Pipe Creek congregation, the mother of all the other German Baptist organizations in the county, and one of the oldest in Western Maryland, was established prior to the year 1780, and worshiped in a log building which stood at Pipe Creek. In 1806 their present church edifice was erected, since when it has been used constantly by the congregation. The church was repaired in 1866, having been enlarged and remodeled. It is now a plain brick structure, thirty-five by seventy-one feet, with a seating capacity for six hundred persons. The congregation numbers about one hundred members, who are very active in the interests of their church.
Meadow Branch church is situated about two miles from Westminster, on the plank road, and was erected in 1850. It is a stone structure, and was originally built thirty-five by fifty-five feet in dimensions, but was recently enlarged to the size of thirty-five by eighty feet. The congregation numbers about ninety members.
Sam's Creek German Baptist church was erected in 1860. It is situated on the old Liberty road, about two miles from Naill's Mill, up Sam's Creek, in New Windsor District. It is a frame building, very neat in appearance, about thirty by forty feet in size, and capable of holding one hundred and fifty people. About fifty members worship here.
New Windsor church was built and the congregation formed about the year 1873. It is a fine brick building, erected at a cost of sixteen hundred dollars, and is conveniently located on Church Street, in the town of New Windsor. The building in size is thirty by forty feet. About fifty members constitute the congregation at the present time, which is steadily increasing.
Union Bridge church, a beautiful little edifice, was erected in the town of Union Bridge in 1877. It is a brick building, situated on Broadway Street, thirty by forty-five feet in size, and cost eighteen hundred dollars. The seats are so arranged as to comfortably seat about four hundred persons. Fifty members comprise the congregation.
Westminster church was purchased by the German Baptist denomination from the Baptist Church in 1879, at a cost of two thousand two hundred dollars.
It has been several times attempted to divide the church in this county into three congregations or charges, viz.: Pipe Creek, to be composed of Pipe Creek and Union Bridge; Meadow Branch, to embrace Meadow Branch Church and Westminster; and Sam's Creek, composed of Sam's Creek and New Windsor. Although the efforts have thus far proved unsuccessful, doubtless this division will occur sooner or later.
A short distance from the German Baptist church at Pipe Creek, and one and a quarter miles from Uniontown, is the large German Baptist Cemetery, the first grave in which was dug in the year 1825.
Carroll County was not altogether free from the vicissitudes which characterized the war between the North and the South. At the beginning of the unfortunate struggle there was the same diversity of sentiment which existed in the other counties of Maryland, but those who favored the South were far inferior in numbers to the supporters of the Union. The young men volunteered freely in defense of their opinions, and it is estimated that the Federal army was supplied with eight hundred recruits from this section, while two hundred enthusiastic young men of Southern sympathies made their way through the Union lines into the camps of the Southern army. The contingents of Carroll in both armies fully maintained the character of her people for gallantry and true manhood. In June, 1863, the soil of Carroll echoed the tread of large bodies of armed men from both armies. A portion of the cavalry force belonging to the army of Northern Virginia passed through Westminster on its way to Gettysburg, and encountered a battalion of cavalry, which it dispersed or captured after a slight skirmish. The troops rested in the city during the night and proceeded on their way with the dawn. They had scarcely emerged from the city when the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac entered from the opposite side. Much excitement prevailed among the citizens, who had seen but little of either army, but their fears were groundless, as both detachments behaved with exemplary courtesy and evidenced thorough discipline. For some days the transportation wagons of the Union army were parked around the town and the streets presented an animated appearance, but they were moved to the front prior to the battle of Gettysburg. The booming of the cannon on that fatal field was heard with conflicting emotions by the friends of the combatants, and as the echoes died away the town relapsed into its wonted quiet. It was roused again in the succeeding year for a brief period by a raid of the Confederate forces under Gen. Bradley T. Johnson and Maj. Harry Gilmor, but as they had learned by experience that the presence of troops was not such a serious infliction as their fears had painted, the short visit of the Confederates was made rather an occasion of rejoicing than sorrow.
The ex-Federal soldiers from Carroll County met in Westminster, March 13, 1880, and formed a post of the Grand Army of the Republic, to be known as Burns' Post, after W. H. Burns, of the Sixth Maryland Regiment. Col. William A. McKellip was elected Commander, Capt. A. Billingslea, Senior Vice-Commander; Capt. Charles Kuhns, Junior Vice-Commander; Dr. William H. Rippard, Surgeon; Lee McElroy, Quartermaster; Sylvester Mathias, Adjutant; and John Matthews, Chaplain. The officers were installed March 27th by department commander Gen. William Ross and staff, of Baltimore.
The Carroll County Agricultural Society was incorporated March 8, 1869, by John E. Smith, Jeremiah Rinehart, William A. McKellip, Richard Manning, David Fowble, Hashabiah Haines, George W. Matthews, and John L. Reifsnider. The object of the association was " to improve agriculture by attracting the attention, eliciting the views, and combining the efforts of the individuals composing the agricultural community of Carroll County, and aiming at the development of the resources of the soil so as to promote the prosperity of all concerned in its culture." Grounds containing thirty acres of land were purchased on the Baltimore turnpike at the east end of Westminster, just outside of the corporation limits. They were enclosed with a substantial fence, and stabling was erected for the accommodation of five hundred head of stock. A race-track, half a mile in length, was made from a diagram furnished by George W. Wilkes, of the Spirit of the Times, and all the necessary preparations completed for the annual exhibitions of the association. The constitution of the society requires the members to meet three times a year, and Article III. of that instrument defines the aims of the association to be, in addition to others, " to procure and improve the implements of husbandry; to improve the breed of domestic animals . . . ." The first officers of the society were John E. Smith, president; Jeremiah Rinehart, vice-president; William A. McKellip, secretary; Richard Manning, treasurer; David Fowble, George W. Matthews, Edward Lynch, Hashabiah Haines, and John F. Reifsnider, directors. At a meeting of the board of directors in 1869, the following committees were appointed to solicit subscriptions to the capital stock of the society:
District No. 1, Samuel Swope, Jno. McKellip, Samuel Smith; No. 2, Reuben Saylor, Thomas F. Shepherd, Jeremiah Rinehart; No. 3, H. Wirt Shriver, Geo. W. Shull, Samuel Cover; No. 4, James Lee, Jeremiah Babylon, P. A. Gorsuch; No. 5, S. T. C. Brown, David Prugh, J. Oliver Wadlow; No. 6, George A. Shower, Edwin J. Crumrine, P. H. L. Meyers; No. 7, Wm. A. McKellip, Richard Manning, Hashabiah Haines, Augustus Shriver; No. 8, David W. Houck, Wm. Houck, John W. Murray; No. 9, Dr. F. J. Crawford, Col. J. C. Gist, Robert D. Gorsuch; No. 10, Geo. Harris, Joseph Davis, John Winemiller; No. 11, L. P. Slingluff, Wm. A. Norris, Sol. S. Ecker, Jos. A Stouffer.
Preparations having all been completed, and the society having fully realized their anticipations of support from the people of the county, on the 3rd of July, 1869, the grounds of the association were opened with much ceremony and with a fine exhibition, which embraced the