Genealogy Focus Group Oct. 25, 2007
Cecelia Wenschhof
Roena Bayes
Caroline Drechsler
Curtis Wright
MaryEllen memichael@fredco-md.net
Cecelia announced she was just going to listen for this meeting but things turned out a bit different. She told us about finally locating the Carrollsburg Cemetery that she has been looking for in nearby PA. She finally found the cemetery on private land and obtained permission from the owner to visit for the purpose of photographing headstones. She will have to go back with her camera but she did find headstones for Oberhausers with readable inscriptions so she is very excited. Curt brought up a satellite map on our display and Cecelia was able to show us exactly where the cemetery is located in the middle of a farm field. The mapping display is at www.wikimapia.org. I have added the link to our favorites on our blog site, http://emgig.blogspot.com.
This launched a discussion about tips on obtaining legible copies of the inscriptions found on headstones. Cecelia said she uses aluminum foil, pressing it on the face of the stone. Roena suggested using a thin but durable paper on the face of the stone and rubbing with the side of some colored chalk or charcoal.
We also talked about some of the families Cecelia is researching (Wenchoff, Riley, Cochran) and Curt went to www.Ancestry.com to search the maps showing property owners at different dates in the past.
Roena asked an interesting question: where did Cunningham Falls get its name? We searched a bit on the Internet with no luck. Since then, I have done some research. The Falls were originally known as Hunting Creek Falls in 1913 and the name changed to McAfee Falls when the McAfee family acquired the land. In the 1930’s, the federal government Recreational Demonstration Areas (RDA) program purchased the land that currently constitutes the Cunningham Falls State Park and the Catoctin Mountain Park. The name of the Falls changed sometime before 1954 when the park land was returned to Maryland and Cunningham Falls State Park was established. This information was obtained from a book authored and published locally and available at the Emmitsburg Branch Library, Catoctin Mountain Park: An Historic Resource Study by Dr. Edmund F. Wehrie published in March, 2000.
I found a Frederick News article from Dec. 29, 1954 about John H. Cunningham who was a prominent banker from Westminster. He was on the Board of Carroll County National Bank and celebrated his 83rd birthday on Jan. 1, 1955. It’s pure conjecture but I would bet he had many friends in the State and Federal government and could possibly be the source of the new name for the Falls.
Roena gave us the news that she is moving to Ohio to be closer to her family. We will sure miss her and we wish her all the best.
We decided to cancel our November and December sessions due to the busy holiday season. Our next meeting will be Jan. 31, 2008. Happy holidays to all of you and we will see you in the New Year.
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If you really want to know how cunningham Falls got it's name, then you found me. Cunningham was the name of a caretaker of the falls and of the McAfee land back in the early 30's. I am not sure of his first name, but that is the info that has been passed down to me. My great, great grandfather was Reuben McAfee (former owner of the falls). And just to let you all know..the land was not really purchased by the government. Reuben McAfee was given $2.00 per acre. The government basically condemed the land and to save their skins, they gave Reuben 2 bucks per acre. That way they(the government) could say that they purchased it. Reuben had a choice, take the money, or have is land condemed and get no money. Just thought you all should know.
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