​July 4th and the apex, or high point, of the American Revolution commemoration has passed us by, however there are plenty of “250th” events and battle commemorations yet to come. I reflected on one of our founding fathers while dining at a local eatery last weekend. Ironically, this place of business is housed in a historic building just up Carroll Street from a structure that served as a gunlock factory during the Revolution period. Behind that gunlock factory was the old All Saints' burial ground that once held the mortal remains of famous men involved in the fight for independence including Gov. Thomas Johnson and his brothers (James, Baker and Joshua), Jr., Gen. Roger Nelson, Daniel Hauer, and Dr. Philip Thomas (son in law of John Hanson) and others.

It was indeed a fitting experience because I was still on a “patriotic high” and eating a bagel in a place called Twin Bears Bakery. I got to thinking about the main ingredient­ of my breakfast choice—wheat, and suddenly thought of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737-1832) whose family was the namesake for our town creek and the actual thoroughfare address where I found myself dining.

My story of eating a bagel is certainly not as riveting as the Carroll-related tale featured in the 2004 hit movie National Treasure starring Nicholas Cage. I’m no Benjamin Franklin Gates and I “frankly” don’t know anyone by the name Charlotte. However, I do know that there is a direct connection between the legendary Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence and wheat.

​Among Charles Carroll of Carrollton’s vast landholdings was Carrollton Manor, a working plantation situated in southern Frederick Valley and bounded by Catoctin Mountain to the west, Sugarloaf Mountain to the east, the Potomac River to the south and Frederick Town to the north. The vast 17,000-acre estate, established in the 1730s, would come to be owned by the only Catholic signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The area functioned as a major colonial agricultural hub, initially focused on tobacco cultivation with English tenants and slave labor, before transitioning to wheat production dominated by German farmers and free labor by the late 18th century.

​Carroll’s success in planting wheat was something he wanted to make fellow Marylanders aware of as he would become a huge cheerleader for its production. In fact, he was not only a proponent of wheat cultivation and production, but also of the product’s exportation potential back to Europe. His insistence led to the “Bank Road” (later known as the National Pike). It was financed by local banks in the 1820s and built to connect our area of western Maryland more easily to the mills of the Ellicott Brothers on the Patapsco River at what would later be named Ellicott City. This would lead to an extension to Baltimore for trade purposes and eventual growth of Baltimore as it became a wildly successful export crop.

​Charles Carroll of Carrollton was responsible for building the flour mill ruins which can be found at present-day Doubs in southern Frederick County on Carrollton Manor near Adamstown. Built in 1812, Carroll would eventually deed the mill to Sarah Ann Hoffman in 1821, and subsequent owners were named Doub, Copeland and Smith. Carrollton Manor gave Charles Carroll of Carrollton a direct economic and personal stake in the western Maryland interior at a time when that region was developing rapidly. He would further increase our county’s importance by heavy investment into the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal that would both reach Frederick County in 1831.

Custom milling of wheat and grain was done by Frederick’s earliest farmers in the mid 18th century. Using local streams, millstones ground wheat into flour. Eventually, by the late 1700s, merchant mills were being operated here in the county such as that of Christian Kemp on Ballenger Creek and old Michael’s Mill, south of Buckeystown and situated on the Monocacy River. As Frederick grew in the 1800s, so did its need for commercial milling of flour. Commercialization also led to the business of baking bread, biscuits and crackers—main staples in the diets of the residents.

​On July 5th, 2026, while happily enjoying my bagel, I found myself surrounded by memorabilia from a former incarnation of this bustling bakery. Known for its authentic, naturally fermented sourdough bread, bagels, and fresh pastries, Twin Bears does not disappoint. My bagel was one of, if not the best, I've ever eaten. This place also represents an ultimate case study in Frederick “adaptive reuse” as the Twin Bears Bakery is conjuring the spirit of the old G. L. Baking Company that once occupied the same building for eight decades. I’m assuming that you would have been hard-pressed to find bagels being made here back in its early days, but there was certainly bread, rolls and crackers.

​I was somewhat familiar with the G.L. Baking Company as I mentioned it briefly in passing in my Frederick Town documentary back in 1995. I was now suddenly inspired to learn more. I struggled to remember if the “G” in the earlier firm’s moniker stood for Gambrill or Garber, as two early names of “bakery entrepreneurs” were suddenly bouncing around in my brain.

​As I wrestled with these thoughts, I immediately recalled one of the earliest commercial bakeries in town—one that was also responsible for the removal of one of the first dwellings of Frederick,  built by John Thomas Schley of Moerzheim, Germany.  The Schley home, like the subsequent bakery,  stood on the northeast corner of East Patrick Street and Maxwell Alley. Today this is 101 East Patrick and you may know the location as Venus on the Halfshell, a vintage clothing store owned by Jennifer Stillrich. Before that, many remember the Blue Ridge News Agency which operated here from 1955-1997. There even used to be a National Road mile-marker out in front of the building until a motorist mangled it beyond repair a few years back during a freak “parallel parking mishap.”

Regarding the owners of this bakery, their family name was Neidhardt. Here’s an article I found from the Frederick News dated December 31st, 1909 pertaining to the closing of a business that had begun in the 1840s here in town:

​James William Neidhardt lived from 1809 to 1885. He and wife Mary L. are buried in Area H/Lot 274. Their gravestone is visible from the cemetery’s central driveway and is only a few yards away from the adjoining family plot of Frederick diarist Jacob Engelbrecht. Engelbrecht wrote about Mr. Neidhardt tearing down John Thomas Schley’s “oldest house” which he correctly placed at being built around 1745/1746 and saying, “it was always considered the oldest house in town,” and the birthplace of Schley’s daughter (Mrs. Catherine (Schley) Bier, considered the first person born in Frederick after it was laid out as a town in 1745.” Engelbrecht also stated that Mr. Neidhardt erected a brick building.

I find it Interesting that a new, “state of the art,” bakery had opened four months prior on September 1st of that same year of 1909. This was called the G.L. Baking Company and it would be built on the hill south of Carroll Creek on South Carroll Street and near the intersection with East South Street. This was certainly the heart of the industrial area of town in the southeast quadrant of the city. All these businesses here were heavily influenced by local agriculture.
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The bakery was named for the principal partners in this commercial venture. One man had deep roots in raising wheat and milling flour. The other partner was one of the state’s most prosperous dairy farmers and heavily engaged in the leadership of dairy pursuits at the county and state level. These men were James H. Gambrill, Jr. and Ransom Rush Lewis.
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I could write a whole story on Mr. Gambrill, and certainly plan to do so soon. His father, James H. Gambrill, Sr., (1830-1932) was from Howard County and came to our area after marrying a local girl named Antoinette Frances Staley. In 1855, Gambrill purchased the Araby Mills complex from his former employer and mentor named George W. Delaplane. This mill complex was located on the Washington Turnpike, south of the Monocacy River across from the Monocacy railroad junction.

​ By 1872, James H. Gambrill had achieved a level of prosperity that allowed him to construct a lavish Second Empire-style mansion, one of the largest single-family residences ever built in Frederick County. (Edgewood)

​Less than a decade after Mr. Gambrill acquired the mill, he and his family found himself in the center of fighting between United States and Confederate forces during the Battle of Monocacy on July 9th, 1864. James H. Gambrill's oldest son , James Henry, Jr. (1866-1951), was born less than two years after "the Battle that Saved Washington." James, Jr. would assist his father in the family milling business at a young age. He, himself, became a prominent and well-respected businessman, and had a productive career in the milling and grain business.

​An avid agriculturalist like his father, James H. Gambrill, Jr. helped, in 1898, to organize a farmer’s truck association to improve the marketing and distribution of the county’s agricultural products. In 1902, he helped form the Frederick County Farmer’s Exchange, which operated a grain, flour, feed, fertilizer, and implement business. He was general manager of the prosperous Mountain City Mills and soon launched, with business partner Lewis, his G.L. Baking Company, a successful wholesale bakery. This new venture was an opportunity to utilize and further market Gambrill’s signature product from the Mountain City Mills--Challenge Brand Flour. Imagine my surprise when I recently found on eBay an advertising piece utilizing Mount Olivet Cemetery's most famous decedent. 

​The "L" of G.L. Baking, Mr. Ransom Rush Lewis, would also have a vested interest in the operation for his “bread and butter” commodity of milk. At this time, 1909, the newspaper also gushed of the construction of the White Cross Dairy, a modern milk production plant, located a few blocks to the east.

I have talked about Mr. Lewis before in this blog and on my Black history walking tour of Mount Olivet. In particular, Ransom Rush Lewis  was featured in a "Story in Stone" from March 2017 in which I wrote about early black burials (and non-burials) in Mount Olivet. I shared the story of a woman named Bird Smith, a faithful African-American domestic/nanny of the Lewis family who would not have the opportunity to be buried in the Lewis family plot for over three decades after her death in 1952.

​The Ransom Rush Lewis family owned a 200-acre farm named Locust Level. This property is only a short distance south of Mount Olivet. In fact Mr. Lewis, Sr. delighted in purchasing cemetery lots for his family that were in clear view of his farm originally obtained in 1854 by his father, Jacob Lewis, after re-locating from Chester County, PA. Locust Level is long gone from its location adjacent Evergreen Point and the intersection of two major old roads heading south from Frederick: the Georgetown (Washington) Pike and Buckeystown Pike. The footprint of Locust Level is now home to commercial landmarks replacing the former manor farm first established in the 1700s. Here one can find Costco, US Interstate 70, plus properties located off Francis Scott Key Drive in the Econo Lodge, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Sheetz.

​Born in 1864, Ransom Rush Lewis spent his youth on the family farm and stayed active in agricultural pursuits, particularly dairy farming. He would go on to have a stellar career as a leading farmer and prominent businessman. In addition, "Rush" was chosen president of the First National Bank of Frederick in 1909, and served as president of the G. L. Baking Company, vice president of the Borough Peoples Fire Insurance Company, and a director in the Central National Bank.

​In going back to the 1909 newspapers, I was delighted to see the progress of the G.L. Baking business over the year starting with its incorporation in March of that year, and subsequent months of construction on Carroll Street. It would open on September 1st, and ads would start filling the local newspapers.

​The new G. L. Baking Company was a booming success and most proud about marketing its sanitary conditions. Again, it was this very location where I enjoyed my delicious triple sesame seed bagel, known today as Twin Bears Bakery and founded in 2020 by Andrew and Emily Roy. The Roys receive extra kudos for rehabilitating the space and preserving architectural features like a massive two-story bread oven. G. L. Baking memorabilia such as boxes, receipts and advertising ephemera can also be found in an impressive interpretive display.

I was not able to find any old photographs of the interior of the G. L. Baking Company, or any other local bakery for that matter. I thought I would add a few visuals here to show you what the inner workings of a commercial bakery would likely look like at that time period of the late 1800s/early 1900s. 

​Let’s get back to the old G.L. Baking business. Messrs. Gambrill and Lewis were certainly not the only biscuit in town. In the newspapers of 1908 and 1909, I saw announcements for an establishment called the French Bakery with its location on West Patrick Street.

​I found the name here interesting because all other baking plants of the early era here seemed to have been started by folks with German roots like the Niedhardts.  There were two other established bakery establishments of note here in Frederick City. One was that of John Hershberger at 105 N. Market Street, who has one of the most amazing monuments in all of Mount Olivet. In coming weeks, I will tell his life story, and that of the bakery/confectionery that he began in 1887.
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The other “bäcker” with roots from Deutschland was an immigrant named August Meier. Mr. Meier conducted a bakery in Washington, DC before re-locating to Frederick and starting his establishment in 1900 on the corner of North Market and East Fifth streets. A Frederick Citizen newspaper article from 1904 said of Meier’s Bakery:

“It began in a small way and has grown until it reached such proportions that a carload of flour is used every month. Mr. Meier’s plant is the most modern and best equipped this side of Baltimore and Pittsburgh. A score or more of skilled hands are given constant employment. The bread, rolls, pies and cakes made here are recognized as standard goods.”

​Also buried in Mount Olivet, I learned a bit more of August Meier’s story through his obituary from 1923.

​There were also advertisements I saw in the 1909 newspaper for some other town bakeries outside Frederick with one in Middletown (G. W. M. Keller), two in Thurmont (Meckler and Pulaski Bakeries) and another in Walkersville (Glade Valley Bakery).

I do want to say more about that operation in Walkersville called the Glade Valley Bakery. Trout, Gilmore C., et al, Walkersville Maryland “The Tale of Two Villages”, Page 34, July 1, 1977 says:

In 1917 the Glade Valley Bakery was organized by T.R. Saylor, J.D Nicodemus, John V. Nicodemus, Kent C. Nicodemus and Robert N. Nicodemus. The bakery operated as a wholesale bread and cake bakery with routes serving Central Maryland, Loudoun Co., VA, Jefferson Co., WV and Adams Co., PA.

That sets the stage for not only one of Frederick’s greatest bakers, but one of Frederick’s most progressive business leaders and busiest civic leaders. His dedication to Frederick likely cost him his life as he would die at just 50 years old.

​Glenn O. Garber
The History of Frederick County, published in 1910 by TJC Williams includes a biography of this rising star of the time. It reads as follows:

“Glenn O. Garber, junior member of Garber and Green, successors to Eugene Sponseller, at the Pioneer Livery Stables of Frederick City, son of John D. and Florence O. Roderick Garber, was born near Walkersville, Frederick County, Md., January 29, 1881.

The ancestors of the Garber family were Germans. William Garber, grandfather of Glenn O. Garber, who is one of the oldest members of Liberty District, Frederick County, Md., was born in Liberty District in 1827. He was the son of poor parents and owes his success in life to hard work and close attention to business. The greater part of his life was spent in working in timber.

John D. Garber, father of Glenn O. Garber, merchant of Daysville, Woodsboro District, was born near Liberty, Liberty District, in 1855. He was educated in the public schools of his native district, and remained at home with his parents until he was married, when he bought a small place and engaged in truck farming. Mr. Garber also planted orchards and added to his land until he owned 35 acres of excellent land. He afterwards sold his place and became a general merchant in Daysville, where he is doing thriving business.
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One of two children, Glenn O. Garber was educated in the public schools of Daysville. At nineteen he left home to accept a position as clerk in a store of J. H. Stauffer, general merchant in Walkersville, Md., with whom he remained two years.

​Mr. Garber next accepted a position with George S. Roderick and Company, in Frederick City. After filling this position with credit for four years, Mr. Garber resigned to become a salesman for R. M. Sutton and Company, of Baltimore, MD. Not long after, he returned to Frederick, where he was offered a position with C. Thomas Kemp. On November 1, 1909, having formed a partnership with John L. Green, the firm of Garber & Green bought the Pioneer Livery Stables, the property of Eugene Sponseller, where they are doing a successful business. Mr. Garber has worked hard and is meeting with well-earned success. He is a progressive businessman, interested in all that concerns the improvement of the community. He owns several valuable properties in Frederick.

Glenn O. Garber was married, June 16, 1909, to Margaret E., daughter of George A. and Clara (Kurtz) Zeigler of Frederick City.”

​Glenn O. Garber put his energies into the livery stable business over the next few years but eventually sold his share of the firm in 1913 in order to take on a career in baking. He was hired to manage the G. L.  Baking Company for Mr. Gambrill and Mr. Lewis. I assume he was quite familiar with Mr. Gambrill since the Mountain City Mill was across Carroll Street from Pioneer Stables, and Mr. Gambrill's Farmer's Exchange was practically next door and G. L. Baking was simply up the street.

​Once again, Glenn Garber "was on a roll," but this was definitely  a “roll” of another kind this time. While here at G. L. Baking, he also served as treasurer of the firm and became part owner. He took the opportunity to learn the business through and through. Glenn’s home life now at 224 East Church Street was going well, as he and Margaret were the proud parents of three children: Clara, Glenn, Jr. and George David. Shortly before George David’s birth in the early summer of 1915, Glenn O. Garber made yet another change in his professional life. He would sell his share of G. L. Baking back to Mr. Gambrill and set his sights on a bakery of his own. Although it would still take a few years, he would make a successful play at the Meier Bakery on N. Market Street.

​August Meier had retired in 1912, and sold his half of the business to his brother Henry A. C. Meier and another gentleman. As said in the advertisement, Garber went to great lengths to make the Meier operation as “modern and sanitary” as that of his previous employer. Garber now was on a mission to be the top “breadwinner” in Frederick. In January 1918, his name would overtake that of the Meier family—the Garber Baking Company was christened. The G. L. Baking Company made sure to counter Garber's announcement with a large advertisement in the same newspaper edition.

​Not to be outdone, Glenn O. Garber was one of the outspoken business leaders of town and did all he could do to support the war effort. He encouraged employees to buy war bonds, and preached of their importance to the many organizations and clubs he belonged to. Ads for War Bonds ran in local papers with his firm listed as a key supporter.

​The war ended in late 1918, and the business of baking continued without interruption. Glenn Garber was ready to enter "the Roaring 20s. His bakery business was certainly  “rising,” and he was frequently written about in the local newspaper for hosting grocery store owners near and far who were retailers of his products. We would also soon see a truce or "armistice of sorts " between our warring bread factions of town. In 1921, the impossible happened as Garber's Baking and G. L. Baking joined forces. One could say they did more than "break bread together," they now were producing it jointly! 

As already mentioned, Glenn was busy at home as well with a young family to raise. Now in his late 30s, he had children ranging from 9 to 4.

​One unique thing I stumbled upon was a 1923 article which talked about Mr. Garber bringing to town a gentleman named Arthur A. Winters, the highest paid food expert in the country. Called “the Caruso of the Oven,” a reference to legendary opera singer Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), Winters would conduct cooking demonstrations for Garber’s employees and others to learn from. Mr. Winter's visit was likely every bit of enchanting as celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey who came to town last year to share his "constructive criticism" with Callahan's Restaurant for a television show.

Glenn certainly knew the lifeblood of his company was his employees. He seems to have treated them fairly and championed morale through giving good benefits and rewarding outstanding performance. He held annual banquets of which we have a complete description thanks to newspaper coverage. 

Speaking of which, I found an article from 1926 that Garber closed his retail location on Patrick Street because he was too busy supplying grocery stores near and far. The location appears to have been where Cafe Nola is located today in the first block of East Patrick.

Glenn Garber could be called "the P. T., Barnum of Baking," as he was always willing to show business colleagues and the public his baking process. This was something you can experience at Twin Bears Bakery as well because there are windows around the kitchen to watch employees roll their dough into multiple forms and placed into ovens. In June of 1927, Glenn Garber advertised a yearly "open-house" event that drew thousands to see how his "King of the Oven" signature product was made.

Glenn Garber would regularly travel out of town to attend conferences and tradeshows around the country. He was lauded for his business acumen. This led to leadership roles as governor of the American Baking Association and president of both the Potomac States Association and the Progressive Bakers’ Association.

​Garber relocated his family to prestigious Rockwell Terrace, where they lived at 406 Rockwell Terrace across from Schley Park.  He continued his community involvement in civic leadership and appears to have had a busy professional schedule. However, this pace appears to have caught up with Glenn in his fiftieth year less than four months after his milestone birthday would be recognized by friends and co-workers, not to mention the Frederick News-Post.

​In May, the same newspaper would publish a brief mention of concern regarding a medical emergency for Frederick’s leading baking professional. Glenn had suffered appendicitis, but the surgery seemed to go as planned and he would be on the mend. Sadly, that would not be the case. Glenn would suffer a heart attack a week later and this snuffed out one of the most progressive and hard-working businessmen in Frederick’s history. His obituary on May 18th was front-page news.

​Glenn Garber would be buried in Mount Olivet’s Area LL/Lot 209. The community was shocked and tributes came from all over Frederick, the state and country. We lost a true giant. His business, however would live on. However, I wonder how Frederick would possibly be different if Glenn Garber would have lived into his 70s or 80s? 

Glenn's wife, Margaret now took the reins as sole owner of the business and Glenn's capable staff continued operation at the high standard that Glenn had set. He would be remembered fondly on the first anniversary of his death.

Garber's Bread and the company that made it went on for a while in the 30s and 40s. Twenty years after the beginning of Glenn's former endeavor, another merger occurred and this was between Garber's Baking and the Glade Valley Baking Company of Walkersville. 

G.L. Baking Company took this opportunity to gloat about their own success at this time. 

The last references I would see to Garber's Baking Company came in the form of a grocery store circular advertisement in 1951, and sports recreational sports matchups between employees/former employees of the Garber Baking bowling and softball teams. I particularly reveled in seeing these squads doing "friendly battle" with the rival teams representing G. L. Baking.

Margaret Garber would sell the baking plant on the southwest corner of N. Market and 5th streets in late 1955. It would become a paint and wallpaper store.

​Glenn and Margaret Garber’s children worked in the bakery business, but only temporarily except for daughter Clara Margaret Garber (1910-1990). Over a couple census records, I find her employed as a bakery clerk of which I am assuming is with the family business. Meanwhile, I strongly thought that Glenn O. Garber, Jr. (1912-1963) would take over the company and bring it into the deep future. He would work briefly in his youth but spent most of his adult working career as a bookkeeper for the National Cash Register Company. Here is where I found him working  in the 1940 census. A few years later he holds the distinction for being the first Frederick Countian inducted into military service for World War II according to the county draft board. Like his father, he would only live until age 50, and never married.
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Youngest son, George David “Jim” Garber (1915-2000), was employed at the Glade Valley Garber Baking Co., Walkersville, until he entered military service during World War II. He served in Germany, and then in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring with the rank of captain. Upon his return from war, he gained employment with Amoco Oil Co., working in Frederick, Baltimore and Cleveland before retiring in 1972. He married but had no children.

Margaret Garber died in 1970 and joined her husband, Glenn, in the family plot in Area LL. Eventually all the Garber children would be residing here in Mount Olivet beside their parents in the family plot.

As for the G. L. Baking Company, it went through a variety of owners but survived up through the 1990s. The building at 125 S. Carroll served as an antique parlor for a time and I specifically bought an old wall hanging of the USS Maine that was being displayed for sale in the old oven space that has been wonderfully saved.

I have a whole new appreciation for Carroll Street now, and not just not its namesake and connection to the American Revolution. This was the literal, and figurative, breadbasket of Frederick civilization where wheat was not only once ground into flour and distributed in all directions,  but cooked into bread, biscuits, crackers and yes, bagels. And we can all be thankful that the legacy continues still today, and its rich heritage is preserved thanks to the Roys and a pair of identical bears. Now, go help yourself to a bagel or piece of toast!

As we near July 4th, 2026, marking a very important date in the 250 years of our country, I am reminded of the important “Patriots of 1776” that tread the land that is Frederick County. In particular, I think of three gentlemen with unique connections to the southern part of our county, but more importantly, Carrollton Manor, and the Potomac River.

The first is Charles Carroll of Carrollton (b. 1737), the last surviving and longest-lived Maryland signer of the Declaration of Independence. He would die in 1832 at age 95, some 56 years after that legendary day in Philadelphia. This “Founding Father” was known contemporaneously as the "First Citizen" of the American colonies, a consequence of signing newspaper articles in the Maryland Gazette with that pen name. Carroll served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, the Confederation Congress, and later served as the first United States Senator for Maryland.
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Of all the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Carroll was one of the wealthiest and most formally educated. Best of all, for local history purposes, he took his title “of Carrollton” from our very own Carrollton Manor in an effort to differentiate himself from his father and grandfather, also named Charles Carroll. His grandfather, Charles Carroll the Settler (1660-1720) purchased land in the western reaches of the colony from the Tuscarora Indians in 1719.

Four years later, this property would become the second survey of record in the confines of today’s Frederick County. Named Carrollton Manor, the survey consisted of a 17,000 acre tract, extending from the Potomac River on the south, Catoctin Mountain to the west, the Monocacy River to the east, and Ballenger Creek to the north. In time, it would consist of tenant farms, grand plantations and the villages and towns of Lime Kiln, Buckeystown, Adamstown, Doubs, Licksville, Tuscarora, and Point of Rocks.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton never lived permanently in Frederick County, choosing domicile in Annapolis and later, his father's estate of Doughoregan Manor in Howard County near Ellicott City. That said, although we may not have a Frederick County resident’s name on the Declaration of Independence, we do have a Frederick County place location name (of Carrollton) on one our country’s most famous documents. 

Carroll would go on to do great things for our state and country by being a leading proponent for the National Road, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Each transformed Frederick County as well, especially lower Carrollton Manor at the Potomac.

​Another man that all Frederick Countians, Marylanders and Americans should remember on July 4th, 2026 is our country’s most famous citizen, political leader and military leader. As Charles Carrollton of Carrollton was known as “First Citizen,” this Virginian was our first major figure to hold power positions in national government and military leadership. I’m, of course, talking about George Washington.
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George Washington was born on February 22nd, 1732, at Wakefield, a tobacco plantation on Pope’s Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Today, this site is preserved as the George Washington Birthplace National Monument, which is located approximately 38 miles east of Fredericksburg, Virginia and adjacent the south shore of the Potomac.

George Washington's life was deeply intertwined with the Potomac River. He spent much of his life at Mount Vernon, his riverside estate, and actively championed the river as an economic lifeline. He surveyed much of the land of the Potomac basin in earlier years and later founded the Patowmack Company to build canals and bypass the treacherous Great Falls. An anchor in the ever-changing context of the Potomac is George Washington's vision of the river as "the great avenue into the Western Country." This was the seed that eventually grew into the canal that Charles Carroll of Carrollton would help make a reality.

Washington himself owned about 12,000 acres of land along the Potomac in scattered locations. His work as surveyor brought him through our environs dating back to the early 1750s. In fact, in 1755, he came to Frederick to meet up with Gen. Edward Braddock for his ill-fated attack on the French at Fort Duquesne, part of the French and Indian War.

How does George Washington connect to Carrollton Manor? Well, it is known that George Washington made several trips to and through Frederick County. An early main road north to Philadelphia from southern colonies came through Carrollton Manor with a popular water crossing of the Potomac at Noland’s Ferry. Noland's Ferry began operating in the mid-1700s and carried travelers, their wagons, carriages and livestock across the Potomac River to Loudoun County, Virginia and the Carolina Road. During the American Revolutionary War, it was used by the U. S. Army and in particular, Gen. “Mad Anthony” Wayne as he led soldiers to victory at Yorktown in 1781. A new marker was dedicated here in late May (2026) and reads:
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“Anthony Wayne’s Potomac Crossing on May 31, 1781, Gen. Anthony Wayne and around 1,100 Pennsylvania Continental troops, crossed the Potomac River at Noland’s Ferry, losing 4 men to drowning, on their way to reinforce the Marquis de Lafayette in Virginia. They met Lafayette’s troops south of the Rapidan river near Charlottesville on June 10th. Facing Lafayette’s and Wayne’s combined forces, British General Charles Cornwallis withdrew to Yorktown. He surrendered October 19th.”

​The ferry would remain in operation until the early 1900s. Philip Noland was the first Noland to run the ferry and his wife was the daughter of Francis Awbrey who was granted a license for a ferry in 1738 which ran near the Noland Ferry crossing site. Among the ferry’s early customers were George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson noted that he went via Noland's Ferry in July 1802 on the way from Washington to Monticello. I found some unsubstantiated claims that he actually crossed here going to, and from, the legendary Continental Congress session of summer 1776.

Washington wrote in his diary that he ate at "Knowlands Ferry" on August 9th, 1785. Those who have traveled Maryland Route 28 through the hamlet of Tuscarora, near the intersection with Maryland Route 85 may have noticed the old cast iron highway marker that calls out this fact. The Dutchman’s was a tavern, but I could not discern the actual name of the operator. I assume he was of German heritage.

​As countless books and articles have been written on Washington and Carrollton, a third man in my thoughts ties all three men together through the spirit of ’76, the Potomac River and Carrollton Manor. His name is Roger Nelson and he is buried here in Frederick’s Mount Olivet Cemetery. I talked about him as part of a class I recently taught on Frederick and the American Revolution, and a biography on him is included in a new book written by Dorothy “Dottie” Olson entitled Frederick’s Other City: Revolutionary Patriots of Mount Olivet Cemetery.  

Before we get into Roger Nelson’s military service, let’s talk about this gentleman’s pedigree. Nelson’s great-grandfather was a man named Arthur Nelson (1666-1754), the first settler to have land surveyed for his own home residence in present-day Frederick County. Many regard him as Frederick’s earliest formal European permanent resident. Nelson located in the area along the Potomac River known subsequently as Point of Rocks, Rock Hall and the route of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. Over the previous 25 years, this vicinity was the home of the Piscataway (Conoy) Indian tribe (1699-1713) and the Tuscarora Tribe (1714-1724).
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Grace Tracey’s Pioneers of the Old Monocacy states:

“The Nelsons came from England about 1694, and in 1718 owned land which is now part of Washington, DC. On February 18th, 1724 Arthur Nelson had surveyed “Nelson’s Island,” then known as Conoy Island. This is now called Heater’s Island, the largest of several islands in the Potomac. A year later, on March 2nd, 1725, he had “Hobson’s Choice” surveyed on the land to the northeast of said Nelson’s Island, and here he lived with his wife Valentine (Delashmutt) and sons Arthur, Jr. and John, Sr.” It appears that John Nelson, Sr. (1694-c.1750) mentioned here was the grandfather of Gen. Roger Nelson and would take over the family holdings. In time, John's son named Arthur Nelson (1721-1792) would hold ownership of the family properties here.  This was Gen. Roger Nelson's father.

Back to the original Arthur Nelson, his father was John Nelson, a native of Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire, England who emigrated to North Carolina. I also learned that in 1728, the early immigrant Arthur Nelson added “Broken Island” to his collection of property here in the lower Monocacy Valley. This is today’s Noland’s Island, on which the forementioned ferry would be conducted in the vicinity originally known as Nelson’s Ferry. The family farmed here with a primary early crop being that of tobacco. Suffice it to say, Arthur Nelson, John Nelson, Sr. and Arthur Nelson could have met, or known, George Washington in the latter's younger days.

​I found two other interesting passages pertaining to the later Arthur Nelson, father of Gen. Roger Nelson. Author William Jarboe Grove wrote of Mr. Nelson in his 1923 History of Carrollton Manor:
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"Mr. Nelson must have been a man of considerable influence and standing, and we find quite a number of other grants to him, among them are the following: ‘By virtue of a warrant granted of his Lordships-Land Office of this province to Arthur Nelson of the aforesaid County [Frederick] for thirty acres of land bearing date of 22nd of September 1761. I therefore, certify as Deputy Surveyor under his Horatio Sharp Esq., Governor of Maryland that I carefully, laid out for and in the name of him the said Arthur Nelson all that tract of land called "The Point of Rocks," lying in the aforesaid County." I also find that Arthur Nelson on the 13th day of October 1752 was given a grant for "Huckelberry Hill" containing 366 acres. On the 2nd of March 1753, was granted "Bayberry Tree," containing 6 and 1/4 acres. On 22nd of Sept. 1775 was granted the "Orchard Tree" containing 15 acres.'"

I spent some time trying to find the exact location of the Nelson home of Rock Hall using the internet for searches along with current day maps. Of course, Rock Hall Road remains today and leads back to Camp Kanawha, a private social club with cabins and a shooting range. This is also home to a former quarry of calico rock, also known as Potomac Marble. The best I can say is that the Nelson home was likely east of the camp on a continuation of Rock Hall Road that does not exist anymore. This would lead to a vicinity south or southeast of Rocky Point Farm. Rocky Point Farm is due south of the Rocky Point Creamery which fronts Route 28.  

William Jarboe Grove also included some reminisces from Charles H. Stunkle (1847-1931), a former resident of Point of Rocks and expert on the history of Carrollton Manor, who said of Arthur Nelson:

“he was one of the very earliest settlers and owned all the Island and rich bottom land along the Potomac, had this land cleared of timber and under cultivation long before any of the timber had been cut off the Carrollton Manor tract. Mr. Nelson was a slave holder, gave close attention to his farms while he grew tobacco, corn and wheat, he made a specialty of growing hemp which was used for making cloth and ropes for sailing vessels and was in great demand for Foreign shipment. Mr. Nelson had a wharf of his own located about a mile east of Point of Rocks where he loaded on rafts and gondola's, hemp, tobacco, wool and other produce as well as lumber; small boats would ply up and down the river during all seasons of the year, but the larger rafts and gondolas were held back until a rain would raise the water. These loaded boats would come down the Shenandoah and Potomac River for many miles. Boats were floated down the river and tied up to Sycamore trees along the banks and Islands which were protected by stone thrown out in the river changing the current and making eddy water. These were called boat harbours. The boats were released when the water was high enough to carry them to Alexandria. They had a runaway built around the Great Falls of the Potomac on the Virginia side for boats to pass through, rafts and boats were built at Point of Rocks."

Mr. Stunkle speaking of the road that passed by his father Frederick Stunkle's, to Trammelstown, that “Arthur Nelson had a road built running up the river through his land where the Canal now stands. This was a much used road, flour was hauled across the river at the Ford on Nelson's Island to Leesburg from Davis Mill at Greenfield and wheat was brought back. Oxen at that time did a large part of the hauling as the roads were built through marshes and soft ground the oxen carried a good part of the load on their necks, the ox carts only had two wheels, they could be gotten over bad places in the road easier than four wheeled wagons. Mr. Stunkle said that Grafton Crist who died the past year in Howard County at the age of 93 told him that he hauled flour over this road from Davis Mill to Leesburg and a load of wheat back that his father, Nathan Crist, often spoke of Arthur Nelson as Judge Nelson and his being a man of affairs, his rich islands and bottom land along the Potomac where he raised so much hemp, his rafts and canoes would go up and down the Potomac taking tobacco, corn, wheat, hemp and hides down and bringing in return sugar, salt, coffee, tea, molasses and general merchandise.

​Aside from life as a gentleman farmer, Roger Nelson’s father, Arthur Nelson, Jr. (1721-1792), served as clerk in his brother-in-law Elias Delashmutt, Sr’s military company during the French & Indian War. Arthur married Lucy Waters in 1751, and they had four children including Roger.

Arthur Nelson was a planter and landowner, holding in Frederick County alone some 794 acres in 1773. He was active in many businesses in the Point of Rocks area. In the census of 1790 his household is described as consisting of himself, one male under age 16, two females, and fourteen slaves. Although too old to serve in a military capacity in the Revolution, Arthur Nelson, Jr. was among those appointed to receive donations for the cause and in 1782 was reimbursed for expenses to the amount of ten pounds ten shillings. One source claimed that he was a member of Frederick County's Committee of Observation.

Arthur Nelson, Jr's son Roger graduated from William and Mary in 1775. In 1776, he volunteered for military duty in a dragoon/horse unit with the 6th Maryland Regiment during the Revolutionary War and quickly proved himself on the field. Years later, Roger Nelson fought in the defense of Charleston, South Carolina under Col. William Augustine Washington (1757-1810), sixth son of George Washington’s older half-brother Augustine. He later saw action in two other major battles in the southern theater at Camden and Eutaw Springs, both in South Carolina.

​Dottie Olson goes on to say, “During the siege of Charleston, he was severely wounded and left among the fallen, later taken prisoner by British forces. His survival and subsequent exchange speak to both his endurance and the ferocity of the fighting he witnessed.

​After his release, Nelson was recommended for a commission and, on July 15th, 1780 was appointed Lieutenant, serving under Col. William Augustine Washington. He later assisted in recruitment and remained in service until the end of the war, standing among those present at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered.”

I wonder if Roger Nelson had the opportunity to exchange pleasantries with Gen. Wayne who had recently passed with his soldiers so close to the Nelson homestead when crossing the Potomac?
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Regardless, Nelson’s Revolutionary record, marked by front-line action and personal injury, earned him enduring recognition. In later years, he was granted Bounty Land under President Thomas Jefferson, and his widow successfully applied for a pension in acknowledgment of his service. Both the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution formally recognize him as a Patriot.

​Dottie Olson continued her story of the Revolutionary War veteran after the war:

“Roger Nelson came home to Frederick and read law, beginning a new chapter in public duty. He served in the United States Congress from 1804 to 1810, then represented his district in the Maryland legislature from 1810 to 1815. In his later career, he accepted appointment as a judge of Maryland’s Sixth Judicial District, carrying forward his commitment to public life in the courts as he once had on the battlefield. In 1793, he was promoted to Brigadier General in the Maryland Militia, a rank he held for the rest of his life.

Roger Nelson married twice. His first wife, Mary Brooke Sim, daughter of Colonel Joseph Sim and Katharine Murdock, became his bride on 26 February 1788. Their children were Catherine Murdoch, Lawrence, John, and Arthur. Mary died in 1794. On 2 February 1797, he married Elizabeth “Eliza” Harrison, with whom he had four more children: Frederick, Madison, Sarah Maulsby, and Emily Catherine Maulsby. Eliza lived many decades longer, dying in 1855.”

Nelson died on June 7th, 1815 and was buried in the All Saints Protestant Episcopal Cemetery in Frederick. This was located on the south side of Carroll Creek, across from today’s C. Burr Artz Library Downtown branch. This is where the amphitheater is located and where the Alive at Five concert events take place.

​In 1913, the church conducted a mass removal project, relocating decedents of the old burial ground to Mount Olivet Cemetery. Along with other Revolutionary Patriots buried there including Gov. Thomas Johnson, Jr., Joshua Johnson and Dr. Philip Thomas of whom I have written “Stories in Stone” about in the past, Gen. Roger Nelson’s remains were reinterred to Area MM, Lot 40, in November 1913 when the older graveyard was cleared.

His gravesite sits roughly five yards directly behind the grave of Thomas Johnson, a brigadier general during the Revolution. As many know, Johnson was a member of Continental Congress and voted in favor of Independence, but did not sign the Declaration of Independence because he was here in Maryland raising troops and armaments for the war effort, along with preparing a constitution for Maryland to become a state. He is best known locally for being the namesake of a high school and middle school, along with Frederick's central "medical autobahn" with Thomas Johnson Drive.

​A transcription published during the cemetery removal of 1913 preserves the words carved into his stone, capturing how contemporaries viewed him:

“He lived more for his country than for himself...
He carried the scars of sixteen wounds from the Revolution...
He served in Congress, in Maryland’s legislature, and later on the bench.”

A few more notes on Gen. Roger Nelson regard his children and patriotic service. Son, John Nelson (1791-1860), had quite a successful political career after following his father’s footsteps by attending William and Mary College and studying law.

After the end of the Tyler administration, Nelson retired from public life and returned to Baltimore. Nelson died in Baltimore on January 8th, 1860. He is buried in Green Mount Cemetery.

​One of Gen. Roger Nelson’s daughters was Emily Catherine Contee (Nelson) Maulsby (1815-1867). She was a one-time owner of Prospect Hall. Her husband, William Maulsby, was a prominent local lawyer who served in the Union Army as Colonel, 1st Maryland Regiment, Potomac Home Brigade (Militia) in the US Civil War. He was also commander of the Brigade, though it never served as a consolidated unit. He defended Maryland Heights in September 1862 during the Maryland Campaign.

​The Maulsbys had a daughter named Betty Harrison (Maulsby) Ritchie (1839-1898) who is responsible for starting the Frederick Chapter of the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. This occurred in late September of 1892. Betty’s daughter, Emily Nelson (Ritchie) McLean (1859-1916), was a charter member of the New York City Chapter of the NSDAR, and would go on to serve in the organization’s highest leadership position. Mrs. McLean was President General, NSDAR from 1905-1909.

​The patriotic reach of Gen. Roger Nelson’s influence on his compatriots during the Revolution, fellow Americans throughout his life, and his personal descendants still affects us today. This is clearly evident by the great work done by both our NSDAR Frederick Chapter and our Carrollton Manor Chapter.  Mount Olivet has certainly benefited, and a perfect example is in the fact that the author, Dottie Olson, has been serving as the Regent of the same Frederick Chapter Roger that Nelson’s granddaughter created back in 1895.
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Happy 4th of July, Frederick County, and more importantly……..Happy 250th, United States of America!

This book sells for $25 and can be picked up in-person at the Mount Olivet Cemetery Business Office on weekdays from 9am-4pm, or can be shipped for an additional $5. Contact Genesis Kapp at (301) 662-1164 during business hours or email request to: [email protected]

Note: Business Office is located in the back of the cemetery within the center building of the Mausoleum Complex. 
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Chris Haugh, author of "Stories in Stone" will be teaching two sessions of his Frederick and the American Revolution 4-part course in fall 2026 under his History Shark Productions educational series. (click yellow links for more info)

ONLINE edition via ZOOM
Monday, November 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd
6-8pm          Cost: $76 (4-part class)
More Info/Register via CourseStorm: Chris Haugh's Frederick and the American Revolution

IN-PERSON (bring a lunch)
12noon-2pm            Cost: $76 (4-part class)
Tuesday, November 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th
More Info/Register via CourseStorm: Chris Haugh's Frederick and the American Revolution