Everyone is familiar with the dream of winning a major cash prize by playing the lottery. However, in the early history of the United States, lotteries were a popular form of raising money to build governmental, educational, and other public structures and to fund public services. Perhaps most surprising when viewed from our contemporary conception of lotteries, they were commonly used to help pay for the construction of houses of worship for religious institutions.

Frederick’s Republican Gazette newspaper of June 20, 1804, carried notices of two public lotteries that were raising funds to support the construction of churches in the county. One of these projects was “to build a church in Woodsbury [Woodsboro] for the Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations in the neighborhood.” The church described in this lottery notice is known today as Saint John’s United Church of Christ and still stands on North Second Street in Woodsboro. Two years before this lottery announcement appeared in the local paper, the citizens of Woodsboro laid the cornerstone for this church which was intended to be shared by the Lutheran and Reformed [noted as Presbyterian in the advertisement] congregations. The lottery was authorized to raise $12,000, of which $1,800 would go to the new church, which was not completed until fifteen years later in 1819. 

The second lottery announcement concerned raising money to “complete the Church of St. John in Frederick-Town.” The building referred to in this announcement was the old Saint John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, which stood on the northwest corner of East Second Street and Chapel Alley, opposite the present Saint John’s Church. Father John DuBois, the future Bishop of New York and the founder of Mount Saint Mary’s University, was the priest in charge of the Frederick parish when construction was started on this church in 1800. Among the commissioners assigned to oversee this lottery was Frederick attorney and later Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Roger Brooke Taney. The lottery for the Catholic Church was intended to raise $24,000, of which $3,600 would be given to the parish for completing the construction.

Why were lotteries a popular form of public fundraising? Many religious, educational, and other public institutions in the early United States lacked their own financial resources to complete major initiatives like constructing new buildings. The lottery offered a self-funding means of raising money by voluntary participation. Having recently fought a revolution, in part, against excessive taxation, this concept was significantly more palatable than a compulsory tax. The receiving institution generally earned 15% of the total funds raised, the rest being paid out in prizes to the ticket purchasers, who had about a 50% chance of winning something from the lottery. There were many other projects supported by public lotteries in Frederick County in the early-nineteenth century. These included the bell tower of the Lutheran Church at Emmitsburg, completed in 1814, and the purchasing of firefighting equipment for the Independent Hose Company in Frederick.

Sources:

Dasgupta, Anisha. “Public Finance and the Fortunes of the Early American Lottery.” Yale Law School, (2021). Accessed April 6, 2023.

McWilliams, Jane. “’Fortune Attends the Brave:’ A Brief History of Lotteries in Maryland.” Maryland States Archives, (1989). Accessed April 6, 2023.

April 1, 2023 by Jody Brumage, Heritage Frederick Archivist

Henrietta Bacchtel received this award in 1838 in recognition of her achievement in fourth class writing. She was a student at St. Joseph’s Academy in Emmitsburg, one of the earliest institutions dedicated to the education of women in Frederick County. Henrietta and her colleagues studied at St. Joseph’s during a time when the school’s curriculum was evolving in accordance with changing attitudes towards women’s education in the United States. 

When St. Joseph’s Academy opened its doors in 1809, the school’s first thirty students were educated in basic writing, reading, and arithmetic in addition to courses in etiquette and other domestic duties a woman was expected to perform once she married and started a family. By the mid-19th century, the school’s curriculum shifted to a greater academic focus with the introduction of courses in the sciences, philosophy, and languages. In time, schools like St. Joseph’s Academy developed a comprehensive academic course of study for their students and many of the women used this education to become teachers after the establishment of public education systems in the late-19th century. In 1902, St, Joseph’s Academy received a charter to become a degree-granting college which it remained until its closure in 1973. 

St. Joseph’s Academy was founded by Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, who came to Frederick County in 1809 with the goal of caring for poor children and educating young women. Born into a wealthy New York family in 1774, Elizabeth’s early adulthood followed the traditional path of many women in her class and time. She married William Magee Seton at age 19 and had five children. Her husband enjoyed success in his business pursuits and the family lived in an upper-class neighborhood in New York City. However, by the age of 30, Elizabeth’s husband had died from tuberculosis and the family’s fortune had been decimated by trade interruptions from ongoing European conflicts. In this difficult point of her life, Elizabeth converted to Catholicism and dedicated herself to caring for children in need.   

At the invitation of Sulpician priests from Baltimore, Elizabeth moved to Maryland in 1809 and settled at Emmitsburg where she organized a religious order named the Sisters of Charity of St. Josephs (renamed Daughters of Charity in 1811). At the same time, the order established St. Joseph’s Academy to educate young women. Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975, becoming the first person born in the United States to become a Catholic saint.

March 1, 2023 by Jody Brumage, Heritage Frederick Archivist

George Snowball was born in Kingston, Jamaica, then a part of the British West Indies. He began his working life as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse. However, George aspired to become a doctor. After a decade of teaching and saving money, George immigrated to the United States and entered the dental school at Howard University. After a year in Washington, DC, George transferred to Meharry Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee, where he received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. Dr. Snowball returned to Maryland to take his exams and become licensed to practice.

Dr. David G. Everhart, a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners, was impressed with Dr. Snowball and offered to assist him in establishing a practice in Frederick. He introduced Dr. Snowball to another Frederick physician, Dr. Ulysses G. Bourne, Sr., who became a lifelong friend and professional colleague. Dr. Bourne helped Dr. Snowball set up his first office at 5 West All Saints Street. Later, Dr. Snowall moved his practice to 28 West All Saints Street, next door to Dr. Bourne’s office. By this time, George had married May Naomi Wolfe of Lewistown, and she worked as his receptionist and nurse.

February 1, 2023 by Jody Brumage, Heritage Frederick Archivist

A recent donation to Heritage Frederick tells a wonderful story of a much beloved citizen, his descendants migration to the West and their dedication to their family’s roots back home in Frederick.  Charles Mantz was born in Frederick on December 7, 1807.  His parents, John and Susan Krupp Mantz were “cradle to grave” Fredericktonians and Charles was one of seven children.  On his path to the title “prosperous merchant,” Charles spent his early career in partnership with his older brothers and later in partnership with Allen G. Quynn in that family’s renowned hardware dynasty.  He was instrumental in the creation of what became the United Steam Fire Engine Company No. 3 in 1845, becoming the first President of the Company.  His last great endeavor was to serve the community of Frederick as the Clerk of the Circuit Court from 1867 to 1873.  As a gift upon his retirement, Charles, who was greatly admired by his colleagues, was gifted a stunning, silver plated ice water urn, engraved with a touching tribute.  The inscription reads: “To Charles Mantz, Esq., Clerk of the Circuit Court for Frederick County, From his Deputies, A. Fearhak, Jr., H. C. Koehler, Wm. Nash Young, Walker Y. Page, Chas H. Baugher, Arthur Potts; A Testimonial of their esteem for him as an officer and a Gentleman with their sincere regard for him as a Friend, Dec 1st, 1873;” The urn, which stands almost 2 ½ feet tall was a treasured centerpiece in the family home on East Patrick Street.

The allure of the American West during the last half of the 19^th century was still irresistible to young people hoping to make a name and a living for themselves and, with the inevitable passage of time, Charles’ children were drawn away from the home of their youth. Son, Charles Gomber Mantz, first followed his sister Mary to Omaha where she moved as a new bride.  He then worked in the cattle business in Wyoming before settling in Fort Collins, Colorado. His three children, Charles, Anna and Florence were born many years after their grandfather had passed away here in Frederick in 1879, the treasured water urn lovingly displayed in their parents dining room, a constant reminder of him.  Despite never having met him, a connection in their much beloved grandfather remained.  In 1961, the three donated $300, divided between the C. Burr Artz Library and Historical Society of Frederick County (now Heritage Frederick) in memory of their grandfather.  

The stunning cold water urn, made in 1873 by Meriden Britannia Silver Company of Connecticut and decorated with a rare pattern of polar bears and icebergs, recently made the journey from California back home to Frederick, a gift of Florence, who passed away in 1992, and her son Edward B. Dewey, who has enjoyed the urn in his home for his entire life, using the piece regularly, most recently in the summer of 2021 as it dispensed ice cold lemonade at a summer family celebration.  I love the following quote that Anna found in one of her grandfather’s letters dated Christmas day 1874.

“Mr. Otis Johnson, chief clerk, William Miller, assistant, all my clerks, some few members of the bar and my neighbors, paid their respects by calling to see me and wishing me a Merry Christmas…. We dined on oysters today and have a turkey and opossum in reserve for tomorrow and Sunday ….”  The urn will be the highlight of Heritage Frederick’s holiday display, on view for Frosty Friday.  The piece will be moved to the courthouse for display in the new year.

January 1, 2023 by Amy Hunt, Heritage Frederick Curator