Trinity Episcopal Church (02-19)

Historical narrative

Trinity Episcopal Church has a long and storied history in Upper Marlboro. The land was donated in the late 1700s by Col. Ninian Beall, a former indentured servant and member of the Maryland House of Burgesses, for the construction of a Presbyterian church. Later, the Episcopal congregation, organized in 1810, took over the then-wooden building. In 1814, during the War of 1812, British troops were billeted at the church while marching to burn Washington, D.C. The church's first senior warden, Dr. William Beanes, played a critical role in the story behind the national anthem when he was captured by the British and held at Baltimore's Fort McHenry. In 1846, the current Gothic-style brick church replaced the wooden building. This piece is a late-1800s depiction of the church and a couple of its congregants.

Watercolor

© Stephen B. Hales — All Rights Reserved