This is a monumental treatise on the history of the western-most portion of Maryland, the area now comprising the counties of Frederick, Washington, Allegany, Garrett, Montgomery, and Carroll. The first volume surveys the periods of the French and Indian War, the Revolution, and the War of 1812, giving lists of early soldiers, settlers, voters, and public officials, with supporting lists of marriages, patents and surveys, churches, and institutions. The latter half of Volume I and all of Volume II are devoted to historical and biographical sketches, which include considerable genealogical data, and are arranged by county and thereunder by district and neighborhood for purposes of convenience and optimum comprehensiveness. The biographies, of which there are hundreds, the narrative histories, and the extensive lists of people, places, and events, to say nothing of the exposition of lesser subjects, contrive to make this book an indispensable reference for the student of Maryland history and genealogy.