Aunt Ginger Cosgrave-Wolfe Family Stories

Clara Virginia “Ginger” Wolfe-Cosgrave:



Stories told to her nephew Walter Wolfe – from about 1994 until about six month before her death.

20-Something Aunt Ginger

Aunt Ginger; @ 1997

 My Mother, Rose Clagett-Wolfe, and Aunt Clara Virginia Wolfe-Cosgrave or “Aunt Ginger” often kept in touch via telephone after my father, Harry H. Wolfe Jr., died 04 December 1979. So after my mother, died 14 June 1993, I began to visit Aunt Ginger two to three times a year plus we talked occasionally on the telephone. Her husband my Uncle Less Cosgrave had passed away in 1980. Over the course of many such visits I took notes as Aunt Ginger told stories about her parents and the many places they lived. On some of my visits, I bought some of my family along such as my older siblings Harry, Tony, my niece Sherry Johnson-Wolfe, and my son Zachary.

 

Also, I want to acknowledge my Cousin Judy-Cosgrave Shrader for her review, edits and the addition of more stories from her mother, my Aunt Ginger.

 

Remembering her Parents



Clara Virginia Getzendanner-Wolfe & Harry Howard Wolfe, Sr. 

Aunt’s Ginger recalled that her father, Harry Howard Wolfe Sr. worked as a truck mechanic in Georgetown when he suddenly died on the job from a massive stroke in 1931; he was just at 49 years old. According to Bubbles, (Judy’s older sister) Aunt Ginger told her that they conjectured if her father, in reality, was killed in a work related accident rather than a stroke because of his injuries to his head which were explained by the company management as having occurred as a result of his falling when he “dropped dead” – the term for sudden death back then.
As a consequent of her father’s sudden death, her mother, Clara Virginia Getzendanner-Wolfe or “Granny” to her grandchildren, was left with raising the younger children, although others like my father and mother helped her out financially until her passing at the age of 97. Bear in mind that my grandfather Wolfe died before the safety-net enactment of Social Security.

 One of my fondest memories visiting granny Wolfe was talking to Andrea Svenson “Andy” who was very kind to me. My cousin Judy said Andy came to America as a very young child and, at one time, worked at Carderock Naval Surface Warfare Test Center as a janitor. She told everyone she was granny’s caregiver, but in reality was a renter. Andy was only a few years younger than granny and she was considered family by everyone.  

 Another job Grandfather Wolfe had according to what cousin Judy’s mom told her was in a mill with his brother Newton in Frederick, Maryland.

 On one of my later visits, Aunt Ginger confided that her father liked his liquor, and accordingly she added, “he was not kind when drinking” In fact, Judy Shrader added that her mother told her that Grandfather Wolfe would chase my dad and the boys with an ax, something my father never mentioned this to his children. However, Grandfather Wolfe quit drinking after he turned his life over to Jesus, she added. Her mother, had previously been “born again” some years earlier. Related to this, she confirmed a story that my brother Harry told me a while ago about her father and his drinking friends had made a hole in an inconspicuous place in the Ijamsville general store wood floor to discard the empty liquor bottles.    

ADDENDUM: In February, 2013, May Wolfe related to me a story told to her by her late husband, Reverend Gene Wolfe, about his grandfather driving while drinking. He recalled about how when the lights went out in the old car, Grandfather Wolfe handed flashlights to two of his children - one of which usually was Aunt Ginger. Grandfather ordered two children to sit one on each fender with a flashlight to guide their inebriated father home during the nighttime travel.

 Different Places the Family Lived



Georgiana Clay-Wolfe

George Washington Wolfe

Before he worked as a truck mechanic, her father managed general stores in Ijamsville, Maryland, on two different time periods, one building of which has been torn down and the other building remains standing, but vacant beside the RR tracks. Harry H. Wolfe Sr. and his growing family lived in a number of different locations over the years including Baltimore City. One Ijamsville home was a small farm which was about a 1/4 mile from the RR crossing. On another occasion, they lived in house in Ijamsville and for a short while they even lived at his mother’s home (Georgiana Clay-Wolfe) which was 2 houses above the Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church. The Church remains there today – our Great-grandparents, George Washington Wolfe and his wife Georgiana Clay-Wolfe are buried there. The final time they lived in Ijamsville their living quarters was over the anther general-goods store her father managed. Grandfather Wolfe also served at one time as the town postmaster. Judy added that Frederick City gave Grandfather Wolfe special recognition for his job as the Ijamsville Postmaster.

Remains of Wolfe General Store Building, Ijamsville

 When they lived above the Ijamsville general goods store operated by her father, her mother took rolls of muslin, which was a cheap fabric in those days, and created somewhat private living spaces for everyone. Another interesting tidbit I learned from Aunt Ginger was that her father. cut a small, round hole in the upper floor to look for thieves intent on robbing the general store below; his notion was to shoot any robber that came to the store.

 

Aunt Ginger’s father was right to be concerned about possible burglaries at the general store as evidenced by the following Frederick Post Newspaper article:

“OCTOBER 28, 1919
EVIDENTLY EXPECTING A hard winter, the robber who en­tered the store of Harry Wolfe, at Ijamsville, was preparing for the worst. After gaining entrance by breaking open the front door, the man completely outfitted him­ self against the winter blast. He took underclothes, suits and socks, and then what food he could find.”

Aunt Gin also recollected a large upstairs room in one of the places where the family lived which was used to hold dances. Harry Wolfe Sr. hired musicians to come in and play for the dances. However, this proved not to be as profitable as expected, so it was eventually discontinued. He was an entrepreneur in spirit but never seemed to make a go of it commented Aunt Gin.

My Great Grandparents Wolfe 
 

Aunt Gin told me her Wolfe paternal aunts and uncles (George Washington and Georgiana “Jo” Clay- Wolfe’s Children were:
 

1.      J. Earl                                                 

G. W. Wlfe & G Clay-Wolfe & Family; Harry H. Wofe, Sr. far left; @ 1884

2.      T Lester

3.      William Newton

4.      Maude Arabelle

5.      Lulu May

6.      Harry Howard

7.      Olive

8.      Violet

 



Emma Wolfe-Parks

Aunt Ginger also vividly recalled her cousin, Lucket Wolfe. Incidentally, like Granny’s family my parents also had eight children of which I am the last. Speaking of family, Cousin Judy wrote me this, Aunt Emma, her mother’s older sister, was the little devil according to her mom, always into some mischievous deed and receiving a lot of spankings. On one occasion, Judy’s mom and Aunt Emma sneaked down to the stream that ran under an old metal bridge - which has been torn down by now – and Aunt Emma got all wet and was spanked the full distance to their home.” Judy also added, “Mom loved sports and was a real tom-boy, preferring ball playing to amusing herself with doll babies.” “She said she always wished she could be a boy when she was younger. However, she said also said she prayed that I would be a “midget” which today we say little person, but you can believe that! Why, because she thought they were so cute.”   


The Bull and the Hero

My Parents: Rose Clagett & Harry H. Wolfe, Jr,; 1952

Less Cosgrave

Another family story from Aunt Gin occurred around 1940/41. She said she was pregnant with her second child, Judy, when she and her husband Uncle Les, my parents, Harry H. Wolfe Jr. and Rose Clagett- Wolfe and the various children went to Ijamsville for a picnic - which was a common thing to do after Sunday services in those days. As they were trudging across the meadow near the Pony grounds, a large bull started to run towards the group and all she remembered was the women with their long dresses flowing behind them as they skedaddled ahead of her across that field with the bull rapidly gaining ground. Aunt Ginger added that my father, Harry H. Wolfe, Jr., picked up a stick and chased the bull away. What a hero he was she added.

Addendum: My older brother, Rick, told me after seeing my blog story that he was there at the picnic and remembers very well the chaos including Dad chasing the bull away with a stick. My sister, Rosemary, added that mother told her that she didn’t leave the picnic site because she, "wasn’t going to leave her fried chicken, potato salad and other items behind because of some dammed bull.” These recollections resonate for me from mother telling about this event on more than one occasion.

 On another visit, Aunt Gin reminisced when they were living on Broad Street in Baltimore City during World War I. She recalled that due to the influenza that killed millions of people, Granny made everyone wear a bag of camphor around their necks to ward off the disease. She added that was about the time when Harry Sr. and Harry Jr. worked at the Edgewood Arsenal making ammo during the war. After the war they returned to Ijamsville and opened the second store. Aunt Gin also said that the shots for the flu were given with enormous needles and to this day she dreads shots.

 As for the time the Wolfe family lived in West Virginia, Aunt Ginger said she had no memories since she was an infant during this period of her life. Relevant to this, I told her that on a country drive back in the mid-1960’s my dad stopped at an old stone quarry located near where the Wolfe family lived in West Virginia. Dad related to me that, at the age of seven years old, he rode the mules in the summer carrying quarried stones on a narrow rim-trail up to the top. He proudly said he never lost a load!

 

Frugal Granny

Before Harry Sr. left Ijamsville Aunt Ginger recollected that her father invested in six phono machines (To sell at the store but never did) which he later carried to his Kensington home with him. Apparently he never paid for the machines and Granny had to scrape up the money to pay off the debt. Granny Wolfe, who was very frugal, recalled Aunt Gin, also saved the money for the down payment for the two story house on Capital View Avenue in Kensington.

Marrion "Dick" Wolfe

 Another piece Aunt Ginger told me about her father I didn’t know was that he played the Jews harp as well as the harmonica for entertainment. Cousin Judy said that Uncle Marion AKA Dick Wolfe – my father’s younger brother - also played the mouth organ. So that’s where I might have gotten my harmonica talent. OK, so my mother played the harmonica too!

 

Financial Difficulties

Milton Eugene Getzendanner

Clara V. Smith-Getzendanner

 On one occasion, Aunt Ginger told me that Granny’s mother, Clara Virginia Smith Getzendanner, died when she was only 12-years old and thereafter was raised by her older sisters. In some ways, Granny disliked the strictness of her older sisters’ control over her. In any event, during the early years of Granny’s marriage, her father, Milton Eugene Getzendanner, had lost his sizeable wealth in a stock scam. She also remembered that after her grandfather died, Aunt Ginger’s mother used to visit two of her older sisters, one in Philadelphia, and the other sister, Katy Grove, in Lime Kiln, Frederick. By the way, Great Aunt Katie was married to Ed Grove, the wealthy owner of Grove Concrete in Frederick, Maryland; the Frederick Keys AAA Minor League baseball team stadium is named after him. Judy added this about Aunt Katie “she once sent a horse and sleigh on Christmas day since the driving was impossible to get the family from Ijamsville home. She gave each of the kids an orange for Christmas. Mom that was so special to them.” Also, when I was about eight years old I have a fuzzy memory of Aunt Katie coming to our house on Longwood Drive – “she was dressed to the nines” and her giving me a Morgan silver dollar. I was very impressed.

 During another visit, Aunt Gin related how her father would cook any type of game he could get his hands on. Rabbits, squirrels, etc., were cooked with the heads on and brains were picked out of the skulls and even flesh from the heads was eaten. Even in later years when he spotted a still warm road kill he would stop and take it home, skin it, cook and eat it. By the way, my father kept the wild game eating tradition going including his unnatural taste for calf’s brains which I would eat with dad to please him. Aunt Gin added that keeping food for the family was a constant chore.  

 Aunt Ginger;s daughter, Judy, remembers that her, “Mom continued to eat as they ate as children, squirrel (heads and brains included), chicken feet, calf brains, venison, etc…pig’s feet, tails and ears were still pickled when she got the craving. As a child Judy was quoted as saying if my Mom eats it then I will too.”

 Granny Wolfe canned everything she could find in the summer;  vegetables, fruits, root items such as potatoes, onions, nuts in the fall, and of course they always had pigs and a couple of cows for milk products. Despite all the work of putting away food items in the summer, occasionally rations would run short and Grandmother Georgiana Clay-Wolfe would somehow find out about the food scarcity and arrive in the nick of time with enough food to tide the family over. Very little was purchased at retail food stores in those days, except flour, salt, sugar, cornmeal. Incidentally my mother also canned tons of fruits
and vegetables until her mid-eighties. As I recall canning
was  a  tough task. NOTE photo of Granny t @ age 18 on the right.

 Aunt Gin said her family were poor but did not think they were at the time, however rather considered themselves as she quoted, “blue blood.”

                                                                                                                             

Uncle Les

Les Cosgrave was a motorcycle patrolman for the Montgomery County Police Department. He passed away in 1985 at the age of 76, the same age s my own dad.

 Over the Eembankment

 On one visit with my oldest brother, Harry Wolfe, III, he told the story to Aunt Ginger about the time when my mother backed the roadster over the embankment at her mother’s house in Capital View, but she didn’t recall that incident. My brother said that he was a child at the time and was in the car for the thrill ride.

 Lunch

Aunt Ginger always served a nice lunch following our conversation. On one of my visits, she forgot to put sliced ham on my sandwich which she realized just after I had left. She called me at home that night to apologize. I replied it still was a wonderful lunch, to which we both chuckled. Judy told me that her mother said that when mayonnaise was first sold in the stores, they would bring the small jars home and enjoyed many a mayo sandwich because it was a special treat. So perhaps her familiarity with mayonnaise only sandwiches played a part with the very thin sandwich I got that day.

So these are just some the family stories that I remembered from the many visits to my dear Aunt ginger. I know there were more she told me, but have forgotten them. I also feel it important to say that we talked much about God on each visit. Like her mother and her siblings, Aunt Ginger deeply loved the Lord and was a vital spiritual inspiration to me.

 

Memories of My Sister CC

Memories of My Sister CC

By Rosemary Wolfe Stewart

My sister CC was as different from me as night is today. She was 19 months younger than me and since I could not pronounce Cecilia I just called her CC and so that became the name she was called. She was bold and adventurous with a vivid imagination and talked constantly.

I can remember being too cautious to venture into new ideas but when I passed them on to her it was like pressing go. Sometimes she would be punished if her antics displeased Mother. She was given to messiness and Mother was often pushed to the max. Sometimes Mother would spank her for leaving a mess in her room. One day when CC came home from school Mother told her to go up to her room and change from school clothes into play clothes. I recall that CC appeared on the scene after making her usual mess and mother began to spank her but CC was not crying like she ordinarily did. Mother also noted a different feel to CC’s backside so she peered under CC’s jeans (known as dungarees in those days) and realized that CC had on not just one pair of underpants but a dozen pairs. Well, CC got punished that day with Mother spanking her bare bottom. Later in the day Mother was amused by relating the story to the rest of the family.

My fondest memories of my younger sister were when we played house after completing our chores. Dad let us have an unused part of a shed and mother gave us empty bottles that had held ketchup, salad dressing, pickles, etc. We also had a table with chairs. The shed had windows so we used discarded curtains. We also had rugs, brooms, dust cloths and other discarded household items so it was kept immaculately clean. We had tea parties, dinners, naps and lots of other things there. We could not wait to finish the chores which were expected of us to play house. These memories of playing house took place during World War II when we were 6 to 10 years old. Sometimes our older brothers reluctantly let us play in dirt piles with their trucks or we all played war in the back woods.

Once when CC was about 8 years old we were supposed to be weeding Mother's flower garden and CC soon became bored. Dad had a ladder leaning against a tree and she climbed up a few rungs and putting out her arms said “Look at me, I’m not holding on” I pretended to ignore her and kept on weeding. So she advanced a few more rungs up the ladder and repeated “Look at me, I am not holding on.” This went on until she was nearly to the top of the ladder with me ignoring her until I heard a thud and she was lying face down on the ground. Fortunately she only sustained an open wound in her chest which had to be sutured. She carried that scar for the rest of her life. While recovering from the fall, Aunt Bobbie Clagett visited and gave her a chain with a metal. While Mother and dad were entertaining downstairs CC was upstairs in bed alone. We heard a shriek at one point and Mother rushed upstairs to be told that CC had swallowed her chain and metal. Mother in exasperation just threw up her hands.

When she was a little older David, CC and I were supposed to clean up after dinner. While she was washing dishes and David and I were drying them she began to pinch David and pester him with her mouth. When David had enough of CC’s harassment he took off after her. She ran from room to room returning to the kitchen and back again. This was kept up until she sped by the stove and dipped her hands into the left-over mashed potato pot then took off again. The next time she ran into the kitchen she put on the brakes, put out one hand and said “let’s shake on it.” Opening his hand, David agreed and ended up with a hand full of mashed potatoes. Off she went again with David in hot pursuit.



 
L-R: Rosemary, Mother and CC with identical dolls - photo taken about 1943 at the Greentree Road house

We had no playmates other than siblings or occasional visiting cousins. When she was 11 years old a family built a home close to us. It was eventually learned that the Mother, June Garland, was a third cousin to mother. Her eldest child Susie was CC’s age and they became best of friends. Susie’s personality was close to CC’s and I can recall feeling a little jealous. I never had this feeling before then and was uncomfortable with it.

A year later CC came down with Rheumatic Fever and died after suffering for 9 months. I had lost my best friend, my sparring partner and roommate. I have missed her all these years wishing she was still living and able to share in each other’s lives but at the same time being grateful that as a 12 year old child our Lord took her home to His care.

 Addendum by Walter Wolfe: While my memories about my sister CC are faint, I do recall that when she became bedridden, she got lonely and if I appeared anywhere within her hearing, she would seduce me into her bedroom where I became reluctant company. When I spent a long time with her and got bored, I would try to break out by crawling under her bed when she nodded off. But, often she would hear my escaping and order me back. After all, I was only five years old and she was my big sister.


CC"s CARDS
CC made the classroom Christmas card for Mother and Dad when she attended Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School located off East West Highway in Bethesda.

The other card below from CC is for Valentine’s Day

 

Have 22 will Travel

Walter J. Wolfe

My late mother, Rose Clagett-Wolfe, gave me my fathers’, Harry H. Wolfe, Jr., Winchester model 62 L. or LR 22 rifle, manufactured in New Haven Connecticut – see 1990 photo. This pre-WWII 22 model sold nearly 99,000 rifles from 1932 to 1940 so judging by the gun’s serial number (14,197) my father probably purchased the rifle around the mid 1930’s.

Anyway, this rifle has traveled around during its approximately 76 year history and has been responsible for many a varmint’s departure. Here are some of the places/times the 22 was employed:

Dad and Older Brothers Shooting

Before I came on the family scene, Dad and my older brothers, Harry AKA “Boy” and Charles Richard AKA "Rick" hunted rabbits, squirrels and other game on the Ridge Road and later Greentee Road properties, especially during the Great Depression and then during WWII helping to put food on the table. However, Rick recently recalled a time when and he and Boy were shooting at targets on the Greentree Road property. One time when Rick was returning from checking the targets, Boy fired the rifle several times near Rick to scare him which were close enough that Rick could hear the projectiles whizzing near his head. I got a subsequent conformation from the shooter himself regarding Rick’s recollection which he said occurred on the Ridge Road property near the Tom Bones farm; however, Boy (Harry) couldn't  remember the exact reason for this potentially aggravated assault except to say he and his intended sibling target were habitually in a state of “tit for tat.”

Skunked
Then there was the time when my older brothers Boy (Harry III) and Rick discovered a skunk in a trap during the early 1940’s. Sidebar: They taped muskrats, rabbits, etc. during WWII for meat and to sell the furs. Anyway, Uncle Ed Clagett and his wife, Aunt Bobby, was staying with mother and dad that skunked week-end so Ed was called upon to kill the skunk with dad’s Winchester 22. By the way, since mother wouldn't allow Boy & Rick in the house with their skunk-stinky cloths, she made them both strip down to the buff outside in the winter cold.  Of course, their skunk-clothes were immediately torched.    

Rattle Snake Targets in Florida
During the early 1950’s, Dad loaned the rifle to Les Bell, Sr (owner of Bell Laundry & Dry cleaning in Bethesda) which Dad managed for nearly two decades. Mr. Bell, who had retired to Florida by this time, used the Winchester to dispatch rattle snakes in and around his property; his wife, Winnie, was snake-petrified to walk outside the house! When the 22 returned to7221 Longwood Drive several years later, I was examining the weapon outside, cocked the pump-action lever and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out. That was my first experience with a basic rifle safety rule – never, ever leave a round in the chamber. Of course, I never told a soul about this mishap which occurred when I was about 10-years old.

Reverend Caulfield Assassinates Loud Crows
Rick also recently told me that Dad loaned the rifle to Monsignor Caulfield, Pastor of St Jane DeChantle Catholic Church in North Bethesda, adding that his assistant pastor, Father Byron, was miffed because the good monsignor was shooting annoying birds through his bedroom window including through the screen leaving the summer bugs an opening. I wonder how many bullet holes were in the window screen.

I Got to Shoot 22 On The Farm
My turn with the rifle occurred on the farm Mother and Dad bought in 1964. There I learned (under the tutelage of …) to work the farm including plowing and other ways of preparing the soil for planting; “haying” and related chores. One of the impediments to my work was running tractors into groundhog holes which sometimes damaged the equipment and once me. Thus I began to hunt the varmints with the 22, putting a sizable dent into woodchuck population thereby reducing the number of dangerous den-holes.

One rather strange use of the weapon during my farm-days was to rid the backyard oak tree of a gaggle of grackles. My dad ordered this critter combat. With mother holding my legs, I leaned upside down out of my second story bedroom window and knocked off enough of the guano producers that after a week they left.

My Son Takes a Dirt-Hag

Shortly after my father died in 1979 – they had sold the farm two years prior - my mother gave me Dad’s travelling 22. It wasn’t used for varmint duty for another several decades until about the summer of 2005. As I recall, I was at a 7:30 PM St. Paul’s Church Honduras Clinic Ministry Committee meeting giving the monthly report when my cell phone rang. Long story short, it was my son, John, asking where to find and how to use the rifle to slay a sizable groundhog that was digging his home under our storage shed (we are living on 14 ½ acres in the upper Montgomery County.) When I got home from my meeting that night, I learned my son successfully took care of the problem And,a few years later, I pulled the 22’s trigger to send a koi-eating pest to its demise.

Beans for Bullets
 My sister, Rosemary tells the story about our father seducing her young son, Andrew, to eat Lima Beans that was served with dinner at the farm. You see Andy hated Limas, so Dad bribed the boy to eat some beans; for every lima bean Andy would eat, Dad would give him a bullet to shoot from the Winchester 22 rifle. Rosemary's son managed to swallow seven of the repugnant vegetable. True to his word, Dad took Andy into the field to shoot seven bullets. However, the irony is, Dad let Andy's older brother, Chip shoot the rifle also - Chip liked Lima Beans.

So, dad’s Winchester model 62 is still with me (year 2013) still in great shape; no telling where or who it will be in another 78 years!

            

Two Blizzards Forty Years A

Two Blizzards Forty-Years Apart

As Recalled by Walter Wolfe

 Blizzard of 2010 

As I write this note, the howling wind is driving  snowflakes into, John’s face, like tiny glass shards; he is out on the Kubota tractor plowing with a rear blade the latest wintry assault to our hilly, 2750 foot driveway. However, as long as the 35MPH northeast wind continues, his efforts may be nearly hopeless (“resistance is futile” to borrow the mantra from the Star Trek: The Next Generation nemeses, The Borg)

                                                                                                                    Figure 1 Damascus Blizzard 2006-Wolfe Home

During Last weekend’s record-setting snow storm, he spent over 48 nearly continuous hours - with a few catnaps in between – opening up our access to civilization. Yesterday, in anticipation of another big snowfall, I cleared 18” of snow off our patio roof with John’s help to reduce the possibility of collapse. By the way, all this winter furry reminds me of the great blizzard of 1966

Blizzard of 1966



1966 Blizzard at Hay & Rose Wolfe Farm

Let me take you back over 40-years to another blizzard even worse than described above.

The 1966 blizzard, which Washington, D.C. didn’t record as such, slammed into Frederick County to include Mother and Dad’s farm, some 50 miles north of D.C., Myersville, Frederick County. We were in the storm’s epicenter on winding Churchill Road,   Myersville, Maryland was our country address then. My Aunt Bobby and Uncle Ed came up to the farm for the weekend, but the blizzard kept them there for three more days. Did I say that that was my 21^st birthday weekend - January 30^th – and that my Aunt Bobby and Uncle bought me a bottle of Cutty Sark (I didn't have the heart to tell her that didn't like scotch) to celebrate my coming of Maryland’s drinking-age.  

Anyway, Dad insisted that I keep the driveway clear even as conditions worsened to whiteout. On the evening of the storm’s first day, I got our large, 1954 Case tractor stuck in a 10 foot drift. I thought this failed effort would impress my father as to the extreme blizzard conditions- you know, “the Borg” principal. I was dead wrong! Dad told me to hop on the smaller, but higher torque diesel Case and keep on the job. An hour later I ditched the second machine off the driveway culvert because I just couldn’t see where I was going. That failed effort finally convinced Dad to give up his plan of beating Mother Nature and just let it be.

On Wednesday, February 3, 1966, I opened our driveway (how we got the tractor "un-ditched" is another story), while the State removed the high drifts on Route 40 – some topped at nearly 20 feet – the highway finally opened. Of course, our trapped guest soon departed. I have added a second  farm photo in contrast with the above snow scene.

Below is a photo of the Wolfe farm five months after the great 1966 blizzard -.ironically, we had one of the worse droughts that summer in decades. Any way you can view quite a difference between the above and this picture.  
 

Wolfe Farm Summer, 1966 Summer Drought

     

Kentlands: the land, its early families and return of later generations

My Chapter from, "The Kentlands: A Home for All Seasons", by Judy Gross, May 2012

Kentlands: the land, its early families and return of later generations - pages 13 through 19

By Walter J. (Clagett)-Wolfe

Context:

Juliana “Julie” Walker MacDowell, (grandaughter of Otis Beall Kent) was a close friend of my brother, David Wolfe, and in fact, she likend their 20+ year acquaintance as mentoring friendship. Also relevant is that Juliana also wrote a chapter for this book regarding her experiences growing up with her younger brother on her grandparents Kentlands farm. Finally, at David’s memorial last January, Julie talked about Judy Gross’s writing a book about the Kentlands and that she knew nothing about the history of the land and its inhabitants. Julie asked if I would be willing to contact Judy Gross and offer to write the historical chapter for this anthology.   

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I was asked by the author of this book to provide a history of the families - including my maternal Clagett ancestors - and their land, much of which comprises the Kentlands' village today. Therefore, to begin, I will reach back about 300 years in order to make what I believe to be important connections leading up to the inaugural construction of Kentlands.

First Residents

Before Joseph West received a colonial land grant in 1732¹, the land comprising "The Kentlands" was traversed by the Nacotchtank, a Native American people living along the shores of the upper Potomac River in the vicinity of what is now Washington, DC, Georgetown and points north². Nearby a few small villages of the Piscataway, members of the Algonquian people were scattered across the southern portions of the county. North of the Great Falls of the Potomac, there were few permanent settlements, and the Piscataway shared hunting camps and foot paths with members of rival peoples like the Susquehannocks and the Senecas³. One heavily used pre-colonial Native American trail stretched from the shores of the upper Potomac starting from where present-day Georgetown is located and went north through what today is Montgomery County (established 1776) ending in Northern Frederick County (split off from Prince Georges County in 1745). That trail is now Route 355 which we know by numerous sectional names such as Wisconsin Avenue, Georgetown Road, Rockville Pike, Frederick Road, etc.

Joseph West Sells Land to Revolutionary War Patriot, Henry Clagett

With respect to the Tschiffely-Kent estate, much of the land now comprising "The Kentlands" was purchased over a period of time by my great, great, great, great grandfather, Revolutionary War patriot, Henry Clagett - born in 1728. Henry enrolled into a company of Montgomery County known as the "Flying Camp" commencing September 19, 1776⁴ and died from an unknown disease while in military service in 1777.  Clagett’s Last Will andTestament⁵ was witnessed on July 13, 1777, and was probated on February 2, 1778, in Montgomery County.  His bequests to his children included his sons, Joseph and Zechariah Clagett, the various land holdings known as "Magruder's Chance", "Quince Orchard", Addison,” and “Clagett’s Folly."

Clagett Farm Sold to Frederick Tschiffely, 1852 

It appears that Joseph lived on his inherited land successfully farming various crops. Joseph Clagett, my great, great, grandfather (1758-1829) who served as a corporal in the War of 1812, continued expansion of his inherited farm through purchases of land parcels surrounding his property amassing about 1,000 acres by the time of his death in 1828. Joseph's last Will and Testament of 1 June 1827, divided his estate amongst his wife and their four surviving children including some property bequests to his son, Asa - my great, grandfather ⁶. Asa Clagett's older sister, Elizabeth Clagett-Jones, sold her inherited farm property, and she and her husband, Joseph Hawkins Jones, the "Joseph Clagett" properties sold to Frederick A. Tschiffely, Sr. from Washington, D.C. May 1852, for the sum of $1,340.00. The property also included some of the Joseph Clagett tracts of land called "Joseph," "The Fountains, "Quince Orchard Pruned, "Arpos, and "William and John."⁷ As will be recalled from above writings, the 300 acre land grant tract, "The Joseph" was initially granted to Joseph West on 1 July 1723, which ran west of Muddy Branch Road, and also the Road 5 to Rockville (most likely Route 28) to Darnstown which passed through the center of the tract. This was the property that Revolutionary War soldier, Henry Clagett, purchased, inaugurating the growth of the Clagett estate. However, according to the 1865 Hopkins Atlas ⁸, the Joseph Clagett estate had been divided amongst his heirs in small, unconnected parcels throughout the greater Darnstown area ⁹

Tschiffely Family Farm Land Additions

Returning back to Frederick A. Tschiffely, Sr, it is noted from the Architectural Survey and Historical Review of the Tschiffely-Kent Farm located in the Kentlands (performed by the URS Corporation for the City of Gaithersburg, November, 2011) that he was employed as a land development office draftsman for the District of Columbia Land Office during the nineteenth century.¹⁰ After his 1852 purchase of a portion of the Joseph Clagett estate, Mr. Tschiffely, like my ancestors, grew his farm through various land purchases that surrounded his estate over the years. Upon the death of Frederick A. Tschiffely, Sr. (1814-1892), his son, Frederick A. Tschiffely, Jr. (1851-1931) inherited 159 acres of his father's farm. Frederick Jr. was a successful pharmacist, owning the Tschiffely Apothecary located at 475 Pennsylvania Avenue (still in business today, the oldest drug store in Washington, D.C.). As my Clagett ancestors and his father did, Frederick, Jr. significantly increased the size of the farm over a period of three decades.

Beginning in 1900, he built the present-day Tschiffely-Kent Mansion spending $10,000 - a small fortune then - completion was in 1903¹¹. Unfortunately, Jr. replaced his father's antebellum "Italian style" mansion to build his own grander mansion. Numerous out-buildings - all made from brick- included a barn and a two story carriage - house was added to the estate¹² By 1917 the "Gentleman's" farm included 648.8 acres.

An alternative name for the Tschiffely Estate was "The Bricks," since all the buildings were constructed from bricks. The original Clagett farm which became the Tschiffely Estate or "Wheatlands" was sold by the heirs of Frederick A. Tschiffely, Jr., to Otis Beall Kent in 1942. Mr. Kent, a successful D.C. lawyer, during the time of his ownership of the property, further enhanced the existing mansion and out buildings. He added more brick structures, such as a guest house, and bought additional farm land surrounding his estate. At one point the estate had grown to 1, 000 acres. Moreover, being a conservationist, Otis Beall Kent established a large scale working farm and agricultural school.

Another sizable, conservationist related addition to his estate, which he called "Kentlands," was the construction of several huge lakes called Inspiration Lake and Lake Helene. In concert with Kent's conservationism and generosity, in the 1960's, he donated part of his estate to the Izaak Walton League for their corporate headquarters, and to the National Geographic Society with the condition that they both maintain some of the lands as a wildlife sanctuary.

The Quarry

Another fact of interest to me was that Tschiffely Jr. permitted the State/County to run a quarry on his property to provide crushed stones for the first road system built in Montgomery County, during the first decades of the 20th century. Since my grandfather, Charles Ambrose Clagett, was a county roads crew foreman at the time, I can easily speculate that he very likely used some of the stone from the Tschiffely property. Here is yet again a possible involvement of a direct descendent of Henry Clagett connected to the land once farmed by my grandfather's Charles Clagett's ancestors, now comprising much of the Kentlands Community.

5^th Generation Clagett Oversees Mansion Restoration

Coincidently, my late Uncle Joseph Leo Clagett (Charles A. Clagett, son) was hired by Otis Beall Kent as the foreman of a four carpenter crew (his crew included Leo Clagett, Charles Carroll "Bill" Clagett, Walter Myers, Norman Tuohey and Edding Harding) to make the first restoration and  additions to the Tschiffely mansion. Their work began soon after Mr. Kent purchased the property in 1942 from the heirs of Frederick A Tschiffely, Jr.,'s crew completed the job in about eighteen months which was during the height of World War II. His daughter (my 1^st cousin – Mary Louise Clagett-Thrift) recalls that during her father's work for Otis Kent, she would be picked-up from Immaculate Catholic Girls High School in Washington, D.C. by her mother, Mary Henderson-Clagett, drive over to Otis Kent's apartment on 16^th Street, collect the payroll and drive to the Mansion to distribute the weekly pay to her father and his crew ¹³.

The Kentlands Village Vision

The modern history of Kentlands begins with the 1988 sale of 352 acres of the old Kentlands Farm from The Kentlands Foundation, Inc. and Helen Danger Kent to the Great Seneca Limited Partnership, a division of Joseph Alfandre & Company.¹⁴- Alfandre became increasingly captivated by the beauty and order of the rather formal old Kentlands farm complex and his own sense of what could be accomplished began to evolve. Perhaps, he thought, the farm complex buildings could become the heart of a neighborhood reminiscent of old-time country villages." However, his vision did not fit into the county's zoning regulations.

My older brother, David B. (Clagett) Wolfe (1933-2011) who was president and founder of Community Management Corp., based in Reston, Virginia, was introduced by my older brother, Charles R. AKA Rick (Clagett) Wolfe to Joseph Alfandre in 1988 (Rick knew Joseph Alfandre's father). David Wolfe added his expertise about Traditional Neighborhood Design planning techniques with Alfandre (also known as Neotraditional new town planning) that are now generally referred to under the rubric of the New Urbanism. The New Urbanism is the concept of building a walkable, mixed-use city neighborhood or new town, from the onset, in order to provide an attractive alternative to the automobile dominated urban sprawl.

Alfandre sought the services of land planners, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, best known for their recently completed project at Seaside on the Florida panhandle, a Neotraditional resort village. According to my brother, Rick, David assisted Alfandre to bring the Duany/ Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) team to Maryland and to incorporate New Urbanism concepts into the final Kentlands community strategic planning process. After trips with Duany to a number of U.S. and European traditional towns, Alfandre became convinced that a Neotraditional town could work at the Kentlands. He hired Duany's firm, DPZ, to create a vision, the Kentlands Vision, of a new-old community - Neotraditional neighborhood -- at Kentlands¹⁵." After David Wolfe's input, Alfandre and DPZ negotiated with Montgomery County, Park & Planning and the City of Gaithersburg governments to create a totally new zoning category known as the "Village Cluster Plan." By the way, this was the fourth time a direct descendent of Henry Clagett (1728-1777) was associated with the future of the former Clagett farm that morphed into the Kentlands community.

In the new zoning process, Alfandre's development company donated the mansion, the surrounding ten acres, and all of the out buildings to the City of Gaithersburg. And to its credit, the City of Gaithersburg has invested funds over the past two decades for improvements to the mansion, land maintenance, and the surrounding out buildings

The Kentlands Charrette

I recall attending with my wife, one Sunday afternoon in June of 1988, the weeklong planning Charrette at the old Kentlands Barn. My brothers David and Rick, with his wife Rosemary, my 84 year old mother, Rose Clagett-Wolfe were all there that Sunday afternoon. Being a history minded person, I was fascinated by the mansion and the surrounding early 20^th century farming structures. Just a few years later, I had the pleasure of attending a wedding reception in the grand old mansion. In attendance that Sunday afternoon for the Charrette, was Joseph Alfandre, Gaithersburg city officials, and scores of town planners and other professionals, and the interested public, Duany and his wife and business partner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (DPZ). The copy approvals were quick to follow and Alfandre formalized the community in December of 1988 by creating the "Kentlands Citizens Assembly." At that time, Joe appointed five developer builders as its offices and trustees. DPZ maintained a presence in a converted farm building as the Kentlands 'Community Architect' to oversee the development. A formal groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 1 989, and the new Kentlands Neotraditional neighborhood was on its way.

Two Very Special Street Signs in the Kentlands Community

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The above two street sign photos were added after the publishing of the book and inserted in this chapter on June 19, 2012 by Walter Wolfe

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Tribute to David Wolfe (Joe Alfandre letter to Juliana MacDowell)

… “I do remember David's fondness for you. He was like that to all taken under his wing, including me. David was a prophet and seer in the Kentlands Orbit, and as important as Andres and Lizz to its birth. He envisioned the Duany plan before it was drafted and was spiritual guide to us. David previewed pinup sessions with me throughout the Charrette and during these private times together we crafted a program for the original Kentlands Foundation. Because the Kentlands plan remembered patterns of small town America, inventing nothing new, it was disarmingly simple. A patient elder, David spent a great deal that week in June explaining the obvious, quick with his smokey laugh, and calming fears during lonely struggles with creative endeavor. It turned out he was right about everything long before the greater community acquiesced and with provincial smugness claimed it for themselves. Truth abides well with humility, and he seemed to take his anonymity in stride. It excited David to be involved in the Kentlands commitment to building a better place to live for two and now three demographic cohort. He paid a great compliment having confidence that I would follow through. His initials are as indelibly etched on the Kentlands plans as are mine, Andres', and Ed's... I hope this gives you some insight into David Wolfe’s contributions to the birth of Kentlands. ..To do him real justice would take pages and pages, as will the rest of the story of Kentlands .... Someday I will make the effort to tell it all..."

Footnotes

1. The Full Text of the "History of Montgomery County, Maryland", from its earliest settlement in 1650 to 1879, page 43

2. “Native Languages of the Americans” of the Americans": http://www.native-languages.org/maryland.htm

3. Wikipedia, Montgomery County, Maryland

4. “During the American Revolution 1774-1783," page 647 & Archives of MD., Vol.XII pages 352, see page 74

5. Montgomery County Record of Wills, Henry Clagett, Library A folio 22, 1777-1953

6. Ancestry.com, Wolfe-Clagett Family Montgomery County land Records or Wills, Joseph Clagett, library A folio 22, 1777-1953

7. Montgomery County Land Records, Elizabeth Clagett-Jones Deed Transfer to F.A. Tschiffely, Library JGH 1, Folio 291

8. Refer to the two Darnstown District maps at the end of this chapter.

9. Hopkins Atlas 1865-map of Greater Darnstown area, survey No. MC 21/6

10.Archives of the State of Maryland, (Biographical Series)

11.Maryland Historical Trust State Historical Sites Inventory Form: Wheatlands, F.A. Tschiffely Farm Application by Joseph Alfandre and Company

13. Montgomery County Sentinel

14. URS Corporation 12420 Millstone Center Drive, Germantown, MD for the City of Gaithersburg Dept. of Planning & Code Administration November 2011

15. Interview with my cousin, Mary Louise Clagett-Thrift on 1 4 January, 2012     

 Hopkins 1865 map of Darnstown district maps (1)"
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Addendum 03/24/2013:

Passage from the Chapter: Architect And Town Planner of Kentlands, By Andres Duany

 After the permits were secured and construction began, sales were brisk and everything looked really great. Then something awful and completely unexpected happened. Out of the blue, a Canadian "raider" (that was the term at the time for a "venture capitalist") by the name of Robert Campeau, won control of most of America's store chains and brought them close to bankruptcy. Kentlands' mall developer, Mel Simon determined that he could not have the anchor stores needed for his mall in good time and decided to default on his contract with Joe. He left his million dollar deposit which Joe used to court other mall developers. The economic problems were not immediate and in the year following, Joe and I continued our attempts to entice other retail developers. But as long as the anchor stores remained unavailable, developers knew there was nothing to be done. Many remarkable designs for the shopping mall still exist in our archives.

 

From that point on, the Kentlands business plan simply did not work, the debt was too high, regardless of the fact that the residential units kept selling well right through the recession of the early 1990s. Predictably, the world of conventional planning and development gleefully presented the debacle as evidence that New Urbanism as a whole did not work. But the fact is that it was the conventional suburban part of the plan - the shopping mall portion - that remained the vulnerable one.

 

Joe Alfandre never missed a loan payment, but he knew that without the mall, the business plan did not work, so he handed Kentlands over to his lender, Chevy Chase Bank. The bank trusted him to keep going and, so, for quite some time, Joe remained in charge of the development. He was at the time to able to imprint the indelible architectural quality which marks Kentlands and he assured the elementary school and the clubhouse.

 Eventually, Great Seneca Development Corporation (GSDC), an affiliate of Chevy Chase Bank, under the direction of Jeff Campbell, took over to build out the rest. For the design of the shopping center, on the old mall area, we were consulted and we tried to make it as good as possible - but with a conventional retail developer and their uninspired architects, there was only so much we could do. The most interesting aspect of the shopping plan is that the parking lots were designed as future city blocks, ready to be redeveloped into a true town center. That transformation has already begun, and I am quite hopeful that is will accelerate when rail transit arrives. Kentlands' downtown, like all true urbanism is conceived successionally.

 At this point David Wolfe enters the picture again. Remember, he had introduced us to Joe. He had done so because he was an expert on seniors, and he knew that walkable communities were ideal for the old folks who could no longer enjoy driving around for their ordinary daily needs. But David, in a prior life had been an expert on homeowner's associations. He claimed that no lawsuit had ever occurred in one of his associations because his HOAs were truly democratic, giving residents internal avenues of appeal, well short of formal legal action. Joe listened...and the association documents for Kentlands were written to assure an unusual amount of power to the homeowners. These usually-overlooked associations are very important. I think of such documents as the software that runs the hardware of community design that we provide. After Joe left, GSDC brought in production homebuilders, who might have diminished design standards, Kentlands' highly empowered citizens prevented it. From beginning to end, the extraordinary vision and quality of the Kentlands was thus maintained. In my mind, here was some good luck to temper the misfortunes of the dead Oak Tree and the inept Canadian Raider