#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 6 Same Name: The Four Frank Philip Scriveners

For almost 150 years, there has been a Frank Philip Scrivener in Maryland.

Frank I 1896

Frank Philip Scrivener I was the son of William Boswell Scrivener and Sarah Jane Kent Barber.  He was born in 1864 at the family home, Rose Valley, (AKA Holly Hill) near Friendship in Anne Arundel County MD.  I don't know for certain how the Scriveners decided on that name, but if I had to guess, I'd say he was named for his great-grandfathers--Francis Scrivener and Luke Philip Barber (although as far as I know, no one ever referred to him as Francis; it was always Frank).

Since Anne Arundel County had no public high school until 1896, Frank attended Glenwood Academy in Howard County after he had completed the local public schools.  He went on to work as an accountant in Baltimore for the George H. Foster Company and then as a bookkeeper for the Joseph Gottschalk Company until his retirement in 1928.

In 1899, Frank married Louise Carmelite Gwynn, the daughter of Andrew Jackson Gwynn and Marie Louise Keene.  Louise and Frank made their home on Lafayette Avenue in Baltimore until Frank's retirement when they moved to Prince George's County, where Louise's sister, Effie Gwynn Bowie, also lived.  Frank's grandchildren remember him as a quiet gray-haired man who walked with a cane due to his arthritis.  He would often spend the afternoon rocking on the front porch of his home.  He delighted in giving the children small treats when they came to visit.

After a number of years as a semi-invalid, Frank Scrivener died in Upper Marlboro in May 1839 at the age of 78.




At his funeral, the pastor of St. Mary's Church eulogized him as "a constant edification to the children of the parish by his reverence.... He was always ready with a cheery word to anyone who spoke to him and generous supporter of everything that was for the good of his church.  … We will miss his ready smile and twinkling eyes that never lost their sparkle. "

Frank and Louise had one child: Frank Philip Scrivener Jr (my grandfather) in August 1900.

  Frank Jr. grew up in Baltimore and attended Baltimore Polytechnic High School. At 5'11" and 170 pounds, he enlisted in the Navy at the start of WWI.  He served at the Great Lakes Naval Air Station until 1922, where he played football in addition to his military duties.  According to family legend, he even played once against the Notre Dame football squad (before the Four Horsemen became famous).

After leaving the Navy, he returned to Baltimore where he began a 46-year career with the Maryland State Roads Commission, rising to the position of Chief Engineer for Maintenance and Operations in 1964.  Although he never earned a college degree, he continued his education through adult programs at Loyola College, became a registered professional engineer and served as president of the Maryland Engineers Association.

Frank and Lib 1924

Travelling around the state to district offices of the State Roads Commission, Frank met a young school teacher in Prince George's County whom he started courting. In 1924, Frank Jr. married Elizabeth (Lib) Dent, the daughter of John Marshall Dent and Mary Peterson Turner of St. Mary's County MD. Frank and Lib had five sons and a daughter, the oldest son  (my father, born in 1925) carrying on the namesake tradition as Frank Philip Scrivener III.

The Scriveners lived in St. Mary's County until the early 30's when they purchased a home in Baltimore.  Fortunately, Frank's state job kept them from some of the dire financial consequences of the Great Depression, especially as the boys grew older and could take on odd jobs like making deliveries after school.

Frank III 1929

My grandfather would always treat his grandchildren to ice cream when they came to visit, and he was a beloved customer of the local shop.  That love of ice cream continues to this day as a Scrivener tradition.

Frank Philip Scrivener Jr. died in Baltimore in 1980 at the age of 80, leaving a family that included 25 grandchildren.


Thanks to the generosity of his grandmother,  Frank III attended Newman Preparatory School in New Jersey, where the 12-year-old was one of the horrified witnesses to the spectacular crash of the Hindenburg in 1937.  At Newman, Frank learned to play tennis, a lifelong avocation that filled his home with trophies recognizing his talent at the sport. He graduated from Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore in 1943, where he captained the tennis team among other activities. Immediately after graduation, he joined the Army and served in Italy during WWII (where he also managed to play tennis.)

Frank and Anne 

Returning to Maryland after the war, in 1947 he married Anne Summers, the oldest daughter of Paul Summers and Evalina Sasscer, whom he had met during his many visits to his Scrivener grandparents in Upper Marlboro.  They were married at the same church where both of their parents had married: St. Mary's in Upper Marlboro.

Anne and Frank lived in Baltimore while Frank continued his education at Loyola College under the GI Bill. (And yes, was captain of the tennis team.)  Their first child (me) was born in 1948.  Their first son, Frank Philip Scrivener IV, was born in Baltimore in 1957.

Frank III worked for E. Stewart Mitchell Asphalt for several years before moving to Anne Arundel County in 1954, where he helped to found Reliable Asphalt.  He served as Vice-President of Reliable until his retirement in 1990.  He was president of the Maryland Asphalt Association and a member of the Board of the National Asphalt Pavement Association. He continued to play tennis and was nationally ranked as a senior.

Frank Philip Scrivener III died at Washington Hospital Center in 1990, only a few months after his retirement.

Frank (Phil) IV

Frank Philip Scrivener IV (my brother), who goes by Phil rather than Frank, attended Mt. St. Joseph High School in Baltimore and Towson University.  He has run his own landscaping and construction business and recently retired from the Department of Public Works in Annapolis.  He does not have children, so, so far there is no Frank Philip Scrivener V.

I have not given up hope, though.  I have 30 nieces and nephews and more than 40 great-nieces and nephews.  Surely one of them will decide to continue the long tradition and name a son Frank Philip Scrivener V.

#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 5 So Far Away: Emily Augusta Scrivener

The Scriveners mostly stayed close to home, settling around the village of Friendship, staying in Anne Arundel County MD, occasionally moving to Baltimore or the District of Columbia.  Emily Scrivener was the exception.

Emily Augusta Scrivener, called Emie, the 11th child of Lt. John Scrivener and Eliza Smith Boswell, was born in Anne Arundel County MD 21 August 1838 with her twin sister, Maria Louisa. Her father died in 1849 and she is shown in the 1850 Census of Anne Arundel County (8th District) at age 12 with her widowed mother, Eliza (46),  her older brothers Francis and James, three of her sisters--Mary Priscilla, Maria Louisa and Rosy, her father's sister, Mary Scrivener Wood (80) and a governess, Sarah Long.

In 1859, at age 21, Emie married Charles Porter Culver at St. Peter's Church in Baltimore MD.  Charles, the son of Henry Porter Culver and Lamira Sigourney Lacy, was born in Monroe County NY in 1828 and at the time of his marriage was a farmer living in Janesville Wisconsin with his parents, his brother Samuel and sister Harriet.  I would love to know how Emie and Charles met, but I have no clue how the man from Wisconsin ended up with a Maryland bride. So far, I  haven't been able to find a Maryland connection with the Culvers or what would have brought Charles to Baltimore.

In any case, Emie moved to Janesville with her husband and most likely never saw her Maryland family again.  She appears there in the 1860 Census with Charles' family.

In July 1861, Emie and Charles' daughter Louise (Lulu) Culver was born in Janesville. She was followed by Harriet Lamira Culver in 1868.  The 1870 Census of Janesville shows Charles, a farmer, age 46, with real estate worth $19,000. Emie (29), Louisa (9), and Lamira (1) are also in the household along with a housekeeper, Frances.

In 1875, a third daughter was born to Emie and Charles--Ruth Sigourney Culver.

The map below shows Charles Culver's property in Janesville in 1873 (at the top of the map).

About the time of Ruth's birth, Charles' health began to fail.  According to his obituary, his health had been poor for several years before his death in 1879 and he had travelled as far as Georgia seeking a better climate.  He died in April 1879 in San Antonio TX where he had gone looking to improve his health.  His obituary speaks of his standing in the community:

Mr. Culver was a man of kindly spirit, and void of all ostentation. To all he was courteous and genial, ever inspired respect and esteem, but it was only his friends who really saw the wealth of character which he possessed, and who truly appreciated his good qualities of mind and heart. He was acquainted with many. He was known by few. He was a man of sterling integrity, a man who had a mind of his own, who was never ashamed to express his opinion, and however it might differ from the opinion of others, they never doubted that he was honest in his views. In all his dealings he was prompt and reliable. In fact there was much true manhood in him.

The 1880 Census of Janesville shows the widowed Emie (43), with her three daughters--Louisa (18), Hattie (11) and Ruth (5), along with a servant, Mary Motsie. Alas, the year ended sadly with Lulu's death in December of consumption.  The Janesville Gazette lamented her passing a few days before Christmas:

She had reached and passed her nineteenth birthday, and while her life was a comparatively brief one, yet it was a life of inestimable value to the widowed mother, to the two younger sisters and other relatives and friends, and a life whose going out causes a loss to the community.  Her character was one worthy of much praise, and loved most by those who knew it best, and the sympathy extended to the mourning family will come from many friends, who feel that the loss is in part their own. 

The following year in 1881, Emie married Marquis de Lafayette (Mark) Ripley, the son of Daniel and Sophia Ripley and a widower himself, who had recently lost his only son. His wife, Elizabeth, died while trying to save a young girl who was drowning.  Mark was born on Grindstone Island in the Thousand Islands area of Jefferson County NY.  Daniel Ripley had played in the band that welcomed Lafayette in New York in 1825 and named his son after the famous general.  Mark was in the Secret Service during the Civil War and later worked as a miller and farmer as well as constructing the railroad between Fond du Lac and Janesville.  When he settled in Janesville, he operated the lime kilns and stone quarry on the Strunk Farm and was later associated with Frank Strunk in a livery stable in Janesville. He was also in the insurance business for many of his later years. The drawing below shows the Ripley house in Janesville (1873).


In January 1893, after completing her education at the Rockford Female Seminary in Illinois, Emie's 24-year-old daughter Hattie married banker Charles Fremont Page, the wedding taking place in the Ripley's home. The couple moved to Minnesota and had two children: Charles Culver Page in 1893 and Jeanette Page in 1896. 

By the 1890's, Mark Ripley's health began to fail, and although he travelled to New Mexico and California seeking a better climate, he succumbed to consumption in 1896, leaving Emie a widow for the second time. 

In 1898 Hattie Culver Page died in Crookston MN. The 1900 Census shows Emie in Riverside CA with her widowed son-in-law, her two grandchildren and her daughter, Ruth.  I am not sure what brought the family to California, perhaps again a search for a more healthful climate.  In any case, Emie died back in Janesville WI in March 1902 at age 63.  According to her obituary, the death was sudden and unexpected, the result of a cold which developed complications. The Janesville Gazette praised her: 

By her death, Janesville loses a noble woman, who has always devoted a portion of her time to the care of others.  Her kindly, loving disposition has made for her a large circle of friends outside of her immediate relatives. 

Back in Maryland, two sisters--Eliza Sullivan and Sarah Jane Somervell--and one brother--Samuel Wesley--survived her. 

Emie's third daughter Ruth did not long survive her mother.  In September 1902, Ruth married Frank Irving Sanner, a hardware salesman.  The wedding was described in the local papers as a very posh event, held at the home of District Attorney William G. Wheeler in Janesville.  The young couple seemed to be very popular in the town:

 The bride who has grown to womanhood in this city, has been an acknowledged leader a favorite in the younger society circles.  By her pleasing personality she has surrounded herself with friends whose sincere affection she holds and who regret her permanent departure from the city. The groom is the son of Adam Sanner and is also popular in Janesville social circles, having made his home here until about a year ago when he removed to El Paso Texas.  He is connected with the firm of Tanner and Pennybaker wholesale hardware merchants , and has so established himself in the esteem and confidence of his employers that he is to become a member of the firm  on the first of next January. 


After living in El Paso for a short time, Ruth and Frank moved to California where they hoped the climate would be better for Frank's health.  (Are you noticing a pattern here? ) In August 1903, the Sanners had a daughter, Emily Ruth Culver Sanner, but the child was an orphan before her first birthday.  Frank died in Riverside CA in April 1904 and Ruth died there in June 1904.  

Frank's mother, Henrietta Sanner, brought the infant back to Janesville where she died in April 1905.

The picture below shows Emie with her daughter Hattie and her granddaughter Jeanette Page. (Thanks to cousin Tom Wright for sharing this great photo with me. )

 I'm glad to see she got to enjoy a little time with her darling granddaughter, considering all of the tragedies that her life brought to her, far away from her family of birth. 

The Culvers created quite a unique memorial in the Janesville cemetery, a stone tree showing all the family members, even those who weren't actually buried in Janesville. 

#52 Ancestors 2020 Week 4 Close to Home: Friendship, the Scriveners' Home Town

The Scrivener family in Maryland stayed pretty close to home for several hundred years, from their arrival in the early 1700's to the mid-1900's.  And home was the small village of Friendship, in southern Anne Arundel County, right up against the Calvert County border and along a major north-south road (now Rt. 2) and  a main route from the Chesapeake Bay west to the Patuxent River. (See the red square on the map below. )


The Scriveners were in Friendship before the town even existed.  Richard Scrivener's three sons--John, William, and Richard--are recorded in the Register of St. James Parish, which encompassed the area that would become the town of Friendship, in 1709, 1711 and 1713 respectively.

John Scrivener purchased two tracts in the area--Trent and Gowry Banks--in 1746, the earliest record of Scrivener land holdings. As the modern map shows, the properties abut the current town of Friendship.

John's son Francis purchased several more tracts in the area including almost 600 acres of Carter Bennett  (See Plat). In 1811, Francis's son John Scrivener purchased even more of the tract, which bordered on Herring Bay about a mile east of Friendship, from the estate of William Wood.

In 1856, John's son William Boswell Scrivener purchased Holly Hill, just outside the village (marked on the map above) and raised his twelve children there. This 1856 sale of John Scrivener's property mentions Friendship and also the adjoining property of John's sons Samuel and William Scrivener.

The village of Friendship was officially founded in 1804.  According to an account by Isaac Simmons, the founder of the town, in the late 18th century, the area was used for public sporting events and had no buildings.  Simmons attributes the founding of the town to religious fervor.  About 1785 David Weems collected money to build a gathering place called "Weems Preaching House." In 1804, Isaac Simmons purchased property near the Preaching House and built some small cottages, adding to      his holdings in the next two years. As Simmons noted, "the place bid fair to prosper," and "much ado was made in naming this fair place."

Simmons continues that many names were nominated but "the Lord did not approbate to them."  Then in 1806 the Methodist district conference sent minister Eli Towne to the care of this circuit.  In 1807, Simmons says, "came Eli to this place as a day in course for preaching; though weak in body, warned a goodly number of precious souls to improve their lives. " Towne was so weak after his efforts that he was unable to make it to his appointed lodgings and the kindly people of the area pressed him to stay the night with them.  He was thus the first regular minister to stay overnight in the town.  In the morning, feeling much better, he called the place "Friendship,"  and that is the name that the town officially adopted, praying that "the friend of all mankind bless it and ever sway his scepter in it."  The Friendship Post Office officially opened 3 March 1807 with Samuel Gott as Post Master.

In 1890, Robert S.D. Jones (grandson of the founder Isaac Simmons) wrote an account of his years in Friendship, spanning the years from 1825 to 1862.  Jones came from Baltimore via packet boat (the only available transportation)  to work in his uncle George Simmons' store.  He describes a lively village with a number of residences and stores, a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright, tailor, shoemaker, saddler and harness maker.

Fearing insurrection after the Nat Turner Rebellion in 1831, Friendship organized a militia captained by Cephas Simmons.  In 1832, the town formed a Temperance Society, of which John Scrivener was a member of the board of managers. The Temperance Society was apparently very strict: unlike most other such groups, their pledge of abstinence included wine and cider as well as distilled liquor.  By 1833, the town decided to build a new brick church to replace the old frame building using clay from the site.  That 1835 building is still in use today.

Friendship today covers about 1.79 square miles and has a population of 447.  No Scriveners live there any more (although many live in Anne Arundel County), but the Scriveners are remembered by a road opposite the town named Scrivener Drive.

Anne Arundel County has recently recognized Friendship's significance as an early community gathering place with a new historic marker.

Historic Friendship Crossroads . Est. ca 1800

This commercial cross roads in southern Anne Arundel County has been an important gathering place since the late 17th century. It is located near to the fleeting 17th century port of "Herrington", and near one of the County's most significant historic homes and plantations, Holly Hill. 

Friendship was well-established by the 18th century, populated mostly by those of the Quaker faith, whereby the town got its name.  Quakers were referred to as "Friends."  By the Civil War, the town was a thriving commercial hub. Though quieter today, as the main Route 2 thoroughfare bypassed the town in the 1970s, the charming town still boasts many historic homes, and several commercial and religious buildings. One of the oldest is the Friendship parsonage, built ca 1804 and now lovingly restored to house a local antique shop.