Existing comment:
Children Growing Up in Montgomery County
1861-1865
Mothers and fathers alike sought to ensure that their sons and daughters had continual access to education between 1861 and 1865. At the height of the Civil War, public primary schools in Montgomery County were closed due to deficient state funding. Advertisements in local newspaper highlighted the constant presence, however, of private academies, such as Fair Hill and Stanmore in Sandy Spring, for residents with means to afford such instruction. Some parents chose to keep their children closer to home and hired private tutors. Until 1872, schools excluded black children.
When school did commence, discussion of the war captivated the classroom. Virginian Maria Troth attended Fair Hill School and recorded in her diary the day she learned of General Stonewall Jackson's death. The news disturbed many of the pupils, who, like Maria, were from Virginia. Scholars at Fair Hill were divided by regional loyalties, and the tension between students ran so high that the Quaker school forbade any discussion of the rebellion during class hours.
"Clashing loyalties also filled homes. Brookeville native Miss Rebecca Davis felt loyalty to the Rebel cause, while her father was a committed Unionist, and her mother remained neutral. Rebecca felt no shame in her convictions: "Sister and I do not make our appearance when Yanks are in the house, entertaining no sympathy for them."
-- Rebecca Davis Diary, 25 July 1863, Maryland Historical Society |