Quaker Burying Ground

The Quaker burying ground is an inclosure [sic] about a mile from the village of Galesville, and marks the site of the old meetinghouse mentioned by Thomas Story in his journal
while visiting West river in 1698, as the guest of Mr. Richard Galloway of " Rokeby." In spite of the age of the graveyard there are no very old stones. This may be explained by the
sumptuary laws of the early Quakers, which forbade that stones should be more than six inches in height. The earliest gravestones with inscriptions are as follows:

Mary Deale (Deak) Consort of James Deale Died March 25th 1812. Capt. James Deale Died 1837.

Eliza Beloved wife of Thomas Franklin of Annapolis Daughter of John C. and Anne Mackubin Born April 29th, 1788 Married Nov 27th, 1808 Died Nov. 13th 1815.

Jacob son of Jacob and Mary Franklin 1743-1819.

In a large lot are to be found the following names and dates:

Captain James Dooley May 19th 1829 aged 38. (58 ?)
George Gale 1799-1856. 
Affliction sore for years I bore Physicians were in vain At length God pleased to give me ease And freed me from my pain Lloyd Gale May 2nd 1893 aged 27.
Martha Gale December 20th, 1826 aged 40.
Ann wife of Samuel McDonnel 1765-1843.
William Cathell 1787-1822.
Samuel McDonnel 1768-1828.
Elizabeth Ann, wife of Thos. M. Crouch, Jan. 18th 1845.
Sarah, wife of William Cathell 1795-1845.
Elizabeth M. wife of John Thomas Born May 27,1798 Died Oct. 15,1847.
Elizabeth, 1826-1838, John, 1832-1837, Mary, 1818-1821, children of  John and Mary Thomas.
Ann Thomas 1778-1848.
Leanna J. McDowell 1802-1841.
William Lingon (Lingan) Son of Daniel L. and Selina H. Lazenby 1848- 1849.

The late Miss V. King, from whom the above data was  received, continues: "There are three little graves standing in a row, so that the three little inscriptions read like a sentence.
All. Hel. Wel.. I have found that at least two generations are buried in known but unmarked graves, while in the present century the same families invariably use tombstones
showing, I think, the date of the wane of Quaker influence in this county. It is said that the old unmarked graves in the Quaker burying ground can be identified, though
the methods for so doing are not indicated. At all events the ancestors of the Murrays, the Masons, the Cooks, the Mercers, the Chestons, the Thomases, the Richardsons, the
Mifflins, the Chews, the Amblers and a number of others are buried here with no stones to mark the spot."

An interesting story linked with this little cemetery is that of Captain Dooley. During the war of 1812 he was in command of one of the privateers fitted out with letters of marquee
to harass the English, but having remained at sea to prey upon the world's commerce after peace had been declared, he was branded by the name of pirate. After some years of successful Dooley invested his gains in a plantation on West river and, though the law was on his track, again and again he escaped arrest. His death warrant, however, was signed at last, but by a higher power, that carried him beyond the reach of human courts. In his last moments he wished to unburden his soul by confession, but his partners in crime guarded his deathbed so that no alien might hear his story. Could he have spoken, names well known to all of us might have been forever lost to good fame, for there had been city merchants with their capital behind the hardy seaman. The land bought with the ill- earned gold is said to bear a curse. Tradition thus steps in and adds its quota of local interest.

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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