Real Stories Baltimore County History
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REAL STORIES FROM BALTIMORE COUNTY HISTORY Data Obtained hvJ the Teachers and Children of Baltimore County (Maryland) Schools IDustrated with drawings by 7th and 8th Grade Pupils Revised and Adapted by ISOBEL DAVIDSON, Supercisor of Primary Grades, Baltimore County School.s. ---0--- BALTIMORE WARWICK & YORK, INC. 1917. Copyrighted, 1917, by· WARWICK & YORK, INc. REAL STORIES FROM BALTIMORE COUNTY HISTORY CONTENTS Page A FOREWORD ················~···························~---························ . 1 I. ONCE UPON A TIME IN OUR., ~OMMUNITY 1. Neighborhood Changes ....... .-........................................ 5 2. Our Country Long ~,g-0................................................ 9 3. Indians of Marylat'lct: Susquehannoughs and Al- gonqu1ns ......................................... .. ......................... 10 4. Con1ing of the First White 1'Ian-Captain John Smith in the Chesapeake . .: ........................ ~............. 13 5. How Maryland Was Named ........................................ 16 II. ONCE UPON A TIME IN BALTIMORE COUNTY 1. The Changing Boundary Line...................................... 19 2. The Early Pioneers...................................................... 20 3. Colonial Times .............................................................. 22 4. County Seats: Old Baltimore, Foster's Neck, Joppa, Baltimore Town, Towson ........................................ 37 III. ONCE UPON A TIME IN BALTIMORE TowN ........................ 46 IV. ONcE UPON A TIME IN OuR TowN AND V1c1NITY 1. Green Spring. Valley-1743.......................................... 53 a. Fort Garrison .................................. ~ ....................... 60 b. St. Thomas' Church in Garrison Forest................ 66 c. Before the Railroads-Taverns and Their Patrons 85 d. Montrose, Once the Home of a King .................... 88 e~ The Elms .. ......... .. .. .. ......... ... ... .... .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. ........ 90 f. John Eager Howard....... ~··········································103 g. Confederate· Soldiers' Home.................................. 99 2. Towson-1771 ···················································"'··········122 a. Nathan Towson ••.•••••••.•••••.•••••••••••..•••••••••.••..••••••••••.• 128 b. The Famous Old St~ge ............................................ 131 c. A Visit to Hampton.................................................. 136 d. Colonel Harry Gilmor.............................................. 144 e. Mason and Di::Con Line............................................ 160 Page 3. Catonsville ...................................................................... 163 a. The Rolling Road; Johnny Cake Road.................. 166 b. The Story of a Pioneer Flour Mill. ....................... 180 c. Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Dougherogan Manor ............................................................. ~ ...... 194 4. Sparrows Point, an lndustrial Town.......................... 203 a. Light I-Iouses ............................................................. 210 b. Battle of North Point.............................................. 221 c. Fort Howard ............................................................227 V. AFTER STAGE COACH DAYS. 1. The Story of a Steamboat-1784................•............... 233 2. The Story of a Railroad-1828.................................. 236 3. The Story of a N ewspaper-1837.............................. 24() 4. The Story of the Telegraph-1844............................ 244 5. The Story of the Telephone-1876............................ 246 6. The Story of a Dairy Farm-1900.... · ........................ 248 l\foTIVATION IN ScHooL WoRK Our Pioneer Party........................................................ 250 An Auld Lang Syne Tea.............................................. 264 □ REAL STORIES FROM BALTIMORE COUNTY HISTORY A FOREWORD. In its report to the National Education Ass0ciation the Com mittee of Eight on the Study of History in the Elementary Schools, appointed by the American Historical Society, said: ''Our history teaching in the past has failed largely because.it has not been picturesque enough." If this criticism ,vere justified by the colorless history teach ing observed in the presentation of material throughout the grades, doubtless the sa1ne truth applies to the teaching of local history, for all too often that ,vhich is near and immediate, by virtue of its nearness, loses its romantic quality and becomes prosaic and commonplace fact. It is true that distance does lend a kind of enchantment as well as dignity to what may have been, once upon a time, a commonplace event, but any signifi cant character or event takes on new meaning, may even have a quality of picturesqueness, if placed in its right perspective. Therefore it behooves us to choose such material from out the past experiences of the communities as will interpret the pres ent, and to n1ani fest such skill in 111ethod of presentation that local history teaching 111ay not fail "because it is not picturesque enough." T'he history of any con1munity is the history of the com mon 1nan, and as there is a constant struggle in adjustment to environment, history is ever in the process of making, is not static, but ever in a fluid state, progressing, changing as time g9es on. The aim of local history teaching may then said to be "to make the children more intelligent with_ respect to the more crucial activities, conditions and problems of present-day life," by selecting those typical activities ,vhich serve this pur pose .. Certain interesting elements indicative of changes con stantly taking place appear in the study of every community in which the people should have wholesome pride. Certainly Baltimore County has a rich background which lends dignity to the present and out of the -days of long ago step stately figures• who add charm to every scene; stirring events that warm the blood ; and spots hallowed by the acts of brave ones; yes, changing persons and events-moving pictures 2 REAL STORIES FROM BALTIMORE COUNTY HISTORY. emphasizing three d!stinct periods : "In Those Days," "Yester- day" and "Today." With sufficie:it fact and the gift of imagina tion at one's conunand, one can weave about even the common place event the veil of enchantment and give that touch of hun1an interest ,vhich ,vjll help children to realize in simple fashion that the past ccntributcs to the present. In the "Real Stories f ro1n Baltimore County History" an attempt has been· made to record simple facts gleaned from firsthand sources in the neighborhood by teachers and children through talks with the oldest residents, by means of old letters, manuscripts, wills, old newspapers, church records, publicati9ns made by land companies, and from that most reliable source Scharff's "History of Baltimore County." The events which indicate changes in the community have been chosen and these naturally enough fall into the three groups, viz, the early pioneer days, the colonial days, and aJter stage-coach days, into the pres ent,. for each community has passed through the same typical ex- penences. P.... close study of the early development of the whole coun try reveals the fact that there was a large stream of emigra tion filtering through the county at approximately the same time, settling on the large land grants; therefore one part of the county has not much priority over another as far as the early settlements are concerned. It is interestin_g to find that the nothern and eastern portion was settled as early or earlier than the shores of the bay and river. Baltimore County, like the State, had a flourishing period of country Ii fe when the needs of the manor house and the small home ·were supplied by the varied home industries on the estates. This is the colonial feriod of which one desires to make so much because _it has the quality of picturesqueness and affords a desirable background against which all later de velop111ents may be contrasted to advantage. · It is interesting to note that in this period Baltimore County had 'no towns: very few, if any, had come into existence---Joppa, Elkridge Landing, Baltimore Town-these were the great centers of trade. Therefore few towns and villages of the present day can boast of colonial history. For this reason it is essential that the historical facts of the im~ediate e:p.vironment be placed in their proper relation to the A FOREWORD 3 larger community, the district and the county as a whole, for only in_ this way can an intelligent interpretation be made. This is perfectly obvious in the study of Catonsville and environs, which practically includes every town in the district, or in Reisterstown, with its background of Soldiers' Delight Hundred and Green Spring Valley. The history of any small town and v_illage ,vithin the district is practically the same, barring the few differences within the town itself. Whatever has farmed the past of one has also been the inheritance of the other. The history of the distri:t is the heritage of every child of that dis trict. Further, not only is it essential to familiarize· one's self with the history of the local community which real:hes beyond the environs of the village, ·but it is also necessary to stress certain per.tinent historic facts which are of more than local interest, to gain an idea of _the changes through which Baltimore County has passed and the air of dignity which she has \V0rn through out the years. The material has been arranged to give the teacher a point of view; to give her perspective,