A County in Transition Pages 1 - 24

Photo Courtesy Suzanne Henderson

The Budweiser Clydesdales highlighted the St. Mary's County Fair in the Mid-1950s. Shown here with John Bernard Henderson CRt.) at age five riding atop the Budweiser wagon.

FOREWORD The Leonardtown

High School

Publications' Staff

and Sponsor hope that you

enjoy this edition of The Heritage which features the History

of the

St. Mary's

County Fair while showing A County in Transition.

Although space

and time

do not permit us to include every event or exhibit

or every person who has contributed, we have attempted to present a cross section of the

fair to

show the atmosphere, the community involvement, the history, and

growth over the years.

At

the same

time, we

have attempted

to show

how St.

Mary's County's changes are reflected in the fair (A County in Transition).

Mary's

County has

more and more high tech. with

the

Patuxent

grown from

The county

River

Naval

result, the

county is

is now

Air

availability in the county and brings As a

an agrarian based society to one that is

Station. in more

growing by

employees are now returning to St. Mary's Pleasant Living".

filled with

This change in turn affects job small businesses

leaps and and

contractors affiliated

are

and franchises.

bounds.

Also many one-time

retiring

in

this

"Land of

They like the rural flavor of the county as well as its close

proximity to the metropolitan worlds of Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington.

It is the rural heritage that we have tried to capture in

this publication,

the very thing that draws many to our lovely St. Mary's County.

We would

like to

take this time to thank the many wonderful volunteers who

have given generously of their time,

energy, and

County Fair

is today.

the community

people attended the fair. do.

event it

money to

make the

St. Mary's

As of 1989 approximately 35,000

It is a prime example of what community volunteers can

Hats off to all volunteers!

"'Copyright1990

The Excitement Of It All ',> •

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I remember when I was little How the excitement ,Ot the fair . in the Autumn When the When the long You could sense ' it air ' ." . Oh the smells, sounds., ", :.

The feeling of the fair.

••

<

Years later, through gates , It all comes back to me.

The laughter; the excitement, 9f . .

I

,"

I

.

' .

•

again in the midst ,of it all, I can ' feel the excitement Of when I .was small.

Sharon Dunn

2

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A Way Of Life In St. Mary's County County fairs have been a way of life in America's history and have grown and changed over the years as each communit y has evolved. Researching the history of the St. Mary's Count y Fair has been an ongoing endeavor by the Publication's Staff and Sponsor of Leonardtown High School for the past one and one half years.

Students have had the unique opportunit y to interact with numerous members of the community who have contributed in some way over the years to the fair from its inception to the present.

When we began researching the fair's history, we knew that our current fair went back at least to 1947 when it was first held at Camp Calvert (now St. Mary's Ryken High School). Little did we know at the time, however, that fairs had been held at Leonard Hall in Leonardtown as early as 1912.

An old St. Mary 's Coun t y Fai r ticket dating 1916 was found in an old farm house kitchen on the Robert Thompson farm by Ted Burch (below). Holding the framed ticket is County Fair Board President, John Richards .

After that find, was just beginning.

we

knew

our work

Thanks to the help of Leonardtown Historian Al Gough, Jr., who supplied us with information from the St. Mary's Beacon dating 1912-1916 and pictures of the 1912 Fair, and Joe Mattingly, Jr., whose grandfather was ac tive in the early fair at Leonard Hall, we were able to put the missing pieces together.

3

We have tried to be comprehensive in our findin gs, but realize there may be some details we have overlooked and some volunteers whom we have not had the time to interview and who played a role in our fair's history.

Our goal has been to show a cross section of the fair from its origin to the present.

We have worked hard to be as accurate as possible and to interview as many people as our time would allow. We hope you enjoy our efforts.

Robert Thompson (on whose farm was found a 1916 ticket to the St. Mary's County Fair) was Fair Board President from 1961-66.

Leonardtown prepares for the county fair in 1950.

/

Section of 8usiness District Leonardtown, Md.

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4

Life On A Farm Life on a farm has never been easy. At the first crack of dawn, feet touch the floor and never stop until the whole body is bone tired at the end of the day.

Not all is hard work and labor on the farm, however. Watching the spring lambs sprint across the blue-green rye grass as robins run their short little course from one potential worm to another delights the senses and renews man's faith in nature and himself.

Farm families have always known this sense of freedom and joy that comes from being independent and living close to the land. There is a serenity that boosts the spirit and calms the soul.

It is no wonder that farm families have for generations fought hard and long to maintain this lifestyle.

It is becoming increasingly harder, however, for the family farm to maintain its own. Drastic increases in prices of chemicals, fertilizers, equipment, and labor along with competition from foreign markets are forcing many family farms out of business or causing them to take on second jobs to make ends meet. The farmer has always faced difficulties with economics and the elements, yet has been able to hang on and pull through somehow.

Claude Jarboe sits atop an old Case tractor while the men on the hay wagon use pitch forks for smoothing hay and moving it around for better packing.

5

Hog Killing Was Common On Most Farms.

(1) Robert Jarboe , unidentified , Joe Shepard, and Claude Jarboe butcher hogs on the Jarboe farm.

Claude Jarboe (bottom Rt.) Families and friends would get together to kill hogs.

They would cure their own hams in smoke houses. The lard would be ground in large enamel pans. "We had an electric meat grinder," said Jarboe. The fat was boiled in a large, round vat with a door at the bottom for burning wood.

"You had to stir the boiling fat constantly so as not to stick."

It was strained and poured through a metal sieve with a cheese cloth in the bottom.

Top right: Elizabeth Jarboe (1) and Mar y Ruth Shepard on Claude Jarboe farm.

Bottom left: Claude Jarboe rend ering up lard. Hog fat was boiled in large vats and poured into metal cans for cooking.

Photos - 1950 s

6

Tobacco is synonymous with St. Mary's County

"The grease was skiIlLrned off the top; the bottom was darker and what was left--the dried fat and pieces of skin (Kraklin) could be put in the oven to make them crisp," said Jarboe.

The one-horse plow was a sight at one time in St. Mary's County.

Claude Jarboe at Mulberry Fields which he managed at one time.

"To cure hams we would rub Morton Sugar Cure (a dry salt) on them and lay them skin down on a shelf and about April, put hams in a paper bag to keep the skippers out then hang them in the meat house in a Bacon was cured cloth/muslin bag.

Jarboe in the meat house also," recalled.

Hogs were killed any time after Thanksgiving; it had to be cold.

7

Leonard Hall - Fostering A Love For Rural Life It seems the Principal Aims in the original Prospectus and Catalogue of Leonard Hall are echoed throughout the basic philosophy of the county fair and 4-H in particular. Leonardtown Historian, Al Gough, Jr., supplied our staff with the following quote from the original Prospectus and Catalogue of Leonard Hall.

Livestock show at Leonard Hall (1912-1914).

(L to Rt.) Taylor (last name), unidentified, Sonny Thomas showing black angus cattle.

Leonard Hall opened Sept. 20, 1909 and the school's curriculum stressed strong emphasis on The first St. Mary's County Fair was held there in 1912.

Leonard Hall was founded in 1909 and by 1914-1915 already followin g aims:

had in

place the

"Besides a thorough high school education our principal aim is to induce young boys in the county to foster a love for rural life; to remain at home and thrive by industrious and scientific farming.

Observe how, for this purpose, we have prominently inserted in our curriculum a thorough course in theuretical and practical agriculture.

Too frequently young men from the county have drifted to the large cities, there to accept occupations injurious to the health of body and soul. " It was Father Laurence J. Kelly, S.J. and Father John La Farge, S.J., who came to Leonard Hall in 1911 and set forth these Principal Aims which put the wheels in motion for a St. Mary's County Fair.

The idea being "to encourage young men to take pride in agr iculture and strive to improve farming practices.

Community involvement was seen as a vi tal element and b y fostering these ideals through a county fair, the frui ts of agricultural labors could be displayed, enjoy ed and continued," according to the Prospectus.

8

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Left to Right: Dr. Charles Hayden (Leonardtown dentist), Father .Lawrence Kelly, S.J., unidentified, Mattingly Swann (back), Father John La Farge (Author of America, The Manor is Ordinary, et. al. as well as being one of the originators of the Cardinal Gibbons High School in Ridge, MD), three boys are unidentified, boy (far right) last name Love.

Ox Cart entry at St. Mary's County (1913-14) at Leonard Hall. Photo courtesy of Al Gough, Jr.

These Xaverian Brothers at Leonard Hall were then directly responsible for the early efforts at developing a county fair.

In 1947 the fair was again put in motion (after a period of apparent lapse) on the grounds of Camp Calvert (operated by the Xaverian Brothers) which is now St. Mary's Ryken High School.

Joseph M. Mattingly was one St. Mary's County farmer who put those farming practices into action.

According to an article in the Star newspaper, "Joseph Mattingly was way ahead of his neighbors in crop and land use practices. He pioneered modern methods of land use."

Those efforts paid off at the first county fair in 1912 at Leonard Hall, where he was awarded a gold medal for his corn exhibit in 1912.

Joseph Mattingly, Jr. holds a gold medal which his grandfather won for first place in the corn exhibit at the first St. Mary's County Fair held in 1912 at Leonard Hall.

Grandson Joseph A. Mattingl y , Jr., Assistant States Attorney, now proudly wears that medal on his pocket watch chain today. "It is particularly important to me," Joe stated in a recent interview, "because 1912 is the year my Aunt Martha Mattingly was born and she is the one who gave it to me; also because it belonged to Granddaddy."

"The corn that he won that gold medal for was raised on the Ellenborough Farm behind Cedar Lane," reminisced Retired Judge Joseph A. Mattingly, Sr., during the same interview.

"We had moved there from Medley's Neck so the girls (my sisters) could be closer to school. They couldn't get to St. Mary's Academy from the farm in Medley's Neck so Dad bought the Ellenborough Farm so they could get to school easier."

10

Joseph Mattingly, Jr., remarked, "For a man who said he had a third grade education, Granddad certainly believed in education and almost everyone of his children went to college--good colleges, too--and it wasn't easy back then to send them. Granddaddy was a self-made man. He was Clerk of the Circuit Court for twenty-odd years and was also a member of the Fair Board and a member of the House of Delegates so farming wasn't his only life's ambition."

"I remember Dad said he made 100 bushels of corn per acre when he received the gold medal in 1912--that was a lot for those days," said Judge Mattingly.

"Corn sold for .25 cents per bushel which was a pretty good price back then."

Several other medals were won by the senior Mattingly between 1912 and 1916.

Gold medals were given for first place, silver for second and bronze for third.

In addition to the medals won, there is a silver Loving Cup dated 1913 and a silver bowl dated 1914 (see photo) awarded to Mattingly.

Three generations of Mattinglys take great pride in St. Mary's County's farming heritage.

Joseph Mattingly, Jr. (L) and Retired Judge Joseph A. Mattingly, Sr. (R) sit amid awards and tropheys won by Judge Mattingly's father, Joseph M. Mattingly at the first fairs held at Leonard Hall between 1912-1914.

The Mattinglys are still winning ribbons in the county fairs.

Judge Mattingly's nephew J. MaGuire Mattingly, Jr., has entered Hereford cattle from Tudor Hall Farm in the fair for years, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the fair and acts as the Board's Treasurer. Other members of the family have also been active in the fair over the years.

11

Charles Fenwick, St. Mary's County Historian, recalls, "As far as I know, they only had the fair at Leonard Hall for a few years.

Leonard Hall at that time was an agriculture school. The Xaverian Brothers tried to get the county to fund the fair but they wouldn't."

"The one thing I remember the most about the fair at Leonard Hall was that they had a hot air balloon that year and a man jumped out of it and parachuted down right across the street from where I lived which was at least a block away from the fairgrounds," said Fenwick.

"I also remember that my older brother took me out to the fair (at Leonard Hall) to a tent that had nothing in it but toys. I thought I was in heaven.

I don't remember now what I got that day--some kind of little toy I suppose. I don't remember very much else about the fair at Leonard Hall; I was real small at the time."

Mary Katherine the fair at Leonard stated Mrs. Bell.

Bell remembers that her father dressed up like a pumpkin for Hall.

"We children played with that costume for years,"

"I do remember when the farmers came into Leonardtown on Court Tuesday, however. Every farmer in the world came to town. Men brought their horses and paraded them around town for potential buyers to see. It certainly was a man's day. Women and children were supposed to be off the streets--at home somewhere.

We couldn't be out there with the men, but I lived right there on Main Street where I could see everything."

"My husband's (Webster) father, Mr. Roy Bell, was quite a good horse doctor--he knew his horses!

He raised horses and trained under a well-known veterinarian in Baltimore. Back in those days there was no certification, you know.

At that time, that's how doctors and lawyers trained--under old established experts. When I married Webster in 1932 we lived at Cedar Point (now Patuxent River Naval Air Base) and I can tell you, anyone in that area who needed their animals checked went to Mr. Bell.

He was very well respected as a veterinarian," reminisced Mrs. Bell.

When the Budweiser Clydesdales came to the St. Mary's Count y Fair in the late 40's, Mr. Bell examined them like they were a piece of jewelry. He had a lot of respect for them."

Buck Briscoe, Mr. St. Mary's County, stands with the Clydesdales.

As this publication went to press, a handwritten letter from Brother Walter, C.F.X. to Henry Fowler, Sr. came to us from H. Fowler, Jr. outlining the history of the Leonard Hall fair.

See pages 181 & 182.

12

Cover picture shows the cattle show ring at Camp Calvert (1947) which is now the St. Mary's Ryken campus. Alex Blackhall (showing hereford) and Heath Steele (Glenn Mary Farms) entering the ring.

Steele was instrumental in organizing the first fair at Camp Calvert (1947). To the right is an old Buick--"a relic then in 1948," said Suzanne Henderson whose father owned the car and "used to announce the events from a speaker system he had installed.

He would also play records and marches for the fairgoers on a turntable."

From Leonard Hall to Camp Calvert For several yea rs the fair was not in progress. According to St. Mary's County Historian Charles Fenwick, "The Xavarian Brothers asked the county to take over the fair or help fund the fair but they wouldn't," he said, "so there was no fair for several years."

In 1947 the fair was again undertaken and the following letter details the Mr. Heath Steele recalls how the 1947 St. Mary's events as they developed.

County Fair again came to be.

13

HEATH W. STEELE 106 WOODSTOCK DR.

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CHES. CITY, MD 21915

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Left to Right: A Blackhall twin, Ben Parran, Elwood Cusic, Ignatious Pilkerton, Man from Cage · Farm (owned by The Parrans), and one of the Blackhall twins.

17

Right.

Senator Sr. in one of his the St. Mary's Shown here with Tolerance.

Henry Fowler, many roles at County Fair.

The Queen of

Horse And Buggy To Super Highway The Fair Has Maintained Its Own. Originally, the fair was strictly agricultural in that it was a meeting time for farmers to show their animals and goods, and for farmer's wives to show their needlework and sample each other's cooking. The earliest known "showings" go all the way back to the origin of St. Mary's City. According to Henry Fowler, Jr., "the early beginnings of the fair were in St. Mary' s City ... I've seen pen and ink sketches of men showing their animals in the middle of the settlement."

As the population of St. Mary's City expanded, so did the development of the surrounding areas. At some point, "the farmer's 'showings' began taking place on the greens in Leonardtown on Wednesdays, the official 'Farmer's Market Day' and 'business day' of the week," stated Fowler. It was also revealed that business people would take advantage of the gatherings to advertise their machinery and farm implements.

"Merchants loved the gatherings because farmers from farther out onl y came into town maybe four times a year."

"Railroad service only extended into Mechanicsville in 1946, so that when visiting merchants came in on the train, they had to ride a buck board into the county, and they would spend the week with county store owners doing business," said Fowler.

Later, the railroad was extended into Lexington Park with the installation of the Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

County growth has become a major issue in the past 40 years because the county has changed from basically agrarian to "more high-tech". Fowler remembers much of the county's changes through the observations of his father, Senator Henry Fowler, Sr. "Daddy always said that better than 90% of the county was related until the base opened during World War II. Dad was instrumental in bringing the first dual highway into the county while in the state legislature, and used his gift of gab as the fair's Public Relations man, and as a behind-thescenes organizer of the fair and as the Queen of Tolerance Competition Master of Ceremonies for many years."

18

Bernard Johnson (L) explains his father's (Julius Johnson-County Extension Agent for St. Mary's County from 1932-1959) role in the early fair to publications students Angela Coblentz (middle) and Lisa Greer as they stroll Johnson's beautiful gardens.

As the county became more populated, industrialization increased as well as intra-state communication. Agricultural agents were assigned to each county in order to help farms mechanize their farms and show them diversified techniques for farming. Julius Johnson was the extension agent from 1932 to 1959, during which time the official St. Mary's County Fair was founded, a span of twentyseven years, "and he was the only extension agent without a college degree--a self-educated man," says his son, Bernard Johnson, who has been active with the county fair many years. Julius Johnson's first wife, Lylian Mattingly Johnson, was equally involved with the agricultural expansion of the county, holding the position of Home demonstration Agent--the female equivalent to the extension agent.

"She was responsible for bringing ideas to farmers' wives about housecare, cooking and canning. She had gone to school in Tennessee to qualify for the position," stated Bernard Johnson.

"Dad's second wife, Anna, was also a Home Demonstration Agent in Charles Co." "Around 1946," said Johnson, "my father Julius, local farmers, members of the Farm Bureau, members of the Maryland Tobacco Association, and local civic organizations got the idea to organize the farmers' gatherings into a county fair.

They, in turn, contacted the Maryland State Fair Board to get approval and the guidelines necessary for a local fair.

Once everything was arranged, the Xavarian Brothers offered the grounds of their novitiate, also known as Camp Calvert, in 1947 to be the home of the fair.

The first two years of the county fair were spent there on the grounds of what is now St. Mary's Ryken High School.

The fair buildings consisted of National Guard tents that were used for a boy's camp there in the summer," Johnson related.

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(L) Henry Fowler talks to a princess from the Queen's Court.

Officiating Queen, Julius Johnson (County Extension Agent, 1932-1959) and Billy Cusic receiving trophy for best steer.

"Money for the first fair under the first fair board president, Major Howard was raised by selling stock," according to Bill Holley, current fair board member.

"Shares of stock in the fair were sold for ten dollars each, and that first year, over $10,000 was raised. Stockholders are the only members allowed to vote on the Board of Directors. If you had 10 shares, you had 10 votes. The decision was made to lease the land across from the St. ¡ Mary's County Poorhouse Farm," according to Bill Holley, "and the county paid one dollar a year for the 25-year lease on the fairgrounds.

After that first 25 year lease, the same grounds have been leased for 5 years at a time according to MaGuire Mattingly, Fair Board Treasurer. "We do a bit of lobbying with the County Commissioners," said Mattingly.

C. Davidson, owner of Cremona Farm,

20

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Stocks were sold for $10.00 per share and only a stockholder could vote.

Henderson, St. Mary's County Fair Board Member.

This stock is the property of Suzanne

"Buildings such as the barns, and the auditorium were built as a community effort by volunteers, in almost the same spirit as community 'barn-raising'," Mr. Holley related to us in an interview. Even now, all the fair buildings are run by volunteers--the people are there because they love what they do and they want others to see it, enjoy it, and share it.

Local businessmen help build the Smith building (now the flower building).

The building has been dedicated to Barnard J. Smith who donated all materials.

Henry Fowler, Sr. (L) , two identified workers (center), and Bascom Broun (Rt ) during the building of the Smith building donated and built by Barnard J. Smith (Suzanne Henderson's father).

The building is on the parking lot side of the street and is now the flower building.

22

"The first few buildings were the wooden ones such as the flower building and the agriculture buildings (the 3 that look alike)," said Elwood Cusic who was in on the volunteer work from the beginning of the fair.

"The big cattle barn was built for the first fair also."

Suzanne Henderson remembers that her "father built the flower building out of his own pocket and it was the first one to have a concrete floor, the first to have sheet rock, and it also had a storag e tank in the back of the building," says Henderson.

"The building was later dedicated to my father by the fair board--there is a plaque to that effect in the building."

World War II brought about strange arrang ements with the Andrews Air Force Base.

"The officers at Andrews Air Force Base were nervous that Washington, DC, might be bombed, so they wanted to rent an area where they could store supplies that could be used in case of such an emerg enc y ," said Suzanne Henderson who related to us in an interview that "the auditorium was rented for $2,000 a year and the supplies were only removed one week before the fair was to begin and returned one week after the Black Fair was done .

Back then we had two fairs.

Ours was held one week and the Black Fair was he l d a fter ours. After those two weeks, the supplies were put back."

"The 4-H clubs were always active in the count y fair as well as I can remember," said Elizabeth Russell, secretary to J ulius Johnson from 1941 to 1968 when he was a County Extension Agent. "Ethel Joy was the Count y Ex tension Agent for 4-H when it was first started in St. Mary 's County, and I believe that it was started in the 30's. Mostly they worked through the schools; then they started meeting in groups in homes as well as schools. I do believe 4-H participated in the very first fair at Camp Calvert in 1947," said Russell.

I ZAN!) STEYÂŁNS

r -.. . . . . . .......

Clockwise L. Bill Geiser, County Agriculture Agent after Julius Johnson, Mrs. Robert Stevens, son Danny Stevens (back), Mr. Robert Stevens, and center, Luther Wolf.

"Da nny Stevens was one of the most outstanding 4-H'ers since we have had 4-H in this county. He always won and worked very hard to win," said Elwood Cusic.

.

,

23

Some of the first fair buildings on the site where the office is now l ocated.

On the far left is the first bu ilding on the existing g r ounds according to Suzanne Henderson.

Lions Tex Ashenbeck (left), Ron Gr ay , and Sal Raspa man the main gate to the fairgrounds as Lions have done practically sin ce the fair opened in 1947.

The local Lions Clubs have vo l unt e er e d t o tak e turns selling tickets at the gate of the fair g rounds as far back as any one can remember.

The clubs decide among t h emselves who takes what day a nd then the members divide up the time so that no one has an unfair time schedule.

24