In early 1824, it was announced that the beloved French hero of the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, was returning to make a grand tour of America. The French aristocrat and military officer was a key ally to the American colonists during the War for Independence. He participated at numerous battles of the conflict including Brandywine, Gloucester, Barren Hill, Rhode Island, Monmouth, Green Spring and the decisive finale at Yorktown. Lafayette also spent time at Valley Forge, and served a trusted confidante of George Washington. His commitment to the cause of liberty and instrumental role in securing French support for the American Revolution engraved his name in the American history books. However, he would also play an important role in the local Frederick history book as well.

​Beginning in 1824, the Frenchman would travel more than 6,000 miles and visit 24 states over a 13-month span. My late friend, Theresa Mathias Michel (1926-2024), shared her thoughts on the subject in my 1995 documentary entitled Frederick Town. Here is a transcript of what she had to say on the special visitor who came to Frederick exactly 200 years ago:

“Lafayette did make this marvelous, triumphant tour of the United States fifty years after the Revolution. He was an elderly gentleman at the time. I think it’s a miracle that he managed to travel. It must have been uncomfortable and must have been very hard on him, but he persevered. He was feted and honored in a way that no one has probably been before or since.”

​Mrs. Michel’s interest in Lafayette’s visit was particularly understandable since her life-long home in Frederick’s Courthouse Square was within the center of an exciting scene in late December, 1824. The mirror townhome next door, known for the last century as the Ross House, played host to the special French dignitary. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Michel’s daughter, Tee, has been busy most of this past year in heading up the committee for planning/executing anniversary events relating to Lafayette’s 1824 stay in Frederick. This is equally personal for her because she grew up at 103 Council Street and currently owns, and resides within, the Ross House at 105 Council Street.

​Lafayette’s visit would not have occurred had it not been for the man who built these homes on Council Street in the early nineteenth century. He made his mark on Frederick in various ways and is buried in Mount Olivet. This gentleman was Col. John McPherson.
​
Col. McPherson led efforts to extend a courteous invitation to Gen. Lafayette. This would lead to our town being added to the general’s busy tour itinerary. You could say that he created history for us, but he also had a direct impact on the lives of Theresa Mathias Michel, daughter Tee and Mrs. Michel’s brother, Sen. Charles “Mac” Mathias through building the majestic townhomes that grace Council Street.

​The McPhersons
Col. John McPherson, Sr. was one of the largest landowners in western Maryland, and operated the largest iron factory in the region. A Pennsylvania native, John McPherson was born in 1760. He served in the Pennsylvania militia, being promoted at the age of 21 to lieutenant toward the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781. Col. McPherson was sent to Frederick to provide rations for British prisoners but by then, the war was nearly over. The trip, however, proved fruitful for McPherson, who ended up moving to Frederick in 1781. Until his death in 1829, John McPherson was a leading citizen and prominent figure in town.

McPherson was a member of the Common Council and served for many years as a county representative in the legislature. He entered the iron manufacturing business and became co-owner of the profitable Antietam Iron Works. Col. McPherson’s partner was John Brien, his son-in-law. Brien would later purchase, operate, and upgrade the Catoctin Furnace, started by “Rev War” patriot and Maryland’s first governor, Thomas Johnson, Jr.
​
At auction, McPherson and Brien bought the Council Street lots where the old county jail had originally stood. In 1817, the two men built two large mansions for themselves on the prime real estate adjacent the courthouse which is today’s Frederick City Hall.

​Mrs. Michel went on to say of the Council Street townhomes:
​
“The houses were very substantial, certainly for their time, for any time, and they were built as though they were manor houses in the country rather than in-town houses. In fact, they had stables, they had slave quarters, they had an icehouse which still exists in the house next door owned by the Ross family. I suspect there was an icehouse on this property which has been lost. There were coachmen houses and the gardens extended across Second Street for certainly another block in the beginning. Sometime between the first and second quarters of the 19th century, those gardens were obliterated, and houses built on that land. They were very much more than townhouses. They were mini estates.”

The senior McPherson had a son, John McPherson, Jr., born in Frederick in 1796. On December 23rd, 1823, the younger McPherson married Fanny Russell Johnson, granddaughter of the fore-mentioned Thomas Johnson, Jr. Like his father, Mr. McPherson played a prominent role in public affairs and was a successful businessman. He was manager of the Central National Bank and involved in the family iron business. The younger McPherson also would become a captain and colonel of the Frederick Light Horse Cavalry. He too would play a leading role in the planning for Lafayette’s visit.

​Col. John McPherson, Sr. is credited with extending the invitation on behalf of the committee he chaired, made up of the most prominent figures in the city and county. McPherson would travel to Baltimore to deliver the invitation to Lafayette “in-person” in 1824.

Supposedly it was President James Monroe who issued the formal invitation to the illustrious Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette to tour the 24 states of the Union. Our fifth president hoped that the former general, the last living of the Revolutionary War generals, might instill the “Spirit of 1776” into the younger generation of Americans. In the process, this was the federal period equivalent of Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” with the excitement generated, and the event celebrated the enduring bond between France and the United States.

In September (1824), the general arrived in Baltimore. He soon accepted the invite to visit Frederick, but no exact date could be given at that time. Meanwhile, the second official Cattle Show and Fair of the Frederick County Agricultural Society had already been considered for late October 1824. Col. McPherson was vice president of this organization which would decades later be responsible for giving us the Great Frederick Fair. Plans for a fall, 1824 Frederick County Cattle Show and Fair were cancelled when the Maryland Cattle Show was postponed to late November to accommodate the visit from the “Nation’s Guest” as Marquis de Lafayette would soon be labeled. The general would attend the Maryland show and receive membership in the Maryland Agricultural Society. He personally handed out premiums at the rescheduled state event. 

Gen. Lafayette was also made a Maryland citizen by a special act of legislature, and held a unique “French connection” to Frederick as he had guided many county troops in battle during the American Revolution. While these events were happening elsewhere in the state, a local committee under ocular specialist Dr. John Tyler, builder of the Tyler-Spite House on West Church Street, planned arrangements for the general’s eventual visit to town. His arrival would come in late December, a few weeks after addressing Congress at the US Capitol.

​On Christmas Day, the Frederick Town Herald newspaper shared news that Frederick would be visited the following Wednesday by the “Nation’s Guest.” Yuletide decorations were quickly replaced with French and American flags, and triumphal arches were built at the entrances to town to welcome the aging hero.

​Gen. Lafayette and his party arrived at the Monocacy Bridge (Old Jug Bridge) east of town on the morning of December 29th, where they were met by Frederick’s mayor, George Baer, along with members of Congress, various other officials and several military troops. Lafayette, himself would comment:
​
“I am highly gratified, gentlemen to meet you in your happy valley, where agriculture and manufacturing industry, practiced by a rapidly increased population are the reward of your patriotic and domestic virtue. Receive my best thanks for your kind welcome, for your affecting references, to past time, for your affectionate wishes, and permit me to hasten to the revolutionary companions whom you have had the much valued attention to bring with you.”

The general and his entourage then entered several fancy carriages pulled by elaborately harnessed teams of horses. The procession of carriages, militia, and citizens “on foot” headed to Frederick, whose streets were decorated with the fore-mentioned arches, one at Market and Patrick Streets and the other at Market and Fifth Streets. Between the arches, artillery, riflemen and infantry lined the streets. Every resident came to watch the historic event as estimates say that thousands of people lined the parade route through town. The 67-year-old Lafayette would soon be the toast of the town with parties, dinners and a grand ball thrown in his honor.

​At the courthouse, the second built structure for the purpose in our county’s history, attorney William Ross III (1772-1852) welcomed Lafayette’s procession and a Hagerstown company of riflemen saluted the general. Mayor Baer and Mr. Ross’ graves, like so many other planners of activities and participants of this great event, can be found in Mount Olivet. Ross' monument is in close proximity to the McPherson family plots in Area E, and his heirs through Charles Worthington Ross would eventually gain ownership of the home at 105 Council Street giving it a new name due to the subsequent generations of Ross family members to live there.

​Gen. Lafayette had a very short walk to his next destination in the form of Col. McPherson’s mansion on Council Street, place of his lodgings. A huge dinner-banquet was held that night in Joseph Talbott’s Tavern on West Patrick Street as a special illumination of town commenced. Two-hundred individuals attended after buying tickets for $4/each. Highlights included 13 toasts being made by a “who’s who” of Frederick’s past, and a presentation of an honorary apron by the local Masons. The Columbia Lodge No. 58 still has this priceless artifact in their museum collection to this day.

​Published in 1910, Williams’ History of Maryland has a detailed description of Lafayette’s time in Frederick, saying of the December 29th welcome banquet:

“Gen. Lafayette dined heartily and enjoyed especially the game, eating corn pone and possum and drinking old rye whiskey and sherry. Before the speeches began a number of songs were sung. William C. (Campbell) Russell sang the Star Spangled Banner and the Marsellaise hymn, the whole company joining the chorus. On learning that the author of the Star Spangled Banner was a native of Frederick and was living in Georgetown, the General declared that he would go to see him. Other songs were sung by Andrew McRobie, Lewis W. Glenn, Benjamin Rutherford and others.”

​“Our whole town is in an uproar – all about Lafayette. There were from 6 to 8,000 people in town yesterday and last night there was a general illumination and celebration.”
-Jacob Englebrecht, December 30th, 1824

The next morning, the general was greeted at Talbott’s Tavern by citizens, desiring to be introduced, between 10am and noon. Among these was Frederick’s diarist, himself.

“He is now receiving the citizens & strangers at Talbotts. Among the rest by the bye, I was one who was introduced to him by Colonel Ritchie. This afternoon he will receive the ladies at Colonel McPherson’s & tonight he will attend a ball at Talbott’s.”
-Jacob Engelbrecht  

The “Colonel Ritchie” that Jacob Engelbrecht mentions is Col. John Ritchie. Born in 1757, Ritchie was a Revolutionary War veteran and prominent local businessman who once owned a large dwelling and the property on the northeast corner of the Square Corner (Market and Patrick streets). The colonel died on November 11th, 1826 and was buried in the former All Saints Protestant Episcopal cemetery that once existed along Carroll Creek near the site of today’s linear park amphitheater area. Col. Ross is buried in Mount Olivet’s Area G/Lot 174.

​December 30th witnessed the greatest ball in Frederick’s history as it was held in one of the upper floors of the McPherson home. More than 200 people attended, with guests traveling from Virginia, Pennsylvania and every part of Maryland. A passage in TJC Williams’ History of Frederick County states:

"This ball was perhaps the most famous that ever took place in Frederick County. The Misses Creble, two fashionable milliners and mantua makers, it was declared in the newspapers at the time, were busy day and night for weeks making ball dresses for their customers. They had some French flowers which had been presented to them and which they cultivated with great care, preserving by some chemical process their beauty and fragrance. These were worked into headdresses. The costumes were of the gayest yet of the most republican character, the music was soul inspiring, the dancing was good, and refreshments seem to have been ample... all the delicacies that the palate could crave or the appetite enjoy, were served at intervals in great profusion."

After reading this, I immediately became interested in the mention of “the Misses Creble” in that illustrative passage. I was unfamiliar with the surname and postulated that this could be a typo or bastardizing of the name, so I immediately began searching Mount Olivet’s interment database. I found no Crebles as mentioned, but soon theorized that the name could be the locally found name of Grable/Grabill. I was met with instant success and found two women of this name buried in a very old section of Mount Olivet known as Area NN. 

​Here we have remains of individuals who died before our cemetery opened in 1854. The decedents in Area NN were moved in 1907 to this location from three former downtown burying grounds including the Evangelical Lutheran Burial Ground (formerly found where Everedy Square is now). Another churchyard of note and re-located here was the Presbyterian burying ground once located at the southwest corner of Dill and North Bentz streets. These bodies were moved here in the late 1800s. Finally, a third portion of NN, to the south of the other two, contains the mortal remains of the Grable sisters Jane and Savilla. They were buried here in June, 1895 and had been disinterred from Frederick’s Methodist Episcopal Church Graveyard once located on the southeast corner of East 4th Street and Middle Alley (today’s Maxwell Alley).

Information was very scarce on the Grables, but, as mentioned, I found two potential ladies in our cemetery database as people of interest. I don't know what there relationship is, but hoping it is that of sisters. Jane was born on February 11th, 1784 and died on January 28th, 1854, roughly five months before Mount Olivet Cemetery opened. On Ancestry.com, I found a Maryland christening record from June 1783 for a Jane Grable in Baltimore, however her birthdate is shown as February 10th, 1783. This individual, who could be the later Frederick dressmaker in question, was the daughter of Jacob and Martha Grable. Sevilla was born around 1800 and would die at age 53 on June 1st, 1853. As far as early Grables in Frederick, I found a German immigrant named Nicholas Samuel Grable (1695-1774), and his son John Grable (1722-1801) residing here from the late 1700s.

​Well, so much for that rabbit hole as I did not get far at all. So, let’s get back to Lafayette. After two days of events and entertainment, the French hero and his small party left Frederick the morning of December 31st. His next stop would be Washington, DC as he traveled southward on the Georgetown Pike towards the nation’s capital within a horse-drawn carriage.

​Of his visit to Frederick, Lafayette had this to say:

“The local tranquility which has blessed your delightful valley did not prevent its inhabitants taking a spirited part in the revolutionary and in the last war [War of 1812] and becoming fully entitled to all the advantages of Republican freedom. I thank… the good people of Frederick for the gratifying sentiments you have been pleased so kindly to express and for your honorable and affectionate welcome. I rejoice with you on the great improvements in this city and county and beg you all to accept my most grateful respect and patriotic wishes.”

Local historian Jake Wynn wrote the following for the Visit Frederick website:

“The significance of Lafayette's visit to Frederick extended beyond the ceremonial. It served as a reminder of the international bonds that had been crucial to America's birth. Lafayette's journey through the United States, with Frederick being a key stop, underscored the enduring friendships that had been formed in the crucible of war. It also highlighted the role of communities like Frederick in the broader narrative of American independence and identity.”

​​On that departure from town on the morning of December 31st, 1824, Lafayette passed a swath of farmland immediately south of town that would become our cemetery thirty years later. Not to mention the parcel fronting the Old Georgetown Pike would become the final resting place of another patriotic individual of renowned celebrity, Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote that patriotic song sung by William C. Russell at the fabulous dinner at Talbott’s Tavern on December 28th (1824). Mount Olivet Cemetery is home to many of the leading citizens that planned the general's visit, and countless townspeople who met Lafayette and participated in the grand revelry. May they all  rest in peace here in Frederick’s Second City.

Lafayette would not depart the country for his home back in France until September of 1825. Interestingly, there must have been a local couple by the name of Norris who especially got caught up in the whimsey of the "Nation's Guest" and his glorious tour. You see I found a decedent in Mount Olivet's Area H, Lot 381 who was born in 1826, within nine months of the end of Lafayette's tour of the states.  Ladies and gentlemen, meet Lafayette Norris!

Through census and obituary records, I learned that Lafayette Norris was a plasterer by trade. Talk about French connections, this is somewhat ironic, since the quarries of France's Montmartre have provided a fine grade of gypsum for coating walls in the form of Plaster of Paris. Secondly, I would also find the following entry in Jacob Engelbrecht's diary which proves that Lafayette Norris embodied the Revolutionary Spirit of 1776 and possibly the French Revolution as well!

"The Independent & Junior Hose companies had a Battle Royale on Saturday night August 14, 1858 -when brick bats & stones were thrown. Lafayette Norris, George Lambert, Luther A. Nickel & several others were injured - a row after a false alarm of fire."
-Jacob Engelbrecht (August 16, 1858)

"Vive la France"......."Vive la Lafayette!"

"Twas the week before Christmas, when all thro' the cemetery,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a ________________."

Although the possibilities are limitless, the necessity to have a word that rhymes with cemetery is a tough task. The best I can do is "hereditary," an appropriate term that connects with graveyard genre, but one too many syllables and makes no sense at all when inserted in my bastardization of Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 holiday masterpiece "A Visit from St. Nicholas." To be grammatically correct, the noun version "heredity" should be used, but now we don't have a proper rhyme with cemetery. I will now quit while I'm ahead.

It only feels fitting to write a Christmas-themed "Story in Stone" this week, but I think I better leave the true message of the season in the hands of a capable writer of the 19th century. In this case, I wanted someone more local than Clement Clarke Moore, Charles Dickens or Washington Irving. I soon found my author in Mr. Charles E. Knauff, editor of the Frederick Examiner newspaper. The edition of December 25th, 1872 contains a powerful message, and I was taken by the following passage:

"Cheering is the assurance that we can celebrate Christmas Day as an epoch in the history of our deliverance from the fear of the future."

I just love this assessment, not only as an historian, but the message holds true today just as much as it did back then 152 years ago. The author laments the fact that Christmases of the time (1872) were not "as interesting as the olde-fashioned ones were," however he states that young people will look back longingly and lovingly at these modern Christmases (ie. 1872) when in their own later years as they reminisce and reflect back and compare. Mr. Knauff's full editorial can be found below:

Charles E. Knauff had a great deal of olde-time Christmases under his belt as he was 45 years-old in late 1872. The newspaper veteran was born on April 20th, 1827, and earned distinction for his long career as a printer, reporter and editor in Frederick. He had been affiliated with his former boss, Charles H. Keefer, and The Examiner for quite some time, and soon became a partner and co-publisher of the local paper. As a matter of fact, I was surprised to see the Keefers and Knauffs as next door neighbors in the 1870 census. However, this makes complete sense as they lived at the business site located at the Examiner Building on the southwest corner of Market and Church streets. Many know this location today as the home of the Orchard Restaurant.

Back in 2018, I wrote a "Story in Stone" about a terrible train accident at Point of Rocks which took the life of several leading Fredericktonians. Among them was Charles H. Keefer of The Examiner. Charles E. Knauff was responsible for reporting on the tragic incident for the newspaper he shared in managing with Keefer. In essence, Knauff had to detail the death of his mentor and friend who is today buried in Mount Olivet's Area R/Lot 116. 

I tried finding biographical information on Mr. Knauff, but the best I could muster was what I would see in two obituaries in early April, 1915. He died on April 5th, and the two newspapers of record at that time, the Frederick News and Frederick Citizen paid homage to this man who never missed a day of work during a career that spanned over six decades.

Our cemetery records show that Mr. Knauff was buried on April 7th, 1915 alongside his wife (Anna Bragonier) in the grave plot of his parents, Jacob Knauff (1788-1867), a War of 1812 veteran, and wife Deborah (Philips) Knauff. Interestingly, Charles E. Knauff would die on the very day of the 15th anniversary of his wife's death. Both Charles and Anna rest in unmarked graves in Area A/Lot 77.

In that same Examiner Christmas issue of 1872, holiday advertising can be found in many columns adjacent Mr. Knauff's thoughtful editorial. Two such ads that caught my eye were "barking" for the local businesses of A. R. Ruse and A. C. McCardell. I was familiar with the latter gentleman, but did not know Mr. Ruse. I would soon learn his full name of Addison R. Ruse, proprietor of  Ruse's Novelty Emporium on North Market Street.

This was certainly one of the leading toy stores of town at the time, and a  place where holiday shopping could be done for the entire family. This was Frederick's Wal-Mart if you will, but it was not quite the pinnacle. No that was David Smith's Temple of Fancy, billed as Santa Claus' Frederick headquarters. 

Addison Rufus Ruse was born July 30th, 1849 and lived to October 11th, 1927. He was married to Martha J. Kussmaul of the family that would eventually produce an educator whose name would grace Frederick Community College's spacious theater.

Apparently, Addison Ruse worked in the newspaper business like Charles E. Knauff. The two gentlemen are also buried a short distance away from one another in Mount Olivet's Area A. Ruse grew up near the South Market Street bridge over Carroll Creek, and his stationary and music store, the location I presume mentioned in the 1872 advertisement at 54 North Market very near Frederick's City Hall (which is Brewer's Alley Restaurant today).

​His newspaper career with the Frederick Times was a short one in the mid 1880s and prompted him to leave Frederick for Baltimore because of an expense, not an opportunity. I learned this from a letter to the editor written a week after after his obituaries appeared in mid-October, 1927. Speaking of obituaries, I include two below, one from our Frederick paper, and another from The Baltimore Sun.

Another merchant of note included in that 1872 Frederick newspaper was A.C. McCardell, proprietor of a local confectionary, a shop that sells candy. I was familiar with this man and even possess a few items in my personal collection including a Victorian advertising card and a signed billhead from his business. 

​

I have always been intrigued by two things in connection to the above billhead. First, that Mr. McCardell billed himself and business as a "fruiterer," a word that I haven't seen used anywhere else. Second, I found it ironic that the store that sold the healthiest food in town (fruit), also manufactured the unhealthiest food in town. I guess you could call it a bittersweet business with a diverse portfolio.

In my research on this particular gentleman, I found myself feeling like "a kid in a candy store," both literally and figuratively. There are extensive writings on Adrian Coelfrid McCardell (1845-1932) and his business endeavors to be found. One of those endeavors includes my employer, as he served as Mount Olivet Cemetery's fifth president of our board of directors from 1919 until his death in 1932.

In conducting research, I was once again aided tremendously by T.J.C. Williams and his History of Frederick County, published in 1910. In Volume II of that work, one can read a lengthy biography on our subject, and see his photograph as well. Both are featured below:

McCardell's candy store evolved into a restaurant that was well-known for its decadent desserts (also apparently spelled as "deserts" in the above right photo, just as another connection to our story title regarding deserts and oases). McCardell's had quite a run here in town as a home-grown business.

Adrian C. McCardell passed away on March 30th, 1932 at the age of 86. Apparently being around all those sweets for the balance of his life had little to no effect on his longevity. He would be buried in Mount Olivet's Area R/Lot 17. His wife, Alforetta is here as well, dying in 1923. A daughter, Ruth Pauline, would be buried here in 1965.

Well its time for me to wrap up this "Story in Stone" so I can wrap up some presents. I will end with one more tidbit from that Frederick Examiner newspaper from Christmas Day, 1872. The article deals with an element of fashion that Adrian C. McCardell's granddaughter helped "bury" forever with her own sportswear designs. Our holiday incident involved a young man named David Otho Thomas.

For those not familiar with this antique clothing accessory, a bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses. The fashion was popular in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skirt from dragging. Heavy fabric tended to pull the back of a skirt down and flatten it. As a result a woman's petticoated skirt would lose its shape during everyday wear (from merely sitting down or moving about).

I could not find a follow-up story to this specific incident in later editions of the paper. I'd like to believe that the pretty-young lady was one Marie Virginia Quynn (1852-1927). She was a daughter of Allen G. Quynn of early Frederick hardware lore. Like Cinderella missing her glass slipper, perhaps Miss Quynn read the Frederick Examiner article above and dared stepping into the Thomas snuff shop in order to retrieve her bustle, and thus her destiny. 

Born June 18, 1849 in Buckeystown, Mr. Thomas came from a well-known local family as well. He worked as a pharmacy clerk before getting into the tobacco business with his shop located on the northwest quadrant of the Square Corner (Market and Patrick streets) just west of Frederick County National Bank on West Patrick. Photographs exist of this location in a later incarnation as Flemings Tobacco Shop. The 1870 census shows David O. Thomas living at the City Hotel just down the street. 

One way or another, David Otho Thomas married the abovementioned Miss Quynn in October of 1873, just ten months later. Could it have been the same pretty, young lady who lost her bustle? We may never know. However, we can only imagine the bustle and train employed by the young bride on her wedding day, perhaps using the very one dropped on the street just before Christmas, 1872. If by design, more interesting bait has rarely been used by young ladies seeking matrimony. Again, I'm just wishful speculating here. 

By 1880, David O. Thomas was working as a dealer of hay and straw, more things that burn I guess. He was living with his bride and widowed mother in Frederick City.

Interestingly enough, our subject died on New Years Day, 1926 after what seems to have been a good life. He and Maria never had any children, but he finished his days working as a hardware salesman at Quynn's on East Patrick Street. His obituary proves that he had quite a business career, you could even say it was "bustling."

David and Maria Thomas are buried in a plot adjacent Mount Olivet's "Pumphouse Hill" in Area Q/Lot 18. Maria died the following year after her husband and is buried in this plot along with David's mother. 

I'd just like to leave you with two separate, yet poignant, quotes from a pair of 19th century wordsmiths that still hold true today:

"Were the views of those who are cheerless and despondent adopted and time regarded as a desert, still it would have its oases. Holidays are the oases of the year; some of them are so enchanting that upon their recurrence we allow ourselves to forget all else save the memories they commemorate. In their enjoyment outside cares vanish; we do not so much as throw a glance forward towards the always important tomorrow, but revel in the delights that the present affords.Years pass and generations die with them, but such principles endure and are transmitted from father to son."
           -Charles E. Knauff 

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" 
           -Clement Clarke Moore

​ATTENTION LOCAL HISTORY FANS!!!

​"The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again."
​-Charles Dickens
(a quote from Nicholas Nickleby)

For most of these “Stories in Stone,” I am seldom fortunate enough to come across a portrait, or photograph, of subjects who died in the 1700s and 1800s. Sometimes, a family member, or long lost descendant, will send me an image after discovering my story online. I’m always excited about inserting these into the previously published works that live in perpetuity on the MountOlivetHistory.com website you find yourself on now as you read this. Regardless, it’s always more satisfying to research and write with an image of my subject staring back at me. Usually, I have to use a gravestone as the only surviving "image" of a decedent. I guess you could say that it’s great to put a face with a name when that name appears on a gravestone within Mount Olivet.

This week, I have a firm sense of my subject’s face as this was my introduction point, not knowing anything more about him, or seeing his gravesite in Mount Olivet. My interest stems solely from seeing his picture, and in said photo he is not doing anything particularly interesting or noteworthy. I must admit that, if anything, he looks somewhat peculiar in my opinion, and gives off vibes of being a stern, “no-nonsense” kind of guy. I don’t know if that assessment is anywhere near the truth, but you can judge for yourself the possible temperament of Mr. George Beckenbaugh.

​My second thought, upon seeing George Beckenbaugh’s face for the first time, was that he seemed to belong in a Charles Dickens novel. The great English writer lived from 1812-1870, while our subject, Mr. Beckenbaugh, lived pretty much the same time period being born a decade prior in 1801 and dying eight years after the man who published A Christmas Carol in 1843. I’m sure our Mr. Beckenbaugh was quite familiar with the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, and I would find through my research that he was certainly no Ebenezer Scrooge as he seemed to embrace happiness throughout his life.

George Beckenbaugh was born on the 5th of December 1801 in the sleepy hamlet of Creagerstown in northern Frederick County. Residents take pride in the fact that they are “four miles from everywhere.” Now Creagerstown wasn’t always “sleepy,” as it was at one time a bustling crossroads during the American Revolution period. As a matter of fact, its founder, John Creager, was also the man who gave us Mechanicstown which later changed its name to Thurmont. Creager was a son of Lorentz Krieger, one of the early German immigrants to our county and an early leader in the Moravian Church in Graceham.

​George was the son of Jacob & Eve Catherine (Zimmerman) Beckenbaugh. His father was a store owner in Creagerstown. George was raised in Creagerstown, and eventually married Martha Vaines (Ligget) Beckenbaugh and was father to six children: Isabella Catharine, Jane Elizabeth, George William, James Jacob, John Michael, and Thomas Ligget Beckenbaugh.

Our photogenic subject owned a 19-acre lot adjacent town and operated stores in Creagerstown and a hotel which he would turn over to his brother Michael at some point in the 1840s. Michael appears as “M. Beckenbaugh” on Isaac Bond's Map of Frederick County, published in 1858. 

​George would move to Frederick in the early 1840s and eventually operate the Temperance Hotel here. This was the site of the former Bartgis' Hotel, located on the corner of West Church Street and Court Street. Beckenbaugh began leasing the establishment in 1855 which would later be bought by John Stemmel, who made extensive repairs and re-opened his endeavor as the Central Hotel. Upon this event, the local newspaper commented that Beckenbaugh’s former hostelry “has recently been thoroughly repaired and for the beauty and convenience cannot be surpassed by any public house in Frederick.  Being located near the courthouse, persons having business to transact will find this most convenient.”
-Frederick Examiner January 10th, 1855

As if I wasn’t lucky enough to have a photo of George Beckenbaugh, an online search soon presented me with a letter written by Mr. Beckenbaugh, himself, to other family members in 1867. At the time Beckenbaugh was widowed, had left Frederick County and was living in Baltimore. On this occasion, he took the time to share his genealogy and own life story with his children.
​
The following communication is copied from pages 69-79 of Edwin T. and Atha (Peckenpaugh) Brace's book entitled Peckinpaughs, Pickenpaughs, Beckenbaughs, Peckipahs, and Peckenpaughs: Descendants of Johann Adam and Anna Maria Beckenbach. The letter was written by George Beckinbaugh in Baltimore on November 23rd, 1867 and reads as follows:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To my dearly beloved Children,
​
    Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of my beloved Father, it having occurred on the night of the 23rd Nov 1817.

     I believe not a single anniversary of that heart-rending occasion has since come around in the cycle of time, that the scene around his dying bed has not been vividly brought to my mind, to me, the eldest of seven children (then living) and not quite sixteen years of age, it was overwhelming.  Never shall I forget it whilst memory endures, and had it not been for the bright evidences he gave in his dying hour, of a blissful immortality beyond the grave, I know not how I could have been reconciled.

     The recollection of his many virtues, and the high character which he left as an enduring legacy to his children, has been to me, throughout my whole life one of the sweetest recollections, that cluster around the memory of my idolized Father.

     I have thought this a fit occasion, to put you in possession of some of the particulars, of the History of my father's and my mother's families, of which I am not aware that you have any knowledge, I do this, that when I am gathered to my fathers, you say not be ignorant of your ancestry.

     From information derived from reliable sources I have learned that my Grandfather Beckenbaugh (whose Christian name was George Leonard) and two brothers, emigrated to this country from Germany, before the war of the Revolution, my Grandfather and one brother, whose name was Caspar, settled in the Middletown Valley, Frederick County, Md., they were farmers. One of the brothers whose name I do not know, I was informed by one of my aunts, kept the Ferry at Shepherdstown, and upon one occasion after having taken over the river some person or persons was drowned upon his return to shore, the river being high at the time.  My Grandfather and his brother Casper are buried in the German Reformed grave yard in Middletown.  I found some years ago in searching in this grave yard for the grave of my Grandfather, this inscription upon a grave stone, "In Memory of Caspar Beckenbaugh, Born July 10th 1722.  Died January 18th 1790", at the time, I thought it might be my Grandfather's, but upon inquiry, I learned that his Christian name was George Leonard.

​     The foregoing embraces the main facts in the History of my parents and their families, as well as of myself, your own recollections after our removal to Frederick City, to the present time, makes it unnecessary for me to go into further detail of many things, that might otherwise be interesting to you, during this period of time (as you know) we have had many joys, and many sorrows, but the most grievous sorrow of all, was the death of your beloved mother, yet when we recur to it, (as I hope we often do) how sweet is the consolation to know, that she died fully sensible that the time of her departure had come, and in the confident hope of a blissful immortality.  She has gone to Heaven, where I trust we shall again meet her.  The recollection of her happy and triumphant death, and of her love and devotedness to me, and our dear children, are consolations that cluster around her memory which you, nor I, never, no never can forget.

     God grant that when our departure comes, we too, may leave behind, the same consolation to our loved ones, is the sincere and fervent prayer of your fond and affectionate father.

                                                                                                              Geo. Beckenbaugh
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
What a great documentation to have, one I wish I myself had from one of my own ancestors. We all could hope for a Jacob Engelbrecht in our past, but this was a holiday gift indeed featuring a great autobiographical effort by Mr. B. including his feelings towards his grandparents, parents, siblings and most importantly, wife. Speaking of which, Martha died on January 17th, 1862 in the midst of the American Civil War. I presume she was buried in Baltimore. 

George would continue his work in "Charm City" and can be found here within the 1870 census. I wish the letter was written a decade later as to provide me with more details of his last years of life. He would die on April 14th, 1878 at the age of 77 and had a funeral service in Baltimore. He was buried in Mount Olivet three days later in a lot found in Area F/Lot 69.

George Beckenbaugh, unlike Dicken’s Ebenezer Scrooge, would not find a neglected tombstone bearing his name if he was to visit today. In 2025, it will be cleaned by our "Stoners" crew and it already appears to have been repaired in the past. 

​Two of George’s other children are buried here in the family plot in Area F. These include Dr. Thomas L. Beckenbaugh (1840-1881) and daughter Isabella Catharine (Beckenbaugh) Lynch (1829-1901). Isabella’s husband, Judge John Alexander Lynch (1825-1904), was Judge of Circuit Court for Frederick and Montgomery Counties for thirty years. He was also a leading member of Frederick’s Columbia Masonic Lodge, but broke away to start a rival chapter of the fraternal organization. The Lynch Lodge No. 163 A.F. & A.M. was chartered in 1873 and formed not because of a desire to have a lodge closer to home but because the Masons were in danger of violating one of the two taboo subjects that aren’t discussed in a lodge—politics and religion. These subjects tend to create hard feelings between people and the Masons are about brotherhood.
 
Although the Civil War had ended in 1865, differences still existed between those who supported the Union and those who supported the Confederacy. The two lodges remained separate until 1994 when they merged back into the Columbia Lodge. This organization is still active today as Lynch Lodge No. 163 A.F. & A.M. Note that both of Isabella's brothers were Masons as well based on the carved symbol  of the compass, a carpenter's square and a capital "G" with the latter thought to represent either geometry or a Christian God.

A few hundred yards away from the Backenbaugh family plot is the grave of William Luther Wesley Seabrook (1833-1916), George Beckenbaugh's nephew (son of his sister Mary Catharine (Beckenbaugh) Seabrook (1807-1893). You may recall this gentleman from a Story in Stone written last year entitled "A Newspaper Sentinel," and better yet, if you journeyed with me in October 2024 for my "Unsettling Candlelight Walking Tour." This former Creagerstown resident had a fine newspaper career and was a friend of Abraham Lincoln. He helped raise his grandson William "Willie" Seabrook (1884-1945), who introduced us to the concept of zombies with his 1929 book The Magic Island. 

​One more Beckenbaugh connection of note features George and Martha’s son Dr. John Michael Beckenbaugh (1838-1873). This gentleman spent much of his life in Sharpsburg, and is buried in Shepherdstown’s Elmwood Cemetery. His wife was Nancy “Nannie” Cowan Douglas Beckenbaugh, a daughter of Rev. Robert Douglas. Nannie grew up in a house overlooking the Potomac River on the Maryland side of the river opposite Shepherdstown. This is the 700-acre Ferry Hill Plantation, the former park headquarters site for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. The house and Douglas family go back to the Blackford and Swearingen families that originally operated a ferry that carried travelers over the Potomac. You may have heard of Nannie Beckenbaugh’s brother, Henry Kyd Douglas.

​Henry Kyd Douglas was a Confederate staff officer during the American Civil War. Capt. Henty Kyd Douglas participated in most of the battles of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia and served on the staffs of Stonewall Jackson and his successors. Severely wounded on the third day of the battle of Gettysburg, Douglas became a prisoner of war for almost ten months. At the end of the war, he commanded a brigade at the last battle of the war.

​After the war Douglas returned to his civilian occupation as a lawyer, got involved in state politics, and became an officer in the Maryland National Guard, eventually holding the appointment as Adjutant General. Today, Henry Kyd Douglas is foremost known for his wartime memoir, “I Rode with Stonewall,” first published in 1940. I wonder if he was influenced in any way to put pen to paper by his sister’s father-in-law George Beckenbaugh?

​Captain Douglas was quite familiar with Frederick and visited here during the war. Of key significance was his time spent in the company of Gen. Stonewall Jackson in September 1862. In his memoirs he tells the story of attending a church service with Jackson at the German Reformed Church in which Rev. Daniel Zacharias offered up prayers for Abraham Lincoln and the Union soldiers during his sermon. Jackson apparently slept through this, but heartily congratulated the minister afterwards on delivering a most thoughtful sermon.

​Henry Kyd Douglas also was a staunch critic of the Barbara Fritchie poem as told by Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Douglas claimed that he was at Jackson’s side throughout the general’s famous exit of town on September 10th, 1862. Douglas always maintained that the pair bypassed the grand Dame’s house, and did not have an altercation with her as was purported.

​Dr. John Michael Beckenbaugh’s son, Capt. John Kyd Beckenbaugh (1874-1940), was responsible for getting his uncle’s colorful memoirs published as the book "I Rode With Stonewall,” after a challenging period of 35 years. Captain John, George Beckenbaugh’s grandson, would die later the same year and he, his mother and "Rebel" Uncle Henry are residing in Shepherdstown’s Elmwood Cemetery.

​What a wonderful photograph we have of George Beckenbaugh, and other family members to boot thanks to them being shared by descendants and genealogists on FindaGrave.com. Like George Bailey, it appears that our subject (George Beckenbaugh) had a wonderful life as well, despite the stern look in his image. Come to think of it, most all those early photographs have uncomfortable looking subjects because photographers told them to hold still for an awkward amount of time while snapping the photo.  Perhaps that’s how the tradition of saying “Cheese” came about?

Happy Holidays!