Written By Patricia Bianca
As the nation celebrates Martin Luther King , Jr. Day on January 21, a little old graveyard known as Ellsworth will sit quietly in the shadows of modern commercialism as it has for years, sandwiched between a gas station and three big box stores outside of Westminster, just off of the heavily traveled Route 140. But both the day and the cemetery have significance to local African-Americans.
In many ways, Ellsworth Cemetery mirrors the African-American community whose ancestors lie beneath its tidy gray stones. It is small, offers an amazing amount of history, and its mere perseverance among the chaos of modern changes has brought people of all races together to discover its secrets and maintain its legacy.
The occupants of the cemetery have been gone for many years, but their legacy endures and so does the cemetery, thanks to the loving care administered by a group of Carroll County residents led by George Murphy.
Murphy carefully maintains records of everyone buried there. Some of their memories are lost to time, like the African princess who is rumored to be buried there, but others are remembered in the bits and pieces of Carroll County’s African-American legacy that are scattered throughout the county.
“There are 40 Civil War veterans buried there,” said Murphy, who tells the tale of Nicholas Paraway, said to be the longest-lived person in the county. He died in 1876 at the ripe old age of 110. “He was a hero to the Republican party and to abolitionists,” said Murphy. Paraway was often a guest of honor in local parades.
Such is the history of race relations in Carroll County. There are tales of loving, familial connections and signs of care and gratitude for our African-American neighbors, and then there is the ugly side: the old newspaper accounts of lynchings and the rumored activities of the Klu Klux Klan in the county, which everyone seems to speak of in whispers.
Last March, a presentation of Carroll County’s slavery records hosted by the Carroll County Human Relations Commission shed light on a subject that many in the county would like to forget. Although the practice of slavery wasn’t as prominent in Carroll as it was in other areas, the brutality of the system was all too real. According to a census taken in 1840, three years after the founding of Carroll County, there were 1,044 slaves residing here, mostly in the southern part of the county where farms were larger and grew such labor-intensive crops as tobacco.
Not much is known about the population of slaves as a whole; only what is to be gleaned from the old records from the era, inventories that listed the ownership of slaves the way one would claim ownership of a mule, manumission papers and books containing certificates of freedom, which essentially acted as passports for freed African Americans. Many slaves were granted freedom by their masters’ wills, others won their freedom by serving in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War, and others found ways to purchase their freedom.
Mimi Ashcraft, a local researcher who has contributed a number of articles to local newspapers on behalf of the Historical Society of Carroll County, has researched the documents in her effort to unlock the secrets of Carroll County’s checkered past. She is currently working on a book about Sebastian “Boss” Hammond, a renowned stone-carver in the area, whose work enabled him to purchase his and his family’s freedom.
Ashcraft recalls a number of the African-American communities that cropped up after the Civil War. Some of them exist to this day, but others are only remembered by notations on old maps. “Maps from 1862 and 1877 preface the names of schools with the word Ôcolored,’” said Ashcraft. “That would be the hint as to where these pockets of African-Americans really were at the time.”
According to Ashcraft, some of the oldest African-American communities in the county lie in the Union Bridge area. Priestland Valley lies in the McKinstry’s Mill area and another community was established by Quakers in the Bark Hill Road area.
African-American communities in the southern part of the county, particularly the Sykesville area, were established by freed slaves. Their legacy is remembered in a one-room schoolhouse located on Main Street.
The Old Colored Schoolhouse was built in 1903 at the request of area African-Americans and operated from 1904 to 1938, when the county approved a consolidation plan for the county’s “colored” schools. Today, the schoolhouse has been restored to its 1904 appearance and serves as a museum, a monument to man’s quest for learning in an era of racism and segregation.
The quest bore fruit, however, and soon younger generations of the county’s African-Americans would acquire the education needed to open businesses, become professionals, hold public offices and bring integration and equality to the county.
John Lewis was one of the county’s youngsters who helped bring about change. He recalls the days of being whisked inside at sundown to avoid any run-ins with “the Klan,” but learned to channel the rage and humiliation he felt in the face of racism into effective negotiation skills. Spurred on by the example set by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Lewis used those skills to help fight for equality in Carroll County, first as Chairman for the Concerned Citizens of Carroll County and later with the NAACP Carroll County Branch No. 7014.
John is past president of Branch No. 7014 and now serves as a member of its Executive Committee and as membership chair. His wife, Jean Lewis, is the organization’s current president. They reside in the Western Chapel Road area of New Windsor, a historic African-American community that was established in the 1850s.
John Lewis recalls integration in the county as going relatively smoothly compared to other areas of Maryland. “Fortunately, we didn’t have too many demonstrations,” he said. “Most of it was through negotiation. I’m good in a one-on-one situation and I use that to my advantage. We brought about change quietly.”
He told of a time when he sat down over a few beers with the owner of a segregated pool to convince the man to change his policy. “And I hate beer,” he laughed. The strategy worked and the pool was integrated. Everyone seemed to get along, which surprised the pool’s owner, but not Lewis.
The Carroll County branch of the NAACP has been in existence on and off since the 1950s. It was reestablished almost a decade ago when Carroll’s Board of Education tried to omit the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday for students. The organization has remained a strong influence in the county ever since.
According to federal statistics, Carroll County’s African-American community is a mere 3 percent of the general population. With such a small community, African-Americans have had to hold strong against racism, a situation which they see improving.
“The racism is subtle and undercover, said Jean Lewis. “It’s a different world now. It used to be more intense, but people are stronger now and more determined.”
Despite the public successes of many of Carroll County’s native African-Americans, such as Perry Jones, who served as mayor of Union Bridge and a county commissioner, and Richard Dixon, who was the first African-American treasurer of the State of Maryland, the NAACP of Carroll County must still work hard to ensure equality of pay scales and hiring and promotional practices of the area’s employers, including the Board of Education, with whom they work to recruit African-American teachers.
Overall, both of the Lewises report substantial gains in the business community. “You can really see the improvements when you look back,” said Jean Lewis.
Lewis recognizes Random House as a staunch supporter of the organization. She said they have also made strides with Carroll Hospital Center and the area’s colleges. Several area businesses pitched in to help them furnish the new NAACP offices in the Non-Profit Center in Westminster. Having professional space has been a great boon to the organization. “It strengthens our influence,” she said.
The NAACP of Carroll County also enjoys significant support from the business community with its annual Freedom Fund Dinner, where the organization awards continuing education funds to local youths and enjoys the attendance of such noteworthy speakers as former NAACP President and CEO Kweisi Mfume.
Although the overall atmosphere has improved for African Americans in Carroll County, there are occasional racist incidents. When the mother of a student who died under questionable circumstances at the Bowling Brook Academy accused the jury that decided her civil case of racial bias, area newspapers were bombarded with hate mail.
Another recent incident, involving graffiti spray-painted along a several hundred-foot section of Lehigh Road in Union Bridge, included racist words and symbols that brought tears to the eyes of some area African-Americans.
Fortunately, such occurrences are becoming more rare and local African-Americans are now enjoying the diversity of the area.
The Union Street community of Westminster is a place of great hope these days, according to Rev. Daryl A. Foster, senior pastor of the Union Street United Methodist Church. “Many of our neighborhood’s African-Americans have talked about how the community has changed,” he said, “Just the development and improvements they have made.”
Dotted with historic wood-frame homes, the Union Street area is now being rediscovered and homes renovated. People of all races mix happily.
“The Union Street area is pretty diverse in race and age. That is one of the great things in terms of ministry. You are able to reach a multitude of many races, especially with McDaniel College in back of us,” said the Rev. Foster.
Church and community events like “Pray in the Park” draw vendors and attendees from all over Westminster, something that particularly pleases the pastor.
Another point of optimism for the community is its Boys and Girls Club, a community center with a mission of reaching out to youths throughout all of Westminster. “I know from growing up in [Baltimore City], how important it is to have a safe haven and good people to interact with,” said the Rev. Foster.
So far, he has had no problem getting volunteers to help out with the center’s many programs, which include computer training, homework help and an aerobics class.
“In this community,” said the Rev. Foster, “[African-Americans] are mindful that problems do exist, but what I am finding out, especially with people who have been in the community a long time, is that they are really up for the challenge.”
It is a sentiment that is echoed throughout Carroll County’s African-American population.
