This Month In Frederick County History

April

From John Ashbury's - '... and all our yesterdays'

April 4

On April 4, 1992, officials in the Town of Walkersville re-enacted the signing of the town's charter by Governor Frank Brown on the 100th anniversary of that action.

In the second year of President James Buchanan's term in office, the son of Francis Scott Key was murdered on the street in front of the White House.

Like his father, Francis, Philip Barton Key was the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Having just become a widower, Key was a dashing man about town when, at the Inaugural Ball for President Buchanan in 1857, New York Congressman Daniel Sickles introduced Key to his young wife Teresa.

During most of the next year, Key and Teresa Sickles developed a "close" relationship. Sickles was frequently busy with government business and Key escorted his wife to numerous social functions.

The pair became the talk of Washington, and when confronted by Sickles, Key denied everything.

Sickles accepted the disavowal. But Key had rented a large house at 383 15th Street, just two blocks from the Sickles residence on Lafayette Square, for his liaisons with Mrs. Sickles.

Sickles himself was finally convinced that indeed his wife was having an affair with Key. On February 27, 1859, the morning after Sickles forced Teresa to write a full confession, Key made the mistake of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As was his usual custom, he signaled Mrs. Sickles from across Lafayette Square with a white handkerchief. Sickles saw him and dashed out of the house with gun in hand.

"Key, you scoundrel," he yelled. "You have dishonored my bed - you must die." The first shot missed. The second struck home and Key fell into the street.

Sickles fired at least twice more, according to witnesses, and Key died.

On April 4, 1859, Sickles' trial for the murder began. However, the jury returned a not guilty verdict on April 26. Sickles was the first defendant in the history of American jurisprudence to use the temporary insanity plea.

Sickles later became a Civil War general and was wounded at Gettysburg. His presidential ambition, however, were dashed forever because of the indiscretions of his wife and his own violent temper.

April 11

On April 11, 1845, Louis Baughman, a Comptroller of Maryland, a leader in Democratic politics and editor of The Citizen, was born in Frederick.

Newspapermen seldom reach the pinnacle of their ambition, but Louis Victor Baughman, who was born in Frederick on April 11, 1845, came as close as any.

He was the son of the editor of The Citizen, one of Frederick's most influential newspapers for many years.

His father, John W. Baughman, purchased the paper in 1844, espousing the Southern cause. His newspaper was suppressed by the Union military and was even banned from the mail. He and his family were arrested and sent beyond Federal lines. He escaped to Richmond where he remained until after the war.

When he died in 1872, he left the newspaper to his three sons, William, Victor and Charles. Victor agreed with his father as to the righteousness of the Southern cause and when The Civil War broke out he immediately joined the Confederate Army and rose to the rank of general.

After the war, he went to New York to study law, but upon his father's death he returned to Frederick for good. Very early he became involved in Democratic politics and was elected State Comptroller in 1887 and served two terms in that post. He also was president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company for some years and also served as president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

In national politics he was quite popular and often entertained national figures at his home "Poplar Terrace," on Shookstown Road, just west of Baughman's Lane.

Perhaps one of his greatest assets as far as Frederick Countians were concerned was his insistence in every speech he made, no matter where it was, of the beauty, fertility, worth of its people and the sterling quality of the Democrats in Frederick County.

In his newspaper columns he sought civic improvement, including better country roads, the introduction of electricity into the county's almshouse, and public works to assist men in supporting their families. He raised thoroughbred horses and was quite an expert "four-in-hand driver."

He was married in 1881 to Helen Abell, the daughter of the founder of The Baltimore Sun. They had two children, Austin and Helen.

His death on November 30, 1906, a scant 18 months after he announced that he would be a candidate for Maryland governor in the next election, brought praise for his life from The Sun, which said: "Few men in Maryland were better known socially, both within and outside the state, and few men of his generation of Marylanders have been so cordially liked by so great a circle of political friends."

April 18

On April 18, 1964, William Delaplaine, president of The Great Southern Printing and Manufacturing Company, and publisher of The Frederick News-Post, died suddenly at his home at 273 Dill avenue. He was born January 22, 1891.

We all keep a special place in our thoughts for the person who gave us our first job in the profession we make our life's work. And so it is that William Delaplaine, Jr., often comes to mind.

He was born January 22, 1891, the son of the founder of Frederick’s first daily newspaper The News, William Delaplaine, Sr., who died in 1895.

In 1906 he graduated from Boys' High School and went on to get a degree from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. While there he received numerous academic honors and was elected president of the student government association.

Upon graduation, he immediately he went to work for The Great Southern Printing and Manufacturing Company, which published The News. His older brother Robert Edmondson Delaplaine ran the company.

When Bob died on August 15, 1955, he took over and instituted many innovations that remain a primary feature of the newspaper.

Just a year after he joined the Great Southern, competition for the only daily newspaper in the county surfaced. The Frederick Post began publishing in direct contention as an afternoon paper. Within three years, The Post switched to being a morning publication. But the competition was still fierce.

On February 1, 1916, The Great Southern bought The Frederick Post and combined operations. In 1917, The News bought The Post building on North Court Street and until September 30, 1968, when it moved to 200 East Patrick Street, the newspapers published from here.

"Mr. Will," as he was affectionately known throughout Frederick County, was also very interested in civic affairs. He was involved in numerous campaigns to raise funds for the Frederick City Hospital, The Y.M.C.A., and the two World War efforts. He was secretary and president of The Kiwanis Club of Frederick, and was a member of the Board of Trustees of Hood College.

In 1916 he married Janie Quynn. It was through his wife's family that he became interested in farming and fruit growing. As with his interest in newspapers, Mr. Will threw himself into this industry with great zeal and devoted his newspapers to the promotion of farming, a tradition that remains.

Mr. Will was quiet and soft-spoken. He presented an imposing figure, tall and slender. He possessed a warm smile and was equally friendly with all he chanced to meet.

When he died unexpectedly on April 18, 1964, Frederick lost an exemplary citizen. His brother, George Delaplaine, and his nephew George Delaplaine, Jr., took over the newspapers, enhancing the product into one of the best of the family-owned newspapers in the country. Mr. Will was buried in the Frederick Memorial Park Mausoleum after funeral services at All Saints Episcopal Church

His only son, William Delaplaine III, was killed during World War II in a flying accident. The airport terminal at Frederick Municipal Airport is named in his son's honor.

April 25

On April 25, 1971, Frederick City Police Private Landis Wolfe shot and killed Charles Brown after Brown attempted to shot him several times on the parking lot behind the first block of East Patrick Street.

It had been a routine shift for Wolfe in the early morning hours of April 25, 1971, when he was dispatched to the parking lot behind the first block of East Patrick Street.

Officers in a squad car had observed someone in that area going from door to door at the rear of businesses attempting to gain entry. Their observation point did not give them vehicular access to the area, so they called Wolfe on his walkie-talkie and asked him to "check it out."

Wolfe immediately spotted the man and informed headquarters that he was approaching the individual who was seated in a car. When he got to the car, he asked for identification and the man got out of the car, pulled a gun and stuck it in Wolfe's stomach, saying "You better back off."

The man - later identified as Brown, a Frederick native who was living at the time in Baltimore - then pulled the trigger. The old Smith and Wesson pistol misfired.

Brown continued to threaten Wolfe and pulled the trigger again. Again the weapon misfired. Brown pulled the trigger a third time as he backed away from the officer. He then began running toward East Patrick Street.

Wolfe ordered him to halt and Brown turned toward Wolfe and pulled the trigger for a fourth time. Wolfe then threw his walkie-talkie at Brown. Brown's gun then actually fired, but the bullet missed Wolfe.

The policeman pulled his service revolver and fired at the fleeing Brown. Wolfe told his superior officers later that he thought he had missed Brown because Brown kept running up an alley to Patrick Street.

A few minutes later other officers found Brown slumped against the entrance to a store on North Market Street, bleeding from a wound in his chest. The United Fire Company ambulance was called and took Brown to Frederick Memorial Hospital where he died following several hours of surgery.

The investigation of the incident revealed that at least three cars parked on the lot had been entered by Brown. Brown was, at the time of his death on parole from an arson conviction.