USA > Maryland > Montgomery County > The history of Montgomery county, Maryland, from its earliest settlement in 1650 to 1879 > Part 9
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The land at one time belonged to the Benson family, but about 1804 was sold to Zachariah McCubbin, from whom Mr. Clopper purchased it. Other tracts were bought from other parties at a later date. The original foundation of the mill is not known. One was standing in 1812 upon the site of the present saw-mill.
His public spirit was a prominent feature of Mr. Clopper's character,-always interested in some project for the advance- ment of the County.
The last twenty years of his life were expended, almost entirely, in efforts to procure the construction of a railroad through the County. At one time in the organization of the original Metropolitan Railroad Company, and when that failed in the business depression of 1857, he called the attention of
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
the President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to the advan- tages of the route to his company, and procured a reconoissance to be made, and a report, which later were followed up by the construction of the road.
Mrs. Clopper died in 1865, after a married life of fifty-four years, and Mr. Clopper in 1868,-the desire of his life, to see the Metropolitan Railroad completed, unsatisfied.
WILLIAM WILSON was born on the tract of land known as " Wilson's Inheritance," near the division line between Montgo- mery and Frederick Connties, on the left of the present road from Hyattstown to Barnesville. The tract is now owned by the Hershey family, John Sellman, and others. Jonathan Wil- son, the grandfather of William, became the owner of this tract over one hundred years ago, was a member of the State Legislature when the County was first formed. He was a man of powerful constitution and lived to be ninety-eight years old; his death, at that age, resulting from accident.
He was a man of much intelligence, energy of character, and influence. His only son, John, inherited the estate, and lived in the house now ocenpied by Mr. C. R. Hershey. He also lived to an advanced age, ninety-three.
John had four sons, and a daughter who married Dr. Ma- gruder, and became the mother of the late Dr. William B. Magruder, near Brookeville, and of other children-ten in all- whose descendants are numerous and widely scattered.
The eldest, John, lived and died on the paternal acres, a highly esteemed gentleman of the olden times, and a bachelor. He died in 1849, aged eighty-nine.
The second son, Thomas P., settled in Rockville, was for many years a prominent merchant there, and died at that place about the year 1832. His descendants are now living in Fred- erick City and County.
The fourth son, Charles, lived for many years in Medley's District, first as a merchant at Poolesville, then on a farm which he purchased, not far from the mouth of the Monocacy-the farm is now owned by the White family-and finally removed to the southern part of Kentucky, where he died. His descend- ants are to be found in Tennessee, Virginia, and Baltimore County of this State.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
The third, William, very early in life, engaged in merchan- dising in Clarksburg, and continued the business uninterrupt- edly at the same stand for about forty-five years-dying in 1859, at the age of eighty-three. He married the eldest daughter of John Clark, one of the oldest residents of the village, (which was named after him,) and to his business, on his death, he succeeded.
Mr. LEONIDAS WILSON, his son, is still living, and resides in Clarksburg, and has accumulated a considerable fortune.
The Hon. THOMAS LANSDALE was born in this County in 1SOS. He was extensively engaged in mechanical operations for a number of years, and invented the first wood planing machine, and the metallic yoke for swing bells. In 1842, he became interested in the Triadelphia Mills, remaining five years, when he took charge of the Granite Factory at Ellicott's Mills, where he remained ten years. He was the first to introduce steam into a factory for heating purposes. In 1856, he returned to Triadephia, and by his enterprise and energy succeeded in making it a thriving village containing four hundred inhabi- tants, with a large three story stone Cotton Factory, Saw, Plaster, Bone and Grist Mills, Stone and Mechanical Shops. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1864, and was elected to the Senate 1865. He died in 1878, universally respected by the large circle of operatives, business men and politicians, with whom he was associated, while he lived in the confidence and esteem of his friends and neighbors.
JOHN THOMAS, who sixty years ago lived about six miles from Triadelphia, near Green's Bridge over the Patuxent, estab- lished an interesting industry for the collection of pine sap from the pine trees in the adjacent forests. This was done by removing a small chip from the foot of the tree, near the root, the opening thus made would receive the falling sap, which was gathered in the morning, taken to Mr. Thomas, who paid ten cents an ounce for it; the revenue derived from this sonree was not sufficient to meet the expectations of the projector, and it was abandoned; and the ancient Sap Tappers of the Patuxent is a tradition of the past.
Dr. RICHARD WATERS, of revolutionary fame, was born about 1760, and served as a Surgeon in the war for indepen- dence, and was noted for his skill as a surgeon as well as a
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
practising physician. After the close of the War, he purchased a large estate called "Spring Garden," on the road leading from Goshen to Gaithersburg, and the road from Mechanicsville to Clarksburg. Dr. Waters was born in Prince George's County, where he married Miss Margaret Smith, by whom he had sev- eral children. His son Richard was a prominent man in the County, and held the office of Sheriff, while his brother Som- erset was a prominent Commission Merchant of Baltimore, and served a long time as Tobacco Inspector.
JOHN S. BELT, a Justice of the Peace, of Clarksburg, mar- ried a grand-daughter of Dr. Waters. Mr. Belt is a young and efficient Magistrate, and takes a lively interest in the improve- ment of the social, intellectual and agricultural advancement of the County. He is Treasurer of the Clarksburg Literary Asso- ciation, of which he is an active and efficient member. He is also extensively engaged in the fertilizing business, and his farm gives ample evidence of the benefits derived from skilful culti- vation. He has recently planted an extensive orchard, contain- ing choice varieties of fruit.
Hon. RICHARD WATERS, son of Dr. Richard Waters, of revolutionary fame, was born December 19th, 1794, on the old homestead, "Spring Garden," and at an early age took an active interest in the politics of the County. In his canvass for the legislative assembly, he found a great many young men who could neither read nor write, and, on investigation, he discov- ered that the money appropriated by the State for paying the tuition of those whose parents were unable to pay for the schooling of their children, was often used by the board of trustees, as they were called, in paying for children whose parents were able to pay, but their political influence was such as to enable them to divert the moneys intended for the instrue- tion of the poor, to the payment of the education of their own children.
This led Mr. Waters to make a spirited canvass of the County, and he was elected to the Legislature by an overwhelming majority. One of his first efforts in the legislative assembly was for a change in the old system of school education, and he succeeded in having a bill passed for Public School Education in the State of Maryland, that resulted in the abolishment of the old system and inaugurated a new era in the education of
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
the people. It was the initial movement, which has, by im- provement, resulted in the present School System.
He was re-elected for a second term, and filled the position with honor, both to himself and his constituents. He is still living, and is about eighty-five years old. He has four sons and one daughter living.
His son Lemuel is an eminent divine in the Missouri Confer- ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
William is the Agent of the Adams Express Company, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Somerset is a Physician of large practice in Carroll County, and has served in the Legislature several terms from that County.
George still resides in the County, near the old ancestral acres, and has occupied several public offices of trust in the County.
Rebecca, the daughter, married Jesse T. Higgins, of this County, formerly a prominent merchant of Poolesville, and now a merchant of Baltimore.
The following names of citizens and families of the County are worthy of record, and of being handed down to posterity and honorable recollection, William Darne, Dr. S. N. C. White, William Pool, Abraham S. Hayes, William Bennett, Brook Jones, Joseph I. Johnson, Nathan Hempston, Jacob Nicholls, Horatio Trundle, Hezekiah Trundle, Richard Harding, Williain Trail, Thos. C. Lannan, Rev. Thos. W. Green, Dr. Horatio Wilson, Rev. Basil Barry, the Fletchers, Dawsons, Platers, Whites, Waters, Darbys, Gittings, Gotts, Glaizes, Kings, Purdums, Gaithers, Gues, Browns, Bensons, Brewers, Gassa- ways, Pooles, Neills, Huttons, Riggs, Qwens, Gartrells, Perrys, Bealls, Dorseys.
CHAPTER XV.
Boundaries of the County. Building Stone. Roofing Slate. Gold. Chrome. Quantity of Land and its Value. Number of Horses and other Cattle. Farm Productions for 1878. Intel- lectual, Social and Agricultural Institutions. Population from 1790 to 1870. Society of Friends. Improvements at the close of the Internecine War. Influence of the Metropolitan Rail- road.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY is bounded on the south-west by Vir- ginia, from which it is separated by the Potomac River. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal runs along the whole south-western boundary, following the banks of the Potomac River from Georgetown to the mouth of the Monocacy. On the north-west by Frederick County, being divided from it by a line running from the mouth of Monocacy to Parr's Spring, on the Patuxent River. On the north-east by Howard County, from which it is separated by the Patuxent River. On the south-east by Prince . George's County, and south by the District of Columbia.
A red sandstone is found on the Potomac, near Seneca Creek, and is known as the "Seneca Stone," and has been extensively used in the District of Columbia,-the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, and many other buildings, both public and pri- vate, being built from these quarries.
A blue stone, of a bright color, and in every respect equal to granite, is now being quarried on the Potomac River. The new Georgetown College has been built from this stone, which can be cut and finished into any shape; and, as a building stone, for durability and beauty, has no equal in this section of the country. It is also extensively used for foundation and paving purposes, giving universal satisfaction.
Roofing slate is obtained in the vicinity of Hyattstown, and is in extensive demand.
Gold is found in sufficient quantities, near the Great Falls of the Potomac, to attract the attention of capitalists, who are
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
organizing for the successful operation of the mines, with a favorable prospect of success. A manufacturing jeweler, and his son, of Washington, make weekly excursions to the locality, and in the small streams of water, pick up sufficient ore in a few hours, in small lumps, ranging in size from a marble to that of an egg, which, upon smelting, will yield from eight to ten dollars worth of pure gold.
Chrome is also to be found in considerable quantities in dif- ferent sections of the County.
Montgomery County contains two hundred and forty-two thousand three hundred and fifty-six acres, as follows: Im- proved-one hundred and sixty-two thousand one hundred and forty-three acres. Woodland-sixty-three thousand six hundred and sixty-six acres. Other unimproved land-sixteen thousand five hundred and forty-seven acres. Present cash value: Farmns-five millions four hundred and eighty thousand five hundred and seventy-five dollars. Farming implements and machinery-three hundred thousand dollars. Annual amount of wages, including board-five hundred thousand dollars. Total amount of all farm productions, including improvements and additions to stock-two million dollars. Value of all live stock-one million of dollars. Number of horses-five thous- and three hundred and sixty-four. Mules-four hundred. Milch cows-five thousand two hundred and twelve. Oxen- six hundred. Other cattle-five thousand. Sheep-six thous- and nine hundred. Swine-fourteen thousand. Production of Wheat for the past year-three hundred and ten thousand bushels. Rye-thirty thousand. Corn-six hundred and forty thousand. Oats-one hundred and seventy-five thousand. Buckwheat-one thousand. Tobacco-six hundred and fifty thousand pounds. Wool-twenty thousand pounds. Pota- toes-two hundred thousand bushels. Butter-two hundred and ten thousand pounds. Hay-thirteen thousand tons. Honey-three thousand four hundred and fifty pounds.
Among the Institutions which have rendered Montgomery County conspicuous for intellectual culture, and social and agri- cultural progress, are the
MONTGOMERY COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, organ- ized in 1844. John C. Peter was the first President; A. B. Davis,
S
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
second; Robert P. Dunlap, third; Joseph H. Bradley, fourth; Elisha J. Hall, fifth; and John H. Gassaway, the present.
THE MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY of Montgomery County was chartered in 1848, with fifty thousand dollars worth of insurance. It has insured about nineteen million dol- lars worth of property during the thirty years of its existence, and has paid out for losses, by fire, over four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. They now hold policies of insurance on nearly fourteen million dollars worth of property; its operation extending to every County in the State. Robert R. Moore has served the Company as Secretary and Treasurer, from the beginning to the present time.
The ROCKVILLE MUTUAL BUILDING ASSOCIATION, the first institution of the kind in the County, was chartered in March, 1873.
CIRCULATING LIBRARIES are at Brookeville, Sandy Springs, Rockville, Poolesville and Darnestown.
The BROOKEVILLE, ROCKVILLE and DARNESTOWN ACAD- EMIES, are long established Institutions; also, the ROCKLAND SEMINARY, at Sandy Springs.
The Montgomery County Branch of the Prisoners' Aid Society. The Farmers' Club, of Sandy Springs; the Enterprise Farm- ers' Club; the Montgomery Farmers' Club; the Sandy Springs Lyceum; the Horticultural Society; the Home Interest Society and Young Folks' Sociable,-all of Sandy Springs.
The SANDY SPRINGS SAVINGS BANK was chartered in 1868, and has over eighty thousand dollars on deposit, largely from the laboring class. There are twenty-six Directors, who are among the most prominent and responsible citizens of the County. The funds of the Institution have been so well man- aged, and invested, that the Bank, after paying all expenses, has annually paid to its depositors six per cent. on their deposits, reserving a surplus to meet contingencies. Caleb Stabler, President, B. Rush Roberts, Treasurer, aud Allen Far- quhar, Secretary.
Conspicuous in the work of intellectual, social and agrienl- tural organization and development, are the GRANGERS of the County. They have thriving Lodges at Bethesda, Barnesville, Brighton, Damascus, Darnestown, Gaithersburg, Great Falls, Olney, Hyattstown and Liberty Grove.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
The CLARKSBURG LITERARY ASSOCIATION, established in 1879, C. R. Murphy, President, William R. Windsor, Vice- President, John S. Belt, Treasurer, T. H. S. Boyd, Correspond- ing Secretary, and Thos. A. Burdette, Recording Secretary.
Montgomery County has witnessed three phases of civiliza- tion since the early settlements.
First, were the old Tobacco Planters, with their baronial estates and armies of slaves. They felled the native forests, and planted the virgin soil in tobacco and Indian corn. This did very well so long as there was timber for the axe, and new land for the hoe; and these old lords of manors were happy; they feasted, and frolicked and fox hunted, and made the most of life; those days are known as "the good old times."
In less than a century after this system of denuding and exhaustion began, there were no more forests to clear, and no more new land to till. Then succeeded the period of old fields, decaying worm fenees, and mouldering homesteads. This sad condition of the County had reached its climax about the year 1840, the population of the County having steadily diminished from 1790, when it was eighteen thousand, down to fifteen thousand, when it was at its minimum, in this year, as will be seen by examining the census of the County.
POPULATION OF THE COUNTY.
WHITE.
COLORED.
TOTAL.
1790.
11,679
. 6,324
18,003
1800.
8,508
6,550
. 15,058
1810.
9,731
8,249
17,980
1820.
9,082
.7,318
.16,400
1830.
12,103
7,713.
19,816
1840.
8,766
6,690
15,456
1850.
9,435
. 6,425
15,860
1860.
11,349
6,973
18,322
1870.
13,128
7,434
20,563
From 1790, there was a constant stream of emigration from the County, some going to the cotton fields of the South, but most to the fertile new lands of the West, including Kentucky and Missouri. Few of the enterprising young men settled on their fathers' farms.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
The land would no longer yield an increase, and they made no attempt at renovating and improving the soil, and Mont- gomery lands became a synonym for poverty. The lands bor- dering the Rockville and Georgetown Turnpike, the then only paved road in the County, were with the exception of Robert Dick's, and one or two other farms, but a succession of unin- closed old fields. This was not universally the fact. The red lands of Medley's, and those around Brookeville, and in the Friends' Settlement at Sandy Springs, and on the Hawlings' River, with an occasional farm in other sections, had retained comparative fertility.
This emigration was not however in vain; it added strength and intelligence to the movement, which from the first settle- Inent of the County, has ever been in progress from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and furnished representative men to other States.
The LAMARS of the South, who now have a representative in the United States Senate, and the grandfather of Thomas Benton, of Missouri, were from this County.
The late Senators, EDWARDS, of Illinois, with DAVIS and PROCTOR KNOTT, of Kentucky, besides a host of others who have filled distinguished positions at the bar, on the bench, and in every representative capacity throughout the Western States, were natives of this County.
The SOCIETY of FRIENDS, in the vicinity of Sandy Springs, who formed their settlement in the course of the decade pre- ceding and following the middle of the eighteenth century, and who at every period of the history of the County have done so much to promote the material development and intellectual advancement of the County, first abandoned this destructive system of cultivation during the last quarter of the past century, induced thereto, by the change then made in the character of their labor.
The same society about 1845, introduced in this County the . old Chincha Island, Peruvian Guano, the effect of which was magical. As soon as the people became aware that by the application of this new fertilizer to their old worn out lands, they could be made to produce remunerative crops of cereals and grasses; then they turned to their cultivation with the wonted energy of the race. This industry was greatly promoted by
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
the Crimean war, which caused a material enhancement in the prices of all kinds of farm products.
From this epoch the cereal growing period may be dated- old buildings were renovated and repaired, while new buildings, and handsome residences, replete with modern improvements, took the place of the old tumble down, moss-covered, and worm-eaten cot of the past. New post and rail fences, with improved gates, replaced the old worm and picket fence, and the fields teemed with bountiful harvests. The decade from 1850 to 1860, was one of universal prosperity to the people of the County. Towns and villages sprung up, stores were estab- lished at cross roads, while internal improvements were progress- ing in all parts of the County.
Then came the dark spectre of Internecine War between the ยท sections of the country, with its fair possessions filled with bit- ter dissensions and sectional differences, with all their blighting and devastating horrors. Again the young men sought the tented field, and the business of farming was, in many locali- ties, suspended. Houses and fences were destroyed, and farms laid waste, by the marching aud counter-marching of armies and the general ravages of war. Slavery was abolished during the war, and at its close the third era, or free labor period, was entered upon by the people.
The young men returned to their homes, with muscles hard- ened and energies quickened by their martial experience. They accepted with cheerfulness the new order of things, and fully alive to the kindly properties of their native soil, and acquainted with the means of rendering it productive, went to work with a will, and since that time every vestige of that unfortunate struggle has been effaced; and now, with a larger and increas- ing population, the people are making rapid strides towards an advanced state of enlightenment and material prosperity. Fine and imposing buildings are being erected, with beautiful lawns and gardens attached. Magnificent and substantial churches have taken the place of the old log meeting-houses, and are more numerous and largely attended. School houses, of supe- rior construction, have greatly multiplied, and the school sys- tem inore thorough and efficient than any which preceded it. The roads have been increased and improved, while handsome and substantial bridges span the creeks and water-courses,
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
facilitating travel and transportation. The old fields have all been reclaimed, and under improved fencing, are yielding hand- some returns to their owners.
The opening of the METROPOLITAN RAILROAD has exerted a marked influence upon the material improvement and pros- perity of the County. Over half a million of dollars annually has been expended by the people in the purchase of lime, bone, phosphates and other fertilizers of a like character, resulting in the production of from eighteen to fifty bushels of wheat, and from thirty to sixty bushels of corn to the acre, giving employ- ment to over thirty Mills, located on the various branches and streams in the County, several of which are Merchant Mills. Besides this, a large amount of grain is anually exported to Georgetown and Baltimore.
Market gardening and fruit growing are becoming extensive industries, and can nowhere else be more successfully prose- cuted, the soil yielding abundantly, and of the best quality, all the vegetables and fruits commou to a temperate climate.
The cultivation of the grape for the manufacture of wine is also growing into quite a business, and cannot fail to eventually prove successful, as this County is the home of many varieties of the wild grape, and the native soil of the Catawba. These various industries combined with the energy and enterprise of the people, must soon place the County in the foremost rank of Agricultural progress. The local advantages of this County are numerous, especially is this so, as regards the numerous rivers, streams and creeks that traverse every portion of the County, affording ample facilities for water-power, which, in the future, will be sure to promote and accelerate the march of improvement. The Great Falls on the Potomac is the largest available water-power in the world, and with its development and utilization for manufacturing purposes, can- not fail to eventuate in the growth of a considerable manufac- turing town at that point.
The commercial importance of Baltimore, connected as it is with this County by the Baltimore and Ohio and Metropolitan Railroads, must exert a strong influence in the future progress and improvements of the County, being the great market from whence are drawn the supplies of Merchandise, Agricultural
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Implements, Fertilizers, etc., demanded for the use and benefit of the County.
But above all, the influence of the National Capital which over-shadows but to bless this favored section of the land, must, in the near future, make this County all that its most sanguine people could wish or hope. Already many per- sons of distinction and wealth, whose business or inclination attracts them to Washington, are seeking sites for country villas or suburban residences.
PRESENT OFFICERS OF THE COUNTY.
Chief Judge .. Hon. RICHARD J. BOWIE.
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