Celebration set for preservation of farm that might include Camp Security

(YDR) A celebration for the preservation of a farm where historians believe a Revolutionary War prison camp once stood will be held Wednesday in Springettsbury Township.
The Conservation Fund bought the 116-acre Rowe farm off Locust Grove Road in Springettsbury Township. The property was transferred to the township late last week, township supervisor Bill Schenck said Monday.
The farm surrounds the Schultz House, owned by Historic York, and is adjacent to a parcel owned by developer Tim Pasch. Historians believe part of Camp Security lies on Pasch's property as well, and his plans to build houses on it has sparked controversy. A limited archeological dig in 1979 revealed artifacts, such as pottery shards, buttons and gold coins. Continued

Queen Bee of the Confederacy

(NYTimes) When I first encountered Mary Chesnut as a starting point for exploring the American Civil War while an undergraduate at Harvard, I could not have been more fortunate. She provided a riveting antidote to the “fiddle-dee-dee” school of southern womanhood on which I had been weaned as a teenager in the 1960s. Although Scarlett O’Hara was a beguiling screen heroine, Mary Boykin Chesnut was a flesh and blood Rebel, whose wartime scribbling brought to life intimate and important aspects of southern culture. Since its publication in 1905, Chesnut’s diary has become compelling reading. Continued

A Harford family gets caught in the Johnstown Flood

... Toward the latter part of May, Mr. Day, in company with his daughter Grace, left home for the purpose of visiting Mr. Henry Robinson and family, at Saltsburg, Indiana County, Pa., they being old friends of the family. They reached their destination in safety, and after a pleasant visit, started to return on the 31st of May. It had been raining incessantly for twenty-four hours, and the streams were all greatly swollen. They boarded the Day Express at Blairsville Intersection and proceeded as far as Johnstown. Here the streams were found to be so high and rapidly rising that the train was brought to a halt a short distance east of the Johnstown station. Washouts were reported ahead, and it was not deemed safe to proceed. Here the train stood on the track from 10 A. M. to 4 P. M., when the mighty volume of water from the broken dam came rushing down the valley with irresistible force and overwhelmed them in the twinkling of an eye.

Before the avalanche of waters came, the passengers had manifested great uneasiness, and many left the train and clambered up the side of the mountain and escaped. Mr. Day is reported by the survivors to have shown great calmness while they were lying on the track, and comforted them with the assurance that there was no danger. Mrs. Towne, of Washington, D. C, was on the ill-fated train, and was in conversation with Mr. Day while they were waiting at East Conemaugh. She afterwards wrote of the affair as follows: "I talked much with them. Grace looked pale and nervous, not with fear, but with anxiety about her mother, knowing she would expect them that day. Mr. Day was calm and feared nothing except delay. We were some hours there together. The bursting of the dam was talked about by the passengers. Mr. Day said the Pennsylvania Railroad would not leave them there if there was danger. I proposed that they should join me and we would go to some house on the hill till next day; he said no, but that he would assist me if I so desired to go. Grace thought they had better go, yet if there was a possibility of getting on home she would like so much not to disappoint her mother. Just then the shrill shriek of a steam whistle startled me, and I sprang to my feet exclaiming: 'What does that mean ?' ' It means,' replied Mr. Day, 'that we shall move on.' But seeing people running as if in danger, I sprang out of the car alone and ran towards the hill with the crowd. The first time I looked back the place was swallowed up, and I very likely heard his last words, ' It means we shall move on.' Poor man, he little thought it meant to eternity!"

Others say that when the whistle blew the danger signal, Mr. Day came out on the platform of the car, and seeing the mighty torrent bearing down on them, turned back for his daughter. She divined the danger, and exclaiming, " Oh Pa!" rushed after him. He seized her in his arms and tried to cross to the hillside, but she fainted and fell in the torrent. He quickly threw his coat off and tried to save her, but in a moment they were engulfed and lost!

The body of Grace was found next day near the railroad station, but as there was no one there to identify her, it was soon buried and the grave marked. In the meantime Mr. Robinson came from Saltsburg and had the grave opened, when he identified Grace, and had her remains sent to his home. Mrs. Day, the wife and mother, had supper waiting for them that night, but they came not. The table sat as it had been prepared, all night, and as time passed her anxiety increased. Still no tidings. Rumors of a great disaster flew thick and fast. Finally hope fled and she resolved on sending
some one to search for their bodies. She called for her brother Morris McGinness and begged of him to proceed to Johnstown and make a search for the lost. He made hurried preparations for the journey, but owing to the broken condition of the Pennsylvania Railroad he was compelled to take the Baltimore and Ohio, and go via Washington and Cumberland, which made the journey much longer. He reached Johnstown in due season, when he soon learned that the body of his niece had been found and taken to Saltsburg, whither he proceeded with all possible dispatch. Here he had the remains placed in a casket and shipped home by express via New York and Philadelphia.

The sad affair caused a great excitement, and it is estimated that fully one thousand persons attended her funeral. Miss Day was a young lady of excellent standing in the community, and numbered her friends by the hundred. She was a favorite among her associates, an active worker in the Church and Sunday School, and possessed a lovely Christian character that shone with a resplendent lustre wherever she appeared. Cut off in the purity and bloom of her young womanhood, under the most distressing and appalling circumstances, it is no wonder that her sad fate has been the cause of so much sorrow, and that her memory is so fondly cherished by her friends.
The following poetic tribute by Caroline L. Love, a friend and associate, is as touching as it is beautiful and appropriate:

Mysterious Death ! Thy ways are dark,
No human eye can pierce thy gloom ; Thy shaft has struck a shining mark
In womanhood's full and vigorous bloom.
Why death should strike this dreadful blow
Is not to us made clear and plain ; Save Death, she had no other foe,—
God's acts, we know, are not in vain.

Her womanly form and pleasant face On earth we cannot meet again ;
Who, let us ask, will fill the place She nobly tilled without a stain.
'Twas not in springtime's joyous hours,
Nor when the winter winds were high, But in the summer month of flowers, 'T was then the hand of Death too soon Conveyed this loved one to the tomb. - Prospect, Md.

Her watch, chain and ring were found, identified and returned, and are now preserved by her mother as sacred souvenirs of an only daughter who perished in the greatest calamity of the age.

While at Johnstown Mr. Morris McGinness made diligent search for the body of Mr. Day, but finding no trace, he was compelled to return home without it. Months passed away, and all hopes of finding the remains were about abandoned, when, in November following, another rise occurred in the river and a number of bodies were washed out of the sand near the Company store. Mr. Robinson was called on again and assisted in identifying the remains of Mr. Day. His shirt, on being shown to his wife, was identified as her work, on account of the peculiarity of the stitching. And the clothier who had sold him a suit also identified the goods, so that there could be no mistake about the remains being those of Mr. Day. From the location of the place where the November flood disinterred the body, Mr. McGinness thinks that he must have walked over the spot many times when he was searching for it in June, five months before it was found. The body was buried under a great sand and gravel bar, and when found the coat was missing, showing that he had thrown it off in his desperate efforts to save his daughter. The remains were taken home to Prospect, Md., and buried by the side of his daughter. The widow, bereft of husband and children, has caused a beautiful monument to be erected over their graves as a last tribute of her love and affection, and the memories of her loved and lost will always remain green in her heart.

" There is no death, 'tis but a change,
From life to life more bright, And through eternity's vast range We soar to higher light."

It is truly said that misfortunes scarcely ever come singly. Mrs. Day, the sorrowing wife and mother, met with a remarkable accident on the 12th of May, 1891, at her home at Prospect, Maryland. She was pumping water from a well at the barn. An insecure board gave way beneath her feet and she was precipitated to the bottom of the well, a distance of fifty-eight feet! Fortunately she was not stunned by the fall, and immediately realizing that no one knew of her plight, she at once began to climb upward, and succeeded in reaching the top of the well with the aid of the pump stock as a brace to rest her back against. At this point her cries were heard, and help appeared at once, when she was rescued from her perilous position. She was found not seriously injured, with the exception of some severe bruises and a deep gash on one of her limbs. Her escape from death was a narrow one; and few persons, under the same conditions, would have succeeded in reaching the top of the well, when its great depth is considered, as quickly as she did.

(From Origin and history of the Magennis family: with sketches of the Keylor, Swisher, Marchbank, and Bryan families Heller Brothers Printing Co., 1891)

Walt Whitman

(LoC) Walt Whitman, American poet, journalist, and essayist, was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, New York. His verse collection Leaves of Grass is a landmark in the history of American literature.
Whitman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and at age twelve began to learn the printing trade. Over time he moved from printing to teaching to journalism, becoming the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1846. He began experimenting with a new form of poetry, revolutionary at the time, free of a regular rhythm or rhyme scheme that has come to be known as free verse. In 1855, Whitman published, anonymously and at his own expense, the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Revolutionary too was the content of his poems celebrating the human body and the common man. Whitman would spend the rest of his life revising and enlarging Leaves of Grass; the ninth edition appeared in 1892, the year of his death. Continued

Photo: Walt Whitman & his rebel soldier friend Pete Doyle, Washington, D.C., 1865 (Library of Congress).

Memorial Day

(LoC) In 1868, Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic issued General Order Number 11 designating May 30 as a memorial day "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land."
The first national celebration of the holiday took place May 30, 1868, at Arlington National Cemetery, where both Confederate and Union soldiers were buried. Originally known as Decoration Day, at the turn of the century it was designated as Memorial Day. In many American towns, the day is celebrated with a parade.
Southern women decorated the graves of soldiers even before the Civil War's end. Records show that by 1865, Mississippi, Virginia, and South Carolina all had precedents for Memorial Day. Songs in the Duke University collection Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 include hymns published in the South such as these two from 1867: "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping," dedicated to "The Ladies of the South Who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead " and "Memorial Flowers," dedicated "To the Memory of Our Dead Heroes." Continued

Old-Time Stuff Is Not Forgotten

(NYTimes) ... the History channel has two big-ticket specials timed to Memorial Day: “Gettysburg,” on Monday, which relates the story of that battle by telling, in graphic detail, the stories of eight participants, and “Lee & Grant,” on Tuesday. “Lee & Grant” sticks with the familiar template to illuminate the decisions of those two generals, who — evidence of the hazards of working this oft-visited territory — were recently given the same treatment by PBS’s “American Experience” series. But both History and PBS have also found a different path into the Civil War, via series they already had up and running. Continued

Photo: "Civil War soldiers in action," John Goldin & Co., photographer, 1864 (Library of Congress).

Robert H. Sayre; An Industrial Pioneer

(WFMZ) Ask just about anyone who the father of Bethlehem Steel was and most would name those two 20th century titans of industry, Charles Schwab and Eugene Grace. Ask who the father of Lehigh University was and the reply will surely be Asa Packer.
But it would be the rare person who will know that without Robert H. Sayre, none of these institutions, one gone, the other flourishing, would have survived at all. Perhaps it is about time Sayre be given his chance to take a discreet historical bow. Continued

A visit to Red Lion's last cigar factory

(Firecured) I took a ride up to Red Lion yesterday to visit the last cigar factory in town before it was to be auctioned off, later that day. The place was a real museum piece, covering decade upon decade of cigar history. The local papers called it "the end of an era," though, in reality, the era had passed long ago. Continued

1738: Conojocular War ends

(Wikipedia) Cresap's War (also known as the Conojocular War — from the Conejohela Valley where it was located (mainly) along the south bank was a border conflict between Pennsylvania and Maryland, fought in the 1730s. Hostilities erupted in 1730 with a series of violent incidents prompted by disputes over property rights and law enforcement, and escalated through the first half of the decade, culminating in the deployment of military forces by Maryland in 1736 and by Pennsylvania in 1737. The armed phase of the conflict ended in May 1738 with the intervention of King George II, who compelled the negotiation of a cease-fire. A final settlement was not achieved until 1767 when the Mason-Dixon Line was recognized as the permanent boundary between the two colonies. Continued

Pennsylvania-born Confederate major describes the fight at Hanover

(Cannonball) Major Henry Brainerd McClellan (1840-1904) served on the staff of famed Confederate cavalry general J.E.B. Stuart during the Civil War. He was a first cousin of controversial Union general and 1864 Democratic presidential nominee George B. McClellan. Major McClellan, a 23-year-old Philadelphian whose brother was a Union staff officer, rode with Stuart through York County, Pennsylvania, during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign.
He left a brief account of the Battle of Hanover and the subsequent ride through the countryside through Dover to Carlisle. McClellan was one of a handful of Pennsylvania-born Confederate officers to return to their native state during the Gettysburg Campaign.
The following excerpt comes from McClellan's post-war book The Life and Campaigns of Major-General J.E.B. Stuart (Boston, Mass.: 1885). Continued

Photo:americancivilwar.com

Aldersgate Day

(Wikipedia) Aldersgate Day is a holiday celebrated by Methodists on May 24 to commemorate the day in 1738 when John Wesley experienced his conversion in a meeting room in Aldersgate Street, London. Continued

Photo: Darlington United Methodist Church, Harford County, Maryland.

World Turtle Day

(Wikipedia) The purpose of World Turtle Day, May 23, sponsored yearly since 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, is to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.
Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways, from dressing up as turtles to saving turtles caught on highways, to research activities. Continued

The Death of Martha Washington

(LoC) On May 22, 1802, the first of first ladies, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington died of a severe fever. When she married George Washington in January 1759, she was twenty-seven years old and a widowed mother of two. She was also one of the wealthiest women in Virginia, having inherited some 15,000 acres of farmland from her deceased husband, Daniel Parke Custis.
A prosperous farmer himself, George Washington ably took over the Custis estate, but moved Martha and his newly-adopted stepchildren Martha ("Patsy") and John Parke ("Jacky") to his own home, Mount Vernon, outside Alexandria, Virginia. There, the couple delighted in raising their children (though Patsy died of an epileptic seizure in 1773 at the age of seventeen, while Jacky died of camp fever during the Revolution in 1781) and entertaining Virginia society. It is estimated that between 1768 and 1775 over 2,000 guests visited the Washingtons, some staying for extended periods. Continued

The Great Disappointment

(Wikipedia) The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. William Miller, a Baptist preacher, proposed based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel (Chapters 8 and 9, especially Dan. 8:14 "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed"), that Jesus Christ would return to the earth during the year 1844. A more specific date, that of October 22, 1844, was preached by Samuel S. Snow. Thousands of followers, some of whom had given away all of their possessions, waited expectantly. When Jesus did not appear, October 22, 1844 became known as the Great Disappointment. Continued

Photo: A playful caricature of a Millerite, an adherent of the Adventist preacher William Miller who predicted that the world would end on April 23, 1844. The man sits in a large safe labeled "Patent Fire Proof Chest," stocked with a ham, a fan (hanging on the door of the safe), cheese, brandy, cigars, ice, a hat, and a small book marked "Miller." As he thumbs his nose, he says "Now let it come! I'm ready." The "salamander safe," probably a trade name of the period, is named after the animal mythically reputed to have the ability to endure fire (and, presumably, the holocaust) without harm. (Library of Congress)

Chautauqua 2011: The American Civil War – A House Divided

(RoDP) As a border state, Maryland played a critical role in the Civil War, and beginning in 2011, the Maryland Humanities Council (MHC), regional historic sites, museums and other cultural organizations throughout the state will be observing the Civil War Sesquicentennial.
As part of this remembrance, MHC’s 2011 Chautauqua living history series will feature three key figures of the Civil War: Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman and Jefferson Davis.
Maryland was truly a state divided, with slaves and free blacks living in the same community, families split politically and emotionally between the North and South and political and military leaders in both camps. The Sesquicentennial gives us an opportunity to reflect on this pivotal period in our state and nation’s history and to consider what unites us and what divides us today. Continued

End of an Era: Last Remaining Red Lion Cigar Factory Closes After 100 Years

(WPMT) Joe Jacob's father bought JW Winter's Cigar Factory in Red Lion in the 1960's.
Since than it's been under the name GW Van Slykes & Horton and produced quality cigars and chewing tobacco for nearly a half century. But the last remaining cigar factory is about to shut its doors.
"We were manufactering seven million cigars a year," said Jacob's.
But that was then - increased tobacco prices - higher taxes and less people smoking cigars has forced Jacob's to reevaluate the family business. Continued

Jackson’s Great Train Raid revisited

(Washington Post) Next weekend, an unusual sort of Civil War re-enactment is planned in Strasburg, Va., about 80 miles west of Washington. When Col. Thomas Jackson stole several B&O railroad locomotives from Martinsburg early in the war, he had to find a way to get them to Richmond.
The nearest connecting railroad was in Strasburg so he sent four of the locomotives over land by horse and mule team to that town where they were reassembled and sent south. The event became known as the Great Train Raid. Continued

Photo: Modern day train at Harpers Ferry (MDRails).

Redeemer Lutheran Church's Second Annual Civil War Day on Saturday

(Cannonball) Ulysses S. Grant said that "The U.S. Christian Commission alleviated suffering on almost every battlefield during the Civil War."
This amazing story of heroes who went to the battlefields with Bibles, bandages and coffee will be told through living history at Redeemer Lutheran Church's Second Annual Civil War Day. The public is invited to learn about the invention of the dog-tag, letter writing stations, loan libraries and the USCC Coffee Wagon and much more.
Members of Company G of the 16th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and Company K of the 45th Pennsylvania also will be there to interact with the public and lead activities with the children. There will be first person presentations and performances by several singers who will be singing period songs.
The day will conclude with a reenactment of a camp worship service led by John Wega, the Director of the U.S. Christian Commission in Gettysburg. There will not be any shooting. Continued

The Homestead Act

(Library of Congress) President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. The act provided settlers with 160 acres of surveyed public land after payment of a filing fee and five years of continuous residence. Designed to spur Western migration, the Homestead Act culminated a twenty-year battle to distribute public lands to citizens willing to farm. Concerned that free land would lower property values and reduce the cheap labor supply, Northern businessmen opposed the act. Unlikely allies, Southerners feared homesteaders would add their voices to the call for abolition of slavery. With Southerners out of the picture in 1862, the legislation finally passed. Continued

Photo: My great-grandparents' homestead near Tucumcari, New Mexico, circa 1905.

Mr. Johns Hopkins

(LoC) Johns Hopkins was born on May 19, 1795, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, to a Quaker family. Convinced that slavery was morally wrong, his parents freed their slaves. As a result, Johns had to leave school at age twelve to work in the family tobacco fields. Hopkins regretted that his formal education ended so early.
Ambitious and hardworking, he abandoned farming, and, at his mother’s urging, became an apprentice in his uncle's wholesale grocery business when he was seventeen. Within a decade, he had created his own Baltimore-based mercantile operation. Hopkins single-mindedly pursued his business ventures. He never married, lived frugally, and retired a rich man at age fifty.
A series of wise investments over the next two decades—he was the largest individual stockholder in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, for example—further increased his wealth. He used his fortune to found The Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, incorporating them in 1867. Hopkins died in 1873. His will divided $7 million equally between the hospital and the university. At the time, the gift was the largest philanthropic bequest in U.S. history. Hopkins also endowed an orphanage for African-American children. Continued

Ma & Pa Railroad subject of display at Old Line Museum

(North County News) Railroad buffs will want to make tracks to the Old Line Museum in Delta, Pa., on Sundays in June when the museum highlights the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad.
The line, known as the Ma & Pa, formed in 1901 and ran a 77-mile route from Baltimore to York, Pa. There were 27 station stops, including Towson, Baldwin, Long Green, Glen Arm, Bel Air and Forest Hill. The train also stopped on an as-needed basis at 31 flag stops.
Many farmers called it the Milky Way because it transported milk from their dairy farms into Baltimore. At its peak, the line had 16 locomotives, 160 rail cars and a crew of more than 100 workers to maintain the track. Continued

Slippery Potpie

(OIYC) A while ago, commenter Kris emailed about a true York County food. Kris writes, "Chicken potpie is best from a fire company and contains no crust. I can't tell you how many people expect an actual pie-looking item to appear because of the title."
And there we get into the fun. "Real" potpie - can I get an amen here - is what some people call slippery potpie [a.k.a. "bot boi"]. It's a soupy serving of meat and dough squares. What I think people expect if, um, they don't know any better, is what I have always known as baked potpie, which has veggies and a crust on top. (If you buy frozen meals, their "potpies" are generally of the baked type.)
So, of course, today's a good day to share a chicken potpie recipe from Edna Brothers, who is pictured above! We ran a story back in 2006 sharing several traditional Pennsylvania Dutch recipes, including this one. Continued

Photo courtesy of Round the Table

Brooks Robinson

(Wikipedia) Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. (born May 18, 1937 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played his entire 23-year career with the Baltimore Orioles (1955–77). Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. ... Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner", he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-baseman of all time. Continued

The First Kentucky Derby

(LoC) Popular rider Oliver Lewis rode H. P. McGrath's thoroughbred Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby on May 17, 1875, at the Louisville Jockey Club. Fourteen of the fifteen jockeys in the derby, including Lewis, were African Americans.
The Kentucky Derby was begun by Meriwether Lewis Clark, a prominent Louisville citizen who developed the Louisville Jockey Club. Clark began construction on the race course in 1874 on land leased from two relatives, John and Henry Churchill. Continued

400 Years of National History on 1 Tank of Gas

(Cannonball) Where can you get 400 years of unparalleled American history and heritage on a single tank of gas? Where can you find a National Heritage Area that includes nine Presidential homes, 13 National Parks, the largest single collection of Civil War sites in the nation, 30 historic Main Street communities to stay and dine in, many of the country's best wineries and restaurants to enjoy, and to top it off, a National Scenic Byway with breadth taking landscapes, rivers and trails nearby to explore?
Only in the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area that spans from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. With the once-in-a-lifetime 150th anniversary commemorations of the American Civil War upon us, now is the time to discover Where America Happened. It's within a short drive from Washington, DC, Baltimore MD, Philadelphia, PA, Harrisburg, PA, Richmond, VA, York, PA, and Charlotte, NC. Continued

Adrienne Rich

(Wikipedia) Adrienne Rich (born May 16, 1929, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American poet, essayist and feminist.
In 1951, the year she graduated from Radcliffe College, Adrienne Rich received the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize, which led to the publication of her first book, A Change of World. The contest judge for that year, poet W. H. Auden, wrote an introduction to this volume.
The following year, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled to Europe, then married Harvard University economist Alfred H. Conrad in 1953. Three years later, she published her second volume, The Diamond Cutters, yet it wasn't until her third volume, Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law, which appeared in 1963, that she gained national prominence. Continued

WWII conscientious objector camp at Patapsco was first in U.S.

(Baltimore Sun) Fighting raged in Europe and Asia, and a military draft was on in the United States, but the American draftees dispatched to Patapsco Valley State Park in the spring of 1941 had their own ideas about war. They would serve, but not kill.
The group that opened this country's first government-approved civilian service camp for conscientious objectors on May 15, 1941, numbered 26 men from the East Coast. They settled into long, wooden, dark-green and gray barracks with their work clothes, overcoats, linens, shaving supplies, toothpaste, books — and their religious convictions that told them war was wrong. Continued

Photo: The cartoon may relate to Roosevelt's public campaign for military preparedness previous to U.S. involvement in World War I. As part of his proposal, he encouraged the supression of conscientious objectors to war. (Library of Congress).

Baseball tickets from 1860s a rare find

PITTSFIELD, Mass. (boston.com) At a local auction, Colin Twing bid $60 on what he thought were two 19th century railroad tickets, figuring each might be worth that much apiece. As it turns out, the Pittsfield man acquired a pair of baseball tickets that two researchers are calling rare finds for the national pastime.
Twing, who has been shopping at auctions for 10 years, is now the owner of what looks like a season ticket from the late 1860s or '70s to the Athletic Club Base Ball Club of Philadelphia and a ticket to the 11th annual National Association of Base-Ball Players convention that took place in Philadelphia on Dec. 11, 1867. Continued

The National Jukebox

The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives. Recordings in the Jukebox were issued on record labels now owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which has granted the Library of Congress a gratis license to stream acoustical recordings.
At launch, the Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925. Jukebox content will be increased regularly, with additional Victor recordings and acoustically recorded titles made by other Sony-owned U.S. labels, including Columbia, OKeh, and others. Listen

Lee's sword returning to Appomattox

(RTD) It's an enduring myth of the Civil War: Robert E. Lee surrendered his sword to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, and his Union counterpart refused the traditional gesture of surrender.
"Lee never offered it, and Grant never asked for it," said Patrick Schroeder, historian at Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park.
In a historical twist, though, Lee's French-made ceremonial sword is returning to Appomattox 146 years later, leaving the Richmond museum where it has been displayed for nearly a century. Continued

Photo: Lee and his generals / W. B. Matthews, pr., Washington, D.C. circa 1907 (Library of Congress).

Pone, mush and more

(OIYK) After I posted my friend Lorie's recipe for corn pudding in late January, I ended up with several other really good corn recipes.
Jo said it was funny that I'd brought up corn; she writes, "I just found my lost corn pone recipe from cousin Nancy. I like this better than corn bread although the two are similar. I sometimes eat it with milk and a little sugar. It's good anytime." Continued

The Land of Pleasant Living is Nevermore

(Firecured) ... You know, it wasn't always this way. Not so long ago, Maryland liked to think of itself as "The Land of Pleasant Living," a slogan which, despite the fact that it came off a beer can, had more than a little truth to it.
There was a time when the Chesapeake Bay boiled with seafood, the Orioles and Colts were powerhouse organizations, Johnny Unitas was immortal, and Boog Powell still fleet of foot. And there were good jobs for everybody, good union jobs.
Out in the far-flung suburbs people lived more-or-less happily in modest homes and were very polite, even patiently taking turns driving across the one lane bridges that dotted the countryside. Almost everyone smoked, drank, and went to church. Continued

Photo: The Boh Man hovers above Baltimore, mocking us.

Md. senators announce $22M to replace Susquehanna River Bridge

(AP) Maryland’s senators say the state will receive $22 million to replace the Susquehanna River Bridge.
Democratic Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin said Monday that the money is part of the U.S. Transportation Department’s investment in high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor.
The Amtrak Susquehanna River Bridge is more than 100 years old. Continued

Photos: MDRails

Thomas Viaduct, Doughoregan Manor among endangered Howard sites

(Baltimore Sun) Howard County is often seen as a young, fast-growing suburb, but an annual list of the county's top 10 endangered historic sites compiled by the group Preservation Howard County tells another story. ... "These sites were the forerunners of what Columbia and Howard County developed into," Dorsey said. "We're doing this because we feel there's not enough attention given to historic sites by the county. These sites are important, and should be important." Continued

Mother’s Day

“A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world. And candy! You take a box to Mother - and then eat most of it yourself. A pretty sentiment.” - Anna Jarvis: Founder of Mother’s Day

Bidding B&O passenger trains goodbye

(Baltimore Sun) With the coming of Amtrak 40 years ago last week, many of the nation's fabled and storied passenger trains, including the Baltimore & Ohio's premier Capitol Limited, which sailed daily between Washington and Chicago for nearly 50 years, began their final runs April 30, 1971.
The clock inextricably ticked toward midnight when at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, May 1, 1971, the National Railroad Passenger Corp. — better known as Amtrak — would assume operation of 182 passenger trains with 21 intercity routes that served 314 American cities and towns.
Another 178 were doomed to extinction, as rail fans across the nation watched, many with cameras to record their passing, bidding them godspeed as they rolled off the timetables and into memory. Continued

Photo: MDRails

Weeb Ewbank

(Wikipedia) Wilbur "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He coached the New York Jets to victory over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969.
... Ewbank joined the Colts at the recommendation of Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown. Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom had called Brown, asking for a coaching tip, as he was interested in Browns assistant Blanton Collier. Brown suggested Ewbank instead and Rosenbloom took the offer.
As coach of the Colts, Ewbank won the 1958 and 1959 NFL championships. The 1958 game is often referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played". By the end of the 1962 NFL season, Rosenbloom thought that the Colts had slipped and Ewbank was fired. Rosenbloom replaced him with the then-youngest head coach in NFL history, Don Shula. Continued

Website Promotes People, Places & Events of 1812 War

(WoCCP) Oh, say can you see…. Maryland’s bi-centennial commemoration of the War of 1812 making its way to the Upper Bay Region? A website http://www.upperbay1812.com/ has been developed to share the history, notable people and places of the War of 1812 Upper Bay or Chesapeake Campaign.
A steering committee of stakeholders from both Harford and Cecil Counties is working to capitalize on the events that occurred in the region during the Chesapeake Campaign of the War of 1812. Maryland’s 200 year anniversary of the War presents opportunities to promote and improve the visitor experience in the Upper Bay region. Sites such as The Concord Point Lighthouse, Principio, Elk Landing, and Rodgers Tavern will help connect visitors to this National story and how it relates to the Upper Bay. Continued

Cinco de Mayo

(LoC) Mexican troops under General Ignacio Zaragoza successfully defended the town of Puebla on May 5, 1862, temporarily halting France's efforts to establish a puppet regime in Mexico. With the U.S. absorbed by the Civil War, Emperor Napoleon III hoped to create a French sphere of influence in Latin America. The victory is commemorated as a national holiday in Mexico.
The Mexican victory at Puebla was short-lived. French reinforcements seized the town in March 1863. The following June, Maximilian, younger brother of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria and a member of the Hapsburg dynasty, was crowned emperor of Mexico. He remained in power until 1867, when Napoleon III abandoned his Mexican adventure and withdrew his troops.
In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has become an occasion to celebrate Hispanic culture. Fairs commemorating the day feature singing, dancing, food, and other amusements, and provide a means of sharing a rich and diverse culture. More

Caution: I Brake For History

(Douglas Brinkley) "O Public Road … you express me better than I can express myself. ” I first read Walt Whitman’s “Sone of the Open Road,” in Leaves of Grass , as an Ohio schoolboy. The great democratic chant struck me hard, a lightning bolt of simple, authoritative words proclaiming that only in motion do people have the chance to turn dreams into reality. Even as a fourteen-yearold I already suspected this. After all, my favorite reading, be it Jack London’s Alaska stories, Mark Twain’s Mississippi River tales, or Jack Kerouac’s highway antics, had adventurous escape as a subplot. Continued

DNA Brings WWII Vet Home Decades Later

(WBAL) The remains of a World War II veteran returned home to Maryland on Tuesday more than 66 years after Pfc. Robert Bayne lost his life.
Like so many of his generation, Bayne went off to war as a young man. He was killed by Germans in France and was buried in an unmarked grave.
With the sound of jet engines more that 66 years after he lost his life fighting for his country, a soldier came home. Continued

Samuel Ogle

(Wikipedia) Samuel Ogle (c. 1694 – May 3, 1752) was the Provincial Governor of Maryland from 1731 to 1732, 1733 to 1742, and 1746/1747 to 1752....
Under Ogle's leadership Maryland quickly became engaged in a border dispute with Pennsylvania. Several settlers were taken prisoners on both sides and Penn sent a committee to Governor Ogle to resolve the situation. Rioting broke out in the disputed territory (now known as Cresap's War) and Ogle appealed to the King George II for resolution.Faced with this situation, Charles Calvert, 5th Baron Baltimore arrived in Maryland and assumed charge of the colony in December 1732.
Upon Calvert's arrival, Ogle retired from the governorship for the first time. He would do this twice more. He resumed the governorship in 1733.
The border dispute would not be settled until 1767 when the Mason-Dixon line was recognized as the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania. Continued

Heritage trust event adds vital records information from family Bibles

York, PA (YDR) The picture was one she knew nothing about.
It was of a 3-year-old boy who was "somebody that mattered to a Miller," her father's side of the family, Elizabeth Singley said.
The faded photo was one of many in the Miller family Bible that Singley brought with her Saturday to the York County Heritage Trust. She also brought the King family Bible, from her mother's side of the family.
The 67-year-old traveled from Virginia to meet up with her cousin Helen Lehman, 77, to learn more about family history. Continued

Disunion: Maryland, My Maryland

(NYTimes) ... Virginia’s secession threatened to place hostile forces right at Washington’s throat, but it was what Virginia’s decision augured for Maryland, which encloses the capital on three sides, that struck fear in unionist hearts. The assumption has always been that whatever Virginia was going to do about secession, Maryland would do as well, as though their common attachment to terrapin, horseflesh and tobacco would bind their destinies in lockstep. Were that to happen, the capital would surely be lost. Rebel forces would not have to march on Washington; they would merely have to roll out of bed. Continued

Photo: Hon. Thomas Holliday Hicks of Md. (Library of Congress).

Benjamin Latrobe

(Wikipedia) Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe (May 1, 1764 - September 3, 1820) was a British-born American architect best known for his design of the United States Capitol, as well as his design of Baltimore's cathedral.
Latrobe came to the United States in 1796, settling first in Virginia and then relocating to Philadelphia where he set up his practice. In 1803, he was hired as Surveyor of the Public Buildings of the United States, and spent much of the next fourteen years working on projects in Washington, D.C.
Later in his life, Latrobe worked on a waterworks project in New Orleans, where he ended up dying in 1820 from yellow fever. He has been called the "Father of American Architecture." Continued