Historic Beaver Creek, Maryland

As mentioned in an earlier post, I found a document online (in PDF) that gave a lengthy history of the village of Beaver Creek in Maryland and the mills that were there. The author, Luigi Perini, is the owner of Doub's Mill, built in the early 1800's on the site of an earlier mill, once owned by Henry Newcomer. Newcomer was an ancestor of mine as follows: My great-grandfather Judge D. H. Hammer was the son of John Hammer and Eliza Witmer (sometimes called Elizabeth). Eliza's mother was Barbara Newcomer, daughter of Henry Newcomer. Barbara and her husband John Witmer are mentioned in the history as owning another mill which stood upstream on Beaver Creek.

When we visited Antietam a few weeks ago, we searched out Beaver Creek. I knew that a shop on the property was open to the public but I did not know how close we would get to the mill, which is a private residence.

It turned out that we walk right past the mill to get to the shop, which sells fabric, quilts, and nice quilted items such as handbags. The property is lovely!

Doub's Mill is a large old limestone building, restored to beautiful condition. The nearby shop is charming, and the mill pond and mill stream are landscaped. Sounds of a waterfall add to the ambience. I couldn't help thinking that my mother would love this! She liked to visit old gristmills, and would even compare the types of waterwheels. She never mentioned that her ancestors owned a mill. I don't think she was aware of it!

I have some more pictures which I'll post later. Meanwhile, here is an excerpt on Newcomer family history from the remarkable document on the Doub's Mill website.

The next major family name connected with the Beaver Creek area is Newcomer, Mennonites of Swiss origin. The family was mainly from a small town called Eggiwil (pronounced Eggy-Ville). There is a notable exception, in that Wolfgang Newcomer's (spelled Neukommet before the American change) wife, Elizabeth M. Weber, appears to be descended from a long line of English nobility. She descended from several Barons and several Lords Dudley, among many other English lords and ladies. There line has been traced back to the French Normans that invaded England in 1066 (Brantley,2011).

... Peter Newcomer was listed as a resident of Lancaster County, PA in 1719 (Rupp, 1965, p. 437). Peter's son Wolfgang married first Baer and second Elizabeth Weber and had seven children. The influx of the Mennonites into the Cumberland Valley of Maryland from Pennsylvania occurred in the late 1700's and included in this migration were the three sons of Wolfgang Newcomer: Christian, Peter and Henry. By the time of the revolutionary war the Mennonites were of sufficient numbers in Maryland to form church congregations and to demand recognition from the state convention on their refusal to bear arms during the war.

Other Links:

• Doub's Mill Historic District
• Newcomer Genealogy

More Scenes at Doub's Mill

Beaver Creek, Maryland

As I wrote yesterday, we sought out this property that was once owned by the Newcomers, ancestors on my mother's side. It turned out to be a beautiful place!

I am grateful to Mr. Perini for posting extensive documentation on the property on his Doub's Mill website. It provided me information on my ancestors and directions to the property.

Records show that Newcomer family members came to this area shortly before the American Revolution.

In what was to become Washington County, on April 1, 1775, the brothers Henry and Christian Newcomer paid 5000 pounds for the three tracts of land totaling 692 acres from Michael Cyster (FCLR, 1775) that Cyster had acquired from John Stull Jr. in 1772... The Beaver Creek area was now in the possession of the Newcomers... A year later, July 2, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia PA and signaled the beginning of the revolutionary war with England.

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Return to Doub's Mill

When we visited Beaver Creek in June, I filled out a request to be notified when the mill's Open House would be held. A couple of weeks ago I received a postcard telling of the Quilt Show/ Open House scheduled for Sunday, November 24. Unfortunately my sister and my daughters could not go, but Frank and I went and I was glad we did.

Beautiful quilts and some other items by various artisans were displayed inside the mill, which has been converted to an incredible residence by the owners.

In the living room there are windows looking down into the millrace, where water still flows!

I have an interest in this property because some of my ancestors lived and worked here, not in this building which was built later (in 1812) but in earlier buildings no doubt built of similar stones. I wrote about these ancestors, the Newcomers, in earlier posts.

I would not have known about this mill if I had not found the Doub's Mill website on the internet. It's a remarkable place and less than 90 minutes from my home.

More Scenes In the Brethren Cemetery

Beaver Creek, Maryland

Here we see the marker for John Witmer (Sr.), father of Elizabeth (Eliza) Witmer who married John Hammer. Elizabeth and John moved from Maryland to Illinois. One of their sons was D. H. Hammer, Senior, whose son was my grandfather.

John Witmer lived from December 1773 to August 1858. He died at age 84, which seems oddly common in my family.

In the second photo, Witmer's grave is on the far right. According to notes I inherited from my grandfather, John Witmer served in the War of 1812.

The final tombstone in this series is of John Funk, who was not one of my ancestors, although he married a Newcomer so I suppose he was a distant relative.  He is said to have built the large mill on Beaver Creek between 1811 and 1821 to replace a wood gristmill that had collapsed. Later he sold it to the Doub brothers, after whom the mill is currently named.

Funk lived to be 89. I've noticed before that old tombstones show that plenty of people lived to a ripe old age.

I began this series of cemetery pictures with a photo of the fine Victorian entrance gate to the cemetery, so I'll conclude with the same gate as seen when we left. The sun was low in the sky and temperatures were dropping so I didn't even find markers for all of my ancestors who are said to be buried there. Perhaps another day...

Downtown Beaver Creek

A Fine Barn

"Homeplace, 1791"

Some of my ancestors lived in the small town of Beaver Creek, Maryland. It's not far from the West Virginia state line.

I love the sturdy old limestone buildings! They look strong enough to provide shelter from any storm.

See my Beaver Creek posts.

See Doub's Mill Historic District on the National Register

The Hagerstown Connection

For most of my life I knew that I had ancestors from Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Most had come through Pennsylvania Dutch Country at some point. It was only recently that I learned that some of them once lived in the Hagerstown area, a part of Maryland which is not far from Northern Virginia where I grew up.

A few weeks ago we drove to Hagerstown and nearby Sharpsburg and Beaver Creek. At the Visitors Center in Hagerstown we picked up some maps and brochures. (Note for young readers: maps and brochures are what travelers used to plan trips in the days before the internet. They are still pretty handy!)

I got directions to Rose Hill Cemetery, where at least one of my ancestors is said to be buried. It turned out to be a large cemetery and since the office was not open that day, I decided to not take the time to look for George Hammer's grave because I really wanted to visit the Newcomer House and Beaver Creek.

George Hammer was born around 1765 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and died in 1829 in Hagerstown. His wife was Catherine Hull (sometimes spelled Hall), born in 1769 in Lancaster County, married 1790, and died in Hagerstown in 1853. It was his son John who married Eliza Witmer, whose mother was Barbara Newcomer.

George is said to have served in the Revolutionary War with a unit from Pennsylvania. However, the war wound down after 1781 (Yorktown) and when it officially ended in 1783, he was only 18, so he probably did not serve very long.

Related Posts:

• We Visit the Newcomer House
• History at the Newcomer Farm
• Historic Beaver Creek, MD
• More Scenes at Doub's Mill, Beaver Creek
• Genealogy Shortcut — D.A.R.
• Hammer to Newcomer Genealogy
• Henry Newcomer, Tory