Battle of the Alamo coincided with Carroll's independence
efforts
By Kevin Dayhoff, September 26, 2013
In October 1833 a referendum was held, in what we now know
as the area encompassing Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties, on whether
a new county was to be created. The vote failed, 593 to 554, although it was
later speculated that it failed because of voter irregularities in Baltimore
County.
Manchester, which had been against the idea of forming a
separate (Carroll) county, “exultantly fired [a cannon] in the direction of
defeated Westminster” after the vote was taken.
Subsequently a bill was introduced in 1835 and passed the
General Assembly on March 25, 1836 to form Carroll County. This act was confirmed on January 19, 1837.
It took only a war of words that lasted about 50 years, but Carroll Countians
had finally become an independent county.
This portion of Carroll County history came to mind earlier
in the month as I pondered the events of Feb. 23 through March 6, 1836 while I
studied a small clay, mud and straw building in a far-off land, now known as
Texas.
Many will recognize the dates as when the Battle of the
Alamo took place in San Antonio Texas. I took a few days in early September to
tour the Alamo and San Antonio and study how its history compared with events
in Carroll County in the same time frame.
With the exception of Manchester getting a bit feisty in
1833 and about three military campaigns during the American Civil War, Carroll
County history is remarkably free of bloodshed and violence.
The Lutheran church in Maryland can possibly trace its roots
as far back as 1747 when small numbers of Lutherans and German Reformers began
meeting in private homes primarily in northern Carroll and Frederick Counties.
“The first church building in Carroll County was erected by
the Lutheran and Reformed congregations of Manchester in 1760…,” according to a
history, “Carroll County Maryland," written by Nancy Warner.
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