But more from our vantage point, and not from those who read it at the time…
This is from the September 3, 1862 edition of Hagerstown’s newspaper… 150 years ago today.
Now, I guess it seems more ironic because of 1) Hagerstown’s proximity to Sharpsburg/Antietam… and 2) the fact that, in just 14 days, the battle there was a key element in the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation. What seems even more ironic is the fact that the EP didn’t really impact Maryland… not directly. It did, however, influence the state to act on its own in passing legislation that emancipating slaves there, in 1864. No matter what some folks may say, yes, the EP did have an impact in the South… and in more ways than one.
Maryland’s decision is most unique. It was on their own. But you might say… a good number of those who were free and benefited from slavery went, in various degrees, kicking and screaming. After all, it hit where it hurt… in personal finances.
Was it the financial fear that many in the South had all along? Somebody pulling the carpet out under them, and thereby totally and completely tumbling their social and financial foundations?
You have a choice… fight to preserve the right of the institution (and the stability of the social order as you knew it) or, not being totally sold on the idea of secession, and more concerned that it was a sure and certain way to expedite slavery and Antebellum social order “going up the spout”, maintain the status quo with the Union, thereby… at the very least… giving those concerned, a little more time… maybe.
The study of slaveholding/slave culture Unionism in western Maryland is a must, I think, to better understand the same cultures south across the Potomac, but I digress.
Take some time to consider this ad, where it appeared, and the history of events to come.
Cenantua's Blog 
Janet
September 3, 2012
This reminds me of information I recently saw in the National Archives, relating to the end of slavery in D.C. Each story has an interesting twist. “The Addisons had fled the city three days earlier on April 13, fearing that President Abraham Lincoln and the federal government planned to forcibly deport them—along with all other ex-slaves—to Africa.” The article may be too long, but the link is given.
Spring 2010, Vol. 42, No. 1
Slavery and Emancipation in the Nation’s Capital:
Using Federal Records to Explore the Lives of African American Ancestors
On October 6, 1862, in the nation’s capital, two families appeared before a federally appointed board of commissioners that administered all business relating to the April 16 Emancipation Act that abolished slavery in the District of Columbia. Alice Addison, the head of a formerly enslaved African American family, was accompanied by her two adult daughters, Rachel and Mary Ann, along with Mary Ann’s three children, George, Alice, and James. The other family, their former white owners, was headed by Teresa Soffell, a widow. Her three sons, Richard, John, and James, and her two daughters, Mary and Ann Young, accompanied her. A mutual desire to officially register the Addison family’s new status as freed persons prompted their joint appearance. The Soffells hoped to gain the financial compensation promised by Congress to all former slaveholders in the District who had remained loyal to the Union; the Addisons simply desired the comfort and security of having an official record certifying their freedom.
The Soffells had missed the July 15, 1862, compensation deadline mandated under the terms of the April 16 act. The Soffells explained to the commissioners that they failed to petition by the deadline because the Addisons were no longer residing on their property at the time the act went into effect. The Addisons had fled the city three days earlier on April 13, fearing that President Abraham Lincoln and the federal government planned to forcibly deport them—along with all other ex-slaves—to Africa. The report noted that the Addisons had fled to their father’s residence (the father of the two adult daughters) who lived in Montgomery County, Maryland, and was a slave owned by a Harry Cook. The Addisons remained there until September 28, 1862, when they returned to Washington, D.C.
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/spring/dcslavery.html
Janet
September 3, 2012
Here is something interesting:
Correspondence of the New-York Times.
HAGERSTOWN, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 1862.
Capt. BYRNES, of the Pennsylvania Twenty-ninth, who is stationed here with a small force to guard the town, and who occupies the position of Provost Marshal, is busily engaged now in administering the oath of allegiance… and has promptly imprisoned these refusing to take the oath in the common jail…
There are are also a large number of escaped contrabands through the country here who ought to be turned to some more profitable account than prowling about the neighborhood, doing nothing.
http://www.nytimes.com/1862/08/11/news/western-maryland-enthusiastic-war-meeting-hagerstown-oath-allegiance.html