Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1912-05-17
MARYLAND TO OWN
FORT FREDERICK
STATE WILL PURCHASE TRACT
WITH HISTORIC LANDMARK
Built TO Protect Early Settlers Against
Attacks From Indians Which
ewarued About It's Walls

HaBeTStoWn, MI, NAY Al OFT
Frederick. in the eastern part of Wash
ington county perhaps the oldest Col
onial landmark of its kind in the Unit
ed States, viii pass into the ownership
Of the State Of Maryland soon, and the
State viii then possess what the Prov
ince once -~ned but sold soon after
the conclusion of the Revolutionary
war
A law authorizing the State Fores-
try Commission to acquire a tract of
land including the fort for a forest
reserve was passed at the recent SEES
sion of the Maryland General Assem-
ly. and $500 was appropriated for
that purpose. The fort was built in
1856 when Horatio Sharpe was Gov
ernor Of the Province of Maryland,
and il was sold by Maryland in 1890.
For many years it has been allowed
to 90 10 ruin. Various owners of the
farm Of which it was an appurtenance
paid little attention TO it. Nathan
Williams, a thrifty negro farmer, took
down one of its bastiong to get rock
to build barn. Since that time more
persons have been free with criticisms
of Nothan Williams and what he did
with his own property than they have
been with money to help the State re-
gain one of its oldest landmarks. Not
until this year has the effort to get
the State interested in taking over the
properly been successful.
Many previous efforts have been
made TO appeal to the Legislature, and
ex-Gov. Edwin Warfeld worked hard
as the head of the Fort Frederick Pro
tective Association. but despite the aid
of many patriotic men and women of
Maryland he failed. Judge Henry
Stockbridge. Jr.. president of the
Maryland Historical Society worked
hard for the measure, aided by many
others in the patriotic organizations.
Many Hostile Indians
Indians were particularly hostile at
the time the fort was built, and the
countryside rang with tales of atroci-
ties committed by the redskin allies
of the French after Braddock's defeat
The fort became the refuge of the set
tiers of what was then the western
frontier, and Col George Washington
said in a letter written about that
time to Lord Fairfax:
"That the Maryland settlements are
all abandoned is certainly fact, The
garrison at the fort usually consisted
of English officers and Colonial sold
iers of Maryland. whose marksman-
ship was afterward so dreaded by the
redcoats in numerous Revolutionary
battles. The fort was peopled for
many years by men, women and child
rem seeking shelter behind its walls,
and not only dicing and card-playing,
but dancing with music on the harpsi-
chord and fiddle gave amusement for
the refugees sheltered there.
The redskins dared not go near the
fort They kept aloft also from the
outpost sentinels. They We're dragged
in often by scouting parties, and ira
dition says that their usual fate was to
be taken a short distance from the
fort at dawn of the following morning
and shot.
Fort Cumberland on the site of the
city of Cumberland, was built long be-
fore Fort Frederick, but no trace OF 1t
is left. fine church edifice occupying
the brow of the hill where once stood
this famous military outpost The
structure that Gov Horatio Sharpe
had built nearly 70 miles eastward
waS one of the most formidable FORTH
cations erected in Colonial days. 1t is
uuadrangular in shape, each wall beng
12O feet long 10 feet high, Az feet
thick at the base and 3 feet at the top,
with a bastion at each corner sur
mounted by a six-pounder. The mas
sive gates swung on hinges that weigh
ed az pounds each. Cement was
brought from New York to hold to-
gether the tough native limestone in
a solid mass, and in the wilderness
was completed a citadel that would
have proved no easy conquest for the
artillery of the middle Eighteenth Cen
turv. No wonder the redskins kept at
a safe distance! No wonder the his
tory of Fort Frederick lacks tragedy
or even the account of holly fought
battle. The ravages of time ana the
elements and of the modern spirit OF
putting everything to a commercial
use have made it's marks upon it that
foe dared not make.
A difference of opinion exists as TO
how Fort Frederick got It's name
Some say it was named after F'reder-
ick Calvert. the last Lard Baltimore;
others after the heir-apparent OF Eng
land at the time. George Frederick.
who became renowned within the per-
iod beginning a few years before 1875
and ending a few years later as
George III. Some say the wise old Gov
ernor of the Province of Maryland
paid a compliment TO both in the cree
ton of his forest citadel 1t may be.
Used as Prison
After Burgoyne's surrender at Sara
toga Fort Frederick was used as a
prison house for men who laid down
l.It 10 In III 40