USA > Maryland > Washington County > Leitersburg > History of Leitersburg District, Washington County, Md.: Including Its Original Land Tenure. > Part 9
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Early in the century the Barr family built a mill on their estate in the eastern part of the District on Little Antietam. Here they conducted a variety of industrial operations. In one stone build- ing there was a plaster-mill, saw-mill, and clover-mill, and in another a nail factory and distillery. The property was pur- chased in 1823 by Daniel Winter, whose son-in-law, Isaac H. Durboraw, was the next owner of the mill. The present pro- prietor is Rudolph Charles, who bought it in 1894. It is a sub- stantial stone building. A short distance further down the creek is a saw-mill, owned by Jacob B. Stoner.
ROCK FORGE.
Great Rocks was a tract of fifty acres originally patented to Daniel Dulany on the 5th of April, 1750. The boundary is described as "Beginning at a bounded white oak standing near a spring called the Locust spring on the east side of Great Antietam about a mile from the Temporary Line." This spring is situated a short distance down the creek from the Rock Forge bridge. In 1769 Daniel and Walter Dulany of Annapolis, executors of Daniel Dulany, Sr., sold this tract to Lawrence O'Neal; and sev- eral years later it was purchased by Daniel Hughes.
Below the Locust spring the bank of the creek is quite steep; but the "great rocks" from which the tract derived its name are some distance above. Here the rocks rise precipitously at the southern bank of the creek and for some distance west of the pres- ent channel, which turns to the south at right angles with its former course and passes through a deep and narrow gorge. There is ample evidence that the creek originally described a circle of fully half a mile around the northern front and western slope of the rocky barrier through which it now passes. It is im- possible to account for the immense deposits of sand on the farm
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of William Barkdoll on any other hypothesis; and when the creek overflows the waters still follow the old channel. If this view of the original course of the creek is correct, the gorge through which it passes must have been artificially excavated; and it was doubtless the practicability of such an excavation that attracted the attention of Colonel Hughes. There was probably a natural depression in the rocky barrier at this point, so that the undertak- ing was not so formidable as might appear; and it was further fa- cilitated by the geological formation, which is that of strata in- clined at an angle convenient for the operations of the quarry- man.
While there can be no doubt that Colonel Hughes first de- veloped the property for industrial purposes, the time when this was done is difficult to determine. In 1780 be married Susanna Schlatter and in lieu of dower in his extensive estate executed for her benefit a deed of trust to Samuel Purviance of Baltimore for Poor Robin's Almanac (213 acres), Great Rocks, and The Resurvey on Sarah's Delight ((770 acres) as security for the payment of an annuity of £150 to her in case she survived him. It is certainly highly improbable that Great Rocks would have been included in this deed if it had been the location of a valuable plant. Like the other tracts specified in the deed, it was probably unimproved land.
The earliest positive evidence of the existence of the forge that the writer has discovered occurs in the Maryland Journal, a news- paper publishd at Baltimore. The issue of this paper for March 31, 1786, contains the following advertisement:
To be rented: The Mt. Aetna Furnace, lying in Washington County, State of Maryland, and within six miles of Hagerstown. The ore is of excellent quality, either for bar iron or castings, which, with wood, limestone, and sand, is in great abundance and very conven- ient to the works. The buildings, bellows, gears, etc. are in good repair and the stream of water constant. Pot, stove, and other pat- terns may be had with the furnace, as also meadow ground and land for farming.
The Great Rock Forge is also to be rented; it stands on Antietam creek, within eight miles of the above furnace, has two hammers and four fires, a substantial dam, and considerable head of water. A lease may be given for three or seven years. For terms, apply to Daniel Hughes in Hagerstown.
DANIEL AND SAMUEL HUGHES.
March 23, 1786.
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The old forge was a substantial stone building, one story high, with two stone chimneys as high as the highest trees in the vicinity. It stood on the east side of the creek, opposite the present distillery of Benjamin Shockey and almost directly in front of the present residence of John Furnora, in whose property the site is now embraced. Here there is a narrow strip of meadow, the soil of which consists largely of ashes and other refuse from the old forge. The site of the dam is still plainly indicated by its ruins, which extend across the creek several rods below the present structure. During the period of its operation the plant probably employed a dozen workmen, while several teams were also required. The product* probably consisted principally of bar iron suitable for use by blacksmiths.
In 1805 Colonel Daniel Hughes entered into an agree- ment with Henry Jacobs for the sale of "as much of the tract of land called Balsher's Misfortune as may lie on the north side of the State line and northwest of the Antietam creek, not to include any of the land that the Rock Forge dam formerly covered with water." This reference to the forge is significant. It shows that the dam had sustained ma- terial injury, in consequence of which it is fair to infer that the property was no longer operated. Colonel Hughes was interested in other iron plants, including Mt. Aetna Furnace, the Old Forge in Chewsville District, and Antietam Iron Works at the mouth of the Antietam, and to one of these the machinery was doubtless removed. He still seems to have retained some idea of rehabilitating the property, however; in his will, executed in 1809, he refers to "an iron estate by the name of Mt. Alto Furnace and the Rock Forge," in which his son Samuel held an equal interest with himself. But in 1811 they erected a blomary and forge on East Antietam creek in Franklin County, Pa., and this was oper- ated in connection with the Mt. Alto Furnace. All idea of re-
* Cannon and cannon balls have been found in the debris at the site of the old forge, and it has been supposed that they were manufactured here. The Hugheses made cannon for the Maryland State troops during the Revolution, but so far as can be as- certained this was done at their works at the mouth of the Antietam. At the begin- ning of the century the land between the present course of the creek and its former channel was called Tory island, the origin of which would be difficult to explain as Colonel Hughes was an active and influential patriot. Another interesting story as- sociated with the locality is the tradition of hidden treasure in the caves at the sides of the gorge.
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sumption at Rock Forge was now abandoned. The old stone building fell into decay and each succeeding spring freshet left the dam in worse condition than before. Immense quantities of sand were hauled to Mt. Alto, but otherwise the property received but little attention from the Hugheses. It still possessed advan- tages that were not neglected by the public, however; above the old dam there was a wide, deep pool, and on summer Sundays horses were brought here from all the country around and made to plunge and swim. The old forge dam was sometimes the scene of animated equestrian performances.
In 1840 Holker Hughes sold the property to Samuel Lyday, and with this transfer its modern history begins. Lyday erected a dam at the present site and built the saw-mill; here he did a thriving business in sawing lumber for the United States gun factory at Harper's Ferry, W. Va. The finest walnut timber for miles around was secured for this purpose and entered into the construction of thousands of muskets afterward used in the Mexi- can War. In 1851 Lyday sold the property to Samuel Etnyer, from whom it was purchased by Jacob Tritle in the following year. He sold it in 1857 to John S. Dayhoff, and in his possession it con- tinued until his death in 1876. Dayhoff built the machine shop, foundry, blacksmith shop, etc., and established an implement manufactory of considerable local importance. Grain separators, horse-powers, hay rakes, farm wagons, corn shellers, etc. were made here. In 1874-75 the plant was leased by Samuel Martin and George M. D. Bell. It was purchased in 1877 by Garver, Foltz & Company, who manufactured implements and transacted a general foundry and machine business. In 1882 they removed to Hagerstown and the property was subsequently converted into a distillery, of which the present proprietor is Benjamin Shockey.
DISTILLERIES.
While the mills of the District have always been a prominent feature of its business and manufacturing interests, there was a time when they did not constitute the only local market for grain. Distilling was also a business of considerable importance. In proportion to its bulk whiskey was many times more valuable than flour, and as transportation was expensive and laborious it is not surprising that a large part of the cereal product of the District found its way to market through the still. The profits were also
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large, the plant did not usually involve a large investment of capi- tal, and hence many men were engaged in the business.
The personal property of Robert Downing as appraised in 1755 included "one still, still tubs, barrels and half-barrels," etc. "One brass kettle, one still, and stilling vessels" are also men- tioned in the inventory of Jacob Leiter's personality (1764). At that time and for many years thereafter the still was considered by many farmers a necessary part of farm equipment.
The following is believed to be a complete enumeration of the distilleries of the District: General Thomas Sprigg's, which was operated in a stone building at a spring between the mansion and the turnpike; Thomas Belt's, on the Colebrook farm, now owned by Isaac Shank, where the stone building in which it was oper- ated stands between the house and barn; Michael Wolfinger's, on the Greencastle road at the present residence of Mrs. Catharine Strite; George Shiess's, of which he at one time operated three in Leitersburg District, located on the farms of Franklin M. Strite and Daniel Oller; Lewis Ziegler's, near Leitersburg, on the farm owned by the late David Strite; Joseph Gabby's, near the creek south of the house on the farm of Hiram D. Middlekauff; Fred- erick Ziegler's, on the farm of George F. Ziegler near Leitersburg; Andrew M. Shank's, on the farm of Immanuel and Kate E. Mar- tin; Stephen Martin's, at the residence of Daniel W. Durborow; Fowler & Ziegler's, in succession to John Byer's, on the Antietam west of Leitersburg near the turnpike; Abraham Moyer's, at Bowman's mill; Michael Wolfinger's, on Water street in Leiters- burg; and in recent years Jacob Wishard's on the farm of Free- land W. Anderson and Benjamin Shockey's at Rock Forge.
Frederick Ziegler engaged in the distilling business about 1810. His first distillery was a small one-story building near the large stone mansion on the pike west of Leitersburg, but about the year 1835 he built a stone structure on the opposite side of the road and here he continued the business for some years. This was considered one of the best equipped distilleries in the District at that date. The product was hauled to Frederick, Md., and George- town, D. C., for shipment to the cities, where it was sold through commission merchants and enjoyed a high reputation. Every barrel was branded with the letter "O" between the first and sec- ond hoops.
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The distillery of Fowler & Ziegler (Robert Fowler and Fred- erick K. Ziegler) was the most extensive ever operated in Leiters- burg District. It was originally established by John Byer and William E. Doyle in connection with the former's mill on Antie- tam creek. Fowler & Ziegler purchased the farm, mill, distillery, etc., replaced the old distillery by a substantial stone building equipped with the best appliances known to the business at that time, and supplemented the water power with a twenty horse- power engine. The capacity of the plant was fifty or sixty bushels of grain per day. A considerable quantity of whiskey was stored here during the Civil War, and on one occasion a detachment of Confederate soldiers appropriated sixteen barrels. The operation of the plant was discontinued at the close of the war.
Of the other distilleries mentioned in the foregoing enumera- tion individual treatment is scarcely possible or necessary. So long as the condition of the trade and the character of the revenue laws were favorable they flourished, and the aggregate business they represented was an economic factor of importance. Every nationality represented in the District-German, Scotch, and English-was also represented in the distilling business; and so were all the churches-Lutheran, Reformed, Protestant Episco- pal, Mennonite, Presbyterian. With scarcely an exception the men engaged in it were wealthy, prominent, and influential; but it is simply a statement of fact to assert that the business almost invariably resulted disastrously to their fortunes and their fam- ilies.
TANNERIES, TEXTILE MANUFACTURES, ETC.
A tan-yard is mentioned by Colonel Bouquet as one of the feat- ures of the Longmeadows estate in 1765. This casual notice com- prises all the information now available regarding it. The tan- nery operated by John Byer near Leitersburg was situated di- rectly above his mill and comprised about twenty vats. It is prob- able that this tannery was originally established by Byer, who ac- quired possession of the property in 1813. It was also operated by Samuel Lantz.
Hemp was once an agricultural product of some importance in the District, and the reduction of the fiber to a condition suitable for the spinning-wheel was equally prominent as a branch of local manufacturing. The raw material was first operated upon by a
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cone-shaped buhr, resembling the ordinary grist buhr in its mode of action; it was then "scutched" with an oval-shaped, two-edged, wooden hand-knife, and finally "hackled," the instrument used in the latter process resembling a rake fastened to a bench with the teeth turned upward. At this point the spinning-wheel was brought into requisition to convert the product into thread, from which a variety of fabrics could be woven. There were once two hemp-mills in Leitersburg District. That of John Byer was oper- ated in connection with his grist-mill and by the same water- power. The other was situated on Little Antietam a short dis- tance above the present residence of Levi Hartle.
Another branch of textile manufacture was that pursued by Jacob M. Good on Little Antietam less than half a mile south of Leitersburg near the Smithsburg road and on the farm now owned by Joseph and John B. Barkdoll. This was a carding-mill, operated in a stone building, of which the foundation walls may still be traced. Here the manufacturing process, as in the case of hemp, was preparatory to the spinning-wheel. Good purchased this property from Barnhart B. Light in 1822 and operated it un- til his death. At an earlier date a carding-mill stood on the farm of Curtis Fogler, near the public road that forms the eastern boundary of the District. The power was derived from the stream that flows through this land.
A gun factory was once located on Little Antietam creek, prob- ably where Freeland W. Anderson now lives. Here Frederick Bell, Jr., built a saw-mill and clover-mill. Nails were once manu- factured at a long stone building on the Sprigg estate. About the year 1850 Lewis L. Mentzer conducted the business of coach- making one mile north of Leitersburg near the Ringgold road.
CHAPTER III.
LEITERSBURG.
EARLY HISTORY-THE TOWN PLOT-THE VILLAGE IN 1880- BUSINESS INTERESTS-SECRET SOCIETIES-MUNICIPAL IN- CORPORATION-POPULATION.
THE site of Leitersburg is embraced in The Resurvey on Well Taught, a tract of thirteen hundred acres granted to George Poe in 1754. In 1762 he sold 362 acres to Jacob Leiter, who died in 1764, having devised it to his youngest sons, Jacob and Peter, by whom it was subsequently divided. As the site of the village was convenient to the Leiter residence it was doubtless reduced to cultivation at an early date and apparently promised no advan- tages apart from its value for agricultural purposes. There were no indications of future village growth. The nearest public high- way was the old Nicholson's Gap road, on the opposite side of the Antietam a mile to the west.
Regarded as a sociological phenomenon, the growth of a village is due to the same causes and subject to the same limitations as that of a city. Its population is attracted by the advantages it offers as a place of residence or business. Great cities are usually situated at the sea, on navigable rivers, or at the convergence of important routes of inland travel; public roads are the correspond- ing factor in the growth of a country village. In 1802 the Nich- olson's Gap road was changed to its present location, and in 1807 the road from Greencastle to the South mountain was opened, in- tersecting the former a short distance southeast of Antietam creek. In contemporay legal documents the former is also de- scribed as "the main road from Hagerstown to the Borough of York in Pennsylvania" and the latter as "the road from Green- castle to Baltimore." In 1811 Andrew Leiter purchased from Ja- col) Leiter, his father, the land adjacent to the intersection of these roads, and here in 1815 he laid out the town of Leitersburg.
At that date the immediate vicinity of the village was already well improved. Jacob Leiter had died in 1814. but his family still lived at the log house that stands on the farm of Joseph Bark- doll, a short distance west of the village. Near the Antietam creek on the road to Hagerstown stands a stone mansion, built by
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George Lantz, who died in 1802; in 1815 this was the residence of his son-in-law, Frederick Ziegler. On the opposite side of the creek were the tannery of Captain John Byer and the mill built by Christian Lantz thirty years before. Christian Russell's mill, now owned by Samuel Strite, had been in operation since 1798, and on the opposite side of the Greencastle road lived the family of George Ziegler, while the residences of William and Joseph Gabby were a short distance farther up the creek. In 1803 An- drew Bachman purchased 103 acres of land along the Smithsburg road adjacent to the Leiter lands and here he was engaged in farming and blacksmithing. The first house on the site of the village was a long, one-story stone building, situated at the north- west corner of the public square where the hotel now stands. There can be little doubt that it was built by Andrew Leiter, who resided there in 1812.
THE TOWN PLOT.
The plot of the village shows fifty-three lots, located as follows: Nos. 1 to 14, from the public square to the foot of Water street on the north side; southeast of the square, Nos. 15 to 25 on the north side of the Smithsburg road and Nos. 40 to 50 on the south side; Nos. 33 to 39, southwest from the public square on the west side of the turnpike, and Nos. 51 to 53 on the opposite side; Nos. 26 to 32, northeast of No. 1 on the west side of the turnpike. "The road from Hagerstown towards York," now the turnpike and the main street of the village, is fifty feet wide; the "road from Greencastle towards Baltimore" is sixty feet wide.
The following persons received deeds for lots from Andrew Leiter:
Isaac Clymer, September 15, 1815; No. 28, $90.
Jacob Kessinger, September 16, 1815; Nos. 4, 5, $200; 16, 17, 18, $395; 26, 27, $200.
Lewis Weaver, September 16, 1815; Nos. 7, 29, $174.
Casper Fulk, September 16, 1815; No. 14, $50.
Jacob Houser, September 16, 1815; No. 3. $132. George Kessinger, August 24, 1816; No. 14, $120. Adam Lantz, August 24, 1816; No. 6, $100.
Daniel Lowman, August 24, 1816; No. 26, $100.
John Reynolds, August 25, 1816; No. 19, $110.
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Joseph Gabby, January 11, 1817; No. 39, $50.
Henry Barnhart, January 11, 1817; Nos. 30, 31, $160. John Garvin, May 3, 1817; No. 11, $200. Samuel Myers, October 4, 1817; No. 16, $200.
William Gabby, February 21, 1818; No. 5, $65.
Samuel Houser and John Light, February 21, 1818; No. 2, $200.
George Shiess, April 1, 1818; No. 24, $26.
Henry Shamhart, April 1, 1818; No. 30, $100.
Barnhart B. Light, April 1, 1818; No. 4, $70.
George Kessinger, April 1, 1818; No. 18, $74.
Henry Myer, April 1, 1818; No. 12, $40.
Henry Barnhart, May 13, 1818; No. 1, $900.
Andrew Leiter died in 1818, practically insolvent. He had secured advances from the Hagerstown Bank and The Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Greencastle which he was unable to re- pay, and in the litigation that ensued a number of lots in Leiters- burg were sold at sheriff's sale.
THE VILLAGE IN 1830.
In 1830 Christopher Burkhart conducted a hotel at the present residence of David Barnhart, a substantial two-story stone build- ing. Charles A. Fletcher, merchant, and Adam Lantz, laborer, lived on the opposite side of the street, their residences corre- sponding to the present properties of Joseph Barkdoll and Jacob Creager. Both were one-story log structures. These were the only improvements on the village plot west of the public square; the old Leiter homestead at the extremity of the village was owned by George Poe, blacksmith, and Samuel Leiter, carpenter, lived on the opposite side of the turnpike.
In 1830 Fletcher & Stonebraker's store was located in the sub- stantial brick building at the southeast corner of the square in which Josephus Ground now resides, and John Lahm conducted a hotel at the present residence of Mrs. Charles A. Armour, then a two-story log building. The stone building at the corner of the square in which Andrew Leiter lived in 1812 was still standing and here the Cross Keys Hotel was conducted in 1830. North of this the succession of improvements was as follows: A two-story log building, erected by Daniel Lowman, distiller, and now in-
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corporated in the residence of Mrs. Laura K. Ziegler; a two-story log house in which Isaac Clymer, cooper, resided; a one-story log . house, the residence of Mrs. Kessinger, a widow; a log house one story and a half high, the present residence of Mrs. John Wolf; a two-story log house, the present residence of Mrs. John Har- baugh; a two-story stone house in which Dr. James Johnson lived and which is now the residence of Jacob B. Mentzer.
On the west side of Water street there was a log building a story and a half high, now the residence of Frank Minor. In 1830 this was the cooper shop in which Amos Dilworth made barrels for Lewis Ziegler's distillery. Mrs. Barbara Leiter, widow of the founder of the town, lived in a one-story log house at the present site of Samuel Minor's; Daniel Lowman, distiller, at the present residence of William Johnson, a one-story log house; Siekman, a weaver, at the present residence of Henry Minor, a log house one story and a half high; Daniel Sheetz, post-fence maker, at a two- story log house at the site of Mrs. Lousia Ziegler's present resi- dence; Frey, a weaver, at Hilary Unclesby's present residence, a one-story stone house; Samuel Light, a shoemaker, at the one- story stone house owned by Freeland W. Anderson.
On the south side of the Smithsburg road John Beckman, blacksmith, and Jacob Martz, wagon-maker, occupied the respec- tive residences of Wilfred L. Flory and Upton Bell, and east of the latter was the Lutheran church. James Slick's residence was occupied by John Beaver, a school teacher. Christian Lantz, tan- ner, lived to a one-story log house, now the residence of John Lowman; John Fry, a weaver, whose family was remarkable for height, at the present residence of William Shiess. On the oppo- site side of the street the improvements in 1830 included a log house a story and a half high now incorporated in the residence of Dr. Charles W. Harper; the present residence of Mrs. Catherine Rohrer, a one-story log house; Joseph Leiter's residence, directly opposite the Lutheran church; the residences of Mrs. Ann Leiter and Elizabeth Repp, both log houses a story and a half high; the former was the residence of the late Samuel McDowell and in the latter Daniel J. D. Hicks now lives.
It is evident from the preceding enumeration that the village was composed almost entirely of log houses in 1830. The only brick building was the present residence of Josephus Ground;
.
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there were five stone buildings: the church, Burkhart's hotel, Dr. Johnson's residence, and two small houses on Water street. It is also evident that very few of the houses that constituted the village in 1830 have been removed, although, without exception, they have been enlarged and remodelled until the original struct- ures would no longer be recognized.
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