Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-05

lowing children: Grace Fenton, VINO married
Mnscoe Garnett, July TO- !T67. and died June
4. 1914; John Francis. bosi May IL, 1853; mar
ried in 1855 Sophia sprikI and died in Phila-
died in 1888 Col. George, who in I701 was
married to Mary Neville of England and died
ia England about TIE beginning Of the revolu-
Cmrter Ann, who married samuel Seldrn;
Maria. who married Richard Brooks. and
Charles f., who was born in ITS and died in
Gov. John Francis Mercer. who married
Sophia sprigg. daughter Of Richard and Mar.
were John Francis, who married Mary Scott
Swami Of Alexandria; Margaret, who was born
in Anne Arundel county, Nd, in 1902, and died
at Belmont in 1848, and who died at sea
in 1910: aged nineteen years.
Col John Francis, who. in June, 1918, mar
sq Mary ss"t dssher Of Thongs and lane
eleven children. These were Richard sprigg.
who married Miss E. e. Coke of Pennsylvania.
and inherited Belmont. in Loudoun county;
and Inherited Belmont from his brother, John
Francis; Monroe. who married Ella Hopkins;
George Douglas Wilson C., Sophia E.. Mary
~. who married DR.. Arthur Brogan, who died
II 1870 and James NJ. Mercer.
Richard S. Mercer and Miss Coke had six
children. Thomas s. Mercer and Violetta Car
roll had two children and one OF these, Mar
garet sprgg Mercer. died in New York Janu-
ary 10, 1902.
Around many of the old homes in
trees. This condition is not peculiar
to the Goose creek region, because
throughout the territory tributary to
Washington the locust tree flourishes
In the garden and is often found
growing along the roadside. Some
time ago the Rambler attempted to
explain this by telling that the early
settlers believed in the locust tree as
protection against lightning and
also because this tree was noted for
~ tn fl1At in ll,tt t1,nt
may be another reason why the locust
tree grows around so many of the
Virginia and Maryland homes.
There is no doubt that the early
this tree. They seemed not to be able
to set up home in the wilderness
without planting that species which
is called the common locust or that
which is called the honey locust"
Perhaps this was because of the re-
ligious significance of the tree, and
this significance attaches especially to
the honey locust, which Is sometimes
called the carob tree, and by a large
number of old-fashioned persons Is
called the honey shuck tree" The
pods of this tree have been called st.
Johns bread" no doubt because of a
careless reading of the fourth verse
in the third chapter of st. Matthew:
And the same John had his raiment
of camefs hair and leathern girdle
about his loins, and his meat was To-
Gusts and wild honey There Is also
this tree that Moses sweetened the
bitter waters of Marah: And when
they came to Marah they could not
drink Of the waters of Marah, for they
were bitter; therefore the name OF 1t
was called Marah and the people MUIR
OF WY
shall we drink? And he cried unto
the Lord. and the Lord Showed him a
tree, which when he cast 1t into the
waters the waters were made sweet:
there he made for them a statute and
an ordinance. and there he proved
them"
In many parts Of the world the
pods of the honey locust are eaten by
animals and it Is related that in
Sicily the people make both syrup and
this country children will eat the
sweet pulp which separates the seeds
in the pod. In some of the older
countries these pods are used In feed
ing hogs. and from that TACT they
The honey locust Is thorny tree.
and the Rambler has often heard
children and old people in the country
say that the crown OF thorns was
made from It. Father White. in his
mentions strawberries. raspberries,
mulberry vines" acorns, walnuts and
sassafras, but makes no mention of
the locust In William Peaseley's RE
lation Of Maryland" which was pub
lished in London in 1885. he writes of
red oak walnut, cedar. pine. cypress.
chestnut. ash and poplar. but makes
no reference to the locust tree. In
Capt. Smiths Description of Vir-
ginia," published at ondon in 1912,
mention is made Of the oak, walnut.
elm, ash. cypress. mulberry. chestnut,
persimmon, wild cherry and chinqua-
pin. but he seems not to have seen
locust tree.
The inference would be that the
locust tree is not native of America,
but was introduced by the early
colonists, yet 1t has been established
that the honey locust. or the honey
shuck tree" is an American native.
There Is a belief among botanists.
and especially among dendrologists.
or those botanists who specialize in
trees, that the honey locust is the
oldest fruit-bearing tree on the earth.
and that 1t was either created with
it's thorns or that 1t evolved them
as a protection against the mammoth,
the mastodon and other extinct
animals who sought to rob 1t of it's
sweet seed pods. Robert Sparkes
Walker wrote: 1.-THE honey locust
being the first tree to be created
~