Carroll County
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Carroll county was formed in 1836 from the counties of Baltimore and Frederick, between which it lies, with Howard on the south and Pennsylvania on the north. The county has an area of 437 square miles and was named in memory of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who died in 1832, the last survivor of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. The surface is diversified, being level, undulating or broken, watered by fine streams issuing from innumerable streams which make up the tributaries of the Potomac, the Monocacy and the Patapsco. These streams furnish motive power for cotton and woolen factories, and many flouring mills. The soils being limestone, slate and iron, are fertile and easily improved. These lands respond bountifully to the effords of the agriculturist, whose products are corn, wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, hay and potatoes. In many sections grazing is fine, and dairy farming is profitable. Limestone is quarried in large quantities for lime-making; and granite, marble and brownstone furnish excellent building material. Iron, copper, soapstone and flint are found in quantities sufficient to be worked with profit. Ample facilities for speedy and satisfactory transaction of business are furnished by fourteen banks, in which the deposits amount to between two and three million dollars. Westminster, with a population of 3, 496, is the county-seat. Other towns ranging in population from 1,200 to 500, are Union Bridge, Taneytown, Manchester, Hampstead, Sykesville, New Windsor, and Mt. Airy. Carroll was the first county in the United States to establish rural free delivery of mail. In 1899 the system went into operation and at present four wagons and forty-six carriers distribute mail in all parts of the county. The Western Maryland, Baltimore and Ohio and Frederick Division of the Pennsylvania, are the Carroll railroads. The Western Maryland College and the Westminster Theological Seminary of the Methodist Protestant Church, are at Westminster, and New Windsor College, at New Windsor.
Contributed 2023 Nov 30 by Norma Hass, extracted from Leading Events of Maryland History published in 1903, by John M. Gambrill, pages 232-233.
WESTMINSTER is picturesquely situated in a saddle on the very crest of Parr’s Ridge, the water shed of Carroll County. A Maryland poet has described it as a "City dwelling in the valley, city dwelling in the hills." Here the falling rain is divided by Main street and the gutters along the south side of the street conduct the water to the Monocacy which ultimately reaches the Chesapeake through the Potomac; while the gutters along the northern side of this street lead their waters to the Patapsco which also flows into the Chesapeake at Baltimore.
Westminster was laid out as a proprietary town in 1764 by William Winchester, a son-in-law of the founder of Manchester, whose descendants settled and named Winchester, Kentucky, and Winchester, Illinois, and was named Winchester in honor of its founder who came to Maryland from England, arriving in the province of Maryland on the 6th of March, 1729. Main street of today was first called King street as a testimonial of the founder’s loyalty to the mother country. For many years the old turnpike, leading from Baltimore to Pittsburg, on which it was located, gave it many advantages. It bore the name of Winchester until early in the nineteenth century when it was given a no less English name, the change being made on account of the confusion arising in the mail service. Winchester, Virginia, often got the mail intended for residents of this town.
This fact has been disputed in recent years on account of a plat of Westminster, that seems to have been recorded by William Winchester in Frederick in 1768. In contradiction of this apparently complete evidence is a survey of the turnpike road between "Reisterstown and Winchester town" made a quarter of a century later and now on file in the Clerk's office of the Superior Court of Baltimore City. The fact that Winchester chose the name Westminster in 1763 when he had sold enough lots to have the plat recorded would not determine the usage as names once established were very enduring before we had a postal department to determine these questions. Nothing seems more logical than for the gradually growing village to take the name of the estate on which it was built.
The part of Westminster beginning at Court street and extending west to the Derr Building at the corner of Short street was laid out about a century and a quarter ago by Jacob Sherman and called New London.
Westminster was incorporated a town in 1830, rechartered in 1837, and erected into a city by Act of Assembly in 1850. A new charter was given Westminster by the Legislature of 1910 which grants the city authority to cope with modern conditions and to make modern improvements.
"Here occurred the first collision between Federal and Confederate forces on Maryland soil in the campaign of 1863, and the shedding of the first blood. One of the boys in blue, killed in the fight, lies in the graveyard of the beautiful little ivy-covered Ascension Protestant Episcopal church; one in grey sleeps in the Westminster cemetery."
The original town of Westminster (Winchester) was laid out on "White's Level,"
a tract of land granted to John White in 1733 for 169 1/2 acres. Since then the
town has gradually extended its limits until it now covers a number of early
patents. The West End is built on "Fanny’s Meadow," granted to James Walls in
1741. A portion is on "Bond’s Meadow," patented by John Ridgely in 1753, for
1915 acres. "Timber Ridge" and "Bedford" are partly covered by the present city.
"Kelly’s Range" embraces the Western Maryland College grounds and "Bond's Meadow
Enlarged"
includes the Court House grounds.
In 1837, Westminster was chosen as County seat of Carroll County, at which time it did not contain more than 500 inhabitants.
In 1861 the Western Maryland Railroad passed through the town and it had a population of 2,500 with forty stores, three banks and a number of manufactories and warehouses. Today it has five banks, two ice plants, several factories employing several hundred women, three large department stores, two hardware stores, and a number of smaller stores. All streets are macadamized.
Another feature of this city is its summer boarding houses which attract many visitors from Baltimore during June, July and August. The population, from the last census, 1920, gives 3,521.
Western Maryland College, one of the leading educational institutions of the State, is located here and has 800 students in attendance this year. Dr. Norman Ward is its president, having succeeded Dr. T. H. Lewis, resigned.
Two large canneries — B. F. Shriver Company and Smith-Yingling Company — give employment to several hundred men, women and children during canning season. The Shriver factory is one of the largest in the State and is equipped with the latest modern machinery to do the work.
Mr. Howard E. Koontz is the Mayor and the City and the Common Council is composed of Walter H. Davis, Frank T. Shaeffer, Charles Hesson, George W. Babylon and George E. Matthews.
Another industry that is worthy of notice is the large flour mill of Englar and Sponseller, which has a capacity of 300 barrels daily.
Westminster High School has an attendance of 600. The students are not all from the city, but come from rural schools to take up higher studies.
The City of Westminster oilers many advantages over larger cities. Its high elevation makes it an ideal summering place with unsurpassed train service to Baltimore City. Its water comes from artesian wells and is pure mountain water. Its streets are well lighted by electricity which is also furnished to private homes. A volunteer fire department, well organized, gives ample protection.
Contributed 2024 Dec 5 by Norma Hass, extracted from 1920 The Book of Maryland: Men and Institutions by Felix Agnus, pages 285-286.
Carroll is one of the youngest counties of Maryland, though the settlements are old. It was carved out of parts of Baltimore and Frederick counties in 1837. It is usually considered a part of Western Maryland though why it should be, while Howard County which extends quite as far west, is omitted, I can not say. In Carroll one begins to feel the influence of the mountains. It is a lovely, gently-rolling country with upland plateaus, uncommonly rich agriculturally. Everything seems to have been fixed and settled a long time ago; there is rarely a new building to mar the mellowness of the scene. The brick farm-houses are immense, solid, and comfortable; the barns gigantic. A sober, prosperous community is suggested with few pretensions to style. When not painted, the old bricks have weathered to a delicious warm brown, which combines with faded green shutters in a harmony highly agreeable to the eye. Sometimes, I am sorry to say, the houses are painted a trying shade of red, each brick being pointed up with white paint. These will be the dwellings of the estimable but unesthetic Pennsylvania Dutch families who form the county’s backbone. But even red paint mellows with age.
The first white settler in Carroll was not a German but a Scotsman, one William Farquhar who came about 1735, and called his place Kilfadda. Besides being a farmer, he was a tailor, and he made buckskin breeches to such good advantage that he became the possessor of two thousand acres including the present site of the village of Union Bridge. He was known far and wide as a good counsellor and peacemaker, and his neighbors all ran to him for protection when the Indians threatened. The Indians trusted Farquhar and looked upon him as their friend.
After Farquhar the Pennsylvanian Germans began to drift in from the north. This is true of the whole of Western Maryland. An immense German immigration resulted from religious persecution during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Palatinate, the Low Countries, and the Swiss Cantons. Queen Anne of England, as the defender of Protestantism, was the special patron of these people, and naturally they sought her colonies. Human nature being what it is, Maryland had a special attraction for them because at this time Catholics were proscribed there. A stalwart, industrious, freedom-loving people, the Germans were the finest settlers a new country could have desired. They were not only good farmers, but spinners, weavers, tanners, smiths; they brought workers in every needed trade. Since every member of the family worked, their production capacity was immense, and their communities prospered.
The Germans were often robbed, cheated; or they lost their goods on the way across the ocean. Sometimes they were obliged to sell themselves for a period of years to the captain of the ship to pay for their passage. On arrival in America the captain would then dispose of them to the highest bidder. There was a strong fellow-feeling among them; they helped each other out. They generally arrived in Maryland in parties, and by joining together could put up a log house and furnish it in three days. When they had stock they housed it better than themselves. After the building came the house-warming, when they feasted on hog and hominy, johnnycake (they got the recipe and the name, Shawnee-cake, from the Indians), milk and mush, and wild meats. There was always a fiddler or two for dancing.
The young men adapted a dress from the Indians. The indispensable fringed hunting shirt with a cape, lapped over in front, was belted at the waist. Provisions for a short journey, tow to clean their guns, and other small articles could be carried in the bosom. A tomahawk was stuck in the belt on the right side, scalping knife on the left, bullet-bag hanging in front. Shirts were made of linen or wool since deerskin became uncomfortable in wet weather. A breech-clout was caught under the belt before and behind with flaps hanging. Leggins also were fastened to the belt. Thus thighs and hips were left exposed, something the older people considered immodest, but as the costume was becoming to a stalwart youth, the objections of his elders would be of small avail. It is said that the boys’ bare legs distracted the maidens from their devotions in church, a reversal of the order of things nowadays.
The German immigrants were divided into many and quaint sects. In addition to the Lutherans, the Dunkards (or Brethren), and the Amish, which are still with us, there were scores of little religious bodies that have been forgotten, such as the Voestists, Cocceians, Herenhutters, and Schwenkenfelders. Whatever their religious beliefs, they were good patriots and good farmers. Some of the Amish have lately carried their quaint customs down to St. Mary’s County in Southern Maryland where their example can not do otherwise than improve the slipshod husbandry of those parts.
The villages in Carroll County are delightfully quaint and old and quiet. The houses are generally built in solid rows with stoops bang upon the sidewalk, according to the custom of the German settlers. The deserted appearance of the streets is deceptive, for the people are busy indoors. Of all the villages, Uniontown is the most picturesque; its main street, lined with ancient brick houses and like a green tunnel under the thick leaved maples, would make a perfect movie setting. There is not a modern note to spoil the effect.
Union Bridge is another ancient place, but a cement works has been established here, bringing, one may suppose, prosperity to the village, also dust. The plain old houses now sport fancy porches; one finds such names on the stores’ signs as Devilbiss, Hiltabild, and Hoopengardner. The name of the village goes back much further than the Civil War. There were two little communities divided by a stream. They built a bridge to provide freer intercourse, and called the united hamlets Union Bridge. Canary Street offers a refreshing departure from the usual village nomenclature. It gets its name from a diminutive locomotive used on the construction of the railroad in 1855, which the villagers christened the Canary.
In 1809, in Union Bridge, one Jacob R. Thomas invented the first reaper and binder. It reaped satisfactorily but did not bind so well, and the inventor, wounded by the ridicule of his neighbors, abandoned it. Obed Hussey, a cousin of Thomas, perfected his machine and put it on the market. Thomas died in poverty. It is a common story.
The first farmers’ club was formed in Union Bridge as far back as 1817. The members took turns in driving to Baltimore with the community butter, and it was such gilt-edge butter that it commanded the highest price in town. Up to within recent years the club, or its successor, was still successfully functioning. Union Bridge by the way was known as Buttersburg for many years.
New Windsor is another quaint town without any disturbing innovation. A log chapel on Pipe or Sam’s creek not far away was the cradle of Methodism in America. Here about 1764, Robert Strawbridge began to "pray without a book and preach without a manuscript," something that was considered a marvel in those days. The stone chapel which succeeded the log church still stands.
The county seat of Carroll is the town of Westminster. It was laid out in 1764 by an Englishman, William Winchester, whose house still stands and whose monument is in the cemetery. He called his town Winchester, but as it was frequently confused with Winchester, Virginia, the name was changed to Westminster. It is a sober, old-fashioned town, a reminder of an earlier America with a deceptively sleepy air. It may well be the longest town for its size in America, since nearly all of it is spread along one street. The reason for this is, that at the time when the great Western Road passed through Winchester, everybody wanted to build on the main stem. Later a shorter route was laid out to the south.
The Carroll County Courthouse, built immediately after the erection of the County, is a building of considerably more dignity than the Victorian aberrations scattered around the state. Since the town was in existence long before the county was established, the courthouse had to be built on a side street and most travelers drive through town without being aware of it. Standing aloof from the town’s traffic under fine old trees, it is the most peaceful spot imaginable, but the same passionate dramas are acted out there as in other courts.
One of Westminster’s notable citizens was Colonel Joshua Gist, who commanded a regiment of militia during the Revolutionary War and put down Tory risings. He was brother to the more famous General Mordecai Gist, one of Maryland’s chief Revolutionary heroes. During the Whisky Rebellion of 1794, the "Whisky Boys" of Westminster raised a travesty of the Liberty Pole of 1776 as an affirmation that they would pay no taxes on whisky. The terrified townspeople who were accustomed to depending on Colonel Gist in a pinch, sent for him now. The doughty Colonel buckled on his sword, mounted his horse, and rode into town. Alone, he faced the mob and ordered the pole thrown down. Such was the power of his eye, that he was actually obeyed; whereupon he planted his foot upon the pole and kept it there until they sawed it up in lengths. It was the end of the rebellion in Westminster. Colonel Gist’s old brick house, Long Farm, still stands on a rise beyond the town, but it has passed out of the Gist family.
Westminster, along with Frederick, Annapolis, and Baltimore, claims Francis Scott Key for her own. He was born at the Key place, Terra Rubra, nearby. It is strange what fame has come to this man, who is without doubt Maryland’s favorite son. Though he was but an indifferent poet, the testimony, of his fellows is all to the effect that he was a wise and generous-hearted man; his portraits convey further that he possessed great personal charm — but so did thousands of other men now completely forgotten.
Carroll County is full of ghost stories — no doubt owing to the influence of the Pennsylvania Germans, who to this day are prone to dabble in the supernatural.
This is the story of Leigh Master who in the middle of the eighteenth century established the first iron furnaces. He had a Negro servant, Sam, whom he disliked intensely. One night when the furnaces were in full blast Sam disappeared, and there was much talk as a result. In the course of time Leigh Master died, but the story lived on. Once a workman, walking along the edge of Furnace Hill woods, heard the clop of hoofs approaching, and lo! Leigh Master rode by on a big gray horse crying for mercy on his soul. He appeared again to the accompaniment of horrible groans and clanking chains, and again a third time. Others saw Leigh Master always on the gray horse emitting smoke and flame from his nostrils. Sometimes he was followed by three little imps carrying lanterns and sneaking along as if looking for something. This story persisted for more than a century and lately has been given a fresh lease of life by a tenant in Leigh Master’s old home who, in removing some bricks to get at the seat of a fire, uncovered an old oven which contained a human skeleton.
So much for the ghost. Carroll County has another reason for remembering Leigh Master. In summer the fields are white with the English daisy. It is said that Leigh Master imported the seed and sowed it in mistake for clover. They call it Leigh Master’s clover.
Until recent years the ruins of the Union Meeting House stood in Westminster Cemetery. One Lorenzo Doro, a famous evangelist of the day, held services here in 1801. Three times in the course of his sermon the preacher called on Gabriel to sound his trumpet and each time a mighty blast resounded from the sky. The effect was stupendous; weeping sinners crowded to the altar rail; it was probably the most successful revival ever held. Later it was whispered about that Doro had concealed a trumpeter in the branches of an elm tree outside the Meeting House. By that time the preacher had departed for other fields.
During the Civil War the peace of Westminster was only once interrupted. On June 28, 1863, there was a Confederate raid, and the first Delaware Cavalry defending the town was chased as far east as Pikesville. Horses were taken and the merchants forced to accept scrip. The Rebs were driven out by Federals next day and immediately afterwards the whole Union force passed through on the way to Gettysburg. During the battle Westminster was the central point for Federal supplies; hospitals were established in all the churches and schoolhouses, and a mad activity prevailed. After a week the army moved on and the town resumed its usual quiet serenity, which has scarcely been interrupted since.
Contributed 2024 Dec 5 by Norma Hass, extracted from 1942 Maryland Main and the Eastern Shore by Hulbert Footner, pages 115-121.
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