MONTGOMERY COUNTY CEMETERY INVENTORY REVISITED BURIAL SITE INFORMATION Name: Boyds Presbyterian Church Cemetery Inventory ID: 069 Alternate name: Address: 19901 White Ground Road, Boyds Website: http://www.welcometoboydspc.com/ GPS coordinates: Latitude: 39.181994 Longitude: -77.315328 FindaGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/80800 BURIAL SITE TYPE Category: Religious Community Family African American Other: BURIAL SITE EVALUATION Setting/location description: Rural Urban Suburban Wooded Other: General condition (See conditions sheet): Excellent Good Fair Poor None Is there a formal entrance? Yes No Accessibility: Inaccessible By foot By car Is cemetery active (recent burials)? Yes No Is there a cemetery sign: Yes No Is cemetery being maintained? Yes Minimal No (If yes, note caretaker s name below) Are there visible markers? Yes No Approximate number of burials/visible markers: 300+ Description: (markers, materials, arrangement, landscaping/vegetation, fence, paths and roads, etc.) 2-acre site located behind church building. Landscaped along the borders. No trees in cemetery. Memorial garden on the south side. Date ranges: 1874 2018 BURIAL SITE CONTACT Name: Boyds Presbyterian Church Relationship to burial site: Advocacy contact: boydspc@comcast.net Address: 19901 White Ground Road Phone: 301-540-2544 City: Boyds State: MD ZIP Code: 20841 BURIAL SITE SURVEYOR Name: Susan Soderberg Survey Date: 4/14/2018 Time spent: 30 min Address: 19313 Liberty Mill Rd., Germantown, MD 20874 Phone: 301-814-5048 Email: soderberg@md.net Photographer: Cay Savel COMMENTS Suggestions for follow-up: N/A Safety issues, invasive vegetation removal, fence removal/restoration, signage, trash, erosion, vandalism: N/A Anything of significance about this cemetery? N/A SOURCES Cite sources used and resources available: Boyds: A Character Study, Arthur Virts & Friends, pp 21 24 Neelsville Presbyterian Church: The Walk, 1845 1995 MONTGOMERY PRESERVATION INC P.O. Box 4661 Rockville, Maryland 20849-4661 www.montgomerypreservation.org
MONTGOMERY PRESERVATION INC P.O. Box 4661 Rockville, Maryland 20849-4661 www.montgomerypreservation.org
Montgomery County Cemetery Inventory Photograph Log Cemetery Name: Boyds Presbyterian Church Cemetery Inventory ID: 069 Photographer: Cay Savel Date: 4/6/2018 Time Photo No. Description and direction you are facing (Ex: detail of wall around Carr plot facing North) 4:35 pm 1 Approach to the church on White Ground Road, facing south 4:37 pm 2 Entrance breezeway to cemetery, facing east 4:41 pm 3 Panoramic from west to north to east 4:41 pm 4 Panoramic from east to south to west 4:45 pm 5 View from the north-side access lane, facing west 1. Approach to the church on White Ground Road, facing south MONTGOMERY PRESERVATION INC P.O. Box 4661 Rockville, Maryland 20849-4661 www.montgomerypreservation.org
2. Entrance breezeway to cemetery, facing east 3. Panoramic from west to north to east 4. Panoramic from east to south to west MONTGOMERY PRESERVATION INC P.O. Box 4661 Rockville, Maryland 20849-4661 www.montgomerypreservation.org
5. View from the north-side access lane, facing west MONTGOMERY PRESERVATION INC P.O. Box 4661 Rockville, Maryland 20849-4661 www.montgomerypreservation.org
Bo.;ds, a CLara"i., St..dg by ArtUur Virts & Frierrds Compiled by Ginger Gibson
FROM SCHOOLHOUSE TO CIIURCII f n 1870. a group of people met every two weeks to worship with IRev. James S. H. Henderson in the little one-room Boyds School on Ten Mile Creek Road (site is now under the Little Seneca Lake). In 1875, James A. Boyd (for whom the town of Boi'ds is named), James E, Williams, Mahlon Lewis and other members started to build a church building which was finished 1876 and is the church building we have today. James E. Williams donated the land for the Church and the adjoining cemetery. Col. James A. Boyd, who had laid the railroad tracks in 1873 from Washington, D. C, to Point of Rocks, MD, and owned a large farm consisting of about 1200 acres on both sides of the railroad, paid for much of the construction costs. The Board of National Missions gave the Church a grant of $570 that was not paid back until 1960, when the church officers were looking into the financing of a new Christian Education Buildins. Thirteen members attended the Church at first. From 1876 until 1888 the Church had several temporary preachers who were called "stated supply." On March 25, 1888, the Church installed Rev. T. Davis Richards as its first regular minister. Rev. Richards resigned his post after a disagreement with Col. Boyd and other Session members in 1896. Col. Boyd died on December 21,1896, and is buried in the cemetery behind the Church. After Rev. Richard's departure, the Church did not have a regular installed pastor for the next 30 years, but had at least four
22 stated supply or temporary preachers from 1896 to 1929. The original church building did not have a steeple, vestibule or a bell. The members added these in the early 1900's and installed the stained glass windows in 1925. The Church built the first Sunday School building in 1923, and it was known as the Community Hall. They used this structure as a Sunday School building until 1963. In 1991, with a bequeath of $100.000 from Mrs. Grace Pollock and contributions from members of the Church, the Church renovated this old building and it is known today as the Pollock-Williams Hall. It contains a meeting room, the Boyds Federal Credit Union office, and the Pastor's office. The names of the people who contributed to the renovation fund are on a plaque in the building. Mrs. Sarah Rinehart Boyd, the widow of Col. James A. Boyd, died on October 28" 1925. She bequeathed the Boyds Presbyterian Church $75,000 in her will. She asked that $7.000 be used to build a house (manse) for the minister to live in. The balance of the money was to be invested and only the income from the investment was to be used for upkeep of the buildings and grounds and to help with the pastor'salary. The Church is still getting the interest on her investment. The Church rents the manse to a private family since the preacher bought his own house several years ago. In 1928, electricity came to Boyds and the Church no longer had to use candles or lamps for light. They could power the organ by a motor rather than pumping the pedals. In 1929. The Church installed Rev. James P. Kerr as its Pastor with a salary of $1,950, plus housing. The Church built the manse in 1933 across the road from the Church. Rev. Kerr served as Pastor for approximately 3l vears, when he suffered a heart attack. Rev. Kerr's niinistry lasted through the great depression and World War II. A kind and gentle man, he and Mrs. Ken held the Church together through its many struggles in the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. When he retired. the Church was without a
23 pastor for two years. On January 28, 7962, the Church installed Rev. Philip J. Lee as its Pastor, and he served the Church and community until April 1969, when he was called to a church in St. John. New Brunswick, Canada. Rev. Lee was responsible for the formation of the Boyds Day Care. He was instrumental bringing the Church and community together, providing help. comfort, and support wherever he saw a need. He provided the spark of energy and leadership needed in the building program to construct the present Christian Education Building in 1963. He was one of the main organizers of the Boyds Civic Association in 1965 that foughthe closure of the Post Office and kept the rock quarry out of Boyds. The Church received its first black member in 1967. Mabel Dove, with her six childlen, joined the con_eregation. I held the baptismalbowl. On October 26, 1969, the Church installed Rev. Merritt Ednie, who was ordained on September 28, 1969 at the First Presbyterian Church in Vandergrift, PA. The Boyds Day Care began in 1967 and operated until 1987. The Church signed the first agreement with the Early Learning Fun (ELF) School in l99l that is in operation today in the Christian Education Building. Rev. Ednie has continued to bring the whole community together. He is responsible for the many improvements to the entire Church property over the past 35 years, such as the renovation of the sanctuary that was rededicated an evening service on June 3, 1979, the renovation of Pollock-Wlliams Hall that was dedicated on October 27, 1991, and the upgrade of the cemerery and the manse. He has guided the Church to a position as a top giver in local. national. and international missions. He served as President of the Boyds Civic Association for several years. He served as Moderator of the National Capital Presbytery. The Boyds Presbyterian Church property is the host for many community -eroups and projects. Outside organizations, such as the Boyds Federal Credit Union, Boy and Girl Scouts.
American Legion. the i-fl. the Bor ds Civic Association, the Upper Montgomery County Athletic Club..{lcoholic Anonymous. the choral group "For the Jo1' of It." rnd ihe Seneca Valley Fellowship of Friends, use the Pollock Srillianrs. Kerr Hall in the Christian Education Building, and the Church sanctuar)'. The Church is the center of activities for the town. The Church property consists of four buildings and a cemetery on l7 acres of land. References: Parts of this historical accoutlt v,ere taken front "The Presbl'terian Church at Boyds Statiort - Tlrc First I00 Years, 1876-1976" u,ritten by Elder Earle L. Vail. Parts **ere taken fronl Church and local nev,s clippings collected by Arthu'r Virts ond parts are.from his rnemont having lived in the comrnunin since I 928. - Arthur Virts
02008 by Arthur Mrts, Minnie Tyler, Bemice Clippea Edna Mae Luckett Prather, Ella Wims Smith, Mae Louise Hebron, Betty Hawkins, Flora Gilliam All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper or magazine. First Printing Published by Baker Publishers Boyds, MD Printed by Sir Speedy Rockville, MD Printed in the United States ofamerica