Allegany County Maryland--Women

"Nelly"

From the Cumberland, Maryland Advocate, run-away slave notice, January 11, 1832

Priscilla Ellen (Beall) McKaig, 1809 - 1885

Priscilla was a genteel and aristocratic lady, and with two of her four sons serving as Confederate officers, had strong sympathies with the South during the Civil War (1861-1865). Priscilla was a granddaughter of Thomas Beall of Samuel (1744-1823), the founder of Cumberland.

"Aunt Judy", 1805-1866

Her tombstone reads
"A Faithful Friend and Helper
There is neither bond nor free for all are one in Christ Jesus."

Aunt Judy was a one-time local slave and later servant in the Robert Hall McCleave (1808-1886) household, in whose family plot she is buried. In 1860, Allegany County was identified as having 666 slaves, 467 free "colored", and 27,215 whites.

Mary Calmes Hoye died October 20, 1875 aged 87 years

John and Mary Hoye lived in the Hoye Mansion on Washington Street. This is one of the oldest structures in Cumberland. In recent years it has served as the First Church of Christ Scientist and is now a law office. The 1820 census shows the Hoyes household as consisting of four family members and ten slaves. The slaves included a coachman, cook, maid, and several children of the Dorsey and Robeson families.

Frederick Dent is considered to be the first white child born in Cumberland after its incorporation. He left Cumberland at the age of 21 and later became the father of Julia Boggs Dent (1826-1902). In 1848 Julia married Hiram Ulysses Grant (a.k.a. General Ulysses S. Grant), later President of the United States.

The City of Cumberland was established by the State Legislature on January 20, 1787. Sources vary between 1786 and 1787 on the year of Frederick Dent's birth. Lowdermilk's "History of Cumberland" states that Dent was born in October or November 1787.

Mary Dailey was born about 50 miles south of Allegany County in Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia. This is now West Virginia which, during the Civil War, broke off from Virginia and was created as a separate state in 1863.

Mary's father, John Dailey, managed the Revere House in Cumberland during the Civil War. It was here, in February 1865, that Union General George Crook (1830-1890) was kidnapped during a

Charlotte Bristowe Browne – A Nurse at Fort Cumberland

The Legend of "Lover’s Leap” describes the love of an American Indian princess for a young English trapper named Jack. They wanted very much to marry, but her father, Chief Will, wanted his daughter to marry one of the British soldiers who was garrisoned at Fort Cumberland. Meanwhile, Jack had found a map to a silver mine located somewhere in the Narrows, and offered the map to Chief Will in return for the hand of the princess in marriage. The Chief promised they could be married if he was given the map, but once in his possession, he refused to allow the marriage.

Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of Abraham Lincoln, was born in 1784, in Hampshire County, (West) Virginia. The birth occurred in a cabin along Mike's Run at the foot of New Creek Mountain in what is now Mineral County, West Virginia. Lincoln said of his mother, "God bless my mother; all that I am or ever hope to be I owe to her." She died in 1818.

Along with husband Meshach, Catherine is considered to be one of the 1812 co-founders of Frostburg. Her father Nathan Mejers from Harford County was one of the early settlers of Mt. Savage. When the Frosts bought the property, construction of the National Road was already underway. They soon found they were feeding and housing laborers working on the road. The Frost family also was instrumental in developing the coal industry that kept the town prosperous after the railroad surpassed travel along the National Road.