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X. THE ARRIVAL OF THE RAILROAD AND THE CANAL (1836-1860)
As early as 1770, George Washington had envisioned the opening of the Potomac River to large scale traffic as the means by which the vast resources of the interior could be utilized. When the C. & O. Canal and the B. & O. Railroad arrived at Harper's Ferry in 1833-1834, eastern Jefferson County was on the brink of a new era. No longer isolated from major cities and their markets, farmers and businessmen could begin to bypass the Harper's Ferry clique and deal directly with major clients. Materials that were too large to ship easily by wagon could now be quickly and cheaply moved to their destination.
New secondary transportation systems and trading centers were also on the verge of being formed at locations that only decades ago would have been unsuitable. While villages and industries had once been located primarily where major roads or waterways converged, the development of the canal and the railroad provided local residents with hundreds of potential access points. By the time the local sections of the canal and railroad had been completed in the 1840's, the area had irreversibly changed and the foundations had been laid for the development of new industry. At the same time, many of the alliances and traditions forged during the last century remained to shape the ways in which the canal and railroad would be used.
THE RAILROAD
Although the railroad reached Harper's Ferry in 1834, almost another decade passed before it advanced significantly beyond that point. The land rose sharply beyond Harper's Ferry, forcing the railroad to follow the path carved out by Elk Run in the area between Peacher's Mill and Engle (Figure 10-1). Even with this assistance, the railroad was forced to build a steeply graded roadbed ¾ steep enough so that a railroad car can coast all the way from Kearneysville to Harper's Ferry under its own power.
In general, the commissioners selected to estimate the property damage caused by the railroad responded well to the two most obvious problems it would cause ¾ diversion of water from its established paths and interruption of the normal traffic flow of farms and businesses. In the case of John Peacher, for example, they not only awarded him more than $3,200 in damages but also stipulated that the railroad was to
secure his mill yard by a stone wall and not to interfere or obstruct the water in his mill race, which must be secured by a good stone wall and secure a good road from his fields to his dwelling house, and a pass over the said railroad from the house to the mill and further the spring in the first field is to be protected without injury and two or more pass ways as he may see fit...1
Similar types of compensation were awarded to Samuel Strider [14], Jacob Moler [61], and Benjamin Melvin.2
Despite the numerous commitments made by the railroad to construct "pass-ways" over the tracks, the railroad separated land owners from portions of their property and encouraged its subdivision and sale. John Peacher sold part of his land north of the railroad to John [45] and Phillip Engle [48] in 1840.3
Because of the terrain of the Bakerton area and its nearness to Harper's Ferry, additional stations or depots were not immediately constructed nearby. However, a depot was built at Duffields (Elk Branch) some time before 1850, and this community began to grow into a center of trade. Located west of the Bakerton area on one of the roads long used to reach Taylor's Ferry, Duffields became one of the business areas that served eastern Jefferson County.
A few men from the Bakerton area worked for the railroad, mainly supervising or performing repairs to the tracks. However, the railroad, unlike the canal, was not a major source of employment for residents of eastern Jefferson County.
THE C. & O CANAL
Of the two new sources of transportation, the canal rather than the railroad had the larger initial impact on the Bakerton area. Industry had existed along the Potomac River at Friend's Orebank, River Bend, and Antietam Creek for decades, and the improvements made by the Patowmack Company between 1785 and 1828 had provided some stimulus to trade. The development of the canal allowed existing operations to be carried on at a larger scale not only because it reduced the cost of transporting goods to market but also because it served as an ideal way to carry bulky materials produced along the river to centers of commerce. Thus pig iron, iron ore, lime, building stone, flour, and grain became major local exports.
The existing road system was also a factor in the quick acceptance of the canal. As previously discussed, highways in the Bakerton area already led to the river and a flourishing trade had been established with Antietam. The C. & O. Canal provided the area with improved river transportation rather than a new method or route for moving goods. Thus the canal tended to augment previously existing trade and cultural relationships. The railroad, on the other hand, was not only a new form of transportation in the area but also less accessible, often being located several miles uphill from the persons who had goods to sell or ship.
The canal appears to have become a major source of employment to residents of eastern Jefferson County. As many as 20 or 30 local men are known to have been boatmen in 1850. Most of these men either had their own boats or operated ones owned by families engaged in milling or quarrying. Since the boatmen worked for themselves or relatives, they were able to retain some of the independence prized by rural residents. They also maintained close contact with people on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, strengthening the business and blood relationships between eastern Jefferson County and the Antietam-Dargan area.
THE IRON INDUSTRY
The Armory's management of lands bought in support of the operation at Harper's Ferry continued to be plagued by inefficiency throughout the decades preceding the Civil War. Although the United Stated had disposed of Keep Triste Furnace in 1819, it retained the right to dig iron ore at Friend's Orebank. Government interest in the orebank appears to have waned until the arrival of the canal, when the management of this property was finally questioned in 1837. Writing to Secretary of War B.H. Butler, the Chief of Ordnance at Harper's Ferry, Colonel George Bomford, noted that
... although a very large sum was paid by the War Department for this right to dig ore viz. $24,000 to General Lee and $42,000 to Potts, Wilson and North minus $15,000 for which the 221 acre tract sold [to Peacher in 1819] and although the ore is considered as of the very first quality yet it has never been made available to the U.S.4
Bomford's criticism seems to have been temporarily effective. During the summer of the same year, an effort was made to use the ore to the Armory's advantage. Thomas C. Miller of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, entered into an agreement with the government and assured Bomford that "Already I have removed two tons." Unfortunately, the current owner of part of Friend's Orebank and Antietam Iron Works, John McPherson Brien, regarded the ore bank as his own domain. Brien refused to recognize the right of Miller's men to dig ore at this location and forced them off the tract. The dispute was settled in court, where it was apparently determined that the United States' right to dig iron ore was nonexclusive and its use of existing roads and wharves was absolute. This seems to mark the end of the government's attempt to mine ore at this site.5
The Antietam Iron Works continued to make use of Friend's Orebank throughout the 1840's and most of the 1850's, although Brien and later owners still had to find ways to transport the ore to their furnaces without using the United States' roads and wharves. Brien solved the problem by using the ferry on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, below Antietam Iron Works. Ore dug at Friend's Ore Bank was loaded into horse-drawn carts, moved north on the Harper's Ferry - Shepherdstown Road to "Brien's Ferry," taken across the river, and then transported across the C. & O. canal via a bridge.6
Between 1840 and 1860, both Friend's Ore Bank and Antietam Iron Works changed hands several times and the owners faced serious financial problems. In 1844, Robert Gilmore acquired the 110-acre Friend's Orebank as security for Brien's debts. Land acquired near River Bend was sold to Samuel Knott [1] and William Flanagan [1] to recover some of the losses. Brien is known to have used slaves at Antietam Furnace during the period,7 and he probably used black laborers extensively when he removed iron ore from Friend's Orebank.
When the Antietam Iron Works failed in 1848, Friend's Ore Bank was not one of the properties sold. Gilmore had conveyed it to Henry Barry to hold in trust for Brien's wife Isabel, who had control of the property's use and sale. By June of the same year, Brien had managed to buy back 13,000 acres of the Antietam Iron Works. Although the ore bank was no longer among Brien's holdings, Brien noted that supplying the furnaces was not a problem since he had "an agreement with the owner of the Virginia ore bank." Brien died the following year.8
Part of Friend's Ore Bank and Brien's Ferry were sold to John Horine in 1857 by Brien's widow. The Antietam Iron works closed temporarily in 1858.
Relationships between the owners of local ironworks and the Harper's Ferry Armory appear to have improved slightly after the departure of Superintendent Stubblefield. Although a few men from eastern Jefferson County obtained jobs at the Armory and moved to Harper's Ferry, the Armory never became a significant employer of Bakerton residents.
LIMESTONE QUARRIES
The development of stone quarries, like that of iron mines, was stimulated by the arrival of the railroad and the C. & O. Canal. Samuel Strider [14] was operating two quarries along the railroad right of way by 1839,9 although it is not clear when these operations began. They may be the same quarries used to provide limestone to Keep Triste Furnace or the ones later operated by O. J. Keller adjacent to the railroad at Engle.
The quarry at River Bend appears to have grown quickly under the ownership of George Reynolds, Sr. The actual extent of the operation before the canal arrived is not known. However, when George Reynolds, Jr., sold the quarry property in 1842, his inventory included "three large flat boats for boating stone," which suggests that he must have had a substantial business.10 Much of Reynolds' property, including the quarry, was purchased by Samuel Knott [1] in 1845 and 1846.11 Although some of the stone quarried at this site was probably used as building stone, most of it appears to have been used locally for agricultural lime or shipped to Knott's lime kiln in George Town. The quarry site was vigorously worked until Samuel Knott's death in 1872. Thereafter, the Knott and Moler families joined forces to form a new company that quarried and boated stone to the limekilns in Washington, DC. This operation continued until approximately 1922.12
After the death of John McPherson Brien in 1849, his heirs sold a 377-acre tract adjoining Knott's Quarry on the south to William Flanagan [1].13 The riverbank owned by Flanagan, like that owned by Knott, had probably been quarried previously. Flanagan's tract, like that of Knott, was used for both farming and quarrying. William's son, James Flanagan [3], was responsible for managing the quarrying activities.When James was murdered by one of his workmen in 1856, most of the quarry tools were bought at auction by John L. Knott [5] (a son of Samuel). Samuel Knott himself purchased the "Laura Flanigan" [6] and the "Mary A. Flanigan" [8], the two canal boats the family had used in their operation.14 The Flanagan Quarry continued to be operated by the family until early in this century.
AGRICULTURE
From 1835 to 1860, the farm holdings of the Moler and Engle families continued to grow, with brothers George Washington [26] and Raleigh Moler [30] buying approximately 150 acres from John [12] and Samuel [14] Strider (1844) and John Cook (1859) near Engle and the sons of Philip Engle [11] acquiring 105 acres from John Peacher (1840) on the north side of the B. & O. Railroad tracks. By 1848, brothers John [45], Philip [48], and William [47] Engle had partitioned the land they had inherited from their father so that each one of them had their own operation. William Engle's portion included much of the land from the Zion Presbyterian Church to the future site of the Oak Grove School; John Engle's land lay along both sides of the railroad tracks at Engle, and Philip Engle's land was adjacent to John's. In 1858, the three Engle brothers also acquired another 175 acres along the Potomac River below the original Moler patent.15 By the outbreak of the Civil War these two families, related by marriage, owned approximately 1,500 acres at the center of the Bakerton area.
In the 1840's, the empires of the Reynolds and Brien families at River Bend ceased, their lands being sold at auction to pay debts. Much of their property was purchased by Samuel Knott [1], who brought his family to Jefferson County circa 1828. During the next 10 years, he acquired more than 400 acres, including Reynolds' mill and quarry at River Bend, Brien's Ferry, and Knott's Island.16 Knott farmed this land with his six sons until his death in 1871, when the land was divided among his heirs. A blacksmith shop was established on the property to serve both farm and quarry needs. Knott, like his predecessors, used the mill to process the grain produced on his own land and that of his neighbors.17 However, the distillery that had been run in conjunction with the mill for half a century appears to have ceased operation at this time. Like most contemporary Methodists, they were opposed to the use of strong drink. Much of the land purchased by Samuel Knott has been farmed by relatives of the family for over a century.
The Flanagan farm and quarry of approximately 400 acres were adjacent to Knott's land at River Bend.18 After the death of William Flanagan [1] in 1855, this property was divided among his two sons, who continued the farming and quarrying operations.
Compared to the Molers and the Engles, the Knott and Flanagan families were relative newcomers to the area. However, they contributed significantly to the local economy, and they soon became closely associated with the two older families through marriage. The Knott-Flanagan farms, mills, and quarries were probably responsible for employing a half-dozen tenant farmers and equal numbers of stone quarriers and boatmen as well as members of the immediate family.19 On the eve of the Civil War, this close-knit group of four families owned approximately 2,500 acres.
The major crops grown during this period appear to be the same ones favored earlier in the century ¾ wheat, corn, rye, oats, and hay (Table 10-1). Pigs and sheep continued to be the major kinds of livestock raised locally.20 Grain from the Knott, Moler, and Flanagan farms probably went to Knott's and Hoffman's mills for grinding and shipment. Wheat produced by the Engles was sold to Adam Cockrell,21 who owned a wharf and warehouse about one-half mile up river from the confluence of Elk Run and the Potomac River. The Buckles and Hendricks families, also large wheat farmers, owned their own threshing machines. Peacher's Mill was also used by farmers in the area. The most noticeable change in local agriculture, in addition to the introduction of labor-saving machinery, is the sharp decline in the number of stills operated in the area. The increasing number of cider presses suggests not only the growth of local orchards but also a change in drinking habits.
Work on these farms was done by a combination of owners, tenants, hired workers, and slaves. Little information exists about the slaves except their names, but "Old Ben," one of the slaves of John Engle [45], was remembered by one of John Engle's grandsons with affection:
Old Ben was a great cradler. His master John Engle [45] and his brothers William [47] and Philip [48] bought the Buckles' farm in partnership and when done wheat harvesting at their house farms took their combined forces of nine cradlers and followers to the Buckles farm. These nine cradlers moving in unison in the golden grain was as pretty a sight as ever gladdened the heart of an old era farmer. Old Ben led the cradlers for years till young James W. Engle came of age and thought he would lead, but Old Ben drove so hard as second cradler that the young master was glad to give Ben the lead next year.22
A less flattering (and less reliable) view of local blacks, including the supposed enchanter Jesse Short, is presented in Joseph Barry's "The Witch's Oversight." The tale recounts the effects of a spell cast by Short on one of John Engle's daughters and the efforts to remove it.23
Most of the more prosperous farmers appear to have owned slaves. In 1840, the major landowners in the Bakerton area were listed as having as total of 159 slaves, including 42 males and 63 females over the age of 10 (Table 10-2).24 As much as one-half of the adult males may have been used for agricultural labor; the rest were probably children or domestic servants. Few, if any, slaves appear to have been used for skilled labor. Daniel Buckles [13], George Reynolds, Jr., Daniel Moler, and Samuel Strider [14], who owned large farms, mills, or canal boats in the early 1840's, appear to have made the greatest use of slaves as agricultural workers.
Local slaves during this period, as in earlier times, tended to stay with a particular family throughout their lifetime, and many masters left their slaves to specific family members. At least one of the slaveholders in the area, Andrew Reinhart, provided his slaves with the option of returning to Africa or remaining in bondage when they reached the age of 28. 35
MILLS
Only one new mill developed in the Bakerton area during the mid-19th century. Known as Kindale Spring Mill or Hoffman's Mill, it lay on a run about one mile north of River Bend. This mill appears to have been owned and operated by Benjamin Hoffman during the 1850's and early 1860's,36 and it may have been erected by Reynolds and Boetler while they were developing their property along the Potomac River. Peacher's Mill, on the old Furnace property, was in full operation during this period.
This mill's owner, John Peacher, was the subject of Joseph Barry's tale "The Enchanter's Wheel," a tale that credits Peacher with casting spells that entrap dishonest people.37 The mill begun at River Bend by George Reynolds, called Little Mill, was renamed Spring Mill after Samuel Knott [1] purchased the property in 1842. John Strider's [12] saw mill at the mouth of Elk Run also continued to operate during this period.
Although information on exports of local grain and flour is scanty, eastern Jefferson County appears to have become a major producer of these commodities, particularly after the completion of the C. & O. Canal. George Reynolds, Jr., had almost completed construction of his own canal boat for transporting flour when much of his property was sold at auction in 1842. In addition to the boats owned by the Knott and Flanagan families, the Cockrells and Striders living near Elk Run on the old Keep Triste property owned or operated canal boats that transported grain, flour, and other local produce to market.38
HEALTH
Residents of the Bakerton area were still subject to the same diseases that had been with them for decades ¾ typhoid, diphtheria, and tuberculosis. Since the population of the region had increased, those diseases fostered by poor sanitation probably became more prevalent. The canal and the railroad brought more people into the area and increased contacts with regions having larger populations. One of the prices paid for improvements in transportation was increased exposure to contagious diseases.
As a result of the increased ease of transportation around and through the Bakerton area, the effects of the 1850 cholera epidemic were more severe than the 1832 version. Treatment of this disease had not improved since the last epidemic, and the victims must had felt just as helpless as their predecessors. Two physicians are known to have lived in the area at the time ¾ Drs. John Reynolds and Samuel J. Taylor. Other doctors from Harpers Ferry or Shepherdstown probably visited the area when they were able.
In general, deaths in Jefferson County and in the Bakerton area during the 1840's and 1850's appear to have substantially exceeded the expected mortality rate on several occasions other than the 1850 cholera epidemic (Figure 9-6). Perhaps the cholera that appeared in 1832 never totally disappeared and periodically flared up when climatic conditions were right. At the same time, increased trade and travel as a result of the canal and railroad may have also helped transmit disease.
Data on the number of persons injured in local quarrying and mining operations are not available. However, serious or fatal injuries were probably frequent occurrences. The first local use of chloroform as an anaesthetic occurred at the Orebank during this period. Dr. John Reynolds, assisted by Drs. Butler and Taylor, amputated the leg of an Irish workman at this site on March 1, 1848.39 The chloroform had been obtained from Baltimore.
EDUCATION
At least three schools were established in the area before the Civil War. One school appears to have been in use in the 1840's north of Moler's Cross Roads. This structure still exists and has been incorporated into the home known as Schoolhouse Farm. According to the 1850 Census, William Grady was teaching in this area at the time, and he probably taught at this early school house. The first school may have closed about the time a second was built on land owned by Christian Reinhart at Moler's Cross Roads. The Reinhart school was probably established as a result of the 1852 passage of a bill for public education. This land was deeded to Jefferson County by Reinhart in 1860. According to Nellie Hendricks Moler:
It was a brick structure... The lot was at the east edge of a beautiful woodland of oaks and hickories ... It faced the road, with three windows on either side and none at the back.
Some boy, with an axe, had chopped off a few bricks from the east corner, leaving a hole along the floor; and that opening together with a broken panel in the door, afforded "peek-holes" for boys to note the activities within, when some luckless culprit was being given a taste of the rod according to that day's interpretation of the Biblical expression "Spare the rod and spoil the child."40
The Reinhart School served as a community meeting house and was used for Methodist, Reformed, Episcopalian, and Lutheran church services before a church was built in the area. (See Figure 10-3.)
A third school was located on land donated by William Engle [47]. In 1835, Engle and his neighbor George Hagley had donated adjacent lots for a schoolhouse, burying ground, and church.41 The schoolhouse was probably built within the next decade. It is known to have been operating in 1850 and appears on S. Howell Brown's 1852 map of Jefferson County. The school seems to have been located across the road from the Zion Presbyterian Church and may be the original part of the 1837 stone house now occupied by the Hoffmasters.
Robert N. Duke, listed as a teacher in the 1850 Census, may have taught at this school in the 1840's. John W. Holt is known to have taught there during the next few years. Holt taught under the supervision of William Engle [47], Commissioner for the 26th District at the time. Under the system then used, Holt gave Engle the power or attorney over any money paid him by the Board of Education. According to the teacher, this arrangement was made to secure payment to Engle "for liabilities incurred in the purchase of weekly supplies, which I may receive from him, during the aforesaid year, for the maintenance and support of my family, and the servicement of house rent for aforesaid year."42 Shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, Michael Nichols also taught there. Nichols also conducted Methodist Sunday School classes in the Molers' Cross Roads area.43 William Engle's nephew, James W., was a member of the Board of Education when free schools opened in the County and remained in this position until his death in the 1890's.44 The Engle schoolhouse was "tore up" by the Federals during the Civil War. Other teachers in eastern Jefferson County before the Civil war included Daniel Long (probably near Moler's Cross Roads), and Bryant O' Bannon and Carter J. Harris (in the Engle-Bakerton area).45
Even before public education was established in Jefferson County in 1852, the number of residents with some amount of schooling was relatively high. In that part of the 28th District representing the unincorporated areas of eastern Jefferson County, the 1850 Census reported that only 6% of the adults were illiterate and that approximately 60% of children between the ages of 6 and 19 had attended school within the last year. Most of the local schools were probably open during the winter, when the children were not needed for agricultural chores, and even during these few months attendance was often sporadic. Free blacks did not attend school at this time, and few slaves received any education at all.
RELIGION
Religious development during this period occurred primarily under the influence of the Engle and Knott families. The Engle family had been one of the founders of the Presbyterian church in the Duffield's area and had supported its growth by donating both land and money. When the Engles acquired land in the Bakerton area during the early decades of the nineteenth century, they brought their commitment to Presbyterianism with them. Their allegiance to the Elk Branch Church at Duffields appears to have continued until 1837, when Zion Chapel (Figure 10-4) was built on land donated to the congregation by William Engle [47] (son of Philip, Jr. [11]). The building of Zion Chapel seems to signal the development of the Bakerton-Engle area into a distinct social group. Both William and his children continued to be actively involved in church affairs for decades, and they became equally active in attending to the area's educational needs.
According to one contemporary source, many of the Methodists in the Bakerton area attended church at Uvilla.46 Those in the Moler's Crossroads area held services at the local schoolhouse during this period along with local Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Reformers.
At Moler's Crossroads, the flavor of Methodist worship was strongly influenced by Margaret Saunders Knott [2], wife of quarry owner Samuel C. Knott [1]. She is described by her grandson John Olin Knott [19] as "the priestess of the Knott home. She was originally a member of the German Reform Church. As an orphan, left to think for herself being very deeply pious, she found her way into the Methodist Church.... She was almost puritanical in her piety."47 Margaret Saunders Knott appears to have borne a striking spiritual resemblance to her contemporary Ann C. Baker [2], the mother of the founders of Bakerton.
AN OVERVIEW OF GROWTH, 1837-1860
On the whole, the development of the railroad and the canal tended to strengthen the social, economic, and cultural relationships between the Bakerton and the Antietam areas. The weakening of the junto at Harper's Ferry plus the arrival of the railroad appear to have been important factors in improving communication between Harper's Ferry and eastern Jefferson County. The operation of grist mills and warehouses by the Peacher and Cockrell families near the Old Furnace points to a weakening of the Striders' local control. The development or improvement of roads between the Old Furnace and the Engle/Zion Chapel areas is evidence of improved trade and communication (Figure 10-1). At the same time, the establishment of a railroad depot at Duffields served to strengthen further the long-established ties among the Bakerton, River Bend, and Elk Branch areas.
The impact of the canal on the Bakerton area is illustrated by the development or improvement of roads leading to the Potomac River, notably to the Cement Mill and Hoffman's Mill between Shepherdstown and River Bend.
On the eve of John Brown's raid, eastern Jefferson County was composed of a few closely related families involved primarily in agriculture, milling, and mining. Although many of them were slave owners, few made extensive use of slave labor. The area's relationship with Harper's Ferry had improved, but Duffields, Shepherdstown, Uvilla, and Antietam probably played more important roles in their lives than did the Armory town to the south.
Notes
1. Deed Book 23, pp. 233-234, Charles Town, W. Va.
2. Deed Book 23, pp. 234-238, 334-335, Charles Town, W. Va.
3. Deed Book 24, pp. 240-241, Charles Town, W. Va.
4. Col. George Bomford to B.H. Butler, January 12, 1837, in Snell, Acquisition and Disposal, 1:89.
5. Thomas C. Miller to Col. George Bomford, July 26, 1837, in Snell, Acquisition and Disposal, 1:89. Brien's deed conveying Friend's Ore Bank to Henry Berry in 1842 also includes the "Ferry Lot" opposite Antietam Iron Works, plus five carts, horses, and gear (Deed Book 26 [1842], pp. 137-138, and Deed Book 1 [1866], pp. 399-400, Charles Town, W. Va.).
6. Deed Book 26, pp. 137-138, Charles Town, W. Va
7. Jean Libby, Black Voices from Harper's Ferry (Palo Alto: Published by the Author, 1979), pp. 88-89.
8. Deed Book 27, p. 173, and Deed Book 36, pp. 373-377, Charles Town, W. Va. Thompson, History of Iron Industry, p. 94. In 1841, Brien had to mortgage his half interest in Antietam Iron Works to Robert Gilmore so that he could buy his father's share of the operation. Gilmore was forced to take over the business in 1843 when Brien was unable to pay the mortgage. After Brien's death in 1849, the Iron Works were owned by William B. Clark (1853), who sold one half interest in the property to Levi Easton (1855). After Clark's death, Easton sold his interest to John Horine (1856).
9. Deed Book 23, p. 235, Charles Town, W.Va.
10. Deed Book 26, pp. 137-138, Charles Town, W.Va.
11. Deed Books 26 (pp. 1-2), 28 (pp. 152-152, 201-202), and 29 (pp. 71-72), Charles Town, W.Va.
12. Note of Samuel Knott to Adam Kidwiler, February 18, 1850; Bill of John Tobin to Samuel Knott, March 19, 1855, Knott-Reinhart Papers, in the possession of Robert and Martha Putz, Linden Spring. Nellie Hendricks Moler, Moler's Cross Roads Community and Bethesda Church, Undated Typescript, Knott-Reinhart Papers. Interview with Samuel J. Donley, March 7, 1987.
13. Deed Book 30, p. 223, Charles Town, W.Va.
14. Will Book 15, pp. 83-88, Charles Town, W.Va.; Shepherdstown Register, August 16, 1856.
15. Deed Books 4 (pp. 240-241), 27 (p. 472), W (p. 202), and 38 (pp. 210, 412), Charles Town, W. Va.
16. Deed Books 26 (pp. 1-2), 28 (pp. 152-152, 201-202), and 29 (pp. 71-72), Charles Town, W. Va. Samuel Knott reportedly settled at Linden Spring in 1828, several years before he acquired property in the area; see Shepherdstown Register, July 18, 1901.
17. Samuel Knott's 1853 wheat crop totaled 526 bushels, almost one-half of which Knott kept or sold to his neighbors for seed wheat. Knott-Reinhart Papers, January 10, 1853.
18. Deed Book 30, p. 223; Will Book 15, pp. 83-88, Charles Town, W. Va.
19. 1850 Census of Jefferson County, W. Va
20. Will Book 15, pp. 83-88, Charles Town, W. Va.
21. James M. Engle, History of the Engle Family, pp. 12-13. Peacher is listed as a farmer in the 1850 census and John P. Loman, his son-in-law, is identified as a miller.
22. James M. Engle, History of the Engle Family, pp. 12-13.
23. Joseph Barry, The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry, pp. 224-226.
23b. Deed Book 11, pp. 32-33, Charles Town, W. Va.
24b. Will Book 10, pp. 113-116, Charles Town, W. Va.
24. 1840 Census for Jefferson County, W. Va.; Deed Book 30, p. 223; Will Book 15, pp. 83-88, Charles Town,W.Va.
25. Will Book 14, pp. 129-130, Charles Town, W. Va.
26. Will Book 1, pp. 284-287, Charles Town, W. Va.
27. Will Book 11, pp. 297-298, 364-366, Charles Town, W. Va.
28. Will Book 12, pp. 131-132, Charles Town, W. Va.
29. Will Book 12, p. 425, Charles Town, W. Va.
35. Will Book 11, pp. 402-406, Charles Town, W. Va
36. Knott-Reinhart Papers, January 10, 1853; 1860 Census of Jefferson County, W. Va. The cooperative atmosphere at River Bend is illustrated by the fate of Samuel Knott's 1853 wheat crop, part of it going to Hoffman's Mill and part to Knott's Mill.
37. Barry, pp. 220-223.
38. Local boatmen listed in the 1850 census included John L. Knott, George Caton, William Hunter, James Wright, Nelson Taylor, Michael Welsh, Patrick Scott, and William Londonn from the River Bend area and William Dailey, Adam Cockrell, Henry Crane, John Mitchell, James Patton, and James Dickson from the Old Furnace area.
39. Shepherdstown Register, January 9, 1881 (Obituary of Dr. John Reynolds).
40. Nellie Hendricks Moler, History of the Founding of Bethesda M.E. Church South: 1874-1934 (Moler's Cross Roads, 1934).
41. Deed Book 29, pp. 505-507, Charles Town, W. Va.
42. Deed Book 3, p. 353, Charles Town, W.Va.
43. Deed Books 37 (p. 105) and 38 (pp. 41, 353), Charles Town, W.Va.
44. James M. Engle, History of the Engle Family (Washington, D.C., 1906), p. 19.
45. Letter from Virginia Darke Engle to Jacob H. Engle, November 6, 1864, in possession of Kenneth and Donna Kidwiler, Engle, W.Va.; 1850 Census of Charles Town, W. Va.
46. John Olin Knott, "The Old Unionville Church," Shepherdstown Register, April 1, 1920.
47. John Olin Knott, Excerpts from Diary made by Audrey Gaines Schultz.