Old Marley Methodist Protestant Church Cemetery on FindAGrave

 

2.2 miles northeast of Route 648 (Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard) on the west side of Marley Neck Road between Freeman Shores Road and Tanyard Cove Road
Solley U.M. Church maintains the cemetery which is an outgrowth of Marley Church
Tombstones range from 1877-1964
Approximately 12 bodies washed ashore from the “Alum Chine” are buried here
50-75 graves

The graveyard is all that remains of the original Marley Neck Methodist Church. Dr. Pumphrey donated the land. The church was built in 1843 and used until 1945 when a new church was built on Solley Road and the old church was torn down. Part of the cemetery was given up to create a new Marley Neck Road in 1970. There are many other graves marked with footstones, but not identified.  The Alum Chine was a Welsh freighter that blew up off Hawkins Point while loading 500 tons of dynamite possibly for use in the Panama Canal construction on March 7, 1913.  Thirty-three men were killed.  An unknown number of bodies from the ship were buried at the back of the cemetery, having originally been buried at Davis Chemical but moved here in 1952. (Possibly 12 bodies)  Information about the Alum Chine has been copied from Baltimore Harbor, A Picture History by Robert C. Keith, p. 27; an article in The Sun on March 2, 1997 p. 6J entitled “Remember When: Explosion rocked the city”, and an article in the Lake Benton Valley News entitled “To Probe Disaster” dated March 12, 1913. The last article indicated that 40 had died and “3 score more” were seriously injured. The incident occurred while the ship was moored outside the city limits in the lower harbor. An Anne Arundel coroner was to impanel a jury for an inquiry. William E. Van Dyke, a Baltimore captain of the wrecked tug Atlantic died rushing to the aid of the Alum Chine. Information about the original church was taken from Discovering Our School Communities, Vol. V, 1952-1953, p. 10-11.