The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1946-10-24

briefly to attend the Memorial SER
vices in the old cemetery - has not
been stirred by the sense of the
past that clings around the neighbor-
ing village of Sharpsburg?
Motoring through the main street
of that lovely old Maryland town,
en- route to Martinsburg or Shep-
herdstown, who has not taken note
of the fine old stone and brick
houses, which speak SO eloquently
Of another day? And whose magma
ton has not been stirred by the
knowledge that just beyond this
quiet village ragged the bloodiest
battle of the War Between the States
THAT through its peaceful streets
surged the forces of North and South
in full panoply of battle-just as in
an earlier day, over the same land,
the Catawbas and the Delawares met
in epic struggle.
For those who wonder but do not
know, a delightful and comprehen-
sive picture of the early days of
Sharpsburg - and of all the smaller
communities adjacent to Hagers-
town-may be found in a volume
called Bridges of the Antietam,"
written by Helen Ashe Hays, one of
HagerStown's earlier librarians. Miss
Hays, whose book should be required
reading in the Hagerstown schools,
later married Mr.. John Kieffer, an
uncle of Mrs. Irvine Rutledge. Her
revealing book is the result of care
full perusal of land grants, historical
documents and old newspapers, COM
bined with visits to all of the spots
she writes about, and a keen feel
ing for the significance and charm
of days gone by.
In the chapter entitled "Old
Sharpsburg," Miss Hays tells of the
founding of that community by one
Joseph Chapline, an English gentle
man who evidently added to a talent
for acquiring land, the qualities of
leadership, as well as a whimsical
imagination.
This last is indicated by the names
that he gave to his land grants in
and around Sharpsburg. The tract
upon which the town was laid out
"a plot thickly covered with hazel
wood and chinquapin), was called
"Absolom's Forest" That upon which
the first bridge from the mouth of
the Antietam stands, was known as
Little l thought It," and others ac-
quired after his settlement on the
Old Antietam Hundred were known
as: Love in a Village" Little
Friendship" "Contentment," Hunt
ing Ground" Hunting the Hare"
Bachelors Delight" and Loss and
Gain"
Joseph Chapline's disposition, de-
scribed as ''imperious" and "auto-
cratic" must, however, have been
mitigated by his very evident sense
of humor, as well as his interest in
the welfare of others. For example,
though himself a member of the
Church of England, one of his first
acts after laying out the village was
to give land for a church-not, mind
you, an Episcopal church, but Lu-
theran church, in evident regard
for the preponderantly German
population in these parts.
The deed was made to the Luth-
Grams with the whimsical considera-
ton that Chapline, his heirs and as
signs, should receive the yearly pay
ment of one pepper corn, eff de-
manded on the 9th day of July"
More amusing, if less sentimental,
than Baron StiegIs zone red rose
forever"
The Lutheran Church built on the
spot, endured until the terrible days
Of the Battle of Antietam, when it
was so riddled by shells that it had
to be torn down and another church
built ON different spot.
Later Joseph Chap1ine gave a
church lot to the German Reformed
congregation, but it was not until
after his death that his son gave
the land for an Episcopal church and
his daughter-in-law sent to England
for q bell which she presented to
the oAurch. In the interim, the
Episcopal influence had not been en-
tirely neglected in Sharpsburg, how
ever. Some years earlier an Episco-
pal clergyman, the Reverend Benja-
min Allen, "a man of gentle and
lovabie disposition" settled in the
village and established the first Sun
day School in this part of the coun-
try. It was held in the Lutheran
Church and, while the Germans
looked askance at this innovation, the
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