FREEDOM DISTRICT, No. 5.
Freedom District, or District No. 5, of Carroll County, is bounded on the north by Woolery District, on the east by Baltimore County, on the south by Howard County, and on the west by Franklin District. It is intersected by Piney Run, Big and Little Morgan’s Runs, Owings’ Run, and their tributaries, and the North and West Branches of the Patapsco form the eastern and southern boundary lines of the district respectively. In addition to a number of turnpikes and excellent public roads, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad skirts the southern portion of the district, affording the most ample facilities for traffic with points of commercial importance. Freedom District in 1880 had a population of 3154. The following are the metes and bounds of the district as originally laid out by the commission appointed in 1837:
“Beginning at the mouth of Gillis’ Falls where it enters in the Western Falls; thence running with said falls to its junction with the Northern Branch; thence with the Northern Branch to Beasman’s bridge; thence with the Deer Park road to the road leading from Philip Nicodemus’s mill to the Calico House; thence with said road at Pool’s school-house; thence to Morgan’s Run, near Thomas Beasman’s barn; thence up Morgan’s Run to District No. 9; thence with District No. 9 to the place of beginning.”
Freedom was made the place for holding the polls. The above lines were somewhat changed by an act passed May 3, 1853, readjusting the bounds of the Fifth, Ninth, and Fourth Districts. This is the largest district, in the county in area, and Was the first settled. Its pioneers were mostly of English descent, with some of Welsh and Scotch-Irish extraction. Among the first to make their homes in the district were John Welch, Abel Brown, Robert Twis, Edward Dorsey, John Elder, Joshua Glover, Samuel Sewell, Grove Shipley, the Littles, Mr. O’Donald, the Steeles, Dorseys, Wadlows, Scriveners, Gores, Lees, Binghams, Ritters, Parishes, Bennetts, Gardners, Buckinghams, Enoch. Baker, Joseph Willis, John Beard, Lindsays, and Hoods. The Shipley family, embracing several branches, was the most numerous, and is to the present day.
The founder of the Ritter family in Maryland was Elias Ritter, who settled on the Western Shore of the province in 1650.
He was a native of Bedingen, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, where, it is said, he possessed an estate covering twenty-four square miles of land, embracing three towns within its bounds. Bedingen, the main town, was fortified, and contained the “Ritter Castle,” the walls of which were still standing in 1848. The family furnished men and munitions to the Protestant cause during the “Thirty Years’ War,” and at the close of that struggle was sent into exile and their property confiscated. Elias Ritter went to England during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, there joined one of the expeditions sent by Lord Baltimore to Maryland, and settled in the western part of Anne Arundel County.
At the time of the formation of Frederick County the family was located on the banks of the Monocacy River. The names of the principal members of the family at that time were Elias, John, William, Tobias, Michael, and Ludwig, or Lewis.
John, a son of the founder of the family, assisted William Penn in surveying the province of Pennsylvania in 1682, for which service he received five thousand acres of land in Berks County, Pa. A descendant of this Ritter occupied a seat in the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses. William and Elias Ritter were members of Capt. William Keeport’s company, Stricker’s battalion, Maryland line of 1776.
Tobias Ritter, another brother, was a member of the third company of Col. Armand’s Pennsylvania Legion.
Lewis Ritter, born Oct. 20, 1778, in Frederick County, Md., married Margaret Stall in 1803. This lady was the daughter of John Stall, of Franklin County, Pa., whose wife had been made a prisoner of war by the French and Indians after Braddock’s defeat, and taken to France, where she remained until 1770, when she was restored to her family. The husband had been with Braddock’s army.
Jacob Ritter, born Nov. 20, 1804, near Fayetteville, Franklin Co., Pa., married, December, 1829, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Philip J. Neff, a soldier in the war of 1812, and eldest son of Col. Michael Neff, a drill-officer under Washington during the American Revolution. Col. Neff served under Frederick the Great during his “Seven Years’ War” as one of the “Light Horse” and the king’s body-guard. At the commencement of the Revolutionary war Col. Neff resided in Tyrone township, Adams Co., Pa., where Philip J. Neff, his eldest son, was born. At the time of the marriage of Jacob Ritter and Elizabeth Neff, Philip J. Neff resided near Fayetteville, Franklin Co., Pa.
In 1836, Jacob Ritter was commissioned as first lieutenant of Company A, One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Regiment of State Militia, by Governor Joseph Ritner, of Pennsylvania, and served in that capacity six years.
In August, 1847, he removed to Finksburg, Carroll Co., Md., and in 1850 to Eldersburg, Freedom District, same county, where he died in 1870.
William L. Ritter, the son of Jacob Ritter, was born near Fayetteville, Franklin Co., Pa., on the 11th of August, 1835. He began his career with only a common-school education, which by diligence and perseverance he supplemented in after-years with all that was needed for the part he was called upon to play in life.
At the age of twenty-two he was appointed mail-agent under the Buchanan administration, and held this position until the breaking out of the war. When hostilities began his convictions led him to embrace the cause of the South, and without a moment’s delay he resolved to cast his lot with the Confederate army. Accordingly, on the 24th of October, 1861, in connection with Capt. Henry B. Latrobe and Lieuts. F.O. Claiborne, John B. Rowan, and William P. Patton, he recruited and organized the Third Battery Maryland Artillery. When the company was mustered into service he was appointed orderly sergeant.
Soon afterwards the battery was ordered to East Tennessee, where it remained until Gen. E. Kirby Smith marched into Kentucky, in August, 1862, when it accompanied his army to Covington, opposite Cincinnati, Ohio. After the army returned to Tennessee the battery was ordered to Vicksburg, Miss. Capt. Latrobe there retired from service, and Lieut. Claiborne was placed in command. On the 17th of March, 1863, Sergt. Ritter was elected second lieutenant to fill the vacancy caused by the promotion of his superior officer. Not long after his promotion he was sent to Gen. Ferguson’s command, on Deer Creek, Miss., above Vicksburg, to take charge of a section of light artillery of the Third Maryland Battery, then operating on the river in connection with a section of Capt. Bledsoe’s Missouri Artillery. Lieut. Ritter distinguished himself during this service for bravery and skill, and when during the long siege of Vicksburg Capt. Claiborne was killed, he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. In the seven days fight around Jackson, Miss., Lieut. Moore was wounded, and Ritter took command. In the October following he rejoined his old battery at Decatur, Ga. At the battle of Resaca, in May, 1864, he was wounded, but refused to retire from the field. He dressed his own wound, and although urged by the battalion surgeon to go to the hospital, kept his post, and in the absence of Capt. Rowan, withdrew the guns from one of the most exposed positions on the line. At the siege of Atlanta, Lieut. Ritter took command of the battery, Capt. Rowan having been called to the command of the battalion. At the death of Capt. Rowan, who was killed at the battle of Nashville, in December, 1864, he assumed command of the battery, and worked the guns until the enemy drove his men from the pieces at the point of the bayonet. At Columbus, Miss., Lieut. Ritter was promoted to captain to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Capt. Rowan, his commission dating from the 16th of December, 1864.
He remained in active service until the troops were surrendered and paroled at Meridian, Miss., never having taken a furlough nor spent a day in the hospital during the entire term of his service.
In February, 1866, he returned to Maryland, and on the 26th of November, 1867, married Mrs. Sarah Howard Rowan, widow of Capt. John B. Rowan, his late companion in arms, and daughter of Col. Thomas Howard, of Elkton, Md.
The Springfield Estate.—George Patterson was the youngest son of William Patterson, well known in Baltimore, who was possessed of a large amount of real estate in that city. He was also the brother of Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson, the first wife of the late Jerome Bonaparte. He took possession of his estate in Carroll County, containing about three thousand acres of land, in 1824, and made it his home until the time of his death, which occurred Nov. 19, 1869, in his seventy-fourth year. He was possessed of considerable wealth, and was largely engaged in importing and raising improved stock. He was an extensive exhibitor at the agricultural fairs held in the State before the beginning of the late war; but never competed for premiums, taking pride only in adding to the interest of the show by the presence of his fine animals. His immense farm was called “Springfield,” and was situated near Sykesville. He was an esteemed citizen, and his death was lamented by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Springfield is one of the most admirable and complete farming establishments in Maryland. It is situated a short distance from the Sykesville Station, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and contains about two thousand acres of land, fifteen hundred of which in 1870 were under cultivation. It is furnished with a flour-mill, saw-mill, and a comfortable country-house, with room enough for the uses of home and the claims of a generous hospitality, with lawns, orchards, and outhouses of every description and variety. It is high, healthy, rich, well watered and wooded.
More than forty years of Mr. Patterson’s life were spent in changing this excellent homestead from “a naked surface, incapable almost of cultivation,” to a rich, highly-cultivated farm. “Time and grass were at the bottom of all” his achievements in this respect. Every field has had two hundred bushels of lime to the acre, and each “passed six years of nine in grass.” The great pasture, in full view from the front door of the dwelling, has not been broken for many years, and being constantly pastured by the beautiful Devons, has grown richer and richer, and grasses native and exotic strive there for the mastery.
His system of farming was first corn, manured on sod broken deeply, and yielding an average of twelve barrels to the acre. This was followed by a crop of oats, and then two years of clover. Next a crop of wheat, on which ammoniated phosphate was used for the purpose of ripening the crop. At the time the wheat was sown the field was set to grass for hay, and for three years after the wheat crop was taken off mown, and the next year grazed. Manure was applied during the last year and the sod again broken for corn, beginning the regular nine years’ course.
Mr. Patterson raised Berkshire hogs instead of Chester, Southdown, and Shropshire sheep, and game chickens instead of fancy fowls. His stock of horses was unsurpassed. Many Marylanders will long remember Mr. Patterson’s stout, well-proportioned, powerful, and active horses at the State fairs.
Under the cultivation of Mr. Patterson, Springfield became the most celebrated, and was truly what he designed it should be, the model farm of Maryland. He erected his mansion on an eminence overlooking the farm and surrounding country. It is one hundred and seventy-five feet front by fifty feet deep. The front has a two story porch supported by pillars. The house, which is somewhat classical in style, is unique in its arrangements and a perfect country home. The iron and copper-mines upon this property, discovered in 1850, were profitably worked until 1861, and more recently leased to Graff, Bennett & Co., of Pittsburg, and Read, Stickney & Co., of Baltimore, who have begun operations with indications of valuable results. “Springfield Farm” is distinctively noted for its Devon cattle, Mr. Patterson having made, in 1817, the first importation of thoroughbred Devons into the United States, through his brother Robert, and as a present from Mr. Coke, afterwards Earl of Leicester. ** The following were his importations in order, as recorded in the “Devon Herd-Book”: Bulls, Anchises, No. 140; Eclipse, No. 191; Herod, No. 214; Norfolk, No. 266; Chatsworth, No. 182; Dick Taylor, No. 486; the President, Nos. 639 and 904. From these most of the Devon herds of this country are descended.
George Patterson married Prudence A. Brown, the daughter of Thomas C. and sister of Stephen T.C. Brown, who survives him and lives in Baltimore. Their only child, Florence, married James Carroll, of Charles. She died in 1878, much lamented. After Mrs. Carroll’s death, Mrs. Patterson and Mr. Carroll decided to sell “Springfield” to Frank Brown, which was done in 1880. Mr. Brown inherited the estate known as “Brown’s Inheritance” from his father, Stephen T.C. Brown. The land had been brought to the highest state of cultivation by Mr. Brown’s father and his grandfather, Thomas C. Brown, and is one of the best farms in the State. He combined the two farms, and has since been actively engaged in cultivating and improving the whole estate. As consolidated, his farm now contains two thousand five hundred acres, and is not surpassed in point of cultivation by any in the State. Mr. Brown has not only maintained the reputation of Devon cattle, but has even improved it.
It will be seen that these two farms have been blended together from their origin in the close alliance of the families of their respective owners.
Frank Brown, proprietor of the one farm by inheritance and of the other by purchase, is the only son and heir of the late Stephen T.C. and Susan Bennett Brown. He was born Aug. 8, 1846, on “Brown’s Inheritance.” The ancestor of the family in this country was Abel Brown, who emigrated from Dumfries, Scotland, to near Annapolis, Md., in 1730; he removed later to this part of Carroll (then Baltimore County), and purchased a large tract of land adjoining Springfield. This he brought to a high state of cultivation; it came into the possession of Elias Brown, Sr., who erected a stone saw and flour-mill, the corner-stone of which bears the date of 1798. He was a prominent citizen, and actively participated in civil affairs. He had four sons,—Thomas Cockey, Elias, Jr., William, and Stephen,—all of whom served in the war of 1812. Elias Brown, Jr., became prominent in the State, was a member of the United States Congress, and a Democratic Presidential elector a number of times. Thomas C. Brown inherited the estate, a division of which having been made, William Patterson, of Baltimore (the distinguished merchant and citizen, one of the organizers of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the father of Robert, George, Joseph, Edward, Henry, and Elizabeth Patterson,—Madame Bonaparte), purchased a portion which contributed largely to make up his “Springfield” estate. Thomas C. Brown married Susan Snowden, a descendant of Baptiste Snowden, of St. Mary’s County, Md., who had removed to the vicinity on a farm which he called Branton, on which he built a house of cut straw and clay, still standing in a good state of preservation. Col. Francis Snowden, the son of Baptiste, married Miss Miles, of St. Mary’s, and these are the maternal great-grandparents of the subject of this sketch. The children of Thomas C. Brown were Lewis, Prudence A., the widow of George Patterson, and Stephen T.C., the father of Frank Brown.
Stephen T.C. was born in 1820, reared on the “Inheritance,” and in 1842 married Susan Bennett; was a member of the State Legislature, one of the original subscribers to the Maryland Agricultural College, a most useful citizen, a representative man and agriculturist of the country. He was an official and leading member of the Springfield Presbyterian Church, which was established and supported by him and George Patterson, and whose edifice and parsonage were erected by their combined efforts. Mr. Brown was a man of decided character, strong convictions, benevolent spirit and works, Christian consistency and activity, and universally esteemed. He died in December, 1876.
Frank Brown is the only son of the last mentioned. At the age of eighteen his father gave him a farm, well stocked and furnished, adjoining the homestead, which he successfully managed for several years. He entered the agricultural implement and seed-house of B. Sinclair & Co., of Baltimore, where he received valuable training, of practical use in his after-years. He was later placed in charge of the Patterson estates in Baltimore, which he managed to the satisfaction of the heirs. He was subsequently appointed by Governor Bowie to a responsible place in one of the State tobacco warehouses, which position he held for six years. In 1875 he was elected to the House of Delegates, Maryland Assembly, and in 1878 reelected. His success was a gratifying proof of the public confidence in him. At the close of his second term he withdrew from political affairs, the care of “Springfield” and the Patterson interests having devolved upon him after his father’s death, who for six years subsequent to George Patterson’s demise had the management of them. This was a task requiring the exercise of financial wisdom and good executive ability, but Mr. Frank Brown has been equal to these great responsibilities. Naturally endowed with business capacity, his early experience fitted him for the management of his trusts. Like his father, he, too, takes a lively interest in the affairs of the county and his vicinity, and in many respects supplies his place. He was elected a trustee of Springfield Presbyterian Church, to fill the vacancy caused by his father’s death. He was also made trustee under Mrs. James Carroll’s (née Florence Patterson) will, for her legacy to the church of five thousand dollars. He is one of the executive committee of the Maryland State Agricultural Association, and a director of the Maryland Live-Stock Breeders’ Association. At the late tenth annual meeting of the Maryland Agricultural and Mechanical Association, held Oct. 27, 1881, he was elected its president.
Mr. F. Brown married (December, 1879) Mary R. Preston, née Miss Ridgely, daughter of David Ridgely, of Baltimore. They reside on the farm during summer and in Baltimore during the winter.
Below is given a list of persons in Freedom District in 1879 who had reached the age of eighty years. The names of twenty-two persons are given, whose ages amount to 1881 years; or an average of eighty-five and a half years:
Mrs. Jane C. Smith, 83; Joshua Hipsley, 81; Mrs. Rebecca Hiltabidle, 84; Daniel Gassaway (colored), 85; Mrs. P. Wilson, 84; Samuel Jordan, 84; Mrs. E. Ware, 83; Nathaniel Richardson, 86; Jacob Beem, 86; Rev. Dr. Piggot, 84; J. Linton, 83; Mrs. Matilda Phillips, 84; George Haywrath, 82; Nathan Porter, 85; Mrs. Susanna Warfield, 83; Sebastian Bowers, Sr., 86; Ruth Shipley, 99; James Morgan, 85; Ruth Frizzle, 94; P. Diens (colored), 90; Kate Philips, 85; Susan Dixon (colored), 85.
Defiance, a small village, is situated on the western edge of the district. Horace L. Shipley here has a store, formerly kept by his father, Larkin Shipley, a son of John Shipley, one of the oldest settlers.
St. Stephen’s Lodge, No. 95, I.O.O.F., located at Defiance, was instituted in May, 1857. Its charter members were Jesse Leatherwood, Larkin Shipley, Dr. Francis J. Crawford, Abraham Greenwood, Hanson Leatherwood. Its first officers were:
N.G., Jesse Leatherwood; V.G., Larkin Shipley; Sec., Dr. F. J. Crawford; Treas., Hanson Leatherwood.
Its present officers (second term, 1881) are:
N.G., John W. Pickett; V.G., F.L. Criswell; Sec., Augustus Brown; Per. Sec., Thomas L. Shipley; Treas., C.R. Pickett; Con., T.N. Shipley; Chapl., Dr. D.F. Shipley; Marshal, A. Brown; Warden, David H. Haines; Dist. Dep., Horace L. Shipley.
Its neat frame hall, forty-four by twenty-two feet, was built in 1880. The trustees are John H. Conoway, William H. Pickett, F.L. Criswell. Number of members, seventy.
Bethesda Methodist Episcopal church is situated north of the hamlet of “Pleasant Gap.” It is a substantial brick structure, erected in 1880. Immediately in its rear is the old log church, in which services were held from 1810, the date of its erection, until the completion of the new church in 1880. The graveyard adjoining contains the following interments:
Ruth, wife of James Parish, died July 24, 1875, aged 60.
Vachel Buckingham, died Sept. 4, 1866, aged 76; and his wife, Eleanor, Feb. 8, 1871, aged 71.
Prudence A. Lindsay, died Jan. 3, 1879, aged 63; John A. Lindsay, died Jan. 10, 1877, aged 64.
Eliza J., wife of Andrew Wheeler, died Jan. 5, 1878, aged 19.
Henry S. Buckingham, died March 26, 1872, aged 43.
Ellen Nora Elizabeth, wife of Richard M. Chenoweth, died Nov. 13, 1863, aged 22.
Ann, wife of Joseph Willis, died Sept. 7, 1865, aged 88.
Elizabeth, wife of Grove Shipley, born Sept. 11, 1776, and died July 8, 1854; and her husband, born April 4, 1776, died Oct. 20, 1849.
Louisa, wife of Grove Shipley, Jr., died June 21, 1846, aged 42.
James Parish, born April 15, 1773, died March 29, 1853.
Kiturah Parish, died June 1, 1848, aged 76.
Thomas Barnes, died Feb. 29, 1860, aged 43.
Array Parish, wife of Moses Parish, and daughter of Richard and Array Condon, died Nov. 29, 1861, aged 62. Moses Parish, born Sept. 6, 1795, died April 27, 1862; and his wife, Micha, daughter of Grove and Elizabeth Shipley, died Sept. 21, 1839, aged 43.
Nicholas Shipley, born Jan. 28, 1805, died Jan. 15, 1837.
Sarah Shipley, born Nov. 20, 1797, died Jan. 22, 1873.
Sarah, wife of William A. Gibson, died March 12, 1873, aged 39.
William Baker, born April 27, 1806, died July 20, 1876.
Enoch Baker, died June 27, 1864, aged 97; and Mary, his wife, July 8, 1863, aged 87.
Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Hughes, died May 1, 1854, aged 31.
Hannah, wife of Reese Brown, born Sept. 19, 1789, died Sept. 29, 1864.
John Beard, born Aug. 24, 1789, died Aug. 28, 1859.
James W. Parish, died June 13, 1871, aged 50.
Elizabeth, wife of John W. Parish, born March 25, 1830, died April 24, 1878.
The Methodist Protestant church, built about 1840, is just south of “Pleasant Gap.” It is a frame structure, originally built of logs, and then weather-boarded. It has one gallery, and is two stories high. In the graveyard adjoining are only a few graves, among which is that of Abraham, son of Nicholas and Mary J. Wilson, born April 12, 1867, died Jan. 2, 1872. Most of them have no tombstones.
Nathan Manro was born in the State of Rhode Island, Sept. 29, 1730, and was married, Nov. 21, 1750, to Miss Hannah Allen, of that State. She was born April 14, 1733. Their children were Hannah, Sarah, Elizabeth, Squire, Lydia, Nathan, Mary, Jonathan, David, Allen, and Thomas. Of these, Jonathan, the eighth child, was born Nov. 28, 1766, and came to Maryland from near Providence, R.I., with his brother Nathan, who died in 1827. Jonathan settled in Baltimore, and became a rich and prosperous merchant. He owned several ships that were engaged in the London and West India trade. He was married, Jan. 15, 1795, to Sarah Conner, daughter of James Conner, and died Jan. 22, 1848. They had thirteen children, of whom two survive, Mrs. Dr. Turnbull, of Baltimore, and Judge George W. Manro. The latter was born in Baltimore, March 22, 1810, and was liberally educated in the schools of that city. He followed the high seas for ten years on merchant vessels owned by his father, and served as second mate under Capt. James Beard. Before he quit the seas he had command of the ship “Ocean,” owned by the Osgoods. In 1837 he removed to the farm on which he now resides, and which was a part of the lands purchased at an early date by his mother’s father, James Conner. Mr. Conner owned six hundred and three acres, made up of tracts surveyed and patented to Samuel Sewell and Joshua Glover. One of these, “Buck’s Park,” was surveyed for Samuel Sewell, April 16, 1759, for fifty acres. Another, “Sewell’s Park,” of twenty acres, was surveyed March 17, 1745, and another, of one hundred and twenty-one acres, “Buck’s Park,” at another date. “William’s Neglect,” of thirteen and three-fourths acres, was surveyed for Joshua Glover, Dec. 9, 1795. Judge Manro was married, Oct. 26, 1837, to Elizabeth Kelly, daughter of William and Martha (Loveall) Kelly, by Rev. Samuel Gore. Her brother, Nicholas Kelly, was the first sheriff of Carroll County. Judge Manro was one of the first magistrates appointed in the new county of Carroll, and held this office for a long term of years. He was appointed one of the judges of the Orphans’ Court in 1848, and served three years, and was elected in 1851 for the term of four years, according to the provisions of the new constitution adopted that year. He was elected in 1867 one of the six members from this county to the Constitutional Convention, and aided in framing the organic law under which Maryland is now governed. In 1868 he was appointed by Governor Oden Bowie inspector of tobacco, which position he held several years. At present he is collector of taxes. Both on the bench and in all other public positions held by Judge Manro, his administration of affairs has been characterized by the ability, purity, and suavity of manner that has ever distinguished his life, and has made him a popular and valued public servant. He is a zealous member of the Masonic order, in which, over thirty years ago, he received its first three degrees. He has been a lifelong Democrat, devoted to the interests of his party, to which, under all vicissitudes, he has strongly adhered, and to whose counsels he ever gave his voice, and for the success of which his vote was always freely given. He is connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Freedom, in the erection of whose church edifice in 1868 he liberally contributed, and was chairman of its building committee. The judge resides on his splendid farm of three hundred and one acres, located a mile north of Eldersburg, where he and his accomplished lady dispense old-fashioned Maryland hospitality. The name of his estate is “Buck’s Park,” called after two of the original surveys made of the grant.
Freedom.—The village of Freedom is four miles from Sykesville, and adjacent to Morgan’s Run and Piney Falls. It is situated on land belonging to Mr. O’Donald, a very large landed proprietor in this district at an early date. O’Donald, in laying out the village, gave the alternate lots to those who purchased lots, and his liberality and freedom in his transactions gave the name to the village, and when the district was organized, in 1837, it took its name from the village, which was founded shortly after the Revolution. The residence of Dr. Joseph W. Steele, a log structure weather-boarded, was built about 1769, and during the Revolution and until a few years ago was occupied as a tavern. John Little kept it for many years. The village is on the old Liberty road, built in olden times by convicts, but before its construction there was an older road, which ran back of Dr. Steele’s residence (the old tavern). The Berret family is an old one in this region, and its first head here was a Hayti refugee, who married a daughter of O’Donald, the great
land-owner. Mary E. Wadlow is postmistress, and J. Wadlow & Sons, merchants. J. Oliver Wadlow, the popular and efficient register of wills of Carroll County, resides here.
The physician of the town is Dr. Joseph W. Steele, who has been engaged in the practice of his profession at this point since 1856. He was born near the village, March 6, 1831 (also the day of the birth of J. Oliver Wadlow), and is, on his father’s side, of Irish extraction. His grandfather was John Steele, who taught school and kept store at an early date a few miles distant (now in Franklin District). John Steele met for the first time his future wife, Mary Hays, during the Revolution, at the tavern in Freedom at a social party. The doctor’s grandmother on his maternal side was a Gore, one of the oldest settlers, and his wife was Margaret J. Smith, a descendant of the earliest settlers of Baltimore Town. Where the village stands the only house for many years was the old tavern, whose high mantels and unique hand-carving betoken its great age. Dr. Nathan Browne, who lived near here and died in 1873, was a celebrated physician. He was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and was distinguished for his philanthropy. He never married, and lived with his beloved nieces. He was a State senator from 1867 to 1871, and held other positions of great trust. He practiced here forty-five years.
Dr. W.M. Hines resides just west of the village. Dr. Hines has steadily practiced medicine in Carroll County since 1846, save for a period of three years, and it may therefore be easily understood that he is pretty well known all over the county as well as in adjacent sections. He was born July 23, 1825, in the town of Liberty, Frederick County. There also his father, David, was born. David Hines was educated at Georgetown, D.C., and passed a busy life as farmer and merchant. He owned and farmed in early life the valuable tract known as “Glade Garden.” As a merchant he was prominent in Liberty, Frederick, and Baltimore, in which latter city he ended his days. His wife was Jane C., daughter of Samuel Marshall. His father, Philip Hines, served with considerable distinction in the war of the Revolution. The living sons and daughters of David Hines are Mrs. Augustus Webster and Mrs. Ignatius Gore, of Baltimore, and Dr. Hines, of Carroll County. Dr. Hines passed his early youth at Glade Garden farm, and at the age of fifteen was sent to Dickinson College, at Carlisle. At the end of four years of study he occupied a place in the junior class, from which he was forced to retire by reason of ill health. A brief rest recuperated his energies, and in 1844 he began the study of medicine under Dr. Nathan R. Smith, one of Baltimore’s most distinguished surgeons. Young Hines attended lectures at the University of Maryland, and graduated at that institution in March, 1846. Very soon thereafter he located in Carroll County, near his present home, and gave himself with such energy and vigorous determination to the practice of his profession that he found himself in due time in active demand in all the country roundabout. His field was a large one, and his calls so numerous that for a time in his early experience he almost literally lived in the saddle. For period of three years he was connected with the United States custom-house at Baltimore, and for three months during the war of 1861-65 was a surgeon in the Federal army, with his station at Convent Hospital, Baltimore. Excepting these absences Dr. Hines has been regularly, in season and out of season, one of Carroll County’s leading physicians, and now, after a practice of thirty six years, is hale, hearty, and vigorous, and still rides a large circuit and attends upon his numerous patients with wellnigh as much briskness and ambitious spirit as marked the younger portions of his career. Like his father before him, he was an Old-Line Whig. Later he became and remains a Republican. Although alive to the progress of political events and deeply interested therein, he has steadily from the outset of his manhood’s experience held consistently aloof from the business of office-seeking or office-holding. In 1855 he married Frances H., daughter of Rev. Augustus Webster, of Baltimore. Mrs. Hines died Oct. 3, 1877. There are three living children, two of them being sons, Augustus W. and William M.
Freedom Lodge, A.F. and A.M., No. 112, was chartered in 1862, with the following charter members:
W.M., Warren N. Little; S.W., Dr. Joseph W. Steele; J.W., Nicholas L. Rogers; Sec., J. Oliver Wadlow; Treas., John Deckabaugh.
The lodge built its hall before obtaining its charter. It is a two-story frame building, twenty-four by forty-five feet, the lower part being used for a public school. Of the fourteen charter members the following are living: John Deckabaugh, Thomas Paynter, Lewis Ohler, J. Oliver Wadlow, Dr. J.W. Steele, John L. Nicholas, and Robert Clark. Its Worshipful Masters have been John Deckabaugh, J. Oliver Wadlow, Dr. J.W. Steele, Lewis Ohler, and Warren N. Little.
Officers for 1881:
W.M., John Deckabaugh; S.W., Thomas Paynter; J.W., Samuel W. Barnet; Sec., Dr. J.W. Steele; Treas., J. Oliver Wadlow.
It numbers forty-seven Master Masons, two Fellow Crafts, and one Entered Apprentice. Dr. J.W. Steele has served as Grand Standard Bearer in the Grand Lodge. At a single festival this lodge took in fourteen hundred dollars, which cleared it of all debts, and left a surplus for charitable purposes.
The Methodist Episcopal church, built in 1822, is between Freedom and Eldersburg. It is a handsome edifice, displaying considerable architectural taste.
In its cemetery are the graves of the following persons:
Nicholas Dorsey, died Sept. 9, 1876, aged 60.
Elizabeth Dorsey, died March 2, 1881, aged 76.
Samuel Bingham, died Aug. 17, 1876, aged 66.
Ruth Bingham, died Aug. 27, 1880, aged 72.
Caroline Brown, born April 15, 1815, died July 17, 1878.
Jesse W. Brandenburg, born Dec. 19, 1838, died Jan. 9, 1879.
Caroline, wife of William Cooley, died March 3, 1877, aged 49.
Sarah, wife of David Slack, died Feb. 20, 1878, aged 91.
Rebecca, wife of William D. Frizzell, born March 17, 1829, died Feb. 25, 1866; and her husband, born March 7, 1829, died March 24, 1875.
John Frizzell, died March 31, 1870, aged 69.
John Wadlow, died Sept. 10, 1854, aged 50; and Jemima, his wife, April 8, 1872, aged 67.
Anna Maria Shipley, born Feb. 27, 1775, died Jan. 15, 1857.
Frances Hollis, wife of Dr. William M. Hines, died Oct. 3, 1877.
Achsa, wife of William Scrivenor, died April 8, 1872, aged 82.
Israel Frizzell, born March 23, 1807, died Aug. 6, 1876.
Stephen R. Gore, born April 1, 1818, died Feb. 25, 1872.
Jabez Gore, died Jan. 7, 1851, aged 39.
Rev. Samuel Gore, died Sept. 4, 1858, aged 75 (a local preacher of Methodist Episcopal Church for 50 years); and Theresa, his wife, born Nov. 20, 1789, died Feb. 29, 1864.
Nathan Clark, died Sept. 22, 1852, aged 68.
Joseph Steele, died Aug. 25, 1855, aged 61; and his wife Charlotte, April 22, 1857, aged 58.
John T. Steele (a Freemason), died Aug. 9, 1863, aged 42.
Cecilia, wife of William Beam, and third daughter of Matthew and Catharine Chambers, born Jan. 24, 1806, died Dec. 18, 1870.
Matthew Chambers, died Aug. 15, 1825, aged 52.
Col. Peter Little, died Feb. 5, 1830, aged 54; and his wife, Catharine, July 18, 1867, aged 79.
Sophia Levely, died Sept. 17, 1845, aged 53.
Warren Little (a Freemason), born Feb. 29, 1811, died Feb. 21, 1863.
John Little, died Sept. 5, 1853, aged 80.
Mrs. Catharine Steele, eldest daughter of John and Anna Little, died April 11, 1865, aged 55.
David Little, died Aug. 23, 1857, aged 62.
George Clift, died Feb. 9, 1852, aged 75.
Elizabeth Clift, died Dec. 30, 1858, aged 94.
Elizabeth Hines, died May 3, 1867, aged 68.
Hannah Lindsey, died Aug. 31, 1862, aged 74.
Joshua Lee, died March 4, 1871, aged 88; and his wife, Susannah, Nov. 21, 1869, aged 83.
Jesse Lee, died March 23, 1866, aged 68.
Thomas Lucy, died July 16, 1853, aged 92.
Margaret, wife of John Elder, born Jan. 10, 1774, died May 8, 1849.
Thomas Bingham, died May 5, 1854, aged 80.
Mary, wife of John Twemmy, born Aug. 9, 1812, died Jan. 21, 1855.
Julia, wife of William C. Lindsay, died Aug. 6, 1874, aged 49.
Honor Lee, wife of Thomas Lee, died June 30, 1853, aged 64; and her husband, Nov. 5, 1851, aged 75.
Larkin Fisher, died Feb. 21, 1876, aged 71.
The corner-stone of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, a handsome brick structure, lying between Freedom and Eldersburg, was laid April 13, 1868, when Rev. Wm. Etchison was pastor. Judge George W. Manro was chairman of the building committee. Its present pastors are Revs. Watters and Martin.
In the churchyard are buried the following persons:
John W. Brown, born Oct. 9, 1811, and died March 7, 1877.
Jemima E., wife of John G. Pearce, born Sept. 14, 1827, died Jan. 12, 1875.
Their son, Elias J., born Feb. 2, 1856, died Aug. 23, 1876.
Jacob Ritter, born Nov. 20, 1804, died Dec. 26, 1870,—descendant of the earliest Ritter of 1650,—and Elizabeth, his wife, born Feb. 17, 1806, died March 23, 1879.
Juliet Welsh, wife of Luther Welsh, died June 1, 1869, aged 63.
Ruth, wife of Freeborn Gardner, died March 29, 1870, aged 62.
Elizabeth, wife of Samuel W. Barnett, died July 7, 1871, aged 44.
Cornelius Shipley, died Feb. 3, 1862, aged 61.
Eldersburg.—The town of Eldersburg, three and a half miles from Sykesville and thirty-two from Baltimore, was named in honor of John Elder, who laid it out before 1800, and who was an early settler, owning large tracts of land in the vicinity. It has a lodge of I.O. Good Templars, and Grange No. 139 of Patrons of Husbandry, of which N.D. Norris is Master, and George M. Prugh, secretary. Among the business men of the town are T.A. Barnes, postmaster and merchant; Dr. H.C. Shipley, physician; L.H.W. Selby, undertaker; J. & L.H. Selby, millers; and J. Collins, shoemaker.
Holy Trinity Parish, Protestant Episcopal Church, originated on March 8, 1771, when John Welch entered into a bond in the penal sum of two hundred pounds, English sterling, to convey to Abel Brown, Robert Twis, Edward Dorsey, and John Elder two acres of land, provided the said persons would build a “Chappell of Ease” for the benefit of “Delaware Hundred,” the name of their election district. The church was built (a stone structure), and became a part of St. Thomas’ Parish, Baltimore County. In the lapse of time the congregation thinned out, Episcopal services were no longer held, and the Baptists for some years occupied the edifice. After a time the Baptists were unable to maintain their congregation, and the building was not used for religious services, but became the abode of cattle and horses.
On June 1, 1843, Holy Trinity Parish was formed out of St. Thomas’, and this ancient building repaired, rebuilt, and refurnished, and on Oct. 31, 1843, consecrated anew. The vestrymen then chosen were George F. Warfield, Wm. H. Warfield, James Sykes, Jesse Hollingsworth, George W. Manro, John Colhoon, Nicholas Dorsey, and Warner W. Warfield, and the Register, Washington L. Bromley. Its pastors and rectors have been:
1843-47, Rev. D. Hillhouse Buell; 1847, Rev. Wm. E. Snowden; 1848-51, Rev. S. Chalmers Davis; 1851-69, Rev. Thomas J. Wyatt; 1869, Rev. J. Worrall Larmour; Dec. 6, 1869, Rev. Robert Pigott, D.D., present rector.
The officers for 1881 were: Vestrymen, L.W.W. Selby, Dr. C.C. Moorehead, Thomas B. Jones, Capt. J.W. Bennett, John Grimes, W.B. Shipley, A. Voorhees, John Barnes, Sr., Wm. P. Grimes, and George W. Holmes; Wardens, George W. Holmes, John Grimes; Register, Charles R. Favour, Esq.
In the churchyard the following persons are buried:
Kate, wife of Z. Hollingsworth, died Sept. 21, 1858.
Their son, Zebulon, died April 3, 1861, aged 34.
Elizabeth, wife of Edward Ireland, Jr., died Jan. 19, 1862, aged 32.
Emma E. Lucy, died Nov. 14, 1861, aged 41.
Barbara, daughter of Andrew and Martha Fite, born July 16, 1831, died April 7, 1865.
Jesse Hollingsworth, born March 19, 1800, died April 8,1872.
Anna Baker, daughter of Jesse and Sophia Hollingsworth, born April 21, 1829, died April 10, 1870.
George Fraser Warfield, born March 20, 1769, died Dec. 11, 1849; and his wife Rebecca (daughter of Abel Brown), born Dec. 24, 1774, died March 4, 1852.
William Warfield, born Aug. 3, 1807, died March 26, 1857.
Augustus Edward Dorsey, died Dec. 9, 1869, aged 60.
James Soper, died Oct. 10, 1811, aged 45.
Springfield Presbyterian church, a fine three-story structure, was erected in 1836 by George Patterson and Stephen T.C. Brown. A few years later the parsonage, adjoining, was built. The building has been used both as a church and school. The school was incorporated as “Springfield Academy” by an act of the Legislature passed Jan. 6, 1838. The first trustees designated in this act were Dr. Hawes Goldsborough, Dr. R.D. Hewitt, Dr. Nathan Browne, Eli Hewitt, Nathan Gorsuch, Joseph Steele, and Cornelius Shipley. The last pastor of the church was Rev. Charles Beach, who had charge of the academy now conducted by his daughters. The present trustees of the academy are Frank Brown, Wm. C. Polk, Lewis Shultz, Richard J. Baker, Joliner Wadlow, J.O. Devries, Joshua D. Warfield, P.W. Webb, and Robert C. McKinney. Miss Florence Patterson, who died in 1878, left to the church and academy a bequest of five thousand dollars, which is held by Frank Brown in trust for the interests of the church.
In the graveyard in the rear of the church and academy the following persons are buried:
George Devries, over whom there is erected an elegant Scotch granite monument with simply his name.
Sarah L., his wife, died Aug. 26, 1877.
Stephen T.C. Brown, born Nov. 12, 1820, died Dec. 6, 1876.
Mary, daughter of Stephen T.C. and Susan A. Brown, born Aug. 29, 1843, died May 30, 1863.
Susan, wife of Thomas C. Brown, born Feb. 1, 1791, died Sept. 19, 1861.
Florence, wife of James Carroll, and daughter of George and Prudence A. Patterson, born June 13, 1847, died Oct. 15, 1878 (resting on her breast was the body of her infant son).
George Patterson, born Aug. 26, 1796, died Nov. 26, 1869.
George, son of George and Prudence A. Patterson, born Sept 9, 1844, died Dec. 21, 1849.
Eli Hewitt, died April 10, 1868, aged 62; and Ann B., his wife, Jan. 18, 1859, aged 52.
Susanna, wife of John L. Nicholas, died July 14, 1862 aged 38.
Nicholas Harry, born in parish Tywardreath, County Cornwall, England, May, 1809, died Feb. 5, 1862.
Catharine Buckingham, died Nov. 1, 1875, aged 71.
Augustus Smith, died June 15, 1862, aged 42.
Jane, wife of Henry Nicholas, died Aug. 25, 1858, aged 37.
Sykesville is on the Baltimore and Ohio Rai1road, thirty-two miles from Baltimore, and by turnpike twenty-two, and seventeen from Westminster. It is pleasantly located on the West Branch of the Patapsco River, which supplies abundance of water for milling and other purposes. It is a flourishing town, and a large business is done here in lumber, lime, coal, fertilizers, and general merchandise. It has become a favorite resort for the families of Baltimoreans, many of whom board at the farm-houses in the neighborhood during the summer. The town was named after James Sykes, son of John Sykes, a famous Baltimore merchant. He came here in 1825, and bought a thousand acres of land in different tracts, including the site of the town, on which at that time the only building was a saw- and grist-mill. He replaced the old mill by a new and substantial structure in 1830-31, and erected a five-story stone hotel to meet the requirements of the railroad then built to this place, and for a summer resort. It was fifty by seventy-four feet in dimensions, and the finest hotel in Maryland outside of Baltimore at that date. In 1837, when John Grimes (the present hotel-keeper) came here, there were but four or five houses, and John Garrett kept the big hotel. In 1845, Mr. Sykes enlarged his stone mill, and converted it into the “Howard Cotton-Factory,” and also built large houses for his operatives. He carried it on until 1857, employing over two hundred hands, when the monetary crisis caused his suspension. This factory has not been in operation since, except for a short time, when run by L.A. Purennet and Miller for a year or so, and for a brief period during the war by James A. Gary on certain lines of manufactured goods. Mr. Sykes died in the spring of 1881, universally esteemed and respected. The oldest house standing is a log hut occupied by George Collins. The first house built on the site of the town was carried off by the flood of 1868, which did immense damage, sweeping away many buildings, including the large hotel then kept by John Grimes, and the store of Zimmerman & Shultz. This firm lost all their goods, and also their iron safe with its contents of money, books, etc. The safe was never found. The first physician to settle here was Dr. Array Owings in 1846. J.M. Zimmerman is postmaster, railroad and express agent, and Dr. C.C. Moorhead, the physician of the neighborhood. Messrs. Zimmerman & Shultz, merchants, came here from Frederick in 1858, and have built up an immense trade, having been very successful in business. After being washed out by the great freshet in 1868 they built another fine stone house across the street and opposite their old place of business. John McDonald & Co. erected their elegant stone store in 1865, and have an extensive trade. Samuel R. Duvall has just completed a large building, where he carries on a big business in agricultural implements, hardware, etc. Messrs. Zimmerman & Shultz own the mill property and factory formerly belonging to Mr. Sykes. All these houses, together with the Methodist Episcopal and Episcopal churches, are on the Howard County side of the river. E.M. Mellor is also engaged in the merchandise business. When Mr. Sykes came to this spot in 1825 there were only three houses or buildings, including the mill, but to-day the population is over four hundred.
The Methodist Episcopal church, a handsome stone edifice, was erected in 1878 on a very high eminence overlooking the town. It has stained windows and a well-toned bell. It was built under the pastorate of Rev. C.W. Baldwin, who was in charge from 1878 to 1879. His successor, Rev. T.M. West, remained from 1879 to 1881, when the present incumbent, Rev. A.J. Gill, entered upon the discharge of his duties as pastor. The Sunday-school superintendent is J.E. Gaither.
Previous to the erection of the church building in 1878 the congregation held its services in a large frame building opposite the cotton-factory.
St. Joseph’s Catholic church, a handsome structure, is near the depot, and on a beautiful site. It was begun before the war, and completed in 1867. Its pastor is Father Loague, of Woodstock College, and the congregation is large and zealous.
The Protestant Episcopal church in Holy Trinity Parish was built in 1850, on June 11th of which year the corner-stone was laid. Its rector then was Rev. S. Chalmers Davis, who, in 1851, was succeeded by Rev. Thomas J. Wyatt, who continued to 1869, during which year Rev. J. Worrall Larmour officiated a few months. The present rector, the learned and venerable Robert Pigot, D.D., came to the parish Dec. 6, 1869. The church edifice is a substantial stone structure of imposing architecture, and located on the Howard County side, with a fine view of the whole town. The list of its officers is given above, being the same as those in charge of the Eldersburg Church, which with this forms Holy Trinity Parish, made out of St. Thomas’ in 1843. Its rector, Rev. Dr. Pigot, was born May 20, 1795, in New York City. His father was a native of Chester, England, came to America a soldier in the king’s army, and was present, Sept. 13, 1759, at the battle of Quebec, under Gen. Wolfe, where he witnessed that famous commander’s victory and death. He located after the close of the French and Indian war in New York City, where before and after the Revolution he was a successful school-teacher. During the French and Indian war he was one of the secretaries of Lord Amherst, the commander of all the king’s forces in America.
The doctor’s family was founded in England by Pigot, Baron of Boorne, in Normandy, one of the forty knights who accompanied William the Conqueror. An elder branch settled at Chetwynd Park and Edgemont, in Shropshire, where it yet continues, another possessed Doddeshall Park, in Bucks, and the third removedto Ireland. Its arms were―sanguine—three pickaxes—argent crest—a greyhound, passant, sable; mottoes, labore et virtute, and conanti debitum; seats, Archer Lodge, Sherfield upon Lodden Hants, and Banbury, Oxfordshire. On the maternal line, Dr. Pigot is descended from Cerdic, a Saxon prince, who invaded England 495 and 519 B.C. He was brought up in the church, and ordained Nov. 23, 1823, by Bishop White. He came to Maryland from Pennsylvania in 1837, and was made rector of North Sassafras, Cecil Co. In 1840 he became rector of Grace Church, Elkridge Landing, and Ellicott Chapel, Anne Arundel County. In 1842 he was chosen principal of Darlington Academy, and in 1844, missionary and rector of Redemption Church, in Baltimore, to which, in 1845, was added Cranmer Chapel. In 1847 he was made professor in Newton University of Baltimore, in 1850 was city missionary. In 1855 he was an assistant in the University of Maryland, and chancellor of the Protestant University. His first rectorship was St. Mark’s, Lewistown, Pa., from 1825 to 1828. In 1869 he came to Holy Trinity Parish, and on March 30, 1870, his house burned down, and he lost by the fire the church register, all his literary labors for fifty-three years, and all his sermons for
forty-seven. This venerable divine is one of the oldest Freemasons in America, having received the three first degrees in Masonry in 1824. Since then he has taken all the degrees to and including the thirty-second. He belongs to the Maryland Commandery, No. 1, of Baltimore, from which he was the recipient of a splendid sword, presented to him as a Sir Knight. A handsome Masonic medal, bearing date of his initiation into the order (1824), was also presented to him, with the Latin inscription, “Tolle crucem et coronam.” He has repeatedly, and for many years, served as chaplain in various Masonic organizations and bodies, both in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Another noted family connected with Holy Trinity Parish since its establishment in 1843 is that of the Warfields. Richard Warfield, a native of Wales, came to this country in 1638, and pitched his tent nine miles from Annapolis, Md., at a place now known as the “Black Horse Tavern.” His second son was Alexander, whose third son was Hazel Warfield. The latter was twice married. By his first wife were born Henry Warfield, a member of Congress, Dr. Charles Alexander Warfield, Dr. Peregrine Warfield, Dr. Gustavus Warfield; and by his second wife, George Frazer Warfield and Sally Waters, of Tennessee, whose daughter married Dr. Robinson, who was the father of the wife of Judge Henning, of New Orleans, whose daughter married Gen. Hood, of the Confederate army. Dr. Charles A. Warfield was a stanch patriot (as were all the Warfields) in the Revolution, and was a lieutenant in the Continental army. He was with the party which boarded the British vessel “Peggy Stewart” and burned her with her cargo of tea at Annapolis. George Frazer Warfield was born March 20, 1769, in Baltimore, and became a noted merchant of that city. In 1834 he removed to his country-seat, “Groveland,” in the vicinity of Sykesville, where he died Dec. 11, 1869. His wife was Rebecca Brown, daughter of Abel Brown, and a sister of
ex-Congressman Elias Brown. She was born near Sykesville, Dec. 24, 1774, and died March 4, 1852. The Warfield family was largely instrumental in creating the parish of Holy Trinity, rebuilding the church edifice at Eldersburg, and building the one at Sykesville, and three of its members, William H., George F., and Warner W., were members of the first vestry in 1843. George Frazer Warfield’s children were Lewis, George F., Warner W., William H. (of United States army), Susanna, Rebecca, married to Richard Holmes, and Elizabeth, married to Mr. Wade, a lawyer of Massachusetts. Miss Susanna Warfield lives at “Groveland” with her nephew, George W. Holmes. She was born in 1794, and is a well-preserved lady of the old school,—dignified and courtly, paying great attention to current events, and specially interested in the church. George Frazer Warfield was one of the defenders of Baltimore, and named his
country-seat “Groveland” at the suggestion of Miss Bentley, a sister of his son George’s wife. “Aunt Harvey,” a sister of Abel Brown, and aunt to Mrs. George Frazer Warfield, was murdered by the Indians near Harper’s Ferry, while on her way to the West, about 1775, and one of Abel Brown’s brothers was killed under Braddock at this unfortunate general’s defeat.
In the Protestant Episcopal graveyard there are a few interments, among which are the following:
James Berry, died Sept. 13, 1865, aged 78.
Mamie E., daughter of John K. and Rachel A. Mellor, born Oct. 17, 1869, died Feb. 26, 1872.
Ida Helena, daughter of William L. and Ann E. Long, born Oct. 20, 1867, died Jan. 31, 1869.
Margaret, wife of William Dean, died Feb. 14, 1858, aged 68.
Catharine H., wife of William H. Hooper, died Feb. 3, 1854, aged 31.
Mary Gill, died March 26, 1863, aged 57.
Fanny Isabel, born July 27, 1814, died Oct. 24, 1876.
Marcellus Warfield, died June 3, 1855, aged 35.
Warner W. Warfield, born March 20, 1788, died July 28, 1867.
Elba furnace lies just below Sykesville, but has not been worked since the flood of 1868. It was opened and operated years ago by the Tysons.
Elias Brown, a son of Abel Brown, one of the first settlers and largest landed proprietors of the district, died July 3, 1857. He was a Presidential elector for Monroe in 1820, and for Gen. Jackson in 1828, and in 1824 his brother, William Brown, was also a Presidential elector for Jackson in the great quadruple contest. Elias Brown was for several years a member of Congress. He was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention of 1851, and a member of the House of Delegates from Carroll County in 1849. He had frequently represented Baltimore County in the Legislature before the creation of Carroll County in 1837.
Col. Peter Little was born in 1776, and died Feb. 5, 1830. He was of a family that settled in the district before 1765. He was at one time a member of Congress from the Baltimore district, and an active and zealous officer in the militia. He served with honor in the war of 1812.
Porter’s is a small village on the Liberty road, six miles from Sykesville, and near Piney Run, and derives its name from an old family which settled in the vicinity many years ago. Branchburg’s Methodist Protestant church is near the hamlet. Mrs. M.E. Trenwith is postmistress, and keeps the only store in the place.
Hood’s Mills is on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, thirty-four miles from Baltimore, and fifteen from Westminster. It was named after the Hood family, as one of them, James Hood, and John Grimes erected the famous mills in 1845. Winfield S. Robb is postmaster, railroad and express agent, and keeps the only store. Watson Methodist Episcopal chapel is near here. Gen. J.M. Hood, the estimable president of the Western Maryland Railroad, was born and raised here, and Charles W. Hood, a successful land surveyor in his early life, died in the vicinity, Jan. 19, 1877, aged sixty years.
Morgan is on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, thirty-four miles from Baltimore, and near the Patapsco River. John A. Dushane, of Baltimore, has an extensive paper-mill here, giving employment to a number of persons, and manufacturing all grades of paper. George F. Jones is the superintendent of the paper-mill, postmaster, and railroad agent.
Woodbine.—This station is on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, thirty-seven miles from Baltimore, and near the Patapsco River. Morgan chapel (Methodist Episcopal) is near the village. A. Owings is postmaster and railroad agent. E.A. Owings and Mrs. H.A. Ways are the store-keepers. J.A. Albaugh keeps the hotel, and J.M. Baker has charge of the mill. The Warfield family in America is of Welsh descent. The first representative was Richard Warfield, an emigrant from Wales, who came to this country in 1637 and settled nine miles from Annapolis, at a place now called “Black Horse Tavern.” A descendant of this emigrant was Charles A. Warfield, of Howard County, whose son, Charles A., married Julianna Owings and resided near Lisbon, in that county. Of their six children,—five sons and one daughter,—the next to the youngest was Charles A., born Oct. 16, 1836, in Howard County, near Sykesville. He was raised on his father’s farm, a mile and a half from the Carroll County line, and was early inured to labor by tilling the soil and taking care of the stock on the farm. He received a good education in the English branches at the public schools of the neighborhood. In December, 1862, he removed to Freedom District, and purchased one hundred and sixty-two acres of land of George Wethered. This is the splendid farm he now owns, and to which the previous owner, Mr. Wethered, a soldier in the Mexican war, gave the romantic name of “Chihuahua,” a name it still retains. Mr. Warfield was married, Nov. 16, 1864, to Caroline A. Devries, daughter of Christian and Jemima Devries, near Marriottsville. Their son, Wade Hampton Devries Warfield, was born Oct. 7, 1865. Mr. Warfield’s farm is three-fourths of a mile north of Sykesville, in a fertile country, surrounded by picturesque scenery. His mansion is an elegant three-story frame building, delightfully located on an eminence, with pleasant surroundings of lofty trees and beautiful shrubbery. In the heated term during the summer months he entertains summer boarders from the cities, who find his place a delightful resort. He is specially engaged in dairying, and sends a daily average of forty-five gallons of milk to “Olive Dairy,” Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore. He was one of the first in this section to embark in this business, and his dairy is the largest in this region, save that on the Frank Brown estate. His family and himself are attendants on the Springfield Presbyterian Church. He is a Democrat in politics, but has never held or sought office. His farm is in an excellent state of cultivation, and its buildings, fences, and general improvements indicate the best qualities of a thorough and successful farmer, while the tidiness and order of the house betoken rare domestic graces in his estimable wife.
Below is given the vote for local officers in the district from 1851 to 1861, inclusive:
1851.—Vote for Primary School Commissioner: John Warden 182, L. Gardner 91, John W. Wadlow 110.
1853.—For Justices: Jesse Hollingsworth 201, Alex. Gillis 200, William Tensfield 215; Constables: L.H. Boring 200, Aaron Gosnell 199; Road Supervisor, Reuben Conoway 221.
1855.—For Justices: R. Conoway 310, N.D. Norris 312, N.H. Jenkins 312; Constables: W.C. Lindsay 310, J.H. Conoway 310; Road Supervisor, J. Hollingsworth 310.
1857.—For Justices: J. Morgan 73, J. Dorsey 13, R. Conoway 289, W.G. Shipley 293, N.D. Norris 303; Constables: P. Welsh 12, A. Gosnell 303, W.C. Lindsay 294; Road Supervisor: A. Evans 12, Joshua Lee 297.
1859.—For Justices: C.W. Hood 75, James Morgan 61, N.D. Norris 285, Larkin Shipley 262, W.G. Shipley 251; Constables: J.H. Hood 121, W.C. Lindsay 255, Aaron Gosnell 243; Road Supervisor: W.H. Harden 160, Brice Shipley 249.
1861.—For Justices: Eli Hewitt, Sr., 397, John T. Ways 396, William Tensfield 378, E. Thompson 97, James Morgan 98, Abel Scrivnor 97; Constables: Aaron Gosnell 397, W.C. Lindsay 389; Road Supervisor: Wesley Day 373, O. Buckingham 112.
The public school trustees for 1881 and 1882 were:
1. Oakland.—Joseph Gist, John Melvin, William Baesman.
2. Stony Ridge.—John O. Devries, John Pearce, Austin Arrington.
3. Mechanicsville.—No trustees.
4. Sykesville.—Lewis H. Shultz, S.P. Duvall, Charles R. Favar.
5. Hood’s Mills.—Solomon Shoemaker, Zachariah Wolfe, R.C. McKinney.
6. Brandenburg’s.—J.M. Dorsey, Henry Cook, Joseph Barnes.
7. Pleasant Gap.—James H. Shipley, Brice Shipley, Cornelius Shipley.
8. Farver’s.—Thomas L.W. Conden, Joseph Wilson, David McQuay.
9. Jenkins.—No appointments.
10. Woodbine.—George E. Buckingham, Elisha Young, R.H. Harrison.
11. Freedom.—Joseph W. Berret, J. Deckabaugh, Thomas Painter.
12. White Rock (African).—Isaac Dorsey, Wesley Costly, Aaron Austin (all colored).
The teachers for the term ending April 15, 1881, were:
1, Celie E. Gorsuch, 41 pupils; 2, Lizzie A. Bennett, 35 pupils; 3, C.L. Hughes, 22 pupils: 4, Isabel N. Hale, 51 pupils; 5, S. Spalding, 26 pupils; 6, Sue M. Matthews, 41 pupils; 7, Libbie Shipley, 27 pupils; 8, L.A. Koontz, 50 pupils; 10, M.L. Hoffman, 46 pupils; 11, Minta Shipley, 33 pupils; 1 (colored school), Emma V. Randolph, 70 pupils.
History of Western Maryland, by Louis H. Everts, 1882, Chapter 39A, p. 830-.)
Transcribed by Carol E. Eddleman.