Newspaper Page Text
First Monument to George Washington Once a Stone Tower Thirty Feet High It Now Stands a Neglected and Tumbled Ruin on a “Haunted” Hilltop Near Boonsboroy Mdbut an Effort IVill Soon Be Made in Congress to Restore It. BY HAROLD KEATS. THE first monument ever erected to George Washington stands today a brambleguarded ruin on top of South Mountain in Maryland. No monument was ever built with purer or more reverent patriotism and none has been more shamefully neglected by the country which owes so much to the man whose work it commemorates. Rattlesnakes, buzzards, bob-cats and bandits have made it and the rock below it their refuge, while light nings of the mountain storms have Jolted Its upper structure into a tumbling jumble. The structure, which now resembles a pre historic cairn, was once a conical tower 54 feet around the base and 30 feet high. It is of unnsual historic interest and testifies in an unusual manner to the affection and respect in which George Washington was held. Citizens of the nearby town of Boonsboro, many of whom fought in the Revolution, turned out en masse on July 4, 1827, and labored all day to build and dedicate It. This was just 28 years after the great General’s death when those who personally remembered the peerless leader were just beginning to realize the breadth of his vision and statesmanship. With the exception of firing a volley by a squad of Revolutionary soldiers and a reverent address by the Rev. Mr. Clingham, whose remains rest in the Reformed Church Cemetery of Boonsboro. there were no funeral exercises. No better site could have been chosen for the project. It stands on the summit ridge 1,200 feet above the valleys and overlooks the old National Highway which Braddock took on his ill-fated expedition and the scene of the early work and adventures which attracted attention to Washington as the future leader of his country. Midway between Frederick and Hagerstown, it is about 65 miles from Washington, D. C., and about half a mile from the highway. This road, with the improvement of which Washington had much to do, was the only one to the West and North through the mountains and today is the main route to Washington traveled by thou sands daily who do not know what the old ruin on the hill-top is, although hundreds of tablets along the way maintained at Government ex pense. stand ready to tell of the soldiers who camped or fought there during the Civil War. An effort will be made in the present Federal Congress to obtain an appropriation for the restoration and maintenance of the monument. A bill fathered by Representative David John Lewis. Maryland, in whose district it-stands, has the indorsement of many patriotic organizations, including all the chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution within the State under the leadership of the State regent, Mrs. J. G. H. Lilbum, and Mrs. James H. Dorsey, chairman of the State Conservation Committees of the D. A. R. and of the Federation of Women's Clubs. There can be no doubt or the genuineness ox the claim that this is the first monument dedicated to Washington’s memory. The following account of the ceremony was carried in the Hagerstown Torchlight of July 24, 1827, now on file in the Congressional Library in Washington: • i PURSUANT to previous arrangements, the I citizens of Boonsboro assembled at the public square on the fourth inst., at half past seven o'clock in the morning, to ascend the ‘Blue Rocks' for the patriotic pur pose of erecting a monument to the memory of him whose name stands at the head of this article. This spot was selected in consequence of the great facility with which the materials were furnished. A little more than the foundation had been laid the day before, which enabled us to proceed without delay to the grand design before us. The men seemed ac tuated by a spirit of zeal and ardar almost bordering on enthusiasm. ‘‘About 12 o’clock we heard a very appro priate extempore address from the Rev. Mr. Clingham, a gentleman of the Revolutionary period, whose warm patriotism, animating a constitution rendered infirm by age and bad health, induced him to bear all fatigue and danger to accomplish the purpose of his heart. "About 1 o’clock we partook of a cold col lation, as our object was not to gratify our pampered appetites; consequently no sump tuous arrangements had been made, neither were toasts prepared for the occasion, but we enjoyed more heartfelt satisfaction in partak ing of our simple fare than the most costly or highly seasoned dishes would have afforded. Our thoughts and food were both highly spiced with the contemplation of our work, thereby needing no stimulants to excite an artificial appetite. At the conclusion of our labors, about 4 o'clock, the Declaration of Independence wa3 r?ad from one of the steps of the monument, preceded by some prefactory observation, after which several salutes of Infantry were fired, when we all returned to town in good order. “This monument is fifty-four feet in circum ference at its base and fifteen feet high (we contemplate raising it thirty feet after the busy season has passed). The wall Is com posed of huge stones, many weighing upward ora ton. with the whole of the center filled up with the same material. A flight of steps, commencing at the base and running through the body of ‘the fabric, enables us to ascend to the top, from whence the most beautiful prospect presents Itself that the eye can pos sibly behold. Shepherdstown, Hagerstown and Cavetown are distinctly seen, with all the fer tile fields of Jefferson, Berkeley and Washing ton Countries affording a landscape teeming with life and wealth. “To the summit of this mountain is a rug ged path, but the view will afford a rich com pensation fOr the labor. Twelve feet from the base, upon the side fronting Boonsboro, was inserted a white marble slab, with the follow ing inscription: “ ‘Erected in memory of Washington, July 1 1827, by the citiens of Boonsboro. “ ‘At the laying of the monument several Revolutionary soldiers ascended and fired three rounds from its top.’ ” AMONG those who took part in the work and whose descendants today live in and around Boonsboro were: Jonothan Shafer, Samuel Smith. Daniel Itemyer. Jacob Brant ner, Henry Wyman, Conrad Thompson. John Representative David John Lewis of Maryland, who is fathering a bil\ for the restoration of the monument with the backing of the Daughters of the American Revolution and other patri otic bodies. Fritz, Emmanuel Dagenhart, Samuel Meredith, Isaac Lutz and Michael Zittles. A beautiful shaft erected in Baltimore, which has laid claim to the distinction of being “the first" was not completed until 1829. James Hubert Smitn, who lives on the moun tain almost at the foot of the monument, unearthed the builder’s record stone and used it for years as a support for his vinegar bar ren in his cellar until it was discovered by Mr. E. H. Pitcher, Baltimore antiquarian, who now has it. It bears the inscription “Built by Isaac C. Lutz, 1827." Lutz was the most skilled stone wall builder of his time, and the construction is similar to that of other of his buildings extant in the countryside. The stones were not bound by cement or mortar. The men of those days were experienced in using the materials at hand in the rugged hills, and the stone fences which they made and which furnished breast works for the soldiers of the Civil War still stand. They applied their art to the monument, taking the stone from the rocky tract as they found it. Even the winding stairway leading to the top was fashioned without the aid of mortar and is still firm. From the eminence it surmounts unfolds a beautiful panorama of the Cumberland and Shenandoah valleys. From it one may see the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the meandering Potomac, Harpers Perry, the scene of Sheridan's famous ride, Antietam, Gettysburg and other battle fields of the Civil War. Just below is the National Cemetery at Sharpsburg, where the obelisks of the dead stand in serried ranks in mute reminder of the second great struggle for the Nation's existence. Smith tells how his grandfather used to speak of the fact that his father helped to build tbe memorial. Smith married the daughter of Michael Zittles, who pwned the land on which the monument stands, which she has deeded to the Society for the Protection and Restoration of the First Washington Mon ument, formed In 1907, with ex-Senator Harvey S. Bomberger, president. It Is to the seal at Mr. Bomberger that the records of the authen ticity of the monument have been obtained and preserved. No one is more familiar with Front and side views of the monument as it appears today, showing the rent said to have been made by a lightning stroke. the history of his State and none more In terested in his Maryland. He is a descendant of Lawrence Bomberger, to whom the sixth Lord Calvert gave a large tract in July, 175$, embracing the Blue Rock region. The monument itself has been singularly connected with the history, tradition and superstition of the country. John Brown used It as a rendezvous, and at the little inn just below, now part of the Dahlgren estate, he paid his confederates In gold. During the Civil War the tower was a look out in the battle of South Mountain. Grover Bergdoll. arch slacker, is thought to have hidden gold somewhere In the neighbor hood before his escape to Germany during the last war. No part of America is more prolific or pic turesque in Its folk lore and none more under the spell of superstition. Mountaineers tell many weird tales of the neighborhood. IT was there, tradition says, a Union deserter ' was concealed after the battle of Antietam by his sweetheart of Zlttlestown. One night, the anniversary of the fight from which he fled, both girl and soldier disappeared. It was thought ghosts of the man's fallen com rades had buried them under the blue rocks. On each anniversary of the battle those ghosts are supposed to fight again, while the girl moans and cries. The superstitious swear they’ve seen the grim array of North against South along the mountain side and over the valley fields. They frequently point to the grasses and grain In the morning, swept low by the wind the night before, as proof that armies have passed by. At an eerie shriek from the girl, they say, the hosts retire and are swallowed up among the rocks at the base of the monument. Smith says he has heard that shriek. The Blue Rock tract is indeed something to conjure up the supernatural. It Is several acres of granite, cut Into oblongs and squares as though by quarrymen. No vegetation has ever pierced Its depths and lichen alone of all plant life clings sparsely to the stones. None on the mountain can explain the curi ous formation, but their story Is that spirits chose it as their place of exit and entrance to the other world. Pew are brave enough to visit there after sundown. Smith knows all the lore of the mountain. Some folks claim, he said, they’re seeing the black dog again, an omen of evil, which hasn’t been active for 20 years. Tis a phantom of huge proportion which stalks along the road side or jumps from peak to peak In the hills. Few admit having met him, but all know some who sav thev have. The beast is oftenest seen at a spring at Zittlestown on William H. Kline’s property. Kline knows a man who, be said, once cut the specter in two with an ax, but it merely went on prancing without the body Joining again for several minutes. When he recovered from his surprise, the thing jumped over the nearby church and faded from sight. Smith asserts he’s seen a real dog there, bigger than a large calf, black all over and hard to catch. This he believes to give ground for the stories, but in the next breath he’ll tell you “It might be a token of the Civil War.” Dr. S. S. Davis was driving by some 30 years ago with a colored man who declared he saw It and was so overcome the doctor had dif ficulty bringing him back to consciousness. The ghost of a white woman also haunts the region. She is tall and beautiful. Those who see her suddenly become chilled. A curious ghost, said to dwell In the Dahl gren well, takes the likeness of one's self. To see it means death within two weeks. For many years patriotic celebrations were h?’i rt the monument. Lightning, however, :' 1 he tower, knocking off the upper part. / 8, 1884, the Odd Fellows of Boonsboro Tl . -.1 and covered It with white stucco, which the rains and winds have worn com pletely away. Lightning again shattered the upper 15 feet of the memorial, and at the beginning of the World War further damage was done by one supposed to be an alien enemy who exploded dynamite under one portion of the base and made a large crack up the side. He was never apprehended. THE cost of restoring the monument has been estimated at less than (2,500, because all materials, except cement, are at hand. An additional sum would be required to repair the road and clear away the briars. Maintenance would cast little because it could be attended by the same force which cares for Antietam and other Government reservations in the neighborhood. The plan calls for the restoration to the original heightb, 30 feet, with a platform on top, a winding stairway within, and a beacon light burning nightly that all who pass by motor from north to south or along the great artery from east to west may be reminded of the man for whom it stands. Boonsboro itself is full of the projects. The town has tad an interesting history. It was there that Oliver Wendell Holmes came when his son, the recently retired Supreme Justice, lay wounded during the Civil War. The place was settled in 1787 by William, cousin of Daniel Boone. Abraham Lincoln's grand father, John Lincoln, was a brother of Wil liam Boone's mother. In 1827, when tte monument was built, Boonsboro had about 700 inhabitants. Scotch, Irish and German. Its earliest church had a bell cast by Thomas Mears, who cast the great bell for the Glasgow Cathedral. Anthony Beltzer. fifer of the Revolutionary Army, ended his days here. Thomas B. Searlght. in his history of the ‘‘old pike." states that “in its palmy days the old town was a lively place." It had Its two large hotels with swinging signs, the Eagle and the United States, with stablea for 50 horses each. It has had its news paper for 75 years, and took sides in the Chit War. A tradition has it that powder for the Revolutionary Army was manufactured in a sequestered comer near the edge of the present town. It was a recruiting station for the war of 1812. If the appropriation goes through, the Boy Scouts of Hagerstown, under the direction of Mr. John B. Ferguson of that city, have volun teered to keep the trail to the place biased and look after the grounds about. Mr. and Mrs. James Smith, whose great grand parents helped to build the Mm* ument.