#Ancestor Challenge 2019 Week 17, Sappington Ceremony
Prompt: Worship
A Sappington Marriage Ceremony
By The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Vold Forde
Friday, 17 April 1722, was a holy night in Anglican All Hallows Church in St. James Parish, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Just twelve days past Easter, Sarah, daughter of John Sherbert and Mary Fowler, married John Sappington. Sarah’s parents, John and Mary Fowler Sherbert, had been married in Anne Arundel County in 1697.[1]
We have little knowledge of Sarah Sherbert’s life apart from the date on which she married John Sappington at the All Hallows Church. An understanding of Sarah’s wedding is gleaned from the wedding ritual found in the Book of Common Prayer. Reading the rite is an invitation to attend her wedding to John Sappington.
This Form of Solemnization of Matrimony has remained almost entirely unchanged from 1662 to the present, though the Church of England did introduce an Alternative Service Book in 1980.[2]
The Marriage Ceremony
First, the Banns of all that is to be married together must be published in the Church three consecutive Sundays, during the time of Morning Service, or of Evening Service (if there be no Morning Service), immediately after the second Lesson; the curate saying after the accustomed manner:
“I publish the banns of marriage between Sarah Sherbert of Anne Arundel County and John Sappington of Anne Arundel County. If any of you know the cause, or just impediment, why these two persons should not be joined together in holy matrimony, ye are to declare it. This is the third time of asking.”
Three Sundays in a row, Sarah Sherbert, head down with crimson cheeks, stood between her parents in All Hallows Church. She wondered if she would really go through with this marriage.
“What other options are there for a young woman but marriage?” she wondered. “If I don’t marry him, my parents will be humiliated. I must remember that John Sappington is a fine gentleman. He has promised to be kind and good. John will be a good provider; he is a tanner of some repute. He is a good Christian man. But I am afraid to take this step! Should I really make this marriage?” She wanted to turn away and run to the safety of her own home.
“Why am I having this conversation with myself?” Sarah Sherbert puzzled as she stood in the Nave of the church on her wedding day. The whale stays of her corset were cinched tight under the elegant green silk bodice, hardly allowing her to breathe. Eight petticoats of varying lengths were visible under a deep green velvet robe open from the waist to the floor. Padded hips helped her skirt protrude wide and fall to the floor with grace as she and her father walked forward to the chancel, leaving friends and family behind her. Fear gripped her such as she had never known before.
Sarah stole a glance at John Sappington, dressed in a black velvet waistcoat with a ruffled shirt and cuffs. John caught her glance and held it, making time stand still. John’s eyes told her all she needed to know. He understood.
Sarah took her place on the left side of the chancel; John Sappington was on the right side facing the priest as he began the service of Holy Matrimony: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony. John, wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?”
John Sappington looked ever so tenderly at his bride and said, “I will.”
The priest turned to Sarah.
“Sarah, wilt thou have this man, John Sappington, to thy wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?”
Sarah Sherbert, tears flowing down her face, spoke softly, “I will.”
The priest solemnized the union by blessing the marriage of Sarah Sherbert and John Sappington in 1722. The couple established their home near the South River in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Sarah was indeed a fruitful vine who bore six known children. John was a fine tanner by trade who carried the title of “Gentleman.” [3]
1722: The population of American colonists reaches 475,000. Boston (pop. 12,000) is the largest city, followed by Philadelphia (pop. 10,000) and New York (pop. 7,000).[5]
5 April 1722: Easter Island is discovered on this day and named in honor of Easter Sunday.
17 April 1722: Sarah Sherbert marries John Sappington.
After April 1722: Estimated birth of William Sappington.
28 February 1723: Richard Sappington is born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
3 February 1724: Mary Sappington is born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
28 January 1728: Rebecca Sappington is born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
16 April 1731: Birth by estimation of Elizabeth Sappington in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
1731: John Sappington buys 370 acres of land called Griniston and renames it Sappington’s Purchase. The land was located five miles from the head of the Severn River at Indian Landing.
6 February 1732: John Sappington Jr. is born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
1735–1736: John Sappington is a churchwarden, the highest office held by a layman at St. James Episcopal Parish in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
1755: John Sappington purchases 220 acres called Pinkstone’s Folly and Scott’s Support; he renames the land Sappington’s Addition. Nowadays, the National Security Agency is located near this property close to Fort Meade.
1763: John Sappington Sr. deeds 220 acres of the Sappington Addition to his son John Sappington Jr. (This was the branch that had Sappington’s Station, which is now near Odenton Shopping Center. The town of Sappington is located on Burns Crossing Road, just past Severn Run going south toward old Route 32).
January 1768: John Sappington Sr. dies in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
[1]Sappingtons of America.
[2]http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/compraym.html.
[3]Sappington family historian Mary Ellen Sappington Good sent the referenced information to The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Vold Forde on 13 March 2000. It was taken on 23 April 2002 from her file, Nathaniel Sappington.FTW, available on the MyFamily.com Web site Sappington of America. Imported on 3 July 1998 was Tree #3733 from Brøderbund Vol. 1, Ed. 1.
[4]Sappingtons of America.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.