Historic Shrines of America Part 22

The number of Presbyterians increased to such an extent that in 1680 Colonel Stevens asked the Presbytery of Laggan in Ireland for a G.o.dly minister to gather the band of exiles into a church. Francis Makemie was sent as a result. Soon Rehoboth Church was organized by him, as well as a number of other churches in the neighborhood. The exact date of the beginning of Rehoboth Church is uncertain, but it is probable that the first building was erected about 1683.

For some years Makemie travelled from place to place, preaching and organizing churches as he went, but from 1699 to 1708, except in 1704 and 1705, when he visited Europe, he lived in the neighborhood and preached at Rehoboth whenever he was at home.

When it became necessary to erect a new church building, he decided to have this on his own land, because of Maryland's intolerant laws. This building, which is still in use, dates from 1706, the year when its builder a.s.sisted in organizing the first Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia.

Makemie's name will ever be connected with the struggle for religious liberty. He had a certificate from the court that permitted him to preach in the Province of Maryland, but he had many trying experiences in spite of this fact. His congregation groaned under the necessity of paying taxes to support the rectors of three neighboring parishes.

The greatest trial was not in Maryland, but in New York, where he spent a portion of 1706 and 1707. His experiences there should be familiar to all who are interested in the struggle for religious liberty in America.

The story is told in a curious doc.u.ment written by Makemie himself, which was printed in New York in 1707, under the t.i.tle "A Particular Narrative of the Imprisonment of two Non-Conformist Ministers; and Prosecution & Tryal of one of them, for Preaching one Sermon in the city of New-York. By a Learner of Law and Lover of Liberty."

The warrant for the arrest of the "criminal" was addressed to Thomas Cordale, Esqr., High-Sheriff of Queens County on Long-Island, or his Deputy, and was signed by Lord Cornbury. It read:

"Whereas I am informed, that one Mackennan, and one Hampton, two Presbyterian Preachers, who lately came to this City, have taken upon them to Preach in a Private House, without having obtained My Licence for so doing, which is directly contrary to the known Laws of England, and being likewise informed, that they are gone into Long-Island, with intent there to spread their Pernicious Doctrines and Principles, to the great disturbance of the Order by Law established by the Government of this province. You are therefore hereby Required and Commanded, to take into your Custody the Bodies of the said Mackennan and Hampton, and then to bring them with all convenient speed before me, at Fort-Anne, in New-York."

When brought before Lord Cornbury, Makemie said: "We have Liberty from an Act of Parliament, made the first year of the Reign of King William and Queen Mary, which gave us Liberty, with which Law we have complied."

But Lord Cornbury replied: "No one shall Preach in my Government without my Licence.... That Law does not extend to the American Plantations, but only to England.... I know, for I was at Making thereof.... That Act of Parliament was made against Strowling Preachers, and you are such, and shall not Preach in my Government."

Makemie again challenged Lord Cornbury to show "any Pernicious Doctrine in the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church." Later he refused to give "Bail and Security to Preach no more."

"Then you must go to Gaol," his Lords.h.i.+p said.

On January 23 another warrant was given to the High Sheriff of New York. He was told "to safely keep till further orders" the prisoners committed to him.

From the prison Makemie sent a pet.i.tion asking to know the charge, and demanding a speedy trial. Later the prisoner was released on habeas corpus proceedings.

At the trial, where Makemie conducted his own defence, he read Chapter 23 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, as a complete reply to the charge that he believed what incited the people to disregard the authority of the king.

The jury brought in a verdict of "not guilty," but Makemie was obliged to pay the costs, including the fees of the Court Prosecutor, which amounted to twelve pounds. The total cost of the trial, including the expense of a trip from his home in Maryland, made necessary by a recess in the trial, was more than eighty pounds.

A few months later Makemie died. It was felt by those who knew him that the trying experiences at New York hastened his end.

He had not lived in vain. His struggles for religious liberty were to bear rich fruit before many years.

Henry van d.y.k.e wrote a sonnet to the memory of Francis Makemie, which was read on May 14, 1908, when the monument to the memory of the pioneer was unveiled:

"To thee, plain hero of a rugged race, We bring a meed of praise too long delayed!

Thy fearless word and faithful work have made Of G.o.d's Republic a firmer resting-place In this New World: for thou hast preached the grace And power of Christ in many a forest glade, Teaching the truth that leaves men unafraid Of frowning tyranny or death's dark face.

"Oh, who can tell how much we owe to thee, Makemie, and to labor such as thine, For all that makes America the shrine Of faith untrammelled and of conscience free?

Stand here, grey stone, and consecrate the sod Where rests this brave Scotch-Irish man of G.o.d."

[Ill.u.s.tration: DOUGh.o.r.eGAN MANOR, NEAR ELLICOTT CITY, MD.

_Photo by James F. Hughes Company, Baltimore_ See page 216]

XLVII

DOUGh.o.r.eGAN MANOR, NEAR ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND

WHOSE OWNER WAS THE LAST SURVIVING SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

It is true that when Charles Carroll was about to sign his name to the Declaration of Independence he added the words, "of Carrollton," but the story that he added the words there that he might be distinguished from a second Charles Carroll is an error; he had been writing his name thus since 1765. It would have been just as true a description if he had used the name of another of the numerous Carroll estates, Dough.o.r.egan Manor, but the designation he chose was simpler. At any rate he could not spell it in so many ways as the name of the family estate where he lived and died. Letters written by him at different periods show such diverse spellings as "Doeheragen," "Doohoragen,"

"Dooheragon," and "Dougheragen," before he settled down to "Dough.o.r.egan."

Dough.o.r.egan Manor, which was named for one of the O'Carroll estates in Ireland, is one of the most ancient family seats in Maryland. In 1688 Charles Carroll, I, came over from England. He became a large landed proprietor, in part as a result of his appeal to the king of England for a part in the estate of the O'Carrolls of King's County, Ireland.

The king satisfied the claim by offering him 60,000 acres of land in the Colonies. His heir was Charles Carroll, II, who was born in 1702.

Fifteen years later Dough.o.r.egan Manor was built, and twenty-seven years later Charles Carroll, II, and his brother Daniel sold sixty acres of land which became the site of old Baltimore.

Charles Carroll, II, divided his time between Dough.o.r.egan Manor and the Carroll Mansion in Annapolis, his town house. Here was born, in 1737, Charles Carroll, III, the Signer. Most of the education of this heir to the vast estate of Charles Carroll, II, was secured in France.

He was in Paris when his father wrote to him, in 1764, telling him of the large property that was to come to him. After speaking of this in detail, he concluded:

"On my death I am willing to add my Manor of Dough.o.r.egan, 10,000 acres, and also 1,425 Acres called Chance adjacent thereto, on the bulk of which my negroes are settled. As you are my only child, you will, of course, have all the residue of my estate at my death."

When the estate of his father finally came into his hands, Charles Carroll, III, was the richest man in Maryland. That he knew how to handle such a large property he showed by a letter which he wrote to his son, Charles Carroll, IV, on July 10, 1801:

"He who postpones till to-morrow what can and ought to be done to-day, will never thrive in this world. It was not by procrastination this estate was acquired, but by activity, thought, perseverance, and economy, and by the same means it must be preserved and prevented from melting away."

But while the owner of Dough.o.r.egan Manor was careful, he was not penurious. He kept open house to his numerous friends, of whom George Was.h.i.+ngton was one. In one of the rooms of the Manor Was.h.i.+ngton sat to Gilbert Stuart for his portrait.

Both Mr. Carroll's property and his services were at his country's call. From the days of the Stamp Act to the close of the Revolution there was no more ardent patriot than he. He served as a member of the Continental Congress, was for three months with Was.h.i.+ngton at Valley Forge, by appointment of Congress, was later United States Senator, and was a leader in business as well as in political affairs. With Was.h.i.+ngton he was a member from the beginning of the Potomac Ca.n.a.l Company, which later was merged into the Chesapeake and Ohio Ca.n.a.l Company.

After the Revolution he spent most of his time at Dough.o.r.egan Manor, where he completed the remarkable three-hundred-foot facade by the addition of the chapel which has been used by the family for more than a century.

One by one the sons and daughters went out from the house, carrying the Carroll name or the Carroll training into many sections of Maryland and Virginia. Perhaps the most interesting marriage was that of Charles Carroll, IV, who was mentioned by Was.h.i.+ngton in his diary for 1798:

"March 27--Mr. Charles Carroll, Jr. ... came to dinner.

"March 28--Mr. Carroll went away after breakfast."

William Spohn Baker, in "Was.h.i.+ngton after the Revolution," after quoting these extracts from the diary, says:

"The visit of young Mr. Carroll having given rise at Annapolis to a rumor that it was made with the intention of paying his addresses to Nelly Custis, her brother wrote to the General in allusion to it, saying, 'I think it a most desirable match, and wish that it may take place with all my heart.' In reply, under date of April 15, Was.h.i.+ngton wrote, 'Young Mr. Carroll came here about a fortnight ago to dinner, and left on next morning after breakfast. If his object was such as you say has been reported, it was not declared here; and therefore, the less is said upon the subject, particularly by your sister's friends, the more prudent it will be, until the subject develops itself more.'

"But youthful alliances are not always made at the nod of Dame Rumor, nor are they always controlled by the wishes of relatives. Nelly Custis married, February 22, 1799, at Mount Vernon, Laurence Lewis, a nephew of Was.h.i.+ngton; and Charles Carroll, Junior, found, in the following year, a bride at Philadelphia, Harriet, a daughter of Benjamin Chew" [of Cliveden].

A delightful picture of life at the Manor was given by Adam Hodgson, an English visitor, who wrote from Baltimore on July 13, 1820:

"I have lately been paying some very agreeable visits at the country seats of some of my acquaintances in the neighborhood.... The other morning I set out, at four o'clock, with General H, on a visit to a most agreeable family, who reside at a large Manor, about seventeen miles distant. We arrived about seven o'clock, and the family soon afterward a.s.sembled to breakfast. It consisted of several friends from France, Canada, and Was.h.i.+ngton, and the children and grandchildren of my host, a venerable patriarch, nearly eighty-five (83) years of age, and one of the four survivors of those who signed the Declaration of Independence.... After breakfasting the following morning, the ladies played for us on the harp; and in the evening, I set out on horseback, to return hither, not without a feeling of regret, that I had probably taken a final leave of my hospitable friend, who, although still an expert horseman, seldom goes beyond the limits of his manor...."

The other three surviving Signers died first, so that when Charles Carroll of Carrollton followed on November 14, 1832, the last Signer was gone. Among his last words were these:

"I have lived to my ninety-sixth year; I have enjoyed continued health, I have been blessed with great wealth, prosperity, and most of the good things which this world can bestow--public approbation, esteem, applause; but what I now look back on with the greatest satisfaction to myself is, that I have practiced the duties of my religion."

He was buried under the pavement of the chapel at the Manor.

The present occupants of Dough.o.r.egan are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll, who followed Governor John Lee Carroll, after his death in 1911.