Highlights from a Half-Century of Stories Tracing ... · Baltimore County lost territory successively to adjacent counties. Those counties included: in 1674, Cecil County; in 1726,

Fifty Years of History Trails: Highlights from a Half-Century of Stories

Tracing Baltimore County History

Different mastheads, 1966 to present. History Trails Archive, HSBC Collections.

Volume 46 Autumn 2016

Editor:

Kathleen M. Barry

Number 1

PAGE 2 History Trails

INTRODUCTION

With this issue of History Trails, we are proudly

marking the journal’s fiftieth anniversary with some

reflections on its history and highlights from issues

past. September of 1966 brought the first edition of

History Trails by the Publication Committee of the

Baltimore County Historical Society. In the fifty

years since, History Trails has changed with the

times in many ways. But it has consistently offered

readers fact-filled journeys through the history of

Baltimore County and its people, places, properties,

and organizations. Whether tackling local stories of

war, industry, agriculture, sport, or commerce, or

excerpting amusing tidbits from nineteenth-century

newspapers, History Trails has been a steady source

of edification and engagement. It is truly among the

most important and enduring of the Historical

Society’s contributions to preserving, interpreting,

and promoting Baltimore County history.

History Trails could not have reached its fiftieth

anniversary without the volunteer contributors and

editors who have provided content and made

publication possible over five decades. We offer our

sincerest thanks to the many who have worked on

History Trails since its inception. While not all

contributors and editors have been named over the

years, we are nonetheless grateful to all. The

following are some who have played particularly

important roles in the journal’s history:

Founding Publication Committee, 1966-1971:

Myrtle S. Eckhardt (Chair), Eva A. Akehurst,

Bertha Bland, Dr. Mary S. Braun, E. Bennett

Bowen, Mrs. T. Newell Cox, Edwin Gontrum,

Jennie E. Jessop, and Mr. and Mrs. Carroll E.

Saumenig

Acknowledgement is also due to:

Mrs. George Gompf (typist, 1966-1971)

Editor, 1971-1973:

Robert David Williams

Editors, 1974-1977:

John W. McGrain and Robert W. Barnes

Editors, 1977-2008:

John W. McGrain and William Hollifield*

Layout and Editing, 2008-2010:

Adam J. Youssi and Ann Blouse

Editor, 2010-2016:

Adam J. Youssi

*A special note of appreciation is due to

John McGrain and William Hollifield.

Both not only served as longtime editors

of History Trails, but have also been

generous contributors. John McGrain in

particular has been the author of scores

of articles before, during, and after his

thirty four-year tenure as editor. They,

more than anyone, deserve credit for the

success and endurance of History Trails.

Many thanks!

William Hollifield and John McGrain, ca. 1973. Gift from Alice

Martin, HSBC Collections.

50 YEARS OF HISTORY TRAILS PAGE 3

HIGHLIGHTS

The following are summaries with excerpts of

History Trails articles that stood out to us as we

reviewed the many interesting articles since 1966.

Some highlight the work of the Historical Society,

while others focus on topics of enduring general

interest, such as place names and “ghost towns.” All

are articles that struck us as particularly apt

examples of the appealing topics and careful

research that have defined History Trails over the

years. We hope you enjoy them.

—Tom Graf, President of the Board of

Directors of the Historical Society, and

Kathleen Barry, current editor and

Executive Director of the Historical Society

“History Markers,” September 1966 (Vol. 1, No.

1). The inaugural issue of History Trails described

HSBC’s effort to identify and erect Baltimore

County historical markers. Initiated by local

Historical Societies in 1930, the Maryland State

Road Commission launched a statewide roadside

marker program in 1933, with responsibility now

under the Maryland Historical Trust. Approximately

800 markers have been erected on Maryland

roadways, with over seventy located in Baltimore

County.

Among the markers erected by HSBC was a sign

recognizing the location of the Gorsuch Tavern,

built in 1810, and a popular gathering place in

northern Baltimore County. The article noted:

Strategically located on the York Road, the

tavern was a busy place. It catered to the

teamsters and shippers who brought huge

grain shipments from the rich Pennsylvania

farms to the north and hauled them on to

Baltimore Town for export. Stories abound

about the genial hospitality of the host and

his helpers, the good food and lodging, and

a bar that offered the finest of local and

imported beverages. Then, too, there was

the well-stocked store for the ladies of the

countryside where they could shop to their

heart’s content amid the latest importations

of fine fabrics, frocks, hats, shawls,

perfumes, jewelry, as well as tea, coffee and

sugar - additional luxuries.

“Origin of Names,” June 1967 (Vol. 1, No. 4).

The fourth issue of History Trails explained the

origins of many of Baltimore County’s place names.

“Even though sources may not always agree, even

though some findings may not be absolutely

authentic, nevertheless, the attempt to find how

some of our place names originated can become a

bit of interesting research.” The article discussed the

origins of local place names under thematic

headings: “From Our Indian Heritage” (the

Chesapeake, the Patapsco, the Sweathouse Road);

“From Large Landholdings” (Sweet Air, My Lady’s

Manor); “From the Pages of History” (Relay,

Harrisonville, Fort Howard, Pulaski Highway);

“From Industry” (Owings Mills, Dundalk); “From

Other Lands” (Perry Hall, Hereford); “From Family

Names” (Parkton, Kingsville); “From the

Geography of the Area” (Fork, White Marsh, Green

Spring Valley, Long Green Valley); “From Famous

Old Inns” (Johnnycake Road, Wiseburg/Weisburg);

and “From the Unusual” (Glyndon, English

Gorsuch Tavern, 15910 York Rd. at Ensor Mill Rd., built

by Joshua Gorsuch as an inn, ca. 1812. Photographed in

1974. P000432, HSBC Collections.


Consul). Offering a final list of local names that

might provoke curiosity, the article explained,

Black Rock, White House, Greystone, Blue

Mount, Beaver Dam, Cub Hill, Featherbed

Lane, Devil’s Backbone, Frog Pond, Turkey

Point, Bear Creek and Maiden Choice are

among the quaint old names of the county

which incite interest in their origin. More or

less descriptive in nature, many of the above

were assigned for quite obvious reasons.

Buzzards’ Glory, near Grave Run, was so

named (according to a story that is told)

because several old men in the

neighborhood sat on a nearby fence every

morning to enjoy a bit of gossip. One of the

disapproving housewives remarked “look at

the old buzzards sitting there wasting time.”

The name Buzzards’ Glory followed and has

stuck ever since.

“In the selection of names for towns, villages,

valleys, streams, and roadways,” the article

concluded, “Baltimore Countians, over the years,

have shown consistently a keen appreciation for the

fine natural, historical and cultural background with

which they were favored.”

Jennie E. Jessop, “Ghost Towns of Baltimore

County,” December 1969 (Vol. 4, No. 2). This

issue explored the history of Baltimore County’s

ghost towns, such as Hoffmanville and Marblevale.

Warren was a busy textile mill town with nearly

1,000 residents in the mid-1800’s, until business

declined and Baltimore’s need for a stable water

supply led to the village’s sale and eventual

flooding after the second Loch Raven dam was

constructed in 1922 (note: History Trails revisited

Warren in Vol 39, No. 4). Ashland was the site of

an around-the-clock iron works, with three active

furnaces and houses nearby for more than 200

skilled artisans and unskilled laborers. Following a

major fire in 1880 and facing declining demand for

pig iron, the machinery was moved to Sparrows

Point and the Ashland iron works were closed. The

village remained, but the city sold the thirty four-

acre site to furrier and developer Mano Swartz for

$43,000 at auction. Lacking indoor toilets, the

remaining houses were polluting Loch Raven

Reservoir and in the 1980’s the village was sold

again. It was renovated/rebuilt and is now the

development you can see today adjacent to the

Western Run.

Joppa was an early settlement and shipping port,

serving as the county seat of Baltimore County in

the mid-1700’s. Joppa was blessed with a wide

harbor, ample water power, and a thriving social

center. “Dances, horse races, exciting trials, lively

elections, punishment by pillory, whipping posts,

and gallows tree were part of everyday life.” But

little of it remains today:

Why did this settlement which gave so much

promise in the beginning days of Maryland’s

history, lose its prestige and gradually

become an abandoned city? Marsh land

filled up what was once Joppa’s excellent

harbor, for the clearing of timber from the

surrounding area brought down tons of mud

and silt to the river’s mouth. Malaria and an

epidemic of small pox took their toll causing

many to seek new homes. In 1768 the county

seat was moved from Joppa to Baltimore - a

deathblow to the town on the Gunpowder.

For these reasons Joppa became a deserted

village dwindling down through the years to

one building known as the Rumsey Mansion

Joppa Town historic marker (now in Harford County).

This site was the county seat of Baltimore County from

1712-1768. P001535, HSBC Collections.


and to one grave stone with an epitaph to

David McCulloch, dated 1766. The mansion

and the grave-stone are the sole reminders

of the vanished glory of old Joppa Towne.

“Baltimore County Territorial Changes: 1659-

1919,” Winter 1972-1973 (Vol. 7, No. 2). “At one

time,” this brief article explained, “Baltimore

County embraced the entire northern part of the area

of Maryland from the Patapsco on the West to the

Chester River on the Eastern Shore.” Illustrated

with a map (reprinted below), it noted how

Baltimore County lost territory successively to

adjacent counties. Those counties included: in 1674,

Cecil County; in 1726, Anne Arundel County (parts

of which later became Howard County); in 1773,

Harford County; and in 1836, Carroll County (note:

other sources may give slightly different dates).

Baltimore County’s borders shrank further to

their present size with the expansion of its former

county seat, Baltimore City, which was officially

separated from the County in 1851 by a revised

state constitution.

The city of Baltimore, beginning in 1816,

began to expand its boundaries—first

northward to Boundary Avenue (now North

Avenue). (The line was along the north side

of the street including the front steps but not

the houses on that side!) [sic] then again in

1888 annexing to the west and again

northward taking in an additional seventeen

square miles and another 35,980 people.

Baltimore County boundaries: 1959-1973. Boundary lines wandered up and down the country. At one time the boundary line

between Pennsylvania and Maryland was thought to be above Philadelphia (Dash line at top was original Maryland Charter

Boundary-1632) and at another time below Baltimore. A dispute between the Penns and the Calverts was finally settled by

the employing of two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. In four years (1763-1767) they, together

with a forty man brush-cutting crew and a few local Indians established the north-south line between Maryland and what is

now Delaware and the east-west line between Maryland and Pennsylvania. The shaded area indicates Baltimore County

territory in 1659. Baltimore City was also included in Baltimore County until 1851. Drawings by David Williams. Map and

caption from History Trails, Vol. 7, No. 2, History Trails Archive, HSBC Collections.


In 1918, the City claimed an additional fifty square

miles and 100,000 residents. However, “Citizen

complaints of excessive annexation and other

problems eventually caused a law to be passed in

1948 forbidding further annexations except by

consent of the voters in the area affected.”

Baltimore County’s boundaries have not seen any

major changes since the city’s last annexation in

1918.

William Hollifield, “The Baltimore County

Historical Society of 1886,” Summer 1977 (Vol.

11, No. 4). Although the current iteration of the

Baltimore County Historical Society was founded in

1959, this issue tells the story of the first Historical

Society, organized in 1886 by the Rev. Dr. John G.

Morris (the founder of Lutherville). Rev. Morris

wrote a letter to the Baltimore County Union

newspaper and proposed these objectives:

1. To collect and preserve all old records of

historic value which are now lying in

obscurity and liable to be exterminated by

conflagration, mildew, the depredations of

vermin or natural decay. There must be a

number of old families in our county who

doubtless have such old papers stowed away

in antiquated trunks and barrels, or

neglected cupboards, which have not been

disturbed for years. They would be glad to

have them saved from destruction by

presenting them to a historical society which

would carefully keep and properly value

them.

2. To perpetuate the history of persons of

the olden time, who have distinguished

themselves in any position of life, and whose

deeds should not be suffered to be forgotten

or unrecorded.

3. There are not a few places in our county

associated with interesting historical events,

which are as yet indistinctly known, and

which should be thoroughly investigated and

brought to light.

4. There is a multitude of isolated historical

facts of deep historical interest which are

floating about as traditionary [sic] stories

and many of which are founded on truth.

These could be identified from the old

church records, and many facts could be

gathered from some of our oldest

inhabitants, but especially from the

newspapers of the olden time, which are rich

sources of local information.

Dr. Morris invited enterprising gentlemen as

well as “ladies and the more advanced pupils of our

school” to join. More than twenty county residents

(all men) responded. The first regular meeting was

held in Towson in January 1886. The last recorded

meeting was held in Lutherville in May 1886. It is

assumed that the society disbanded at about that

time. As Dr. Morris summarized his experience, “In

January, 1886, a few of us founded a Baltimore

County Historical Society at Towson, Md, of which

I was chosen President. It was composed of very

few members, and no interest whatever could be

excited in the subject, and the Society soon became

extinct.”

John Gottlieb Morris (1803-1895). Oil on canvas by

Oscar Hallwig, ca. 1895. Courtesy of the Maryland

Historical Society, Item ID #1896.4.3.


John W. McGrain, “The Presidents in Baltimore

County, Parts 1-3,” Summer, Autumn, Winter

1987 (Vol. 21, No. 4, Vol. 22, Nos. 1-2). At the

beginning of this three-part series, Mr. McGrain

explained that he has been collecting random

mentions of presidential visits to Baltimore County

for years, aspiring to create a comprehensive list

including every president. Hence this article, which

covers every president to have served until the time

of writing. “When no incursion into the county

could be proved,” he explained, “visits to Baltimore

City have been listed as the next best thing. Only

after the development of the helicopter, could a

president skip over the county and land inside the

confines of Charm City.” As a final point he added,

“While this article may not be a contribution to

learning, it is at least a tour de force and a bit of fun,

or is intended to be.”

So what did all those Presidents of the United

States do while in Baltimore County (or City)? The

earliest presidents dined and lodged in local inns.

President Monroe visited Fort McHenry and the

Battle Monument in 1817. President John Quincy

Adams walked in the funeral procession of John

Eager Howard in 1827, one of many visits.

President Jackson enjoyed the first-ever

presidential train trip on the B&O in 1833.

Subsequent presidents availed themselves of the

thriving local rail system, and several were brought

to Baltimore, among other cities, to lie in state.

President Franklin Pierce, accompanied by General

Jefferson Davis, greeted a city crowd of some

100,000 in 1853, while President-elect James

Buchanan passed through almost unnoticed en

route to his inauguration in 1857.

President Lincoln traveled through repeatedly,

including on his historic visit to Gettysburg. He

came on April 18, 1864 to open the Maryland State

Fair for the Benefit of the Sanitary and Christian

Commission. The following year, after his

assassination, Lincoln’s funeral train passed

through the city and “ground slowly through

northern Baltimore County, where crowds of

people turned out at Lutherville, Phoenix, and

Monkton.”

In 1876, President Grant attended

commencement at the Notre Dame Institute, where

his niece was a student, and, in a subsequent trip,

visited the private stately homes at Montebello and

Clifton. President Garfield had the misfortune of

passing through via train three times in illness and

then posthumously in 1881, after being shot by an

assassin on July 2 and eventually dying on

September 19. Again, in 1901, locals turned out to

pay respects to an assassinated president:

A number of citizens of Towson and vicinity

went to Sherwood, Northern Central

Railway, to see the funeral train bearing the

body of President McKinley from Buffalo to

Washington, D.C. The casket was on a

raised bier covered with an American flag,

in full view of the many thousands who

gathered along the lines of route to view the

funeral train.

As travel became easier in the twentieth century,

presidents paid more frequent visits to the

Baltimore area for ceremonial events, political

campaigning and other various reasons. President

Coolidge, however, failed to appear at the opening

of the Fair of the Iron Horse in Halethorpe on 1927

(marking the centennial of the B&O) as the local

press had predicted. In attendance instead was

future president Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of

Chromolithograph picture of Abraham Lincoln, ca.

1884, unsigned. 1962.13.02, HSBC Collections.


Commerce. President Franklin Roosevelt visited

Middle River in 1940 to see construction of

bombers at the Glenn L. Martin plant. After his

death, Roosevelt’s body crossed eastern Baltimore

County on the Pennsylvania Railroad, on the first

electric-powered funeral train. Only a few weeks

before, then-Vice President Harry Truman

addressed the Maryland Historical Society on

Maryland Day, March 25, 1945. Truman later

visited Alto Dale in Reisterstown and appeared at

the Pikesville Armory in 1958. Presidents

Eisenhower and Kennedy, traveling by helicopter,

were the first to visit the city without setting foot in

the county, though Kennedy had previously visited

Towson and Pikesville while campaigning in 1960.

Whatever else we might say about President

Nixon, he is the only US president to have worked

in Baltimore County. He oversaw government

contracts at Glenn L. Martin in 1944-1945. Among

other visits, Nixon and his wife attended the

wedding of his Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew’s

daughter at Towson Presbyterian in 1969. President

Ford kicked off a year of bicentennial celebrations

at Fort McHenry on July 4, 1975. President

Reagan, the current office holder at the time of the

article’s appearance in 1987, had not set foot on

County soil, though he had thrown out the first

pitch at an Orioles’ game and visited Fort

McHenry.

Martha A. Hendrickson, “The Montebello

Water Filtration Plant: Clean Water for City &

Suburb Alike,” Summer 2012 (Vol. 43, Nos. 3-4). Baltimore’s water system serves as a foundation to

the city and county’s growth, stability, safety, and

health. In the late nineteenth century, our city

planners recognized the essential need for a clean

and plentiful water supply and a reliable sewage

system. The great fire of 1904 created an

opportunity to rebuild large portions of the city and

install underground water, sanitary, and storm

sewerage pipes and modernize the system for the

city and county. The Montebello Water Filtration

Plant, drawing water from Loch Raven Reservoir,

was completed in 1915. It received universal

acclaim for its contributions to the public’s health

and well-being, and is still in use today.

The Baltimore Water Board selected James W.

Armstrong to design the plant and head the

Filtration Division. Armstrong had extensive

training in design, engineering, and architecture

and spent formative years involved in the design

and construction of the New Orleans water

filtration plant. After consulting for other plants

around the country, Armstrong came to Baltimore

to work on the Montebello project. Construction of

the plant begin in 1913 and opening ceremonies

were held during the celebration of Defenders Day

in September 1915. The Morning Sun wrote:

Taxpayers who like to see how their

contributions to the city’s maintenance are

spent will have an opportunity to do so if

they are present at 11’ o’clock this morning

when Mayor Preston formally turns on the

water at the great filtration plant that will

henceforth purify Baltimore’s water supply.

A view of this interesting and intricate bit of

mechanism will make the taxpayer realize

that the $5,000,000 water plant is a big

asset and something he can be proud of

when telling his friends in other cities of the

advantages of Baltimore. The filtered water

is now going into every home and the

unpalatable water of the past soon will be a

memory only.

Flag Day Celebration at Fort McHenry, June 14, 1986,

with President and Mrs. Reagan, Governor Hughes and

Senator Mathias, among others. Photographed by White

House photographer. P003014, HSBC Collections.


The Montebello Plant became known nationally

for its architectural design and engineering

achievements, and was widely featured in

newspapers and engineering journals. Visitors

came from around the world to view the

construction (which could only be appreciated

while it was being built, since much would be

underground during operation). Armstrong led the

filtration division for twenty-five years, continuing

his significant contributions to the quality of our

water supply: completing designs for raising the

Loch Raven Dam, designing a second Montebello

Plant, developing the designs for the Prettyboy

Dam, and proposing locations for the Liberty Dam.

Patrick Cutter, “When No One Else Cared: The

Story of the Upland Home, the Third and Last

Baltimore County Almshouse,” Autumn 2013

(Vol. 44, No. 2). Almshouses were charitable

homes for the elderly, poor and sick, unable to care

for themselves, and people deemed “insane” with

no other family to care for them. Maryland first

established support for relief and aid in 1768, with

Baltimore County passing Chapter 30 in 1775 to

provide “good, strong, sufficient and convenient

houses, habitations and dwellings for the reception

of the poor of said county, and of such vagrants,

beggars, vagabonds and other offenders.”

The third Baltimore County Almshouse, the

Upland Home, was built to serve county residents

following the city-county separation in 1851.

County Commissioners purchased the land in

Texas, Maryland from Dr. John Galloway in 1870,

the County appropriated $60,000 for the

construction of the building, and construction was

completed in 1874. The Baltimore Sun reported:

The new Baltimore county almshouse, a fine

stone building, three stories high, with attic,

situated five miles beyond Towsontown, on

the Northern Central railroad, has been

fully completed. Yesterday the inmates of the

old structure, seventy-two in number,

comprising forty-four males, twenty-eight

females and eighteen colored persons, were

removed to the new building by A. Cole, the

superintendent of the institution. Several

insane people of the county, from the State

hospital at Catonsville are also to be placed

in the new quarters shortly.

The Upland Home was a self-sustaining farm,

with a range of livestock and gardens and orchards,

supported by mentally and physically fit inmates. If

unable to provide physical labor, inmates were

assigned duties within the house such as tailoring,

cooking, cleaning, and even babysitting for the

superintendent’s children. The farm produced

Loch Raven Dam under construction, 1921. P009084, HSBC Collections.


revenue and supplies for the Almshouse and the

county.

Inmates were placed in the Almshouse for a

variety of reasons:

[D]estitution, epilepsy, paralysis, measles,

consumption, “feeble mindedness,” insanity,

dysentery, neuralgia, fistula, ulcers,

remittent fever, burns, heart trouble,

“imbecility,” dropsy, old age, crippled

limbs, stomach troubles, deafness, muteness,

and blindness. The records kept by the

almshouse share a large selection of

“symptoms” that could warrant one’s

internment in the almshouse. Some unlucky

individuals only went there in death, and

were subsequently buried in “Pauper’s

Field,” the unmarked gravesite in the back

of the property where unknown individuals

or those with no family or money were

buried.

In the 1890’s, some residents began to move to

specialized facilities, such as the Sheppard and

Enoch Pratt Hospital. Most of the remaining

inmates were elderly and those suffering from

dementia. Improved health care and social services

continued in the twentieth century, and with the rise

in nursing homes, the Almshouse population

steadily decreased until costs exceeded the value to

the county. In 1958, the third Baltimore County

Almshouse was closed. The 280 acres surrounding

the farm were divided and the main building was

allocated to other County services, such as the

Farm Bureau, the 4-H Club, and the Civil Defense

Hospital Unit. In 1959, it began serving as the

home for the newly incorporated Baltimore County

Historical Society.

Teri Rising, “United by Service: The African

American Fraternal Organizations of Winters

Lane,” Spring 2014 (Vol. 44, No. 3). In the

eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American

fraternal organizations offered fellowship,

community, and status. Typical members were

white, middle-class men, although the wealthy and

working class participated. When African

American men sought the same benefits, they were

turned away from joining the existing lodges and

established their own organizations, attuned to their

needs and communities. This issue describes the

growth of the African American fraternal

organizations in the Winters Lane area of

Catonsville.

The Almshouse (with unidentified visitors or staff) before

a major fire on Dec. 31, 1918, destroyed the original

façade seen here. P009107.02, HSBC Collections.

The Almshouse in 1962, front view (west side), with two staff houses to left that no longer exist. P002025, HSBC Collections.


Until the Great Depression, fraternal lodges

among African Americans were the most

popular community institution, “no other

organization, except the church, could boast

of reaching into the masses of the Negro

population and at the same time into the

middle class.” White orders made several

attempts to legally challenge the legitimacy

of certain African American organizations,

but the legal fight mounted by the targeted

membership was not only for their right to

organize but also as a matter of racial pride.

The African American community in

Catonsville generally resided in the Winters Lane

area, beginning with former slaves settling in the

northern end and the establishment of a “colored”

school at the southern end. By 1910, over seventy-

five percent of Catonsville’s African Americans

lived on Winters Lane and adjacent streets. The

period between 1870 and 1910 has been called the

“Golden Age of Fraternalism” and so it was in the

Winters Lane community, which became home to

several fraternal organizations including the

Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, and the Elks.

As the neighborhood grew so did the need

for civic institutions. The lodge building

itself was very important and became the

central location for the secret rituals,

recitations and social activities that went

along with the organization. Due to the

popularity of fraternal organizations in that

era, the need for lodge space was great.

The Landmark Lodge No. 40 of Free and

Accepted Masons, established in 1904, is located

on 48 ½ Winters Lane. Most African American

Freemasons are affiliated with the Prince Hall

Grand Lodge, considered the oldest continuous

African American institution in the United States.

Prince Hall, a free craftsman in Boston, founded

the first African American Freemason lodge in

1775. White Freemasons would not grant a charter

to Hall; the lodge remained provisional until 1785

when the Grand Lodge of England granted a

permanent charter.

The African Lodge’s rejection by white

Freemasons highlighted the dual standard

that existed in the United States at the time.

In 1795, Samuel Dexter, a Boston merchant

and patriot, noted the irony of the situation,

“in Boston there is a lodge of free and

accepted Masons, the brethren of which are

negroes... they cannot be denied without

violating the spirit and design of the

institution.” Freemasonry quickly spread

among African American males in New

England and into other urban centers on the

east coast. Prince Hall would go on to

distinguish himself as an important figure

that used the structure and idealism of

Freemasonry as a basis for his public voice.

In 1797, Hall delivered what is considered

to be the earliest publicly recorded anti-

slavery address by an African American.

Although most of the Winters Lane lodges have

disbanded due to loss of members, the Landmark

Lodge No. 40 remains active, and is the only Prince

Hall-affiliated lodge meeting in Baltimore County.

Winters Lane, 2015. Landmark Lodge No. 40 is the building

with the projecting entryway with hipped roof. Photo by

Evart Cornell, HSBC Staff Files.


History Trails is a publication of the

STEWARDS OF THE PAST

FOR THE PRESENT AND FUTURE

Board of Directors

Tom Graf, President

Dale Kirchner, Vice President

H. David Delluomo, CPA, Treasurer

Len Kennedy, Secretary

Phyllis Bailey

Scott Batton

Brian Cooper

Evart ‘Bud’ Cornell

Geraldine Diamond

John Gasparini

John Gontrum

Jeff Higdon

Sarah Koch

Jim Long

Mike McCarthy

Larry Trainor

Donna Tyree

Vicki Young

Honorary Board

Louis Diggs

Dr. Robert Dubel

Hon. Adrienne Jones

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Images

Except where otherwise noted, the images

included in this issue are from the photograph

collections of the Historical Society of Baltimore

County. With some 8,000 items, the photograph

collections are a rich resource for exploring local

history. For more information, please call or email

the Society (contact information below).

Submissions

While the subject matter of History Trails has

traditionally focused on local concerns, we are

interested in expanding its scope into new areas. For

example, where one article might focus on a single

historic building, person, or event in the county,

others may develop and defend a historic argument,

compare and contrast Baltimore County topics to

other locales, or tie seemingly confined local topics

to larger events.

Articles abiding by the Chicago Manual of Style

Documentary Note (or Humanities) system will be

given priority. For an abbreviated guide to Chicago-

style citations, see Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for

Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and

Dissertations (University of Chicago Press, 2007;

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turab

ian_citationguide.html).

Digital and/or hard copies of articles may be

submitted to the attention of the History Trails

editor at the address below. E-mailed and digital

copies are preferred.

The Historical Society of

Baltimore County 9811 Van Buren Lane

Cockeysville, MD 21030

(Phone) 410-666-1878

(Web) www.hsobc.org

(Email) [email protected]

Documents

Highlights from a Half-Century of Stories Tracing ... · Baltimore County lost territory successively to adjacent counties. Those counties included: in 1674, Cecil County; in 1726,