Grassland 2006 - The Grassland Foundation

2621 Davidsonville Road
Gambrills, Maryland 21054-2107
December 5, 2006
EMail: [email protected]
Telephone: (410) 721-0498
A YEAR 2006 REPORT ABOUT THE "GRASSLAND" HOME AND HISTORIC SITE, THE GRASSLAND
FOUNDATION, INC., AND OTHER MATTERS OF FAMILY HISTORY INTEREST
INTRODUCTION:
The Grassland Foundation, Inc., a charitable tax exempt organization, was created in 1989 to receive,
by bequest from the late Mrs. John Bowie, Jr. (Mrs. Audrey Lawrence Bowie), title to the "Grassland" Historic
Site (including the old brick "Grassland" Home at what is today 2710 Hercules Road in the National Business
Park atAnnapolis Junction in Western Anne Arundel County, Maryland, that had been constructed about 1852
by William Anderson following his return to Maryland from Harpers Ferry, Virginia (where he had owned and
operated a dry goods and hardware store in another brick building that he had built, which today "houses" the
headquarters of the National Park Service at Harpers Ferry) soon after the Bowies sold the balance of the
"Grassland" farm to what today is called the National Business Park on the West side of the BaltimoreWashington Parkway at Md. Rte. No. 32. Since 1989, The Grassland Foundation, Inc., has been engaged in
developing plans, and then implementing them, forthe restoration and renovation of the Historic Site, including
its buildings, under an easement granted to the Maryland Historical Trust, which has partially financed the
restoration process. The "Grassland" property has been officially designated by the Department ofthe Interior
as an historic home and site and has quite a history connected with it, in connection with the Civil War. At this
time, we have now completed one such grant program that was described more completely in the year 2004
and 2005 written Reports mailed to all Foundation members about this same time of those years.
SUMMARY OF CONSTRUCTION
AND PLANNING PROCESS:
Since the year 2005 Report, the remaining part of the current construction project has been
completed, whereby two porch areas described in the 2004 Report have now been completely replaced and
reconstructed, so that the true front of the Home (the side which parallels Md. Route No. 32), on the left hand
side, resembles what a home of this era at, say, Charleston or New Orleans, would resemble, with a two-story
porch at that side of the home which resembles what the "Grassland Home looked like when it was originally
constructed. Because this process resulted in the elimination of a late 1940s second floor bathroom, the
smallest of the original second floor bedrooms has been converted into a modern bathroom, complete with
all ofthe necessary new plumbing. This new bathroom lies immediately behind, on the second floor, the other
new and replaced "main front porch" that everyone uses when they enter the Home. In connection with this
restorative work, considerable repair/replacement work was done to the roof trusses, etc., in the area beneath
the roof which is closest to where the original second floor bathroom had been, and that entire area has been
completely re-roofed. In addition, certain exterior brick work/repairs/replacements
have been made and
window and door repair/replacement/repainting treatment(s) has/have been done to the outsides of all exterior
windows and doors on the "main" (brick) block of the Home, with the exception of several of the second floor
windows over top of the rear side of the Home which is closest and parallel to new Hercules Road (where the
late 1940s rearmost wood addition is still connected to the first floor of the brick block of the Home, and will
remain until a future stage of reconstruction is possible, whereby that wood addition can be completely
removed and replaced with some type of much more modern addition). However, as part of the "current"
project now finished, repairs have been made to the existing tin roof over top of that addition to "seal" it from
rain and snow as much as possible. The remaining slave dependency has been completely repainted
on the outside. The Home remains vacant, and the Cashes' (former occupants') personal property and
debris has been removed, and the Home has been swept down, and will remain vacant indefinitely until
suitable occupants and/or tenant(s) (commercial or residential) can be secured, either short-term or long-term,
as events develop. In the meantime, all bills and invoices have been paid or secured in connection with the
now completed construction project, and for ongoing upkeep, real property taxes, insurance premiums, lawn
cutting(s), etc.
A YEAR 2006 REPORT ABOUT THE "GRASSLAND" HOME AND HISTORIC SITE, THE GRASSLAND
FOUNDATION, INC., AND OTHER MATTERS OF FAMILY HISTORY INTEREST
-2-
ANNUAL (2005-2006) TREASURER'S
December 5, 2006
REPORT:
Enclosed with this letter is a photocopy of the captioned Financial Report prepared by our very
capable and hard working Treasurer, Marylu (Chaney) Lammers, and based upon it, the Foundation has
already this year filed an IRS Form 990 ("Report of Organization Exempt from Income Tax") which should
sooner or later be available for inspection/examination/copying
at a website www.guidestar.org
of
Philanthropic Research, Inc. (out of Williamsburg, Virginia). The Foundation's status as a "Section 501 (c)(3)
publicly supported foundation," contributions to which may be deducted for both income and gift/estate tax
purposes, remains in effect and good standing. If any of you are in a position to make donations (above
and beyond your rather nominal annual dues), the same will be gratefully appreciated.
In this
connection, we thank those who responded to a similar solicitation this time last year. In addition, every effort
is being made to "shepherd" and conserve both dues and donations so as to eventually provide a "beginning
point" for an endowment fund, the income from which would be available to maintain "Grassland" and the
Historic Site into the future. If there are any questions about the enclosed Financial Report, please do contact
the undersigned or Marylu Lammers (at 918 St. George Barber Road, Davidsonville, Maryland 21035, where
Marylu can also be "reached" at [email protected]). Also, when Marylu and Sarah (Webb) Griffith
(granddaughter of Mrs. DuLaney, and our (Membership) Secretary), mail out Membership Renewal Forms
for 2007, please renew (or take out, for the first time) your Membership(s) in The Grassland Foundation, Inc.,
as will be more fully explained in that mailing. Thank you, and thank Marylu and Sarah for all of their work, as
well.
A FUTURE "SUMMIT"
MEETING AT GRASSLAND
PERTAINING TO ITS FUTURE:
As of this writing, we are awaiting the "setting up" of a meeting at Grassland (now that the current
construction project there has been completed) with officers of Preservation Maryland (also known as the
Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities, Inc.), as described in other enclosures with this letter;
and, when this meeting has been finally scheduled, all Trustees of The Grassland Foundation, Inc., will be
invited to be present. This "grew out" of my letter to Preservation Maryland dated October 12, 2006 (see copy
enclosed), and the enclosed copy of a more recent exchange of lie mails" between the undersigned and Mr.
Josh Phillips of Preservation Maryland. We welcome the input/attendance of any and all MemberslTrustees
of the Foundation in this process. and hope that it will "move" the Grassland project forward. We will provide
a full report in next year's Annual Report.
THE WOODWARD FAMIL Y OF ANNE ARUNDEL AND PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTIES, MARYLAND,
Mrs. Patricia (ReynOldS) Hundley (SEE YOUR COPY ENCLOSED HEREWITH):
by
One of the joys of the undersigned this past year (2006) was to participate with and then receive from
an Anderson and Chaney (among many other lines as well) descendant, Mrs. Patricia (ReynOlds) Hundley,
in North Carolina (she grew up at Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, where she graduated from
the Glen Burnie High School), Pat's typescript from which was prepared the enclosed The Woodward Family
of Anne Arundel and Prince George's Counties, Maryland 1703-1850, covering the early history of this well
known family from which so many of us descend as well. It was the privilege of the undersigned to be able
to help do the research and then to add the eight-page "Epilogue" which appears at the end and to be able
to furnish two of the photographs which appear in the booklet. Pat is to be commended for all of her hard work
in putting this research together and "down on paper" with the assistance, as well, of her first cousin in the
State of WaShington, Mrs. Claire Tucker Brooks (a native of Baltimore) who is a Member of this Foundation.
In addition to many other old local families, Pat and Claire descend, as well, from the old Disney and
Zimmerman families discussed by Mrs. DuLaney in her 1948 Anderson genealogy; see, for example,
footnotes nos. 74 and 154, which appear at pages 87 and 111, respectively, of the Extract of Diary or Farm
A YEAR 2006 REPORT ABOUT THE "GRASSLAND" HOME AND HISTORIC SITE, THE GRASSLAND
FOUNDATION, INC., AND OTHER MATTERS OF FAMILY HISTORY INTEREST
-3-
December
5. 2006
Journal of William Anderson of "Grassland" 1853 to 1875.... Additional copies of Pat's enclosed Woodward
booklet will be kept at the Cora Anderson DuLaney History Room at Severn Cross Roads, 1358 Millersville
Road, Millersville, Maryland 21108, where we continue to "await" the time when the Severn Cross Roads
Foundation, Inc., will be able to "have" many of its records and collections of that History Room available for
research on the internet (including, especially, Ross Carrick's collection of family and historic photographs,
which is becoming larger and more complete with every passing month). On this "front," we are able, for this
past year, to report "some progress", and we continue to hope for success for that venture in the immediate
future.
Copies continue to be available of Mrs. Dul.aney's 1948 Andersons from the Great Fork of the
Patuxent, the later (1993) Extract of Diary or Farm Journal of William Anderson of "Grassland"; the still later
(2004) republished From Sotweed to Suburbia: A History of the Crofton, Maryland Area, 1660s-1960s by
Joseph L. Browne; and, in the case of the Chaneys from Waugh Chapel, Ross Carrick's recent (2004) book,
Rezin Chaney of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, that is available for purchase from Ross at
[email protected]. Hope all of you enjoy Pat's enclosed Woodward family booklet as much as Pat, Claire,
and I have enjoyed putting it together.
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED
AT THE SCOTTISH BORDER:
Since last year's Report, while we did obtain, from the Library at the University of Durham, a
photocopy of the Berwick Willllnventory (1611, written, I am sure, in Old English) of Richard Anderson, the
presumed (by me) father or, more likely, the grandfather, of the James Anderson (presumed by me father of
William (I) Anderson, of Herring Creek and Friendship in lower Anne Arundel County, Maryland) and of
Anthony Anderson (one time Alderman and Mayor of Berwick), among other children of this early Berwick
Richard Anderson, we have not yet been able to locate someone who can "translate" the same. We have even
been provided with a further copy of this document on "disc", but, again, it needs to be translated. Present
indications are that it is mainly a personal property Inventory, so its significance is very much in doubt and in
question. We will continue to try and locate a translator for this two-page document.
"DNA" TESTING, AND OTHER ANDERSON "FAMILY HISTORY" MATTERS DURING 2006:
There have been some significant developments both in genealogical research and "DNA" Testing
matters pertaining to our Anderson family during the preceding twelve months, and these are summarized
in the enclosed copies of:
(a) Updated "List of Errata/Corrections
in 'Diary' and/or Anderson Family Chart" (the word
"Diary" here refers, of course, to the (1993) Extract of Diary or Farm Journal of William Anderson of
"Grassland"and the accompanying Anderson family chart that were "passed out" atthe 1993 Anderson Family
Reunion at Grassland, of which further copies have been distributed otherwise since that event);
(b) A separate two-page writing headed "Grassland",
which describes the home and other
structures at 2710 Hercules Road, National Business Park, Annapolis Junction, Anne Arundel County,
Maryland 20701, that today is owned by your Foundation, and which, in turn, was designed to "accompany"
the enclosed copy of a painting of the "front" side of the home that was done earlier this year by my wife,
Mildred B. Anderson (see the words which appear about the home on the back side of the enclosed copy of
the painting); and:
c Letters from Lost Towns, September 2006, two pages, publication by the Anne Arundel County
"Lost Towns" Project, in which are described recent archaeological findings at Cheney's Hill, an historical land
grant of Richard Cheyney (an ancestor of many of us), as well as, on page two, a shorter article about the
home and estate of another ancestor of many of us, Samuel Chew, Sr.
A YEAR 2006 REPORT ABOUT THE "GRASSLAND" HOME AND HISTORIC SITE, THE GRASSLAND
FOUNDATION, INC., AND OTHER MATTERS OF FAMILY HISTORY INTEREST
-4-
December 5. 2006
Since these enclosures "speak for themselves", nothing more needs to be added to or about them
here.
IN PASSING, WE NOTE IN FOND REMEMBRANCE:
(a) William Woodward Anderson, of Nokesville, Virginia, on October 22, 2006, at the age of 95
years. Bill Anderson was the last surviving child of the late Absolom and Ruby (Ward) Anderson, of
Crownsville and Iglehart, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. A complete biography of Bill appeared on page 19
of the June, 2002, issue of Grassland History Notes. Bill was preceded in death by his late wife, Virginia
(Barnes) Anderson, and his siblings, Samuel Isaac Anderson and Richard Thomas Anderson, both of Anne
Arundel County, and Elizabeth (Anderson) Merkle, of Ohio, and Alice (Anderson) Mace, of Baltimore County,
Maryland.
(b) Ninian Beall, formerly of Snow Hill in Worcester County, but a native of Anne Arundel County,
in Maryland, first Treasurer of The Grassland Foundation, Inc. (1989 to 1996), at the age of 89 years.
Many of the early members of our Foundation will remember Ninian and all of the work which he did on, for,
and about the Foundation, all without complaint. He was a true "public servant," as was emphasized at his
recent funeral service that was attended by the undersigned and Trustee Kathye Pettebone Long (who had
employed by Ninian as a secretary when Kathye was young). Ninian was preceded in death (2000) by his late
wife, Janet Bruce Beall, and was survived by four sons and one daughter: Ninian, Jr., of Butner, N. C.;
Thomas Aillen, Sr., of Arnold, Md.; Richard Francis, of Westminster, Md.; Eugene Kirk, of Altoona, Pa.; and
Janet Beall Burdette, of Hampton, Va.; as well as by many grandchildren. Ninian had been an elder in two
Presbyterian Churches, First Church at Annapolis, and the historic Makemie Memorial Church at Snow Hill,
Md. Following his retirement from the U. S. Army, he was employed at Universal Motors-Ford at Annapolis
and later Purdue Ford (which he owned) in Snow Hill. A memorial donation to this Foundation in memory of
Ninian is forthcoming. We will all miss him very much. To read about Ninian's relationships with, and descent
from, our Andersons, see, especially, footnotes nos. 53 and 65, appearing on pages 82 and 84, respectively,
of the (1993) Extract of Diary or Farm Journal of William Anderson of "Grassland" . Ninian was interred with
his Beall family at All Hallows Chapel cemetery, Davidsonville, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He was a son
of the late Lemon Beall, Jr., and Lucy (Colilinson) Beall, of (originally) Davidsonville, Maryland, and later of
Glen Burnie, Maryland.
In the passing this year of both Bill Anderson and Ninian Beall, we have lost two of the possibly last
surviving great grandsons of Absolom (III) Anderson and Louisa Priscilla (Woodward) Anderson.
THEREFORE, AS I SAID THIS TIME LAST YEAR, "ENOUGH ALREADY": Hope you all have had
a good year, and that you will have a successful and prosperous New Year and a Happy Christmas.
Kind personal regards to each of you.
~
Marvin H. Anderson
Encls. a/s
Prrepared 04-Nov-2006
The Grassland Foundation, Inc.
Summary Statement
Fiscal Year 2006
(November 1, 2005- October 31, 2006)
$18,665.72
Carryover Balance from Fiscal Year 2005
Income
.•...
Donations
Donations included with Membership Renewal
Membership Renewal
Rent
Maryland Historical Society (Grant)
Return of deposit payment made Feb. 2005 (BGE)
Lost Ck# 1051 credit amt back to account
20,033.73
195.00
930.00
0.00
0.00
256.59
390.00
Total Income as reflected in total on electronic checkbook
Adj for lost ck#1051 which was replaced with ck#I063
Adjusted Total Income
21,805.32
-390.00
21,415.32
Expenses
Membership cards
Administrative (Envelopes and stamps)
Anne Arundel County Real Estate Tax
Anne Arundel County WaterlWastewater Serv
Anderson Lawn Care/Mowing
BB&T Check Charge
BGE - Electrical Service
Dumpster Service (Red Wagon)
Miscellaneous Service
Annapolis Plumbing
487.50
H.E. Brady Tree Service
1,600.00
Mealey Signs
119.50
Lafenus Cline
700.00
Scott Blackketter Craftsmen
Westminister Am. Insurance
Less Total Expenses
Carryover Balance to FY 2007as of October 31,2006
0.00
181.38
4,052.35
413.72
2,715.00
0.00
99.04
2,652.45
2,907.00
10,779.54
1,309.00
-$25,109.48
$15,361.56
THE GRASSLAND FOUNDATION,
INC.
In reply, please address: 92 Franklin Street
Post Office Box 64
Annapolis, Maryland 21404-0064
Telephone: (410) 268-5035 (Annapolis)
(410) 269-0242 (Baltimore); ••EMail •.:[email protected]
October 12, 200q
Preservation Maryland
24 West Saratoga Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
Attention of Mr. Tyler Gearhart, Executive Director
In re: "Grassland" Home and Site at 2710 Hercules Road, National
Business Park, Annapolis Junction, Anne Arundel County,
Maryland 20701; 5.130 acres, more or less (Parcel No. 189, in
Block No. 22, on Tax Map No. 13 for Anne Arundel County);
National Register of Historic Places Property
Dear Mr. Gearhart:
I placed a call to you just before noon on this past Tuesday morning, October 10,
2006, and then left a "voice mail" for you, explaining briefly the reason for my call.
Last week, at a seminar that I attended in Washington, Attorneys Andrew S. Potts
and David Schon (of Nixon Peabody) suggested that I get in contact with you for
assistance after they had read the back side of the enclosed reproduced copy of my wife's
recent painting of the "front" (or parallel to Md. Route No. 32) side of the Grassland home
(the "better looking" of the various views of the outside, at this time).
Briefly stated, what we need to "get started" in the process of "finding"
someone with "deep financial pockets" who might be interested in "taking on" the
development and re-use of this property is a list of potential developers (and
"contact persons" with such developers) who "take on" these types of projects.
What we are interested in doing, as explained in what is enclosed with this letter,
is "net" "net" "ground leasing" the premises in their existing condition for a lengthy term(s)
in exchange for some' amount of rents and the ability of the lessee to be able to "take" and
claim whatever tax benefits there are from such a process. We are not interested in
"subordinating" (to financing) and/or "syndicating."
I should have mentioned that The Grassland Foundation, Inc., is a "Section
(501 (C)(3)" public charity whose "tax exempt" status with the IRS is established.
Preservation Maryland
Attention of Mr. Tyler Gearhart, Executive Director
-2-
October 12, 2006
By way of a brief "introduction" about me, I am a semi-retired Annapolis attorney
related to the builder of Grassland. I have met (but do not claim to really know) your current
President, Ms. Hayman (since she is a resident of Annapolis). My wife and I reside in the
old Federal-style brick farm house near Davidsonville that stands on part of the original
Mareen Duvall tract called Middle Plantation, while our son, of the same first name as
mine, and his family reside in the close by (to us) three-story Federal-style brick farm
house called Halls Grove at Gambrills, both of which have some elements of comparability
to and with the Grassland home (since all three were built more or less during the same
time period).
Donna Ware Luckenbach is "responsible" for my involvement (at all) in this project
to "save" Grassland (going back to the late 1980s when Captain John Bowie, Jr., was still
alive). Unfortunately, Donna is now "tied up" with her current job and involvement at and
with Londontown, and, in addition, she did sustain injuries in a fairly recent automobile
accident, all of which have "sidelined" her from and with involvement at this time in
Grassland.
Over the years we have recent a rather modest amount of financial support from the
Maryland Historical Trust, but indications are now that we will have to determine a use and
locate a long-term "user" for Grassland as the next step.
We have a "For Rent" (and more) sign affixed to the chain link fence which
surrounds the site, and we are beginning to receive an inquiry every now and then (I have
a telephone call, for example, pending in response to someone who called late yesterday,
possibly in response to a quite limited mailing that we sent out this past Summer). See
copy of sample letter enclosed.
We have an Architect's Preliminary Report from Annapolis Architect "Chip" Bohl
about the home and property as well as a recent study report about conditions at the home
prepared (in lieu of a formal engineer's report at this moment) by a Mr. Bob O'Hara
(married to United States Coast Guard Admiral Sally Ridout Brice), both of which are
available.
From a form submitted to us by Corporate Office Properties Trust (the
developerllandlord of the "business community" near Fort George G. Meade called the
National Business Park (of which the Grassland home and site is the only property therein
never owned by that entity), we have developed a proposed 35-page "net" "net" ground
lease (with amounts and dates, etc., left blank) which we can supply any prospect who is
seriously interested.
On a least two occasions since the late 1980s, we "tried" to "do business" with
Randall M. Griffin and his Corporate Office Properties Trust ("COPT"), but each time the
negotiations failed. The earlier of the two proposals concerned a possible restaurant use
forthe home and site; (since then COPT has sold the adjoining (to Grass/and) unimproved
Preservation Maryland
Attention of Mr. Tyler Gearhart, Executive Director
-3-
October 12, 2006
site to Marriott, which has developed and built upon it a new Marriott Courtyard Inn at the
"entrance" to the National Business Park (the "Park "surrounds" the Grassland home and
site on three sides). Basically, Mr. Griffin and COPT do not want to be committed (even
though he had, at one time, orally promised us to do so) to making any specific dollar
amount of renovations to the home and site in exchange for the proposed long-term lease,
while we have always taken the position that, under our commitments to the Maryland
Historical Trust, and otherwise, that is required. Details upon request.
At this point in time, with all of the development which has recently been proposed
and written about for the Fort George G. Meade area (in connection with "base
realignment" and other proposals), this area today is "hot" for development. There should
be some way in which our ideas for and about Grassland can be made to "work."
Anything you can do to help us, in terms of what I have bold faced on page one of
this letter, or otherwise, will be sincerely appreciated.
I am usually "at" the telephone nos. listed on page one ofthis letter during weekday
mornings (before noon).
Thank you.
For The Grassland Foundation, Inc.
BY:~~~~
=son,
Vice President
Enclosures
P. S. The National Business Park (and, consequently, the Grassland home and historic
site) are located at the intersection of the Baltimore-Washington (Gladys Noon Spellman)
Parkway and new Maryland Route No. 32. For example, "our" (the Foundation's) property
sits immediately next to and contiguous to the parking area for the National Security
Agency "Annex" Office Tower property (you can see the office tower from the Parkway). As
is "everything else" up there just now, "our" (the Foundation's) property is zoned Industrial
"W1 B", I believe it is).
M.H.A.
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
Prepared Originally August 27, 2000, for the Anderson Family Reunion of September 2,
2000, and Updated During November, 2006
1. In footnote 14, appearing on page 74, of the Diary Extract, the married name of one
of Surveyor John Randolph Woodward's daughters, Laura M. Woodward, is erroneously
stated to be "Moore"; in fact, her married name was "Moler", and she was the wife of Frank
Moler, of Jefferson County, West Virginia. The date oftheir marriage may have been August
1, 1879. This was yet another marriage that undoubtedly "traces back" to the time when
William Anderson, of Grassland, lived and worked in Harpers Ferry, (West) Virginia.
2. Since the Chart was prepared, we have learned, through their Deposition testimony
reported in one of the recent publications, that James Anderson, Sr., was born in the year
1727, while his youngest brother, Absolom (I) Anderson, was born during the year 1731
(although the year of his birth is quite often and erroneously reported to have been 1737,
probably because someone has misread or miscopied that year) (both being sons of William
(II) Anderson and his wife, Susannah (Meek) Phelps Anderson, of Providence Plantation,
Woodwardville); also, that at least one of Susannah (Meek) Phelps Anderson's daughters,
Mary Stewart, was a daughter by her first marriage to John Phelps.
3. It has definitely been established, from several sources, that the first name of the
third husband of Elizabeth (Anderson) Pearce Powell Manning (daughter of John Anderson
and Elizabeth (pratt) Anderson) was "Samuel"; and that Elizabeth (Anderson) Manning
ultimately lived with her Manning husband and family in today's Carroll County, Maryland,
in the area between Finksburg and Westminster along Old Westminster Road, where this
(Manning) family was associated with, and owned, the tract called Elizabeth's Fancy (which
tract might well have been named for or after Elizabeth (Anderson) Pearce Powell Manning).
4. The wife of William Anderson (born 1730 to Benjamin (Sr.) and Sarah (Thornbury)
Anderson - part of the My Lady's Manor family in Baltimore County) was Jane Little (Lytel),
and not a "Jemima", as shown on the chart.
5. Miss Margaret Neal deserves the credit for ascertaining that the family maiden name
of Susan(nah) Chaney Anderson, who married Edward Edwards (I) Anderson, is Donaldson
and not Chaney (as mentioned on the chart); and that she was undoubtedly a Chaney widow
when she married Edward Edwards (I) Anderson. I do not believe that her parents' names
have been ascertained at this time. Also, the distinct possibility exists that, prior to their 1797
marriage, Edward Edwards (I) Anderson may have had a prior marriage to which his two
oldest sons, James and Thomas, were probably born. The name of his earlier wife is not, at this
time, known.
5A~.
Thanks to the recent research by new Foundation member Mrs. Marion
Painter (of Astoria, Oregon), a descendant of Dr. James W. Ransom, M. D., and Elizabeth
(Anderson) Ransom, of Blackford County, Indiana (Mrs. Ransom was a daughter of William
-2-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
Clark( e) Anderson, Jr.), we now know, for the first time (2006), that the William C. Anderson
who, by Prince George's County, Maryland, marriage license dated October 7,1835, married
Mabel Waters (daughter of Nathan Waters, of Cherry Walk and Waters Lotte in the Fork of
the Patuxent in that same County) was William Clark(~ Anderson, Jr. (and not a William
Chaney Anderson, as heretofore claimed by Cousin and Genealogist Harry Wright Newman,
who himself was a great grandson of William Anderson and Sarah Jane (Waters) Anderson,
his first wife). Mabel (Waters) Anderson was the sister of Sarah Jane Waters (who had earlier
(December 18,1821) married William Anderson (son of Edward Edwards (I) Anderson and
Susan (Donaldson) Chaney Anderson, ofthe William (III) Anderson "line"), while the William
Clark(e) Andersons were descendants of William (III) Anderson's youngest brother, Lt.
Absolom (I) Anderson and Mary (Clarkte) Anderson, his first wife. (Some of the descendants
of the William Anderson and his first wife, Sarah Jane Waters, are locally known as the" John
Waters Anderson" family.) William Clark(e) Anderson, Jr., and his new wife and family later
returned to Ohio and/or Indiana (where Mabel (Waters) Anderson died on October 17, 1874,
her husband, William Clarke(e) Anderson, Jr., having predeceased her on October 14,1858,
both having been interred at Indiana's Blackford County, Jackson Township, Trenton
Cemetery). William Clark(e) Anderson, Jr., was a full brother of Dr. Asa Anderson, M.D.,
who also returned to the area of his forebearers in Anne Arundel and Prince George's
Counties, Maryland, from Ohio. Unlike his brother (William Clark(e) Anderson, Jr.), Dr. Asa
Anderson never returned to the mid-West, but remained in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Thanks to Mrs. Painter, we now have quite a bit of more detail about William Clark(e)
Anderson, Jr., and his descendants. He may have been married three times. Details upon
request.
The foregoing in no way diminishes the fact that, as previously reported in the earlier
edition of this Errata/Corrections, living in Baltimore City with his family, during parts of the
Nineteenth Century, was a carpenter named Chaney Anderson, who, on January 28, 1858,
married Elizabeth Garring, a union which produced some children.
After he had married Mabel Waters, William Clark(e) Anderson, Jr., on March 16,
1843, purchased his new father-in-Iaw's real estate in Prince George's County, Maryland, in
the "Great Fork ofthe Patuxent", giving him back a purchase money mortgage secured on the
real estate, personal property, and some slaves. Following the father-in-Iaw's death (Spring
of 1844), the son-in-law was unable to pay the indebtedness to the father-in-Iaw's estate and
heirs, who foreclosed. At the mortgage foreclosure sale, the appointed Trustee, Caleb Clarke
Magruder, on May 28, 1847, sold the real estate and one slave to Joshua T. Clark, and the
(performance) bond was signed by the mortgage debtor, William C. Anderson, and that (or
one other) slave was sold at the same time to a William E. Anderson, with Joshua T. Clark as
William E. Anderson's surety. It is possible that (a) William E. Anderson was a son of William
Clark(e) Anderson, Jr., and (b) William Clark(e) Anderson, Jr., was related to both Joshua
T. Clark (who had purchased the real estate at the foreclosure) and Caleb ClarkW Magruder,
the attorney Trustee who had conducted the foreclosure proceedings, since one of William
-3-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
Clark(£) Anderson, Jr. 's grandmothers had been Mary (Clark(£) Anderson (the first Mrs.
Absolom (I) Anderson). This mortgage foreclosure case is extensively "reported" in Harry
Wright Newman's Anne Arundel Gentry. The spellings, "Clark" and "Clarke", were used
interchangeably during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries within the same family.
Interestingly, one of William Clark( e) Anderson, Jr. 's sons, Randolph (whose full name
may have been "Randolph Coyle") Anderson, became a judge in the Dakota and/or Nebraska
Territories, and his name appears on an old list of "Forks ofthe Patuxent" names which was
turned over to Mrs. DuLaney many years ago from the late Fannie Estelle Newman (Mrs.
Albert Sidney Parry), who was the aunt of the late professional genealogist, Harry (Anderson)
Wright Newman (Jr.). By his second wife, Acsah (Gaither) Anderson, William Anderson (of
Edward Edwards (I) and Susan (Donaldson) Chaney Anderson) also had a son named
Randolph, who married Cecelia Hopkins (daughter of Samuel and Rosanna (phelps) Hopkins),
and it is this younger Randolph Anderson, his wife, and some of their family who are interred,
beneath a large monument, in the Cemetery of Trinity United Methodist Church (at
Woodwardville, Odenton, Anne Arundel County, Maryland), surrounded by dozens of their
Anderson (and other) cousins likewise interred in that Cemetery.'
6. Undoubtedly the most startling "new information" to "come to light" since the
lThis past September, your annotator and his wife were guests at an annual
Homecoming Church worship service at the historic and beautiful Perkins Chapel (part of
today's Glenn Dale United Methodist Church, Glenn Dale, Prince George's County,
Maryland). The Chapel itself had been built (mid-Nineteenth Century) by Samuel
Anderson, nephew of William Anderson of "Grassland", while the pews still in the Chapel
were constructed by Samuel's son-in-law, Henry Soper (cabinet maker). For more reading
about this family and the Chapel, see (especially) footnote no. 108, on page 96, of Extract of
Diary or Farm Journal of William Anderson of "Grassland" 1853 to 1875.... by The
Grassland Foundation, Inc., September 1, 1993. As a result, we have met and are currently
in correspondence with two grand nieces of the late Mrs. Wilbur Hopkins Anderson (who
are present day members of the congregation of Glenn Dale United Methodist Church).
Wilbur Hopkins Anderson was a son of the second Randolph Anderson mentioned in the
text of this letter Report. Wilbur Hopkins Anderson and his wife, the late Mary Lydia
Schafer (of an old Prince George's County family which "traces back", however, to an
earlier Anderson family in Baltimore County, a Susannah (Anderson) Corbin), had no
children. We are attempting to assist the grand nieces in determining just who are their
Anderson forebearers in Baltimore County, Maryland. On the same occasion, we met Mrs.
Richard Hall and her son, also named Richard Hall, who are descendants of the same
overall branch of the Hall family (in the general Glenn Dale area of (Northern) Prince
George's County, Maryland) into which so many of our Anderson forebearers had
intermarried.
-4-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
preparation of the chart is the fact that there is "still another" (in addition to the "one" who
is identified on the "chart" as William (II) Anderson, who died in 1741 as the husband of
Susannah (Meek) Phelps Anderson, of Providence Plantation) William Anderson. This "new"
William Anderson died as early as June 25, 1738, leaving surviving him his widow, Elizabeth
(Linthicum), who remarried, following his death, Thomas Fowler, of Prince George's County,
and there was at least one son, Leonard Anderson. Circumstantial evidence exists that, in
Prince George's County, there may have been Anderson descendants of this other and
additional William Anderson. The strongest evidence of a relationship lies in the fact that the
name "Leonard" comes down in at least two branches of our "lines", viz.: (a) a grandson of
James Anderson, Sr., was named Leonard Anderson (who went to Montgomery County, not
further traced); and (b) a grandson of Benjamin Anderson, Sr. (through his son, Thomas), in
Baltimore County, was also named "Leonard". Finally, the Elizabeth Linthcum who married
the William Anderson who was deceased by 1738, was a daughter of Thomas Linthicum, Jr.,
and Deborah (Wayman) Linthicum. Deborah (Wayman) Linthicum was the daughter of
Leonard Wayman, Sr., and his wife, Dorcas; hence, the "origin" in this family of the name,
"Leonard". One of Elizabeth (Linthicum) Anderson's sisters, Mary, married a John Fowler;
and one of her brothers, Edmund Linthicum, of Linthicum Walks, near Crofton, was the
grandfather of the two Edwards sisters who married" our" William (III) Anderson. Therefore,
if you were to "draw in", on your copy of the chart, to the left or right hand side (it would not
make any difference) a "new line" of descent for this "new" William Anderson (who was
deceased by 1738, and who married Elizabeth Linthicum, and who had at least one son,
Leonard Anderson) and showing him as being, possibly, a brother of "our" John Anderson
(deceased by March 31, 1727), you probably would be correct.
(New:) Since the preceding paragraph was written, a chart has been prepared (that was
circulated with the Annual Report or letter for the calendar year of 2004 by The Grassland
Foundation, Inc.), and both the new chart and the December, 2004, Report include a summary
of everything that we now know about William Anderson, Jr. (believed to be a brother of
"our" John Anderson (who married Elizabeth Pratt), of Shady Side, Anne Arundel County,
Maryland); and, therefore, presumed to be another son of William (I) Anderson, of Soldiers
Delight near Friendship and Herring Creek, Southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
7. In the Baltimore County Orphans Court proceedings for 1788, William (III)
Anderson serves as the administrator ofthe estate of Elizabeth O'Connor (no other references
are extant for this estate). That William (III) Anderson was married before he married either
one of the Edwards sisters has long been believed, because, as Mrs. DuLaney points out in her
1948 genealogy, his Anne Arundel County Will leaves bequests to his grandchildren, Dennis
O'Connor, Elizabeth Chaney, and O'Neal Connor. We now know that William (III) Anderson
had at least one daughter (by a prior marriage), namely, the above Elizabeth (Anderson)
O'Connor (who apparently died in Baltimore County circa 1788).
~ew:)
Since the above last sentence was written, upon further consideration,
it now
-5-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
appears almost certain that Elizabeth (Anderson) O'Connor was, in fact, the daughter of
Elizabeth (Edwards) Anderson (as probably were all of William (III) Anderson's known
children); if William (III) Anderson was married before he married Elizabeth Edwards, such
prior (if any) wife's name is not known at this time.
8. On the left hand side of the chart, it is indicated that Samuel Anderson (son of
William (III) Anderson by one of his Edwards wives) had married Jemima Taylor; this is
incorrect; it was his brother, James Anderson, who, on February 1, 1795, in Prince George's
County, Maryland, married Jemima Taylor. Mrs. DuLaney writes that this James Anderson
was deceased by 1822, but left one son, William Anderson, surviving him (Ref.: Maryland
Chancery Case No. 5985). However, in Prince George's County, Maryland, there is a marriage
license recorded on February 19, 1787, for a Samuel Anderson and a Martha Taylor. No
definite information about descendants for either of these two brothers has been presented,
although there is an indication that one or both ofthem may have gone to Pennsylvania, which
is where their oldest brother, William (IV), went, about whose descendants (in Bedford and
Huntington Counties, Pennsylvania, at the "Broad Top" Mountain and Saxton County,
Pennsylvania, areas, and (later) in Seward County, Nebraska) much information has been
presented in recent years.
9. Finally, there is a real indication that at least some of our ancestors, or at least some
of their close relatives (on the" Anderson side"), including especially the Cumbers, and possibly
the Andersons as well, may have "originated" from, or at least had close family relatives (on
"this side" of the Atlantic, at least) on Barbados Island. There is also at least one "Pawley"
recorded as dying there July 29,1660. Other local last names which appear in the Barbados
records: Parris (compare with "Parish", as in Parrish Creek, at Shady Side, Maryland); and
Ijams. There is a definite indication that the Cumbers' English place of origin was Weskett
(today spelled "Westcott"), in Darking (today spelled "Dorking") Parish, County Surry (a little
South of London). There are two 1664 Barbados marriages recorded for each of a William and
a John Anderson, and a John Anderson is interred at St. Michaels, Barbados, in 1666. A John
Anderson received a Deed of conveyance in the Barbados during the period 1640 to 1730.
"Our" John Cumber had (earlier) received a "land grant" for a tract of ground near Poquoson
in York County, Virginia, as early as November 19, 1638. By October 12, 1642, one John
Robbins had received headrights for 2,000 acres near Mockjack Bay and the Severn River (in
present Gloucester and Matthews Counties, Virginia) for transporting, among others, one
Lyonell Holley. A Thomas Pratt was brought into Virginia by a Thomas Ballard, of Gloucester
County (later New Kent) County, Virginia, about 1665.
~ew:) Since the above reference was found for a John Cumber receiving a "land grant"
for land near Poquoson in York County, Virginia, we have now obtained, from the "web", a
copy of the distribution of the Virginia John Cumber's personal estate and Will of March 30,
1679, which indicates that he died in Henrico County, Virginia, apparently without a family or
close relatives living there. See the "web" site:
-6-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:Jg804vcqsGoJ:freepages.genealolO'.rootsweb.com/
vi .
Based upon this, there now does not appear any obvious connection between the Captain John
Cumber at West River in Anne Arundel County, on the one hand, and the Virginia John
Cumber who may have died unmarried and childless, on the other hand. Captain John
Cumber, of Cumberstone at West River, was the grandfather of Elizabeth Pratt who married
" our" John Anderson, of Shady Side, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. An abstract of Captain
John Cumber's Anne Arundel County, Maryland, Will, dated November 20,1676, probated
April 7, 1677, devising personalty to his then widowed son-in-law, Thomas Pratt (father of
"our" Elizabeth (pratt) Anderson (later Mrs. John Anderson) appears at the "web" site:
http://72.14.203.1 04/search ?q=cache:Mo W8pCNQXx8J:www .usgennet.ore/usa/md/state/wi ...
Next month [meaning, during September, 2000], the undersigned will be in the vicinity
of New Castle upon Tyne, England, "checking out" with local genealogist(s) in that area to see
if it is worthwhile to have such a local genealogist "take" the broad outlines that we have for
"our" line of Andersons in an effort to try and locate a reasonable prospect who might have
been" our" William (I) Anderson or an ancestor of his. Admittedly, the prospects are not good.
(We will also be visiting friends in County Surry, whose last name, incidentally, is not Cumber,
but we just may "motor" over to Westcott and Dorking to (at least) see if any Cumbers are
"listed" in the local "tele" directory!)
~:)
Since paragraph no. 9, above, was prepared in September, 2000, for the Family
Reunion held that month, subsequent "developments" which have produced the "theory" that
"our" Andersons descend from a family that was at Berwick-upon-Tweed (in Northeast
England at the Scottish border) have been "reported" in detail and included in newsletters that
were "put out" and circulated during December, 2000, and June, 2002, respectively, as well as
in Annual Reports that were circulated during December in the years of 2004 and 2005,
respectively. Therefore, these new developments will not be repeated here.
10. New. In her 1948 Anderson genealogy, Mrs. DuLaney writes that Dr. Anderson
Warfield, M. D. (son of Sarah (Anderson) Warfield and her husband, Thomas Warfield, of
Lugg Ox Plantation, near Crofton, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, and grandson of James
Anderson, Sr., and Lydia (Meek) Anderson), "remained a bachelor." Page 79,Andersonsfrom
the Great Fork of the Patuxent. (For more about Dr. Warfield, see footnotes 73 (on page 87) and,
especially, 119 (on pages 98-99) of Extract of Diary or Farm Journal of William Anderson of
"Grassland" 1853 to 1875 .... , September 1,1993, by The Grassland Foundation, Inc.) It now
appears that Dr. Warfield married Jane Clarke, and that this couple had at least one daughter,
Sarah Anderson Warfield, who was baptized at Old St. Paul's Church at Baltimore on March
8, 1799. Reamy, 1 Records of St. Paul's Parish (1988) 126 and 130. It would appear, however,
that this line left no lineal descendants, because (a) the above mentioned daughter may have
been their daughter (not named in the death entry) who was interred at Old St. Paul's Church
on July 26,1799; and (b) Dr. Warfield, upon his death, devised his home real estate on Eutaw
Street in Baltimore City and his medical practice to the stepson of his sister, Dr. Thomas
-7-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACrr' AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
Bealmear. (Question: Was Jane (Clarke) Anderson related to the Mary Clark{e) who was the
first wife of Lt. Absolom (I) Anderson, and were both of them descended from Captain Daniel
Clark{e) (see page 8, Grassland History Notes, June, 2002 issue)?)
11. New. An Update About the Anderson/Andersen Family DNA Project: On page ~ of
the letter Report to the Members of The Grassland Foundation, Inc., dated December 5, 2005,
we indicated that we had "high hopes" about a father and son both named Absolom Anderson
whose descendants were located in Kansas and Texas, respectively, as being possibly related
to us. Since then, and through the "web," we have ascertained that this Lanark, Lanarkshire,
Scotland, family had "imported" the first name, Absolom, into their Anderson line during the
Nineteenth century because the name" Absolom" had earlier occurred in the maternal line of
one ofthem (which had nothing to do with the name Anderson); therefore, that matter has not
been pursued further.
On the other hand, however, the pedigrees submitted by Bob Lee Anderson, of Missouri
(since deceased), #38401, and Billie Neal Anderson, #11450 {both available to be reviewed and
printed as part of (now) Group #4 (previously part of Group #5) of the Anderson & Andersen
Family
DNA
Research
Project,
that
can
now
be
accessed
at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/-andersondna/groups4
29214.html, and whose
"DNA" results affirmatively "place" both Bob and Billie as "parts" of the same "branches"
of Andersons from whom both the undersigned and Charles Anderson (a descendant of
William Clark{e) Anderson) descend, show that they (Bob and Billie) "trace back" to a group
of Andersons in Stafford County, Virginia (John Anderson and his wife, Sarah (Carney)
Anderson), who, in turn, trace back to an even earlier group of David Andersons in both
Westmoreland and Stafford Counties, Virginia, who include a David (I) Anderson. This David
(I) Anderson may have been the earliest land grant grantor at and near Virginia's Wakefield
(birth place of George Washington) and/or the adjoining Pope's Creek Plantation of the
Washingtons in Westmoreland County, "Northern Neck", Virginia, of land to Colonel John
Washington (George Washington's Great Grandfather), as more fully brought out in a
published (1979) paper back book entitled: Pope's Creek Plantation Birthplace of George
Washington (with the Washington family coat of arms on the cover) that has been published
by The Wakefield National Memorial Association in cooperation with the National Park Service
(ISBN 0-934146-00-4) that is (or was, a very few years ago) available for purchase at the Popes
Creek Plantation book store right on the property. While not containing any index of names at
the back, this 173 page book is replete with text, footnotes, maps, drawings, and some black on
white photographs which "spell out" in a lot more detail than I can write in this letter report
the whole and entire "story"of this David (I) Anderson and his land transaction{s) with the
family and ancestors of George Washington. (At last report, Mrs. Susan (Renfro) Anderson
(Bob Lee Anderson's widow) was able to locate and purchase a copy of the foregoing book on
the "web" from a "web" book dealer.)
This is undoubtedly the same David (I) Anderson who, many years ago, Mrs. DuLaney
-8-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
had ascertained had accompanied (about 1650, give or take) Nathaniel Pope, of Pope's Creek
in Virginia, on a "trading" expedition by boat up into "deep" Southern Maryland's Patuxent
River country, before they returned to Virginia. It was this Nathaniel Pope's daughter, Anne,
who would marry John Washington (George Washington's great grandfather) a few years
later.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is no indication of any physical" connection" with,
or contact between, "our" William (I) Anderson, at Herring Creek in Southern (lower) Anne
Arundel County, near the Patuxent River, on the one hand, and the foregoing David (I)
Anderson, on the other hand; in fact, "our" William (I) Anderson did not arrive at Herring
Creek until about 1668, which would have been after David (I) Anderson and Nathaniel Pope
had returned to Pope's Creek near Wakefield in Virginia. Any connection between the two
families would undoubtedly precede the migration of both families to Virginia and Maryland,
respectively.
But the foregoing "story" illustrates what can come of "DNA" testing. (An "e mail"
address (in Missouri) for Mrs. Bob Lee Anderson (Mrs. Susan (Renfro) Anderson) is
[email protected]).
(In addition to Bob Lee Anderson and Billie Neal Anderson, the
"DNA" results, from the Anderson-Family Group #4, "place" several other Anderson families,
whose genealogies, nevertheless, still remain to be established or corrected, "in" with "ours."
We are "working" with at least one of these other Anderson families (one of whose members
in Texas has the full and interesting name of "William Samuel Anderson") to assist them in
resolving their pedigree. We may have more to report later about that.)
For the pedigree of the family of John Anderson and Sarah (Carney) Anderson, of
(originally) Stafford County, Virginia, as placed on the "web" by Patrick Anderson, as part of
his much larger website: the "Everett Anderson Memorial Collection of Colonial Va. Anderson
Families", see:
http://homepa2es.rootsweb.com/-anderson/va/trees/david.html,
containing fifteen pages, of which John Anderson and Sarah (Carney) Anderson appear as
part of Generation No.4 beginning on page 7 (of 15) of the foregoing Virginia family of
successive early David Andersons. Another "website" pertaining to the family and descendants
of John Anderson and Sarah (Carney) Anderson is located at:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/a/n/d/Susan-Kay-Anderson/GENEI026-001
...
12. A Correction in the Name Identifications on One ofthe Photographs ofthe William
Thomas Anderson Family of Providence Plantation at Woodwardville, Anne Arundel County,
Maryland, Which Appeared in the Booklet Distributed Last Year (2005) entitled: In Dogwood
Blossoming Times and Additional Documents About Life at Woodwardville, Anne Arundel
County, Maryland ...: The photograph in question appears on an unnumbered page as the top
most photograph above photographs of Samuel and Elizabeth (Anderson) Anderson. The lady
standing at the right hand side in the second row identified as Susan Moler (Anderson) Duff
-9-
LIST OF ERRATA/CORRECTIONS IN "DIARY EXTRACT" AND/OR ANDERSON
FAMILY CHART
is, in fact, her sister, Elizabeth (Anderson) Anderson (Mrs. William Anderson), Mrs. DuLaney's
Mother. On this particular photograph, Susan Moler (Anderson) Duff is, instead, the lady in
the back row standing next to (to the right of) her brother-in-law, William Anderson (who was
misidentified as Elizabeth (Anderson) Anderson). Hope I have that one right, at last.
Marvin H. Anderson
GRASSLAND
Grassland is an antebellum brick plantation house at Hercules Road, Annapolis Junction,
Anne Arundel County, Maryland, that is today nestled on three to four plus acres located within the
National Business Park (and next to the National Security Agency Annex building) near the
intersection of the Gladys Noon Spellman (Baltimore-Washington) Parkway and Maryland Route
No. 32, close to the Northwest comer of that road intersection.
The home consists of a brick telescope-style home and three surviving farm outbuildings
which today are owned and administered by The Grassland Foundation, Inc. (a "Section 501(c)(3)"
charitable organization).
The builder was William Anderson, a self educated architect and storekeeper, who purchased
approximately 700 acres in 1852 of Worthington's Fancy from James Worthington. Anderson had
recently returned to Anne Arundel and Prince George's Counties, Maryland (his place of birth) from
Harpers Ferry in what was still the Commonwealth of Virginia, where he had owned and operated
a dry goods and hardware retail store that was located directly across the street from where, later,
occurred John Brown's Raid. (Today, the beautifully restored three-story double brick townhouse
of William Anderson at Harpers Ferry is the Main Headquarters Building of the National Park
Service.)
In 1852 Anderson had decided to commence a career in farming and plantation operation at
Annapolis Junction, and he began clearing for and constructing his plantation buildings using slave
labor. An account of this and of the daily local, state, and national events, interspersed with family
events and affairs, covering a twenty-five year, more or less, period (which includes the years of the
Civil War and Reconstruction) are chronicled in a farm journal which today is at the Maryland
Historical Society in Baltimore.
All three sections of the telescope-plan house were built at one time (1853) with bricks that
were made and fired on the property. The larger and more formal portion of the home displays an
unusual use of a side entrance and side passage leading past its double-parlor. Thus, the home is
arranged axially with the principal entrance located at the gable end. Inside, the stair hall runs the
length of this section, from gable to gable end. The two parlors, as well as most of the bed rooms
located on the second floor, were heated by gable-end chimneys, one in each room.
The central section of the telescope plan consists of one room which includes a second
stairwell to the second floor. The smallest portion of the home was later used as a kitchen with an
upstairs loft. Exterior and interior trim throughout the house is very plain and typical of the midnineteenth century.
Originally, the main kitchen was located in a separate free standing building at the back,
which no longer exists, although the chimney from that kitchen still stands. Slaves dug the ice pond
and constructed a dam and ice house. The ice house remains. In 1853 a frame bank bam (destroyed
in 1985 for the expansion of Route 32) was built by Anderson, his slaves, and Elias Gardner. One
hundred wagon loads of stone from nearby out-croppings were hauled to the site for the massive
foundation walls. Thirty and forty foot rimbers were hewn for the mortise and tenoned framing
which was secured with large pegs.
A slave owner, Anderson was a Southern sympathizer during the Civil War. However, he
was compelled to host several encampments of Union troops at Grassland. Annapolis Junction, a
strategic railroad convergence of two railroads and an area of troop concentration for the Union, was
less than a mile away. The home served as a place of overnight abode for important train passengers
during the War whenever regular hotel facilities at the Junction were full.
In 1870, Anderson's daughter, Susannah, married Major (later Colonel) T. John Bowie, who,
as a young man, served as the Union provost marshall for northern Prince George's County, and this
couple succeeded to the ownership of Grassland by the time of her father's death in 1877. Later the
home and farm were owned and occupied by John Bowie, the oldest of his parents' five children.
Sheriff John Bowie lived at and farmed the Grassland tract until his death in 1953.
Through the efforts of one of his sons, Captain John Bowie, Jr., USC&GS, and Captain
Bowie's widow, the late Audrey Lawrence Bowie, the surviving buildings and approximately three
to four plus acres upon which they sit were set aside for preservation when the balance of the farm
had to be sold about 1989.
The property was listed on the National Register in 1984, and plans for restoration and
adaptive reuse are proceeding. For inquiries, contact the Foundation at Post Office Box 64,
Annapolis, Maryland 21404-0064 or on the "web" [email protected]
Letters trom Lost Towns
Summer 2006
New Discoveries at Cheney's Hill
=-John Kille
Future Events
Final 2006 Public Dig Day!
Sept. 9, 2006
9:00am - 2:00pm, London
Town
Lost Towns archaeologists
invite
the public to help screen soil to find
artifacts, tour the site, and attend
workshops.
Call London Town at (410) 2221919 to reserve your spot!
Monday Lecture Series
Come to the Anne Arundel County
Heritage Center to learn about our
most recent research and archaeological finds as well as research
conducted in related fields. Lectures are held from 1-2 pm in the
Chesapeake Room on the 2nd floor
of Building 2664. Please call Erin
Cullen for directions at (410) 2227441. We look forward to seeing
you there!
With the impending completion ofthe River Creek Subdivision,
the Lost Towns Project has recently returned in force to continue
exploration of the circa 1658 home that once belonged to one of
Anne Arundel County's most distinguished families. The project's
excavations are currently centered on the Cheney/Chaney Homester.d,
which once stood on a high remote area that is now part of a residential subdivision development project along Riva Road, southwest of
Annapolis.
The opportunity to uncover areas surrounding the
homestead's postin-ground "footprint," which was
thought
to be
roughly 20 x 26feet, has revealed
the structure was
Three dimensional render of Cheney 's House:
actually
larger.
Inside, by thefireplace.
Project archaeologists and volunteers are.finding additional posthole features or stains
in the soil, which suggest this earthfast dwelling had additions to
each side of the "lobby entrance, central chimney" layout previously
Continued on page 2
We. suu 1(u4.
1JI1UT
:tfe.t,!!
The Lost Towns Lab is shaping up nicely, but we are still missing key
Upcoming Lectures:
September 25 - Lauren Schiszik
"Incised Ceramics of the Early Copper Age in Veszto, Hungary"
October 23 - Al Luckenbach
"Projectile Point Styles"
November 27 - Jenna Solomon
"Bird Control and Historic Buildings"
December - No Lecture, Enjoy the
holidays!
equipment, such as £urniture, computers, shelving and supplies.
Any levelol linancial support is greatly appreciated,
donations are tax-deductible
Donations can be sent to:
Anne Arundel CountlJ Trust lor Preservation, Inc
PO Box 1573
Annapolis, MD 21404
and ':lour
Home of Samuel Chew Sr.
~§tQUf~l~
rly~.~ .•~,.;_.
, --
=John Kille
The Lost Towns Project has embarked on a search for the 17th-century home of Samuel Chew Sr., one
of six documented lot owners in the 17th-century 'town of Herrington, near present day Town Point. The
Chew investigation will involve targeted historical and cartographic research and limited archaeological testing.
Findings will be written up in a report that will be
presented to the membership of the Deale Area
Historical Society and the general public.
Samuel Chew Sr. was a planter and merchant
who also served in the highest levels oflegislative,
provincial, and local government. He also was
recognized as an important leader of the Herring
Creek Quakers, and his home was used for regular meetings.
This effort has been launched with a generous mini-grant provided by Four Rivers: The
Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town, and
South County and matching support from the
Ned Crandell Family of Town Point, Maryland.
Ned Crandell, owner of Town Point Ma- Mr. Crandell, center, is flanked by John and Al after receiving
rina, received the Archaeological Preservation the Archaeological Preservation award from the ACT.
award from the Anne Arundel County Trust for Preservation, Inc. and last year received an ACT historical
marker designating the discovery of the 17th-century town of Herrington on his property. Several generations
of Crandells have lived near the site of Herrington and the area where the search for the home of Samuel Chew
Sr. will take place.
Continued from page 1
defined.
The Cheney site is particularly important, as it is one of the
earliest frontier occupations in
Maryland, located many miles
from protected settlements organized during the 17th century. According to Dr. AI, the new discoveries at the homestead site are
significant as they underscore the
complexities ofthe historic landscape in which the Cheney's lived
and worked. He points out that
in addition to the homestead, a
second earthfast building, also lying on the Cheney parcel, has yet
to be excavated, while the exist-
ence of trash pits and possible
fence lines, sheds, and outbuilding also need further delineation
and study.
The fact that the Cheney/
Chaney property has so far remained undisturbed in the face of
encroaching development provides a unique opportunity to
study a little known period in
Maryland history. In addition to
documenting the layout and design
of associated buildings, the
project continues to recover a
large collection of artifacts from
the site, such as broken pieces of
imported European ceramics,
buckles and ornamental metalwork, and gun flint and lead shot
used for hunting. When processed and analyzed, these household items will tell us a great deal
about 17th-century lifestyles, particularly as they relate to this increasingly complex home site.
Volunteers are encouraged to
come out and join the regular
Lost Towns field crew that has
been working at the Cheneys Hill
site this summer. It is with out a
doubt one of the most promising
and fascinating cultural landscapes we have had the pleasure
of excavating!
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