27 November 1994 – Carroll Record Histories Published

“Carroll Record Histories Published”

Carroll County Times article for 27 November 1994

By Jay A. Graybeal

The Historical Society has received its latest book entitled Carroll Record Histories of Northwestern Carroll County Communities, edited by Joe Getty. The Foreword was written by Jacob M. Yingling, President of the Historical Society:

Gaining an understanding of your own family’s history helps provide a perspective on your life and your role in the community of mankind. Over the past several years, I have researched my own family’s roots in the Carroll County region. In the course of this research, I learned that all of the Yingling families in Carroll County descend from my original ancestor, Christian Yingling, who arrived from Germany in 1710. Three of his sons came to the area that is now Carroll County.

When you research your family history, you begin to think about the lives of your forebears and the conditions under which they lived. Elements of their past reflect the social and cultural environment of Carroll County’s history. For example, I often wonder about the daily lives of my ancestors at times when the husbands were involved in military conflicts: John Yingling in the French and Indian War, John, Jr., in the Revolutionary War and John III in the War of 1812. Unfortunately we know of their lives only through a few documentary records and we can only imagine the human emotions and thoughts during their daily lives.

When you research your family, it also stimulates an interest in the history of the broader region. I know that my great-grandfather was married at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Taneytown. This provided an opportunity for me to visit the church and learn more about the history of the community. It also provided me with a perspective about community history so that when the Historical Society first considered this publication project, I knew how important it was to fulfill the long-term goal of publishing the Carroll Record histories.

There have been several proposals to publish in book format this series of community histories first printed during the 1890s in the Carroll Record newspaper. As early as 1910, Louis Dielman, a New Windsor resident and editor of the Maryland Historical Magazine, approached Preston Englar, editor of the Carroll Record, about compiling the histories in a book. After Englar’s death, his clippings book containing the manuscript was donated to the Historical Society through the efforts of an Englar relative, Vivian Englar Barnes. On several occasions, the Historical Society board considered publishing the volume, but the funding was lacking.

The success of the Historical Society in reprinting The Illustrated Atlas of Carroll County, Maryland in 1993 provided the foundation for our efforts to publish the Carroll Record Histories. We appreciate the support of our generous donors whose contributions underwrote the printing costs of this book and whose entries form the historical supplement.

Publishing the Carroll Record Histories is part of our mission to serve as a steward of the cultural resources depicting the history of Carroll County. Editor Preston Englar recruited local residents to write about their memories of community life and the traditional stories handed down from generation to generation. This series has never been widely disseminated among those in Carroll County today who are interested in local history. Our opportunity to publish this series will provide us and future generations with an excellent historical document that reveals a fascinating glimpse of Carroll County life in the nineteenth century.

We wish to thank the committee that assisted us in preparing this publication. Committee members provided advice about the original manuscript and helped to locate photographs to illustrate the text. Under the leadership of Carroll Myers and myself, they served as the “eyes and ears” of the Historical Society in the community.

We also wish to thank the donors who made the publication of this manuscript possible. The Carroll Record Histories are unique in the state of Maryland as a historical body of literature from the turn-of-the-century. No other region has a series of newspaper histories like this. The contributions by our donors have allowed us to prepare and publish this series of community histories that comprise a significant addition to the Historical Society’s publications program.

We are grateful for the contributions and support of all of our members and friends. Together, we have laid a strong foundation for the future prosperity and success of the Historical Society of Carroll County.