Perry Hall in the Early Nineteenth Century
by David Marks
Historian, Perry Hall Improvement Association
When the Nineteenth Century opened, Perry Hall was a community of stark diversity. As
travelers approached the region, they immediately saw Perry Hall Mansion, a commanding
home perched atop the community's highest hill. The mansion's proprietor was Harry Dorsey
Gough, wealthiest landowner in the county, according to 1783 land records. Gough was the
region's most prominent citizen, owning 1,000 acres of land in the eastern part of the
community.
At the edge of the Gough property, along the banks of the Gunpowder River, a small
settlement was taking slowly taking shape. This was "the other" Perry Hall,
where poor woodcutters supplied fuel for nearby furnaces, forges, and mills. There was a
strong Methodist presence, with parishioners gathering at outdoor "camp
meetings" near Cowenton avenue and Joppa Road. Records seem to indicate that there
was amity between the wealthy Gough family and its more humble neighbors. Gough helped the
village build its first permanent church, Camp Chapel, in 1812.
Harry Dorsey Gough's kindness was well-known. Francis Asbury, the first Methodist
bishop in America, wrote that Gough "indulged his taste for gardening and the
expensive embellishment of his country seat, Perry Hall, which was always hospitably open
to visitors, particularly those who feared God." Asbury was with Gough when he died
in 1808. Gough's body was buried about five hundred feet southeast of the house, near the
family's spring. The estate was inherited by Harry Dorsey Gough Carroll, and it remained
in the Carroll family until 1875, when it was sold and divided into small farms and lots.
It was in the Nineteenth Century that the great influx of immigrants into northeastern
Baltimore County began. In 1852, William Meredith bought 900 acres of the Perry Hall
estate from the Gough family. He sold the land to German and Irish immigrant families who
established smaller farms and nurseries. This was "Germantown," named for the
industrious immigrants who cultivated the remains of the Gough estate. The village was
centered at the intersection of Forge and Belair Roads. Interestingly, the 1877 atlas of
Baltimore County identifies our community only as "Germantown," although that
name has since faded from use. Today, Germantown has merged into the greater Perry Hall
community, and its founding families are known as Perry Hall's eldest citizens--people
like the Butts, Klausmeiers, Dietzs, Ryes, Hubers, and Kahls.
We know that slavery certainly existed in Perry Hall. Francis Guy traveled throughout
Maryland in the early Nineteenth Century, painting scenes of plantation life throughout
the slaver-holding state. One of his paintings, completed in 1805, is titled "Perry
Hall Slave Quarters, with Field Hands at Work." The portrait descended in the family
of a freed Perry Hall slave, and it is now maintained by the Maryland Historical Society.
By the middle of the Nineteenth Century, the region now known as Perry Hall had evolved
into a country village. Belair Road, once Harry Dorsey Gough's private route into the town
of Baltimore, had become a major turnpike, connecting the city with Kingsville, Upper
Falls, and points north. At the intersection of Joppa and Belair Roads, the county
established a tollgate. Settlement was concentrated, however, in the area between Forge
and Chapel Roads. Again, this community was generally known as "Germantown," not
"Perry Hall."
Baltimore County's 1877 atlas describes a growing town. Camp Chapel was no longer the
exclusive church in the area, nor was Methodism the defining religion. St. Joseph's
Catholic Church had been organized in 1850, St. Michael's Lutheran Church started in 1859,
and a second Methodist congregation, Perry Hall United Methodist Church, had first met in
1860. There were numerous inns, blacksmith shops, and taverns in the area. The village
even had a jail, which had been built in 1775 off Perry Hall Road.
By the 1870 census, the community had a population of 500, one of the largest in
Baltimore County. This masked the fact, though, that its only businesses were blacksmith
shops, wheelwright barns, and a general store. Although the county itself had 63,142
residents, they were scattered among large farms with unimproved acreage. The communities
of Essex, Arbutus, and Woodlawn were nonexistent, and the entire stretch of York Road
contained only 300 residents. In their "History of Baltimore County," Neal A.
Brooks and Eric G. Rockel note that the county's "sleepy, quiet atmosphere made every
day seem like Sunday."
Despite a wave of immigration and a spurt of growth, Perry Hall epitomized the solitude
and country beauty of rural Baltimore County. This was the ironic scene as the community
braced for the horror and bloodshed of the Civil War.
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