Allegany County
MDGenWeb
Tradition has long been held by the CRESAP SOCIETY,
an organization established in 1916 by and for the descendants of
Thomas Cresap, Maryland patriot, pathfinder, pioneer,
that Cresaptown was named for Joseph Cresap, grandson of Thomas.
Joseph
Cresap was born in 1755 to Daniel Cresap, first son of Thomas, and Daniel’s
second wife, Ruth Swearingen, who had settled in a stone house built by Daniel
near Rawlings, Maryland. Joseph first married Deborah Whitehead, secondly he
married Sarah Whitehead, sister of Deborah. He married Sidney Sanford in 1813,
and in 1822 lastly married Margaret Bruce.
By the time Joseph was born,
the Cresap family had become prominent in Allegany County concerns, and further
became ensconced in land holdings, land expansion, church establishments, and
politics.
Joseph is described in a 1788 list of settlers as having
located in “lands west of Fort Cumberland.”
In the mid to late 1700s
Joseph Cresap was enabled in the purchase of a land deed in the section once
known as “Upper Oldtown,” which came to include “Cresaptown.” Joseph built a log
home on this land in the year 1793.
One deed reveals that in 1801 Joseph
purchased a tract of land named “Canaan.” In another deed dated 1803, Joseph
acquired yet another tract of land known as “Addition” to house Methodist church
meetings. Joseph Cresap was named “trustee” of at least three Methodist meeting
houses in the Cumberland area.
Joseph was instrumental in the formation
of the first Methodist church in Allegany County, those first meetings being
held in his home at Cresaptown.
Methodist preachers known as “Circuit
Riders” began making their rounds in Allegany County in 1783. These preachers
were appointed by the first Methodist Bishop in America--Francis Asbury. As
early as June 30, 1784, Asbury lodged at Joseph Cresap’s and preached at
Cresap’s Mill.
Sometime during this period Bishop Asbury dedicated the
first Methodist Church in “Cresaptown,” and appointed Joseph Cresap as “first
class Methodist leader.”
According to an article by Francis Zumbrun,
published in the August 23, 2004 Cumberland-Times News, the place-name of
Cresaptown changed over the course of time. A 1796 land deed refers to the town
as “Cresapsburg,” and in an 1806 deed it is spelled “Cresaps Burgh.” Asbury’s
first mention of something akin to “Cresaptown” by name was on June 29, 1808,
during which time he documented this notation: “I preached in the chapel at
Cresaps-town.”
Besides holding the profession of preacher, Joseph Cresap
was also a farmer, a soldier, and a political advocate for the state of
Maryland.
In 1791 Joseph Cresap attended the first meeting at John
Graham’s house in Cumberland, Maryland, to establish Allegany as the county
seat. This meeting initiated the first of many civic duties Joseph Cresap was to
perform for the state of Maryland. Joseph often represented the County in the
Legislature, and became a member of the Maryland State Senate. He served as a
member of the House of Delegation in 1800, 1801, and 1802.
When he was
just 19 years of age, Joseph fought in Indian wars, and later in Dunmore’s
War--the Shawnese Indian conflict of 1774. During the Revolutionary period
Lieutenant Joseph Cresap marched in 1775 with his Uncle Michael Cresap’s Rifle
Company, en route to join General George Washington in Boston.
The Joseph
Cresap house built in 1793 became a prominent Allegany County landmark. Joseph
had constructed this dwelling as an eight-room, two-story log structure, which
saw numerous additions, and at some later point was covered by native stone. The
home stood along Darrow’s Lane in Cresaptown--now the site of the general
vicinity of third base at Weber Little League Baseball Field in present-day
Cresap Park.
In 1823 Joseph had been deemed by the Maryland legislature
as too “wealthy” to receive his military pension. However, by virtue of his own
generosity to others, Joseph found himself in dire financial need, and soon the
legislature recanted and restored Joseph’s pension--just one year before his
death.
Joseph Cresap died on January 20th, 1827 in Cumberland.
In
1849, some 22 years after Joseph’s death, Samuel D. Brady purchased the Joseph
Cresap estate at Cresaptown, which embraced 1,500 acres. This plot became known
as Brady’s Station, a flag-stop along the B&O Canal. Brady built a large brick
house and a mill, and opened a general store on the premises.
When Brady
died the property was divided between Mary G. Darrow and J.C. Brady. The Darrow
property was later sold to a Frostburg man named Hansel, who then sold it to the
Bernard Mattingly family.
The property finally came into the possession
of the Celanese Corporation of America.
Sadly, the old landmark burned
to the ground on December 5, 1930.
Joseph Cresap was buried on his estate
at Cresaptown, but his remains were removed (during a major construction project
in the 1960s) to a yet-to-be discovered location.
References
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This page was last updated
12/02/2023