The first two Briscoes were on the Ark and the Dove that arrived on St. Clements Island in search of freedom. A direct descendant and namesake John Hanson Briscoe was among those celebrating the Maryland Day, on Sunday, at the St. Clements Museum, which presents a panoramic view of the historic island.

 
 John Hanson Briscoe

A legend in his lifetime, former politician and judge John Hanson Briscoe, privately joked with Russell that his name appeared six times on the pamphlet that announced the day’s schedule. Briscoe is an 11th generation member of an English family that arrived in 1634 and who later owned the Sotterley Plantation.

The lighthouse that stands as a monument to the 241 who sailed from England is scheduled to be up and running at the St. Clements Island this summer, House Delegate Johnny Wood told those gathered in the nippy winds on Sunday evening.

“I feel as if I am a kindred spirit with the early settlers. In many ways, we have many things in common,” said St. Mary’s School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano, who was the keynote speaker Maryland Day.

“All the early settlers really wanted was a community that allowed them to raise their family successfully and happily, to earn an honest and decent living so they could have a better life than what was provided in their homeland, and be able to practice religion freely,” said Martirano, who vividly recaptured similar lessons his Fourth Grade teacher Mrs. Layman in Frostburg taught him.

 
 Dr. Martirano (seated) and Jackie Russell

Martirano is fondly called the “Big Daddy of Education” by school workers in St. Mary’s County, and while Raley commended what Martirano does, he brought to the attention of the public one person who makes it all possible, Martirano’s wife Silvana.

Martirano recalled from his history lesson how Cecil Calvert put the plans of his father George Calvert, the Lord Baltimore, into action by sailing from England in November 1633 and landing at St. Clements Island on March 25, 1634, to be welcomed by friendly Native Americans.

  Touching on his personal history, Martirano told how his grandfather left Italy to escape war and the poverty that had stricken his homeland and ended up in the mountains of Western Maryland. “He worked as a coalminer for many years going into the deep underground tunnels picking coal by hand with a pick and shovel from the coal veins that permeated the Allegany Mountains. This occurred daily from sun up to sundown,” he told the congregation.

As Silvana, son Vincent and daughter Gina—both middle school students at Leonardtown—, listening with rapt attention, Martirano relayed how his grandfather told his children education was the key to a successful future.

When he first arrived in St. Mary’s County, Jarboe welcomed him by saying ‘Welcome Home,’ recalled Martirano. “[St. Mary’s] is a place where citizens care enough about you to say hello when you are in the supermarket, a place where citizens care about kids, a place where people stop and ask you i