A Frederick Junk Dealer

​Labor Day is upon us once again! As many know, this isn’t a religious or cultural day of observation, but rather a federal holiday celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor, and recognize, the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States.

Not all individuals get the day off, but most do. Naturally, those that have to labor on Labor Day are generally employed within health and public safety professions, while others are engaged in hospitality (hotel/restaurant/attractions) and retail trades. The first Labor Day in America was celebrated in New York in 1882. Other states started recognizing the holiday one by one until it was made a national holiday in 1894.

I wonder if John Walter, our featured subject for this week’s “Story in Stone,” labored on Labor Days throughout his lifetime? He died in October, 1905, having the opportunity to celebrate eleven Labor Days if my math is correct.

John Walter was an immigrant who came to Frederick in the mid-19th century and "labored" as a professional collector and purveyor of junk and scrap, and what others would deem trash. But let me clarify, there is certainly a difference, and distinction, to be made between junk and scrap and trash—especially to the well-trained eye. Few in Frederick’s past (and present) can rival the success experienced by John Walter, although Mount Olivet resident Bernie Winkel certainly comes to mind. Mr. Winkel, the self-proclaimed “Used Car King of Maryland,” had a scrapyard of old Model T's and other vehicles which was located on W. Patrick St. at the site of the soon to be gone Patrick Street Center. He specialized in automobiles and “junk cars” for “junk parts,” where Mr. Walter was open to “junk” of all sorts, shapes and sizes.

John Walter achieved a great reputation as a businessman, and held a high standing in the community. This is quite impressive for a humble “junk dealer.” He is buried in Mount Olivet’s Area G/Lot 62 and his final resting spot is marked with an impressive monument featuring a shrouded woman with arms folded across her chest, gazing upwards toward the heavens in what appears to be prayer and contemplation. The white marble statue sits atop a polished, granite base. Upon closer inspection, one will notice that the woman is actually holding a small anchor in her left hand. Anchors represent "hope" in the annals of monument iconography. 

​Volume II of T.J.C. Williams’ History of Frederick County, Maryland includes biographies on notable living Frederick Countians. At the time of its publishing in 1910, John Walter was included posthumously as he  had passed five years earlier in 1905, as already mentioned. Here is a transcript of that biography which appears on pg. 981 of the original printing:

“The Late John Walter, a retired business man and capitalist of Frederick, Md., was born in Germany in 1825.
Mr. Walter’s parents died while he was a little child and he was cared for by friends. He received his education in the public school and he was still but a lad when he began to learn the machinists’ trade. He was a little more than a child when he was thrown upon his own resources and was literally compelled “to paddle his own canoe.” He was only sixteen when he decided to go to America, of which he had heard so much. He had very little money, but not being one who was deterred by slight obstacles, he found a place on a ship where he was allowed to work for passage money. He came at once to Frederick, Md., and, for a time, things looked pretty dark for the orphan boy, alone in a strange land, without money or friends. No one had any employment for him, and he was almost in despair but at length Mr. F(rederick) Pampel gave him a place as a machinist. The youth was faithful to his duties there and, at the end of five years, he was employed by Doub & Glaze, machinists.

​After spending four years with this firm, Mr. Walter began buying “junk.” He had good judgment in buying and made a great success of his enterprise. The same sound judgment guided him in investing his profits, and at his death, Mr. Walter possessed railroad securities and valuable real estate in Frederick and in the surrounding county. He always respected the rights of his fellow men, never overreaching them, but was strictly upright and honorable in all his dealings. A large share of his fortune was made during the Civil War in which he took no active part. After that time, he was a Republican. Mr. Walter was a resident of Frederick from his youth, and had been actively interested in everything related to the development and prosperity of his adopted City. He soon won a competence and, secure from fear of want in his old age, he enjoyed life thoroughly. His friends were legion, and to one and all he extended most hospitably, the courtesies of his comfortable home. He was an entertaining conversationalist, and his friends enjoyed his graphic account of the way in which he obtained his start in financial affairs. He was a member of the Odd Fellows, of the encampment, and of the Order of Red Men.

John Walter was married, in 1848, to Elizabeth Pampel, a daughter of his first employer. Of their ten children, eight reached maturity: 1. Sarah C., married to John O. Smith, a lumber merchant of Hagerstown, Md.; 2. Jacob W. of Hanover, Pa.; 3. Alice V., married to Jacob F. Snyder, a retired farmer of Germantown, Md.; 4. Charles G., deceased; 5. Lewis C., a locksmith, of Frederick City; 6. Florence M., (Mrs William F. Snyder), of Frederick City; 7. Edward H., optician, Hanover, Pa.; 8. Bertie E., married first to the late Professor Mitchell E. Daniels, of Vergannes, Vt., and after his death to James F. Eldridge, of Washington, D.C. For more than three decades, Mr. Walter resided at the old home on North Market Street where he died October 26, 1905, and was laid to rest in Mount Olivet Cemetery, beside his wife, who had died in 1902. He held the faith of his ancestors and was identified with the Lutheran Church. For more than thirty years, he had been superintendent of the Sunday School, and actively engaged in the work among the young people with whom he was a great favorite.”

1860 US Census showing John Walter family living in Frederick

​Jacob Engelbrecht’s diary features several entries involving Mr. Walter and was well-known to the author in addition to attending the same church. As a matter of fact, John Walter lived across the street from the tailoring business shop that Jacob and his brothers operated on N. Market Street just north of the old Market House/Town Hall (today’s home of Brewer’s Alley Restaurant).

A few diary entries around the time of the Civil War were particularly interesting:

“Our neighbor, Mr. John Walter, who went to Winchester about 2 months ago on the trading business, that is, following the United States Army, was taken prisoner by the army of General (Stonewall) Jackson (Rebel) & taken with the prisoners captured of the First Maryland regiment of Colonel Kenly, Jackson took nearly all the civilians who were trading with the Yankees, as they call the United States Army. This information was received today from a gentleman who had been to Winchester. He was captured May 25, 1862."
Friday, June 6, 1862

"Mr. John Walter arrived in our town this forenoon at 11 & 1/2 o’clock in the Hagerstown Stage. He was not captured but was in Winchester on the day of the fight (May 25) & saw much of the battle. He gave us the particulars a bit ago."
Saturday, June 7, 1862

"Battlefield—Mr. John Walter was at the battlefield yesterday near Boonsborough and he says such sights beat everything. Dead soldiers in heaps decomposing & horses in the same way. At one place he says he saw a pile of dead Rebels in a kind of ravine as long as the width of the street (60 feet) in layers of 3, 4, 5 heaped on each other. Already decomposed, (they were of the last Sunday’s fight already) & the stench was exceedingly offensive. In all the battles fought, `(and they have been at it nearly every day since Sunday last the 14th instant) the number of killed and wounded on both sides must have been tremendous."
Saturday, September 20, 1862

"John Walter & Frederick Kehler (constable) had a striking affair this afternoon. Kehler had process against Walter on dog taxes. When he refused to pay & Walter having his dander raised struck Kehler with a hammer. Did not injure him much."
Tuesday, March 15, 1864

"Mr. John Walter (our neighbor opposite the city hall) told me today that he arrived at New York from “Ipsheim” (his place of nativity) Germany on the “18th of August 1845” in the ship “Agnes” from Bremen. Came to Frederick Maryland, September 3, 1845."
Wednesday, March 7, 1866

John Walter's birthplace of Ipsheim in Bavaria

This is the ship that John Walter came to America upon in 1845 from Germany. The "Agnes" was bound for Bremen when she was lost in a storm off the coast of Holland in 1850

​I was disappointed that I couldn’t find any of Mr. Walter’s advertisements for his junk business from any old newspapers. I’m assuming junkyards, junk warehouses and the like did not do a great deal of marketing. I did find locations for two former sites of his business. They appear on Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These atlas maps were created to assist fire and rescue units with understanding the layout of businesses and dwellings in town. In 1887, John Walter’s junkyard could be found on the former West Alley between W. Fourth and W. Fifth streets. This thoroughfare is known as Klinehart’s Alley today, and a few ruins and remnants of the old brick support buildings can be found. The site hosted a soap factory as well.

1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map showing the John Walter Junkyard and Soap Factory off Klinehart's Alley

A current day aerial view of the old junkyard/soap factory/slaughterhouse complex. After Walter's ownership, an access lane would connect to N. Market St.

​Within a few years, I learned that Mr. Walter apparently relinquished this property to John F. Baumgartner. In a January, 2020 edition of Preservation Matters, City of Frederick historic planner Christian Martinkosky writes:
​
“Perhaps the most notable site was a multifaceted business operated by John F. Baumgardner, a German immigrant. It was between Fourth and Fifth streets, adjacent to a slaughterhouse. Baumgardner likely relied on locally sourced animal products to make fine soaps and phosphates, in addition to running a junkyard.”

Current day view looking north on Klinehart Alley. The Walter Junkyard was once located to the right in this picture and associated buildings are still visible in brick structures. (Note the curved wall building to left and compare to atlas image below (curved building off alley)

Views of the Baumgardner complex from the 1892 Sanborn Map

​We wrote about Mr. Baumgardner, and his son Harry, in a “Story in Stone” back in 2021 as they were very successful in both the junk business, and, more so, the meat processing and retail business. These operations including the junk yard and soap-works, with the addition of a slaughterhouse plant, gave labor to local Blacks living in the immediate vicinity along West Alley as one can see several property clusters on the Sanborn Map labeled simply as “Negro Dwellings.”

Christina Martinkosky, in her article, references the housing plight and relocation of these residents, decades later through government housing projects:

“The mid-20th century brought great change to Klinehart’s Alley. Driven by urban renewal projects, homes along the alley between Fifth and Seventh streets were cleared out. In 1942, the Roger Brooke Taney Apartments were constructed. This community was made up of eight large housing units holding 68 apartments to accommodate low-income white families. A second development, known as the John Hanson Homes, cleared another section of the historically black neighborhood in 1959. These developments have since been demolished and replaced with new homes. Today, only traces of the former neighborhood can be detected, including remnants of Baumgardner’s business.”

John Walter moved to another location as the town was certainly big enough to support two junkyards. This was a pre-existing junkyard on E. Third Street next to the Ruprecht family’s mattress manufactory, and near the cross street of Middle Alley—then known as Locust Alley. The new Walter family business location can be found on the subsequent 1892 Sanborn Map drawn and published for Frederick City.

1892 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map showing John Walter Junk Business on E. 3rd St

​And speaking of family businesses, John’s wife, Elizabeth, was a milliner—a maker of women’s hats. I also stumbled upon a listing of a school being taught in the family home on N. Market Street. But just where was this home? I read that he owned some homes on East Third and could have lived or had business on North Market St. Locust Alley properties once in his portfolio are now part of the Maxwell Square Condominiums. Locust Alley is now called Maxwell Avenue.

Frederick Examiner (Aug 22, 1866)

​John and his wife lived at what is now 129 N. Market Street. This is known as the River Bar & Grill today. The year before his death, Mr. Walter sold his house to his daughter Florence (1904), retaining the right to "use, occupy and enjoy" the room which he used as a bedroom. Florence, like her mother, was a milliner and ran her business out of the home. Interestingly, Elizabeth (Lewis) Peters, who we also once wrote about in conjunction to Miss Bird Smith's re-interment in Mount Olivet bought this building from Florence (Walter) Snyder's heirs in 1970 and owned it until 1973.

Looking south on N. Market St with River Bar & Grill in center of photograph (left of Agave Tequila Bar)

​All of John Walter's other properties, on E. 3rd Street and on Locust Alley, were sold at public sale after his death, by William P. Maulsby, trustee. The house at 27 E. 3rd Steet was sold to Edward Walter and his sister Florence (Walter) Snyder, while the remaining properties were sold to Lewis Walter. He apparently mortgaged them in 1908 but then they were advertised for public sale by the mortgagee in 1916.

In researching the deeds, I found that John Walter's youngest daughter Bertha was married to a Mitchell Daniels (oculist from Vermont) from 1890 until his death in 1902, then to a James Fillmore Eldridge from 1904 until his death in 1908. Interestingly, Bertha Eldridge served as a milliner in Thurmont, as this article from the Catoctin Clarion of 7 Sept 1905 shows:

Catoctin Clarion (Sept 7, 1905)

​Mrs. Walter died in 1902 and her obituary was quite lengthy. At some point, we will tackle the story of her parents, particularly her father Frederick Pampel, creator of the Pampel Foundry that once stood on the southwest corner of W. South Street and Broadway Avenue.

Frederick News (Dec 18, 1902)

​I found several mentions of John Walter in local newspapers, but none greater than this obituary which added a few interesting details to the biography found in Williams’ History of Frederick County. It appeared in the October 27th, 1905 issue of the Frederick News, while also appearing in the Baltimore Sun.

Frederick News (Oct 27, 1905)

Frederick News (Oct 30, 1905)

​I could not find any information on the installation of the Walter monument on the site, but I’d bet that it went up in the immediate years after Elizabeth’s death and before John’s death (ie: 1903, 1904 or 1905). Other family members buried here in the Walter plot include infant children Cassandra and John, along with Charles G. Walter (d. 1897), Lewis C. Walter (d. 1923), and Katie Elizabeth Walter (d. 1881). Florence (Walter) Snyder is buried in the adjoining plot.

Happy Labor Day....and all of that junk!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This cover photograph at the top of this story is not a Frederick scene. It was taken by photographer Joe Clark in 1939 and is part of the collection entitled: Clark Family Photography Collection and was provided by the UNT Libraries Special Collections to The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. If you have any photos of the former junkyard/scrapyard or warehouse sites connecting to John Walter or his family, please contact me as we'd love to include them with this story.