The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1936-06-25

Garrett county, in honor of John W.
Garrett, president of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad.
have always considered the name
singularly appropriate, for Garrett
county is, fguratively speaking, the
attic of the State, located as it is high
in the Allegheny ENTHUSIASTICALLY
at the top. 1t is in this attic I desire
to rummage in the effort to rescue
from oblivion some of the names of
the real pioneers and relate a few
incidents attending the settling Of this
part of our State.
Someone has said that Maryland is
only a rim of shore, shell of noun
tain, but all gold" There have been
many gibes cast at US from some of
the more highly favored counties,
which we have managed, somehow, to
survive, and Notwithstanding our iso-
lation we have rubbed elbows with
many of the great and near-great.
William Ashby The First Settler
The first permanent settler in this
part of Maryland was William Ashby,
who with a company of wayfarers,
seeking new lands to conquer, was
forced by illness to spend a winter in
an old Indian fort on or near the pres
ent site of Gortner. While the COM
pany with whom he was journeying
went on to their destination, William
Ashby remained to become a perma-
nent land holder in this State.
The ancient castle of Ashby in Lei
sectershire, England, is first men
toned as Asebi in the time of Edward
the Confessor. When the Doomsday
survey was made, the castle was held
by Hugh, under Countess Judith, to
whom it was presented by her uncle,
William the Conqueror. During the
reign of Henry III, David of Asebi
was lord of the manor, but forfeited
his land in the reign Of King John for
adherence to the baro1s. However, his
lands were restored by Henry III in
1917. For 600 years the Ashbys have
been famous in literature, politics and
military service. The men have been
courageous; the women, as wives OF
pioneers, have not been less so, al
though the lives of pioneer women
have been tragic beyond belief.
Historically the Ashby family is in
teresting from David, lord of the
manor, to William, the obscure pio-
neer, and General Turner Ashby, the
brilliant Southern cavalryman, who
was instantly killed leading the Fifty
eighth Virginia Regiment into battle
near Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Colonel Isaac McCarty
Colonel Isaac McCarty, who was a
descendant of Patrick McCarty, OF
Tyrone County, Ireland, married Anne
Deyecmon, and settled on the tract
of land Immediately South of Oak
land, known as the Totten Farm. He
also owned part, if not all, the land
where Oakland now stands, and in
1929 organized the first Sunday school
which met in the home of George Loar,
paternal ancestor of Miss Lottie Loar,
our esteemed Civic Club president.
The newly re-dedicated Methodist
church on Oak street in Oakland is
an offspring of this first Sunday school.
During the thirty years of Isaac Nc
Carty's life at "Yough Glades" he
was the leader in the commercial, So
cial and religious life of the commu-
nifty.
In 1851, when the B. & o. R. R.,the
first system in America, was finished
to this point, Colonel McCarty pro-
ceeded to lay out the town. And l
presume it was at this time the eupho-
NOUS name of "Slabtown" and "Yough
Glades," by which it was known, was
discarded for the more appropriate
one of Oakland"
About this time occurred the tragic
death of DR.. Conn, whose office was
diagonally across from the DAVIS
home, occupied at that time by Corne-
Illus johnson, who in jealous rage
shot the doctor as he was entering his
office. have heard members of the two
preceding generations say that Mrs.
johnson was superlatively beautiful
woman. There was a trial, at least
in form, but nothing was ever done
with johnson.
Major George DeCalmes
Colonel McCarty's nearest neighbor
was Major George DeCalmes. an
early settler from Virginia. Marquis
DeCalmes was born in 1705, A Hugue-
not nobleman who came to this coun-
try to escape religious persecution in
his native land. He married Winifred
Waller, of Williamsburg, Virginia.
DeCalmes planted the first vine
yard in America and called his home
in Clark county, Virginia, Vineyard
Plantation" He was vestryman Of the
old log church, which was rebuilt OF
stone in 1880, One of his grandsons,