Carroll Yesteryears 28 December 2014 Dielman Noted for Massive Biographical Index By Mary Ann Ashcraft Sitting down with Louis Henry Dielman (1864-1959), a native of New Windsor, must have been a treat for anyone interested in Maryland history. He was a walking encyclopedia, but as one newspaper article explained, “mere facts will be too compressed and [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 14 December 2014 The Watch on Christmas Eve By Mary Ann Ashcraft From The Democratic Advocate, December 23, 1882 The Watch on Christmas Eve By Mary Vernon Close by the chimney, on Christmas Eve Are huddled two tiny forms. The rafters creak, and the windows shriek And the night is wild with [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 23 November 2014 Grave Marker Installed in Remembrance of Carroll Resident By Mary Ann Ashcraft We always like a story with a happy ending. This story may not have a “happy” ending, but at least is a satisfying one. The life of Edward Trite, born in 1881 on the outskirts of New Windsor, was [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 9 November 2014 One Tiny Electric Plant Used to Power all of Union Bridge By Mary Ann Ashcraft In this era of giant energy firms such as Potomac Edison and Baltimore Gas and Electric, it is hard to believe that roughly 100 years ago, one man owned a tiny electric plant that was the [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 26 October 2014 A Soldier’s Account of the Battle of Bladensburg By Mary Ann Ashcraft Marylanders were proud of the glorious American victory at the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814. It was a far better showing than what occurred the previous month when the British routed our troops at the Battle of Bladensburg [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 12 October 2014 Tracking the Names of “Outdoor Pensioners” Through History By Mary Ann Ashcraft For several months I’ve been working on a project for the Carroll County Genealogical Society using information from the county’s annual financial reports published in old newspapers. There are so many names and fascinating tidbits to be discovered! I’m [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 28 September 2014 Villages’ Former Names and Their Origin Stories By Jeff Duvall What is the origin of the former names Jewsburg and Mt. Vernon for present-day Marston, a village several miles southeast of New Windsor? Combining information from nineteenth century tax lists and the Carroll County Times, many questions arise. The town lots [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 14 September 2014 Political Cartoons Stir Debate Throughout History By Mary Ann Ashcraft You may be taken aback by the cartoon which accompanies this column. I certainly was. It came from a 1934 issue of The Enterprise, a newspaper published in Manchester and Hampstead, Carroll County, between 1880 and 1965. Cartoons, humorous and political, [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 24 August 2014 Greek Ancestors Settled in Westminster By Antigoni Lefteris Ladd How did immigrants from Greece and Turkey find their way to Westminster to start businesses and raise their families? That’s the question the current generation of Greek-Americans has been researching this past year. Our ancestral homes are spread across the Mediterranean: from [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 10 August 2014 Research Reveals Character of Greek Ancestors By Antigoni Lefteris Ladd You know our names—Pappas, Sirinakis, Letras, Samios, Lefteris, Sharkey, Papandreu, Bourexis, Nickolas, Haramplus—all those long Greek names you have trouble pronouncing. We are the Greek families of Westminster, and we have a long history here. Recently, we gathered at Harry’s Main [...]