How
Firm a Foundation Harold
C. Craig
The house numbered
101-103-105 West Main Street is one of the oldest in
Emmitsburg. Its title is easy to trace because there
have been so few owners. By purchase from the Indians
and grant from the King of England, the Calverts, Lords
Baltimore, and Proprietaries of Maryland obtained title
to virtually the whole state. The then Lord Baltimore
granted Charles Carroll of Annapolis 10,000 acres in the
northern part of Frederick County.
Carroll’s heirs sold over 2,000 acres of this tract
to Samuel Emmitt. His son, William Emmitt, sold Lot 23
to James Agnew in 1786. Agnew sold it in 1796 to Jacob
von Huber, who then sold it to Lewis Motter. His son,
Lewis Martin Motter inherited the property, which his
heirs sold to George Gillelan, ca. 1910. The property
remained in that family until sold by the Estate of Ruth
Gillellan to Harold C. Craig, Jr. in 1967.
So far as it is known, neither the Indians, the
Calverts, the Carrolls, nor the Emmitts did anything to
improve the property. The deed to James Agnew, however,
required that he build within one year or forfeit the
property. This provision and the Georgian woodwork
suggest that James Agnew built by 1787 the first framed
section of the house, which is next to School Lane. This
section is three bays wide, having a side hall, living
room, kitchen, and three bedrooms. The front door is in
this section.
The Federal woodwork in the adjacent four rooms
suggests that this section, also framed and three bays
wide, was built by Lewis Motter, who came to Emmitsburg
from York, Pa. in 1797. Behind this section is a brick
addition, originally of six rooms, and a two-story side
porch. The transitional and Greek Revival woodwork in
this section suggest that it was built ca. 1830 by Lewis
Motter. This section also has a kitchen.
Next to the first six bays on Main Street, Lewis
Martin Motter built a framed addition in 1858, which is
two bays wide. It has a front door, living room,
kitchen, two bedrooms, and a two-story back porch.
Over the years there have been many alterations,
mainly on the outside. The Town raised the grade,
covering the steps to the basement at 101 and 103, as
well as the stone foundation. The Gillelans covered the
beaded weatherboards with now removed cement shingles,
replaced most of the windows at 101 and 103, and
enclosed the side porches. They or the Motters replaced
the wood-shingle roof with a Standing seam metal roof.
As the present owner, I am having the stone
foundation raised, the sagging walls jacked up, the
beaded weatherboards repaired or replaced, the cornice
repaired, and the original style of window reinstalled
in front. Because none of the three front doors was
original or in good repair, the owner has had the door
inserted by the Gillelans at 101 replaced with a window;
the Motters’ Victorian doorway at 103 replaced by one
from the Wormans Mill House, ca. 1828; and the doorway
at 105 replaced with a Colonial Revival doorway. The
doorway to the side porch is in the Greek Revival style,
signed by David L. Markey and dated 1838, and came from
a house near Walkersville.
After the repairs are completed the house should last
another 200 years. When my time comes, I may, like Isaac
Motter, Carrie Gillelan, and others. now deceased,
decide to stay!
Read other stories by
Harold Craig Have your own stories of Homes in Emmitsburg?
If so, e-mail them to us at history@emmitsburg.net
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