Page 30 - March 2024 Issue.indd

Congressmen from these connections were valuable ones
as he parlayed them into a seat in the
Caroline County Maryland House of Delegates in 1813,
followed by the first of two terms in the

by Chad Dean United States House of Representatives CRAFT/VENDOR
One day in February I woke up and in 1816. We would all benefit from
decided that I was going to write knowing more about his platform SHOW
my March article about the five beyond membership in the Democratic-
Congressmen who have called Caroline Republican Party, his voting record, his Come out to support your
County home. In chronological order by constituency, and more, but Culbreth local crafters and vendors!
terms served, they are Th omas Culbreth, was frequently absent from Congress Saturday, March 23 • 10-3
George Waggaman, Th omas Alexander due to ill health. He returned to Caroline

Smith, Thomas Alan Goldsborough, and County after two unremarkable terms, Federalsburg VFW Hall

William Oswald Mills. The United States but did wind up serving in several 2630 Veteran’s Drive, Federalsburg

Constitution does not require one be local capacities including Chief Judge Food will be available
named Thomas in order to represent the of the Orphans’ Court. With that said, Silent Auction Items

Eastern Shore district, but apparently Culbreth either enjoyed maintaining a All proceeds are donated to the VFW
it helps. low profile or needed lessons in self-
promotion. Not only is his specifi c birth
My plan is to give you a capsule look at site unconfirmed, modern researchers

the respective legislators, offering at least are not entirely sure where he was buried

something the five men are remembered in 1843, likely a secluded burial plot
for and what is or should be done to on a privately-owned farm property of land to his mother. Defi nitive details
publicly commemorate the career of outside of Greensboro, and he is the of his birth and upbringing are elusive,
each. only one of the five Caroline County but several sources say Waggaman
Congressmen to not have a surviving himself stuck around here long enough
Th omas Culbreth
portrait or picture. Hopefully this to pass the bar in this county before
If you have visited Harvest Ridge
column will reach the right people who joining the War of 1812. For years, it
Winery in the vicinity of Henderson, or
can help solve these mysteries. was believed that no Caroline resident
better yet, if you know what and where had participated in the 1815 Battle of
Mud Mill is, then you have participated George Waggaman New Orleans. In 2013, I confi rmed that
in phase one of the Th omas Culbreth There are at least two reasons why this Waggaman did and was so honored for

reality tour. Were you in Caroline entry stands out as special or diff erent. my find at the annual meeting of our
County at the time? Even with GPS, George Waggaman is the only one of county historical society. I have made
it is difficult to tell. So some historians the five to serve in the United States it a personal quest to find out more

regard his birthplace as Kent County, Senate, but he is also the only one to about him: where he may have lived
Delaware, while others place him here. represent a state other than Maryland. outside of modern-day Harmony, what
Regardless of the exact location of his Research indicates that his family moved his motivations were to fi ght alongside
childhood home, Culbreth gravitated to Dorchester County from Virginia by of Andrew Jackson in Louisiana yet
to the Maryland side of the state border. way of Somerset County and primarily represent the anti-Jackson faction later
He worked jobs in Greensboro and frequented circles there but was present known as the Whig Party in Congress
Denton early on as well as married into in the Grove area of Caroline during at starting in 1831, and other fun facts. I
the prominent Hardcastle family of least the 1780s, possibly due to a bequest continue to be curious to the extent that
Castle Hall in Goldsboro. Apparently

Thomas A. Smith George Waggaman Th omas Goldsborough William Oswald Mills

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