Of Being's problems, shapes and dreams, Than the nursling in his laughter- And, if in wisdom he has strength He comes to find true things at length Quite elsewhere than he thought: He seeth the path where true things move REV. CHARLES SIDNEY SPENCER, D.D., 1834-1906. Graduated at Princeton College. Rector of Coventry Parish Somerset County, 1858, and of Somerset Parish, 1859. Rector of Immanuel Church, New Castle, Delaware, 1867-1881. SAMUEL SPENCER, 1847-1906. Graduated at the University of Georgia, in 1867, "with first honors." Graduated in the Engineering Department of the University of Virginia, in 1869, "again at the head of his class," with the degree of C. E. President Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, 1887-1888. President Southern Railway, 1894-1906. HENRY BENNING SPENCER, 1872-. Graduated at Harvard University. General Manager Southern Railway, 1905. Vice-President Southern Railway, 1906-. The Spencers of Talbot County were never numerous; the old homesteads of the family "Spencer Hall," "Beverly," "Mitcham Hall" and "Solitude," have long since passed into other hands, and the writer of this sketch is the last surviving member of his family in Maryland. How true it is as Shakespeare, in one of his sonnets, says: Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end; Each changing place with that which goes before, Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth, Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth, And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow. THE FRANCIS'S The Anglo-French surname of le Franceis and le Fraunceys appears very frequently in the Close Rolls, temp. Henry iii. At an Inquisition as to Kirkleatham Church before the official of the Lord Archbishop of York, 1 Feb. 1267-68, Sir John Fraunceys is mentioned. (Surtees Society Publications, Vol. 109). Robert le Franceis, William le Franceis and Phillippus Frances were living in Kent, temp. Edw. i. Walter le Franceys is referred to in the Hundred Rolls, 1274. Everard le Fraunceis, was Mayor of Bristol in 1285. John le Fraunceys was Baron of the Exchequer, temp. Henry iii. Magister Johannes Fraunceis was summoned to Parliament at Westminister, 26 July, 7 Edw. ii, 1313, (Parliamentary Writs). Rev. Richard Francis was Bishop of Waterford, Ireland, 1338. Sir Adam Fraunceys was Lord Mayor of London, 1353-1354. His daughter Maude Fraunceys married John de Montacute afterwards 3rd Earl of Salisbury, son of Sir John de Montacute, and grandson of the 1st Earl of Salisbury. Simon Fraunceys was Lord Mayor of London, 1335-1356. The surname Francis was finally adopted. A branch of the family settled in Derbyshire where Sir Robert Francis was living in 1377, being knighted in that year at the coronation of Richard ii. He was then seized of the manors of Fornwerk, Engleby, Allestrey, Querndon, Boulton, Stretton, Biggin, Sidenhall, Hartestoft, Tibshelfe, and Tetingly, Derbyshire. Sir Richard Francis was made Knight of the Bath in 1400. Sir Hugh Fraunceis, Knt., Suffolk, was living in 1430. Sir William Francis was knighted in 1547. Thomas Francis was Regius Professor of Physic, Oxford, Clar. 1554, and Physician to Queen Elizabeth. Sir Edward Francis was a Member of Parliament in 1625, as was also Hon. John Fraunceis, a member from Devonshire the same year. Hon. Philip Francis was Mayor of Plymouth, England, in 1644, during the Civil War, and a Royalist. His son the Rev. John Francis, D.D., was Dean of Leighlin, Ireland, which he held until 1704. He was a scholar and was described as a very eloquent preacher. His son, The Very Rev. John Francis, D.D., was Dean of Lismore, in 1722, and Rector of St. Mary's Church, Dublin. He married Miss Tench, a lady of good family, and died in 1724, leaving a widow and five children; Tench, Richard, Philip, Mary and Anne Francis. The armorial bearings of this family were the same as those of a West of England clan of the same surname, and whose genealogical root is assigned by the Herald's office to have been honored by Knighthood at the coronation of Richard ii, before mentioned, and the family tradition derived its origin from that part of England. Tench Francis, the eldest son, emigrated to America, of whom more hereafter. Richard Francis, the second son, born in 1705, entered Trinity College, Dublin, 20 April 1723, having been previously entered in the Middle Temple, 30 June 1719, and was called to the bar of that Inn, 15 May 1724. He emigrated to Maryland prior to March, 1733. He was a member of the Lower House of Assembly from the City of Annapolis, 1734-1737, and where he resided as late as 1739. He may have returned to England and died there. He was the author of a law treatise Maxims of Equity, which long held a high rank among books of authority, which was first published in 1729, and has frequently been re-printed. The Rev. Philip Francis, D.D., the youngest son, was born in Dublin about 1708. He took the degree of B.A., at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1728, and studied for the ministry. He was for a time curate of St. Peter's Church, Dublin. Prior to 1740, he married Elizabeth Rowe, who died in 1744, and who claimed descent from Sir Thomas Roe. Dr. Francis was the able translator of Horace and Demosthenes. His edition of Horace appeared in Dublin in 1743, and "made him a reputation as a classical editor and translator, which no subsequent attempts have been able to diminish." He went to England after the death of his wife, and where he held a Rectory in Norfolk, in 1749. He received the degree of D.D. in 1762, from the University of Dublin, and was a man of fine talents and learning. He died in Bath, England, 5 March 1773, leaving an only son. Philip Francis, born in Dublin, 22 October 1740. He was educated at St. Paul's School, London, after which in 1756, he obtained a place in the Secretary of State's office, of which Henry Fox was the head. In January 1760, he went as Secretary of Lord Kinmont's special embassy to Portugal, and where he remained until November 1760. On his return to London he was presented at Court by Lord Kinmont. The Earl gave him the highest character for his ability and industry, and they were friends and correspondents during life. In 17611762, he acted as amanuensis for Pitt. In 1762, he married Miss Elizabeth Mackrabie, the daughter of a retired London merchant. In 1763, he was made first clerk in the war office, under Lord Barrington, and which he held for nearly ten years. Alexander Mackrabie, his brother-in-law, left England in 1767, for a managing clerkship in a British mercantile house in Philadelphia. In March 1768, Francis writes from London to Mackrabie, as follows: "I so much agree with you about landed possessions in America, and the security that may arise again from them hereafter, that I shall commission my cousin Captain (Turbutt) Francis, who is now here, to purchase a thousand acres for me in the course of next summer, which he assures me he can do for a mere trifle.” In a letter from Mackrabie to Francis from Philadelphia, in January 1769, he writes, "That cousin of yours and I have had some converse about lands. He is managing his own matters in that way, and has promised to take care of a thousand acres for you." In another letter from Mackrabie to Francis, dated Philadelphia, 12 December 1769, he writes, "The only point of appearance in which Maryland differs from this province is, that they have not any large towns. The rivers, and their navigable branches, are so numerous, that the gentlemen of that country live generally upon their own plantations, and keep negroes to cultivate tobacco and other produce. Were it not that the expensive, hospitable manner in which everybody lives here, (for you may really go from house to house for a month, living upon delicatesses, and drinking claret you would not despise at the first tavern in London), and that their number of negroes and equipage serves as a mighty counterbalance, they would grow immensely rich; too rich, mon ami, for your system of American politics." In another letter to Francis, dated Philadelphia, 2 January 1770, Mackrabie writes. "He is actually in treaty for two tracts for you, and I think he will make you an American landowner as soon as he gets about again." In June 1773, Mr. Francis was nominated by Lord North, on Lord Barrington's recommendation, a member of the Supreme Council of Bengal, India. Upon Francis's arrival in Calcutta, India, 19 October 1774, he entered upon his duties as a member of the Council. He fought a duel with Warren Hastings, 17 August 1780, and was severely wounded. He is said "to have made judicious suggestions for the government of India, and to have proposed the permanent settlement of Bengal, afterwards carried out by Lord Cornwallis." In 1781, he returned to England. In April 1784, he was elected a Member of Parliament for Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, afterwards sitting for Appleby. In 1806, he was made a Knight of the Bath. Many critics, including Lord Macaulay, maintain that Sir Philip was the writer of the "Letters of Junius." A biographical sketch of him, says, "Francis, whether Junius or not, was a man of great ability and unflagging industry, arrogant and vindictive, and courageous in attacking men, rigid and even pedantic in his adherence to a set of principles which had their generous side; really scornful of meanness and corruption in others, and certainly doing much to vindicate the power of public opinion." Francis was the personal opponent of Warren Hastings in India, and the assistant of Burke in the Parliamentary impeachment of Hastings. He died 22 December 1818, leaving a widow and several children. |