William's History of Frederick County
James
Baset Elder
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 grandson 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. Returning 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, Mid. 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
Scalding, February 17, 1905; 3, John Dubois, horn
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, horn April 20, 1889, died in
infancy; 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
the 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*note, 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 in
other 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, Edward, 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 MeSherrys of Virginia. The
fifth child, Richard, married Phoebe Polovier. 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 derived. 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 Harbaugh’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 born July, 21 1782, and
married Monica Green; Theresa was born March 1, 1785,
and died unmarried, December 19, 1816; Thomas Richard,
was born June 14, 1289, and died July 11 1830 was
married to Caroline Cleutents; Chritiana was born
October 30, 1791, became the wife of John B. Wright;
Mary Elizbeth born May 15, 1794, married John Tarboc;
and Maria M., 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. Baldwin, in
Baltimore in 1812. 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, 0.; 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.
Note: We received the following correction to the history of the Elder family the following form a Elder research: William Elder (the one whose land is the site of Mt. Saint
Mary's) was born in Maryland in 1707. His father William Elder was born in England. This William Elder's wife, was Elizabeth Finch, daughter of Guy Finch.
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