All Hallows or South  River

All Hallows, or the South River church lies about half   a day's journey from Annapolis. The main interest of its graveyard centers in a cluster of old graves associated with
the name of Anthony Stewart, a name yoked with that of the ill-fated brig Peggy Stewart, the incidents of whose burning furnish a companion picture to the performances of the
Boston tea party of Revolutionary fame. The occasion has been fitly commemorated by Turner on the walls of the Baltimore Court House. There Stewart is seen in his shirtsleeves
holding the smoking brand by which he has just set fire to the brig, and from a safe distance is watching, with others, the burning of his property. The sacrifice has been
necessary to propitiate public sentiment, for the Peggy Stewart had arrived shortly before laden with a cargo of tea. The dramatic incident is accompanied by a certain element of
tragedy, and its significance has taken hold of the imaginations of a later generation. To destroy another man's property in the name of the public good is one thing, to destroy
your own through the councils of other men and under the pressure of expediency is quite another.

Anthony Stewart lived at " Mt. Stewart," an estate which  a century earlier had belonged to the Burgess family. It is owned at present by the Steuarts. In the spelling of their
name we find a departure from the original, showing French influence. Afterwards a still further change occurred, when the descendants of the royal house of Scotland mounted the
English throne as Stuarts. Anthony Stewart married a daughter of James Dick, elsewhere styled "Merchant of London Town." His wife is buried at All Hallows in her father's lot.

Here lies also Margaret Dick, the wife of James, who died October 23, 1766, aged 65 years. Her virtues are recorded in Latin  and her tomb, with that of her daughter Margaret, who died November 12, 1762, are both in a good state of preservation.
 

In the parish records of All Hallows, South River, we find the following account of James Dick given by himself: " Be it known to all whom it may concern, That I the subscriber
James Dick, heretofore of Edinburg in Scotland, Merchant, Burgess and Gild Brother, and son of Thomas Dick formerly of said city, Merchant, Bailey and Dean of Gild, Did come
into the Province of Maryland on or about the first day of June, in the year one thousand seven hundred and thirty-four (1734) and settle in London Town on South River in
the Province aforesaid. That in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty (1740) I made a trip home .... bringing back wife Margaret" &c. &c.
The name of James Dick also appears on the list of the South River Club members in 1742. He was a member of  the firm of Wm. Lux and Co., in 1767, along with William
Lyon of Baltimore county and Charles Graham of Calvert county. One of "the handsomest tombs in this churchyard is a large one of the tabular order, bearing the simple inscription:

" My Louisa."

 This lady was the sister of Rear Admiral Brenton, K. C. B., of the British Navy, who had married the youngest daughter of Anthony Stewart. While traveling in this country for her health, she was making the Stewarts a visit, and died at their house. Her bereaved father feeling that as a stranger in a strange land she could be enshrined in no
heart but his own, sought to bridge the gulf of separation by his solitary claim, and hence the enigmatic inscription that meets the eye of the wanderer among the old tombs
of All Hallows churchyard. One ancient slab broken in several pieces, but held in place by being imbedded in the ground, gives the following record:

In Memory of Capt. Thomas Gassaway Son of Colin Nicholas Gassaway who Departed this Life the 12th Day of September Anno Domini 1789
Aged 55 [56 ?] years 6 months & 22 days. Born ye 20th Day of February 1683.

Also in Memory of His wife Mrs. Susanna Gassaway Daughter of Captain Henry Hauslap who departed this Life the 24th Day of February Anno Domini 1740 Aged 58 years and 16 Days. She was born the 8th Day of February 1682.

Another of the same kind, but better preserved, is the stone to the memory of Samuel Peel of London Town, who died in 1733.
On the same stone is also inscribed the name of  Robert Peel, 1773, and above the names is a coat of arms showing a bar dexter between two stars.

This represents an imperfect record of the many parishioners who undoubtedly found near All Hallows their final resting place. The church itself, a quaint structure with
interesting traditions, was built after the year 1727 in place of an earlier place of worship that had stood in hereditary succession from a time antedating the establishment of parishes
by the Act of 1692.

Source:
Helen W. Ridgely;  Historic Graves of Maryland and the District of Columbia; Edited under the Auspices of the Maryland Society of the Colonial Dames of America; Grafton Press, New York; 1908
Submitted by: Candi Horton - 2007 © Genealogy Trails
Note: [transcribers notes] (original authors notes)

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