USA > Maryland > Allegany County > Cumberland > History of Cumberland, (Maryland) from the time of the Indian town, Caiuctucuc, in 1728, up to the present day : embracing an account of Washington's first campaign, and battle of Fort Necessity, together with a history of Braddock's expedition > Part 27
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
September 6 .- Captain Thomas Blair, who com- manded a company in the war of 1812-14, died at Frostburg, at an advanced age. By his own request he was buried with military honors by the Cumber- land Continentals.
September 30 .- George H. Drake, who killed Bene- dict M. Athey, in 1825, and who escaped from jail after he had been indicted for murder, returned to this place, and was promptly arrested. Drake had been absent for thirty-four years, being an old man at the date of his return. He was under the im- pression that his crime had been forgotten, and that the law would not trouble him after so many years had elapsed, but he had scarcely arrived ere the memory of his crime was revived, and he was again consigned to jail. In October he was arraigned, and tried on the indictment found a third of a century bofore. The trial excited a great deal of interest, and he was ably defended by Messrs. Pearre
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1860.
and Semmes. Some sixteen witnesses were ex- amined. The case occupied a whole day, the prose- cuting attorney, J. M. Schley, making good use of what little real testimony was to be had. The jury returned a verdict of "not guilty."
April 8, 1860 .- A heavy rainfall produced a freshet, which caused the creek and river to overflow, whereby several of the streets were inundated, but no material damage was sustained.
April 11 .- The furniture factory of K. H. Butler was destroyed by fire. Loss about $8,000.
May 4 .- Mayor, John Humbird; Councilmen, H. Resley, T. A. Ogle, Charles H. Smith, C. H. Ohr, Casper Cassan and John Snyder.
The population of Cumberland at this time was shown by the census to be 7,300, and the assessable property $2,124,400.
September 20 .- Meshack Browning, one of the old settlers of Allegany County, died at his home in the Glades. Mr. Browning was a great hunter, and was the hero of an interesting book entitled "Forty-four Years of the Life of a Hunter," written and illustra- ted by E. Stabler, of Montgomery County, a very remarkable man, and published by Lippincott, of Philadelphia. Mr. Browning left quite a family of children, one of whom, Richard T. Browning, was elected to the House of Delegates from Garrett County, in 1875.
At the election for President in November, Allegany gave 980 votes for Breckenridge, 1,203 for Douglass, 1,521 for Bell, and 522 for Lincoln.
State Senator, Thomas I. McKaig; Delegates, J. H.
389
LOCAL INCIDENTS.
1860-61.]
Gordon, W. H. Barnard, D. W. McCleary and Aza Beall.
The vote for Congress was as follows:
J. M. Kunkel. H. W. Hoffman.
Washington County.
.2,842
2,842
Frederick County ..
.3,718
3,673
Allegany County
.2,288 2,201
8,849
8.716
Sheriff, Henry R. Atkinson; Judges of Orphans' Court, Moses Rawlings, Alexander King and Francis Mattingly.
Hon. H. W. Hoffman was elected Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives, and served in that capacity till April, 1861, when President Lincoln appointed him Collector of the Port of Baltimore.
December 18 .- George, a son of William Wickard, 7 years of age, while playing on the ice, on the creek, near the cement mill, broke through, and was drowned.
Much excitement prevailed during the winter, in consequence of the secession movements in the South, and on the 17th of January, 1861, a public meeting was called for the purpose of considering the critical con- dition of affairs in the country, the call being largely signed by men of all political parties. The following were the officers of the meeting: President, George A. Pearre; Vice Presidents, H. P. Tasker, Richard Fairall, John Mclaughlin, H. B. Elbin, Hanson Wil- lison, John Douglas, A. Chamberlin, Robert Bruce, G. M. Blocher, Jesse Korns, Francis Mattingly, Thomas Whalen, John Callen and Moses Rawlings. Secretaries .- J. J. McHenry and C. Slack.
Strong Union speeches were delivered by Mr.
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND.
[1861.
Pearre, ex-Governor Francis Thomas, and Mr. Roman.
A committee was appointed, consisting of J. Philip Roman, William Shaw, C. M. Thruston, John M. Buchanan, William Walsh, J. G. Lynn, Joseph Shriver, Nelson Beall, S. M. Semmes and C. Slack, to propose resolutions for the consideration of the meeting. The committee submitted the following, which were unanimously adopted :
WHEREAS, South Carolina and others of the cotton growing States, have declared themselves out of the Union, absolved their people from its allegiance, set at defiance the Constitution of the United States, nullified the laws of Congress, have torn from their citadels our national flag, and marshalling armies in open rebellion against the government; and whereas this rebellious strife has been provoked by a growing senti- ment among the Northern people against the institution of slavery, and because various non-slaveholding States have passed enactments to impede the due execution of the fugitive slave law, and because a great sectional party proclaiming that there shall be no more slave States, have elected a President of the United States ; And whereas it is proper that the people should meet together and take council with one another as to what course they should pursue in this painful crisis, We the people of Allegany county in general mass convention assembled, do there- fore
Resolve, That the present form of Government, the Constitution and Union of States, were the result of a war, which for the self-sacrificing patriotism of its heroes, has won the admiration of the civilized world, and under its wise provisions the American people have become the most free, prosperous and enlightened, on the face of the earth ; and as we believe the continuance of our prosperity and national greatness, depends on the preservation of the Union, we will continue to cherish our devotion for its maintenance, and feel it due to the past, present and future, that we should hold the same inviolate, and transmit it unbroken and undissevered, to our children as the palladium of their political safety .
Resolved, That while we feel that the Southern States of the Union have just right to complain of the growing hostility of the Northern people to their institutions, and of the enactment by various States of what is known as "personal liberty laws," which we believe to be in violation of the Constitution and of the sacred obligations which those States owe to our common country ; and, although Maryland, bordering on and sepa- rated only by an imaginary line from one of these States, which has thus violated one of her obligations, has more cause than any of her sister States to complain of this unfriendly legislation, yet we believe that the proper remedy for these evils and aggressions is within the Union and not outside of it.
Resolved, That while we denounce the course of the Northern people as unfriendly, and the action of those States which have passed "person-
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LOCAL INCIDENTS.
1861.]
al liberty laws" as unconstitutional and unjust, and while we believe them fraught with evil, and if persisted in, may prove disastrous to the country, yet we cannot endorse the course pursued by South Carolina and those States which have followed her lead, as either a proper or con- stitutional remedy, but regard the same as precipitate, unwise and unjust to the bordering slave States of the Union. That although we admit and claim the right of revolution to exist in the people to over- throw their Government when it becomes tyrannical and oppressive, yet this right should never be exercised until all other means of redress have been exhausted, and the government itself has become more destructive to the public welfare, than the evils necessarily attendant upon a revolution .
Resolved, That whilst we condemn the hasty and precipitate action of those who would for existing causes dissolve this glorious Union, and plunge us into all the horrors of revolution and civil war, we at the same time avow our determination to demand all our rights in the Union under the Constitution of our country, and whenever those rights are invaded and denied to us, and no adequate remedy is afforded by the Federal Government to secure them, then we will be ready, as our fathers were, to take up arms, if need be in their defence.
Resolved, That the wise, firm, prudent and pacific course pursued by Major Anderson, the officer in command of Fort Sumpter, in South Carolina, under the trying circumstances by which he is surrounded, meets with our earnest and cordial approval.
Resolved, That the aggressive spirit exhibited by a portion of the Northern people against the clear constitutional rights of the South, and the incessant and violent abuse of Southern institutions, from the pulpit, the hustings and by the press, tending only to produce alienation, discord and bitterness between the different portions of the confederacy, deserve the severest reprobation of every conservative and Union loving citizen.
Resolved, That we still have an abiding faith in the sober second thought of the Southern people, and that if an opportunity shall be afforded them they will return to a faithful execution of all their consti- tutional obligations and hurl from power and prominence the political demagogues who have misled them; and therefore we deplore the constant agitation of the slavery question among the Southern people, the attempts to reopen the African slave trade, and the threats of secession and dis- union in advance of any justifiable cause as productive of the most mischievous results, and tending only to furnish the agitators of the North, with a plausible pretext for their own unfriendly action.
Resolved, That in order to end all future agitation upon the exciting subject of slavery. which periodically convulses the country, it is emi- nently proper that some compromise and settlement should be made that would at once and forever withdraw the whole subject from Federal con- trol; that with this object in view, we accept and endorse the proposition, known as the "Crittenden Amendment," and earnestly hope that the same or some other compromise formed upon that basis, which will secure to the South her constitutional rights and preserve the Union, may be adopted by Congress or a convention, believing, as we do, that thereby Congress will thereafter be deprived of all power of legislation over the subject.
Similar meetings were held in other parts of the county.
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND.
[1861.
February 24 .-- The friends of the Union on thisnight had a great torch light procession, there being some five hundred persons in the line. The residences of Samuel M. Semmes, Thomas Devecmon and George A. Pearre were visited, and each of these gentlemen made speeches full of patriotic inspiration.
April 19 .- The thrilling scenes in Baltimore, on the occasion of the passage of the Massachusetts troops through the city, and the inauguration of civil war by the attack on Fort Sumter, caused most intense excitement amongst the people of Cum- berland, and led to the open expression of sentiments which caused a separation between those who differed on the question of coercion. From this time forward the lines became more closely drawn, and friends and neighbors were unhappily arrayed one against the other.
May 6 .- The increasing excitement on account of the important events leading to civil war, aroused great feeling in the city, and the Union men held an immense mass meeting on the above date. They marched through the streets with banners and music, and cannon firing. The meeting was organized by the election of Gen. C. M. Thruston President, and the following Vice Presidents: John Gephart, B. Kegg, A. M. L. Bush, J. B. Widener, Joseph Shriver, John Everett, Alpheus Beall, Wm. Armbruster, S. M. Semmes, J. J. McHenry, Lewis Smith, Samuel Luman, John Kolb, J. W. Magruder, Andrew Gon- der, J. B. H. Campbell, Wm. Evans, Robert Bruce, J. H. Young, John Hays, Alex. King, R. D. Johnson, and Joseph Hughes.
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EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.
1861.]
Strong speeches were made by George A. Pearre and Samuel M. Semmes, and lengthy and emphatic resolutions adopted, declaring for the preservation of the Union.
The Conditional Union men held a meeting also, declaring that should the Govornment fail to give the South certain guarantees it would be Maryland's duty to leave the Union. Daniel Blocher introduced a resolution for the purpose of postponing such action until the Peace Conference should conclude its work. Violent discussion followed, and the meeting broke up in great confusion.
It had been fondly hoped that Cumberland would escape the scourge of war, but "the winter of 1860- 61 began to dispel our illusions. Latent feelings and sympathies, then developed, made it evident that Western Maryland, and particularly its central city, was deeply interested in the great question that agitated the public mind. A conflict seemed immi- nent and people found themselves with divided sentiments and sympathies. Secession and anti-se- cession, State sovereignty and the Union, coercion and anti-coercion were the general topics of conver- sation wherever men met together. Even at social parties in parlors, ladies were transformed into violent politicians, and in their wild enthusiasm seemed ready to grasp the rifle and the sword and leave the nursery and the distaff to faint-hearted, cowardly men and old women. Looking back over the lapse of seventeen years we can now smile at the illusions, projects, prospects, hopes and fears of that memorable winter. After the secession of the cotton
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1861.
States, some declared the Union hopelessly dissolved, and advocated the formation of a grand Middle Confederacy stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, leaving New England and the seceded States, as troublesome members of the body politic, out in the cold to reap the fruits of their fanatical notions and doings. Others expected some compromise to ยท be made by which the Union might be restored and the Constitution so amended as to protect the rights of sovereign States against the encroachments of the Federal Government. Some again prophesied the speedy secession of all the Southern States, carrying the National capital with them, and form- ing a confederacy so large and strong as to compel a speedy recognition and in the end absorb into itself, under a pro-slavery constitution, all the States of the old Union that would be worth having.
"Others declared that as soon as the Federal Government made a display of its authority and power the leaders of secession would become fright- ened, the conspiracy be broken up without bloodshed, and the Union restored. Unconditional Unionists and secessionists per se were rare among us. But among all classes there seemed to be a pretty general agreement that, in case of a final rupture between the Northern and Southern States, Maryland might assume a kind of armed neutrality, until the' ques- tion was decided, without compromising her honor or aiding in the subjugation of the seceding States. This was a fiction afterward very soon exploded by the irresistible logic of events. The effects of these
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EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.
1861.]
wordy conflicts continually going on, were soon manifest in private intercourse. Old friends became alienated and began to treat each other coolly. Visits were curtailed and often ended disagreeably. Associations and churches felt the disturbing influ- ences. Ministers were interviewed, while their sermons and prayers were closely scrutinized for indications of political sentiments or sympathies. The moral atmosphere seemed filled with a subtle poison by which every one was affected.
"During this period, adding to the divided and disturbed condition of the popular mind, two remark- able characters appeared upon the scene of action. The first was the Hon. Roger A. Pryor, of Virginia, who was then "firing the Southern heart" with his fervid eloquence. With glowing tongue he portrayed the wrongs of the Southern States and plead with all the power of his masterly oratory for a united South to resist the aggressions of a common foe. The other was the Hon. Francis Thomas, ex-Governor of Maryland, and once the honored son and leader of the old State Democracy. Suffering under a severe domestic calamity, and treated as insane, he had fled from public life, and for years had buried himself in his mountain hermitage, living closely the life of a recluse until he was almost forgotten. But when the news of his country's danger reached him all the slumbering statesman was aroused. The strong spirit of former years came upon him. Like some wierd, hoary prophet of old, he came down from his mountain retreat and, suddenly appearing in the streets of Cumberland, sounded the alarm of patriot-
396
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND.
[1861.
ism, and plead with the people to stand by the Union, the Constitution, and the laws. It seemed as if one had arisen from the dead.
"But we cannot dwell longer on incidents like these which preceded the war. Events thickened and soon followed each other in quick succession like the echoes of our mountain thunder. Sumter fell. Seventy-five thousand men were summoned for the defense of the Union. Blood flowed in the streets of Baltimore. Virginia adopted an ordinance of seces-
sion. Harper's Ferry passed into the hands of the Confederates, and Maryland was left hanging as a Southern shred upon the Northern portion of a disrupted Union. Nothing probably, saved Maryland from the ranks of secession but the delay of its friends and the presence of the Federal troops. What would have been the result had she promptly acted with Virginia before the opportunity was passed, cannot now be positively determined. With the Capital of the nation lying in her bosom, the whole issue of the war might have been changed, and left us weak and divided instead of a united and prosper- ous people. We were now at war, and the events that inaugurated it had a most depressing effect upon the interests of Western Maryland. Our city felt it most severely. Her great thoroughfare, the Balti- more and Ohio Railroad, was interrupted and her Canal closed. Trade from Virginia was withdrawn. Every industry was stopped or curtailed; stores were closed and marked "for rent;" real estate sank rapidly in value. Merchants without customers slept at their counters, or sat at the doors of their places
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EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR,
1861.]
of business. Tradesmen and laborers, out of em- ployment, lounged idly about the streets. The railroad workshops were silent and operations in the mining regions almost entirely ceased. Then com- menced a deep, painful feeling of insecurity and an undefined dread of the horrors of war. Panic makers multiplied and infested society, startling rumors were constantly floating about of secret plots and dark conspiracies against the peace of the community and private individuals. In the evening men congregated in the hotels, saloons, stores and streets, and then carried home to their families the mysterious suspicions which they heard whispered about-killing sleep and rendering every sound in the night portentous of arson, robbery or murder. As the bonds of government were loosened some imagined that a slave insurrection might suddenly break out, followed by all the horrors of St. Domingo. Seces- sionists feared a descent of the Federal troops- bringing imprisonment, confiscation or death. Union- ists dreaded an irruption of their old neighbors beyond the river, forcing them into the Southern Confederacy or conscripting them for service in the rebel army. Anxiety and care were written on every countenance. There was no heart for business, and the grass of the advancing summer commenced growing upon our deserted streets.
"But the scene was unexpectedly and suddenly changed. On Monday morning, the 8th of June, our citizens were awakened by a confused sound of voices, and, looking out, saw the streets filled with strange, rough looking men, dressed in gray and
398
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND.
[1861.
armed to the teeth with rifles, pistols and sword- bayonets. They seemed to have fallen from the clouds. Who are they? What will they do? were the eager questions that passed from lip to lip and from house to house. A new order of things had commenced. Our city was in possession of the Fed- eral troops. Some zealous Unionist had gained the ear of the Executive, and the Eleventh Regiment of Indiana Zouaves, under Colonel Lew Wallace, had entered the city quietly on Sunday night and pitched their camp on Rose Hill, over which now proudly floated the Stars and Stripes of the Union.
"The presence of what was then regarded as a large military body naturally excited suspicion and alarm. As was usual in the early part of the war, to quiet the popular mind, a grandiloquent proclamation was soon issued, assuring the citizens that the gallant army now among them had come, not to oppress or to interfere in their domestic institutions, but to protect their lives and property and to preserve the peace of the community. Officers and soldiers associated freely with our citizens, and soon a pretty general feeling of confidence and good will began to prevail. Protection, whether from friend or foe, was deemed preferable to the uncertain and defenseless condition in which we had been living. The rule of the military had begun; it did not end until the close of the war.
"The camp of the Zouaves was beautifully located on Rose Hill, and soon became a place of popular resort. Around it towered the grand mountain ranges of the Alleghanies, dressed in their summer
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EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR.
1861.]
robes of forest foliage-evergreens and flowering laurels. On the south rolled the Potomac; at the base of the hill on the north flowed Wills' Creek, and in full view of the camp, nestled in the valley extending over Fort Hill, lay the Queen City of the mountains. Colonel Lew Wallace and some of his staff were men of culture and refinement; the rank and file were courteous and gentlemanly in their deportment. A fine band discoursed sweet music in the camp and through the city, and every day became festive with military pomp and display. Trade began to flourish. The people were assured that this was only a pleasant picnic excursion to the South ; there would be no fighting; and many began to believe that the war was about over. But we were not permitted to enjoy this illusive dream long. Military occupation soon began to make itself felt. Free speech was no longer allowed. Secession senti- ments. were banned. Informers became busy. Citizens were arrested and marched under guard to the camp, and having received a lecture on loyalty and the crime of secession, were tendered the oath of allegiance and then permitted to return to their homes. Some remained nursing their bitter feelings. Others fled to Virginia and entered the rebel army. Men learned afterward that the mere expression of opinion without overt acts did not constitute treason, and that a forced oath was no remedy for disloyalty."*
Up to the first of May there had existed an undemonstrative armed neutrality, amongst the citi- zens, yet a great deal of emphatic language was used
:Unwritten Chapters of the War, by Rev. A. J. Weddell.
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1861.
by the men whose sympathies were either North or South. The first open act of determined sentiment was the display at this time of a large United States flag, which was hung over the street between the St. Nicholas Hotel and the Belvidere Hall. This was done by Samuel Luman, Sr., Samuel Luman, Jr., Robert Shriver, John M. Resley, Frank Miller, and a few other determined Unionists. Although some trouble was anticipated, no attempt was made to interfere with the flag.
On the 13th of May the following City officials had been elected : Mayor, C. M. Thruston ; Councilmen, J. J. McHenry, K. H. Butler, Joseph Hughes, Robert Bruce, D. Mahaney, and Samuel Luman. This was the "Unconditional Union" ticket, there being also an "Independent" ticket, and a "Citizens" ticket.
About the first of June it became painfully evident that the people of Western Maryland were destined to feel the direct effects of the war. The bridges over Patterson's Creek, and over the Canal, near the North Branch, were destroyed by a party of Vir- ginians, and communication with the East was cut off. On the morning of the 19th of June, a party of Confederate soldiery made a descent on New Creek, and burned the "21st bridge," of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which spanned the Potomac River. A small guard had been placed there, consisting of some twenty-eight men of the Cumberland Continen- tals, under command of Lieutenants James C. Lynn and Theodore Luman. When news of the approach of the enemy reached Cumberland, Captain Horace
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CAPTURE OF TWENTY-FIRST BRIDGE.
1861.]
Resley, with a few additional men, hastened to the scene. The enemy, however, was too strong for them; and, to avoid capture, the entire command retreated over the mountains, and reached Cumber- land, by way of the National Road. This being the initial conflict of the war in this section, the greatest excitement prevailed, especially as wild rumors of the total destruction of the little command, and the marshaling of a strong force to attack Cumberland, were freely circulated. The entire population rushed into the streets, bells rung in every part of the town, and the women and children were in a state of terror. Colonel Wallace struck tents, and sent his baggage towards Bedford for safety, the Zouaves taking up a position of defense on the Bedford road, just beyond the city limits. The Continentals and Union Home Guards turned out under arms; a hundred men from Frostburg, under command of Major F. A. Mason, and a company from Wellersburg, with Captain Petrie, were on hand in a few hours. Other compa- nies arrived next morning from Grantsville, Bedford, Centreville and Pocahontas. Armed men, in small squads, continued to arrive all day, and not until nightfall did the panic subside. The Zouaves then marched back to their quarters, and next day the companies from abroad took their departure, leaving Cumberland to settle down to her usual quiet.
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