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The preparation of such a work as the " History of Western Maryland" imposes a vast responsibility and an immense amount of labor. Years of study devoted to the subjects embraced in it, the encouragement of friends, and the enterprise of the liberal publisher induced the author to undertake the work.

In the compilation of this history no authority of importance has been overlooked. The author has carefully examined every source of information open to him, and has availed himself of every fact that could throw new light upon, or impart additional interest to, the subject under consideration. Besides consulting the most reliable records and authorities, over fifteen thousand communications were addressed to persons supposed to be in possession of facts or information calculated to add value to the work. Recourse has not only been had to the valuable libraries of Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick, and Hagerstown, but the author and his agents have visited personally the entire territory embraced in the six counties of Western Maryland, spending much time in each district, examining ancient newspapers, musty manuscripts, family, church, and society records, conversing with the aged inhabitants, and collecting from them orally many interesting facts never before published, and which otherwise, in all probability, would soon have been lost altogether. In addition to the material partly used in the preparation of his " Chronicles" and " History of Baltimore City and County" and " History of Maryland," the author has consulted an immense number of pamphlets, consisting of county and town documents, reports of societies, associations, corporations, and historical discourses, and, in short, everything of a fugitive character that might in any way illustrate the history of Western Maryland. From these and a large collection of newspapers (more particularly a nearly complete file of the Hagerstown Torchlight, Mail, Spy, and Herald, which were kindly loaned by Messrs. Mittag, Bell & Williams, and E. W. Mealey) great assistance has been derived.

With the aid of Prof. Philip R. Uhler, the topography and geology, as well as the geography, of Western Maryland have received the attention which their importance demands. Sketches of the rise, progress, and present condition of the various religious denominations, professions, political parties, and charitable and benevolent institutions, societies, and orders form a conspicuous feature of the work. Manufacturing, commercial, and agricultural interests have also a prominent place. An account of the county school system is also given, and a history of the various institutions of learning of which Western Maryland has every reason to be proud. Many of the facts recorded, both statistical and historical, may seem trivial or tediously minute to the general reader, and yet such facts have a local interest and sometimes a real importance.

An honest effort has been made to do justice to both sections in the relation of such events of the civil war as come within the proper scope of a purely local history. The author has made no attempt to obtrude his own political views upon the reader, and has constantly kept in mind the purpose that has guided his labors, — to present a work free from sectional or partisan bias which shall be acceptable to the general public.

Considerable space has been given to biographies of leading and representative men, living and dead, who have borne an active part in the various enterprises of life, and who have become closely identified with the history of Frederick, Washington, Montgomery, Allegany, Carroll, and Garrett Counties. The achievements of the living must not be forgotten, nor must the memories of those who have passed away be allowed to perish. It is the imperative duty of the historian to chronicle their public and private efforts to advance the great interests of society. Their deeds are to be recorded for the benefit of those who follow them; they, in fact, form part of the history of their communities, and their successful lives add to the glory of the Commonwealth.

A distinguishing feature of the work is its statistics of the various districts into which the six counties of Western Maryland are divided. In them the reader is brought into close relation with every part of Western Maryland. The advantage of this method of treatment is obvious, embracing, as it does, narratives of early settlements, descriptions of interesting localities, and personal reminiscences. The maps, views, and portraits are a prominent accompaniment, and add interest and attractiveness to the subjects which they are designed to illustrate and explain. Our acknowledgments are due to many friends, not only for a kindly interest shown in our labors, but for much valuable information, furnished in many cases without solicitation.

In presenting the " History of Western Maryland" to the public the author feels conscious that he sends it forth with many imperfections. In the preparation of a work of this character many minor inaccuracies and errors are almost unavoidable, the existence of which it is impossible to discover until the book has been exposed to the light of general criticism. It may not be considered presumptuous, however, to express the hope that its general conception and execution will be satisfactory to the community for which it has been written, and that it will prove useful and interesting to all classes of readers.

J. Thomas Scharf.

Baltimore, Feb. 10, 1882.