The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-11-17
CUMBERLAND'S OLDEST MAN.


Old Early IN January.
| Cumb. Courier.
The oldest man now IN Cumber-
land Is Joseph NJ. Strong. He will
be ninety years old early in January
next; venerable in years and res
pectable in character. Everyone
has a good word or thought for
Coroner Strong. which Office he has
held over forty wears. His first
case was an inquest upon the body
of Allwine, stage driver, who was
shot and killed by W. Il. Michael in
house of lll-repute in Cumberland
in 1S49. His last case was very re-
Gently. The aged squire moves
about quite comfortably-mind is
clear and memory wonderful. but
his hearing is failing quite percep-
tibly. This faculty seems to be the
first to yelid to ravages of age.
The good old mans wife is still
with him, well stricken IN years.
Joseph M. Strong was born in
Brownsville in 1903, but his father
moved Eastward when the bow was
only few years old. stopping at
old Grantsville for a year or two
when 1t was new hamlet of a few
houses and blacksmith shop;
Daniel Grant, the proprietor, liv-
ing a few hundred yards to the
East on Braddock's road, the viii
lage itself was on the same military
highway. The residents of the lit
tie village then were the Strong
family, Hunter. the blacksmith,
Stephen Milholland, Maxwell, and
John Baker, father of the late
Peter Baker, of Oakland. The
next move for David Strong, the
father, was to Cumberland, where
he died in 1919. and where our sub
ject has lived ever since. There
was "a brother, David, who was
soldier in the Mexican war. He,
too, had great memory and was
an interesting narrator of many in
terestlng events in the long past.
In 1877 Joseph Strong, when
boy IA years old, was employed to
carry the U. s. mail from Cum ber-
land to Uniontown, Pa, a distance
of So miles over the National turn
pike, so far as it was then finished
to Winding Ridge; thence by Brad
docks road by the left flank, to
his destination. The leather mail
bag, with It's meagre contents, was
carried by the plucky boy on horse
back; no stage coaches at that time,
but they appeared soon thereafter.
But two postoffices between this
city and Uniontown; the first at
Little Meadows, with Jesse Tom
llnson as postmaster, and the other
at Smithfield, Pa. - Blocher as
postmaster. This place IN early
times was known as Big Crossings.
Little Crossings was one mile east
of Grantsvllle. These two lmpor-
tant points on the old road took
their names from the mere fact of
crossing or fording the two most
important branches of Yough river.
In this way Strong became ac-
quainted with all the early hotel
keepers along the now historic high
way. His recollections and stories
are full of interest and useful in
formation; strong and retentve
memory contains large stock of
information which must soon be
lost entirely. When Strong was a
mail boy their were not over three
or four postotlices in the whole
county; now at least forty in Allie
ganv and Garrett. In 1917 the
father Of the late DR.. James NJ.
Smith was postmaster in Cumber-
land, in a little log house near the
Blue Spring, Strong was boats
man on the Potomac river from
1922 to 1913, when the dam at
Cumberland put an end to the old
fiat boating; nothing Of 1T remained
except the many string stores.
RECnJJ ECTJ0NS