Parson Joshua Thomas

Preaching around the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River, his story lives on.

Remembered Well

Parson Of The Islands

Rev. Joshua Thomas

Some time ago, I came across this wonderful old book, published in 1906 in Solomons, Maryland. It tells the story of a man I knew very little about: the Rev. Joshua Thomas, better known as “The Parson of the Islands.”
Joshua Thomas was born in Somerset County, Maryland, in 1776. He wasn't raised to become some great theologian or famous preacher. He was a Chesapeake waterman. As a young man, he learned the waters around Smith, Tangier and the other islands of the lower Chesapeake and became a skilled boatman. After converting to Methodism around 1807, he began preaching among the isolated island communities.
Thomas traveled from island to island in his log canoe, appropriately named The Methodist, preaching, holding prayer meetings and visiting families. He became particularly associated with Tangier Island and eventually became known throughout the region as the Parson of the Islands.
During the War of 1812, in the year 1814, the British occupied Tangier Island and established a military base there as they prepared for their campaign against Baltimore.
Thomas earned the British respect and was asked by Admiral Cockburn and General Ross to preach to the troops before they left for the invasion that first brought then up the Patuxent River and then to Baltimore.
According to the account preserved in his biography, the soldiers formed into columns beneath the trees of the old camp meeting ground.
Standing before this enormous British force, Thomas preached. He didn't exactly give them a pep talk.
He warned them about the suffering their expedition would cause and told them that they would not take Baltimore.
Thomas told the soldiers that it had been revealed to him that they "could not take Baltimore" and "would not succeed in their expedition." He also condemned them for murder.
Then the British sailed away, probably a bit irritated at his sermon.
After their attack up the PatuxentRiver, and the occupation of Washington DC, they moved to attack Baltimore. General Robert Ross was killed at North Point, the British advance stalled, and the Royal Navy's bombardment of Fort McHenry failed to force the city's surrender.
By morning, the American flag was still flying above Fort McHenry, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the words that eventually became The Star-Spangled Banner.
And back on Tangier Island was the Methodist preacher who had already told the British it was going to happen. The National Park Service still recounts the story of Thomas warning the British that they would lose at Baltimore and leave wives widowed and children fatherless.
Thomas continued preaching throughout the Chesapeake for decades. He eventually moved from Tangier to Deal Island (Somerset County), Maryland, where his influence on Methodism became so important that a chapel was named for him. He died in 1853 and is buried beside that chapel.
His life was later recorded by Adam Wallace in The Parson of the Islands, first published in the 19th century.
In 1906, Lorenza D. Northam of Solomons Island had the book reprinted, with the actual printing done in Baltimore. Northam was the son of Capt. James W. Northam, part of an old Solomons maritime family.
Why Lorenza Northam chose to bring the story of this old Chesapeake waterman and preacher back into print more than fifty years after Thomas's death is something I am still researching.
But I'm glad he did. Because more than a century later, here in Solomons, I opened that same book and discovered the remarkable story of Joshua Thomas—the Parson of the Islands.