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