AROUND THE PARK AGAIN by Sharon Lee Tegler
Brought to you by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi
A familiar face to Severna Park and Millersville residents, Pumphrey’s Farmstand owner Nathaniel “Nate” Pumphrey is a member of Maryland’s well-known Pumphrey farming family and proud of his heritage.
We noted during a previous visit to the farmstand that Pumphrey’s Farm is one of the last vestiges of Anne Arundel County agriculture. Nate was involved in the farm from an early age.
“These beautiful vegetables come from right here in downtown Millersville where we have 4-1/2 acres behind the stand and a larger acreage across I-97,” Nate said. “The house I grew up in, behind the big red barn off the southbound side of Interstate 97, was a wedding gift from my great grandparents to my grandparents”.
While chatting with Nate last weekend, he noted that many of his customers are well aware of his family history. But recently, several of them came to the produce stand to show him clippings of an article revealing that University of South Carolina archaeologists found the body of an unidentified Revolutionary War soldier in 2020 along with 13 others at a historic site where the long and deadly Battle of Camden took place.
The first to be identified through DNA was the body of John Pumphrey of Anne Arundel County – a young teenager when he enlisted to fight in the American Revolution in 1777. He died during the battle in 1780.
Biological anthropologists estimate that Pumphrey was likely between 13 and 15 years old when he enlisted in Maryland’s 7th Regiment in Baltimore. He would have been one of the youngest members of George Washington’s Maryland Line and likely joined up in pursuit of a better life.
According to Allison Peacock who authored America’s oldest John Doe: Private John Pumphrey of the 7th Maryland Regiment – Allison Peacock | Family History Detectives® and conducted the DNA and genetic research to identify Pumphrey’s remains, little is known about the young soldier aside from the fact that he and his siblings were orphaned following the death of their father, Walter II, and deprived of their rightful inheritance by an unscrupulous executor. The orphan’s enlistment may have been a necessity.
His boyhood home is thought to have been on a tract of land known as Mistake in Friendship, Maryland which is part of the land on which Anne Arrundell County Historical Society’s Benson-Hammond House is now located.
Through DNA collected from Pumphrey family descendants, John Pumphrey is confirmed a direct descendant and great grandson of Walter Pumphrey I (1655-1721), the colonial-era immigrant founder of the Pumphrey family in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The DNA came from descendants of the gentlemen appearing in the photo below from the Kuethe Library Historical & Genealogical Research Center in Glen Burnie.
An article by Rick Forgo for Medium.com, called Brooklyn’s First Settlers: The Pumphreys notes that family patriarch Walter Pumphrey, a carpenter from Gloucestershire, England arrived on a ship of Quakers with his wife and daughter in 1678 in the colonial town of Burlington in west New Jersey. Pumphrey remained there for 30 years until wife Hannah died. Remarried to Marcy Skene, he raised a large family that included six sons, Silvanus, Lazarus, Nathaniel, Walter Jr., Ebenezer and Joseph, and a daughter, Deliverance. At 58 years of age in 1713, he moved to what was then Baltimore County and bought a 150-acre parcel in South Patapsco on the shores of Curtis Creek. Walter and eldest son Silvanus then bought an additional 200 acres called Sawmill Supply Tract to supply their growing lumber business.
Walter’s sons Ebenezer and Nathaniel built many of the first homes in Baltimore using lumber from the Sawmill and other tracts. Eventually, his sons Silvanus and Joseph moved to North Carolina and West Virginia respectively. But most of the family remained in Anne Arundel County and were prolific landowners and farmers. By the 1800’s they owned large parcels of land including a tract near Dorsey that became modern-day Brooklyn, large tracts in Ferndale and Millersville, and virtually the entire Mountain Road peninsula.
Nate Pumphrey’s farmland is very likely one of the few tracts remaining intact. Though he was not among those contacted for a DNA sample, Pumphrey said he’s aware of an entire book written about family patriarch Walter and is intrigued by the recent focus on the young soldier and the family of which he is a part.
Meanwhile, rain was threatening but things continued to hum right along at the farmstand and in the fields surrounding it on Saturday afternoon.
According to Pumphrey, the mid-August bounty from the fields has been plentiful with fruits and vegetables at their peak. Business has been good and the stand is busy all day every day.
The melons were mellow, sweet and succulent while the heirloom tomatoes were priced at $3.50 per pound and were delicious. In addition to sweet corn, cucumbers, peppers, squash, potatoes and onions, Pumphrey’s specializes in hot peppers ranging from habaneros, jalapenos, and tai varieties to ghost peppers. We especially were pleased to see freshly picked green beans which seem to be in short supply this year at other farmstands due to weather issues. (Those were also delicious!)
Wearing a smile as always, Nate Pumphrey was minding the family business from his stool at the counter when we left. His customer was happily filling another bag – this time with the same green beans we fancied.
Not a lot of the growing season is left but Pumphrey’s Produce is generally open through the late summer into November. We’ll have an update shortly on the status of the many produce stands and farmstands we frequent throughout Anne Arundel County.
Summer Days on the Farm at Benson-Hammond House this Saturday
By coincidence, we learned that the Ann Arrundell County Historical Society is inviting the public to join them for Summer Days on the Farm at the Benson-Hammond House this Saturday, August 22 from 11 am to 3 pm. Enjoy a chilled glass of lemonade and some sweet cookies, relaxing and rocking on the porch to the music of The Overtones. For information, visit Benson Hammond House | Ann Arrundell County Historical Society.
The Around The Park Again column is brought to you this week by Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu and Tai Chi at 1195 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd. – For over two decades providing martial arts training that improves cardio-vascular health, strength and flexibility while reducing stress. Jing Ying is again bringing Tai Chi to the Severna Park Community Center. The school will be holding a fun-filled summer camp this August. From health-defense to self-defense, Jing Ying provides fitness with a purpose for the whole family!
and by Lean On Dee Senior Home Care Services at 815 Ritchie Hwy., Suite 206 – When you need someone to lean on, Lean On Dee. Their experienced team of personal care management specialists and friendly companions provide high-quality consistent care.
