Carroll Yesteryears 28 February 2016 Snowden Detailed Life as a Slave After Buying His Freedom By Mary Ann Ashcraft Nineteenth-century American history only recognizes a few African Americans as outstanding role models—people like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver. Carroll County’s John Baptist Snowden may not rank with those named above, [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 14 February 2016 Brick Making in Carroll County By Mary Ann Ashcraft You might become suspicious when looking at the large number of old brick buildings in Carroll County that someone local must have had a clay pit and produced bricks. Sure enough, an article entitled “Brickmaking in Westminster” appeared in the Democratic Advocate [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 24 January 2016 More Stories From Near the Border By Mary Ann Ashcraft Two weeks ago, “Carroll’s Yesteryears” left the local men of Company H, First Regiment, Maryland National Guard, at Eagle Pass, Texas, along the Rio Grande in July 1916. Their mission was to “put a stop to the deeds of pillage and [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 10 January 2016 Carroll Residents Played a Role in Mexico’s 1916 Political Turmoil By Mary Ann Ashcraft One hundred years ago, the U.S. was successfully avoiding involvement in the bloody war raging across Europe, but it had a reason to send troops to its border with Mexico. Approximately 100 Carroll County men, members of [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 27 December 2015 Remembering John Diehl Bowman of Middleburg by Mary Ann Ashcraft Most of us become a bit nostalgic at this time of year. I began looking back at my volunteer time with the Historical Society of Carroll County starting in 2002. It has provided not only many opportunities to learn more about [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 13 December 2015 Christmas 1944 Brought Worry to Families in Carroll by Mary Ann Ashcraft Christmas 1944 brought a mixture of joy, sadness, and worry to most Carroll County families. The war in Europe had been going well for the Allies since the invasion of Normandy in June, but there was a setback in [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 22 November 2015 Remembering the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg by Mary Ann Ashcraft It seems appropriate in the month of November when we celebrate Veterans Day to spend a few minutes thinking about another event involving veterans that took place June 29-July 4, 1913. Three of those days marked the 50th [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 8 November 2015 Brochure Highlights African-American Heritage by Mary Ann Ashcraft Thanks to a brochure recently published by the Maryland State Highway Administration entitled “Carroll County African American Heritage Guide,” Carroll citizens can learn much more about the county’s rich black heritage. The brochure is available at branches of the public library and the [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 25 October 2015 Library Expands its Reach Across Carroll by Lynn Wheeler This is the final column focusing on the history of the Carroll County Public Library (CCPL) and the individuals instrumental in its development. In 1958, following a sustained effort by individuals and civic groups coordinated by library advocate Mary Lou Dewey, Carroll’s [...]
Carroll Yesteryears 11 October 2015 Establishing the Davis Library in Westminster by Lynn Wheeler Started in 1863, by the beginning of 1949, the Westminster Library was contained in one room on the second floor of the Times Building, but things were about to change. On January 7, 1949, Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Davis announced that [...]
