Page 42 - BNP January 2016 web
P. 42
Page 42 January 2016 The Catoctin Banner Newspaper www.TheCatoctinBanner.com Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com
The Present Past
“A Well Manored Family”
by “My Father’s Son”
Most are Photo Courtesy of John Kinnaird Collection
familiar with the
historic site of
Rose Hill Manor
alongside Governor
Thomas Johnson
High School
in Frederick.
This classically
southern home—
built over eight
years, beginning
in 1790, for
Thomas Johnson’s
daughter, Ann,
after she and her Catoctin Manor pictured in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
husband received a side-hall, three-bay layout, built of
the land as a gift from her father on stone and finished in a white plaster/
the eve of their nuptials—became stucco coating on the exterior. Some
popularly known as the final home historic documentation questions
of Thomas Johnson. Rose Hill is whether James ever lived in this
a fantastic illustration of early- home, as another was built by him in
American residential architecture or around the year 1775.
and the Maryland-style plantation In 1826, the furnace was out
home. Thomas Johnson spent the of Johnson hands and bought at a
last twenty-five years of his life, from sheriff’s sale in Fredericktowne for
1794-1819, living as a guest in the the sum of $10,000 by a man named
mansion. John Brien. Brien greatly enlarged
Rose Hill is not the only trace the Ironmaster’s mansion. Two
of the Johnson family in Frederick more bays were added to the left
County. Thomas Johnson, and his of the front façade and, eventually,
three brothers, had a huge impact on a large back section, forming the
the emancipation of colonial America footprint of the house into a large
from the fringes of Thurmont, where “T” shape. This home stands in
their once prominent presence can ruins at the Furnace Exhibit area
still be seen. Our northern county of Cunningham Falls State Park, its
region, between Lewistown and stone remains crowned with cement
Thurmont, holds three sister-houses: for preservation. The still-visible
Rose Hill’s lost relatives, standing foundation displays the original
within 1.7 miles of each other along parameter of the house James
the shoulder of the old Route 15 Johnson built, as well as the later
pavement (present day Maryland areas of addition. The Mansion
806). and Furnace were acquired by the
The story of these houses begins State Park in the late 1930s, and
with James Johnson. In the late the home was once even under
1760s, James Johnson was a learned consideration to become a “Summer
ironmaster. So, in 1768, he, along White House.” As the mid-twentieth
with his brother Thomas, lobbied for century approached, citizens
a plot of land they believed ideal for began to express concern over the
iron production. Prior to the signing deteriorating Ironmaster’s Mansion
of the Declaration of Independence, since the shutdown of the Furnace
and just in time for the American only a few years after 1900, one of
Revolution whose demand would the home’s last long-term residents
allow the new iron-furnace to of roughly ten to twenty years being
thrive, James began construction of the family of acting Superintendent
the Catoctin Furnace. The first of L.R. Waesche. Ultimately, the Park
the three local Johnson homes was Service had no funds to allocate to
conceived here. Positioned to oversee the large home, but did remove the
the daily operations of the furnace, stylish boxwoods that surrounded
“Catoctin Manor” was built by the residence to replant them at the
James on the corner of the “main White House.
road” (MD-806) and the “hollow James Johnson spent the last
road” (now Catoctin Hollow Road portion of his life, leading up to
before it’s terminus was disrupted by
the Route 15 bypass). The home was — Continued on page 43 —
The Present Past
“A Well Manored Family”
by “My Father’s Son”
Most are Photo Courtesy of John Kinnaird Collection
familiar with the
historic site of
Rose Hill Manor
alongside Governor
Thomas Johnson
High School
in Frederick.
This classically
southern home—
built over eight
years, beginning
in 1790, for
Thomas Johnson’s
daughter, Ann,
after she and her Catoctin Manor pictured in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
husband received a side-hall, three-bay layout, built of
the land as a gift from her father on stone and finished in a white plaster/
the eve of their nuptials—became stucco coating on the exterior. Some
popularly known as the final home historic documentation questions
of Thomas Johnson. Rose Hill is whether James ever lived in this
a fantastic illustration of early- home, as another was built by him in
American residential architecture or around the year 1775.
and the Maryland-style plantation In 1826, the furnace was out
home. Thomas Johnson spent the of Johnson hands and bought at a
last twenty-five years of his life, from sheriff’s sale in Fredericktowne for
1794-1819, living as a guest in the the sum of $10,000 by a man named
mansion. John Brien. Brien greatly enlarged
Rose Hill is not the only trace the Ironmaster’s mansion. Two
of the Johnson family in Frederick more bays were added to the left
County. Thomas Johnson, and his of the front façade and, eventually,
three brothers, had a huge impact on a large back section, forming the
the emancipation of colonial America footprint of the house into a large
from the fringes of Thurmont, where “T” shape. This home stands in
their once prominent presence can ruins at the Furnace Exhibit area
still be seen. Our northern county of Cunningham Falls State Park, its
region, between Lewistown and stone remains crowned with cement
Thurmont, holds three sister-houses: for preservation. The still-visible
Rose Hill’s lost relatives, standing foundation displays the original
within 1.7 miles of each other along parameter of the house James
the shoulder of the old Route 15 Johnson built, as well as the later
pavement (present day Maryland areas of addition. The Mansion
806). and Furnace were acquired by the
The story of these houses begins State Park in the late 1930s, and
with James Johnson. In the late the home was once even under
1760s, James Johnson was a learned consideration to become a “Summer
ironmaster. So, in 1768, he, along White House.” As the mid-twentieth
with his brother Thomas, lobbied for century approached, citizens
a plot of land they believed ideal for began to express concern over the
iron production. Prior to the signing deteriorating Ironmaster’s Mansion
of the Declaration of Independence, since the shutdown of the Furnace
and just in time for the American only a few years after 1900, one of
Revolution whose demand would the home’s last long-term residents
allow the new iron-furnace to of roughly ten to twenty years being
thrive, James began construction of the family of acting Superintendent
the Catoctin Furnace. The first of L.R. Waesche. Ultimately, the Park
the three local Johnson homes was Service had no funds to allocate to
conceived here. Positioned to oversee the large home, but did remove the
the daily operations of the furnace, stylish boxwoods that surrounded
“Catoctin Manor” was built by the residence to replant them at the
James on the corner of the “main White House.
road” (MD-806) and the “hollow James Johnson spent the last
road” (now Catoctin Hollow Road portion of his life, leading up to
before it’s terminus was disrupted by
the Route 15 bypass). The home was — Continued on page 43 —
