Places

Luther Martin, 1748 - 1826

Luther Martin is considered one of America's Founding Fathers. He served as Maryland's Attorney General, as well as in the Maryland House of Delegates. Most significantly, Martin was also a Maryland Delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia at which time the United States Constitution was adopted. Although a supporter of American independence and an active participant at the Convention, he refused to sign the document. Martin felt that the proposed Constitution gave the federal government too much power over the states.

The Hocking House

According to a walking tour brochure entitled, "Historic Frostburg", the house located at 144 East Main Street was said to have been connected to a home across the street by a tunnel. "Tradition" states that it was part of the underground railroad, one of three such stations in Frostburg, and used by escaping slaves. The house is sometimes referred to as the "Hocking" home for the family that once resided there.

Howard High School, Piedmont, West Virginia

The first organized efforts to open a school (in Piedmont, West Virginia) which Negro children could attend was located below Hampshire Street, above the B&O Railroad track, often referred to as "Chicken Ladder." After three years of operation, the private school was incorporated into the charge of the Board of Education in 1880.

This photograph depicts the Fulton Myers Post 153 American Legion located on North Mechanic Street in Cumberland. It was named for Fulton J. Myers (1890-1918), a young black soldier serving in the 351st Field Artillery who died at Camp Meade (later known as Fort George Meade) in Maryland.

The following is an excerpt from Cumberland, Maryland Through The Eyes of Herman J. Miller

Confederate Monument
American Civil War, 1861-1865
Rose Hill Cemetery, Cumberland, Maryland

Although erected almost fifty years after the close of the Civil War, Cumberland was still one of the first cities in Maryland to erect a monument in honor of the Confederate dead. This monument to the "Unknown Confederate Dead" was "erected by the Ladies of Cumberland, Maryland in 1912 to the heroes who died fighting for the lost cause." A tablet on the monument reads as follows:

Union Monument
Rose Hill Cemetery, Cumberland, Maryland
American Civil War
1861-1865

The monument depicted in this photograph was "erected with contributions of citizens, to honor the men of our county who fought for the Union 1861-65, by the Cumberland Women's Relief Corps."

The Union Memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1895.

James Fanto Deetz, 1930 - 2000, and "Parting Ways", the Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts.

James Deetz was born in Cumberland and in 1948 graduated from Fort Hill High School. He was known around school and the community for his love of bird watching, butterfly collecting, and thespian pursuits. Dr. James Deetz received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard, and in his own words was "an early case of affirmative action, providing for the admission of hillbillies to Ivy League institutions."

Standing on hallowed ground
Originally published November 17, 2007

By Nicholas C. Stern
News-Post Staff

BUCKEYSTOWN -- Looking out this week at the barns that dot the rolling landscape in southern Frederick County, Mary Harris narrated a story about freed black slaves.

After emancipation in the 1860s, freed slaves began taking up residence in the shacks where they had dried tobacco, Harris said.

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.

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.