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by William Henry Farquhar (Author)
The text consists of the annual records compiled by historian William Henry Farquhar for the Lyceum Company of Sandy Spring in Montgomery County, Maryland, north of Bethesda. Farquhar's annals provide an intimate portrait of this rural Maryland community at a time of great transition, 1863-1883. The introductory chapters provide a historical overview of Sandy Spring in the days of its early settlement, noting early land owners, local Indian tribes, flora, fauna, agricultural concerns, the influence of Quakers on the community, emancipation and the establishment of the Lyceum Company, a literary and historical society organized in the early 1860s by the local farmers "desirous of improving their minds while cultivating their farms." Each subsequent chapter relates a year's worth of Farquhar's reminiscences, detailing a diverse selection of events which effected the community and providing brief obituaries for those who passed away during that time. Topics of interest include: the Confederate invasion of Maryland and battles near Sandy Spring; farm and soil improvements; new school buildings; new roads and the Metropolitan Railroad at Rockville; fires and flood; Quaker meetings; telegraphs and telephones; barn raising; the dairy industry; the Farmers Convention; the immigration of Baltimoreans; aid rendered to yellow fever victims; sanitation and much more. A new index of full names has been compiled for this edition.
