Hello Debi, I remember seeing that turf farm you mentioned. It was to the right of my grandmother's land. Her land was between that and the little road that crossed Mattowoman creek. But I believe that the Berrys owned a lot more at one time. At least that is what my dad and uncle said. My uncle said he always hear that Judge Thomas Baker Berry at one time owned 7000 acres of land and hundreds of slaves. I think that is an exajuration. I don't know how much land he owned by according to the census records he owned 25. I am not proud of that, it is just history. But my grandmother did say that her grandfather was known for his kind dealings with slaves and did not believe in splitting families up. If he sold a slave to another farmer or what have you then that slave's family went with them. When I used to go walk her land I used to look at the tobacco barnes that were still standing. They had had tin roofs addes sometime in the past, but the beams and all were hand planed and fashioned by slave labor so I was told. Slavery is not something that a white man should be proud of, but that and those barnes and their construction is still a piece of interesting history and heritage. But back to the land sell. It was all kept hush hush. When my uncle notified us and sent us a little two thousand dollar check saying there would be more later, he would not say how much it was sold for or to whom the land was sold. A Berry cousin went to the court house and found out the land sold for One million and that my uncle was the buyer. Since he was the executor of my grandmother's estate, seems to me that was a breach of ethics there. He was the executor of my grandmother's estate and sold it to himself and his partners!! Their little venture was called "E., K., Edelen Farms" or something. The E was for Eichner and the K for Kennedy I think. Not only that, he got rid of my grandmother's lawyer and used his own as the exectutor's lawyer and the sell, etc., from what I was told. I had more than one cousin on the Berry side up there call me and tell me that we should get a lawyer and fight it and have it all investigated that the land should have sold for like 6 million. It is all water under the bridge now. My uncle is dead now, having died of cancer, and his wife, who curse me saying we did not deserved a d--med thing cause we did not live up there or spend enough time with my granmother, and their two sons, my first cousins, we never hear from them nor do they answer letters or e-mails, etc, etc.. So, so be it! To me bankers, land speculators, lawyers, they are all parasites. This is the way I feel about it. I did not want to cause a big family fued over it, and my uncle and I were always very close, or so I thought. We might indeed have gotten shafted, money might have passed under the table as some have said, but I don't care anymore. I have my memories of my dear sweet grandmother and her sisters whom we, my siblings and I, absolutely adored. Those childhood memories all during the '60s and early '70s when mama would drive us kids from Prattville, Alabama to Maryland to visit are some of my most treasured memories. Memories of walking that land that had been in our family for generations hand in hand with my grandmother or great aunts, listening to their sweet gentle voices tell of the old days, days of family honor, gallantry, of tales of Old Southern Maryland......,. My grandmother told me once when I asked did she ever spend much time with my two first cousins up there, that she never saw them, that they barely showed her the time of day. We would drive up at least once a year and sometimes more often just to sit a little while with her and enjoy a day or two with her in her quiet little apartment at 3220 Connecticut Ave.. When we were kids she would take us on tours of the zoo and the Smithsonian, where she retired from as an editor, down to her land. That land seemed magical to me when I was a kid. I grew to love it even though I never lived on it or own any of it. The money part of it does not bother me. I have my memories and love from those days with my grandmother and her sisters and those mean far much more to me. Well enough of that. I did not mean to get a big spill going about it all. It is all over and done with back in the mid '90s. DE From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 5:14 PM Subject: Re: [MDCHARLE] Friendship or Mt. Friendship? > Hello DE, > I know where you're talking about! Indeed, it is all fancy houses and it > sounds VERY fishy! That tends to happen a lot around here! The farmers > are being bought out for little and then the land is subdivided into these > monstrocities! I grew up on a farm here so I have watched it all happen! > My brother is a surveyor and he says those with money basically can do > what they want! My uncle lived on what was Middletown Road-now the powers > that be are turning it into the next super highway up here. You're not > missing anything nowadays as they have practically paved over everything! > I think your Grandmother's land may have been a turf farm for awhile. The > "estates" are postage-size lots with huge homes on them selling for > upwards of $500,000.00. MY family is looking to move elsewhere back to > where country is still country! While I was raised here and my family is > here by a quirk of fate-military actually- I was born in GA. Anyway, just > note to let you know what I know ab! > out the land around Waldorf. By the way, the Nanjemoy Creek would be > south of Mattawoman. > > Debi > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Sent: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:35 PM > Subject: Re: [MDCHARLE] Friendship or Mt. Friendship? > > > Hello dgolds, > I am not from up there, I grew up in Alabama and have never > heard of Nanjemoy Creek. The land I speak of is along Highway 228 I think > in a community called "Berry", not far from Waldorf. It lay along > Mattawoman Creek and on the other side of the creek was Pr. Georges County > and the land of my gr. gr. grandfather Dr. Alexius Llewellyn Middleton. > In case you are curiouis about who has the land now, in 1994 my > grandmother died and per her wishes the land was sold by her son and > executor and the money was to be divided among her heirs. We were all very > close to her although we grew up in Alabama. In the years before her death > whenever I would go up and visit her I would always go out to her land and > walk and hike around it. I begged her to sell me just five acres right > where the old house had stood but she would not do it and adhered to her > original plan of it being sold and split between her heirs. I knew what > would happen, with my dad dead and we kids scattered around the Deep > Douth. > My uncle, her exectutor, did as she wanted, but sold the land to himself > and > some partners, "E., K., Edelen & Farms" I think and developed it. I think > that stands for "Eichner, Kennedy, and Edelen". They developed it and now > it is a fancy subdivision. It was like 93 acres. My uncle sold it to > himself and his partners for one million, at least that is what we were > told. Other relatives up there told me that land should have sold for 4-6 > million or even more. Heck, Walmart paid a family 8 million for roughly > the > same amount of land on the outskirts of little Prattville, Alabama. I can > imagine the true value of 93 acres on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.. > None of us had the money to look into it and hire a lawyer. One sister who > lived up there talked with the district attorney and the DA agreed that it > was indeed fishy and seemed unethical. But alas, why did she not do > anything about it if she felt that way?!? Our little portions were doled > out in bits and pieces over the years, with a lump at the end of a certain > time. The lawyers we talked to said it would eat up anything we had coming > to try to dig into it and fight it. > So, I don't know if anything shady took place or not, although > I > remember hearing something about my uncle getting rid of my grandmother's > lawyer and using his own during this, and the DA thought that was sort of > odd if not wrong. She, the DA at the time, said that as the executor that > all that looked fishy. My uncle and I were pretty tight as far as I knew > (he > is dead now too, dying of cancer a few years ago). So I just don't think > about it. But if it should have indeed sold for say 6 million, then we > were > just screwed. > I used to love to walk those woods and that land and imagine my > ancestors. There was a lot of history there. I am sad it is gone now, > under > concrete and asphalt. I heard that the beautiful land across the creek is > now some sort of golf course and old Middleton or Berry road crossing > Mattowoman Cr. there by my grandmother's land is not more. Sad. > Well let me go. I did not mean to ramble on. > DE > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body > of > the message > ________________________________________________________________________ > AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free > from AOL at AOL.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message