The Powell-Matthews-Cook and Brooks Families in Sandy Spring / Spencerville

The Powell-Matthews-Cook and Brooks Families in Sandy Spring, also, Spencerville. Sandy Spring African American Heritage Trail. , The Powell-Matthews-Cook and Brooks Families in Sandy Spring: Focus on Lucy Matthews Cook , Margaret Ann Powell, born circa 1890s is the mother of Lucy Powell Matthews and great grandmother of Lucy Matthews Cook., Gilbert Matthews [son of Walter and Lucy (Powell) Matthews] of Sandy Spring and Minerva Selby Matthews [daughter of Joshua Sr. and Christianna (Budd) Selby] of Mt. Zion are the parents of Lucy Rebecca Matthews Cook, and James a. Matthews Sr., Charles Matthews, Joshua Matthews, Richard Matthews, Chester Matthews, Harold Matthews, Lillie Gibbs, and Callie Diggs., The Pumphreys , The Pumphreys are among the prominent black settlers of the Spencerville community. Mildred A. Pumphrey, b. 8/2/1916, d. 5/3/1984, was one of six children born to Albert and Eliza Adams. Her father a former enslaved person worked on a farm owned by a prominent Quaker family is Spencerville. Mildred was the only sibling that received an education beyond the elementary school level. In spite of numerous hardships and Jim Crow Laws Mildred earned a degree in Elementary Education from Bowie State Teachers College. She married George and raised her family in Spencerville., Mildred worked as a teacher in the black public schools in Montgomery County for more than three years, teaching at the Sandy Spring Elementary School under Principal Ross Boddy, and the Smithville Elementary School. After the schools were integrated in the 1960s, she was assigned to the Jackson Road Elementary School She joined that pioneering group of black teachers to teach in the integrated school system (examples, Allisson Claggett, Nina Clarke, Warrick Hill). She also worked in the summer recreational programs in Spencerville. She demonstrated a strong passion for social and racial equality. As a member of the NAACP she was active in Montgomery County activities related to integration of County school systems. Mildred retired in the 1970s, however she worked persistently to acquire funds for Bowie State activities, sustenance of the Round Oak Baptist Church, and development of recreational activities in the Spencerville neighborhood. Upon her death in 1984, the newly constructed recreational center was named in her honro. James A. Matthews Sr., also known as "Townboy" was born on March 8, 1923. He was educated through the public school system, served in the US Army and was honorably discharged in 1946. James married Daisy Pumphrey and raised nine children. His children and grandchildren still reside in the community. James worked at Kennedy High School in Glenmont until his retirement in 1985., Lucy Rebecca Matthews Cook (James A. Matthews Sr.' sister) was born in August 1913 and married Mr. Earl Cook from Holly Grove. Lucy had one child, Robinette Matthews who was born in her grandmother' (Lucy Powell) home. She subsequently married Allen W. Brooks Sr. Allen W. and R.V. Brooks resided at 18501 Brooke Road, next door to the Lucy and Earl Cook house at 18505 Brooke Rd. where Beatrice and Allen Brooks Jr. now call home., Ms. Lucy, as she was called was a life-long resident of Sandy Spring and dedicated member of the Sharp Street Church. In fact, she was an officer of the church and honorable member of the Methodist Women of Sharp Street Church. She helped people in the community build homes with Habitat for Humanity., The architecture of the Cook house is similar to the Blair house at 18313 Brooke Rd. (sketch)., Spencerville: Home of the Two of the Oldest African American Churches in Montgomery County and Birthplace of Mildred Pumphrey, Educator, Public Service and Civil Rights Activist , Many of the early settlers of Spencerville were Quakers and Methodists with strong views against slavery and were sympathetic to the abolitionist cause. Edgewood II, the home of Richard Stabler is believed to be a safe house for slave fleeting Maryland. A hidden panel room is thought to be a hiding place for fleeing slaves., By 1860-70s Spencerville approximately 106 residents, a community store and Post Office was a bustling white community. Blacks coming to the area found work on local farms, lumber mills, as teamsters, and house maids; they populated portions of Oak Hill Road, Brogden, Batson, and the Northern end of Good Hope Road, where descendants of the black settlers still live., Mt. Calvary AUMP Church. At 150 years old Round Oak Missionary Baptist Church is the second oldest major African American church in Montgomery County, In 1872, George L. Bowen from Ashton Road organized the community to purchase land to build two black churches and an elementary school. The Mt. Calvary African Union First Colored Protest Church (AUMP) was erected on Batson Road. The church was destroyed by fire in the 1950s and eventually replaced. A small cemetery housing about 20 burial markers exist behind the church. A school for African Americans opened in 1876 to serve children from Round Oak, Batson Road, Brogden Road, Oak Hill and Good Hope. In the 1920s residents donated money and land to build a Rosenwald school that was closed in 1951., Mildred A. Pumphrey led a life of service to the community, a philosophy that her son Paul and Pumphrey family are noted for.