FRANKLIN DISTRICT, No. 9.
The Ninth District of Carroll County, known as Franklin, is bounded on the north by the districts of New Windsor and Westminster, on the west by Freedom, on the south by Howard County, and on the west by Frederick County. Morgan’s Run waters the northern portion of the district, Gillis’ Falls the centre and south, and a number of small streams pass through the western part of Franklin. The southern extremity of Franklin District is traversed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which offers unlimited facilities for the disposal of produce, and the Western Maryland passes through New Windsor, not very far from the northern boundary. The following are the metes and bounds prescribed by the commission of 1837, which were afterwards slightly altered by an act of Assembly passed May 23, 1853, and already given:
“Beginning at Parr’s Spring; thence with the Western Branch of Patapsco Falls to the junction of Gillis’s Falls; thence with Gillis’s Falls to James Steel’s, leaving him in District No. 5; thence with a straight line to a branch crossing the new Liberty rood near Conway’s; thence with a straight line to Crawford’s road at the old Liberty; thence up the old Liberty road to Farfer’s old fields; thence with the road running near Gideon Mitchel’s, leaving him in District No. 9; thence with said road to Morgan’s Run; thence up Morgan’s Run to Hawkins’ Branch, to a road leading from Benjamin Gorsuch to George Warfield’s store; thence with the road leading to the ‘Stone Chapel;’ thence with Howard’s road to Turkey Foot Branch; thence down said branch to Philip Nicodemuses mill; thence with the lines of District No. 2 to Sandis’ Mill; thence with the county line to the place of beginning.”
Franklinville was made the place for holding the polls. The district contained 2225 inhabitants in 1880.
This district was settled by the English and emigrants from the southern counties of the province of Maryland. Among the first settlers were the Franklins, from whom the district took its name, Charles and Alexander Warfield, John and David Evans, Rawlingses, Beaches, Samuel Kitzmiller, the Waterses, Brashearses, Spurriers, Gosnells, Barneses, Ingelses, Buckinghams, Lindsays, Dorseys, Bennetts (Samuel, Benjamin, and Lloyd), Selbys, Hoods, and Elgins.
Ebenezer church (M.E.), a frame building, is situated in the eastern part of the district, on the road from Winfield to Defiance, and was built in 1854. For the past six years it has been a part of the New Windsor Circuit, and before that was connected with Westminster. Its pastors for 1881 were Revs. James Cadden and Howard Downs. In the graveyard adjoining the church are buried
Perry C. Harp, died April 26, 1879, aged 80.
Elisa Ann, wife of R.L. Farver, died Oct. 17, 1872, aged 40.
Nicholas H. Jenkins, died Jan. 31, 1877, aged 61.
Arrey, wife of Warner Pickett, born June 29, 1821, died Jan. 28, 1871.
Marcilia, wife of J.T. Jenkins, born Oct. 16, 1848, died Aug. 2, 1872.
Joseph Atkins, of First Massachusetts Cavalry, died July 8, 1863, aged 34.
Catharine Harp, died Nov. 16, 1874, aged 73.
John Day, died March 5, 1871, aged 60; and his wife, Emily, born Jan. 29, 1818, died April 30, 1876.
Joshua Grimes, died April 12, 1867, aged 61.
David A. Hiltabidel, born Aug. 23, 1818, died Nov. 21, 1862; and Temperance, his wile, died Dec. 31, 1866, aged 51.
Samuel Choate, born Jan. 28, 1822, died Nov. 1, 1862.
Hamilton P. Skidmore, died March 17, 1878, aged 51.
Ruth Ann, wife of Basil Shipley, died Feb. 24, 1859, aged 27.
Cordelia, wife of Perry G. Burdett, died April 28, 1857, aged 28.
Catharine, wife of Joseph Frizzell, died Jan. 16, 1871, aged 63.
John W. Criswell, died Nov. 18, 1858, aged 42; and Ruth, his wife, Dec. 28, 1879, aged 66.
Sarah A. Rawlings, born Nov. 3, 1809, died May 29, 1878.
Catharine, wife of Dr. J. Rinehart, died Dec. 19, 1879, aged 25.
Corrilla, wife of John A. Snider, died Jan. 23, 1872, aged 39.
Taylorsville was named in honor of Gen. Zachary Taylor, and the first house was built in it in May, 1846, by Henry D. Franklin. Mr. Franklin still resides therein, and has adjoining a
wagon-making shop, which he carries on. The second settler in the place was David Buckingham, who keeps a store and is the postmaster.
The Methodist Episcopal church is a neat frame edifice erected in 1878, before which services were held in a building constructed in 1850, and now used as a band hall. The present pastor is Rev. Mr. Shriner, and the Sunday-school superintendent is Thomas Shipley. In the cemetery attached to the church are buried James Beach, born Aug. 19, 1846, died Oct. 29, 1880; Charles G. Franklin, died Dec. 24, 1878, aged seventy; N. Harvey Shipley, died Feb. 4, 1881, aged eighteen; Louisa, wife of David Buckingham, died July 22, 1849, aged forty-two.
Franklinville is seven and a half miles from Mount Airy and near Parr’s Falls, a small stream which drains the neighborhood. It was settled in the beginning of the century, and named for the Franklin family, one of the first to settle in the district, about 1745. R. Dorsey is merchant and postmaster, and Dr. R.O.D. Warfield, the physician of the village. William Long, John Elgin, and John T. Derr have shoe-shops, and George Pickett and Jesse Wilson are the millers. It is the voting-place of the district, and is pleasantly situated on the old Liberty road.
The Methodist Episcopal Church South (Bethany) was organized in 1871, under the auspices of Rev. A.Q. Flaherty, and its neat frame edifice was built in the same year. Its pastors have been:
1871-73, Rev. A.Q. Flaherty; 1873-76, Rev. David Bush; 1876-79, Rev. W.R. Stringer; 1879-82, Rev. M.G. Balthis.
In the graveyard in its rear are, among others, the following interments:
Levin Gosnell, died Dec. 21, 1879, aged 86.
Bennett Spurrier, died Nov. 9, 1879, aged 75; and his wife, Rachel, died Dec. 25, 1879, aged 77.
Lizzie M., wife of Samuel Elgin, died March 1, 1875, aged 68.
Lewis Lindsay, died Nov. 21, 1878, aged 57.
Casadora Lindsay, died June 18, 1876, aged 28.
Charles W. Franklin, died March 1, 1874, aged 53.
Samuel Kitzmiller, died Sept. 15, 1854, and born May 10, 1790; and his wife, Catharine, born June 8, 1799, died June 22, 1865.
Thomas B. Franklin, died Oct. 30, 1878, aged 65.
Winfield is six miles from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Woodbine, and was named in honor of Gen. Winfield Scott. The Bethel Church of God, Rev. Mr. Palmer, is located here. The village was established about 1851 and 1852. Franklin Grange, No. 117, of Patrons of Husbandry, of which Dr. F.J. Crawford was for a long time Master, holds its meetings in Winfleld. H.M. Zile is a merchant in the village, and James Easton postmaster. Dr. F.J. Crawford is the physician. Its schools, Pine Orchard and Jenkins’, are among the best in the county.
Mount Airy, so named from its elevated and healthy location, is on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. J.C. Duvall is postmaster and track foreman. The store-keepers are J.B. Runkles, S.E. Grove, A. Anderson, and Cochran & Harrington. The hotels are kept by R.A. Nelson and C.A. Smith. Drs. B.H. Todd and J.E. Bromwell are the physicians, and T.P. Mullinix, railroad and express agent. The Mount Airy Coal and Iron Company was incorporated March 9, 1854, with F.A. Schley, J.M. Schley, Thomas Hammond, George Schley, and John G. Lynn as incorporators.
Newport, a small hamlet, lies near the Frederick County line.
Parrsville and Ridgeville, small villages, lie south of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In the former is a Methodist Episcopal church, and between it and Mount Airy is the Presbyterian church.
Hooper’s Delight, a neat brick school-house, a mile from Sam’s Creek, was built in 1875.
Bethel Methodist Episcopal church, a brick building of two stories and a basement, was erected in 1860 on the site where the old log structure stood in 1815. It belongs to the New Windsor Circuit, and its pastors for 1881 were Rev. Howard Downs and J.A. Fadden. The beautiful cemetery adjoining the church contains the graves of the following persons:
Thomas Devilbiss, died July 12, 1878, aged 77.
Benjamin Bennett, born Aug. 21, 1809, died Dec. 23, 1863.
Robert Bennett, died March 26, 1856, aged 78; and Elizabeth Bennett, died Jan. 4, 1846, aged 78.
Nathan B. Stocksdale, born Feb. 2, 1806, died Jan. 20, 1865.
Jesse M. Zile, born July 26, 1831, died June 11, 1875.
Lewis Keefer, born July 31, 1803, died Sept. 7, 1880; and Rachel, his wife, died July 26, 1873, aged 63.
Mahlon, son of Casper and A.E. Devilbiss, died Nov. 8, 1878, aged 44.
Casper Devilbiss, died March 4, 1868, aged 73.
Mary Hiteshew, died Dec. 10, 1871, aged 88.
Sarah T. Sebier, died Nov. 21, 1871, aged 55.
Mary Nusbaum, died Jan. 1, 1864, aged 44.
David Nusbaum, died Sept. 24, 1861, aged 60.
Benjamin Sharrets, born Feb. 19, 1808, died Aug. 24, 1873.
Mary M. Sharrets, born April 3, 1812, died March 26, 1874.
John L. Reigler, born July 5, 1805, died April 12, 1879; and Annie, his wife, died March 24, 1862, aged 58.
Ursala Barbara Reigler, born Dec. 14, 1814, died March 5, 1874.
John Greenwood, born Feb. 25, 1817, died Feb. 12, 1878.
Ellen Chase, died June 19, 1874, aged 62.
Mary E., wife of R. Dorsey, born Oct. 20, 1829, died April 17, 1873.
Urland Greenwood, died Dec. 3, 1875, aged 57.
Stephen Gorsuch, died June 5, 1880, aged 80.
Jane Gorsuch, born June 19, 1786, died Sept. 3, 1856.
Nathan, son of Stephen and Jane Gorsuch, born Jan. 26, 1826, died April 6, 1849.
Thomas Poole, died Aug. 31, 1821, aged 37.
Dr. Lewis Kelly, died April 13, 1872, aged 30.
Alexander Warfield, died Jan. 6, 1835, aged 70; and his wife, Jemima, died Nov. 20, 1847, aged 72.
Elizabeth Worthington, born Oct. 22, 1826, died July 6, 1851.
Rev. Joshua Jones, died Sept. 19, 1836, aged 70; and his wife, Annie, March 12, 1811, aged 33.
Horatio J. Warfield, died Aug. 5, 1877, aged 53.
Rev. Geo. W. Johnson, born Oct. 10, 1841, died May 28, 1874.
Francis A. Davis, died. Dec. 7, 1850, aged 50; and his wife, Cecilia, died Aug. 28, 1849, aged 40.
Rev. John Davis, died April 28, 1847, aged 85.
Joshua Warfield, died April 1, 1880, aged 79.
Evelina C. Warfield, died May 24, 1877, aged 47.
David Warfield, died March 4, 1871, aged 43.
Virginia S., wife of J.P. Naill, died July 22, 1874, aged 28.
Near this church—but a few yards away—is the old Alexander Warfield homestead. It is now occupied by Rev. Charles A. Reid, a native of Virginia, who began preaching in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1842. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Joshua Warfield, and granddaughter of Alexander Warfield. The latter’s father was one of the earliest settlers in the district, and owned all the land around the Bethel church. Alexander Warfield was first married to Elizabeth Woodward, Dec. 30, 1788, by whom he had four children. He was again married March 11, 1797, to Jemima Dorsey. His house, built over a hundred years ago and now occupied by Rev. Dr. Reid, was the early stopping place of Bishop Asbury and all the circuit riders and preachers. Bishop Asbury visited it last in 1816. Mr. Warfield was church steward in 1801, and active in the church services until his death, Jan. 6, 1835. At John Evan’s old house, now owned by Jesse Stern, was likewise a home for preachers, and preaching held there as late as 1809, when services were transferred to the house of Benjamin Bennett. The Evan’s house was a log structure one and a half stories high. Samuel and Lloyd Bennett were early converted to Methodism, and became noted in the church.
Creameries.—Pinkney J. Bennett owns two creameries, both of which are in successful operation, one of which is located in the Franklin District and the other in New Windsor. He is the largest butter producer in Maryland. His establishments are fitted up with the best of machinery, and together have a capacity of ten thousand pounds of butter daily. His varied appliances include five horse engines. At present he is making about five thousand pounds daily, while the average daily yield throughout the year is six thousand pounds. The lands in the vicinity are finely adapted to the business, producing the best of blue grass and clover, and are free from noxious weeds. Mr. Bennett gets his milk from thirty-five farmers, and the amount used is the product of a herd of four hundred cows, all healthy and vigorous animals. The butter is made by machinery, and is never touched by the employés during its manufacture. He also makes ice-cream and ships milk, but makes no cheese. He does not think that the increased value of the product is equivalent to the extra labor, and believes his butter will keep longer. The yield per hundred pounds of milk he also thinks to be greater than cheese-makers realize, and by returning the sour milk to the farmers for their pigs, he can buy for less than if it were retained for cheese-making.
The price the farmers get for the milk is equivalent, if they made it into butter, to about twenty-five cents per pound of butter.
The creameries are two stories high, thirty-five by forty feet, with engine-houses ten by twelve feet, and are erected over streams of running water.
The farmers of the county are awakening to the importance of creameries, and at their solicitation Mr. Bennett is considering the establishment of two more.
He has been in the business since 1876, and since the first difficulties were overcome, of the educating of the farmers of his vicinity to keeping pastures and the necessity of cleanliness, he has been quite successful in his enterprises. He is a progressive and energetic gentleman, and has ample means to back him.
Harrisville, a small hamlet, is in the western part of Franklin District and on the Frederick County line.
Hood & Clary have a store here, and the place has a mill and several shops.
Watersville is a village situated in the Franklin District, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, about forty miles from Baltimore. The Methodist Episcopal and Baptist congregations have a place of worship. England & Kenly are the merchants of the town, and the former is postmaster. Dr. S.R. Waters is the practicing physician for the village and the surrounding country, and it is from his family, one of the oldest in the district, that the town derives its name. Joshua Hall is the railroad foreman stationed at this point, and D.L. Kenly is the railroad and express agent. The country in the vicinity of the village is noted as a tobacco-growing region.
David Crawford, one of the first settlers in New Windsor District, where in early days he was a leading man in public affairs, was a native of Pennsylvania. He married Miss Lloyd, from which union were born seven sons and two daughters. Of these, Evan Lloyd Crawford married Isabella Smith, a daughter of Duncan Smith. She was born at Inverness, Scotland, near the city of Edinburgh, and came to America with her parents when a little girl. Evan Lloyd Crawford was the father of one son and four girls, who grew up to maturity, and of the latter three yet survive. The son, Francis Jesse Crawford, was born on the farm on which he now resides, then in Baltimore County, Nov. 1, 1819. Until twenty-one years of age he worked on the farm, and attended the neighborhood schools during the winter months. He then attended for three years the academy at Johnsville, Frederick Co., of which that eminent instructor, Prof. John S. Sandbatch, was principal. Among his classmates was Judge William N. Hayden, of Westminster. He taught school for several winters near home, in both Baltimore and Frederick Counties, to acquire funds sufficient to enable him to prosecute his studies for the medical profession. He then read medicine with Dr. James H. Claggett, of Washington County, one of the most distinguished physicians of his day, after which he attended the lectures of Washington University, in Baltimore, where he graduated in the class of 1843 and ’44. In that institution he was under the tutelage of such eminent and learned men as Drs. Baxley, Vaughan, Jennings, Moncur, and Webster, great lights in the medical world. After his graduation he returned to his home in Franklin District and began the practice of his profession, in which he has been successfully engaged for thirty-eight years. In that period of time he has not been excelled as a practitioner, and before the war his practice extended over a field now filled by some eight physicians. In one year he paid two thousand two hundred medical visits, of which sixty-five were in obstetrical cases. The doctor is strong Democrat in politics and active in the counsels of his party, and, although often solicited by his friends, has ever firmly refused to be an aspirant for office. Some thirty years ago he became a member of Salem Lodge No. 60, I.O.O.F., at Westminster, and subsequently of Columbia Encampment, No. 14, of the same place. On the institution of St. Stephen’s Lodge, No. 95, I.O.O.F., at Defiance, in May, 1857, he was one of its charter members, and since then has passed all the chairs, and has been a representative to the Grand Lodge. He is Master of Franklin Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, No. 117, and was largely instrumental in its organization. Although connected with no denomination, he is a liberal giver to all the churches in his neighborhood. He was married in May, 1853, to Ruth Elizabeth Bennett, daughter of Benjamin Bennett, of Franklin District, by which union he has five children: Fannie Belle, married to Dr. R.O.D. Warfield; Kate Emma, married to Henry S. Davis; Francis Albert, William Lloyd, and Charles Clement, besides two daughters who died young. Dr. Crawford’s fine farm of three hundred and seventy acres, known as Waterloo, is within some sixty yards of the Frederick County line. He is a self-made man, who, with no resources with which to begin life but a firm will and energy, has by his ability and industry reached an eminent place in his profession, and has been otherwise very successful in life. He is the most noted fox-hunter in the county, and has a pack of eighteen hounds unsurpassed in this part of Maryland. He is also a fine horseman, and in breeding horses has made the Morgan stock a specialty, having years ago purchased from Col. Carroll a pure-blooded Morgan mare. His horses are among the first in Carroll County. In cattle he prefers Alderneys or Jerseys, and his herds take rank with the best and purest in the State.
Below are given the votes cast for local officers in this district from 1851 to 1861, inclusive:
1851.—Vote for Primary School Commissioner: Charles Dunning 87, Stephen Gorsuch 86, Charles Denning 156, Evan L. Crawford 44.
1853.—For Justices: Thos. B. Owings 145, Charles Denning 164, E.L. Crawford 52, John Hood 171, David Buckingham 117, Aquila Pickett 139; Constables: Joshua Shuster 175, Lewis Lindsey 116, H.B. Skidmore 53, Nimrod Buckingham 118; Road Supervisor: F.J. Crawford 148, A.P. Barnes 160.
1855.—For Justices: Milton Bussard 209, Aquila Picket 203, A. Albaugh 215, T.B. Owings 135, C. Denning 127, G.W. Chase 87; Constables: John Hood 222, J. Criswell 233, Henry Lida 117; Road Supervisor: Wm. Gosnell 223, J. Nausbaum 127.
1857.—For Justices: T.B. Owings 105, A. Pickett 166, Abraham Albaugh 172, F.A. Switzer 183, John Hood 83; Constables: Vachel Hammond 199, J.V. Criswell 212; Road Supervisor: G.H. Davis 124, W. Gosnell 177.
1859.—For Justices: T.B. Owings 116, John Hood 174, F.A. Switzer 163, Aquila Pickett 164, J. Thomas Young 185; Constables: W.W. Pickett 184, J.B. Runkles 173; Road Supervisor: Jesse Jarrett 98, Kanan Sprinkle 67.
1861.—For Justices: J.W. Cochran 256, John T. Young 255, Aquila Pickett 247; Constables: W.W. Pickett 248, W.P. Davis 264; Road Supervisor: W.H. Barnes 261.
The following is a list of public school trustees for 1881 and 1882, together with the names of teachers and number of scholars:
1. Parr’s Ridge.—No appointments.
2. Chestnut Grove.—James H. Steele, Wesley P. Gosnel. Dr. S.R. Waters.
3. Cabbage Spring.—J.N. Selby, S. Hood, N. Davis.
4. Franklinville.—Ambrose G. Franklin, W.H. Barnes, G.W. Baker.
5. Pine Orchard.—Augustus Brown, David Zile, David Cover.
6. Salem.—Wm. Y. Frizzell, John B.T. Sellman, Vincent Cresswell.
7. Hooper’s Delight.—No appointments.
8. Ridge.—Richard J. Brashears, Wesley Harrison, James Hood.
1. Fairview (African).—No appointments.
The teachers for the term ending April 15, 1881, were:
1, Ettie Shipley, 41 pupils; 2, Sallie N. Waters, 25 pupils; 3, Clara Selby, 40 pupils; 4, Jacob Farver, 44 pupils; 5, A.W. Buckingham, 44 pupils; 6, Louisa. A. Hoffman, 41 pupils; 7, C.W. Reagan, 32 pupils; 8, Geo. A. Davis, 41 pupils; 1 (colored school), John H. Henderson, 38 pupils.
History of Western Maryland by Louis H. Everts, 1882, Chapter 39A, p. 830-.
Transcribed by Carol C. Eddleman.