Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics and Information of Maryland. 1903. Thomas A. Smith, Chief. (Volume 1904) online

Leather, Tanned, Curled and Finished— Lewis O. Eckhardt, Glen
Morris.

Cheese, Butter, etc. — John E. Myers, Boring; Thos. M. Corcoran,
Butler; Richard Kelbaugh, Parkton; Hale & Rhoten, Upperco; J. P.
Jorden, Henry C. Schilling, Whitehall.

Confectionery — J. W. Beacham, Avondale; J. T. Whittle, Glyndon;
R. S. B. Gore, George Naylor, Reisterstown.

Cotton Goods — Ashland Manfg. Company, Dickeyville; Mt. Vernon
Cotton Duck Company, Franklinville ; Oella Mills, Oella; Warren Mfg.
Company, Warren.

Dyeing and Finishing Textiles — Rockland Bleach & Dye Works Com-
pany, Brooklandville.

Fertilizers — Nitrogen Company, St. Helena.

CALVERT.

Calvert County is one of the oldest counties in the State, but owing
to its isolation and perhaps to the difficult means of access, there has
been little immigration into it. Many of the names of the families are
the same as those who settled here over 200 years ago. The county
was first settled in 1654 and contains an area of 222 square miles, and it
is therefore also the smallest county in the State. Its eastern line is
washed by the Chesapeake Bay, and its southern and western sides are
washed by the Patuxent river curves. The cliffs of Calvert, which
overlook the bayside, attract much attention among students of
geology.

The court house was burned in 1882 and many valuable ancient
records were thus destroyed.



STATISTICS AND INl^OKMATION. 183

INCORPORATED AND OTJIER TOWNS.

The county seat is Prince Frederick, while Chesapeake Beach and
Solomon's are also incorporated towns. Other towns of importance
in the county, not incorporated, are Barstow, Broome's Island, Dunkirk,
Huntingtown, Lower Marlboro, Plum Point and Drum Point. They
are small in- population, but with an influx of immigrants promise
well for the future.

DESCRIPTION OF COUNTY, SOIL, ETC.

The county is practically a peninsula, bounded on the east by the
Chesapeake Bay, the land being undulating and interspersed with many
creeks and rivulets.

The soil is productive and divided between sandy and clay loam,
and, with a mild climate, is responsive to cultivation.

Tobacco and cereals are the chief crops. Fruits and vegetables,
which are grown quite plentifully, mature early along the waterways
which have a southern exposure. The oyster grounds surrounding
Calvert County are among the best in the State. Timber is plentiful,
and iron ore and silica are found in extensive deposits.

Tobacco has for nearly two hundred years been the principal product
of Calvert County, in consequence of which the land at one time became
slightly impoverished, until the use of fertilizers again restored it to
its natural qualities of productiveness. Corn, wheat and fruits are also
raised in liberal quantities. In late years, live stock and poultry
raising have become a part of the farmer's occupation. The number of
farms in the county reaches about 800.

TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.

The first railroad to enter the county was the Chesapeake Beach Rail-
road, which runs to Hyattsville. With this exception no other rail-
road runs through the county, though all the bay lines of steamboats
touch along the shores of Calvert's rivers and on the bayside.

Drum Point, at the mouth of the Patuxent, is one of the finest
harbors in the United States, and it is believed in time will become the
shipping location of a great railroad system.

While there are not many packing houses in Calvert County, the
catch of oysters and the employment given to its citizens by this indus-
try is quite large. Upward of 1,000 men are employed on in-shore or
boat fisheries, and some 300 to 400 in other capacities, taking and trans-
porting oysters and fish. It is estimated that 65,000 bushels of oysters
were taken in the season of 1902-3 in the waters of Calvert.



184 KI'.rORT OF Till-: liTRKAU Ol-

MANUFACTURES.

\\'hile there are not man}' manufacturing establishments in the county,
there are some of a little importance, and, industrially, when the popu-
lation of the county is considered with that of others in the State, gives
evidence of progress. What is mostly needed is an influx of white
laborers and settlers, who will utilize the natural advantages of the
county and develop its industries.

The following list of manufacturers, with the figures, gives an idea
of the approximate values of the manufactures of the county and the
business industries :

Lumber and Grist Mill Products — Calvert Rolling Mills, Smithville;
Trott & Bryant, Lower Marlboro ; Geo. P. Ross, C. H. Dorsey, Mutual ;
John T. Bond, St. Leonard's ; Isaac P. Bowen, Wallville ; Wm. H.
Robinson, Prince Frederick; Frederick Helb, Bertha; Oliver J. Ham-
mett, Bowen ; John W. Fowler, Chaneyville ; James S. Fowler, Wm.
A. Grierson, Huntingtown ; Chas. E. Hardesty, Port Republic; Birck-
head & Owings, Owings ; James A. Dalrymple, Buena Vista — Number
of employees, 55 ; capital invested, $38,000.

General Stores — John F. Webster & Brother, Geo. W. Johnson, Wm.
H. Crockett, Solomon's — Number of employees, 5 ; value of total
product, $68,000 ; capital invested, $19,000 ; amount paid annually
in wages, $2,200.

Shipbuilding— James T. Marsh, Mill Creek; M. M. Davis, Thomas
Moore, Solomon's — Number of employees, 25 ; value of total pro-
duct, $20,000; capital invested, $15,000; amount paid annually in wages,
|ii,ooo.

Wm. H. Files, ice cream, Solomon's ; James W. Bellows, sailmaking,
James T. Marsh, lumber ; Roberts Brothers, canned goods. Mill Creek
— Number of employees, 89; value of total product, $18,500; capital
invested, $12,700 ; amount paid annually in wages, $3,950.

Flouring and Grist Mill Products — Webster Tabbs, Prince Frederick;
Gantt Dixon, St. Leonard's.

CAROLINE.

Caroline, the most inland and one of the smaller counties on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland, was established in 1773. The Delaware
State line binds it on the east, Dorchester County on the south, the
Choptank and Tuckahoe rivers on the west, and Queen Anne's County
on the north. It was named in honor of Lady Caroline Eden, and its
first seat of government was at Melvin's wharf, just north of the site
of Denton, the present county seat. It is the only county except Wi-
comico on the Eastern Shore that has no extensive Bay front.

The area of Caroline is about 320 square miles, and its population
nearly 17,000, and the increase in this population during the past decade
has been upwards of sixteen per cent. The county tax rate for 1903
is ninety-five cents.



STATIS'IMCS AND \ N I'OUM A'l'lOK. I 85

COUNTY vSEAT AND OTHER TOWNvS.

Denton, with a population of nearly 1,500, is the county scat, and is
growing in manufacturing importance.

Among the other live towns of Caroline County can be named
Ridgely, Greensboro, Federalsburg, Preston, Hillsboro, Burrsville and
Choptank.

TRANSPORTATION AND EDUCATIONAI^ FACILITIES.

Caroline has as good transportation facilities as any county in the
State, and in some respects much better. The Delaware & Chesapeake
Railway, the Queen Anne's Railroad, the B., C. & A. Railway, the Cam-
bridge & Seaford Railroad, and the steamboat lines on the Choptank
and Tuckahoe rivers afTord excellent shipping conveniences, and make
it possible to place the crops of the county in the best markets in the
country in less than a day.

The educational facilities of Caroline County are most excellent and
include, in addition to the public school system, with its high school
and manual training school, several private institutions.

LAND, AGRICULTURE, Etc.

The lands are level, but well drained, and the soil is more diversified
than that of most counties in the State, ranging from heavy clay to
sandy loam, being in some sections very light and producing many
kinds of profitable crops. The heavy lands have been known to yield
fifty bushels of wheat per acre, while from lighter soils over one hun-
dred bushels of corn per acre have been repeatedly gathered.

In recent years Caroline agriculturists have devoted much of their
farms, while growing cereals and hay, to fruits, and in this way chiefly
have distinguished themselves and the county. They have been remark-
ably successful. A large per cent, of intelligent tillers of the soil have
made small fortunes in the past decade. Twenty-four years ago
there was not a bank in the county; now there are five, which show
heavy deposits subject to check. As they derive their support prin-
cipally from the business of the county, which is chiefly agricultural,
this fact is cited as a trustworthy index of the prosperity which the
county has attained in recent years in the varied lines of farming.
It is often said, and the fact is proven, that each of many of Caroline,
acres pays for itself annually when tilled and managed by the more
progressive farmers. Indeed, there are scores of industries where the
net returns each year have been more than double the price paid for the
land less than a dozen years ago. These instances are pointed out most
frequently among the strawberry, blackberry, raspberry and tomato-
growing lands. There are a large number of well-established packing-



1 86 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF

houses to take at fair prices all the tomatoes grown in the county, an
the facilities of transportation are most favorable conditions to the
growers. The remarkable success of the Caroline farmers has, of course,
been heralded abroad, and several hundred substantial agriculturists
from the North, principally from Pennsylvania, have purchased tracts
in this county.

The price of real estate has doubled in ten years, but is still quite
low considering the prolits and the attractions ofifered by the soil,
climate and productions.

THE PACKING INDUSTRY.

Caroline was a pioneer county in the packing of fruits and vegetables.
Early in the seveftties the late Andrew B. Roe had a well-equipped
establishment at Greensboro, which point is still a packing centre. Not
until the latter part of the eighties, however, did the industry reach
large proportions. It has grown very rapidly in the last few years and
is now a chief industry. This year the advance has been greater than
in any preceding year, last year's high prices inducing a general expan-
sion. About a dozen additional houses of large capacity were erected
and the number of small concerns was increased. Quite a number of
farmers profitably operate small plants on their own land, growing
their own supply of fruits. Several of the long established plants were
enlarged and supplied with better machinery, in some cases almost
doubling their capacity. Growers generally, in this county, accepted,
for tomatoes the price of $8.00 per tori, which is considered here a fairly
remunerative price, but in some instances higher figures were obtained.
In most sections the yield of tomatoes was surprisingly heavy.

There were no peaches to pack in Caroline this year, and only two
or three of the houses put up peas. A careful estimate of the year's
work shows that Caroline occupies first place in the list of tomato
packing counties in the State. The business, while it is thought to tem-
porarily disorganize to a considerable extent farm and household
labor, attracting it to the canning centres of Denton, Ridgely, Preston,
Greensboro, Federalsburg, Choptank and elsewhere, has on the whole
vastly benefited the county. It distributes generally among the
people, particularly the farmers and working class, several hundred
thousand dollars annually.

The following is a trustworthy estimate of the operations of the
year 1903 :

Number of Canning Houses 58

Capital Invested $454,000

Number of Employes, (men, women and children) . .3,710

Wages Paid $150,000

Tomato Acreage Contracted for 8,260

Cases Packed 1,000,000

Value of Product $1,500,000



STATISTICS AND INI'ORMATJON. 1 87

The following is a fairly complete list of the packers and growers of
Caroline :

W. M. Wright & Company, W. J. Wright & vSon, O. C. Blades &
Son, Choptank; Dennis & Carroll, Preston Canning Company, J. F.
Lednum Company, Alexander Noble, Williamson & Rieck, Thos. Tay-
lor, J. P. Patchett, Preston; R. M. Messick, R. I. I,ednum & Company,
Bethlehem; Wm. H. Dean, Chas. H. Todd, Fowling Creek; O. M.
Hignutt, John McKee, W. C. Todd, Williston ; H. T. Nuttle, Ander-
sontown ; Robt. Patton, T. V. Redman & Son, American Corners ; W.
R. Breeding, Thos. H. Chambers & Company, H. B. Messenger, Feder-
alsburg; Brown & Peters, Hickman; H. C. Hobbs, Hobbs; H. A. Roe
& Brother, Geo. T. Redden & Company, Denton Canning Company, B.
W. Parker, Gary & Company, Denton ; D. K. Crouse, Griffin ; Stewart
& Jarrell, Thos. W. Jones, Hillsboro ; Alliance Preserving Company,
Saulsbury Brothers, T. L. Day, Swing & Company, Euker & Company,
Swann & Herr, T. W. Smith, Holsinger Brothers, Ridgely; Roe
Brothers, T. L. Day, Greensboro; Robt. Jarrell, Alex. McKnatt, Golds-
boro ; J. H. Geiger & Company, Marydel ; W. H. Jacobs, Henderson ;
Wesley Porter, Burrsville; J. Olan Clark, Oakland.

FISH.

The taking and shipping of fish, while not a large industry, might be
made profitable and much larger if some restrictions were placed on the
use of pound nets and fikes in the rivers and creeks, where the fish go
to spawn, and wherefrom they are kept by these contrivances. At least
100 persons are employed in the business, which amounts to about
$20,000 annually, and in which $8,000 capital is invested, and wages
to the amount of about $4,500 are paid annually.

TIN AND CAN MAKING.

Of course, the manufacture of cans progresses with the packing in-
dustry, and in Caroline five firms are manufacturing a large number of
these for their own packing houses and for sale to other packers. These
firms are Geo. T. Redden, Denton; T. L. Day, Swing & Company,
Saulsbury Brothers, Ridgely, and Robert Jarrell, Goldsboro. They
manufacture $90,000 worth of cans a year with an investment of $15,000,
and pay wages to the amount annually of $5,000 to about sixty men.

OTHER INDUSTRIES.

Caroline County has, in addition to the packing of fruits and vege-
tables, some other manufacturing interests worthy of mention in this
report. There are sixteen rather small, but well-equipped flour mills,



1 88 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF

driven principally by water power, with turbine wheels, and operating
quite profitably to their owners, who make for the home and outside
market over one hundred thousand dollars' worth of flour annually,
and give steady employment to about fifty men and boys who have
knowledge of the business. These employes receive wages aggregating
$14,000. The mills some years ago were equipped with the roller pro-
cess machinery.

BRICK AND TILE.

There are five small brick and tile plants, the products of which
amount to about $12,000, and which afford employment for about forty
days in the year to thirty men, who altogether for this work receive
$2,000 or thereabout. This little business is likely to grow steadily,
nearly all the farmers recognizing the value of the use of tile in drain-
ing and reclaiming wet lands, and bricks being used more and more
for building purposes.

CHARCOAL.

Charcoal burning is also worthy of notice. The output of the Caro-
line kilns brings to the county from the New York and other markets
over $6,000 annually. The burners and laborers employed for about
two months in the year, numbering twenty-five, receive in wages about
$1,500 for the season.

WAGONS AND OTHER VEHICLES.

Wagon making as now conducted is a profitable business at Denton
and other points. One company, at Denton, recently established, gives
steady employment to a number of skilled mechanics, paying in salaries
and wages about $6,000 annually, and putting more than $12,000 worth
of vehicles on the market. The demand for the manufactures of this
company is far beyond the capacity of its plant, necessitating extension.
Four other small firms are engaged in cart and wagon building.

NEW ENTERPRISES.

With a plant valued at $8,000 a Ridgely firm, J. H. & R. E. Smith,
patentees and manufacturers, are, with a small force of workmen, put-
ting about $6,000 worth of corn harvesters on the market each season.
They, too, are unable to make the machines fast enough, and greater
facilities must be provided. Their present annual paj'-roU amounts to
more than $2,500. Labor conditions are such that all labor-saving
machinery is likely to grow in demand.



STATISTICS AND I N I'OK \I ATION. 189

Still another noteworthy enterprise with a promising future, recently
started at Denton by four young men, is the preserving and packing
establishment known as the K. N. llardcastle Company. Its specialties
are mincemeat, English plum puddings, brandied fruits, pickles, marma-
lades, jams, etc., tastefully put up according to the recipes obtained
from Mrs. K. N. Hardcastle. The company has a large and substan-
tial new building and has a growing business through leading grocers
with many first-class hotels, whose tables it supplies.

FRUIT PACKAGES, LUMBER, ETC.

There are twenty-three lumber mills (five of good size) in Caroline
County. These include saw and planing plants, basket and fruit pack-
age factories, established at a cost of about|75,ooo. Their total products
yield nearly $200,000 a year, and the 150 employes receive over $50,000
in. wages annually. The largest of these plants, owned and operated by
Day, Swing & Company, is located at Ridgely. It has an extensive
trade on the peninsula and in the State of New Jersey and elsewhere.

At Denton, Federalsburg, Hobbs and Henderson there are also fac-
tories engaged for a considerable part of the year in the making of
fruit packages.

Veneer works are to be opened at Greensboro in the near future.

THE PRINTING BUSINESS.

There are five printing establishments in the county, those of the
Denton Journal at Denton, the J. W. Stowell Printery at Federalsburg,
and the Caroline Sun at Ridgely, having steam power. .The Greens-
boro Free Press and the American Union use hand power machinery.

SHIRT FACTORIES.

There are three shirt factories in the county, employing about 100
operators, with an output of about $30,000 in shirts and other garments
annually. Wages aggregate $18,000.

A MANUFACTURING COUNTY.

In the foregoing enterprises, not including the regular packing busi-
ness, the investments amount to nearly $200,000 and the output yields
are about $500,000 a year, wages paid being over $100,000. Taken to-
gether with the packing industry, of which special mention has been
made in this article, it is seen that Caroline must be considered one of
the important manufacturing counties of Maryland. The facilities for
shipping which favor Caroline's varied fruit and general farming in-
terests assist greatly in the maintenance and growth of the manufac-
turing business.



igo REPORT OF THE BUREAU OE

The following list of manufactures, while not entirely complete, gives
a clear idea of the progressive industry and business thrift in Caroline

Lumber — B. W. Parker, Hughes Lumber & Coal Company, Roe &
Redden, Denton ; W. H. Cheezem, J. G. Rittenhouse, Bethlehem ; W.
J. Wright, Choptank ; Thos. E. Blades, A. L- Fishell, Wright & Foster,
Federalsburg ; Alex. McKnatt, Goldsboro ; Gottwalls & Hutson, Geo.
H. Russell, Greensboro ; W. H. Casho, Henderson ; A. B. Pitman, Hyn-
son; Gootee S. Liden, Oliver S. Reese, Smithville; George K. Wright,
Phillips & Douglas, Preston; Chas. E. Carroll, Two Johns; Fred. H.
Johnson, Andesontown ; Day, Swing & Company, Ridgely; W. P.
Willis, Fowling Creek — Number of employees, 141 ; value of total
product, $168,000; capital invested, $55,500; amount paid annually in
wages, $49,900.

Printing — Melvin & Johnson, Union Publishing Company, Denton;
J. W. Stowell, Federalsburg; Henry Wilkinson, Ridgely; Free Press
Publishing Company, Greensboro — Number of employees, 14; value of
total product, $21,000; capital invested, $16,000; amount paid annually
in wages, $3,150. -

Shirts— W. M. Wright & Company, Choptank; Nuttle & Elliott, Fed-
eralsburg; Denton Shirt Company, Denton — Number of employees, 90.;
value of total product, $30,000; capital invested, $9,000; amount paid
annually in wages, $18,000.

Sugar Refining — T. H. Everngam, Concord; Gottwalls & Hutson,
Greensboro; Slaughter Brothers, Hobbs— Number of employees, 6;
value of total product, $1,500; capital invested, $900; amount paid an-
nually in wages, $240,

Tin, Copper and Iron Shops — A. T. Reichman, H. A. Rowe, G. T.
Redden, Denton ; J. W. Boardly, SauLsbury Brothers, T. L. Day,
Swing & Company, Ridgely — Number of employees, 34; value of total
product, $15,500; capital invested, $7,000; amount paid annually in.,
wages, $5,400. â– 

Vinegar and Cider— Amos & Fishell, Federalsburg; A. Detwiler,
Ridgely — Number of employees, 3 ; A'alue of total product, $800 ; capital
invested, $600; amount paid annually in wages, $120.

Flouring and Grist Mill Products — Edward Roe, Henry Medford, M.
J. Cohee, Denton ; H. B. Messenger, Phillips & White, J. F. Disharoon,
Federalsburg ; W. H. Deen & Son, Fowling Creek ; W. T. Sewell, D.
J. Zacharius' Sons, Greensboro ; Ernest Downes, Hillsboro ; Beauchamp
& Brother, Linchester; Stephen Fluharty, Newton; Jacob D. Bowers,
James D. Wilson, Ridgely ; John P. Wilson, Smithville ; W. C. Todd,
Williston; Saunders Brothers, Goldsboro — Number of employees, 48;
value of total product, $162,000; capital invested, $57,000; amount paid
annually in wages, $14,400.



STATISTICS AND INFORMATION. I9I

Brick and Tile— Nichols & Still, Fedcralsburg; Bilbrough Brothers,
Greensboro; Edward Ilalbcrt, Hynson; David S. Stayer, T. W. Smith,
Ridgely — Number of employees, 30; value of total product, $12,500;
capital invested, $3,000; amount paid annually in wages, $2,000.

Carriages and Wagons — Wm. II. Collins, Fowling Creek ; Chas. S.
Roop, Hobbs; J. Wesley Bradley, Linchester; Anklam Manufacturing
Company, Denton; J. E. Williamson, Smithville — Number of employees,
18; value of total product, $16,000; capital invested, $7,900; amount
paid annually in wages, $6,100.

Charcoal— H. F. Trice, T. Williams, Fedcralsburg; A. W. Sisk, Pres-
ton — Value of total product, $6,500; capital invested, $800; amount
paid annually in wages, $1,450.

John T. Blades & Company, carpets, Choptank; J. H. & R. E. Smith,
agricultural implements, Ridgely; The K. N. Hardcastle Company,
food preparations; L. B. Towers, ice, Denton; W. H. Davis, pho-
tography, Fedcralsburg — Number of employees, 27; value of total pro-
duct, $39,000; capital invested, $22,800; amount paid annually in wages,
$6,660.

Carriages and Wagons — Frank H. Thomas, Bethlehem ; Jos. H. Price,
Tan Yard.

Charcoal — Robert M. Meads, Concord; Richard Porter, Denton; H,
B. Messenger, Fedcralsburg.

Flouring and Grist Mill Products— J. M. Anthony, Spring Mills,
Denton; Eagle Mills, Fedcralsburg; Hog Creek Grist Mill, Newton.

Lumber and Timber Products — E. W. Parker, American Corners;
W. H. Brown, W. J. Downing, Smithville ; Martin Griffith, Fowling
Creek.

CARROLL.

Carroll County was formed from Baltimore and Frederick Counties
in 1857, and was named in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the
last survivor of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The
county government was organized on April 11, 1837. In the territory
now embraced in the county the first patent for land was issued in
1724. The earlier settlers were Scotch-Irish, Germans and the de-
scendants of the English from Southern Maryland. The federal census
of 1840 gave the population at 17,241, and that of 1900 at 33,860. The
tax rate for 1903 is 45 cents, with road tax added.

^ AREA, FARMS, ETC.

The area of Carroll is 426 square miles, and the number of farms
is 3)352. It is located in Middle Northern Maryland, adjoining Penn-
sylvania on the north, with Baltimore County on the east, Frederick on
the west and Howard on the south. It is a fine agricultural and graz-



192 REPORT OF THlt BUREAU OF

iiig county, the principal farm crops being wheat, corn, rye, potatoes
and hay, though buckwheat and oats are grown to some extent and
the southern section is well adapted to growing tobacco. In one sec-
tion sonsiderable wormseed oil is made. Fruits of all kinds do well,
and dairy farming and cattle fattening are important industries. Much
pork is also raised. Carroll is adapted to all sorts of crops, and the
numerous towns furnish ready markets for butter, eggs, vegetables