The Washington times., 1933-12-02
OLD SENTIMENT
, Of DECATUR
RECALLED
y. S. Naval Hero a Native
of Maryland Area Which
: Remembers Him Proudly
BY N. E. F. MEEKINs

BY N. E. F. MEEKINS
There was an Eastern Shore
man who once uttered these
words:
'sMy country! May she ever
be right: but right or wrong. my
country"
That man was Commodore
Stephen Decatur, the most con-
epicuous figure in naval history
Of the United States in the 100
years between John Paul Jones
and Farragut.
In those days there we're many
who did not approve the ethical
significance of his famous Senti-
ment.
And even today there are thou
sands all over the nation who
do not approve the sentiment Of
those Shoremen who reverted to
mob rule in lynching two colored
men within two years, then rioted
at Salisbury and Princess Anne
last Tuesday and Wednesday.
Decatur Born There
These people, some Of them
plain and some fancy, believe
profoundly in their small com
munities, whether they be right
or wrong.
Born in Sinepuxtent, Decatur
10 1~fA D.
come one of the nations greatest
heroes, only to be killed in duel
as a result of his undying loyalty
to his country and to his honor.
There are indirect descendants
Of Decatur over on the "Sho'" as
well as those tracing their lineage
to such famous Eastern Shore
men as Tench Tilghman. who
bore to the Congress at Philadel-
phia in 1871 the news Of the sur
render of CORVALLIS and his
army at Yorktown to General
Washington. There are many
others there today whose ances-
tors were among few Mary
landers that were the only troops
to serve in every campaign Of the
Revolutionary War.
Get Living From Sea
Today the great majority of
these Eastern Shoremen gain
their livelihood from the sea and
from the farm, as did their an
ceStors. Each year the land there
could support richly a population
more than twice its size and the
production could be more than
doubled. From it's bay and tribu-
taries more sea food is taken than
any other place in the world.
In so far as history is concerned,
shortly after 1907, when an April
storm blew into the Chesapeake
Bay Captain Christopher New
ports fleet of three small vessels,
the settlement of the Eastern
Shore began. In 1923 William
Claiborne made a settlement on
Kent Island. The Eastern Shore,
therefore. had settlers before the
ships Ark and Dove with Lord
Baltimore's first xpeditio
reached st. Mary's River.
Worcester county was named
after the Earl of Worcester, and
Snow Hill, it's county seat, was
settled in 1886 by business men
from the Snow Hill district of
London and most of it's people
are of English descent. Just a
few miles to the north is Prin-
ceS Anne. settled in 1866.
Hotel Is Ancient
It's only hotel, the Washington,
bears a sign that it was built in
1851 ''in the reign of King
George H." Many old Colonial
homes dot the county and which
were scenes of brilliant social af-
fairs during the Revolution and
the Civil War. Somerset county
was named after Mary Somerset,
sister of Cecilus Lord Baltimore.
The largest and one of the old
est counties of the Eastern Shore
is Dorchester. the home of Judge
John r. Pattison, presiding judge
In the hearing of the four men
accused of being ringleaders in
the Armwood lynching. It was
named after the Earl Of Dorset,
friend of the Calverts, and it has
sent four governors to Annapolis.
It was settled in 1868
Across the Choptank River is
Talbot county, the birthplace of
John Dickinson and the home of
the father of Robert Morris,
Philip F. Thomas, former Secre-
tary Of the Treasury Tilghman,
and many other famous men.
Retains Colonial Beauty
Many Of the towns on the Shore
still retain their colonial beauty
and atmosphere. Before the Civil
War large plantations spread for
miles. However, many of these
old places have been purchased
by wealthy outsiders" and
stripped of their fine old panels
and staircaseS.
It was sometime after the Civil
War when colored persons were
permitted to receive education.
But today they are usually
treated with respect and live to
themselves.
There are many wealthy per,
sons living on the Shore and in
their homes one will find cul'
ture and hospitality.
In some sections of Worcester
county the people have retained
the Cornish accent of their fore,
fathers and live as their forbears
did. These are simple folk, but
loyal to their homes and their