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Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com www.TheCatoctinBanner.com The Catoctin Banner Newspaper November 2017 Page 21
More McAfee Falls Histor y Tidbits

Deb Abraham Spalding Courtesy Photo
In the October issue of
The Catoctin Banner, the
cover article was called “The
History and Mystery of McAfee
Falls.” In it, we explored the
McAfee family, who were the
landowners of the falls, now
called Cunningham Falls and
part of Cunningham Falls State
Park. We invited people to help
solve the mystery about why the
falls were named Cunningham Falls at some point in the early 1900s. Despite
hundreds of hours of research, the reason Cunningham was selected as the name
of the recreation area and falls remains a mystery. After printing the article, some
tidbits came to light that may further help to eventually uncover the mystery
about the naming of the falls to Cunningham Falls after being called McAfee
Falls or Hunting Creek Falls in various news articles.
After our article published, one of the McAfee family’s patriarchs, Rob
McAfee of Foxville, was told by a lady that she believes there was a family of
Cunninghams that lived near the falls on the way to Foxville. Also, a family in
Thurmont invited me to take a photo of an 1822 watercolor painting of the falls
by Samuel Reinke (see photo). The artist painted himself and his wife, holding
a parasol over him, in the lower center of the picture. From The History of
Graceham, compiled by Rev. A.L. Oerter in 1913 from the Graceham Moravian
Church diary, “Friday, October 25, 1822 Bros. and Sr. Samuel Reinke arrived
from Lancaster to participate in the dedication of the new church on Sunday,
October 27, 1822.” 1822 is the date of the painting.
The inscriptions or marks on the bottom of the painting say Herman’s Falls
Near Graceham Maryland, signed lower right: S. Reinke pxt. 1822.
Note: This past July, the McAfees held a family reunion and staged some
family photographs that were similar to those taken by their ancestors at the
falls. In last month’s cover photo, Becky Hurley was misnamed as Pauline
McAfee. Our apologies, Becky.