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In far northwestern Cecil County, two miles below the Mason Dixon Line, a small free African-American Community, Mount Zoar, was settled in the middle of the 19th century.  The village included about a dozen homes, a church, a school, and a cemetery.

It thrived for generations, and today some traces of this once resilient hamlet remain.  These include an AME Church, which was built around 1870, replacing an earlier house of worship that was in the area by 1859.  Plus, there is a 19^th-century frame schoolhouse with a projected entrance and bell tower.   The “school is one of the more unusual of its type in the entire county,” a Maryland Historical Trust report noted.

Through this region passed “the mysterious underground railway, which carries to the north so many fugitives from labor.  Here is a stopping place for those noiseless invisible trains . .  .,” the newspaper added (Cecil Whig,  March 26, 1859).  Also, the paper noted that there was “a dense population of free negroes in this part of the country,” near the Susquehanna River and the Canal.

One of the residents of Mt. Zoar was John Berry, Jr who purchased a large parcel of this land.  He died in July 1879 at the age of 66, the Cecil Whig noted on July 26, 1869.  He owned 75 acres of land, and the editor commented on the challenges in this era for a Black man to own that amount of good land in an “intelligent neighborhood.”  It was accumulated by his own labor and this was difficult for “a colored American citizen, the Cecil Whig wrote on March 2, 1878.  Mr. Berry had been instrumental in establishing the school and much more in the area.

Mount Zoar is a community that needs much more research, but for now, we wanted to share these notes about the surviving traces from another time.

For additional photos from Mt. Zoar AME Church and Cemetery, see this album on Facebook. — Mt. Zoar – The Family Resting Place for Many USCTs

The name of a fallen North East Fire Company firefighter who died in the line of duty 55 years ago will be added to the Maryland Fire Rescue Services Memorial Wall of Honor during ceremonies in June 2019.  Stewart W. Godwin, 56, died on Dec. 8, 1963, after collapsing at the scene of the plane crash at the edge of Elkton. 

When Pan Am Flight 214 went down just before 9 p.m. that Sunday, a general alarm went out for all available ambulances.  The North East Fire Company responded, and while they searched the debris field for survivors, Mr. Godwin, a crewmember of the North East unit, suddenly collapsed about 1:30 a.m. into the arms of Andrew Scarborough, another North East member, the News Journal reported.  He had been a member of the fire company for 18 months, according to the newspaper.

Pan Am Flight 214 was in a holding pattern above Cecil County, awaiting clearance to land in Philadelphia when it was struck by lightning. George Hollenbaugh, Vice President of the North East Fire Company, developed the nomination for the company, working to ensure that this fallen Cecil County firefighter will be remembered.

As the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project and the Reginald Lewis Museum are holding a day of remembrance, reflection and reckoning on Oct. 13, 2018, we are resharing some 2007 research we did on Cecil County lynchings.  This statewide conference is “meant to address our collective state history of white racial terrorism against African Americans.” the Museum notes, and part of that process involves creating a registry that lists all the murders.

Back in 2007, we researched these tragedies after attending a community discussion on this subject in Kent County where it was suggested that we take a closer look at the surviving traces of evidence from the past to see if these dark chapters had bypassed our communities or if there had been “a long silence” as often happened.  Local works of history — books and 20th-century newspaper columns — were silent on this matter, seeming to indicate that Cecil County escaped this dark chapter in the nation’s past.  As Professor Ifill, the author at the Kent County meeting suggested, we took a deeper look at the meager surviving traces of the past to see if the accepted interpretations stood a more thorough examination and study.

We identified two incidents through a closer examination of the original newspapers published in that era:

• On the evening of July 27, 1872, three African-American men were brought before the Magistrate Bell in Warwick on the charge of firing a dwelling near Sassafras. During the hearing, it was ordered that John Jones, Robert T. Handy and a young person named Thomas were to be committed to the Cecil County Jail for further investigation. Special Constable Merritt put the three men in his carriage (two were manacled and one was riding free) for the journey to the county seat. As they passed through a woods near Pivot Bridge (near Bethel Cemetery outside Chesapeake City), a group of men “in disguise” surrounded the carriage and took the prisoners. Hours later, when Sheriff Thomas and Deputy White arrived from Elkton, they found one of the men “strung up by a rope around his neck to the limb of a hickory tree,” according to the Delawarean. No trace of the other two men was found.

• In September 1861, a young African-American named Frederick “belonging to Capt. M. C. Pearce” of Elkton was charged with rape. in Sassafras Neck.   After a mob formed in Cecilton, the Cecil Democrat, reported that he was “taken to a tree in the vicinity of the act and hung. (Cecil Democrat, 1861)” 

For these two murders, there were a few meager surviving clues, but some stories handed down through the generations and oral traditions report that there were a few more.  We will keep searching for some sources related to these Cecil County lynchings to see if there is documentary evidence to support these oral traditions.

Also See

Lynching in Harford County: Beginning the Journey from Truth to Reconciliation, Mike’s History Blog

Incendiarism and Lynch Law in Cecil County, Maryland, from the Blog, Delmarva African Ameican History

Notes & Sources

Baltimore Sun, Incendiarism and Lynch Law & Cecil County, MD., July 30, 1872.

Cecil Democrat, Elkton, Rape, Sept. 22, 1861

Cecil Whig, Attempt by a Negro to Commit a Rape on a White Girl, Sept. 22, 1861

The Delawarean (Wilmington), July 30, 1872

Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894.  This occasion to honor the contributions of the working person to the nation, also quickly became a day of relaxation and enjoyment, as the warm days of the summer season quickly drew to a close.  All over Cecil County Labor Day was a time to relax, enjoy picnics, watch local ballgames, and honor working people.

The idea of having this federal holiday took a little getting used to.  When September 5, 1898 rolled around, it might have been just a plain old Monday, except that the banks were closed and many people didn’t seem to realize just why they were closed (Cecil Whig, Sept. 10, 1898).  “All day long depositors strolled up the steps of the bank, stopped, and seemed surprised when they found the door closed.  They gathered in small groups and discussed the matter, and when they were told that it was Labor Day they went away shaking their heads and trying to call why Labor Day was instituted,” the paper noted (Cecil Whig, Sept. 10, 1898).

Port Herman, however, wasn’t going to miss a summer holiday.  The year before the Great War (1916) disrupted life, a grand Labor Day observance, including the American Mechanics raising a flag and conducting a patriotic program at the new school.  It had been enlarged to accommodate the increasing population of the area.  After the celebration, everyone marched over to the church where a lawn party was held.  The day included special speakers, patriotic songs by school children, and an inspection of the school, which had been greatly enlarged and improved to take care of the increasing population of the section.  After the celebration, everyone marched to the church where the ladies of the church held a lawn party that afternoon and evening.  Lunch and refreshments were on sale for the benefit of the new church (Cecil Whig, Sept. 2, 1916

In Port Deposit in 1894, people availed themselves of the pleasure of a trip to Happy Valley on Labor Day, for a celebration under the auspices of the Iron Molders Union of Port Deposit.

For more on Labor Day in Cecil County see

On Labor Day, Remembering Those Who Died Building the Conowingo Dam

CONOWINGO – Sept 1, 2018 – Over the Labor Day Weekend, St. Patrick’s Chapel marked the beginning of a yearlong celebration of the 200^th anniversary of the chapel.   In addition to mass, activities included a presentation on the history of the church, tours to discuss the renovation and restoration, and refreshments.

Irish Catholic immigrants who came to the area to build the canal on the Lower Susquehanna River and work in related industries, built the church, Dr. Bill Pare told the overflow audience, as he opened the day’s activities with a history presentation.

The Rev. Roger Smith, a priest from St. Ignatius Church in Hickory (Harford County), purchased a half acre plot from Daniel Glackin for a church and a burial ground, the Dialog reported.  The first religious services were held that year.  “The congregation consisted mostly of Irish immigrants working in the lumbering operations bordering the Susquehanna River and the canals on both sides of the Susquehanna.

On this Saturday, the sanctuary, which seats about 100 people, quickly filled, but there was additional room under a large tent outside where a live video feed streamed the mass to the overflow crowd.

St. Patrick’s Historical Association was created in 2004 to preserve and restore the quiet little church in remote northwestern Cecil County, a short distance below the Mason Dixon Line.

We were delighted to see the fine work the St. Patrick’s Historical Society is doing to preserve Cecil County’s heritage.  Check out the organization’s website and Facebook page for more information on upcoming activities.

Thank you St. Patrick’s for a fine event and for the warm hospitality you extended to everyone.  It was a great event.

“St. Patrick’s is the second oldest Catholic Church in Cecil County.  The oldest is the Shrine of St. Francis Xavier in Warwick, dedicated in 1797,” the Dialog reported.

For an album of photos from the Saturday event marking the start of the bicentennial year, see this picuture album from Cecil County History on Facebook .

To attract more visitors, industry and residents to the area, the Cecil County Chamber of Commerce issued an attractive booklet touting the advantageous of the county.  The Chamber remarked “We have endeavored in the following pages to illustrate, both graphically and verbally, the advantages and facilities that have contributed to make Cecil County the prosperous and contented community that it is, and which should be of fundamental importance to the prospective settler.”  The booklet was issued around 1927.

Click here to see the full booklet, Cecil County Maryland (this is a large file and will take a moment or two to download).

Cecil County History on Facebook passed a milestone with 6,000 followers on August 21, 2018.  Thus, we want to say thanks for stopping by to spend a little on our social media channel.  Your visits to this public history space and your participation in conversations there and on our blog make our effort worthwhile.

The mission of the page is to inspire curiosity, enjoyment, and understanding about Cecil County’s fascinating past for a broad audience. We do this in two ways: Curating and selectively sharing content created by others; and contributing our own original pieces — photos, posts, and rich media — to this universe.

If You Are Cecil County Curious

Cecil County History on Facebook

Frederick C. Breitenbach Sr., of Cherry Hill, served as the last B & O station agent at Childs. retiring in 1954. Starting work for the railroad at the Singerly Tower in 1904, he served stints at Childs as a clerk and at Leslie as the stationmaster. The company brought him back to Childs as the agent in charge in 1935, where he sold tickets, handled freight, mail, and baggage, oversaw the arrival and departure of trains, took care of the property, and supervised employees.

Until 1949, passenger trains stopped at Childs, but as he marked a half-century of service, the country station only handled freight, most of it going to and from the Elk Paper Company Plant. When he started at Childs, it was the most important Cecil County stop, and three people worked there for the B & O. But in 1954, he was the only remaining employee as this rural depot slowly reached the end of the line.

He was born in Baltimore in 1885 and died in Union Hospital on May 16, 1958. Married to Ida V. Breitenbach, he was survived by his wife, three sons, Frederick, Jr., Steelville, PA; William H., Elk Mill, Robert E., Baltimore, and four daughters, Mrs. Ida R. Couden, Elkton, Mrs. Marion L. Walters, Elkton, Ruth E. and Blanche V. Breitenbach at home and Mrs. Dora Z. Pearce, Elkton. Interment was at the Cherry Hill Cemetery.

For more photos and a post of the last B & O Stationmaster, click here.

In the aftermath of World War II in Europe, the world faced an enormous humanitarian crisis.  Millions of people had been made homeless by the terrible conflict that had ripped the continent apart.  While the struggle’s end neared, President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked to establish the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, an international agency to plan and coordinated relief of victims of the war, and after the war was over Congress wrangled with the problem.  After strong and forceful involvement by President Harry Truman, the reluctant lawmakers managed to pass the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, which authorized the admission of 200,000 European displaced persons (DP) for permanent residence.

The DPs coming to the United States had to have a sponsor and a place to live before their arrival.  The first 813 refugees arrived in New York on Oct. 21. 1948.  Over the next twelve months, some of the DPs came to Cecil County to start a new life.  One of those was the family of Walter Mudryk, 38.  The Germans had taken him prisoner during the War.   His families prosperous Ukraine farm had been seized, some family members were put to death, and others served as forced laborers for the Germans.

Norman Fell sponsored this family in Cecil County, and they arrived here on January 21, 1949, to work on his farm near Calvert.  They departed from Munich for the United States, and after arriving by steamer in New York, they were sent to Baltimore on the railroad.  Mr. Fell met them at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore, where hundreds of refugees waited to meet their sponsors.

Out of this terrible conflict, their homeland destroyed, Walter Mudryk, 38, Nina, 25, his wife, and their two-year-year-old son Victor settled down on the Norman Fell Farm to start a new life in Calvert.  Sponsors in Queenstown and Virginia had also hosted some family members.

Source:   The Maryland News Courier, May 6, 1949:  Russian D.P.’s Now at Work on Calvert Farm.