This gravestone has "D.S." scraped into it. This and the other small stones in the cemetery near the canal at Dargan were all from local stone. They were about 15 -20 inches in diameter, but considerable longer and were deeply and firmly embedded.
This gravestone has "M.K." scraped into it. This and the other small stones in the cemetery near the canal at Dargan were all from local stone. They were about 15 -20 inches in diameter, but considerable longer and were deeply and firmly embedded.
This gravestone has "L.D." scraped into it. This and the other small stones in the cemetery near the canal at Dargan's Bend are all from local stone. They were about 15 -20 inches in diameter, but considerable longer and were deeply and firmly embedded.
Two small upright gravestones in the Dargan Road cemetery. The photograph was taken in 1975 by C. L. Dunham and the description provided by Dr. Lucia Dunham of Washington DC.
It is possibly that these gravestones mark the graves of men who died in the cholera epidemic that affected canal workers.
This photograph shows the large gravestone of John Adams leaning against a tree in the cemetery located about half a mile from the canal near Dargan's Bend. There was also a wagon wheel leaning against the same tree. The cemetery was located on the farm owned by J. L. Johnson at the time the photographs were taken in 1976.
Dr. Dunham noted that this stone, unlike the others in the cemetery, was not cut from local stone, and appears to have been inscribed by a professional stone cutter. There was a diagonal break in it.
In Memory of
JOHN ADAMS,
native of Ireland
Who departed this life
Jan 6th 1833 in the
41st Year of his Age
This is the inscription on the single large cemetery near the canal near Dargan.
The cemetery site in 1976 when visited by Dr. Lucia Dunham, and Eugene and Marilyn Slatnick. They counted at least most of the 26 stones listed in the Cemetery Records of Washington County for a cemetery at this location. They were singly situated or arranged roughly in rows of 2 to 5 stones.
Dr. Dunham noted that in this photograph, over the hill, the bend in the Potomac River can be seen about half a mile away.
Mrs. Schroeder: Yeah. And in the middle of the deck then we had a ring where we tied the children with a harness.
Mr. Wesley: So if there were children on the boat, you tethered them just like a dog or —
Mrs. Schroeder: Yeah, 'we tied them. They couldn't fall overboard.
Mr. Wesley: And that ring bowl was on top of the cabin.
Mrs. Schroeder: Yeah, on the deck.
Mr. Wesley: Now, you said earlier that your mother seldom took a trip on the boat. She just kept house in Sharpsburg?
Mrs. Schroeder: Yeah, and raised the other children and kept most of them in school. She'd go once in a while. You see, she's on here now.
Mr. Wesley: Oh, in that picture.
Mrs. Schroeder: Yeah, here's my mother. Here's her wash tub where she's washing and —
Mr. Wesley: Is that the whole family in the picture?
Mr. Wesley: I'm talking to Mrs. Mary Schroeder who lives near MacArthur Boulevard in Washington, who comes from an old canal family. Tell us where you were born.
Mrs. Schroeder: In Sharpsburg.
Mr. Wesley: Your father captained a canal boat?
Mrs. Schroeder: Yes, that's all he ever done, was canal boating.
Mr. Wesley: How long was he on the canal?
Mrs. Schroeder: Oh, gosh, I don't know. I know many a year.