The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1948-10-07
HORSE AND
BUGGY DAYS
by
Ida 10 Martin

est in local history being awakened
among some of our younger folks.
The Maugansville School is sponsor
ing project being carried out by the
seventh, eighth, and ninth grades
the compiling and writing of a
history of the Maugansville dis
trict The work will be first circu-
lated locally and finally printed in
book form, under the guidance and
inspiration of one of the teachers,
Miss Slime.
This column will report on the
progress of this project, which IS
certainly to be highly commended
and encouraged in every way pos
sible.
One of the most interesting and
most historic of the fine old homes |
of Washington County, is the we'll
preserved Rochester House" in
Hagerstown. This is the beautiful
three-wing house on the southwest
corner of West Washington and Pros
pect Streets. 1t was built in 1889 by
Col. Nathaniel Rochester, who later
went to western New York State and
founded the town that is today the
city of Rochester.
This old house has been the center
of many activities among Hagers-
town peoples, social, patriotic and
others. From the day it was built
it was connected with the leaders of
the town and their industries, and
it was also known as a place of re-
fuge for many weary and wound
ed soldier. Near by stood the Hart
and Rochester nail and lock factory,
facing on Prospect Street, and some
where not so far away was their rope
walk, which was described in this
column last spring, but the location
of the rope walk is not exactly
known.
The man who built this house
came to Hagerstown from his home
in Virginia, just two years after the
Nation had gained independence,
and took on two partners here. One
was a wife, Miss Sophia Beatty, of
Hagerstown, and the other was his
long time business partner, Col.
Thomas Hart. The following year
he erected the home still standing.
COLONEL Rochester, having gain
ed that rank in the Continental
Army during the Revolution, be-
came active in the affairs of his new
state Immediately. In 1890 he was
elected to the Maryland Legislature,
and the next year was appointed
Postmaster in Hagerstown, and in
1904 he was elected Sheriff of Wash
ington County. Several years later
he organized the Hagerstown Bank
and became its first president. One
thing that throws a strong light on
the character of this man was his
reason for leaving Hagerstown.
When he set out for New York, he
left behind a high position in a grow
ing town, social prestige, and
fiourishing business interests. He
left all this so that he could make
his home in a free state where his
family could be reared away from
the influences of slavery"
Colonel Rochester sold his home
to Upton Lawrence when he left.
This brought the property back in
to the line of the original owners,
for Lawrence's wife was Jonathan
Hager's granddaughter. He built an
addition to the house at the east
end, and apparently removed the
old nail and lock factory, which
must have stood directly over the
area now Prospect Street, and gave
the ground required for that street
to the town.
After the death of Mr.. Lawrence,
trustees sold the estate to Mr.. VIM
D. Bell, another man who had much
to do with the shaping of present
day Hagerstown, through his news
paper, the Mail, and whose activities
have already been given in this
column. Mr.. Bell owned the place
from 1881 till 1850, when his trustee
sold it to DR.. Howard Kennedy
Here the Kennedys lived for well
over three quarters of a century.
It was the daughter of the Doctor,
Anna Howell Kennedy Findlay, who
assembled history of the old house,
and thereby preserved many inter-
esting details of incidents that oc-
Cured. She was young girl dur
ing the Civil War and remembered
many things that she and her broth
ers had seen.
There was chimney and f1ue in
every room of the house, and in
Miss Kennedy's time each room was
heated either by an open fire or by
a stove No doubt in the earlier days