The Legacy of Joshua Thomas Parson of the Islands

In 1861, when Adam Wallace began his biography of Joshua Thomas, he did so at the urging of men who had known and worked with the venerable and much esteemed "Parson of the Islands". In the preface of his book, Mr. Wallace quoted these gentlemen who had long been acquainted with the parson. One brother minister said, "The life of such a man ought not to be confined to his neighborhood, or to his brief sojourn on earth". Another claimed that he believed the author had been placed on the field of the parson's fame, and his writings would perpetuate the memory of the dear old Island preacher.

The reverend James A. Massey must have thought so too, for in his introduction to the book, he wrote "The memory of the just is blessed to generations following, and it becomes a useful task to perpetuate the influence of a good life, such a life as that of Joshua Thomas." The Parson of the Islands has been reprinted many times, and the good Parson's memory and fame have been honored for many generations --- the story of his life has not been confined to his neighborhood or to his sojourn on earth.

Joshua Thomas' life began in August, 1776 at a place called Potato Neck, on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore. His father was a sea-faring man who died while on a visit to Tangier Island, where his relatives lived. After his death, Mrs. Thomas moved with her children to that island and, while her children were still small, she remarried. This new husband became a drunkard who abused his wife and children, and when he drowned while returning from a trip to Accomack to purchase liquor, he left the family destitute.

To help support his family, Joshua learned, early on, how to hunt and shoot wild fowl, and to fish the waters of the Chesapeake. Then, when still quite young, he was apprenticed to David Tyler, a Smith Island boat captain. In the Parson's own words, Captain Tyler was "one of our neighbors and was known to be a moral, good sort of man that would take proper care of me and bring me up right."

Through his work with Captain Tyler, his skill as a waterman increased, and through the good Captain's teaching, he became familiar with the Episcopalian religion. At the age of twenty-three, Joshua married Rachel Evans, daughter of a Smith Islander, and embarked on his life as a family man. Eventually, the couple built a home on Tangier. Although not formally trained in any religion, he and Rachel, along with some of their neighbors, occasionally visited the Episcopal Chapel at Annemessex, the mainland town that would later be named Crisfield, Maryland. Although there was no regular system of worship on the islands, ministers of that church sometimes journeyed to both islands to hold services.

Shortly after the Revolutionary War, the new evangelical religion, Methodism, had begun to spread through Accomack-Northampton in Virginia and on to Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore, and by the turn of the century, evangelists were visiting the islands. Because of his skill as a boatman, Joshua was often asked to ferry the churchmen from the mainland to the islands.

Whenever Joshua and his neighbors went to the Episcopal Chapel, they sailed their boats across the Tangier Sound and up the Annemessex River, where they landed in the vicinity of what is now Olde St. Peter's Methodist Church, the place where he preached his first sermon. This historic church, first called Miles Meeting House, was founded in 1782, and is still in use as a place of worship. Three hundred yards south of the church is his spiritual birthplace, the site of his conversion in 1807. His famous log canoe, the Methodist, was launched about five hundred yards to the north of the church.

Shortly after his conversion, Joshua began holding services on the island, and made a committment to visit every heart and home on the islands. He made it his life's work, and within a few years, he became known as the Parson of the Islands.

Joshua and Rachel were still living on Tangier Island during the War of l812, when the British took possession of the Island and used it as their center of operations as they plundered the Bay shoreline and prepared for their invasion of Baltimore. It was here on Tangier that the Parson gave the British his famous, fiery sermon, "Thou Shalt Not Kill," with its dire prediction that they would be defeated.

Joshua lived on Tangier until he was nearly fifty; then he moved with his family to Deal Island. There, he and his flock built their first church in a place called Park's Grove, a small Greek Revival-style chapel, named for the Parson. Soon, the congregation outgrew the small chapel and they built another, larger church. Father Thomas, as he was known to his parishioners, delivered his final sermon on this site; he is buried beneath a large table marker at the south corner of the little chapel. The story of his life and achievments still holds a prominent place in the history of Methodism and the Eastern Shore.

Since 1909, when the Old Home Prize Essay contest was established, high school students have used the story of Joshua Thomas and his log canoe as the subject of their entries, and many times, essays honoring the Parson of the Islands have won the scholarship competition.

And the good Parson's legacy has lived on in other ways. In 1930, a special dispatch to the Baltimore Sun paper announced that "The Memory of Joshua Thomas, Evangelist, Whose Name is Revered, Will be Theme of Celebration to Begin with Services September 7." That fall, Deal Island held a week-long homecoming to honor the parson and the establishment of Joshua Thomas Chapel, founded by the famous fisherman-preacher.

Shortly after the Deal Island celebration, rumblings of war began in Europe, and soon our nation became involved in World War II. At the beginning of the war, German U-boats destroyed transport ships faster than both British and U.S. shipyards could build them. On January 3, 1943, President Roosevelt announced an emergency ship-building program and many island men answered the call for workers and went to local ship yards to do their part in the war effort.

Built simply and cheaply and with little of the sleek beauty of many ocean going vessels, the Liberty ships were dubbed the "American Ugly Ducklings". But ungainly as they were, they performed valiantly as they carried war-vital cargoes and troops to remote ports and invasion beaches.

The majority of the ships were named after prominent Americans who were no longer living, and were selected from suggestions sent in by various individuals and organizations. Once again, the Parson of the Islands received an honorary tribute. In May of 1943, Mrs. William Trickett Giles received a letter from the United States Maritime Commission in which the Director of Public Relations informed her that the Commission had received, from many sources, the name of her forefather as a possible name for a Liberty ship. On August 5, 1943, Naval Ensign Ellen Frances Giles, a fifth generation descendent of the Parson of the Islands, christened the 178th Liberty Ship, and the S.S. Joshua Thomas slid down the launching rails of the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard.

All through the war years, the Joshua Thomas performed valiantly, but when the war was over, she became part of the mothball fleet of reserve ships. Today, the hard-working ship is still doing her duty. In 1972, Congress passed a law providing for an artificial reef program, whereby many of the laid-up Liberty ships would be given to coastal states to help form fish reefs along their coasts. The Joshua Thomas lies on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, right off the banks of South Padre Island, Texas. It seems fitting that the vessel, named for the island fisherman-turned preacher, should lie off the coast of another island, forever a useful contribution to the proliferation of marine life.

In 1976, America celebrated it's bicentennial birthday, and again, Maryland remembered the legacy of Joshua Thomas - this time through the work of a well-known composer and musician. Acclaimed by citics as a "great bi-centennial treat," the grand opera Joshua was first presented on the Rockville Campus of Montgomery College.

Dr. Gerald Muller, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Music on Montgomery College's Rockville Campus, composed, produced and directed the opera, a combination of music, ballet and drama. With great respect for the man of God, he told the fascinating story of a handsome young fisherman, fond of music and dancing, who was converted by Methodist missionaries and became a preacher. The opera was well received, and was called a rare effort; the Critic's Place on PBS claimed that the public could not find a better way to celebrate the country's 200th birthday.

The life of the Parson of the Islands has not been confined to his neighborhood -- his fame has spread to all parts of our nation and others will continue to learn of the Parson and his mission.

This summer, the Smith Island Center will feature an extension of its History of Methodism exhibit. The addition will focus on the many ways in which the Parson's life has been celebrated down through the ages; it will also feature a collection of Joshua Thomas memorabilia. As Reverend Massey said, the memory of the just is blessed to generations following, and it is hoped that the people who come to visit the Island and the Center will go away with the feeling that they have experienced the legend of Joshua Thomas, the fisherman turned preacher. And the legacy of the Parson of the Islands will live on.

Ed. Note: This article has been condensed. For a copy of the entire article, please send an SASE to Crisfield and Smith Island Cultural Alliance, P.O. Box 761, Crisfield, Maryland 21817.