James Basit Elder, proprietor of
Spangler Hotel, Emmitsburg, Frederick County, Md., was
born at the old homestead of the Elder family, January
14, 1856, a son of James A. and a grand-son of Joachim
and he was a son of Aloysius Elder. (See Elder family.)
James B. Elder attended the
public and parochial schools of Emmitsburg and completed
his education in Niagara University, Suspension Bridge,
N. Y., leaving school in 1878. Re-turning to Emmitsburg,
Mr. Elder began business as clerk in a drug store, but
afterwards learned carpentry and was employed in that
business for eleven years. In 1893, he was appointed
postmaster in Emmitsburg, receiving his commission under
President Cleveland. At the expiration of his term of
four years, Mr. Elder purchased a farm near Emmitsburg,
and spent three years in its cultivation and
improvement. In 1901, he bought his present home, the
Spangler Hotel, in Emmitsburg, Md. Mr. Elder is a stanch
Democrat, actively interested in political affairs, and
has served for several years as register and judge of
elections in Emmitsburg.
James B. Elder was married in
Emmitsburg, May 1, 1880, to Sarah B. (Hess) Smith, widow
of Edward Chester Smith. Their children are: 1, Clara,
born January 15, 1880, died January 28, 1890; 2, James
Carroll, born January 31, 1883, died September 11, 1908,
married Julia Spalding, February 17, 1905; 3, John
Dubois, born September 19, 1884, married Genevieve
Spalding, December 25, 1906; 4, Joseph Edward, born
October 6, 1885, at home; 5, Mary Catherine, born
October 1, 1887, died in 1893; 6, Anna Rose, born April
20, 1889, died in in-fancy; 7, Anna Frances, born
November 2, 1890, at home; 8, Clara Elizabeth, born
March 17, 1892, died in 1896; 9, Francis Xavier, born
June 30, 1893; 10, Mary Bernardine, born October 15,
1894; 11, Hazel Virginia, born February 26, 1896; 12
and 13, Pauline Eleanor and Martha Alice, twins, born
May 17, 1898, Martha died in infancy. Mrs. Elder had
three children by her first marriage: 1, Margaret Olynscia (Mrs. Constantine Diamond), of Baltimore, Md.;
2, Robert Guy, of Allentown, Pa.; 3, Edward Claud, of
Washington, D. C. Mr. James B. Elder and family are
members of the Roman Catholic Church.
THE ELDER FAMILY —
William Elder, a Catholic, who emigrated from St. Mary's
County, Md., to Frederick County, was the first white
man who settled in Emmitsburg district, and he gave the
name of "St. Mary's Mount" to a portion of Carrick's
Knob. He located at the foot of Blue Ridge in 1734, then
the abode of numerous Indians and the haunt of wild
beasts. He called his place "Pleasant Level." Here he
built a house, reserving one room for religious services
which he called a chapel. This room was equal in size to
all the rest of his house. He was there joined by his
family and a few friends from St. Mary's County. Mr.
Elder was a devout Catholic and his chapel was the home
for all weary travelers, and a delightful resort for all
professing his faith. Hospitality was religiously
practiced by this good family and their descendants. The
little congregation was taken care of by priests from
St. Mary's, and later from Conewago and Frederick, while
sometimes Father Mathew Ryan, from Path Valley, Pa.,
visited them. In 1807 St. Mary's Church was built. The
old mansion stood until about 1852.
William Elder was born in
Lancashire, England, in 1707, and emigrated to St.
Mary's
County, Md., not earlier than
1728 and not later than 1732. In 1739 death invaded the
home of this pioneer, taking from him the mother of his
five children. Her maiden name was Ann Wheeler, and she
was married to Mr. Elder in England. She bore him four
sons and one daughter. The first son, William, married a
Miss Wickham. The second, Guy, was twice married, and by
his second wife was the father of thirteen children :
Joseph, Judith, James, Polly, Benjamin, Guy, Priscilla,
Ed-ward, Thomas and George, of whom the first four went
to Kentucky. Charles, the third son of the immigrant,
married Julia Ward, of Charles County, Md. The fourth
child, Mary, married Richard Lilly, of Virginia, and
through her children the family became connected with
the McSherrys of Virginia. The fifth child, Richard,
married Phoebe Delovier. In 1794, William Elder was
married to Jacoba Clementina Livers, daughter of Arnold
Livers.
Arnold Livers was an Englishman
by birth and had been an active and noted partisan of
James II. Upon the collapse of that monarch's cause, Mr.
Livers had been obliged to flee from his native land and
became the proprietor of a large estate in Maryland,
called "Arnold's Delight," on Owing's Creek. It is said
of Arnold Livers, in explanation of the singular name
given by him to his daughter, that he had registered a
vow that his first child, whether a boy or a girl,
should be called James. The good priest to whom the
child was presented for baptism found no difficulty in
complying with the father's wishes and so the babe was
christened Jacoba. Clementina. Livers in his flight from
England carried this child with him.
William Elder's second wife bore
him four sons and two daughters: Elizabeth, Arnold,
Thomas, Ignatius, Anna and Aloysius. It was from the
second named that the title for the farm upon which now
stands the structure known as Mount St. Mary's College
was de-rived. In the old Catholic Cemetery, about a half
mile below St. Mary's College, and near the town of
Emmitsburg, three stones mark the graves of William, Ann
Wheeler and Jacoba Clementina Elder. The inscriptions,
which are still distinct, record their names and dates
of births and deaths: William Elder, born 1707, died
April 22, 1775 ; Ann Wheeler Elder, born 1709, died
August 11, 1739; Jacoba Clementina Elder, born 1717,
died September 19, 1807.
Thomas Elder, the third child of
William Elder by his second wife, was born January 4,
1748, and was married in 1771 to Elizabeth Spalding, a
sister of Basil Spalding, of Charles County. Shortly
after that event he removed to and occupied a farm in
Harbauch's Valley, where he lived for twenty-eight
years, and where his family of eleven children were
born. The names of these children were: Anne or Nancy,
was born July 1, 1772, and died unmarried in 1844; Basil
Spalding, who was born October 22, 1773 and died October
13, 1869, in Baltimore City, was married November 18,
1801, to Elizabeth Snowden, who died January 29, 1860;
Catharine, who was born March 7, 1776, was the second
wife of Joseph Gardiner, of Nelson County, Ky., three of
whose daughters by his first marriage became Sisters of
Charity of the Nazareth Community, and of these the late
Mother Francis Gardiner was for many years Superior of
the sisterhood; William Pius, was born May 4, 1778, and
died in Baltimore, August 22, 1799; Clementina, who was
born June 16, 1780, and died July 21, 1782, was married
to Richard Clarke; Ignatius, was horn July 21, 1782, and
married Monica Green; Theresa, was born March 1, 1785,
and died unmarried, December 19, 1816; Thomas Richard,
who was born June 14, 1789, and died July 11, 1835, was
married to Caro-line Clements; Christiana, who was born
October 30, 1791, became the wife of John B. Wright:
Mary Elizabeth, horn May 15, 1794, married John Tarboe;
and Maria 31., who was born April 11, 1796, was the wife
of John Howard. In 1799, Thomas Elder broke up his
establishment in Harbaugh's Valley and removed to
Kentucky, accompanied by all his children, except Basil
Spalding.
Basil Spalding, the second child
of Thomas and Elizabeth (Spalding) Elder, was married to
Elizabeth Snowden. To them were born thirteen children,
three of whom died in infancy. Of the other ten,
Eleanora became a Sister of Charity. Another daughter,
Mrs. Jenkins, died in Havana in 1846, and another, Mrs.
Bald-win, in Baltimore in 1772. Of the sons, Frances W.
settled in Baltimore; Basil T., in St. Louis, Mo.; James
C., in Baton Rouge, La.; Joseph E., in Denver, Col.;
Thomas S., of New Orleans, La.; William Henry, became
Bishop of Cincinnati, O.; and Charles D., of New
Orleans.
James Elder, the first Catholic
of his name to emigrate to Kentucky, was born in
Emmitsburg district, Frederick County, in 1760, and was
the son of Guy Elder and grandson of William Elder, the
American progenitor. He married Ann Richards and
immediately went to , Kentucky, where he settled on
Hordin's Creek. His brother William, joined him a few
months - later. James Elder died August 15, 1845, and
Ann, his wife, January 8, 1857.
Return to
index on Emmitsburg names in
William's History of Frederick County
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