"An Early History of Winfield" Carroll County Times article for 27 December 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal Compiling the histories of our smaller communities in Carroll can be challenging. The writer was particularly happy to rediscover a newspaper article entitled, "How Winfield was Named" written by Ira N. Barnes of Freedom which gives some early history of [...]
"Christmas in 1942" Carroll County Times article for 20 December 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal Although Carroll's holiday traditions mirrored national trends, local residents observed the season with some regional variations. J. Leland Jordan, late editor of this paper, reminisced about a Christmas season from his childhood in his December 11, 1942 "Time Flies" column: "It's Christmas [...]
"Pearl Harbor Remembered" Carroll County Times article for 13 December 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal Fifty-seven years ago war news was the predominate topic in nearly every American home and workplace. Japanese aircraft had executed a devastating surprise attack of American installations at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th and America was at war against the Axis powers. This newspaper's [...]
"Pumpkin Papers Discovered" Carroll County Times article for 6 December 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal Fifty years ago this week, federal agents descended on a Carroll County farm in Bachman's Valley and collected microfilmed documents secreted in a hollowed out pumpkin. The story made national headlines and was also reported in the Westminster Democratic Advocate newspaper which ran a [...]
"Carroll County Court House" Carroll County Times article for 29 November 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal Carroll County's founding in 1837 required the construction of a Court House, Jail, and Alms House. The court house was to be the seat of the new county government and also where justice was dispensed. Prior to the construction of the new [...]
"John H. Mitten, Oldest U. S. Newspaper Man" Carroll County Times article for 22 November 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal When John H. Mitten died at age 87 in 1931, he was thought to be the oldest newspaper man in the nation. Mitten had been a founder of The Times Printing Company in 1914 and co-edited the [...]
"Distillery Robbed in 1923" Carroll County Times article for 15 November 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal Carroll countians voted to outlaw the sale of alcoholic beverages in 1914, however, production at local distilleries continued even after Prohibition began in 1918. These rural distilleries became tempting targets for gangs who supplied liquor to speakeasies and individuals who still [...]
"Westminster Rotarians Remember Their Vets" Carroll County Times article for 8 November 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal In October 1946 the Westminster Rotary Club began publishing its newsletter, known as the Cog Wheel, after a two-year hiatus. The Editorial Committee, Edward C. Seitz, Editor and James P. Earp and Paul S. Manino, Assistant Editors, explained the [...]
"The Postoffice on Wheels" Carroll County Times Article for 1 November 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal The November 5, 1898 issue of the Westminster Democratic Advocate newspaper carried a story under the headline of "CARROLL COUNTY AHEAD." which detailed Edwin W. Shriver's upcoming experiment with his "Postoffice on Wheels": "An Important Postoffice Experiment to be Made from Westminster—If [...]
"The Death of Engineer Rumspurt" Carroll County Times article for 25 October 1998 By Jay A. Graybeal The remarkable history of railroading in America is liberally sprinkled with great accomplishments and minor and major accidents. In the early days many accidents were due to faulty equipment, human error or both as railroad men learned to build better [...]