Newmantown - Derwood, Maryland - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

A small grouping of houses and outbuildings near this spot became a kinship-based community known as Newmantown. There were numerous post Civil-War African American communities in Montgomery County similar to Newmantown. There were also several Free Black communities in Montgomery County formed before the Civil, War. Mt Zion (3 miles to the east) where the Newmans went to church and school, was one of these early Free Black communities.

Newman Family
Albert and Mary (Burke) Newman moved from Virginia to Brookeville, Maryland in 1861 where they worked for a Mr. Holland. In 1879, Albert and Mary purchased part of a parcel called “Cook's Inheritance”, from William T. Poole. This was the western edge of the Magruder Farm Later known as the Bussard Farm), and was sold separately because of its poor quality of soil.

Albert and Mary supported themselves and their eight children by working for area farmers and selling their own farm produce. The Newman family attended Mt. Zion Methodist church and many members are buried in the church cemetery. The children all went to Mt. Zion school. Five of the Newman sons went to Ohio for a time to work in steel mills there, but none of them stayed there. Morton and Fenton returned to Newmantown, Wilbert settled in nearby Emory Grove, Charles lived in Laytonsville, and Robert ended up with a farm in Ithaca New York. Another son, Albert, or “Manny”, died in a streetcar accident in Philadelphia. One daughter, Laura Lancaster Kennedy, lived in Ohio, and the other daughter, Mary Webb lived on the Eastern Shore of Maryland until she was widowed and moved back to Newmantown with her four children.

Newman Property
There were three houses on the 39 acres comprising “Newmantown.” (1) The oldest was the house built by Albert and Mary after they purchased the land in 1879. (2) The second was the house built by Morton Newman after he married Agnes Palmer in 1885. Morton, known as “Epp”, was a skilled orchard and produce farmer and was very active in the Mt. Zion Methodist Church. (3) The third house was built by Fenton Newman who moved back to Newmantown in 1914 with his three children after his wife, Agnes Lynn, died in Ohio at the age of 28. He was known as a skilled carpenter and built an addition onto his mother's house as well as constructing his own.

The Newman property was purchased by the County in 1972 along with the Bussard Farm. The houses, barns, and outbuildings were no longer standing.

Group that erected the marker: Montgomery County Park Service URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 18400 Muncaster Rd, Derwood, MD 20855 Derwood, Maryland United States of America 20855

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Date Logged Log   07/04/2021 Searcher28 visited it