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Three Frostburg businesswomen

Collection Name

About

About
Women at Work

Media Items

Media Items
Media Items
ItemID
acwh095
IDEntry
2813
Creator
Text - Frostburg Mining Journal
Collection Location
Allegany County, Maryland
Coverage
Allegany County, Maryland
Body

Three Frostburg Businesswomen

Mrs. Mary Johns was born in Ireland 1868, came to Frostburg with her parents in 1869 and attended the local schools. Widowed in 1904 with five children, Mrs. Johns worked and saved enough money to become a successful Frostburg restaurateur and ice-cream parlor owner. She was known for her "kindly disposition" and courteous employees.

Mrs. Sarah Gunnette was born in 1869 and located to Frostburg in 1894 whereupon she established a "very successful" millinery business. She was the mother of four children, two of whom died in infancy.

Mrs. Annie O'Rourke was in Frostburg in 1863 and attended school at Eckhart. First employed as a sales lady at a local department store, Mrs. O'Rourke later conducted a millinery business in Frostburg for 21 years. She also served as President of the local Civic Club and was a member of the 1912 Executive Committee of the Frostburg Centennial.

Notes

Photographs and information from: Historical-Biographical Sketch of Frostburg, Maryland and its Citizens, Mining Journal Publishing Company, Frostburg, Maryland, 1912. The images are, left to right, Johns, Gunnette, O'Rourke

There is an entry in the Cumberland and Allegany Directory of 1895, also on this website, that reads
O'ROURKE MRS ANNIE, milliner, 115 Broadway
and one for
GUNNETTE MRS THEO, millinery, Union opp Uhl.

All three families were included in Distinguished Citizens of Allegany County in History of Allegany County by Williams and Thomas (1923)