The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-09-24
QUAINT MANCHESTER.
Hon VIM NJ Marine in the Baltimore Sunday
Herald of September H.

/
| the town grew, it WAS dgnihed with the more
| attractive name Manchester.
In its incipiency the houses were built spa
| ciOus; most of them were brick, with large
passagewavs having ranges Of rooms on each
! side Of these passages. They were Suhstan-
| tial and are yet standing. The early settlers
were Germans; It's origin IS stamped upon the
| outward appearance of things. The premises
are tidy; this applies as well to the streets,
lanes and alleys. The houses are kept in
| constant repair and freshly painted; trees line
| the thoroughtares. and their outrageous shade
is cooling during heated terms. Two and
often three pumps Of delightful water are IN
each square.
The town is located in il valley. 81 miles
from Baltimore and II from Hanover. Pa.
on the Pennsylvania pike. Its eeva
ton is |. 100 feet above tidewater, which j.
nearly as high as Maryland Heights AT Har
pers Ferry. The wholesome air, fresh and
| imvigoratioug. is something delicious and
| soothing. The tuwu stretches mainly along
! the pike. and contain, 1oJ lnhahttli>: II has
two churches of the size Of our iarger Bait
more church edlicrS, whose spir..s. surround .
ed iy green clad hills. resemble III" valley of
the Necker in the "Fulheriana. The de
nominations to which they belong are the
! German Reformed and the Lutheran.
Besides those denominations, the Meth
odist Episcopal Church has neat chapel,
with a membership of about dozen persons;
the Catholics have also Il small church, but
no stationed priest, one from distance call
ing to minister his Offices to his church 5
members. The United Brethren, also, are
provided with sanctuary.
One store virtually monopolizes the dry
goods groceries and household articles;
| Thirty years ago three large stores occupied
I ba faI1
! giving employment to the inhabitant is the
manufacturing of cigars. The young people
Of the town are thus engaged; likewise their
! seniors. The factories are numerous, one OF
! them employing over 20 hands. 1t is com
| puted that over $50, 900 is annually paid out
| III the town to workmen.
Two hotels and several private families en-
ertain summer boarders. A number of them
are from Baltimore Mr.. John &. Dillehuut,
the well known real estate agent and his
| family, have for IA years avoided the city 5
sultry days in Manchester's cool environ
ments. The accommodations are not suti-
cient for the numbers that are attracted to
the dreamy place for rest.
FOUR PRETTY STREAMS.
In fhe immediate neighborhood Of the town
four streams have their sources from sprlags,
each of which courses in an opposite direc-
ton. There are the headwaters of the Mo-
nocacy, Pipes Creek, a branch of the Patap-
SEQ, and the Little Gunpowder River. Few
people are aware of this. Those streams are
surrounded by chain of hills called ''Parr
Ridge" and by the "Dug Hill' range.
From "Westminster Hill, an emnence west
of the town, on a clear day and through Il
strong glass, the spires of Baltimore and ships
on the Chesapeake Bay have been seen. The
Blue Ridge Mountains, Is miles away, and
the college at Emmitsburg likewise are per
ceptible.
The view from Westminster Hill is an in
| spring one. 1t is in miniature a reproduc
ton of that at Pen-Mar. DR.. Trump, of the
town, declares it far surpasses it. Scenery
ought not to be subject to comparisons. 1t
is enough to say the view in question is ma
estic, and impresses the beholder with awe.
Indian mounds are numerous hereabout.
When your correspondent was at college III
the town he hunted them up. His proving
around and fOndness for the antiqnated caused
a fellow student, William Hickman, to versity
at his friends expense: Here is one of his
! StanZaS
''In coral he doth wander
In search of Indian graves,
He thinks that fate has left him
The history of those braves.
Methinks he is mistaken,
A mound is not tomb,
And where hog is buried
Is far from Indian DOOM
| Notwithstanding Hickman verses-wrtten
40 years ago-there are Indian mounds. Since
then other and differing mounds have been
| heaped, the fathers of the town are beneath
them, and many of their children Those
surviving, in a little while, will repose in 81
lence by their sides
IT'S HISTORIC PERsONAGES.
Manchester has its historical personages
Here resided DR.. Shower, who serveda term
in Congress, and Samuel Dewes, a ffer in the
Revolution, who made music in the presence
of Washington. When Baltimore was invaded
Dewes beat a drum in a company from this
vicinity, which repaired to the defence of Bal
timore. He was born in Pennsylvania during
the year 1850. He was great character in
this community where he sleeps in an un-
marked grave covered with ivy. ! shall use
my persuasive powers on DR.. Hadel and my
compatriots, the Sons of Soldiers of the War
of 1872 to mark the captain resting place.
During the old time Fourth of July cele
brations in Manchester Dewes was marshal OF
the professions. On one Fourth Edward
Crumrine was sent to Hampstead to escort
him to Manchester and, when going down
the long hill near the town, he struck his
horse for some fault. Dewes reproved him,
saying: ''Never do that again. The horse
will remember it, and on the next recurrence
he will aud away
AS showing his steadiness Of hand and I'M.
dimmed vision it is related of him that, shortly
before his DEATH there was a shooting match
| in Manchester, in which the victor was re-
| warded with a deer. Dewes contested with
the brag shots, and hit the bull s-eye every
time, winning the prize.
He was fond of fishing. Once on such an
expedition he accompanied MIR. Belt, who
was at the time young man. They set their
lines, and during the night retired to sleep in
an old mill. They were startled by the rolling
of barrels overhead. Dewes requested Belt
TO go upstairs and ascertain the cause Of so
much noise. Belt struck light and obeyed
one whose command was imperative, but saw
nothing. Throughout that night those unac-
countable noises continued, preventing sleep.
Rev. c. NJ. Eyster searched the church rec
ords, and ascertained that Dewes died on Au-
gust 6, 1876, and was buried with military
| honors on the Sth. His name and fame will
| live hereabout.
| Frank Sullivan, an aged German, boasts
that his mothers sister was Dewes wife, and
he went with me to point out Dewes' grave,
which in times past had searched for in vain.
Frank has promised me that he will place "a
| cypress headboard at the old hero 5 mound to
remain until Hadel. Iglehart and the associa-
ton do better. Through this old town
marched the Hanover and York Volunteers
to Baltimore, when Ross imperiled it. The
men were furnished with refreshments and
| given patriotic reception.
The most useful and illustrious citizen Of
Manchester Was Rev. Ferdinand Dieffenbach,
a Lutheran clergyman, whose father filled the
same holy Office Ferdinand was graduate
of Heidelberg. He was born at Schltz, in
Germany, about 1921. He was an LII. D.,
Phi. d. and d. d. He preached and proba
bly, taught school in Schlitz when the reyolu-
ton of l849 occurred. He was a revolutionist
and copatriot with Schurz, Gottfred and
Siegel. He fed from that country to escape
arrest, with his wife and baby daughter Mary,
embarking on ship which, after voyage Of
six weeks, landed them in New York. The
baby Mary almost caused the soldiers to de-