Allegany County Maryland--Women

Florence Pearre McKaig (1857-1915)

Florence McKaig was the President of the Allegany County Just Government League. This was a branch of the women’s suffrage organization in Allegany County. McKaig was also a pioneer in the establishment of free health services for economically disadvantaged women. These services were provided through the Western Maryland Hospital which had been located on Baltimore Avenue in Cumberland.

In the 1830s a gentleman, who had just survived an exhausting visit to his sister who lived in Cumberland, wrote, “I believe you think of nothing else in Cumberland but parties and frolicking. When do you find time for housekeeping and making butter?” His affluent sister, Anna Lyons, would along with others later busy herself raising funds for the county’s first public library, which in 1838 after acquiring 300 books took the name, “Mechanics Circulating Library”. The library made, at a very reasonable rental, novels, biographies, and histories available to the public.

Mary Lynn was responsible for the donation of the Rose Hill Cemetery site to Emmanuel Episcopal Church. The original four acre tract (added to later) was given by Mary in 1851, immediately following the consecration service of the present Emmanuel Episcopal Church, constructed between 1849-1851. It was called Rose Hill as the Lynn home had been.

Miss Elizabeth Lloyd Lowndes (1881-1963)

Elizabeth was a member of the Emmanuel Parish (Emmanuel Episcopal Church) in Cumberland, Maryland. Her parents were Lloyd Lowndes (1845-1905), a Republican, who had served as Governor of Maryland from 1896 to 1900, and Elizabeth Tasker Lowndes (1842-1922).

Elizabeth Tasker Lowndes, wife of Governor Lloyd Lowndes (the only Governor from Allegany County), was born in Cumberland in 1842. She was known as a gracious hostess and entertained President Benjamin Harrison and other dignitaries in her Washington Street home.

Equal to her high social attainment was her spirit of charity. Mrs. Lowndes was an ardent worker in church activities, and helped to establish a tuberculosis hospital in Cumberland in 1913.

Mary Virginia Jones, 1914-2014

Juanita C. Isiminger was the founder in 1967 of Operation Gateway, a local organization sponsored by the Women's Civic Club, which was dedicated to promoting local history, civic pride, the area's rich history, and its scenic beauty and in particular the preservation of the Cumberland Narrows. In addition, Juanita helped originate Allegany County's Heritage Days Festival in 1969 and is the person most directly responsible for the establishment of an Allegany County Office of Tourism.

SOUTHPORT, N.C. — Sophie Relich Holbrook, 93, of Carillon Assisted Living, in Southport, passed away Monday, Nov. 17, 2014.

She was born Sept. 27, 1921, in Akron, Ohio, the daughter of Zika and Lenka Relich, Serbian immigrants. Sophie’s devoted husband, Bill, survives. They met in high school and enjoyed 72 years of marriage.

Sydnia Jane Hill is considered to be the first community nurse in Mount Savage. On her tombstone in the St Patrick's cemetery in Mount Savage is written, “she lived and died in service for humanity.”

Another Mount Savage resident, Margaret Schaffer, is believed to have been the first registered nurse in Maryland.