Worcester County

Thomas S. Fassett [Fassitt]                       

Thomas S. Fassitt, Born in Worcester County, Md. 1765. He was the son of William and Sarah Fassitt. Married Sallie Ratliff Fassitt, a widow. He was a surgeon in the Ninth Regiment of Maryland Militia. Dr. Fassitt died in Worcester County, Md. in 1845.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

Dr. Thomas Simpson Fassitt is recognized as the builder of this impressive frame house on land historically known as “Simpson's Grove”, the name he attached to the land he patented in 1801. Dr. Fassitt married Mary S. Purnell on November 1, 1813, and the couple resided on the farm. Dr. Fassitt died in December 1846, and a room-by-room inventory enumerates the contents of the house. Included in the are the “entry” and an adjacent “store-room”. Dr. Fassitt’s will bequeathed all his real and personal property to his son, Thomas S. R. Fassitt, who sold the farm to Robert J. Henry the following November for $5,500.

     Source: MEDUSA, Maryland’s Cultural Resource Inventory; Simpson’s Grove, Worcester County.

 

John Huston                               

John Huston was born February 20, 1768. He married Sarah Dashiell on December 3, 1800 and they had four daughters. Dr. Huston died at Salisbury, Somerset County, on January 23, 1828.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

Dr. John Huston, Salisbury’s first surgeon, moved into Poplar Hill with his family and completed the home by 1805 and lived in the house until his death in 1828. Dr. Huston tried to start the first-ever hospital in Salisbury but his attempts fell short when he was unable to raise enough money to fund the operation.

Poplar Hill Mansion also was one of the only homes to survive the War of 1812. It is believed that the Huston’s home was not destroyed by those fighting in the war because Huston was the area’s only doctor. It is assumed that Dr. Huston used to help the soldiers, operate on the wounded, and give them medicine – and for that, his home was saved.

The Poplar Hill Mansion was a stopping point of slaves running on the railroad and chasing freedom. Individuals who didn’t make it to the Pocomoke River in attempt to travel away from the southern states are said to haunt the basement of Poplar Hill, their last stop on the railroad.

     Source: PoplarHillMansion.org

 

John Neill                                    

John Neill was born at Lewes, Delaware on June 3, 1749, son of John Neill, a Scotch emigrant and lawyer.  Dr. Neill was a strong Whig in the Revolution. He was also a member of the Board of Examiners of the Eastern Shore and practiced at Snow Hill in Worcester County, Md. where he died in June of 1816.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

 

John Purnell                               

John Purnell was born at New Fairfield, Worcester County, Md. on September 24, 1765. He was a son of Major William Purnell. Dr. Purnell practiced for a time in Virginia, moving later to Maryland. His MD probably came from the College of Medicine of Philadelphia. A Mr John Purnell of Maryland read before the American Medical Society of Philadelphia on January 27, 1787. He is cited in the article “Two Cases of Hepatitis” by Packard, p. 374. He was “a very cultivated gentleman.” Dr. Purnell died at Snow Hill, in December, 1800.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

 

George Washington Purnell            

George Washington Purnell was born at New Fairfield, Worcester County, Md. on November 25, 1776. Resided at Snow Hill in Worcester County and was probably one of the youngest of the charter members. Died near Berlin, Md. on May 18, 1844.

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

The corbeled brick cornices on the exterior and the late stylistic nature of the neoclassical mantels are strong indications that this house was erected for Dr. George W. Purnell (1776 – 1844) after his purchase of Rackliffe family lands in December 1813.

The house was adjacent to Newport Creek. Several landings served as shipment points for local tobacco, corn, wheat, timber, and other produce during the 18th and 19th centuries. Like other large planters of his day, Purnell marketed surplus quantities of cured pork, bacon, and lard, as indicated in the inventory prepared after his death. Also listed were 528 bushels of shells, which were probably slated for burning in the stone lime kiln on the land near the plantation landing.

Source: Historic Houses of Berlin, MD (2013)