USA > Maryland > Washington County > Leitersburg > History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, Md.: Including Its Original Land Tenure. > Part 7
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'As the price of land is generally regarded as a fair index to agricultural development and prosperity, some statistics of this nature may not be inappropriate here. When the District was first settled land was purchased from the Proprietary at the uni- form price of one shilling per acre, subject to an annual quit rent of four shillings per hundred acres and an equal amount upon every alienation thereof. Among the transfers of real estate prior to 1800 were the following: 1749, Thomas Cresap to Mi- chael Miller, 260 acres, £220; 1755, George Poe to Christopher Burkhart, 173 acres, £15; 1762, George Poe to Jacob Leiter, 362 acres, £397; 1767, Peter Shiess to Peter Bell, 248 acres, £70; 1769, Peter Good to John Gabby, 166 acres, £400; 1770, Peter Shiess to Dr. Henry Schnebley, 713 acres, £100; 1773, Frederick Haldi- mand to Joseph Sprigg, 4,313 acres, £5,250; 1775, John Reiff to Christian Lantz, 476 acres, £2,350; 1779, Joseph Sprigg to Sam- uel Hughes, 1,300 acres, £21,000; 1779, Joseph Sprigg to John McConkey, 521 acres, £3,126: 1780, John McConkey to John Rench, 521 acres, £20,000; 1787, Jacob Good to Joseph Long, 350 acres, £1,800; 1795, Joseph Long to John Barr, 366 acres, £5,055.
PUBLIC ROADS.
In the material and social development of the District public roads have been an important factor.
The judicial records of Frederick County afford but meager information regarding the carly public roads of Antietam and Salisbury Hundreds, in which Leitersburg District was embraced. . The first roads were doubtless bridle-paths, winding around the
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hills and avoiding the marshes; when it became necessary to widen these for wagon transportation the work was done by public co- operation, without the formality of legal proceedings. Hence the information of the court regarding the courses or even the ter- mini of the earliest roads was exceedingly meager. Supervisors were regularly appointed, however, as shown in the following lists:
"All the main roads in Antietam Hundred:" 1749, Robert Turner; 1750, William Kelly; 1752-53, Isaac Hoser; 1754, John Carr; 1755, George Moore.
"All the main roads above Beaver creek in Antietam Hundred:" 1758-60, George Lambert; 1761, John Charlton; 1763, John Roh- rer; 1766, Peter Fugate; 1768, James Walling; 1769-70, Henry Wall.
"All the main roads from Baker's to Stull's mill, between that road and the Temporary Line in Salisbury Hun- dred:" 1749, John William Smith.
"From Baker's to Stull's mill, between that road and the Tem- porary Line in Salisbury Hundred, and from Aaron Price's to the Temporary Line, known by the name of "The Old Road:'" 1750, Peter Rench; 1751, Conrad Hogmire; 1753, John Keller; 1754-55, Joseph Volgemore (Wolgamot); 1758, John Ritter; 1759, James Downing; 1760, Peter Dizer; 1761, Jacob Brum- baugh; 1763, Nicholas Martin; 1766, Samuel Pawling; 1768-69, Dilman Washabaugh.
"From Nicholson's Gap to Jacob Funk's mill and from said mill to Sharpsburg:" 1768, Conrad Hogmire; 1769-70, Samuel Grebill.
"The new road from the mouth of Conococheague through Elizabeth-Town to where it intersects the run below Haldimand's plantation:" 1770, Henry Tice.
At November sessions, 1749, of the Frederick County court, Jonathan Hager, Captain Thomas Prather, and Joseph Swear- ingen were appointed to view a proposed road "from the mouth of Conococheague to Stoner's mill on Antietam as far as the line extends." As Stoner's mill was situated at the present site of B. F. Welty's, one mile southeast of Waynesboro, this road would certainly have passed through Leitersburg District; but it does not appear that it was ever opened.
The earliest positive evidence of a road in Leitersburg
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
District that the writer has discovered occurs in the patent for Cousin's Obligement, a tract of fifty-one acres now em- braced partly in the farm of Henry M. Jacobs near Miller's church and formerly owned for many years by Abraham Strite. This tract was patented to Andrew Hoover, February 14, 1755; its boundaries are described as "Beginning at a bounded walnut tree standing on the east side of the road that leads from Robert Downing's to George Burkhart's and among a parcel of limestone rocks by a large sink-hole." The house in which Downing lived still stands on the farm of Daniel N. Scheller near Ziegler's mill. It is difficult to identify Burk- hart's residence, unless that of Christopher Burkhart is meant; in 1755 he lived on Antietam, where Samuel Martin now resides.
At that point in the South mountain where Mason and Dixon's Line crosses it there is a depression known at the middle of the last century and for many years thereafter as Nicholson's Gap. Of all the gaps in this range from the Potomac to the Susquehanna it is doubtful if any other possesses equal importance for com- mercial purposes. Here the Western Maryland railroad, the most important line of communication between the Cumberland valley and Baltimore, crosses the mountain barrier, and in the same vi- cinity may be seen the embankments and bridges of the old "Tape Worm" railroad, projected by Thaddeus Stevens in the '30's and partially constructed for many miles through Adams and Franklin Counties.
Nicholson's Gap was the focal point of several important pub- lic roads before the close of the colonial period. In 1761 a peti- tion was presented to the court of quarter sessions of Cumber- land County, Pa., by citizens of Peters Township, representing, "That they have no prospect for a standing market for the pro- duce of their county only at Baltimore, and having no road lead- ing from their township to said town of Baltimore, and flour be- ing the principal commodity this township produceth," etc., and therefore praying the court to appoint viewers to lay out a road in the direction of Baltimore as far as the Temporary Line. Viewers were accordingly appointed, and at April sessions, 1768, they re- ported in favor of a road "crossing the Conococheague creek at the mouth of Muddy run, thence through Antrim Township to the gap commonly called Nicholson's in the South mountain"-
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the present route of the Mercersburg, Greencastle, and Waynes- boro turnpike .*
Influenced doubtless by the same considerations the people of Antietam and Salisbury Hundreds were also making an effort at the same time to secure a legal road through Nicholson's Gap. Viewers were appointed by the Frederick County court at Novem- ber sessions, 1767, and a year later their report was submitted. This document, with the action of the court relative thereto, reads as follows:
November Sessions, 1768 .- Messrs. John Rohrer and Conrad Hogmire report to the court here as follows, viz .:
In obedience to an order of Frederick County November court, 1767, we, the subscribers, have viewed the several roads therein men- tioned and find that a road from Nicholson's Gap may be made in a direct line to Jacob Funk's mill on Antietam and from thence through Sharpsburg to Swearingen's ferry on Potomac river with much more advantage to the public than any roads hitherto made, and we have given the proprietors notice on whose lands the said roads go through.
Also, we have carefully viewed the roads from the mouth of Opeckon ford leading a direct course to the chapel in All Saint's par- ish and from thence to Jacob Funk's mill on Antietam creek; and from Thatcher's ford on Potomac river to Ebersole's and Wolgamot's mills on the Great Marsh; and that all those roads can be laid out in a direct course with great advantage to the public, and have also given the proprietors notice on whose lands the said roads go through.
Witness our hands this 16th March, 1768.
JOHANNES ROHRER. CONRAD HOGMIRE.
To the Worshipful Justices of Frederick County Court.
Upon reading which report the court concurs with the former part thereof; the latter is disallowed.
This is the road "from Nicholson's Gap to Jacob Funk's mill and from said mill to Sharpsburg" for which Conrad Hogmire was appointed supervisor in 1768. It passes through Fiddlers- burg, crosses the Antietam at the Old Forge, and passes Beard's church and Welty's church. It was the original eastern boundary of Leitersburg District and still constitutes the extreme south- eastern limit of its extent.
* McCauley's History of Franklin County, p. 133.
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
The following entry occurs in the minutes of the Frederick County court at November session, 1770:
Joseph Gaither and sundry others prefer to the court here the fol- lowing petition, to wit: "The humble petition of the inhabitants of Conococheague to the Worshipful Bench of Frederick County now sitting beg leave to inform you that there was a road led from the mouth of Conococheague to Nicholson's Gap, but at present it is quite useless; your petitioners therefore humbly beg that your Wor- ships will be pleased to grant an order that the public road shall lead from the mouth of Conococheague through Elizabeth-Town un- til it intersects the road that leads through said gap, and they as in duty bound will pray." Joseph Gaither, Joseph Mitchell, and sundry others.
Upon reading which petition and consideration thereon had it is ordered by the court here that Messrs. Colonel Thomas Prather, Van Swearingen, Jr., and Patrick Allison view and lay out the said road and make report thereof to the next court.
No report appears in the court minutes, but at the same term of court Henry Tice was appointed supervisor for "The new road from the mouth of Conococheague through Elizabeth-Town to whereit intersects the run below Haldimand's plantation." Hal- dimand's plantation was the extensive Longmeadows tract; the new road therefore terminated at Marsh run at or near the Ziegler mill. But it was at this point that the road referred to in the patent for Cousin's Obligement (1755) began; hence it is highly probable that the latter continued to Nicholson's Gap. It had not yet became a legal road to that point in 1776, and as the records of the Washington County court for many years after the organization of the county are no longer in existence, it is impossible to say when this occurred.
There can be no uncertainty, however, regarding its course. On the 20th of December, 1790, the Legislature passed an act author- izing resurveys on a number of important roads in different parts of the State, one of which was the road "from Elizabeth-Town to the Pennsylvania line in Nicholson's Gap." Ludwig Young, William Lec, and Joseph Sprigg, Jr., were appointed as commis- sioners to make the resurvey, a report of which, signed by Messrs. Young and Lee under date of October 17, 1791, is entered in the land records of Washington County. This report shows the courses and distances of the road from the court house in Hagers-
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town (which then stood in the center of the public square) to the State line in Nicholson's Gap .*
The original course and changes made by the commissioners are both indicated. The alterations were very inconsiderable, and did not affect the general course of the road, which was origi- nally thirteen miles and twelve perches in length and as amended eighty-five perches shorter. The only points indicated are Rench's mill, now owned by David Ziegler; Christian Leiter's, now the property of the estate of the late Joseph Strite; "Antietam at the Rock Forge;" and Frederick Howard's, near the present resi- dence of Jacob Tharpe, about two hundred yards from the north- eastern corner of the District on the State line. Its course seems to be identical with that of the road referred to in the patent for Cousin's Obligement (1755).
The resurvey of 1790 was evidently unsatisfactory to many in- terested parties, probably because its principal purpose a direct road from Hagerstown to Nicholson's Gap-had not been accom- plished. Accordingly, on the 15th of January, 1799, the Legisla- ture passed a law repealing the act of December 2, 1790, so far as it applied to the Nicholson's Gap road. The levy court of Wash- ington County was authorized to appoint "three discreet persons, freeholders in said county" as commissioners to lay out and survey
* Rev. Philip V. Fithian, a Presbyterian clergyman, passed over this road, May 18 1775, and thus describes it in his journal : "Here we arrived late last night at a small log house. A smart, neat, young land-lady, a spry, golden-haired, buxom maid, sev eral sturdy wagoners, huge hills on every side-we are at what is called Nicholson's Gap. We jog on over the rugged hills. A middle-aged, dropsical Dutch woman with her face muffled up in the mumps boiled up for our breakfast a little coffee in the sugar and milk : indeed, it made good broth. From the mountain to Elizabeth or Hagers- town is a level country and good land."
Interesting allusions to the old road also occur in the following advertisements, which were published in the Washington [County] Spy :
Lost, on the night of the 14th inst. between Hagerstown and Burkhart's tavern on the road leading through Nicholson's Gap, a leather pocket book containing three notes . Whoever delivers said book and papers to me, living on Antietam near Burkhart's mill, shall receive the above reward. HENRY SNELL. February 21, 1794.
Strayed or stolen from the subscriber, living on the main road leading from Hagers- town to Nicholson's Gap about two miles from Burkhart's mill, on the 19th of this inst. a black horse eight years old, fifteen hands high, shod before, branded on the near shoulder thus, C. G .; also a sorrel horse two years old last spring with a blazed face, branded on the near shoulder C . . . Any person taking up the said horses and bringing them to me shall receive $10.00 reward and reasonable charges paid by me.
. CHRISTIAN GARVER.
October 21, 1794.
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
a road "from Elizabeth-Town * * * * to Nicholson's Gap * * not exceeding forty feet in width, clear of ditches and in as straight lines as the nature of the ground * * ** will admit of." Unfortunately, the records of the levy court for this period have disappeared and it is therefore impossible to trace the proceedings under this law. But there can be no doubt that commissioners were duly appointed and that they proceeded to survey and open a road, visible and tangible evidence of which still exists after the lapse of nearly a century. On the farm of Immanuel and Kate E. Martin near Pleasant Hill school house there is a tract of wood- land through which a vista forty feet wide extends in a northeast and southwest direction. Seventy years ago an almost unbroken forest extended from Leitersburg to Ringgold and there are per- sons still living who remember when the vista through the Mar- tin woods was continuous for several miles. There can be no doubt that it was cut out in 1799 or 1800 as the course of the Nicholson's Gap road. Notwithstanding the expense thus in- curred legislative interposition was again secured in the passage of the following act on the 31st of December, 1801:
A Supplement to an Act entitled, "An Act respecting the public Roads in Washington County," passed at November sessions, 1798.
WHEREAS, By an act of Assembly to which this is a supplement the levy court of said county did appoint commissioners to lay out and survey a road from Elizabeth-Town in Washington County to the Pennsylvania line in Nicholson's Gap; and whereas the said com- missioners did proceed to lay out and survey the said road and did survey and lay out the said road in different directions, one of which has been confirmed by the said court: which road, so confirmed by the said court, it is represented to this General Assembly by a large number of respectable inhabitants of said county is the most in- convenient and expensive and on the worst ground ; and whereas it is also represented to this General Assembly that if the present levy court of the said county had the power to reject, alter, change, or confirm the said road, it would be highly beneficial to the inhabi- tants of the said county: therefore,
2. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the justices of the levy court of Washington County be and they are hereby authorized and empowered to reject, alter, change, or con- firm the said road so as aforesaid confirmed by the former levy court, and they are hereby authorized and empowered to confirm, reject, alter, or change either of the said routes as surveyed and laid out by the commissioners appointed under the act to which this is a supplement, or to lay out a new road in the discretion aforesaid;
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and the justices of the levy court are authorized and empowered to appoint commissioners for any or either of the purposes afore- said, which commissioners when appointed shall have the powers and be subject to all the limitations given by the original act.
3. And be it enacted, That all the powers given to the supervisor or supervisors for the said road by the former levy court be and the same are hereby suspended, and he or they shall not proceed to clear or open the said road or any part thereof.
Under this act and doubtless in the next year (1802) the ques- tion of location was finally settled by the selection of the present course, which is that of the turnpike from Hagerstown to Leiters- burg and the county road from Leitersburg through Ringgold to- ward the mountain.
The road from Greencastle to Smithsburg, the second public road opened through Leitersburg District, was authorized by an act of the Legislature passed on the 3d of January, 1807. It is described as leading "from the State line near Peter Baker's to in- tersect the main road leading from Hagerstown to Baltimore through Charlton's Gap at the foot of the South mountain near Robert Hughes's." William Gabby, Robert Hughes, and Jacob Rench constituted the commission under whose direction the sur- vey was made. The only points indicated in Leitersburg District are Michael Wolfinger's (now the residence of Mrs. Joseph Strite), Russell's gate (Strite's mill), Antietam, Andrew Bachman's (east of Leitersburg), and Moyer's mill (now owned by George H. Bow- man).
On the 6th of January, 1810, the Legislature passed a law open- ing to the public "a road from Hagerstown to the Pennsylvania line in the direction of Waynesboro"-the Marsh turnpike. A private road to the various residences along its course had been used by the public for many years but there were gates at the boundary of every farm, the removal of which was doubtless one of the main advantages to be gained in having it declared a public road. William O. Sprigg, through whose extensive estate the road passed for some distance, objected to this, and through his influence the law was repealed on the 24th of December, 1810. The road thus reverted to its original status and so continued for sixteen years. In 1824 a petition was addressed to the county court stating that it was "out of repair" and "at all seasons of the year almost impassable." Jacob Schnebley, John Harry, and Dan-
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
.
iel Malott were accordingly appointed examiners, November 15, 1824. In their report, certified under date of November 11, 1825, they state that they proceeded "to locate the present road as it is now used, commencing at the Pennsylvania line and ending at its intersection with the Nicholson's Gap road." At March term, 1826, this report was confirmed, and thus the Marsh road was opened to the public. Two important changes have since been made in its course, one in 1839, by which the present location be- tween Reid postoffice and the Pennsylvania line was established, and the other in 1869 at Paradise school house.
At April term, 1826, upon petition of Abraham Schmutz and others, the levy court appointed Henry Fouke, Jacob Huyett, and John Harry commissioners to lay out a road "from the Hagers- town and Nicholson's Gap road at or near Abraham Schmutz's mill across to the road leading from Hagerstown to Greencastle." The proposed road was accordingly surveyed under their direc- tion, May 29, 1826; they reported "that the public convenience required the said road to be opened, on account of a private road being shut up" and that "a road is necessary for the convenience of the inhabitants of that section of the country to get to the mill." It was accordingly confirmed by the court at March term, 1827. This road constitutes the western boundary of Leitersburg Dis- trict between Paradise school house and Ziegler's mill.
The following entry occurs in the proceedings of the levy court of Washington County under date of September 7, 1830:
Ordered by the court that the commission and return in the case of the commission issued to John Welty, Peter Mong, and Christo- pher Flory to open a road from Leitersburg to the Pennsylvania line above the place commonly called the Rock Forge be returned to said commissioners for amendment pursuant to the order of Washington County court passed in the said case.
The opening of this road was opposed by Robert Hughes, through whose lands it passed. The final survey was made on the 20th of July, 1831, by Benjamin Garver under the direction of Christopher Flory and Peter Mong, who laid out a road thirty- three feet wide extending from the public square in Leitersburg two miles and forty-four perches to the termination of a road al- ready laid out from Waynesboro to the State line. It was con- firmed by the county commissioners on the 8th of September,
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1831. This is the present course of the turnpike between Leiters- burg and Waynesboro.
"Commencing at the Leitersburg and Waynesboro road at a private road that leads to Samuel Lyday's saw-mill; to continue to the Pennsylvania and Maryland line to a place called Jacobs meeting house; then northward to the land of Schriver and Horst; then the most direct route to the Leitersburg and Greencastle road, to terminate at a place commonly called Strite's hemp patch:" the road thus described was surveyed by Marmaduke W. Boyd, December 28, 1842, under the direction of George Poe, Daniel South, and Jacob Adams, examiners appointed by the county commissioners. There was dissatisfaction with the route selected, however, and a new board of examiners was appointed, composed of George Poe, James Coudy, and Emory Edwards, for whom Mr. Boyd surveyed the road from Jacobs church to the turnpike on the 7th of August, 1843. The entire line was con- firmed by the county commissioners in 1845. This is the present public road from the turnpike at Rock Forge, past Jacobs church, across the Greencastle road, past Miller's church, to the turnpike near Mt. Union school house.
From the Leitersburg and Waynesboro road to Flagg's cross- ing, thence to Funk's mill, and thence to Henry Schriver's-this road was surveyed by Benjamin Garver, June 9, 1848, for a board of examiners composed of himself, Abraham Strite, and Jacob E. Bell. It was confirmed with a width of thirty feet in 1850, but the course was materially changed between the first survey and the final confirmation. This road diverges from the turnpike about half a mile north of Leitersburg, crosses the Antietam, passes New Harmony school house, and terminates at the road from Jacobs to Miller's church.
A short distance east of Jacob's church a road diverges to the south, terminating at the property of Benjamin Baker as origi- nally laid out. This road was surveyed by Benjamin Garver, April 26, 1850, and confirmed with a width of twenty-five feet. Henry Schriver and Robert Fowler were associated with Mr. Garver as examiners.
The road from New Harmony school house to the Greencastle road was surveyed by Benjamin Garver, October 24, 1850, and subsequently confirmed with a width of twenty-five feet. The examiners were Benjamin Garver and George Poe.
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HISTORY OF LEITERSBURG DISTRICT.
The public road from the turnpike near Mt. Union school house to the Old Forge road, a distance of one and three eighths miles, was surveyed by Benjamin Garver, March 15, 1850, and confirmed in 1851 with a width of twenty-five feet. The examiners were Joseph Garver, Andrew M. Shank, and Abraham Strite.
From "Antietam bridge near Fowler & Ziegler's mill past David Brumbaugh's mill to the old Marsh road," a distance of two miles and 184 perches-this road was surveyed by John Oswald, Sep- tember 15-16, 1852, under the direction of Samuel Etnyer, Peter Bell, and Jacob H. Barr, examiners. It was confirmed in 1833 with a width of twenty-five feet. The "Antietam bridge" referred to is on the turnpike a short distance southwest of Leitersburg, and "David Brumbaugh's mill" is now owned by Henry F. Leh- man.
About a mile northeast of Leitersburg a road 158 perches in length connects the Waynesboro turnpike and the Ringgold road. It was surveyed on the 26th of December, 1854, and confirmed in 1855 with a width of twenty-four feet. The examiners were Jacob E. Bell, Henry Schriver, and George Beard.
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