Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-02-21

rad pinsh pew cushions ard I'll III
i wure Colonial styIs naAke tho place =
/ delightful object O9 psIgrtEaage The
/ hs9h pulpit, with sOunain@ board, the
old-ftns dlmmed panels q the
/ Apostles Greed and Lords Prayer and
1.-The beautiful old altar rAll. partly oEig-
mai, lend the place today 3 suggestion
og the better days II saw Of old. The
old baptIsuaai font IL there. with 177s,
the date III the erection 81 the church.
still Iegibie On III Many Of the peNs
are memorials. and silver plates. with
the names attached. tell as that here
i sal washington. here John Mason,
here was pew reserved for magis-
trates and strangers and 30 On.
yet with all the association Of
! Wesms with Virgins. Il has wrongly
claimed one thing his birthplace. In
/ spite Of the statements of many en-
encyclopedias that Weems was born In
Dunfries, To Maryland belongs the
honor Here Il was, In Anne Arundel
i county, aouth of Annapolis, and on the
family estate 81 Marshes Seat, ner
| Herring Bay. that Weams was born on
October 4. 1859. Here again histor-
fans have TIL recently made wrong
statements. and not till the present
writer investigated was the true date
/ or his birth abcertained from the fam
ny Bible
From Maryland Weems vent to Edin-
burg to study medicine and later went
10 London and studied for clerical or
ders Here, after the Revolution, he
tried 10 secure ordination. but the
English bishops required him TO take
an oath Of allegiance to the British
/ Crown, and Weems, an ardent patriot,
hesitated to do THIS. After Iii interest
ling correspondence with Franklin and
John Adams, Ne secured It by special
act or parliament, as was discovered
last year by Mr. Lawrence G. Wroth,
or Baltimore, librarian of the mary
land Diocesan library RE found that
the records showed that on septsm-
/ br 5. 1854, Weems was ordained dea-
con by the Bishop Of Chester, and on
September IL priest By the Arch
/ bishop Of Canterbury Yet for many
years the very fact Of Weems having
been ordained vas doubted, sad he
/ was charged By some with being an
imposter
But on his return to America he se-
cured position as rector at All Hal
lows, near Annapolis, and later Ut ST.
Margaret's Westminster parish The
former church still stands. delight
] fui old brick church with classic lines,
surrounded BY ancient graves and yen-
cradle oaks
Became i Seller Of Bibles
But Weems, about 1891, found the
work Of parish priest not profitable
enough to support life, and he became
la travelling clergyman and seller Of
I bibles, prayer books and other publica-
tions throughout Maryland, Delaware
and probably virginia. After his mar
riage In 1885 he took IL up exclusively
and made II his life-work After sell
| ing Bibles for Matthew Carey, the
Philadelphia publisher. for several
years he took up MarshaiPs Life Of
Washington, and travelled from New
York TO Augusta, Ga, seeking sub
scrIbers. From Philadelphia he would
drop down through the peninsula to-
Annapolis, thence to baltimore and TO
the Potomac; stop few days in Dunn
fries with his family and make excnr-
sions III the vicinity; then start south
again to Richmond, Petersburg, Nor
folk. Halifax, Warrenton, Tarboro.
Newbern. WILKINSON, Charlston, where
he usually spent considerable time !;
then to Savannah, and into Georgia as
| Ear abs Augusta On his return he
would keep farther from the coast and
naalIy reach Philadelphia through the
Cumberland Valley.
Meanwhile Weems wrote and edited
books To sell himself The chief one
was his Life OF Washington, the
/ first edition Of which appeared Id 1900.
few months after Waanington's
death. and which was dedicated to
Mrs washington II sold for rs cents
and was each year enlarged and re-
printed and sold more widely. In the
ffEh edition, 1900, Weems inserted
much new material. especially the
anecdotes al Washingtpns youth, the
story Of the seeds which so mystsr-
ioasiy grew UP IN the shape Of
Georges name and of the apple tree
and Its fruit that taught George TO be
generous.
Whether these stories are authen-
tic or not. Weems had plenty OF OPP
portunfties FOR learning facts about
Washington from relatives and init
mate friends os that great man The
Weemses an she Ewells were both re-
lated to the Is. the family Of Wash
ington's mother. and Mrs. Weems was
d niece OF DR.. Craik. washington's
family physician and conAdant. Then
Weerns work as preacher az Po-
hick had brought him into contact
with Washington's lifelong neighborg
But strangely enough, no one else OF
this circle ever seems to have heard
the stories Weems tells or ever be-
/ lleyna them when heard The apafF