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William Edwin Muncaster

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William Edwin Muncaster

Birth	:	12 Jun 1839 Baltimore City, Maryland, USA
Death	:	4 Jan 1922 Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
Burial	:	Lakeside Cemetery, Decatur, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate	:	42.1130000, -85.9770000
Plot	:	Section C2, Lot 16, Site 2
Description	:	WILLIAM EDWIN MUNCASTER. By HIS SON, JOHN EDWIN MUNCASTER. The subject of this short sketch was born in Baltimore, Md., June 12th, 1839, and spent the early years of his life through teething and measles in that city. He then was sent to the home of his Grandmother Muncaster as he has told the Society in the sketches read by him at the Gatherings of the past. His Father, Edwin Magruder Muncaster, was born in Montgomery County Md., and lived on the farm of his father through most of his school days. He entered West Point, and was a classmate of Robert... Read More	WILLIAM EDWIN MUNCASTER. By HIS SON, JOHN EDWIN MUNCASTER. The subject of this short sketch was born in Baltimore, Md., June 12th, 1839, and spent the early years of his life through teething and measles in that city. He then was sent to the home of his Grandmother Muncaster as he has told the Society in the sketches read by him at the Gatherings of the past. His Father, Edwin Magruder Muncaster, was born in Montgomery County Md., and lived on the farm of his father through most of his school days. He entered West Point, and was a classmate of Robert Edward Lee, but after two years at the academy, he was compelled to resign on account of an affect ion of his eyes which forbade further studies. He returned to Montgomery County and after a few years married Rachel Robert son, also a native of the county. They moved to Baltimore city where he engaged in the dry goods business for a number of years. The failure of his wife's health was followed by a return to the country, where she owned the farm of about 700 acres at Flower Hill, and 350 acres at Milton. The return was in 1851. She died in 1859, and he remained alone at the old place till his death in 1880. He was the only grandfather I ever knew and he certainly was not fond of children. I remember him as an active old gentleman, who always rode horseback, and never had a riding horse. He 'spent alternate Sundays at Milton, the home of my father, and at Waveland, the home of his elder daughter Harriet, always bringing a little package of candy for the children, and staying till the clock struck four. When the last stroke was still ringing on the air he would be about out of the door, on his way home. The rooms at Flower Hill are only about twenty five feet square and in his time were heated with fire places, so there is not much wonder he felt crowded when the children got around him, so they did not surround him very much. William Edwin Muncaster has told all about his early days up to the end of his college days. On his return from Roanoke in 1859, Milton Farm, with enough slaves to work it was given him by his mother, and he became a farmer in 1860. He continued active control of the place until 1895, when he retired ostensibly to take life easy. About that time the heirs of John Willson Magruder lost the head of the family, Zadok Magruder, 4th, and he took charge of the estate, so had about as much to do as when managing his own farm. The emancipation soon cleaned out his free labor, and as Milton had been rented for many years, it had become a series of beautiful glades separated by tree lined gullies, and of the 350 acre s, only about 150 was under cultivation. The clearing up of this land, with labor no longer free was a task that would not be undertaken at the present time, but in about twenty years another hundred acres was added to the plow land but the boss's bank account still remained very low. During the war between the states, the place was raided by both Union and Confederates, all the horses being taken by both. My father followed Gen. Early, I think it was, after one raid and got back several worn-out plugs from something like forty miles away. With these he kept at work, and some of his tales of experiences were as laughable as any he has told to the Society. He was in Washington the night that Lincoln was shot and spent eight or nine hour s getting a pass to return home, as everyone was held in the town for a couple of days. Oct. fifteenth, 1867, he married Hannah Smith Magruder, daughter of John Willson Magruder, and Caroline Minerva Bradley, at "the Ridge", the old home of John Magruder, and Col. Zadok Magruder. There were three children born to them, Julia Bradley, who lived only eleven days, but long enough to get registered on the old family Bible as "Born Oct. 23rd, 1868, John Edwin, born September 29th, 1869, and Luther McCauley, born, February 4th, 1871. The latter died May 18th, 1917. William Edwin Muncaster, never held any place under either state or county government, and so far as I can remember, never went to a political meeting of any kind, though he was much in the public eye as a prominent citizen. As one member of the clan Politic said when some question affecting the district was being agitated, "We must look after William Muncaster, he controls more land than any man in the two districts." And he did. With the Magruder estate and his own, he more than doubled the acreage of any other taxpayer. He was a progressive farmer and always tried new things in a small way at first, making larger investments if he found them successful. He was a breeder of Jersey cattle of some prominence, and of Berkshire hogs, serving as vice president of the American Berkshire Association for many years. He was a large exhibitor at the County Fair from along in 1850, and was a member of the board of Directors from 1882 to 1892, serving as president of the Agricultural Society in 1886-87. He was instrumental in having a great many improvement s made to the grounds and buildings and gave personal supervision to most of them. He served as a director in the Savings Institution of Sandy Springs, a little bank which has the unique distinction of having over a million dollars in deposits, with the building situated in a town of not more than twenty houses. It is managed entirely by farmers, and pays depositors four percent always, and five percent about every five years. He was a director of the Mutual Insurance Company of Sandy Spring another farmer owned and managed institution, but he re signed from both institutions some months before his death, because he said he could not hear what was being said and was becoming a nuisance to the other members. His judgment of markets in his later years was almost in fallible, and the dealers to whom he sold farm produce used to say that they always made a quick sale of any crop he sold them as the price was sure to drop in a few days, when let to go. He was a staunch Presbyterian, and attended the church at Rockville for seventy years scarcely ever missing a Sunday. For many years the superintendent of the Sunday school, he held the position of treasurer of the church, and at his death was an elder, and member of the board of Trustees. His pastor, the reverend John Henderson, said, in his funeral sermon, "'Thou shall come to thy grave in full age, Like as a shock of grain cometh in its season.''' Job 5:26. This word of God seems appropriate to this memorial service for one who exemplified the dignity of farming, the fundamental calling of mankind. This harvesting of his earthly life-work brings into our possession for use and enjoyment many golden grains of life-nourishing power. Of these I can only barely mention three or four: 1st- Our friend's life yields us a Christian appreciation of one's forebears. He was a finely bred typical Christian Marylander. He drew his being from far reaching ancestral lines. He recognized the failings, shunned the faults, but greatly prized and honored the virtues of Maryland life under the old regime. As a mother hands down her heirlooms to her daughters, so in the graphic, graceful pen pictures of this cultured man we have things to cherish and admire. No one better than William Muncaster could take us to the spring heads of our country's life and dignity. No one with true sympathy and appreciation could pilot you to family homesteads; to seats of learning, from forgotten Tusculum to modern Rockville, and above all to the sites of ancient churches which have been the well springs of piety and of moral leadership in the county's life. 2nd-Appreciative of our debt to the past, grateful for our rich inheritance, William Muncaster was very practically progressive. Recall how helpfully he was at work in societies and organizations for promoting the business and social welfare of the county. You will notice in this week's paper his name among the regular contributors to the support of the benevolent work of the Social Service League. I note this because his progressive spirit was as systematic, painstaking, and persistent in altruistic forms of benevolences as it was in organizing business agencies. In the high tension of the late war years, William Muncaster gave an intelligent and self-denying support to the agencies for the relief of suffering. 3rd-The most positive and most helpful force in his life was his personal union to God in Christ and his loyal and devoted agency in the maintenance and spread of the Church of God. Here as elsewhere the cardinal characteristics of his life were exemplified. His careful, diligent attention to details, his steadfast attendance upon and participation in worship, his self- denying generosity, his self-control in co-operating with others, his courtesy and fine thoughtfulness of others, characterized him as a Christian Gentleman. Thy gentleness hath made a truly great soul!" No man in this Society was more energetic in securing members, and he would go to any amount of trouble to connect up lines of members, who were not quite sure, sometimes making several trips to the city of Washington, or to Rockville, to hunt over old records that no one else would think of. He was never of very robust health, and always had to take care not to overdo. In later years he was always independent of all help and always hitched up his own horse when going on his many trips even a couple of weeks before his death. Along in 1909 or 1910, he suffered a stroke of paralysis, which rendered him incapable of speech for a week or so and it was difficult for him to talk for a long time afterwards. He practically recovered all his faculties in a few months though, and while he always "kept his house in order" in expectation of another it never came. He died on January 4th. 1922, after an illness of only a few days, and was buried in Union Cemetery near Rockville, Md. William Edwin Muncaster, was the son of Edwin Magruder Muncaster, and Rachel Robertson, grandson of Zachariah Muncaster and Harriet Magruder, great grandson of Walter Magruder and Margaret Orme, great-great grandson of Nathaniel Magruder and Elizabeth, great-great-great grandson of Capt. Alexander Magruder and Ann Wade, great-great-great-great grandson of Samuel Magruder and Sarah Beall, great-great--great-great-great grandson of Alexander Magruder, the Emigrant. Or take the line of his mother, he was grandson of William Robertson and Harriet Cooke, great grandson of Nathan Cooke and Rachel Magruder, great-great grandson of Col. Zadok Magruder and Rachel Pottinger Bowie, great-great-great grandson of John Magruder and Susanna Smith, great-great-great-great grandson of Samuel Magruder and Sarah Beall, etc. YEARBOOK OF THE AMERICAN CLAN GREGOR SOCIETY 1922 pp 35-38

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is William Edwin Muncaster's memorial?
William Edwin Muncaster's memorial is located at: Lakeside Cemetery, Decatur, Van Buren County, USA.
When did William Edwin Muncaster death?
William Edwin Muncaster death on 4 Jan 1922 in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA
Where are the coordinates of the William Edwin Muncaster's memorial?
Latitude: 42.1130000
Longitude: -85.9770000

Family Members:

Parent

Spouse

Hannah Smith Magruder Muncaster

(1837 - 1913)

Siblings

Children

John Edwin Muncaster

(1869 - 1955)

Luther McCauley Muncaster

(1871 - 1917)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Lakeside Cemetery
Decatur, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1130000, -85.9770000

2. Luv Pet Cemetery
Decatur, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1131350, -85.9750070

3. Harrison Cemetery
Decatur, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1070000, -85.9610000

4. Hamilton Cemetery
Decatur, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1191063, -86.0511017

5. Cuddeback Cemetery
Paw Paw, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1753006, -85.9518967

6. Charleston Cemetery
Volinia, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0560989, -85.9274979

7. Anderson Cemetery
Decatur Township, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0764008, -85.8961029

8. Prospect Lake Cemetery
Lawrence, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1780000, -86.0210000

9. North Wayne Cemetery
Dowagiac, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0633000, -86.0692000

10. Crane Cemetery
Volinia, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0269012, -85.9747009

11. Chamberlin Cemetery
Lawton, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1349983, -85.8535995

12. Rose Hill Cemetery
Nicholsville, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0408325, -85.8947220

13. South Wayne Cemetery
Dowagiac, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0194440, -85.9963890

14. Wildey Cemetery
Paw Paw, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2216988, -85.9567032

15. Haight Cemetery
Marcellus, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0322142, -85.8761059

16. Goff Cemetery
Marcellus, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0268100, -85.8835300

17. Prospect Hill Cemetery
Paw Paw, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2019005, -85.8874969

18. White Cemetery
Dowagiac, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0054893, -86.0307617

19. Saint Marys Cemetery
Paw Paw, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2080994, -85.8852997

20. Gage Cemetery
Dowagiac, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0194440, -86.0791670

21. Oak Grove Cemetery
Lawton, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.1707993, -85.8339005

22. Lawrence Village Pioneer Cemetery
Lawrence, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2200000, -86.0540000

23. Allen Cemetery
Dowagiac, Cass County, USA
Coordinate: 42.0421860, -86.1181780

24. Saint Marks Episcopal Church Columbarium
Paw Paw, Van Buren County, USA
Coordinate: 42.2208060, -85.8863340