Frederick & Augusta Schleys

"Spirit Creek; near Augusta, Georgia" by artist John Hill (1820)

​A recent trip in early July took me to Augusta, Georgia. Too bad it wasn’t quite August yet, as it would have been a more fitting situation—visiting Augusta in August.

Georgia's second largest city is located on the eastern border of the state, having South Carolina just across the Savannah River. As I said earlier, my visit was in early July at a place where most tourists flock to this city and metro area of around 204,000 during the first full week of April, not even August. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s due to the Masters Golf Tournament, held annually at the Augusta National Golf Club. It is said that nearly 200,000 people come to see the tournament, doubling the population for the duration.

I’m no golfer, and have no business, whatsoever, going to Augusta in April. The reason for my sojourn was to see my stepson, Nick, who is stationed at Fort Gordon military installation. While there in the vicinity, we enjoyed the Augusta Riverwalk, fine Georgia cuisine, and the Augusta Museum of History. We learned that this town claims the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown as one of their own. As a matter of fact, we saw the statue honoring the legendary performer on Broad Street. We also visited some historic cemeteries, more on that later.

A beautiful aerial shot of Augusta, GA courtesy of the Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau

James Brown Statue

​In advance of my trip, I became interested by the name "Augusta" and decided to do a little research. I soon learned that Augusta is the feminine version of the male moniker August, and is both a given name and surname developed from the Latin, Augustus. Derived from the Latin word augere, meaning "to increase,” Augustus has the meaning of "esteemed" or "venerable" and was a title given to Roman emperors, including one who was exceedingly revered. Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, also known as Octavian, was the founder of the Roman Empire. He served as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult and an era of imperial peace in which the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict.

Augustus Caesar (63 BC-14 AD)

​I had imagined that Augusta, Georgia was named after Augustus Caesar, but soon learned that I was  incorrect. Georgia's Augusta was established in 1736 and so named in honor of English nobility instead. Specifically, this was Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (1719–1772), the mother of the British monarch George III. We fought the American Revolution against the latter. I was more pleasantly surprised to learn that Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha was married to our town namesake—Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-1751)! How’s that for a connection between both cities?

Frederick, Prince of Wales (2nd from left) with son George (future King George III to his left) and Queen Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (seated with infant). The man portrayed in the wall painting (at left) is Frederick's father, King George II. Back in 1765, the Frederick County Justices repudiated his Stamp Act.

There is also an Augusta in Maine, the capital city to boot. In case you were curious, we even have an Augusta, Maryland. It can be found between Weverton and Brownsville in the southeastern corner of neighboring Washington County (along MD 67 and northwest of Brunswick).

I could not find a "Frederick, Georgia," however I’ve known for decades that there is a county in western Georgia that takes its name from one of the founders of Frederick, Maryland. It’s called Schley County. It was created by an act of the Georgia General Assembly on December 22nd, 1857, and named for William Schley, United States Representative and thirty-sixth governor of Georgia. To complete another unique connection, this gentleman was a grandson of Frederick's John Thomas Schley.

Map of Georgia showing Schley County

Schley County Courthouse in Ellavale, GA

The Schley County High School "Wildcats" competed in the Georgia State Class 1-A, Division II Championship in 2022.

John Thomas Schley (1712-1790) was the first schoolmaster of the German Reformed Church here in Frederick Town and is credited with building the first house on the northeast corner of East Patrick Street and Maxwell Avenue. He emigrated in 1737 from Morzheim (Germany) in the region of Rheinland-Pfalz some 328 miles southwest of Berlin. Like many early immigrants from the Palatinate of the Rhine, he first arrived in Philadelphia, and in 1745 removed to Frederick Town at the head of a group of about one hundred families of Calvinists and Huguenots—natives of France, Switzerland and Germany.

Frederick's first home

Plaque memorial on Trinity Church (W. Church St) original site of the Old Reformed congregation's house of worship

John Thomas Schley (1712-1790)

​John Thomas Schley is credited with settling these immigrants here in the Monocacy Valley, and helped create this town amidst a “howling wilderness.” He is noted as having been a talented musician and songwriter whose handwritten work can be found in the collection of Heritage Frederick. John Thomas Schley and wife Margaretha von Wintz were parents to several children including Eva Catherine Schley, said to have been the first white European child born in this locality. Another son of John Thomas Schley was John Jacob Schley, born July 12th, 1751. 

John Jacob Schley
John Jacob Schley grew up in Frederick and, in 1770, married Anna Maria Schellman (1754-1828), daughter of other pioneering German settlers to Frederick around 1751. These were John Matthias Schellman (1724-1795) and Maria Margaretha Fout (1732-1795). Anna Maria's father is reported to have built the second house in Frederick and worked as a "joiner," a woodworker who produced finish work for buildings including doors, windows, shutters, fireplace surrounds, and built-in cupboards.

According to historians Sumpter Priddy III and Joan K. Quinn in their article entitled: Crossroads of Culture: Eighteenth-Century Furniture from Western Maryland, John Jacob Schley presumably worked as a joiner. He served a seven-year apprenticeship beginning at the age of fourteen and probably began working independently about 1772. A record shows that in that year, he received 250 board feet of walnut from fellow resident Joseph Doll.  It is possible that Schley trained with his future father-in-law (John M. Schellman) since apprentices often married into the families of their masters.

John Jacob and Anna went on to have several children with one being the forementioned William Schley (1786-1858), namesake of Georgia's Schley County and one-time governor of the state. Other children of this union included: Michael (1774-1776), Anna Margaretha Schley (1779-1780), Anna Maria (1781-1850), John (1784-1847), Frederick A. (1789-1858), and George S. (1791-1851). 

1790 US Census showing John Jacob Schley and family living next to his brother George Schley. These households would have been in the vicinity of the northeast corner of present-day West Patrick and North Courts streets where the Francis Scott Key hotel would later stand.

William Jarboe Grove's The History of Carrollton Manor states that John Jacob Schley and brother-in-law John Schellman were active in the American Revolution effort and jointly loaned $1000 to the cause. In an old newspaper from 1768, I saw mention that John Jacob Schley was a manager for the lottery to build the Frederick Market House. This fabulous structure once stood on North Market Street where Brewer's Alley restaurant is today.

Brewers Alley, housed in the former Frederick City Hall/Opera House, has since taken the "Market Space" of the old Market House

I was curious as to where John Jacob Schley resided while here in town. My research assistant Marilyn Veek did a deep dive and found that in 1753, Thomas Schley bought 4 full lots from Daniel Dulany, including lot 35 located on the east side of Market Street in the first block south of Patrick Street.
 
In 1775, John Thomas Schley sold a 36x60 ft part of lot 35 on the southeast corner of Market and Patrick (then called First Street) to his son John Jacob Schley. The parcel had a dwelling house on it. John Thomas sold additional lots on that block to other sons John Thomas Schley, Jr. and George Jacob Schley. John Thomas Schley, Jr. sold his lot to John Jacob in 1779. This was the 34x60 ft lot just south of John Jacob's lot. John Jacob also owned other property in Frederick, including a lot further south on South Market Street, as well as lots 38 and 39 on East Patrick Street.
 
John Jacob Schley sold parts of his corner lot to Woodward Evitt and to Jacob Schellman. The deed to Evitt mentions the property running along "Saint Patrick Street." In 1791, John Jacob Schley sold "Schley corner stores" to John Schley. That year he conveyed his remaining property to Jacob Gombare (Gomber)  to be sold to pay his debts.

Frederick Town 1782 Map by Samuel Duvall showing town lots on Church, Patrick and All Saints streets in Frederick

In the winter of 1793, a few years after the death of his father, John Jacob Schley moved his family to Louisville, Georgia in today's Bacon County. Louisville was originally the county seat of Jefferson County and is situated southwest of Augusta on the Ogeechee River. It served as Georgia's third capital from 1796 to 1807. It was specifically founded as a permanent state capital and its design was based on the squares of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

While here, two more children were added to the family: Catherine Schellman (1795-1877) and Philip T. (1798-1862).  Not a great deal can be learned by the family's time in Louisville, where John Jacob would die in the fall of 1829. Unfortunately, his gravesite is not known. I do however know where his wife Anna Maria (Schellman) Schley would be buried. More on that in a minute.

A portrait depicting a major political fraud incident involving Gov. James Jackson in the early state capital of Louisville in 1795.

Louisville, Georgia (c. 1846)

​Let's address the descendants of our couple of John Jacob and Anna Maria (Schellman) Schley who brought the Schley name to Georgia. Michael Schley died early in life and his date of death and burial spot are unknown. Daughter Anna Maria Schley married a rich planter on the coast below Savannah—Major Maxwell. Catherine Schley married Dr. Daniel Hook, a preacher and physician who was twice elected mayor of Augusta, Georgia. Her obituary appeared in the local paper in March 1895, and I thought she would have been laid to rest in Augusta's Magnolia Cemetery. No Schleys were here. Anna Maria (Schley) Hook's grave is apparently in a small, family cemetery in Atlanta. 

​I would travel to Magnolia Cemetery anyway, to "poke" around and even found a few interesting Marylanders. In this burial ground, created in 1818 and originally called City Cemetery, I located the "Old Line" Maryland names of Belt, Beall and Randall. As a matter of fact, the Belt decedent (Charles Inman Belt) gravestone has the Maryland flag on its face in the form of the Calvert and Crossland coat of arms. Another "Augustus," in the form of Fontenoy Augustus Beall (1836-1879) was stumbled upon, but I didn't get the chance to search his lineage quite yet. The greatest find of the visit was locating the final resting place of James Ryder Randall  (1839-1908), a native Baltimorean and American journalist and poet. He is best remembered as the author of "Maryland, My Maryland," our former state son. His biography states:

"After abandoning his studies at Georgetown University, he traveled to South America and the West Indies. Upon his return to the United States he taught English literature at Poydras College in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. It was during this time that he penned "Maryland, My Maryland." Tuberculosis prevented him from enlisting in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. However, he was able to serve with the Confederate States Navy in Wilmington, North Carolina. Though a Marylander by birth, he wrote the poem "Maryland, My Maryland" while living in Augusta, Georgia. He considered himself a Georgian by adoption. After the Civil War, Randall became a newspaper editor and a correspondent in Washington, D.C., for The Augusta Chronicle. He continued to write poems, although none achieved the popularity of "Maryland, My Maryland."

​Where were the Schleys, you ask? Well, I had done my homework long before going on the trip, to tell the truth. They were in the Schley Family Cemetery. I would travel south of the City of Augusta to the suburbs and an area known as Richmond Hill. ​The graves of Anna Maria (Schley) Maxwell and brothers William and John can be found buried within yards of their mother in a sleepy little family burying ground located between downtown Augusta and Fort Gordon. And yes, I made it my mission to visit while I was there last month, how could I not?!

Schley Family Cemetery near Augusta, GA

Grave of Anna Maria (Schley) Maxwell (1791-1850), daughter of John Jacob Schley and wife Anna Maria (Schellman) Schley

Anna Maria Schellmann Schley died on the 13th of November, 1843 in Augusta at the age of 90 years old. She had been a widow for the last 14 years and lived with her son. The Frederick native was laid to rest in the Schley Family Cemetery near the estate home of her son, William,  the 36th Governor of Georgia.

(Front panel at base of Anna's grave monument)

​This monument
marks the spot
where lies the mortal remains of
ANNA MARIA SCHLEY
Wife of
JOHN JACOB SCHLEY
who was born
In Frederick Town, Maryland
May the 24th 1754
and departed this life
November the 13th 1843.
In the 90th year of her age.

Side panel of Anna's monument

Anna Maria (Shellman) Schley is the marker to the right as we look at the monument from the back. A few yards away to the left, one will find a similar looking grave monument to son John Schley (1784-1847).

​John Schley, son of John Jacob Schley and Anna Maria Schellmann, was born on the 25th day of August 1784. He studied law in Augusta and was admitted to the bar, soon becoming one of the foremost lawyers of the state. On the 22nd of May 1807, John Schley married Miss Mary Ann Montfort, daughter of John and Mary Cowles (Brodnax) Montfort of Augusta. John and Mary had had a large family of children, consisting of seven sons and three daughters with some also buried here in the Schley Cemetery in proximity of their parents and grandmother.
 
From 1841 until 1845, now Judge John Schley, presided over the bench of the middle circuit of Georgia. He would become known for his "fair and judicious decisions." Judge Schley "departed this life" on the 26th day of May 1847 at his home due to heart failure. 

To the Memory of
JOHN SCHLEY
who was born
the 25th day of August 1784
in Frederick Town, Maryland
and departed this life
in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia
on May 26th 1847.
Aged 62 years and 9 Months.
"Beneath these stones his earthly form,
His spirit is with God who gives him life."

As mentioned, Richmond Hill was the name of the greater property that this cemetery sits on, but today has been divied into several parcels. It was once owned by William Schley who holds a special place in Georgia history as a leading politician and businessman.

Gov. William Schley (1786-1858)

​Born in Frederick on December 10th, 1786, this gentleman served as both a U.S. Congressman and Georgia Governor. After moving to Georgia as a boy, he was educated at the Louisville Academy, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1812. Schley practiced law in Augusta and served briefly as a Private in the 9th Regiment, Georgia State Militia during the War of 1812.

William Schley was a Superior Court Judge of the Georgia Middle District (1825 to 1828). He also was a member of the Georgia State House of Representatives in 1830. In 1833, Schley was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses, serving until 1835. In 1835, he was elected as a Union Democrat, the 36th Governor of Georgia, serving until 1837. During his term, Gov. Schley pushed for the treatment of smallpox vaccinations, endorsed navigational developments, and lobbied for the establishment of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. He advocated for educational resources for the deaf, for improvements in the insane asylum, and managed to suppress a second Creek (Indian) rebellion.

William and brother Judge John Schley were pioneers in connection with the building of the first railroads and cotton mills in Georgia, and the charter of the Central Railway of Georgia was granted by Gov. Schley within his term of office. ​

​After leaving office, William Schley retired from politics and became the owner of a cotton and woolen manufacturing company. A high-level Mason, he also served as president of the board of trustees of the Medical College of Georgia until his death on November 20th, 1858 at the age of 71. He was personally responsible for laying out this cemetery on the grounds of his plantation home of Richmond Hill.

Frederick Examiner (Nov. 24, 1858)

This roadside marker used to stand just outside the cemetery's fence.

Not here in the Schley Cemetery, but somewhere in Savannah at "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" are the mortal remains of another Schley brother named George Schley. He worked as an insurance lawyer and is buried two and a half hours away (to the southeast) in his adopted home of  Savannah. He passed on April 15th, 1851. I found a few obituaries, along with a thorough writeup on him on Findagrave.com despite not being able to find his grave. It comes courtesy of a book entitled A History of Savannah and South Georgia by William Harden. Page 685 reads: 

​"George Schley, brother of Judge John Schley and Gov. William Schley, was for nearly half a century one of the foremost men of the city of Savannah, his death, on April 17, 1851, being a cause of general regret. The esteem in which he was held was voiced the following day in an editorial which appeared in the Daily Georgian, of Savannah, as follows: 'We announce with sincere sorrow the death of George Schley, late postmaster of our city. His spirit departed from among us early on yesterday morning. The deceased gentleman had been a resident of Savannah for some fifty-five years, having come from Louisville, this state, where his father resided, early in the present century, to embark in mercantile affairs. He became in time an officer connected with the Custom House, and afterwards a dry goods merchant. He was teller of the branch bank of the United States when it was first established here in 1819.

'Mr. Schley received from John Q. Adams the appointment of postmaster of Savannah, which position, under all changes of political power, he held to the hour of his death, enjoying the confidence of every administration. He had also the kind regard and respect of his immediate fellow citizens. He was for many years a commissioned officer of the Georgia Hussars, also a member of the city council; and during a long number of years was a director of the bank of the state of Georgia. He received from our county superior court the appointment of master in chancery, which post often required long and elaborate investigations of accounts. He was commissioner for half the states of the union to take acknowledgments and proofs of deeds. So accurate was his knowledge of the laws of insurance, especially of marine insurance, that contests arising under those laws were frequently referred to him for adjudication, in preference to litigation before the courts.

'Mr. Schley was a gentleman in the highest meaning of the term; well educated, a man of literature—better read, perhaps, in the English classics than any other citizen among us; one whose library was his delight, and whose society was courted by men of intellectual refinement. No man who was ever honored by his friendship can forget his brilliant conversational powers. He was true to his friends and kind to his servants.

He was a brother of the late Judge John Schley, of Governor William Schley of Augusta, and of Philip T. Schley of Columbus. His family circle in Georgia and in the state of Maryland is large and of the first degree of respectability. Many a heart will be pained by the sad intelligence of his death. He was the intimate personal friends from earliest boyhood of the late Edward F. Tattnall, and was always the associate of William Gaston."

George Schley obituary from April 16th, 1851

Both Frederick, MD and Savannah, GA boast a Schley Avenue. Pictured above is an aerial view showing Schley Avenue south of the main city of Savannah

That leaves two sons of John Jacob Schley and Anna Maria Schellman to still talk about. One was a Georgia native, the other was another Frederick, Maryland native. Each would end their lives where they began. Let's talk about Philip Thomas Schley first. 

​Although not a Fredericktonian, his name certainly is. As loyal readers of this blog know, Frederick's first legitimate physician was a man named Dr. Philip Thomas from Chestertown, MD on the Eastern Shore. Thomas became the son-in-law of John Hanson, and he, too, served as an important Revolutionary War patriot. Additionally Mount Philip Road, west of Frederick, takes the medical man's name. As for Philip Thomas Schley, he was the youngest son of John Jacob Schley and the former Anna Maria Schellmann, born in Louisville on August 24th, 1798. Like brothers John and William, he completed his education in Louisville and Augusta, becoming a lawyer and soldier.
 
On June 27th 1822, Philip married Ann E. Fleming who died shortly after on September 10th. Widowed at 23, Philip, would next marry a woman named Frances Vivian Brookings and go on to have eight children. In 1834, at the request of his brother, Gov. William Schley, Philip came to Columbus (GA) to command the Muscogee Blues, a militia company active in the Indian Wars. Here is where Captain Schley would make his home and raise his family. After wife Frances died, Philip moved to Savannah and lived out his remaining days, departing this life on the 31st day of August 1862 just 7 days after his 64th birthday. Philip was first buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah, but later moved to Linwood Cemetery and re-interred beside his wife Frances.

Schley family plot in Linwood Cemetery (Columbus, GA)

As they say, we saved the best for last, at least as far as the historian of Mount Olivet Cemetery is concerned! This was Frederick A. Schley, who is resting in peace right here in Frederick's historic and beautiful "Garden Cemetery." And to make one more fascinating connection, our subject's middle initial of "A." could only be one thing. Yes, you guessed it—Augustus. That's right, Frederick Augustus, what are the odds?!

Page 1112 of John Thomas Scharf's History of Western Maryland includes an ample biographical sketch of Frederick Augustus Schley. I would learn from our cemetery records that his full name was Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg Schley.  I'd like to share his biography here for your reading pleasure:
​
"One of the most brilliant intellects that the bar of Western Maryland has ever boasted was that of Frederick A. Schley. Mr. Schley was the fourth son of John Jacob Schley, and was born at Frederick, Md., on the 14th of May, 1789, and died there on the 5th of February, 1858. His grandfather, Thomas Schley, the progenitor of the Schleys of Western Maryland and Georgia, was born in the Palatinate, in Germany, in 1712, came to America in 1745, and selected the site of Frederick City as his permanent home. 

One of Thomas Schley's sons, John Jacob Schley, married Ann Maria Shelman, and there were born to them while they lived in Frederick Michael, John, Ann Maria, William, Frederick Augustus, and George. About 1793, John Jacob Schley removed from Frederick to Louisville, Ga., where were born Philip Thomas and Catharine Schley. 

Frederick Augustus Schley, the special subject of this sketch, removed to Georgia with his father, John Jacob Schley, but the climate not agreeing with him, he left the University of Georgia when seventeen years of age and returned to Frederick, his birth place, in the hope that the change would benefit him. Finding that his health improved he remained in Frederick, and completed his education at the Frederick Academy. While a student at the academy, his tall figure, genial manner, and bright intellect attracted the attention of Roger B. Taney, future chief justice of the Untited States, who was then a leading member of the Frederick bar. On completing his studies, at the invitation of Mr. Taney he entered the latter's office to prepare himself for the bar. In 1809 or 1810 he was admitted to the bar, and decided from considerations of health to remain in Frederick instead of returning to Georgia. He soon achieved success, and gradually built up an extensive and lucrative practice.

The Frederick Academy once stood at the corner of Record and Council streets near Court Square in Frederick

A younger portrait of Roger Brooke Taney

​Mr. Schley was a gentleman of commanding stature, being over six feet in height, refined and polished in manner, profoundly versed in his profession, a close and accurate reasoner, and possessed of great oratorical powers. The latter talent was enhanced by reference to a treasury of poetry and literature which was ever at his command, and which was used with rare and striking effect in his addresses to the jury. He possessed in a pre-eminent degree the "forliter in re et suaviter in modo." His knowledge of law was full and precise, and in the argument of difficult and abstruse points his clearness of statement and aptness of illustration always elicited admiration, while his reasoning seldom failed to convince. The late John Nelson, at one time Attorney-General of the United States, and William Schley of Baltimore, his relative and former student in his office, were often his opponents in the Frederick bar, where both those gentlemen practiced law for many years. 

Frederick Augustus Schley

Bartgis' Republican Gazette (Nov 2, 1811)

Bartgis Frederick Gazette (Jan 11, 1812)

Frederick Town Herald (May 4, 1816)

Bartgis' Frederick Gazette (Dec 19, 1812)

Baltimore Patriot & Commercial Gazette (Sept 28, 1841)

Baltimore Patriot (July 5, 1856)

Easton (MD) Gazette (Oct 11, 1856)

Like all lawyers of a past generation, Mr. Schley is now known only by his arguments in the Court of Appeals, reported in the Maryland Reports. Whoever will examine them will find there some record of his learning and research, the imprint of a vigorous and thoroughly disciplined legal mind, and the evidence of a comprehensive knowledge of law, and rare skill in its application. But, of course, the personality of the orator, the pleasant and graceful manner, the eye beaming with intelligence, and the charm of elocution, which formed such important factors of his success at the bar, are not found on the formal records of his achievements, nor can they be perpetrated in words. Mr. Schley's reputation was not confined to Western Maryland, but extended throughout the State. He was often urged to remove to Baltimore, where he would have had a wider and more promising field for his talents, but he preferred to remain in Frederick. Mr. Schley left four sons, of whom three are distinguished lawyers, George and Buchanon Schley, residing in Washington County, and James Schley, residing in Allegany County."

Talk about your "man-crush," as the author certainly made his feelings known about Frederick Augustus Schley. I think you get the gist that this individual was a gifted member of Frederick's past, and we were lucky to "keep him," so to speak. I first ran across this particular Schley family member in context of the War of 1812, and not his legal career. Frederick A. Schley held the rank of 1st Lieutenant and Quartermaster on August 25th, 1814 under Lt. Col. Stemble of the 3rd Regiment of the Maryland Militia. He was one of 108 former veterans of 1812 in Mount Olivet we honored with a plaque back in 2014, the bicentennial celebration of the war.

On the personal side, Frederick A. Schley married twice. His first marriage was April 27th, 1812 to Eliza Ashbury McCannon (1794-1816). Two known children are Col. George Schley (1813-1890) and Col. James McCannon Schley (1815-1883). Both grew up to be lawyers like their father and are buried in Hagerstown and Cumberland respectively.

Five years after losing Eliza, Frederick A. Schley wed Francina Cheston "Frances" Lynn (1797-1828) on January 11th, 1821. She was a daughter of Capt. David Lynn, from a very colorful family of western Maryland history and builder of "Rose Hill" in Cumberland. A young daughter of Frederick A. and Frances, by the name of Fanny Lynn Schley (?-1828), is buried next to her mother here in Mount Olivet in a plot purchased by the family in Area G/Lot 43. First wife, Eliza, is buried here too. 

Ledger style gravestones in Area G/Lot 43 of Schley's first two wives and daughter: Eliza (left) and Francina and Fanny Lynn (right). Closeup of both stones below. All three women appear to have been moved to Mount Olivet in October, 1857 after originally being buried in the Old German Reformed Cemetery. This was located on the corner of West 2nd and Bentz streets and Memorial Park occupies the property today.

​Frederick A. Schley would marry a third, and final, time on June 15th, 1843. This was to Barbara Bowie Hall (1823-1851). Four children would come from this union including Roger Taney Schley, Thomas Hall Schley, Eliza M. Schley and Buchanan Schley (1848-1916) who was born 18 months before his mother's death in 1851, and he would primarily be raised by his older stepbrother, Col. George Schley. He too would become a prominent lawyer after studying under Col. George,  and dabbled in Maryland politics as well later in life. He is buried in Hagerstown's Rose Hill Cemetery with sibling Col. George Schley.

​Concerning Frederick Augustus Schley and acquired property and homes throughout his life, Marilyn reported her task as being complicated by the fact that Frederick A. acted as trustee in many equity court cases —and despite that experience, he died intestate! He owned quite a few different properties. One could assume that he originally lived in the first property he bought in 1812, at what is now 37 North Market (but not the current building). He sold that property in 1842.
 
In 1837, Frederick A. Schley bought the Court Square property, now known as 101 Council Street. The property had been owned by builder John Brien, although the deed indicates that Schley was already occupying the property at the time of purchase. After his death, the property was sold to James Cooper, a fellow lawyer, politician and later, Civil War general. At this same time, Schley bought the east half of lot 119, which runs between 2nd and 3rd Streets west of the Presbyterian Church. He sold the south half of this lot to the Presbyterian Church in 1846, at which time he was using the north half as his garden. That north half is now 118 and 120 West Third Street.
 
In 1839, Frederick A. Schley bought more of John Brien's property, including Springfield Manor and other tracts (totaling over 700 acres). You may know Springfield Manor as a popular wedding venue located west of Lewistown along US15. It was originally built in the early 1800s by Col. James Johnson, the first furnace-master at Catoctin Furnace, just up the road.

1859 Issac Bond Atlas map of Frederick County showing Springfield Manor and adjoining property of Frederick A. Schley located between Lewistown and Catoctin Furnace

​​In 1854, Frederick A. Schley  arranged with, then furnace owner, Peregrine Fitzhugh to build a dam and reservoir on Fitzhugh's nearby property in an effort to convey water from a spring down to the Springfield Manor house and outbuildings. The deed formalizing that arrangement said that Springfield was the farm on which his son, the late Frederick A Schley Jr., had resided for several years.
 
Other properties that Frederick A. Schley owned included the following:
 
*In 1817, bought the lot on the east side of Court Street, where the old jail and scale house stood. He sold this property to Richard Potts in 1821. Also in 1817, he bought part of lot 52 on the south side of Church Street.
 
*In 1820, he and William Schley bought property from the estate of Baltzer Fout that included 50 acres of Mill Lot, 54 acres of Grape Field, and 20 acres of Arcadia (contiguous to each other). Arcadia Manor house still stands along MD85/Buckeystown Pike just south of Marcies Choice Lane.
 
*In 1831, bought a house on 1/4 of lot 40, fronting 30 feet on the south side of Church Street.
 
*In 1833, bought part of lot 63 on the SW corner of Market and Church Street on the east side of the German Presbyterian Church. He sold this property to David Schley and Thomas Haller in 1847.
 
*In 1835, bought 9 acres part of Long Acre on the west side of the road from Frederick to the paper mill.
 
*In 1839 and 1845, bought several lots in Lewistown, including a half-interest in the town mill. 

1850 US Census showing F. A. Schley and family in Frederick

Frederick Augustus Schley would be widowed for a third time in February 1851. He can be found living in downtown Frederick at Court Square on Council Street with son William Henry Schley from his second marriage, and the surviving three children from his third marriage as Thomas Hall Schley died in 1849 as an infant. Frederick's son Frederick A. Schley, Jr. had lived with his father into adulthood and never married. He died after a lingering illness on October 6th, 1854 at the age of 32. I would learn from our cemetery records that he is buried in the same lot as his mother, Francina, (Area G/Lot 43) but in an unmarked grave.

Frederick Augustus Schley died on February 5th, 1858. He was 70 years old and his death came after a brief illness. At the time he was in the process of selling his home in northern Frederick County. His obituary was included in newspapers across the state. Schley was buried the same day he passed. His burial is in Area G/Lot 45 adjoining the lots of his first two wives and daughter. 

Maryland Union (Feb 11, 1858)

Baltimore Patriot (Feb 13, 1858)

Maryland Union (March 25, 1858)

Frederick Gazette (March 31, 1858)

MD Union (April 1, 1858)

Imagine if Frederick Augustus Schley would have stayed in Georgia to begin with, or returned back to Georgia after his schooling was complete and law career started? Or more so, what if Frederick Augustus' father, John Jacob Schley, wouldn't have moved to Georgia at all in 1793, thus allowing his direct offspring to have "stayed local" to further advance, and grow, Frederick and Maryland?

Well, just as Frederick Augustus and his grandfathers (John Thomas Schley and John Matthias Schellman) had done here, John Jacob Schley and his other children served as "men of mark" and trailblazers in "growing" Augusta and greater Georgia. And Frederick, Maryland had the benefit of Frederick Augustus Schley. To use the old idiom, when it comes to the Schleys, everything is just "peachy keen."