African Americans History

The two children in the right of the front row are Ellen Golden, and Danny Keyes. Gayle Bowie is standing behind Danny. The young boy pictured inside the hula-hoop is Marcellus Wells. Shelly Peck is shown on the right of Ellen.

City of Cumberland and Allegany County Directory, 1895-96 published by Bell Publishers of Baltimore lists the names, occupations and residences of heads of households in Allegany County, Maryland in 1895.

The list of abbreviations notes Names of Colored Persons marked with an Asterisk, thus, *. In the transcription of the text, the asterisk has been replaced by '(Colored)' to make searching for African-Americans easier.

Local Youths Win Awards

Two local youths were among 720 youngsters who have been selected as the nation's best craftsmen in Ford Motor Company's 10th annual Industrial Arts Award and Student Craftsman's Fair competition.

They are Thomas W. Keech, 15, of RFD 1, an Allegany High School student, and Gary E. Stephens, 13, of 530 Greene Street, who attends Carver School.

Keech received a $20 honorable mention award for a single impression in the graphic arts division, and Stephens received a like award for his foot stool entry in the open division.

During the Civil War (1861-1865), it was a Mary Esther Townsend who suggested that the Clarysville Inn, located just east of Frostburg, be used as a United States Government Hospital. Her husband, Dr. Morris Miller Townsend, was instrumental in having this accomplished and served as the first hospital superintendent.

After the war Dr. Townsend became somewhat wealthy selling a medicinal tonic. Dr. Townsend's elixir was prepared in Frostburg, trademarked 1880, and sold as a cure for Hay Fever, Asthma, and Autumnal Catarrh.

Canal's history rewritten
Researchers say blacks left out
By TERRY HEADLEE
Staff Writer

Even though it's been 70 some years, J.P. Mose can still vividly remember watching Henry Williams steer his canal boat filled with coal down the winding Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

"He was one of the finest men to ever walk on the towpath. He had a kind word for everybody," said Mose, 91, who worked on the waterway as a boatman in the years before it closed in 1924. He now lives in Beaver Creek.

This 1972 photograph depicts local boxer Johnny Fields as he is being weighed in at the 1972 National Golden Gloves "Tournament of Champions" Boxing Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. Johnny Fields is originally from nearby Moorefield, West Virginia He was a member of the Romney High School (Hampshire County, West Virginia) Basketball team. He later boxed for the local Has-Beens Organization. He compiled an amateur record of 67 wins and only three losses, and a professional record of 21 wins and only four losses.

Leroy "Possum" Younger currently serves as Commander of Fulton Myers Post #153, American Legion.

A Vietnam veteran, Younger was interviewed for the Allegany High School publication, Welcome Home: A History of the Vietnam War.

Vince Fagan

Vince Fagan of Keyser, West Virginia was a successful area boxer during the early to mid-1970s. Among his back-to-back titles were the 1971 and 1972 Pittsburgh Diamond Belt Tournament middleweight championship. This annual event was considered among the most prestigious of east coast amateur boxing tournaments.

Fagan was also a former all-Navy Champion and winner of various state titles in Virginia and North Carolina. In 1970, Vincent Fagan was inducted into the "National Chapter of Has Beens", a local boxing organization.

It is the 1979 Special Olympics at Allegany Community College (now Allegany College of Maryland.) Held each year, the Special Olympics are cosponsored by Wamba Caravan No. 89 Order of the Alhambra and the Greater Cumberland Jaycees. This photograph depicts Major L. "Buddy" Bowie (1957-1983), assisted by Jaycee Charlie Keller, on his way to a first place finish.

Richard Leroy Williams

Ricky Williams was in the 1965 graduating class of Fort Hill High School and participated in football as well as track and indoor track.