Rediscovering America_ Exploring the Small Towns of Virginia & Maryland - Bill Burnham [122]
Regional Information
State Welcome Centers are located on I-70 between Hagerstown and Frederick; on US 13 near the Virginia border; on US 15 just south of the Pennsylvania border; and on I-95 near Savage and Perryville.
Emmitsburg
The audio recording at the Mortuary Chapel of Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born Catholic saint, makes this suggestion to visitors: “As you leave, say a prayer for the souls who have tried to emulate the life of Ann Seton.” There’s no need to wonder where those devotees repose. In neat rows, outside the chapel that was built by Seton’s son William to honor her in death, stand hundreds of small, white headstones, all identical, with a simple engraved cross as ornamentation.
These are the grave markers of the devoted Sisters of Charity, and the dates etched into stone indicate nearly all died in their 70s, 80s and 90s. An inscription on the chapel tells us there are also many unmarked graves of children, widows and other unknown people who lived in St. Joseph’s Valley in the early years of the Sisters of Charity. Encircling this graveyard is a high wall with Stations of the Cross carved out of stone.
Seton’s shrine, a minor basilica of the Catholic Church, is spread across many acres in an area of Central Maryland settled by Catholics and Presbyterians. The Catholics were escaping persecution in Protestant English colonies, and the Presbyterians were drawn by the rich soil and abundant supply of water from three main streams. The widowed Ann Seton, a newly converted Catholic, came in 1809 with her five children to establish the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s, and open the nation’s first free Catholic school, which became the foundation for today’s parochial school system.
The Sisters didn’t stay put in Emmitsburg; rather, they established orphanages and schools in key cities up and down the east coast, and as early as 1828 became pioneers into the western frontier, crossing the Allegheny Mountains and sailing down the Ohio River to St. Louis where they opened a hospital, orphanage and school. Today there are six communities of the Sisters of Charity in the US and Canada.
The strength of Ann Seton’s character to draw faithful followers to St. Joseph’s, even after her death in 1821, is clearly evidenced by those many rows of grave markers of devout women who gave over their lives in service to others and to their God. The shrine continues to draw the faithful, in the form of pilgrims and visitors, many of who testify leaving with a greater sense of inner peace. Public mass is offered Wednesday through Sunday.
Around Town
Visitors to the town of Emmitsburg will find a quiet, but attractive Main Street of brick row houses with a handful of shops and taverns. The Federal, Georgian and Victorian architecture is well-preserved. The town is also home to Mount Saint Mary’s College, the National Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, the National Emergency Training Center, and the Fallen Firefighters’ Memorial. The Emmitsburg Antique Mall has more than 120 dealers. (1 Chesapeake Avenue, tel. 301-447-6471)
While the town was named for the Emmit family, it’s disputed whether they were in fact the founders of the town. In any case, in 1757 Irishman Samuel Emmit purchased a tract of land and encouraged more settlers to come. In 1785, his son William laid out the town with numbered lots. Town folklore holds that the name Emmitsburg (it originally had two ‘t’s) came about during a drunken public meeting in Conrad Hochensmith’s tavern. But the head of the Emmitsburg Historical Society, Michael Hillman, says the Emmits weren’t the founders at all, that settlement of the area began prior to 1733, and that William and Samuel Emmit were not-so-savory landlords. One written account even claims that Samuel fell dead in the streets of Emmitsburg in 1817 on his way to start eviction proceedings