History of Keep Tryst Manor
Keep Tryst Manor is located at the south end of Pleasant Valley in southern Washington County, Maryland. Pleasant Valley is a long, narrow; north, south running valley bordered by the Potomac River and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Loudon County, Virginia to the south; Elk Ridge and Maryland Heights to the West; and South Mountain and Weverton Cliffs to the East. From here you can see three states and five counties. Half a mile down Keep Tryst Rd, at the bottom of the hill is access to the Appalachian Trail, the C&O Canal tow path, and the Potomac River. One can be at Weverton Cliffs in 45 minutes via the Appalachian Trail. Harpers Ferry is a short 3.5 mile bike ride away via the tow path. Antietam National Battlefield is only a scant 15 miles drive away. The Potomac River is full of tubers floating past Harpers Ferry in the summer. What follows is a completely true and accurate account of the history of this property and area, as far as I can tell.
The first white settler in this area was Israel Friend, a frontiersman and ambassador to the Shawnee tribes on the Potomac River. His wife, Sarah, is supposed to have actually been an Indian princess named Bokavar. In 1727, a deed was made from six chiefs, styled "Kings of the Five Nations", for land on the Potomac River and Antietam Creek (above present-day Harpers Ferry). The original deed was said to have been written on birch bark. There is a state historical marker at the south end of Antietam Iron Works Bridge with the deed’s wording on it: Beginning “at the mouth of Antietum Creek thence up the Potomack River 200 shots as fur as an arrow can be slung out of a bow” thence “100 shots right back from the river” then “squared till it intercedes with the creek.”
The English governor at the time declared that Natives had no right to make legally-binding documents, and hence the 1727 deed was declared invalid. Israel tried to do the right thing by establishing trust and obtaining the land via deed, instead of conquest. For his attempt to represent his race as an honest man, he was penalized, losing the land he thought was his. Silly man. The creek at the bottom of the hill on Keep Tryst Rd is named Israel Creek. Other recorded settlers didn’t arrive in the area until 1742.
In 1763, John Semple came along and acquired large parcels of land the by going in debt. He borrowed large sums of money from several Scottish merchants. He eventually acquired more than 20,000 acres in Maryland and Virginia (much of it on credit). One grant of land included 10,202 acres and encompassed a large section of this area, including the area given to Israel Friend by the 1727 deed. John Semple built a forge that eventually became the Antietam Iron Works. Land grants back then were given very colorful names similar to present day racehorses. Semple named his Maryland grant “Keep Triest” which was his Scottish clan motto meaning “always faithful”. The spelling differed over the years but is officially Keep Tryst today because that’s what is on the road sign. Semple inevitably was unable to pay his debts and was forced to mortgage off most of his property.
Keep Tryst Manor was part of a 305-acre land grant named “Grandfather’s Gift”, originally owned by Henry Holland Hawkins in 1741. In 1775, Ludwig Roderick bought 155 acres of Grandfather’s Gift from the heirs of Henry Hawkins. Ludwig Lewis Roderick was born in 1723 in Leiselhelm, Baden Wurttemberg, Germany and died in 1797 in Hagerstown, MD. Ludwig married Catherine Lehn in 1741. Their daughter, Catherine Roderick (1754 – 1859), married Peter Miller (1739 – 1829) in 1776. After Ludwig’s death, Peter Miller bought the 155 acres from Grandfather’s Gift plus 25 Acres from some of Ludwig’s other properties from the Roderick heirs for 5 cents an acre, a whopping $9 total.
Peter Miller immigrated from Prussia to the new world with his father when he was fourteen years old. His father was said to have been of such gigantic structure that he was made a member of the famous bodyguard of Frederick the Great, and that he could cut and stack six cords of wood in one day. The Millers in this area were Dunkers, the Mennonites of their time. The Dunker Church at Sharpsburg is preserved to this day as part of the Antietam National Battlefield. The Cornfield, sight of some of the most horrific fighting in U.S. history, belonged to D.R. Miller, a relative of the Millers on this property. Peter Miller built the original residence here, where Keep Tryst Manor stands today, in 1804 which he called “Miller’s Farms”. The house at that time was not the house you see today, as the East and West wings weren’t added on until 1900. How much of the remainder of the house was built in 1804 is not known, but parts of the original house are incorporated. Peter Miller became Peter Miller Sr when Peter Miller Jr (1776 – 1841) was born. Peter Miller Jr married Mary Arnold (1787 – 1834) and had a son Jacob A. Miller (1812 – 1895). Jacob was a surveyor and civil engineer and was in charge of the C&O Canal’s construction from Point of Rocks to 2 miles above Harpers Ferry. He also helped build the B&O Railroad when it came through the same area. In 1852 Jacob built a new house a quarter of a mile up the road on Prospect Hill. After three generations of farming this land, the Miller family moved into what I will hence forth refer to as the Prospect Hill House. This house and property, the future Keep Tryst Manor, was sold to William Loughridge.
“Our farmland extended to a rim of high cliffs above the Potomac and almost above the railroad and canal. Our favorite walk was across the fields to a fringe of woodland where we gathered wildflowers, drank spring water from half of a coconut shell, and sat on huge boulders for hours watching trains pass far below or a canal boat lazing along on its journey in the old canal. Two mules hitched to a long stout rope, treading the path between the canal and river, pulled the boat with its cargo of coal. Two mules rode in a stall on the boat and took turns pulling. The boatman and his family lived on the boat and often a small boy walked beside the mules and urged them on their way. Angry flood waters of the Potomac long ago destroyed the canal but I am sure its memory lives on: “The grey old boat, two small mules, treading a gravel path, the melody of the boatman’s horn as he approached a lock and sounded a signal to the keeper to open the gates and let the boat enter.” This scene lived on in the heart and mind of many others I am sure, beside myself.”
Isabella Gilman, granddaughter of Jacob A. Miller
By 1852, the area was thriving and bustling with activity. Just upstream, Harpers Ferry was prosperous and growing and home to the National Armory. The C&O canal and B&O railroad were complete and operated side by side and in competition with one another along the Potomac River. Both had purchased land at a bend of the Potomac River from the Millers during their construction that is still known today as Miller’s Narrow. US 340 didn’t exist, and today’s quiet Keep Tryst Rd was known simply as the State Highway and was the main road from Washington to points West. The big red stone in the front allowed ladies to enter and exit carriages more easily while traveling that road. At the bottom of the hill, the road, canal, and railroad all ran through Weverton, a bustling industrial town. Weverton boasted a train station, a stone hotel, many mills, and a full-length dam across the Potomac. One of these mills was William Loughridge’s marble and stone cutting mill.
William Loughridge (1816 – 1891) was married to Rachel Eavey (1812 – 1883). In 1854 he conceived of a brake for railway cars to be under the control of the engineman, as an improvement upon the system then in vogue of having brakemen apply the brake by hand windlasses operated on each separate car. His thought on the subject evolved the first practical engineers’ brake for the general purposes of steam railways.
“I saw a locomotive engineer at Weaverton, Maryland, run his train some distance beyond the station. When he backed, the brakeman stood near the engine, and he got off and struck him a severe blow, and used some very insulting words, charging him with running by every station from Martinsburg. After he left, it occurred to me that it would be most desirable to place in the hands of the engineer a means to brake his train, and I at once had a large operating model made, and a track over 100 feet long, on which I made elaborate experiments, which resulted in the equipment of a train on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad that operated well. The Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad Company was the first to adopt it.”
William Loughridge
This steam brake, “the Old Chain Brake,” was patented on April 10, 1855.It was improved upon from time to time and in various modifications was applied to many American Railroads. In 1867, in pursuance of his invention, he moved with his family to Patterson, New Jersey, to equip the Central Railroad of New Jersey. His Brake System was eventually superseded by the Westinghouse System, but not until his resources were exhausted in a protracted civil suit against the Westinghouse Air Brake Company for infringements of his patents, in which he endeavored to show that “the so-called ‘Westinghouse Brake’ was in all its important and successful features, his invention, in which he was fully protected by Letters Patent.” J.J. Moore bought this house in 1867 and the property became “The Moore House” for almost half a century.
In the meantime, The Civil War happened. One can read in the history books all about John Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid on 16 October 1859, The Battle of Crampton’s Gap on South Mountain on 14 September 1862, and the Battle of Antietam on 17 September 1862. No battles occurred on this property, but the area was heavily occupied and saw lots of action in the vicinity. Harpers Ferry changed hands fourteen times during the war. McLaw’s confederate troops came through here during their retreat from South Mountain during the Antietam campaign. Maryland Heights above Harpers Ferry was fortified and home to a stone fort and a large Union encampment. Union General Nathaniel P. Banks had his headquarters and lived in Jacob A. Miller’s Prospect Hill home.
Isabella Gilman, granddaughter of Jacob A. Miller writes: “Grandma told me about many of their experiences during the long struggle, of the camp in a field West of the house. Stories of General Banks, Major Slocum, Major Wise and Son, and Mrs. Custer. All had quarters in Grandfather’s house (Prospect Hill house) and took their meals there.”
“General Banks and his officers were making themselves very much at home and the women were serving them their meals. Clint (Clinton E. Miller), as my grandfather was nicknamed, was sitting beside General Banks. Suddenly, as all were in the midst of eating soup Clint said, “Mamma, there’s a fly in the soup.” Of course, his mother tried to hush him but he said, “Why, Mother, it is so a fly ‘cause I see his legs wiggle.” All the officers laughed uproariously while his mother, to hide her confusion promptly left for the kitchen. Gen. Banks gave clint the first dollar he had ever had as a gift for the good laugh”
Anna Schuller, great granddaughter of Jacob A. Miller
Libbie Custer stayed at the Prospect Hill house during the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and her husband George Armstrong Custard bivouacked in the adjacent field with his cavalry when in the area. I can imagine Libbie and George strolling arm and arm in the area, possibly past and through this property.
George and Libbie’s hot blooded relationship is well known. Their letters reflected their ardor and were the Victorian equivalent of “sexting”. Far from the prudish stereotype of the Victorian woman, Libbie delighted in creative euphemism and double-entendre. Libbie’s letters to her husband during the Civil War were so hot that he actually admonished her to tone it down. Not because he didn’t like it or it was “unladylike,” but out of security concerns. His admonishment came after his dispatches were captured by Confederate raiders. The thought of his wife’s intimate banter being read — and guffawed at — by Confederate intelligence officers would have been mortifying. Do any of Libbie’s letters exist from when she was at the Prospect Hill house? According to one book, in early September of 1864, husband and wife met for a day at Harpers Ferry. Was it Harpers Ferry, or a location near Harpers Ferry?
“My dear little Army Crow – following me around everywhere . . . Not even the supposed proximity of Mosby’s gang could drive away my happy thoughts of you. During the 16 miles’ ride back I spoke but once, and I fear the two officers with me deemed me unsociable, or wrapped in my own importance. But I did not think of that till later.
Major General George A. Custer, September 11, 1864 from camp at Berryville
Jerimiah Jesse Moore (1836 – 1906) and Virginia C. Boteler (1834 – 1925) lived in this home from 1867 until his death in 1906. Jesse was a superintendent of the C&O Canal and a county politician. The Moore’s added on the East and West wings in 1900. A big, red stone off the front porch is etched with J.J. Moore, leading one to believe that some, if not all the beautiful red stones on the property were installed while this was the Moore home. What other upgrades were made during their time? Regardless, it is clear that in any significant way, the house became Keep Tryst Manor as you see today under their watch.
Floods devastated the area in 1870, 1877, 1889, and 1924. Many of the Harpers Ferry businesses closed and residents moved away. The mills and industrial complex in Weverton were closed after the 1877 flood and the land sold to the Canal which later razed all standing buildings and the dam so that diverted water would no longer cause damage to the Canal. The 1889 flood sent the Canal into receivership, and the Canal closed once and for all after the flood of 1924.
After Jesse Moore’s death in 1906, the house transferred to Joseph T Elgin of Hagerstown who had married one of Jesse’s daughters, Fannie. Joseph was a carpenter and it is possible that he built the additional wings to the house in 1900. Joseph’s son William Lee Elgin’s initials, WLE, can be seen carved into the wood of the barn and stone of the spring house with the date of 15 July 1909
In 1911 Joseph Hamilton Savage (1862 – 1946) moved from Virginia with his family, including one of his daughters, 5-year-old Natalie. Joseph came from a distilling family and opened the Savage Distillery on the property which included a 60 x 80 ft, 5 story high distillery and a 40 ft high warehouse. Timing is everything, and if Joseph didn’t have bad luck, he would have had no luck at all. Prohibition was coming and by 1916 all the local saloons in Sandy Hook and Weverton had been closed, and the distillery’s future was in doubt. On 31 August 1916, about 1 am, the distillery and warehouse, along with 600 barrels of whiskey, burned. It was quite the spectacle as rivers of blue fire flowed down into Israel Creek and into Potomac River. Was the fire deliberately set for the insurance money? The truth is lost to history. In 1918 the Savage family boarded a train at the station at the bottom of the hill in Weverton and moved to Long Beach, CA. There, Joseph owned and operated a hotel. He eventually lost all of his properties through overspeculation. We will leave poor Joe and his bad luck here, and circle back to his daughter Natalie.
Natalie Savage Carlson (1906 – 1997) grew to become an internationally known author of children’s books and was the United States nominee for the Hans Christian Anderson Medal in 1966. She was awarded the Newberry Award in 1959 for her book The Family Under the Bridge. Natalie describes Shady Grove, the big farm Papa bought, as an Eden for a child. “The country around was mountainous, wild and unspoiled. I gained my love for Nature there, spending the free afternoons wandering through the fields and woods.” She writes about one summer of her childhood there in, The Half Sisters.
She recalls climbing the rafters in the barn to bring down a pair of squabs to raise as pets. When they matured, her father had a big pen built for them much like a small zoo aviary. Soon she had quite a few bird pets, joined by a beautiful white homing pigeon with a banded leg that sought refuge during a storm and stayed.
She fondly remembers “meeting the Kitty Cat family in absentia. They were felines who lived as we did. I never saw them but there was a telephone line from my father’s distillery to our house. Sometimes Father Cat called me on the phone and gave me the latest news of the Kitty Cat family. I almost saw them drive by in their car when my sister pointed, but she said I hadn’t looked in time. Evidently my family helped develop my imagination.” Natalie was twelve when the family moved to California.
In the late 1920s Natalie was a society reporter for the Long Beach Sun and interviewed many motion-picture stars. The airport was also her beat and she received free flying lessons from the aviators grateful for the publicity. In her opinion, Amilia Earhart was much prettier in real life than Joan Crawford. She was in Honolulu with her navy husband on December 7, 1941. Her and Rear Admiral Daniel Carlson traveled extensively in the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Europe. Not bad from her humble beginnings at quiet Shady Grove.
After the Savages, the property was owned first by the Van Metres and then by the Thornburgs who seem to have run it as an orchard while leasing the house to I assume the overseer and his family. Harry C. Vanmetre sold the property, which consisted of 111 acres at the time, to Robert S. Thornburg in 1945 for $2700.
Trains no longer stopped at Weverton after 1930 and the old train station was torn down. The Appalachian Trail was completed in 1937. Electricity didn’t come to this part of the country until 1957. They replaced the pole in front of our house last year and the old pole still had a 1957 tag on it. US 340 was extended through the area in the 1960s and the remainder of the town of Weverton was either moved or torn down. Nothing remains of it today. The old state highway was no more, only a small, quiet section of country road remaining. Local residents chose the name Keep Tryst Rd for it. The C&O Canal was designated a National Historic Park in 1971.
The house was run as a bed and breakfast for a short time in the 1980s, before simply becoming a home again. The previous owners bought it in 1991 and raised a family there for 30 years. One granddaughter of theirs was particularly upset when they sold the house as she had hoped to live in it someday. Who knows what the future holds? The previous owners did a marvelous job preserving and restoring the property. I have seen old pictures of how dilapidated the barn and spring house once were and I appreciate their hard work. The property is now home to a successful wedding venue, The Wedding Niche.
It is our privilege to continue as the care takers of this beautiful and historic property. We are determined that Keep Tryst Manor, Natalie’s Shady Grove, lasts another 100 years and enjoy sharing its history and beauty with you.
“The fields at Prospect Hill were rolling with steep hill sides and deep ravines, and only a few acres of level meadow land. The fields were all fenced, mostly post and rail fences. The roads were narrow and rough, but pleasantly shaded. Farm crops of corn and wheat were raised, and some livestock fed. Orchards of cherry, apple, pear and peach trees were beautiful in spring blossoming, and the fruit a delightful and profitable crop”
“Springtime in Maryland was a child’s fairyland. The deep pink bloom of the peach orchards blended with pale pink apple blossoms and the white of the pear and cherry. Early green of the mountains were dotted with clusters of dogwood and redbud trees. Along the roadside, wild roses and sweet honey suckle blended with the fragrances of many black locust trees, heavy with white blossoms.”
Isabella Gilman, granddaughter of Jacob A. Miller
“The Savages lived on a farm in western Maryland. The fields and orchards puckered into hills with the mountains on one side and the Potomac River on the other. Across the river were the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and when Luvvy rode the horse up the road, she soon reached Harpers Ferry bridge, where both states and West Virginia were wedged together – like three slices of pie.
"The stone part of their home, Shady Grove, had been built in 1804 as a coaching stop. Its porches had lacy white banisters. Its windows, set into walls three feet thick, were so deeply recessed that Luvvy often sat sideways in one of their sills to read or study. A later owner had added white frame wings on each side in 1900, so the house was large enough to accommodate some of the people who worked on the farm.”
Natalie Savage Carlson, The Half Sisters