On March 17, 1762, Thomas Johnson, of Frederick, became a member of the lower house of The Maryland Assembly. He served until April 19, 1774. On March 17, 1777, Roger Brooke Taney, future Chief Justice of The United States and a Frederick lawyer and resident from 1799 to 1823, was born in Calvert County. On March 17, 1872, Mrs. Ezra Arnold and her five children were overcome by carbon monoxide gas in their Burkittsville home. Mrs. Arnold died, but all the children recovered. Her husband was driving cattle to market in Baltimore at the time of the incident. On March 17, 1873, Ulysses Grant Bourne, Sr., Frederick physician for more than 50 years, and a prominent leader of the African-American community both in Frederick County and at the state level, was born in Calvert County. On March 17, 1959, George Eldred VanFossen, a pioneer with the Ox Fibre Brush Company in Frederick, died at Frederick Memorial Hospital. He was a Frederick native and lived at 117 East Eighth Street at the time of his death. On March 17, 1963, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton was beatified by Pope John The 23rd. On March 17, 1993, snow from a March 13th blizzard collapsed the roof of The Leggett Department Store at the Francis Scott Key Mall. J C Penny now occupies the space at the mall. If anyone can add information to these History Moments, or would like to suggest an item for another calendar day, please contact me privately. John W. Ashbury [email protected]