they go to the theater they go
aot only to be amused. but 10 learn
or course, they have their comic operas
and variety shows, but the majority Of
the people prefer an Ibsen drama to 2
whizzins comic opera
When the war began all the theaters
and kinos (moYing picture shows) were
closed and dancing was forbidden. but
before Christmas Of last year the thea
ters slowly began to open, and since
that time all have opened, and they are
crowded. Dancing Is still forbidden.
The Germans have an odd way Of
advertising their shows. On every
street corner Is little round house
where all the programs of the coming
shows are pasted. and here one can
read the casts and prices. Most Of
the pieces played in Berlin today are
the great dramas. war plays and prob
lem plays The English shapespeare is
as popular as ever and Hamlet" The
Winters Tale" and "As You Like 1t"