CHAPTER XII
 

^N 1820 a petition was presented to the Leg-
B islature to have the elections in the sec-
^ ond election district held in Williams¬
port. That had been the place of hold¬
ing elections in that district when the County
was first divided into five election districts.
But in 1801 an Aet of Assembly was passed
appointing a commission composed of William
Heyser, Henry Ankeney and Frisby Tilghman
to make alterations in the lines of some of the
districts. Among the changes made by this com-
misson was the removal of the polls of the second
district from Williamsport to Langley's Tavern.
In 1820 the Senate passed an Act authorizing the
elections to be held at Williamsport and creating
an additional polling place at Boonsboro. This
bill the House of Delegates rejected. Instead of
this a bill was passed by both houses dividing the
County into seven election districts and fixing Wil¬
liamsport as the polling place for No. 2, Boons¬
boro for No. 6 and Cavetown for No. 7. This Act
took efl'ect in 1821. Under its authority the Levy
Court in 1822 appointed John Blackford, Daniel
Rench, Daniel Schnebly, John Bowles, William
Yates, Henry Locher and William Gabby to lay
out the districts. This commission met at the
Court House and organized in May 1822. This
was a time of great activity in building churches
and in religious matters generally. In October
1820 the General Synod of the Evangelical Luth¬
eran Church of the United States assembled in
Hagerstown. Christmas 1819 a number of citi¬
zens met in St. Paul's Church, Sharpsburg, and
formed the Episcopal Society for the promotion of
Christian   knowledge.    Isaac   S.   White   was   the
 

President, and Samuel Knode, secretary. A Ger¬
man Lutheran Church at Williamsport was con¬
secrated July 30, 1820. Addresses were made in
the German and English languages. On the 27th
of May, 1822, the corner stone of a Lutheran
Church was laid in Smithsburg. The sermons
upon this occasion also were in two languages.
A few weeks later, on May 27, the corner stone of
what is now known as Salem Reformed Church,
at Fisher's, three miles from Hagerstown, was
laid. This church was consecrated June 8, 1823.
Beginning in 1825 for several years there was an
earnest endeavor to have the Theological Seminary
of the Lutheran Church established in Hagerstown.
Citizens of Boonsborough also urged that it be
placed in that healthful and beautiful place. May
12, 1827, the Methodist Church in Hagerstown was
dedicated with imposing ceremonies in the pres¬
ence of large congregations. Sermons were
preached by Bishops Soule and M'Kendree. Not
long before this the Presbyterians had erected the
church on South Potomac street which after the
beautiful stone church at the corner of Washington
and Prospect streets was built, was sold to a con¬
gregation of the Christian Church which now
possesses it. The new Episcopal Church had just
l3een completed and the Catholic congregation
were engaged in building what was then the lar¬
gest church in the town. In August 8, 1827,tlie
corner stone of the German Reformed Church in
Cavetown was laid. This building was in the
charge of a committee composed of Jacob Lambert,
Daniel Hewett, Henry Lyday, George Cauliflower
and William Kreps.

The census of 1820 showed that Hagerstown