Objects and Ephemera
A selection of items from the collection of the MWAHS and private owners.
Jacob Toms' Tax Receipt for the Year 1842 (Above). Jacob Toms, Jr. (1796-1887) (left), who grew up on and later bought his family's farm located about a half mile northwest of Jerusalem Church, married Mary Flight at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Middletown on 12 November, 1820. He and his wife worked the farm for the entirety of their lives.
On 22 May, 1843, He paid $9.91 in taxes on real and personal property. Receipt courtesy Jennifer Savaadra. |
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A receipt from Jacob Toms to Samuel Bowlus for Hardware and Shingles, 8 November, 1858. Courtesy Jennifer Savaadra.
Detail of Myersville from the 1858 Isaac Bond map of Frederick County. Library of Congress, MSA SC 1213-1-457.
Letter from John Jacob Routzahn (1792-1876) to Mr. Gansale, September 1860. "Mr. Gansale, Sir I drop you a few lines to inform you that I have come to the conclusion to rent my mill property and if you would like to rent it now you can have a chance at it provided we can bargain. If you want to come over anny time it suits you you can have it by the first of October if you wish it. Let me know all about it soon. Yours Respectfully, Jacob Routzahn." MWAHS Collection.
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(Above Left): A military drum and spyglass found by the Sheffer family after the battle of South Mountain in September 1862, a Civil War-era sword found on the farm of George Blickenstaff, and a Harp-Horine photo album. (Above Right): Civil War Draft Notice to George Leatherman, August 1862. Owned by Julia Carlson.
Certificate of Exemption for a Drafted Person on Account of Disability for John Henry Toms, August 1864. Courtesy Jennifer Savaadra.
A Receipt for Medical Services by Myersville Doctor Leander Wachter for John Henry Toms, October 1869. Courtesy Jennifer Savaadra.
Structures and Homes Comprising Myersville, 1873. This plat is from Titus Atlas of Frederick County. On it can be seen the 1796 tavern ("A. Poffinberger") with the Joseph Brown store beside it; the home of businessman and Maryland State Representative Upton Burhman; the carriage shop of John T. Hildebrandt ("Wg. Sh.") that would soon catch fire and also burn St. Paul's Lutheran Church next door; the United Brethren Church parsonage ("U.B. Parsonage"), the home of the widowed Catharine Shank Linebaugh ("Mrs. Linebaugh") whose husband, wagonmaker and wheelwright Jonathan Linebaugh, died in 1864; and others.
Wolfsville in 1873. This plat is from the Titus Atlas of Frederick County.
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Directory of Maryland by Post Office Addresses, 1874.
Schoolmaster's bell from the Old Harmony School. This bell was donated to the historical society by Mary Clark Leatherman in loving memory of her husband, Carroll Feete Leatherman, Jr. Students would have heard it rung each day to mark the beginning of classes. MWAHS Collection.
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Farm Appliances. An 1888 copy of the book owned by Myersville-area farmer Elmer Alonzo Young (1863-1940) (above). He was a poultry and pigeon farmer, magazine correspondent, and founding member of Myersville Savings Bank. Ann Longmore-Etheridge Collection.
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Flour Sack from Sandy Grove Mills, Ellerton, Circa 1890. Owned by Tom Smith.
Left: Memorial card for Capt. Daniel Main, 1894. Daniel Main (1812-1894) was a well-known and well-off landowner. The Baltimore Sun of 29 December, 1894, reported:
"A Picturesque Funeral. A Hearse and Mounted Pallbearers in Snowdrifts of the Mountains. The funeral of Capt. Daniel Main took place today…. The body was conveyed in a hearse drawn by four black horses to Middletown, Frederick County, a distance of eighteen miles, leaving Hagerstown at daylight. Seventeen of the relatives rode in a sleigh drawn by for white horses. The snow was so deep that but little progress was made. When Boonsboro was reached, a relay of the horses was secured. In crossing South Mountain, huge drifts of snow were encountered. Middletown was reached late in the afternoon. Services were held in the Lutheran church and the body interred by the side his wife." |
Below: A receipt from Wolf and Moser Boot & Shoe Store, Myersville, to John Henry Toms, 11 December, 1894. Myersville resident John Henry Toms (1829-1906), son of Jacob and Mary Flight Toms, was a farmer and auctioneer. This receipt shows that he paid his tab in full on that day.
The proprietors of Wolf & Moser, "dealers in boots, shoes, trunks, etc." were Joseph Wolf (pictured above right) (1850-1911) and Arba Albert Moser (1871-1940) (above left). Wolfe, a boot and shoemaker, lived his entire life in Myersville except for his apprenticeship in Boonsboro. In Myersville, he was also a justice of the peace and a notary public. Moser was born in Middletown, relocated to Myersville, and ran a shoe-selling business in Frederick City, in the years after his business partner died. Receipt courtesy Jennifer Savaadra. |
Frederick County Map, 1895. This map didn't note Myersville or Wolfsville, the main towns of the area, but Harmony, Pleasant Walk, and Ellerton were all included.
Advertisement for John W. Hoover's Store at the Hoover House, Circa 1895-1900.
Advertising card for John Henry Maugans' (Right)(1840-1906) mercantile in Wolfsville, Circa 1895-1900. "Lieut. John H. Maugans, ex-merchant of Wolfsville, and of industrious habits, enlisted in Company K, 9th Indiana Infantry, as a private in the civil war, and fought in many hard battles in which his regiment engaged, was highly applauded by the late Gen. Nelson for its fighting qualities, justly merits the honor conferred upon him Gov. Morton of Indiana under whose administration he was commissioned. Mr. Maugans has quite a host of relatives and friends in this community. The late Cyrus Moser of Co. D, 6th Md., Infantry, a valiant soldier, was his uncle, being a brother to his mother."--Catoctin Clarion, 26 March, 1903. Advertisement courtesy Base Kuhn.
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Letter written by Myersvillian Jacob Toms to his brother Claude, 4 December, 1909. Courtesy Jennifer Saavadra.
"Dear Brother, I am in Chambersburg today. Just had my dinner, smoking a cigar, laying back, feet cocked up. Got home all right [sic] last night. Don't know anyone in town. Having all the fun to myself. I will send you one of my cards. Hope you all are well. I will leave for Waynesboro in one hour. Good by. "Your brother, Jake " |
Above: Claude Evers Toms (1876-1952), the recipient of the letter.
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Postcard Addressed to Nellie Johnson of Church Hill, Circa 1910.
Postcard Addressed to Claude Evers Toms, 16 August, 1909. This postcard, from Toms's brother Elmer Jacob Toms, reads, "No eat, no sleep. Walk with cane. Doc still ..?.. Car bunk [carbuncle] on back little bit. Had rice rain last night. Picnic next Saturday. GB [probably short for God bless] Jake". Courtesy Jennifer Savaadra.
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Offering Card from St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 1899. This card was signed by town merchant and bank president George Waters Bittle. MWAHS collection.
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Edna Harp's 1906 Copy of Song Praises for the Sunday School. MWAHS Collection.
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Letter from C. C. Stottlemyer, 12 July, 1906. Stottlemyer and his family made the renown and sought-after Stottlemyer chairs in the small Wolfsville workshop at bottom right.
"My Dear Son, I will drop you a few lines. We are all well and I hope you are well and getting along all right. We have been looking for a letter from you. We have not got the mail today yet.
"I wrote to a firm in Baltimore to see if I could get a small planer and band saw. They wrote back that they had a planer and saw. I will enclose their letter and if you can go see them I want you to see what for looking machines they are and what is the price and tell them that I want the saw to saw out rockers and arms for my chairs. The planer I want to plane the backs -- something that will plane to a regular thickness and plane Smooth.
"It must ... a foot or more all the better. Just so I can run it with my engine. You can tell then all about what I want it for. If you think they have what I want it for then I will be down in a week or two.
"If have not written yet be sure to write by return mail and give us the news. No more at present as almost mail time. Yours truly,
C. C. Stottlemyer"
"My Dear Son, I will drop you a few lines. We are all well and I hope you are well and getting along all right. We have been looking for a letter from you. We have not got the mail today yet.
"I wrote to a firm in Baltimore to see if I could get a small planer and band saw. They wrote back that they had a planer and saw. I will enclose their letter and if you can go see them I want you to see what for looking machines they are and what is the price and tell them that I want the saw to saw out rockers and arms for my chairs. The planer I want to plane the backs -- something that will plane to a regular thickness and plane Smooth.
"It must ... a foot or more all the better. Just so I can run it with my engine. You can tell then all about what I want it for. If you think they have what I want it for then I will be down in a week or two.
"If have not written yet be sure to write by return mail and give us the news. No more at present as almost mail time. Yours truly,
C. C. Stottlemyer"
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Left: Deed for Funeral Plot at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Myersville, 1908. This deed records the purchase of a plot for Reno Bittle Poffinberger. MWAHS Collection.
Above: Reno and Margie Poffinberger's tombstone. |
Ad Placed by Myersville Store Owner Lawson Bittle promoting Battle Axe Shoes.
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Ira Moser (1881-1935). Publisher of the Monitor.
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Myersville Monitor Front Page, Circa 1909. This is the only known extant fragment of the town's newspaper. At bottom left is the ad placed by Lawson Bittle, Main Street merchant. MWAHS Collection.
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CTS Tomolene Salve Tin, Circa 1910. This medicinal salve was produced by Eureka Specialty Company of Middletown. This tin is completely full of the original product, which the reverse promotes as a valuable remedy for chapped skin, burns, sores, cuts, boils, poison ivy, and other ailments. Owned by Ann Longmore-Etheridge.
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Promotional Calendar Distributed by Walter C. Rowe, Printer and Stationer, 1910. Rowe would later become a railway lineman and run other side businesses. Owned by Dick Phelps.
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Transfer for the Hagerstown & Frederick Trolley, Circa 1910. Trolley expert Rueben Moss notes, "Passengers would pay the full-trip fare when boarding the first trolley and be presented with this if they were transferring to another trolley in Hagerstown. The month, hour, and destination would be punched when issued to indicate to the driver of the next trolley what fare had already been paid. The large number (12 in this case) was the day of the month so that it could not be used again. Sometimes other destinations not on the transfer could be stamped by a station agent, as is the case with a used transfer in the H&F Historical Society Collection stamped for Shady Grove, Pennsylvania." MWAHS Collection.
Highland Falls, Ellerton, Postcard, Image Circa 1910. This waterfall near Ellerton is also known as Great Falls. Although the image is from a decade earlier, this postcard was postmarked 24 December, 1922. It is addressed to Mr. S. Schmall, 4549 Calumet St., Chicago, IL. The delightful message reads, "Thank you dear for the nice letter you send [sic] us and all the kisses. Hope you are a good boy. Did you throw Herbert out of bed Sunday morning? Love to you & all. Aunt Alice." Owned by Ann Longmore-Etheridge.
Another version of the image shows the same group posing on the rocks in greater, uncolored detail. Courtesy Steve Murphy.
Another version of the image shows the same group posing on the rocks in greater, uncolored detail. Courtesy Steve Murphy.
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Postcard to Nellie Pettingall, April 1911. The unsigned card reads, "How is old Myersville these cold days. She looks good to me. You ought to be here now. Skating is just fine. Oh you Feb 22nd. I wonder where I will spend it this year. Best Regards. 4-12-11." Nellie Pettingall lived on Main Street, Myersville. Born in 1888, she was the daughter of Samuel H. Pettingall (1848-1929) and Amanda C. Poffenberger (1850-1931). She married steel mill worker W. Clyde Raines, who may well have been the author of this postcard. She was a graduate of Hood College and taught in Frederick County schools for a number of years. Nellie and Clyde had one son, William P. Raines. Nellie died in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 18 February, 1970. Clyde died in 1976. Both are buried at Mt. Zion Church Cemetery. Owned by Ann Longmore-Etheridge.
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United Brethren Sunday School Postcard, April 1911. This postcard was sent to Clayton Haupt of Myersville: "Greetings from U.B.S.S. Class No. 2. Hope will you present [sic] Easter Sunday morning. Special music. Nellie Pettingal, secretary." Owned by Ann Longmore-Etheridge.
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Myersville High School Senior Class of 1914 Commencement Invitation, 1 June, 1914. MWAHS Collection.
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United Brethren Rally Day Postcard, October 1911 and 1917. Top left: This postcard was sent on 20 October, 1911, to Myersville's doctor, Ralph Browning, MD. Bottom left and below: This postcard was sent to Helen Keller and family, Myersville, MD, on 30 October, 1917. Rally Days are held as a new start or a renewed effort in involving children, youth, and adults in Sunday School. Owned by Ann Longmore-Etheridge.
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Promotional Card for the Basket Shop, Circa 1918. This business was run my Walter Calvin Rowe, probably as a side business, as the 1920 Census records that Rowe was a railroad lineman who lived on Old Hagerstown Road. Owned by Dick Phelps.
Left: Walter C. Rowe's obituary, Frederick News, 12 March, 1973. 
Frederick County Dog Tag, 1918. MWAHS Collection.
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Frederick County 1919 Role of Honor. This lists the area's soldier losses and injuries during World War I.
The list notes that Harry B. Smith (1889-1918) of Myersville died of disease, as did Gaither Leon Lewis (1893-1918) and John W. Wolfe of Wolfsville. Sidney Willis and Harry Daniel Baker (1898-1959) of Myersville were wounded in action, as was Norbet Waters of Harmony and William M. Sellman and Paul R. Umberger of Church Hill. Smith was in military training at Ft. Mead when he died of Spanish flu during the great pandemic. Lewis, who appears to have actually been from Smithsburg, expired of pneumonia in France. Baker is noted to have been "slightly wounded" in France in 1919. MWAHS Collection. |
Charles Frederick Jackson (1889-1959). Harmony native and Myersville resident, fought in World War I, serving in France from April 1918 to May 1919. After the war, he married Ruth A. Adkins, had three daughters and a son, and worked as a Myersville farmhand and mechanic.
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Promotional Calendar Distributed by George W. Bittle's Store, Main Street, Myersville, 1920. Owned by Dick Phelps.
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A receipt from the George Waters Bittle Store. Probably from the 1920s. MWAHS Collection.
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Below: Original Myersville Savings Bank Sign. This sign hung outside the Main Street building now more commonly referred to as Grossnickle Insurance Company. Owned by Dick Phelps.
Right: Myersville Savings Bank in about 1915. 
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Postcard to C. A. Ruppersberger, Jr., Postmarked 6 January, 1923. The reverse reads: "Dear Sweet Heart, do what this verse says as soon as possible. Grand Mother."
Right: Promo Card of Car Salesmen Brandenburg & Harne, 1925.
Yearbook for the Woman's Club of Myersville, 1926-1927. "Club Colors: Yellow and White; Club Flower: Daisy; Motto: Labor Conquers Everything. Officers: President -- Mrs. D. Edgar Bittle; Vice President -- Mrs. W. E. Hauver; Secretary -- Miss Mary Muck; Treasurer -- Miss Effie J. Dean." Courtesy Middletown Valley Historical Society.
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Mary E. Muck (1902-1970). Miss Muck was a teacher at Myersville School during the 1920s and 1930s. Locally born and the daughter of David W. and Mary Muck, she was also secretary of the Woman's Club of Myersville.
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Left: Merchandise tag, bef. 1931. MWAHS Collection. Christopher Columbus Stottlemyer (1857-1931) was a furniture maker in Wolfsville whose handcrafted rocking chairs are eagerly sought after by collectors. Right: Known as "C.C.," Stottlemyer was descended from "David Stadelmayer, a German immigrant who settled in the Middletown Valley in the late 18th century and raised 10 children, [who] operated a sawmill along Spruce Run near Wolfsville," notes the Frederick Post. "His son, David Jr., operated an up and down sawmill on the property, the remnants of which can be seen today. David Jr.’s grandson, Fred, began making furniture at the Spruce Run homestead, probably in the 1850s. In 1857, his son, Christopher Columbus, known as Columbus or CC, was born. Columbus added the distinctive acorn finials the chairs were known for, and made his chairs at a shop along what today is Black Rock Road." MWAHS Collection.
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Above Left: Marriage Certificate of Keller R. Kline (1887-1944) and Elizabeth Ellen Gaver Shepley (1879-1948), 1930. Kline and Shepley were both widowed when the married in Hancock on 25 January, 1930. He had previously been her lodger.
Above Right: A Temperance Pledge Signed by the Entire Shepley Clan. It includes the signatures of Elizabeth's first husband Charles Ellsworth Shepley (1862-1923) and their children Elmer Milo, Orville Raymond, Russell Austin, Mary Catherine, Mildred Cynthia, Fred Guy, Atlee Gaver, Marvin Paul, and Helen E. Shepley. Courtesy Jennifer Savaadra.
Above Right: A Temperance Pledge Signed by the Entire Shepley Clan. It includes the signatures of Elizabeth's first husband Charles Ellsworth Shepley (1862-1923) and their children Elmer Milo, Orville Raymond, Russell Austin, Mary Catherine, Mildred Cynthia, Fred Guy, Atlee Gaver, Marvin Paul, and Helen E. Shepley. Courtesy Jennifer Savaadra.
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Elizabeth Gaver Shepley with Her First Husband Charles Shepley, Probably on Their Wedding Day in 1897. Charles Shepley died in 1924.
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Above: Keller R. Kline and Elizabeth Gaver Shepley Kline with one of Their Grandchildren.
Below: Charles and Elizabeth's home in Ellerton. 
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Envelope for a letter addressed to Robert Ridgely, circa 1938. Ridgely was a prohibitionist and churchman who worked with the FBI to find illegal stills. This correspondence originated from a church mission in India. Owned by Judy Zeck.
Advertisement from the Hagerstown Morning Herald, 31 March, 1949.
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Promotional Memorabilia from Guy C. Kline, Myersville Tractor and Farm Equipment Retailer, Circa 1945. Owned by DIck Phelps.
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Romantic "Business Card" of Charles Irving Easterday (1909-1987) of Myersville, Circa 1950.
Myersville Savings Bank Promotional Calendar, 1957. MWAHS Collection.
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Ham/CB Radio Trade Card, Circa 1960. Charles Albert Summers (1918-2007) was a Myersville-area ham radio enthusiast. Similar cards were traded between ham/CB operators around the country.
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Top: Donor Thank You Card from the Myersville Community Library. Bottom: Medal in Commemoration of the Preservation of Trolley 150 Within the Myersville Library, August 2019. MWAHS Collection.
PDF and Other Files
Biographical information concerning Joseph Ludy of Myersville. PDF file.
| joseph_ludy.pdf |
Biographical information concerning George M. Miller of Jackson District. PDF file.
| charles-miller-at-mt-tabor.pdf |
The Story of Wolfsville: The Germans in the Middletown Valley by Opal S. Wolfe, 1965. PDF file.
| story_of_wolfesville.pdf |
Wolfe family genealogy by Opal S. Wolfe, 1965. PDF file.
| wolfe_genology.pdf |
Property Transfer between Jacob Leatherman and John F. and Mary Ann Michael, 1853. PDF file.
| leathermanfarmdeed.pdf |
The History of the Middletown Valley by Harry M. Gross, 1932. PDF file.
| middletownvalley.pdf |
John Wesley Warrenfeltz letter to L. Easterday of Lincoln, Nebraska, 1908. PDF file.
| john_wesley_warrenfeltz_letter_page_1.pdf |
A Collection of Photographs of Wolfsville, Maryland Family of James Aaron Grove (1834-1913) and Harriet Hays Grove (1834-1906)
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Family Genealogy Sheet for Hezekiah Poole and Ann Elizabeth Baker
| hezekiah_poole_and_ann_elizabeth_baker_family_sheet__1_-converted.pdf |
"Historic Frederick in the Heartland of Maryland," Tourist Brochure produced by the Francis Scott Key Hotel, 1930s. PDF File.
| tourist_brochure.pdf |
Article from Cracker Barrel Magazine on the Theophilus Pryor family and crosstie-cutting for the trolley system. PDF file.
| cracker_barrell_article_on_pryor_family_and_trolley.pdf |
Biographies of Staff at Middletown High School, Valley Register, 12 February, 1971. PDF file.
| staff_at_middletown_high_school_valley_register_12_feb_1971.pdf |
Fire Insurance Report on the Public Schools of Frederick County, Maryland, 1935. PDF file.
| the_public_schools_of_frederick_county_maryland_in_the_year_1935.pdf |
A Brief History of Where Middletown High School Has Been Located (Updated 6 June, 2021). PDF file.
| mhs_history_of_where_located.pdf |
Obituary of William E. Hauver (1888-1960), Valley Register. PDF File.
| obituary_of_william_e._hauver.pdf |
Black Rock Hotel by Asa Stotelmyer, Sun Magazine, 11/15/1970. PDF file.
| 183560878_1090331491488215_765624358386424470_n__8_files_merged_.pdf |
Barns of Mid-Maryland, Historic American Buildings Survey, 2007
| master-pnp-habshaer-md-md1700-md1792-data-md1792data.pdf |
Daniel Marker, Sr., of Middletown Valley, Biography, Association of Ohio Longrifle Collectors, Dec. 1991
| aolrc.2_1_.pdf |
Frederick County District 16, Isaac Bond, Map of Frederick County, 1858, Library of Congress, MSA SC 1213-1-457
| jackson_distirct_1858_issac_bond_map.pdf |
Geologic Map of the Myersville Quadrangle, Maryland: Baltimore, Md., Maryland Geological Survey, Fauth, J.L., 1981
| msa_se90_000018.pdf |
Map of Entire Catoctin District with Property Holders from the Atlas of Frederick County, Maryland, Titus & Co., 1873
| p.19_catoctin_district_6.tiff |
Map of Entire Jackson District with Property Holders from the Atlas of Frederick County, Maryland, Titus & Co., 1873
| p.39_jackson_district_16.tiff |
"Ropp Cabin: Portal to the Past," Valley Register, 30 September, 1999
| roop_cabin_article.pdf |
"Stottlemyer Rocking Chairs," Article by Barbara Shanley, ASA
| stottlemyer_rockers_by_b_shanley.pdf |
Smith Bowlus House, Maryland Historical Trust Survey, 1992
| smith_bowlus_house.pdf |