We took the Baltimore–Washington Parkway 46 miles (74 km) northeast to Baltimore, Maryland, taking Interstate 895 and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel under the Inner Harbor. We didn't stop in Baltimore. I wish we had. There's so much history there, not to mention some wonderful local seafood (or so I've been told).
We continued on Interstate 95 41 miles (66 km) northeast and Maryland Route 222 8 miles (13 km) north to Rising Sun, Maryland.
The area was settled in 1701 as the Nottingham Lots, founded by William Penn as a Religious Society of Friends (better known as Quakers) settlement. My maternal Brown, Churchman, and Reynolds ancestors were three of the founding settler families, while my maternal Gatchell ancestors arrived a decade later. The Nottingham Lots were entirely in Pennsylvania until the Mason-Dixon Line was drawn in the 1760s, when they were split between Pennsylvania and Maryland, with most of the land in the latter.
I visited the local library in Rising Sun to check their local history section for genealogical information. I discovered that the house built by my 6th-great-granduncle John Churchman Jr. in 1745 was still standing in nearby Calvert, 6 miles (10 km) east. The house is considered a rare and important early example of the Pennsylvania Quaker tradition in 18th century regional architecture.
John was a renowned Quaker minister in the 1700s, traveling as far as Britain, Ireland, and the Netherlands to deliver sermons. He wrote the autobiographical An Account of the Gospel Labors and Christian Experiences of a Faithful Minister of Christ, which remains in print today.
I also learned that my ancestors were buried in the cemetery of the Brick Meeting House, a Quaker meeting house built in 1724 where they had worshiped for generations, also in Calvert. The meeting house was even used for a time as a military hospital during the Revolutionary War, and General Lafayette's troops camped in the nearby woods on the first night of their march to Yorktown.
We visited the John Churchman Jr. House first. The current owners weren't home, but we were able to walk around the outside of the house and take photos of it (and a white cat that can be seen next to a bush in the first photo). We stopped at the nearest neighboring house to see if they knew when the owners would return home. The neighbor didn't know, but as luck had it, he was a local historian. He provided us with a great deal of background information about the house and the Churchman family.
John Churchman Jr. House (and a white cat)
John Churchman Jr. House
John Churchman Jr. House
Then we visited the Brick Meeting House. The caretaker wasn't around, but we were able to look in the windows and see pews that some of our ancestors may very well have sat on. We also walked through the cemetery. The oldest part of the cemetery, where my 7th-great-grandparents John (Sr.) and Hannah (née Seary) Churchman were buried, had no grave markers, but there were some stones marking the boundaries of the section.
Brick Meeting House
Interior of Brick Meeting House
The elder John Churchman immigrated from England as a young man in 1682 aboard the Amity along with other Quakers, including the Seary family (and their daughter, Hannah). John was from Saffron Walden, while the Searys came from Oxford.
John and the Searys became friendly during the three month sea voyage, and remained so after their arrival in the New World. Fourteen years later, John and Hannah wed. They had ten children, including John Jr. the minister and his younger brother Thomas (my 6th-great-grandfather).
We had a certifiably spooky moment at the Brick Meeting House. The building was closed and we could see through the windows that no one was inside, but when we were looking at the approximate location of the graves near one of the windows, all three of us distinctly heard a woman's voice and laughter from inside. We quickly looked through the window again, but there was still no one inside. To this day, I can't explain it.
We made for the car after that, following Maryland Route 274 and Interstate 95 east 65 miles (105 km) into Pennsylvania.
We had rooms reserved at the Red Roof Inn in Essington, Pennsylvania near Philadelphia International Airport, 12.5 miles (20 km) west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant that the motel desk clerk recommended. It was a bit of a drive, and we got lost once, but the food was worth it. I ordered lasagna, one of my favorite Italian dishes.
One thing we started noticing with East Coast restaurants was their tendency to serve bread as an appetizer, and then to bring more throughout the meal service. Perhaps it was just the restaurants we were used to at home, but that was new to us.
After dinner, we went back to the motel. I remember having to sleep with a light on in my room after the experience at the Brick Meeting House.
Total Travel Distance: 172 miles (277 km)
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