Notes:
1960 Census, MD, Washington Co., Sharpsburg, 31 August
Samuel Mumma, 58, farmer, $11,000 $1400 personal b: MD
Elizabeth " , 44, b. MD
Daniel " , 24, farm hand, b: MD
Barbary " , 22, b: MD
Samuel " , 21, b: MD <================= Samuel Jr.
Elizabeth " , 19, b: MD
Anna " , 16, b: MD
William " , 13, b: MD
Taylor " , 11, b: MD
Alice " , 9, b: MD
Clinton " , 7, b: MD
Cora " , 1, b: MD
1870 Census MD, Washington Co., election Dist #1, Sharpsburg PO
Mumma, Samuel, Jr., 31, farmer, $1200 personal, b: MD
" , Fannie, 24, keeping house, b: MD
" , Wilmer, 2, b: MD
" , Julia, 2/12, at home, b: MD in Sept
Mungan, Margaret, 21, domestic servant, b: MD
1880 Census, MD, Washington Co., Sharpsburg Dist. p. 17
Mumma, Samuel, 41, farmer, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Fannie, wife, keeping house, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Wilmer, 12, son, at home, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Julia K., 10, dau, at home, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Carrie I, 8, dau, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Helen, 7, dau, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Bertha, 6, dau, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Nannie, 4, dau, b: b: MD/MD/MD
" , Victor, 1, son, b: MD/MD/MD
1900 Census, MD, Washington Co., Election Dist #1, Sharpsburg, p. 12, 16 June
Mumma, Samuel, head, Aug 1838, 61, b: MD/MD/MD, retired
" , Helen, dau, Apr 1873, 26, single, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Carrie, dau, June 1872, 28, single, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Bertha, dau, Jan 1875, 25, single, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Nannie, dau, May 1877, 23, single, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Victor, son, May 1878, 22, single, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Francis, dau, Dec 1893, 16, single, b: MD/MD/MD (Transcribed as Tomasz)
1910 Census, MD, Washington Co., Sharpsburg Town, Main Street, ED 122, p. 14 [Surname transcribed as MAMMA]
Mumma, Samuel, head, 71, widowed, b: MD/MD/MD, no occupation
" , Carrie I., dau, 38 single, b: MD/MD/MD, millinder, store
" , Hellen E, dau, 36, single, b: MD/MD/MD, house keeper, home
" , Bertha A, dau, 35, single, b: MD/MD/MD, teacher public school
" , Nancy L., dau, 33, single, b: MD/MD/MD, teacher public school
" , Frances K., dau, 26, single, b: MD/MD/MD, teacher public school
1920 Census, MD, Washington Co., Sharpsburg Dist ED 1, Main Street, Sharpsburg town, P. 188
Mumma, Samuel, head, owns, 81, widowed, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Carrie I., dau, 48 single, b: MD/MD/MD, miliner, wholesale
" , Hellen E, dau, 46, single, b: MD/MD/MD
" , Bertha A, dau, 44, single, b: MD/MD/MD, teacher public school
" , Nancy L., dau, 42, single, b: MD/MD/MD, Clerk, ???
-------------------
LAND RECORDS
WMcK K #6 Folio 30 October 7, 1873
Michael Miller and others by land of 114 4/10 square perch of land called Mumma's Graveyard or Burial Ground.
Samuel Mumma and wife Elizabeth Mumma do grant to Michael Miller, Jacob F. Miller, Elizabeth Middlekauff, John Ecker, Sarah Sherrick, Henry F. Neikirk, William Roulette, Henry B. Rohrback, Nathaniel Mumma, Joshua Wyand, Samuel Avey, Susan Kennedy, Benjamin F. Miller, Nancy Miller, David F. Otto, Thomas S. Fisher, Martha Schlosser, Jacob Miller, Abraham Corbitt, Jacob Highbarger and their heirs upon all funeral occasions for the burial of their dead the free use of a private road to and from the lot therein conveyed.
----------------------------
AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS UNLOCK THE MYSTERY
By Wilmer M. Mumma
----------------------------
Hagerstown Herald - Dateline: September 24, 1862
"Destruction of property ......... Among the heaviest
sufferers of Washington County is Samuel Mumma, Esq., whose
house and barn were burned, together with all their contents.
They were between the fire of the two armies.
We learned that Mr. Mumma lost all his household furniture,
including the wardrobe of his family, all his grain, hay and
farming implements. ...........
----------------------------
The Postmastership in those days was a political plum. Being on
the right side of the 'political fence', Samuel Mumma, Jr. (the
grandfather of this writer) was in the right position at the
right time. It was in March of 1906 when a letter arrived
addressed to the Postmaster, Sharpsburg, Maryland. It read as
follows:
New Bern, N. C.
March 19, 1906
Postmaster
Sharpsburg,, Md.
Dear Sir:
Please be so kind as to give me the correct name of the man
who owned or lived in the brick house that was burned at the
Battle of Antietam or Battle of Sharpsburg, being called by both
names.
I belonged to the 3rd North Carolina infantry, Colonel
William L. Derassette, Ripley's Brigade, D. H. Hill's Division.
This house stood immediately in our front as the battle was
being commenced and at times was in the enemy's lines. General
Ripley, to prevent its occupation by sharpshooters and protect
his officers from being picked off, ordered it burned. A
volunteer call was made as to who would go and do it. Five or six
privates from Company A volunteered and I took charge of them,
being at that time, Sergeant Major of the Regiment. After firing
the house we all got back to our lines, myself being the only one
hurt. Ripley ordered me to carry orders down to his line to 44th
and 48th Georgia Regiments to come up and take a rail fence in
their front. He was shot soon after I left him. I carried the
orders down to the Georgia troops and being weak from the loss of
blood, went off the field by an old Church and on to our
hospital. Then a women, young and beautiful and blackhaired,
helped to bandage my arm.
I have often wondered if she was any of the family and where they
went when caught between the lines of battle.
I wish to write up the particulars of the event truthfully and
there are some particulars about the family I would like to have.
On the next campaign, Gettysburg, by the command to which I
belonged, we assisted to capture General Milroy at Winchester,
Virginia, and I had to lay up for repairs and did not get any
further.
My brother, now deceased, said that he saw the old gentleman, or
thought he talked with the owner of the house burned, and said
that he hoped the next time they fought, they would get out of
his cornfields, as he gathered no corn or crops that year.
Hoping to hear from you with a line of particulars, as to where
the family went that morning September 17th, 1862, I am,
Yours respectfully and truly,
James F. Clark,
Late Sergeant Major
3rd North Carolina Regiment
----------------------------
[Although Samuel Mumma, Jr. was a Union sympathizer and his
family had lost everything at the hands of Sergeant Clark, he was
not one to bear a grudge. In fact, he was rather pleased to hear
just what exactly happened. Samuel, Jr. not being much of a
scribe, his daughter, Bertha Alice, did the writing as he
dictated the following:]
Sharpsburg, Maryland
March 22, 1906
Mr. James F. Clark
New Bern, N. C.
Dear Sir:
In reply to your letter of March 19th asking for some
information concerning the burning of the brick house on
September 17th, 1862, I will say that the house referred to was
owned by my father, Samuel Mumma, Sr.
The house, a large brick colonial one, near the Dunkard
Church, was burned at the Battle of Antietam.
My father was told that the family had better get away, so
we left on Monday afternoon the 15th, took nothing with us as
they were cannonading then and we were afraid that there would be
a battle at once. Some clothing was gotten together and the
silverware was packed in a basket ready to take, but in our haste
to get away, all was left behind.
Father and mother and the younger children left in the two-
horse carry-all (the older children walking as there was a large
family) going about 4 miles and then we camped in a large church
called the Manor Church, where many others also congregated.
On Tuesday evening a friend and I came back to the house,
thinking to get some clothing but found that everything of value
had been taken. I then started foe Sharpsburg and at the ridge on
the field above our house, where the line had formed, General D.
H. Hill and some other officers had me brought to them, and
questioned me as to whether I was a member of that family. They
then asked me about different roads to the Antietam Creek. I gave
them a correct statement although I was a Union boy. After we
left, my older brother Daniel came back to the house and went to
bed. Towards morning some officers knocked at the door and Daniel
being young also, was afraid to open the door and jumped out the
back window, leaving it up and spent the remainder of the night
in the upper room of a stone building that was once used by
slaves. The next day he went to Sharpsburg. That morning the
house and barn were burned but we were told that General
Richaedson's Battery (a Union General) had shelled the house and
barn and burned them.
Our family then went to a friends house until spring. In
the spring of 1863 we rebuilt our house and had just moved in a
few weeks before the army went to Gettysburg.
As they were passing through to Gettysburg, an officer
approached me and asked me if I knew who had burned that house. I
told him that I did not. Then he told me that he and eight other
men were detailed by General Ripley to burn the house and that he
had picked up a chunk of fire from where they had been cooking
and had put it in an open window on to a bed. He told me the
color of the quilt and the shape of the bedstead.
We lost crops, fencing and everything, all amounting from
$8000.00 to $10,000.00 and were never recompensed as the
Government claimed it was damaged by being eight in the heart of
the battle.
As well as I can remember, the hospital you spoke of must
have been at the home of one Harry Reel, southwest of the old
Dunkard Church. He had a daughter with black hair. She is now
dead and the rest of the family have moved west. That was the
nearest hospital that I knew of.
As to your burning our house, we know that in doing so, you
were carrying out orders.
Enclosed find a few souvenir postals of the battle. Hoping
that these points will help you in your work, I am,
Sincerely,
Samuel Mumma, Jr.,
Postmaster, Sharpsburg, Md.
[Note: The original letter is presumed to be in the possession
of the children of Wilmer M. Mumma, the author of this article
which was published in his book, "Antietam, the Aftermath",
1993.]