The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1948-11-11
HORSE AND
BUGGY DAYS
by
Ida 10 Martin

from a member of the Historical So
ciety in regard to my question on
the Jonathan Hager house, which
appeared in my column several
weeks ago, which l greatly appre-
ciate.
We should all appreciate the His
torical Society and the work it does
and give it all the support that we
can, and it will certainly be of ben
eft to us all to help them restore
the old home of the founder of Ha-
gerstown.
The following is from the letter
which l received:
First of all, the old five-plate
stoves were in use before the turn
of the middle half of the eighteenth
century. That disposes of that diff
ficulty. Next, many of the early
houses are built around chimney
most of the very old ones, in fact.
The wing of my house was built
around 1740 and, while of logs, is
similar in construction to its con-
temporary, 'Hagers Fancy. These
houses are especially interesting be-
cause they illustrate graphically the
different stages of development
Jonathan Hager's house shows three
stages of enlargement. First, there
was a small fort-home of two rooms,
built over two separate springs. AT
this point the chimney was on the
outside west wall and was penetrat-
ed by loop-hole which remains to
this day. At some later date, and
not too late at that, an addition was
made to the west which put the
chimney in the middle of the house,
right where it would do the most
good and contribute to the warmth
of the whole dwelling. 'Hagers
Fancy in development number
two, was therefore represented as a
three-room stone house with cor
responding number of lott-llke
rooms on the second floor. Thls is
the house as we are trying to re-
store it, as it represents, we so judge,
the way it was when Hager occupied
it UP to about 1855. The upper
floor was added at an early date but,
obviously, after Hager had moved
out along the Western Pike.
About the banisters. When Jona-
than Hager lived in his original two
room fertilization he had no porch at
all. Whether he had one when the
western section was added remains a
question. l presume it was added
when the house was given its final
enlargement. But the porch, as it
is, was restored according to old
and chamfered posts which were or
iginal to the structure. Whenever
the porch was added, it is exactly
as it originally was"
It is very interesting to note a
peculiar similarity between the re-
cent election and one in the more
distant past. At this earlier cleo
ton, Washington County did not vote
for the winning candidate. Out of
5,427 votes cast in Washington
County, the great President Abraham
Lincoln received only 95. One his
torian, commenting on the situation
in this County, said:
Lincoln had no friends and no
support except few scattering vot-
ers who were never heard from, and
except from the expressions of ap-
prehension that his election would
lead to war, no one would have
known he was a candidate
There were four candidates at this
time, and the votes were cast thus in
Washington County: Bell, 2567;
Breckenridge, 2475; Douglass, 283;
and Mr.. Lincoln, 95.
This historian remarked that the
NObGa 1OI hlIlCOlll Sl1ll llO6 GASCSSA Via I
which woman's rights candidate
might have received. Lincoln re-
ceived but one vote in Sharpsburg,
one at Sandy Hook, and one at In
dian Springs; two votes in Clear
Spring, Hancock, Pleasant Valley,
Funkstown, and Conococheague;
twelve in HagerstoWn.
Nor was the President-e aford-
ed any kind of a welcome by many OF
those who had opposed him. OF
course the issue was badly becloud-
ed by the threat of war and secession,
and there were public meetings, by
first, joint, and then separate parties,
in an effort to settle the local public
opinion toward secession. Out OF
one of these meetings came the fol-
lowing resolution:
''As much as we deeply regret the
election of men to the highest Of
fees of the Republic nominated and
-,.~4a;~.ol -, . -ao41oy, vat VIC 50 moi