Last year I revisited one of brick walls, my 3rd GGF Joseph CUSHING (1790-1873). I also wrote a follow up to that ‘revisiting.’
Here are links to those blog posts

I have not given up on Joseph, and I found other sources to research.
One such resource is a book, Frederick County Militia in the War of 1812 by Sallie A. Mallick and F. Edward Wright. I was able to interlibrary loan this book just before libraries shut down due to Covid-19.
This book is ‘a record of approximately 3000 of those men of Frederick County, Maryland, who were called to serve in the defense of Maryland and Washington, D.C.’
It is quite extensive and gives some biographical information for some of the veterans like who they married, who their acquaintances were, and when the veteran died.
I reasoned that if my Joseph CUSHING is the same Joseph CUSHING who also went by Joseph ABRAM and ran away from a weaving apprenticeship in Frederick County in 1811, he might have served in the Frederick County Militia during the War of 1812. I do not know how his running away issue was resolved. Perhaps he came back and finished it. Perhaps he fled and never came back. Perhaps…a lot of things.
I was excited when this book arrived. You know that feeling when you imagine finding a significant fact, a key to unlocking a mystery. I love that feeling.
Unfortunately, that balloon of optimism was quickly deflated. There is no Cushing, Abram, or Abrams. Oh, well.

I thought the book might be helpful for other lines I am researching, though, so I made a list of those surnames that were in Frederick County at that time. Carroll County, which sits between Frederick and Baltimore Counties, had not yet been formed so this book also might include my lines from the western half of present-day Carroll County.
I made of list of the surnames and went to the index.
Surnames I found:
- Nichols/Nickles
- Baumgardner/Baumgartner
- Lambrecht/Lambright/Lampbright
- Franklin
- Meyer
- Rogers/Rodgers
Surnames I did not find:
- Heiser/Hiser/Hyser
- Cushing
- Abram/Abrams
- Smeig
I recorded the pages where the ‘found’ surnames appeared, and I will make photocopies before the book’s due date. Perhaps the information will be of use later. I want to get it while I have this book since I might never see it again.
I have other books to request through interlibrary loan:
- The Jacob Engelbrecht Marriage Ledger for 1820-1890
- Jacob Engelbrecht’s diary from 1818-1878
- And a few others
So now I will go back to that excited anticipation of what nugget of information might be found in one of those books. And I will write about Joseph again once I am able to secure the next interlibrary loan.
What brick walls are you struggling with? Please tell in a comment.
Copyright © 2020 Nancy H. Vest All Rights Reserved
Another great article Nancy.
I had my fingers crossed as I read it but unfortunately your search continues.
I would love a snapshot of the pages with names :
Nichols/Nickles
Baumgardner/Baumgartner
~ Mary
I will get those to you, Mary. 🙂