An Historical Sketch of Saxis Island
There is a growing interest in the Chesapeake Bay communities of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. While several of these communities have been historically sketched, Saxis Island has never had the benefit of this good fortune, although its history is just as interesting and just as colorful and just as important as other Chesapeake Bay Communities of the Eastern Shore. This little community is rich in folk lore and has a charm that can be found nowhere but at Saxis.
The date of the settlement of Saxis is unknown but there is evidence that the Saxis settlement is as old as that of Tangier's. In the biography of Joshua Thomas, "The Parson of the Island", there is a description of the large camp meetings held at Saxe's Island at the mouth of the Pocomoke River. Thus, if a community was large enough to promote such meetings, there had to be a settlement long before the time of Joshua Thomas.
The name of Saxis has grown from a series of modifications of the original. It is first spoken of as Saxe's Island and later Frances Makemie in his will called it Syke's Island. Makemie was a large land owner and the land that makes up Saxis today was part of his estate. The present name was changed from Syke's less than fifty years ago. There was another post office that had a name similar to Syke's and it caused much confusion in the distribution of the mail. Therefore, at the suggestion of George W. Glenn and the approval of the town council, the name of the town and of the post office was changed to Saxis. Saxis has been called an island and no doubt it was thought to be one by Capt. John Smith when he chartered that tract of land jutting out in the Pocomoke Sound. Smith was interested in mapping only the gross coastline and this tract of land attached to the main land was not unlike that of a stem of a pear connecting the fruit to the limb. This no doubt gave Smith the impression of its being an island. This misnomer has stuck ever since. Saxis in Latin means rocky but I fail to see any relation between the meaning of the word and the description of the place.
Little is known of the activities of the people of Saxis during the Revolutionary war or the war of 1812 but the author has found buttons at Saxis that have been identified by an archaeologist as buttons worn by the soldiers of the Revolutionary war period. So the people of Saxis must have taken some part in that war that freed American from the mother country if archaeologic findings bear any evidence.
Shortly after the War of 1812 John Lewis settled at Saxis and operated a general store. Mr. Lewis was from Norfolk County, Virginia. In the veins of John Lewis flowed that Scot-Anglo-Irish blood that made the pioneers of Virginia people of such strong will, manhood and character. John Lewis' family on the paternal side can be traced as being a relation to Campbel Lewis, that famous soldier and pioneer of Virginia. John T. Lewis ran his general store, and his home of hospitality which was so famous throughout Accomack county at that time, to near the close of the War Between the States. His son later carried on the business.
Saxis has been accused of being in sympathy with the Union Army and the Union cause during the Civil War. This accusation is a gross fallacy, for no other community of the Eastern Shore helped the Confederate soldiers by supplying food and risking their lives in small unseaworthy sailboats running past the blockade on stormy nights, as the natives of Saxis did. The author has talked to some of the old gentlemen of Saxis who as boys saved their pennies to buy salt and food for the Confederate Army. Tears would run down their salt-hardened cheeks as they told of their loyalty and their love for the South. A grand old man Mr. George P. Miles who was a boy during this period, imparted to the author the activities of a blockade run that ran something like this. "A twenty-five foot canoe would be hidden in the rustling bushes in the gut up Starling's Creek. Then day by day and little by little the canoe was loaded with salt and food until she was filled. Then the craft was left loaded until there was a dark stormy night. Then a crew of two would slip aboard the boat and silently sail the boat to the Western Shore and to the Confederate troops." The blockade running got so bad that five Federal men-of-war were stationed in the Pocomoke Sound about a half mile off Saxis to prevent this blockade running. This seemed to have little effect on the courage of the people of Saxis. For, they continued to slip past the gun boats with their cargo for the Confederate troops. A Gilbert Marshall, of Saxis, seems to be the leader of the blockade runners and was wanted very badly by the federal men. He was captured several times but managed to escape each time. Saxis was placed under martial law at this time and the soldiers of the Federal men-of-war would come ashore at Saxis and search the little community and take what they pleased. On one occasion they came ashore in search of Gilbert Marshall. They walked into John T. Lewis' store and informed Mr. Lewis that they knew Marshall was in the store and that he would either have to give him up or they would burn the building. Mr. Marshall had seen the soldiers coming ashore and had hidden in the attic of Mr. Lewis' store house and on hearing the threat jumped through the trap door and dared the Federal men to shoot him. After Mr. Gilbert Marshall's arrest the Federal soldiers forced the natives to have a party in their honor at a certain house at Saxis. They carried Gil Marshall with them as a prisoner. During the party, Marshall asked one of the officers to loosen the handcuffs a little as they hurt his wrists. The officer said, "prisoner I guess that be granted." While the officer was loosening the cuffs the prisoner hit the officer with both fists and taking advantage of the psychological moment rushed past the soldiers and through the door. He ran until he came to an ice pit and hid in it. Here he stayed until the soldiers gave up their search and returned to their ships. This was the last time he was captured for the war ended shortly afterward. That great conflict between the North and the South ended and many of the citizens of Saxis were left with chests filled with Confederate notes that were not worth the paper they were written on.
After the war, life at Saxis took on a new meaning. Saxis became the center of the seafood industry of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The steamers "Maggie" and "The Eastern Shore" brought all forms of merchandise to the natives and carried the seafood products of Saxis to the Northern cities. Saxis became known from Maine to Florida for its fine seafoods and the hospitality that the natives extended to the visitors. The steamers brought many visitors to Saxis at that time, and today the grandsons and the granddaughters of these visitors still make periodic visits. For, a friendship on Saxis is not only life-lasting but is handed down through the generations. The charm of the people of Saxis has engraved on the memories of these friends lines of enchantment that are indelible.
About ten years after the Civil War Geo. W. Glenn came from Norfolk, Virginia and settled at Saxis. George W. Glenn married the daughter of John T. Lewis and went into the mercantile business with Mr. Lewis. This partnership was later dissolved and Mr. Glenn opened a store at the south end of Saxis. Mr. Glenn was instrumental in getting a post office at Saxis and became the first postmaster. He also drove the mail from Hallwood, Virginia to the Saxis post office for years without pay. Mr. Glenn interested the telephone company in running their lines to Saxis, also. He founded a chapter of the Order of Rachabites of which he later became the nation High Chief Ruler. His home is known today by the older people of the "Shore" as a home of hospitality. This home still stands and is one of the oldest at Saxis.
Saxis lived in this happy existence for years, "the ole steamboat days were happy days." This little Pocomoke Sound community was kept in touch with the northern cities far better than most of the other towns of the Eastern Shore by way of the steamers and the boats of the natives. The World War came on and Saxis again contributed her part and all the youth who gave their services "over there," came back with a greater love and appreciation for their home town.
Saxis was the first town to recognize the value of the crab industry and was the first town of the Eastern Shore of Virginia to establish a crab packing and shedding house.
Fig trees grew and still grow in abundance on Saxis and some years ago Mr. Samuel Ewell was the first grower of a fig orchard in eastern America, for commercial purposes.
Today Saxis has one of the best harbors on the Shore, and a beautiful dock encloses the harbor from the outside water of the Pocomoke Sound. A new hard surface road is now under construction that runs from Temperanceville to Saxis. A Chamber of Commerce has been formed and it extends a hearty welcome to all visitors and natives of the Shore.
The people of Saxis are of Anglo-Scot extraction and still retain that accent. Many of the phrases found in Chaucer are still in use by the natives. The names such as Marshall, Lewis and Spence may be easily traced to the first families of Virginia.
Saxis as a place of habitation lends itself to all the fine qualities of living that Stevenson and Kipling dreamed about. The soil is fertile, thus there is vegetation in abundance. The fish bite good, the lovers of the oysters will find the ones of the Pocomoke Sound a gustatory delight that long will be remembered. The people soon take the stranger as a neighbor; and the beaches for bathing have no equal on the bayside of the Shore.
One can find may stone arrow heads on the shores of Saxis, thus, giving evidence that the Red Man once inhabited it.
So as these primitive warriors that once roamed the shores of Saxis did, we the natives of Saxis salute the rising sun and let our spirits and good-will rise with it.