Maryland Main And The Eastern Shore

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Terrifying tales of the ghosts that roam the marshes, swamps, and waterways of the nine counties on Maryland’s eastern shore. They walk beside the murky waters of the Chesapeake Bay, linger among the fetid swamps and roam the manor halls. These are the tormented souls who refuse to leave the sites of their demise. From pitiless smugglers to reluctant brides, the ghostly figures of the Eastern Shore are at once terrifying and tragic. Mindie Burgoyne takes readers on a spine-tingling journey as she recounts the grisly events at the Cosden Murder Farm and the infamous legend of Patty Cannon. Tread the foggy lanes of Kent Manor Inn and linger among Revolutionary War dead to discover the otherworldly occupants of Maryland’s most haunted shore. Includes photos! “A compilation of tales of hauntings and mysteries in the Eastern Shore area . . .The response to the book was so overwhelming, Burgoyne began organizing bus tours that travel to the sites, allowing her fans to see firsthand the location of the hauntings.” —Cumberland Times-News

"A hundred years ain't such a very long time on the Eastern Shore," local farmers and watermen used to say, and that is a telling refrain. Past and present mix easily on the Shore, and, in this respect, as well as in certain local customs and habits of language, the region is very much still an old-fashioned English society. Until fairly recently, the peninsula was one of the most geographically isolated regions on the Atlantic coast. In this isolated society, the most important factors have been agriculture, seafaring, and race--a blend of soil, sea, and soul. In his attempt to convey the special character of the region--before accelerating change affects its transformation--John Wennersten has used these themes as a framework for an absorbing narrative. His insights into how these elements affected the development of the area and its current character take the story of the Eastern Shore beyond mere facts and into the realm of socio-cultural history. This is a fascinating overview of an unusual--and perhaps vanishing--lifestyle.

Upshur County, West Virginia was created in 1851 from Randolph, Barbour, and Lewis counties. Upshur's early history and the lives of its more prominent pioneers and nineteenth-century Native Sons are ably captured in this tripartite volume. Part I, a condensed history of the state prepared by Hu Maxwell, ranges over everything from the first explorations of the Blue Ridge, the French and Indian War, and the Revolution to West Virginia geography and geology, formation of the state, and the Civil War in West Virginia. In Part II, Mr. Cutright lays out the history of the county, with emphasis on the Indian Wars, religious life, geography, formation of the county and its political and governmental institutions, Upshur County and Upshur countians in the Civil War, as well as a whole host of miscellaneous topics, such as turnpike and railroad construction, newspapers, financial institutions, the birds of Upshur County, and much more. In the final third of the volume we find an alphabetically arranged series of over 600 biographical/genealogical sketches of Upshur countians (some of them illustrated), which range from several paragraphs to several pages in length. In the majority of cases the subjects, who were mostly born around mid-century, are identified by their year of birth, the name of one or more parents, and the names of their spouse(s) and children. In addition, we learn something of each subject's career, military service (if any), and his/her movements to and from Upshur County. In short, given the book's 607 densely packed pages of historical and genealogical detail, this is the starting point for Upshur County research.