History of western Maryland : being a history of Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Washington, Allegany, and Garrett counties from the earliest period to the present day ; including biographical sketches of their representative men (Volume v.1) online

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HISTORY

OF

WESTERN MARYLAND.

BEING A HISTORY OF

, llTGiEHy, CMKOLL, WASiliGll, ILLEGli!

COUNTIES

FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT DAY

INCLUDIXG

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES



REPRESENTATIVE MEN.



J. THOMAS 8CHARF, A.M.,



AITHOR OF CHRONICLES OF BALTIMORE," " HISTORY OF BALTIMORE CITY AND COUNTY," " HISTORY OF MARYLAND;" MEMBF.R pT.THE
MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND ACADEMY OP SCIENCES; MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OP PENNSYLVANIA'; /
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES ^

OF NEW YORK, WISCONSIN, MINNESOTA, SOUTH CAROLINA, AND VIRGINIA; OF THE HISTORICAL AND PHILO- â– ']>'

SOPHICAL SOCIETY OF OHIO; OF THE NEW ENGLAND HISTORIC-GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, ETC., ETC. "•>"



IN TWO VOLUMES, ILLUSTRATED.



^OL. I.



PHILADELPHIA:

I.OUIS H. EVERTS.

188 2.



PRESS OF

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,

PHILADELPHIA.



7^^9^






Copyright, 1882, by Louis H. Everts.



A RUN AH S. A BELL, Esq.,

FOUNDER, >:i)ITOI!, AND PROPRIETOR OF THE BALTIMORE SUN,
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED;

TARTLY IN TESTIMONY OF THE AUTHOR'S ESTEEM AND HIS ENDURING GRATITUDE FOR MANY

KINDNESSES, ANCIENT AND RECENT ; PARTLY. ALSO. AS A TRIBUTE OF THE

author's (JENUINE ADMIRATION FOR, AND APPRECIATION OF,

"THE SUN,"

the model newspaper of the United States. This great Structure, as it was Mr. Abell'-s creation, will also
become his monument. It is a Perfect Piece of Work, "not built by envious show," yet symmetrical in all
its Parts, and the Pride of the Generous Architect swells chiefly at the Fact that, as it was reared with no
man's ruin and to no man's hurt, so there are none who witness its Prosperity with Envy or wish its .solid
columns less stately in their vista. It is so built that there is always not only encouragement, but neces-
sity, for its expansion ; its influence in the community, always large and strong, and always increasing, must
ever be on the side of virtue, honor, justice, and enlightenment, since the public will never believe it
capable of utterance or suggestion on any other side.

The Founder's Sons may be expected to maintain in its pristine integrity, develop, enlarge, and beautify
the original work ; but neither They nor the Public will ever fail to uphold him for its creating and per-
fecting should he depart now, or should his life be spared to us for multiplied years, which all trust and

prav, none more ferventlv than

J. THOMAS SCHARF.



^v



PREFACE.



The preparation of such a work as the " History of Western Maryland" imposes a vast
responsibility and an immense amount of labor. Years of study devoted to the subjects embraced
in it, the encouragement of friends, and the enterprise of the liberal publisher induced the
author to undertake the work.

In the compilation of this history no authority of importance has been overlooked. The
author hiis carefully examined every source of information open to him, and has availed himself
of every fact that could throw new light upon, or impart additional interest to, the subject under
consideration. Besides consulting the most reliable records and authorities, over fifteen thousand
communications were addressed to persons supposed to be in possession of facts or information
calculated to add value to the work. Recourse has not only been had to the valuable libra-
ries of Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick, and Hagerstown, but the author and his agents have
visited personally the entire territory embraced in the six counties of Western Maryland, spend-
ing much time in each district, examining ancient newspapers, musty manuscripts, family, church,
and society records, conversing with the aged inhabitants, and collecting from them orally many
interesting facts never before published, and which otherwise, in all probability, would soon have
been lost altogether. In addition to the material partly used in the preparation of his " Chroni-
cles" and " History -of Baltimore City and County" and " History of Maryland," the author has
consulted an immense number of pampiilets, consisting of county and town documents, reports of
societies, associations, corporations, and historical discoui-ses, and, in short, everything of a fugi-
tive character that might in any way illustrate the history of Western Maryland. From these
and a large collection of newspapers (more particularly a nearly complete file of the Hagerstown
Torcldight, Mail, Spy, and Herald, which were kindly loaned by Messrs. Mittag, Bell & Wil-
liams, and E. W. Mealey) great assistance has been derived.

With the aid of Prof. Philip R. Uhler, the topography and geology, as well as the geog-
raphy, of Western Maryland have received the attention which their importance demands.
Sketches of the rise, progress, and present condition of the various religious denominations, pro-
fessions, political parties, and charitable and benevolent institutions, societies, and orders form a
conspicuous feature of the work. Manufacturing, commercial, and agricultural interests have
also a prominent place. An account of the county school system is also given, and a history of
the various institutions of learning of which Western Maryland has every reason to be proud.
Many of the facts recorded, both statistical and historical, may seem trivial or tediously minute
to the general reader, and yet such facts have a local interest and sometimes a real importance.

An honest effort has been made to do justice to both sections in the relation of such events
of the civil war as come within the proper scope of a purely local history. The author has made
1 5



PKEFACE.



no attempt to obtrude his own political views upon the reader, and has constantly kept in mind
the purpose that has guided his labors, — to present a work free from sectional or partisan bias
which shall be acceptable to the general public.

Considerable space has been given to biographies of leading and representative men, living
and dead, who have borne an active part in the various enterprises of life, and who have become
closely identified with the history of Frederick, Washington, Montgomery, Allegany, Carroll, and
Garrett Counties. The achievements of the living must not be forgotten, nor must the memories
of those who have passed away be allowed to perish. It is the imperative duty of the historian
to chronicle their public and private efforts to advance the great interests of society. Their deeds
are to be recorded for the benefit of those who follow them j they, in fact, form part of the his-
tory of their communities, and their successful lives add to the glory of the Commonwealth.

A distinguishing feature of the work is its statistics of the various districts into which the
six counties of Western Maryland are divided. In them the reader is brought into close relation
with everv part of Western Maryland. The advantage of this method of treatment is obvious,
embracing, as it does, narratives of early settlements, descriptions of interesting localities, and per-
sonal reminiscences. The maps, views, and portraits are a prominent accompaniment, and add
interest and attractiveness to the subjects which they are designed to illustrate and explain. Our
acknowledgments are due to many friends, not only for a kindly interest shown in our labors, but
for much valuable information, furnished in many cases without solicitation.

In presenting the " History of Western Maryland" to the public the author feels conscious
that he sends it forth with many imperfections. In the preparation of a work of this char-
acter many minor inaccuracies and errors are almost unavoidable, the existence of which it is
impossible to discover until the book has been exposed to the light of general criticism. It may
not be considered presumptuous, however, to express the hope that its general conception and
execution will be satisfactory to the community for which it has been written, and that it will
prove useful and interesting to all classes of readers.

J. Thomas Schaep.

Baltimore, Feb. 10, 1882.



CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.



CHAPTER I.

PAGK

Topography and Geology 13

CHAPTER II.
The Aborigines 46

CHAPTER III.
The Early Settlers 58

CHAPTER IV.

The French and Indian War 74

CHAPTER V.
Logan and Cresap 101

CHAPTER VI.
Boundary Lines Ill

CHAPTER VII.
The War for Independence 121

CHAPTER VIII.

The Constitution and Union 161

CHAPTER IX.

The War of 1812 174

CHAPTER X.
The Civil War 194

CHAPTER XL
First Year of the Civil War 211

CHAPTER XI L
Maryland Campaign of 1862 227

CHAPTER XIII.
The Gettysburg Campaign 262

CHAPTER XIV.
Close of the Civil War 283

CHAPTER XV.
Record of Maryland Volunteers in the Union Army in the
War of 1861-65 298

CHAPTER XVL
Record of Maryland Commands in the Confederate Army
during the Civil War of 1861-65 329

CHAPTER XVII.
Political Progress 340

CHAPTER XVII L
Frederick County 358



CHAPTER XIX.

PAQK

Land Grants and Resurveys 371

CHAPTER XX.
The Bench and Bar 380

CHAPTER XXL

Early Court Proceedings 416

CHAPTER XXI L
Public Schools, Internal Improvements, and Agricultural
Societies 432

CHAPTER XXIIL
Distinguished Men of Frederick County 449

CHAPTER XXIV.
County Officers 476

CHAPTER XXV.
Frederick City 483

CHAPTER XXV L
Religious Denominations and Cemeteries of Frederick
City 501

CHAPTER XXVII.

Press of Frederick 527

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Banks and other Financial Institutions 538

CHAPTER XXIX.

Secret Orders, Benevolent Societies, etc 545

CHAPTER XXX.

Prominent Institutions and Events 562

CHAPTER XXXI.

Frederick County Districts and Villages 565

CHAPTER XXXI L

Montgomery County 640

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Courts and County Officials 657

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Educational and Miscellaneous Matters 669

:CHAPTER XXXV.

The District of Columbia 686

CHAPTER XXXV L

Internal Improvements in Montgomery County 696

CHAPTER XXXVI L

Montgomery County Districts 717

7



CONTENTS.



IILjLTJSTI^.^TIOIsrS I IT "V O Xj TJ Is^I E I.



Arms of William Penn and Lord Baltimore 116

Baker, Daniel facing 568

Baltimore City in 1800 166

Barney, Commodore Joshua ISS

Barnsley, Wm. B 780

Battle of South Mountain 234

Baughman, John W 532

Biggs, Joshua facing 580

Bowie, Richard J " 754

Braddock, Gen 81

Brooke, Roger facing 774

Brown, H. C, Residence of " 573

Barnside's Bridge 246

Cashell, Hazel B facing 719

Calvert, Charles. Fifth Lord Baltimore " 113

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton " 125

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton " 439

Chase, Samuel " 384

Clagett, Thomas, with Residence " 544

Clemson, John 603

Clemson, John, Residence of facing 603

Congress Hall 62

Cooke, Nathan facing 785

Culler, John 580

Davis, Allen B., Residence of facing 771

Davis, Eli '• 606

Davis, Henry W 387

Deaver, Capt. H. T., Residence of facing 622

Downey, William " 609

Dulany, Danie! " 382

Dunker Church 239

Feaga, Wm. M 559

Frederick, Sixth Lord Baltimore facing 360

Gaither, Henry C " 600

Gorman, Arthur P " 713

Gott, B. C " 730

Griffith, H " 737

Griffith, Lebbeus, Sr 604

Hanson. Alex. C 142

Hanson, John 450

Hobbs, Edward facing 601

Hopkin.o, Johns 681

Houck, Ezra facing 539

Houck, Geo, Residence of " 571

Howard, Gen. John E 176

Hughes, Hon. C, Jr 192



PAGE

Hutchinson, H. M., Residence of facing 644

Johnson, Reverdy 386

Johnson, Governor Thomas facing 389

Kenly, John R " 304

Key, Francis S " 399

Kunkel, Jacob M " 554

L.akin, D. T " 435

Lee, Gen. Henry 165

Lewis, C. M., Residence of facing 623

Lewis, Jacob, with Residence ** 572

Lynch, John A " 404

Map of Battle of Antietam " 240

Map of Western Maryland between 12, 13

Martin. Luther 383

McElfresh, John H facing 415

McMahon, John V. L 386

McMurray, Louis facing 492^

McSherry, James 413

O'Donnell, John C, Residence of facing 620

Palmer, William P " 778

Peter Cooper's First Locomotive 440

Peter, M.ij. George facing 732

Phillips, Lycurgus " 615

Pinknoy, William 384

Ray, Alfred facing 763

Riley, P. C " 783

Rouzer, John *' 630

Schaeffer, William A " 735

Scharf, J. Thomas Fronthpiece.

Schley, Fairfax facing 448

Shriner, E. A., with Residence " 624

Smallwood, Gen. William " 138

Smith, Gen. Samuel 167

Staley, Cornelius facing 557

Steiner, L. H " 488

Stocks and Pillory 420

Strieker, Col. John . 168

Taney, Roger B 394

Thomas, C. K., Residence of facing 574

Thomas, John H 341

Trail, Charles E facing 540

Urner, Milton G " 409

Williams, John T " 607

Winder, Gen. William H 187

Wirt, William 385

Young, Isaac facing 727




WESTIRN IttRYLAND

Sjtefraved ejepressli^ for Sclxcwi's Ki^taru




'RiiilTa\ed expi'essli) th]- Schnrfy HistoTy



HISTORY

OP

WESTEKN MAEYLAND.



CHAPTER I.

TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.l

The section of country embraced in the following
descriptive outline is a long strip, running from east
to west, widened on the ends, and extending from
the western boundary of Baltimore County to the
extreme limits of Maryland next to West Virginia.
It consists of six large counties, among the most fer-
tile, varied, and populous in the State. These are
Frederick, Montgomery, Washington, Allegany, Car-
roll, and Garrett Counties. This region is bounded
on the north by Mason and Dixon's line, which
separates it from Pennsylvania, and on the south by
the Potomac River, whose bending channel breaks the
outline into a series of long and short curves, and cuts
it oflF from West Virginia and Virginia. It might
be regarded as of the form of a low bridge or arch,
the keystone of which would be placed at Hancock
(where the county is narrowed to a breadth of only one
and a quarter miles) ; the wider end would rest on
the District of Columbia, and the narrower end would
stand on the source of the north branch of the Poto-
mac River. The length of this strip is about one
hundred and forty miles, and the width is about fifty
miles, from north to south, across the east, and nearly
thirty-six miles, in the same direction, across the west
end.

It embraces almost every variety of surface within
the State, the lowlands at tide-water and the ocean
shores only being excepted. For convenience, the
region may be divided into four great sections,
marked by well-distinguished features of the surface,
and coinciding sufficiently with the groups of rocks
upon which it rests.

' Contributed by Prof. Philip R. Uhler, president of the
Maryland Academy of Sciences.
2



As no part of the Tide-water Belt strictly oc-
curs within this territory, the first to be noticed is the
Midland Belt. It begins about five miles back
of the inner limits of the tides in the rivers, such as
the Potomac and Patuxent, and extends westward to
an oblique line running from the mouth of the
Monocacy River to the sources of Piney Creek, in
Carroll County.

The second is the Blue Ridge Belt, which runs
from the basin of the Monocacy and the head-waters
of Piney Creek to the west side of the summit of the
Blue Ridge, or South Mountain range.

The third is the Great Valley, extending from
the western side of the summit of South Mountain to
the corresponding part of the summit of North Moun-
tain. It is occupied chiefly by the extension of the
Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania, which is widely
known as the Hagerstown Valley, and which, south-
west of the Potomac River, becomes the great Valley
of Virginia.

The fowth is the extensive Appalachian Belt.
This is pre-eminently the mountain region, and ex-
tends from the summit of North Mountain to the
western boundary of the State.

Each of these divisions includes smaller belts and
tracts of country, which may be recognized by a dif-
ference in the quality or color of the soil, and by the
kinds of native rocks which rest near the surface.

Midland Belt. — This embraces the greater part of
the two most eastward counties, Montgomery and
Carroll. The lowest lands occurring within its limits
belong to the southern extremity of Montgomery
County, where the primitive rocks dip beneath the
soil to stretch off under the deep basin of the Chesa-
peake Bay. These are tracts of clay, gravel, and
sand, the former resting directly upon the eroded
surfaces of granite, gneiss, and hornblende, and the



14



HISTORY OF WESTERN MARYLAND.



latter spread over the surface of the low hills of clay
and rock by floods and by the retreating tides of a
former ocean. Several of these areas reach back into
the country for a distance of nearly seven miles, while
the more gravelly portions are confined to a belt vary-
ing in width from two to five miles. The clay area
extends through the District of Columbia and Prince
George's County into this region, chiefiy along the
ancient valleys of the streams, spreading more broadly
from thence, and covering parts of the adjacent hills.
On the northwest of the former the surface rises grad-
ually by a series of rounded plateaus, until it cul-
minates about twenty miles back in the folds and
crest of Parr's Ridge. An altitude of about nine hun-
dred feet is now attained, and the backbone of this
range is seen to stretch away from near the Potomac
River on the southwest in a wavy line, through the
eastern part of Carroll County in a north-northeast
direction, then wi'h a backward bend as Westminster
is reached, and acioss the boundary into Pennsylvania.
It forms a high fold in the talcose slates, which, de-
composing, serve to furnish a fairly light and kind
soil, capable of being made very productive of all the
cereals and fruits of temperate eliiuates. A fine agri-
cultural tract is also seen to spread away on both sides,
presenting large farms of real fertility, and attesting
the thrift of the inhabitants, whose ample barns and
well-kept houses greet the eye on every hand. The
soils belonging to this system of rocks extend as far
as to the base of the Sugar-Loaf Mountain on the
west, interrupted in the west corner by the red sand-
stone soils, and on the east extend as far as to the
boundary of the archrean lands on Rock Creek. They
also send ofi' two tongues of the same kind of soil, the
one reaching to near the northern . angle of the Dis-
trict of Columbia, and the other running parallel
with the Putuxent River as far as to the source of
Paint Branch. The ridge forms the dividing line
between the creeks and rivers which flow towards the
east and south and those which course southwest and
west. • In most parts the scenery offers a pleasing va-
riety, but the wildest and most romantic spots are to
be met with in the thinly-settled section on the head-
waters of the various tributaries of the Patuxent River.
There the hills are abrupt, high, and broken, flanked
along the sides by lower and more rounded knobs,
which have lost their former angular summits by
reason of the softer and less resisting materials of which
they are composed. Deep, sudden ravines, set with
angular and piled-up rocks, are seen at frequent in-
tervals, and through these the limpid waters of the
rivulets and branches leap with never-ceasing activity
over moss-covered bowlders, amid the tangled branches



of flowering bushes and creeping vines. On these
ridgy hills, too, the principal forests still remain.
Second-growth trees of various kinds — oaks, hickory,
walnut, beech, maples, sour-gum, dogwood, tulip-pop-
lars, elm, hazel, a few pines, and numerous chestnut-
trees — still serve to cover the wilder places and store
: the moisture to feed springs and rivulets.

As usual, the dark-gray and silvery minerals com-
posing the rocks of this region are attacked by the at-
mosphere, frost, and heat ; they crack into slaty joints,
I change to a rusty color, and then disintegrate into a
pale-yellowish micaceous and aluminous soil. Moisture,
supplied by the morning and evening vapors, creeps
into these, in common with many other kinds of cleav-
j ing, cracking rocks, carries carbonic acid and other
! solvents into the interstices between the grains, and
j sets up chemical activities which rapidly reduce them
to powder.

Commencing in Montgomery, on the southeast, the
country rises by series of water-worn plateaus, or hills,
with shallow, narrow depressions intervening, giving
I the effect of interrupted table-lands. The roads in-
< tersect ledges and masses of granite, gneisses, horn-
[ blende schists, and, at the lowest levels, the black
hornblende rocks. As in Baltimore and Howard, so
here, this latter seems to be the bed-rock which un-
j derlies, holds, or gives rise to all the later ones of the
j formation. It crops out in the beds of the streams,
I such as Rock Creek, Paint Branch, and the tributaries
of the Potomac south of the Great Falls, and is also
indicated in places adjacent to the Patuxent. It un-
derlies the mica schists where in most places their
lower exposures are visible, and it forms bowlders on
! the sides of the hills and partly in the drift of the
I lower and central parts of this county.
I Crossing the rolling slope which descends immedi-
I ately west of Parr's Ridge, the valley of the Monocacy
River is reached, and the talcose slates become more
aluminous. Here and there chains of high domes
I stretch from the northeast towards the southwest, aud
L the higher swellings are seen to be composed of the
I tougher beds of the rock, while the lower undula-
. tions appear more shattered, broken next the surface
into small fragments, and exhibit marked evidences of
decay. Near the mouth of the river erosion and
frequent washings have opened out a wide basin,
I which is now covered by the alluvium of this stream.
i It has thus brought some of the best fertilizing ingre-
dients of the distant rocks within the reach of the
agriculturist, who has thus been enabled to profit by
the opportunity to secure most abundant crops of In-
dian corn, clover, hay, etc. On the northwestern side
of this county a broad belt of red sandstone hills runs



TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.



15



down to the bed of the Potomac River. They begin
a little east of Seneca Creek, and extend to within a
few rods of the mouth of the Monocacy River. These
rise in their more central parts in majestic piles, like
huge ranges of masonry, swelling to a height of more
than one hundred and fifty feet above the basin of the
Potomac. Colossal chimney-rocks stand up like tall
sentinels on the dark-brown walls of precipitous sand-
stone, and craggy peaks jut out at various angles over
the vast piles of overthrown blocks, which join to at-
test the power of the forces that have snapped them
apart and pitched their shattered fragments upon the
buttresses below. This is a section full of delightful
scenery, and beset with a multitude of surprises for
the attentive eye. It abounds in objects of the weird
and grotesque, and is quite unlike any other part of
the great triassic framework to which it belongs. The
great river itself spreads away in a silvery sheet
through solitudes broken only at distant intervals by
the lonely bird or the more fearless hunter or fisher-
man.

Montgomery County has an area of five hundred
and eight square miles ; it is the most southern of the
counties included in the present notice, and posses.ses
in an eminent degree those peculiarities of surface,
soil, and climate which contribute to the health and
prosperity of the inhabitants. It is about twenty-
eight miles long from northwest to southeast, by
about twenty-three miles wide on its northern bound-
ary, and seventeen miles across its southern ex-
tremity. No mountain ranges actually exist within
its limits, but, instead, the system of high hills known
as Parr's Ridge crosses it diagonally a few miles from
its northern border. The hills and plateaus already
described occupy the chief parts of its surface, and
serve to separate the numerous rivulets, branches, and
creeks which so abundantly water almost all sections
of its territory. Although large tracts of uncleared
lands appear on the uplands and undulations next
these water-courses, yet large farms have been cleared
in most parts of the county, and others of even greater
size form the larger part of the area in the more north-
ern and central divisions. The upper part of the great
plateau around Sandy Springs, which was originally
but little better than a sandy waste, has been almost