The Etna Glass works at the Tuskarora Creek 4 miles north of Frederickstown Maryland 1752

[Steve/sewell]

Matt a.k.a. Guntherhess a.k.a. AntiqueMeds has sent me a beautiful large piece of a window glass shard and an accompanying smaller piece from his Colonial home in Frederick Maryland along with a glass book on English and Irish cut glass.Thank you Matt your generosity is most appreciated .I have a good idea as to where exactly Matt's Home is and he is only a short distance form Maryland's first glass works the Etna Glass Works. I also have a very strong suspicion that the glass he sent me was made here at the Etna glass works.Window glass was difficult to import into mountainous hilly and rough terrain and this area Matt lives in is all of the above.The color is American colonial yellow green seen often at all of the other colonial glass works in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The abundance of naturally occurring silica along with all of the other necessary ingredients to manufacture glass were all located quite locally to the glass works. The works themselves were located just North of present day Saint Johns Regional High School at the North Western side of the intersection of Opposumtown pike and Willowbrooke Road. Matt's Home looks to be about a two and a half miles in Driving distance from this site .There has been one archaeological dig at the site and a long foundation wall of the glass works was exposed along with large amounts of glass shards of green, and black and numerous amounts of window glass and bottles fragments. Matt can you tell me if the side of the road the glass works were located on has been developed like it is across the street.The Farm property may still be called the Stup-Staley farm. Matt from all of the research I have done the glass works look to be where I have it marked on the picture below according to tax records in Frederick. If you know differently could you please correct this map showing a more precise area as to where the works were located.

 

[Steve/sewell]

The earliest glassmaker whose records have been found in the Frederick Town area were Jacob Frederick Dannwolf, a master gaffer. Peter Engel,would later work as a glass cutter. The presence of just two glass artisans suggests that theirs may have been a small, village-type window glass industry requiring only one glassblower, a cutter to maker window lights from the large disk of glass and as many as 10 more helpers to cut and fetch wood which was needed on a constant basis. Frederick Town's steady growth certainly would have provided a market for window glass. The fact that John Shellman had glass window lights in his house in 1759 is very indicative that glass was available locally.

Jacob Frederick Dannwolf acquired an East Patrick Street lot across from Shellman's house, in 1762, but he was a tenant for many years before receiving a deed. It is interesting that Dannwolf's lot was one of the few owned by Walter Dulany in Frederick Town. Could Walter, an Annapolis merchant, have recruited Jacob Fredrichk Dannwolf and PeterEngels the two glassworkers on a profit sharing arrangement similar to Wistar's? (In 1764, Peter Engels Sr. acquired lot #100 for one penny from Daniel Delaney. The low amount suggests Peter did have a business relationship with Delaney.) This may be the explanation for Dannwolf and Engel coming into the Maryland back country. There is, however, another possibility to be considered.

The bottles of Monocacy ale in the 1753 inventory of Daniel Dulany, the immigrant would be significant if their origin could, be traced to this glasshouse. Where else would a better source of ale bottles be obtained from then a glass works located then in the Monoacy's own back yard.According to local history, colored bottles and bottle fragments were found on the site in the late years of the nineteenth century. There is growing evidence, however, that these were blown as early as 1753.
Entries in Joseph Doll's ledger, beginning December, 1771, (Joseph Doll was a famous furniture maker in Frederick and a Captain in the War.) indicate that the glasshouse was part of a small industrial complex that included a sawmill, a charcoal pit and coal house, a malt hill, and a brewery. Though Doll had no bookkeeping or management responsibilities for the glasshouse, his records of the other industries and the farm have provided information relating to the Tuscarora glasshouse in the 1770's.

The Varle Map of 1782 shows an "Old glass-works" named Etna along Tuskacora Creek about three miles north of Frederick Town. Archaeological testing at the Tuskacora site reveals a dry-laid limestone foundation that suggests a long, narrow building, possibly part of an early glass works. In addition to the foundation, archaeologists discovered a high density of glass fragments, slag, glazed brick, and limestone slabs. The excavation site was part of "Tasker's Chance" that Benjamin Tasker transferred to Daniel Dulany, the immigrant, in 1744. The tenant on the land at the time of transfer was John Conrad Keller. Little is known of Conrad Keller who was consistently recorded as a farmer in Frederick County land records. Though he bought several other tracts of land during his lifetime, Keller never owned the glasshouse land on which he lived. The Dulany family held that tract from 1744 until it was seized in the confiscation proceedings during the American Revolution.Below is the Varle map from 1782.

 

[Steve/sewell]

Why did three generations of Dulanys retain ownership of a relatively small piece of Tuscarora land while they were actively promoting the sale of their western Maryland land holdings? The only reasonable explanation seems to be an industry on the Tuscarora land that had proven to be a good investment. Given the Dulany involvement in the Baltimore Iron Works and the local partnership between Daniel Dulany, the immigrant, and Major John Bradford for locating and surveying unclaimed western land, the possibility of a glasshouse partnership cannot be overlooked as an inducement for Dannwolf and Engel to come into the Frederick Town area.Jacob Frederick Dannwolf died of convulsions in 1771, at the age of forty-three. Many glassblowers died at an earlier age more so than the general population due to the rigors of blowing glass. Convulsions and strokes were common causes of death.


In the Spring of 1754, Johann Peter Engels Sr, brother Peter Sr and sister Maria Catherina Dellenbach with their children departed for America. They arrived in Philadelphia in the Fall of 1754. Johann Peter Sr. and the Dellenbachs were aboard the ship Barclay.Conrad Keller (the son of Hans Heinrich, and Grandson of Conrad 1st) was born March 14, 1705 in Basserdorf, Zurich, Switzerland, and died in Maryland. He married Barbara Glaar July 20, 1728 in Wallisellen, Zurich, Switzerland. She was born 1703 in Switzerland, and died in Maryland.On April 23rd 1753 Zura a parcel of 208 acres of land adjoining john Biggs Good Luck on the West side of the Monacasy River was surveyed for Conrad KellerIn 1766 Conrad Keller was still alive as he conveyed Zora to which he lived on and the 50 acre tract Keepsburgh to his son Adam.These lands were located to the west of the Monacasy River and to the East of Fising Creek near today's Utica.


Daniel Dulany (1685-1753) embodies the success that could be earned by early immigrants to Colonial Maryland. He came to Maryland unsure of his future, yet managed to accumulate wealth and property that established him within the elite society of Annapolis. Arriving in Port Tobacco, Maryland in 1703 with his older brothers, William and Joseph, Daniel Dulany was indentured to George Plater II (1664-1709) for a term of three years. Dulany (which he spelled “Delany†until he turned twenty-five) had attended Trinity College in his native Ireland until his father’s wealth declined, and the son was forced to leave school. Under the tutelage of Plater, a highly–respected lawyer in Charles County, Dulany served as a clerk until the end of the indenture. He was admitted to the bar of Charles County in 1709, and then that of Prince George’s County in 1710. Seeking more education, Dulany entered Gray’s Inn, a prominent law school in London, and then returned to Maryland. He would go on to serve in the roles of vestryman, alderman, recorder of Annapolis, clerk of the lower house and attorney general.

Having established himself as a leading lawyer of Annapolis, Daniel Dulany became an equally gifted businessman. Along with several prominent men of the time, Dulany invested in the Baltimore Company (also referred to as the Baltimore Iron Works) in 1731. It was an immensely profitable venture into the production and exportation of pig iron and bar.Within this time of political turbulence, Dulany stood at the forefront of the debate. A growing anti-proprietary sentiment resurfaced in the 1720’s regarding Lord Baltimore’s use of intricate and expensive fee collections. Feeling that the Maryland legislature should have authority to establish laws for its citizens in accordance with British laws, Dulany wrote the pamphlet, “The right of thr [sic] inhabitants of Maryland, to thr [sic] benefits of the English laws.†Lord Baltimore was able to staunch the opposition in 1732 when he visited the colony, in part because he offered Dulany the lucrative post of Agent and Receiver of the Proprietary.

Dulany was also able to use his wealth to accumulate land-holdings. In 1721, he partnered with John Bradford, a Prince George’s county planter, to purchase 2000 acres of land up the Potomac River in what was referred to as the Piedmont frontier. Later, in 1744, he acquired 20,000 acres in the Monocacy River and Antietam valley area. Knowing that Maryland’s future stability and safety counted on the further settling of all of its lands (and thus raise the value of his property), Dulany offered new immigrants (principally German farmers) plots of 100 to 300 acres at very low prices. In 1745, under an agreement with Lord Baltimore, Dulany gained sub-feudal authority to establish a town and offer rents. This town was called Frederick Town in honor of the Lord Baltimore’s son. Frederick County would we established in 1748. By 1750, Dulany’s town had prospered and grown to be the largest town in Maryland. Upon his death in 1753, Dulany owned over 47,000 acres of land, 40,000 of which was in Frederick County.Beginning modestly as an indentured servant, Daniel Dulany gained prominence as a lawyer, statesman, businessman and land-developer.On the picture below the two colonial era Maryland glass works Etna and Amelungs are shown.

 

[Steve/sewell]

Here is the large the shard Matt sent me.It is 8 inches by 4 inches roughly in size.Bottle glass green loaded with imperfections but actually quite even in thickness. I was pretty much dusk outside when I opened the package so the pictures outside are not the best. I will take better pictures on the first sunny day available.

 

[Steve/sewell]

2. On this piece you can see the bubbles and other marks left in the glass from the flattening table and paddles.

 

[Steve/sewell]

3 This picture shows how green the glass was.

 

[Steve/sewell]

Matt thank you again, I would love to come see this site. I wonder if the owner is approachable and would let us dig there for a couple of days. I look forward to your response.

 

[AntiqueMeds]

I guess my packing method didnt pass the USPS test[]

I think your location is correct (that's where I figured it was anyway).
Its maybe 1/4-1/2 mile from my house as the crow flies.
They havent dug up that particular area but they keep getting closer each year.
I've been to both ends of Opossumtown Road and I have no idea where Opossumtown is, maybe people got embassed and chaged the name?

 

[AntiqueMeds]

That house in front of the site on Willowbrook is really odd looking. I get the feeling it was a very early farm. It has an early bank barn but the house must of burnt down at one time and they tried to rebuild it an make it look old. But it looks like a 'new' old house if you know what I mean.

 

[Wheelah23]

Great history as usual, Steve! Matt, it must be cool living in such a historic house. Even cooler to have somebody like Steve be able to tell you about the windows... []