Carroll Yesteryears 9 July 2017 Resources for an In-Depth Look at Carroll’s History By Mary Ann Ashcraft In this twice-monthly column there isn’t room to cover major topics related to the history of Carroll County, but readers may want to know where to find background information. Below is a list of some sources to use if [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 25 June 2017 Westminster Native Duped Confederates During Civil War By Mary Ann Ashcraft Every so often I come across a family story that seems to be reliable and worth passing along. Today, it is a pleasure to share the following story from Jay Hull who heard it from his mother. It couldn’t be [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 11 June 2017 Chance Meeting Led Civil War Soldier From Maine to Marry Westminster Native By Lee McGinnis This is the story of John Paris/Parris Sheahan, a Civil War soldier from Maine, who married Lizzie Shriver, a Westminster native. Born in 1842 in Dennysville, Washington County, near the Canadian border, John enlisted in August [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 28 May 2017 Trove of Ancestral Information at Register of Wills Office By Mary Ann Ashcraft Many readers of this column probably delve into family history. If so, you know the challenges of tracing an ancestor, especially if you are descended from a Smith, Jones, Johnson, or other common name. Just for the heck [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 14 May 2017 Two Buildings in Union Bridge Have Historical Significance By Mary Ann Ashcraft There’s a lot of African American history to be found around Union Bridge in western Carroll County, but one important part of that history is now an “endangered species.” It is Bowen’s Chapel, a tiny church sitting on a [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 23 April 2017 Issues Involving Schools as Old as Schooling in Carroll By Mary Ann Ashcraft Issues concerning Carroll County public schools have appeared in this newspaper’s headlines quite often recently. The problems of today aren’t very different from those of the past—too many students or not enough, low teacher salaries, buildings in poor [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 9 April 2017 Carroll Countians Made History Abroad a Century Ago in World War I By Mary Ann Ashcraft The year was 1917. The month was April. On the 6th , America’s daily newspapers carried the story that had been brewing for months—the U.S. was at war with Germany. George M. Cohan began composing [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 26 March 2017 It Was Buyer Beware When it Came to Newspaper Advertising in 1887 By Mary Ann Ashcraft Old newspaper ads like this one for Charles Wantz’s “segar” store on Main Street in Westminster provide us with a few chuckles or sometimes raise an eyebrow. I glanced at 1887 newspapers to see what [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 12 March 2017 Take a Weekend Drive Through Carroll County History By Mary Ann Ashcraft Growing up, I recall my family’s Sunday afternoon tradition was a drive through the countryside of northern Delaware and nearby southeastern Pennsylvania with my father at the wheel. He loved to drive and disliked outdoor chores, so I think [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 26 February 2017 Recalling Carroll’s 19th Century Racial Harmony By Mary Ann Ashcraft Last year in February this column carried an article about John Baptist Snowden, an African American who was born a slave in 1801, came to Carroll County in 1831 as a free man, and spent the remaining 54 years of his [...]