Evening star., 1919-05-11
The Matter of the First Presbyterian Church in the Cabin John
Neghborhood- From Readers-When Presbyteians
First Came to Colony of Maryland.

that the early colonists claimed as
Presbyterians Walter Beane or Bayne
and his brother Ralph. and that Will
liam Stone. who was appointed gov
ernor by Lord Baltimore after the
triumph OF the parliamentary party,
was said to have shown PRESBYTERIAN
leanings.
The historian can find no organized
church Of Presbyterians in Maryland
before the coming Of the Rev. Francis
Doughty, who is said to have been the
hrst Presbyterian clergyman to visit
the colony. The first reference to this
man finds him at Taunton, Mass. in
1857. He was forced to leave Massa-
chusetts by the civil authorities be-
cause his preaching was at odds with
the prevailing creed. and it is writ
ten that several elders and others
went into exile with him" Doughty
Is next heard Of in the colony of New
Amsterdam, where he got into trouble
with the civil authorities because of
MS doctrines and was at one time ar
rested for debt Debtors then ran
greater dangers than they do now
Doughty's daughter married Adrian
Van der Don't. prominent lawyer in
the Dutch colony. He, dying,
Doughty and his widowed daughter
moved to Virginia and is found in
Charles county, Md. in 1857, for in
that year he bought tract Of land
near Nanjemoy creek from Giles
Ihompkins. His widowed daughter
married Hugh ONeill. a Marylander,
and it is supposed that this marriage
was consummated in Virginia and
that then the family moved to Mary
land. But that is conjecture based
on a few uncertain dates. There is no
record OF the death of Mr.. Doughty.
There is no doubt that Doughty
preached in southern Maryland, and
perhaps he organized a church, but
there is no record of it.
X X X X
The next Presbyterian preacher to
be heard Of in the Maryland colony
was the Rev. Matthew Hill. who came
from York, England, where he had
been a preacher. He is found in
Charles county, Md, in 1869, where
and when he married Edith, daughter
OF Walter Beane or Bayne, known then
as a wealthy planter in Charles coun-
ty in the Port Tobacco neighborhood.
His daughter Edith at the time of her
marriage to Matthew Hill was the
NJ
named Jonathan Marles. Matthew
Hill obtained a tract Of land by grant
near Port Tobacco and which he
called "Popleton." He signed himself
Matthew Hill. Gentleman" He died
on his estate in 1879. He left Pople-
library OF seventy volumes. as ap-
pears from his will. which is at An
napolis and which was probated Oc-
tober Z, 1879. There are certain indi-
cations that Matthew Hill preached in
all the inhabited parts of Charles
county, and as there were settlers in
the Eastern branch and Rock creek
at that time, perhaps a
few settlers scattered around in the
upper Cabin John country, it is possi-
BILE that Matthew Hill visited the Sec
tion through which the Rambler is
now walking, and which at that time
was part OF Charles county.
The history of Presbyterianism on
the eastern shore of Maryland has
been more clearly traced than on the
western shore. This has been very
well done by Rev. Dr. Littleton p.
Bowen in his book, The Days. of
Max kemie. or the Vine Planted" which
was printed in 1885 by the Presbyte-
rian board of publications. But in try
ing to search out or run down the
story Of the first Presbyterian church
on Cabin John the story of Mackenzie
does not especially concern US, but it
is interesting to mention that Francis
Mackenzie who was in Somerset coun-
ly laid. The man who is often called
the father Of Presbyterianism in
though some students saw
that he built on foundations previous
ly laid. The manw ho is often called
the father Of Presbyterianism In
was Ninian Bean. who
came to the colony in 1857. lived and
died near Marlboro and obtained orig
rrs~n nta