Legh Master the Evil Ironmaster
Legh Master may well be the best known villain of Carroll County ghost lore. Stories about him are part of most ghost tours in the county and if only some of them are true, he would seem to qualify as a most despicable man.
Thomas Scharf’s History Of Western Maryland provides some information about Legh Master;
Among the slaves who worked in the furnaces at ‘Furnace Hills’ was one ‘Sam’, an object of special dislike to his master, the owner of the property. From what cause his violent dislike sprang tradition does not tell, but Sam disappeared very mysteriously one dark night, when the furnaces were in full blast, and from that time Legh Master was never known to mention his name. Years rolled by, and after a long life, he died, on the morning of the 22nd day of March, 1796, in the eightieth year of his age. In all probability his name would have perished also but for the vague rumors concerning the sudden and mysterious disappearance of this ill-fated negro, and the strange and extraordinary sounds, which followed so closely upon his death, accounts of which have been handed down from father to son through all these years,and have probably gathered strength in their travels. Suspicions of a desperate deed committed by Legh Master during his lifetime began to be whispered about, and old men remembered, or thought they did, a scared and haunted look in his eyes, which they attributed to the constant dread of discovery of his miserable secret. and this rumor spread, gathering as it went, until it was told that Master had taken the life of his despised slave, and had cast him into the furnace, that he might hide all traces of his crime.1Scharf, Thomas. History of Western Maryland. Philadelphia: L H Everts, 1887, p.625
According to later stories, Legh Master hated the poor Sam because he craved Sam’s sweetheart. Apparently, she was one of his domestic servants. She rejected his advances and, in his anger, he beat her.
Many years later, the story gained a rather grisly addition:
An eerie footnote was added to this legend in the 1930’s, when a fire broke out in the kitchen of Legh Master’s mansion. After the initial fire was extinguished, the fireman removed some bricks from the chimney to check for sparks. They stood back in horror and amazement, for there, before them, was an iron grate. When it was removed, they found an old oven – and in the oven were the remains of a human being.2Glass, Jesse, Ghosts and Legends of Carroll County, Maryland, Westminster: Carroll County Public Library, 1998, p. 55
Legh Master After Death
Even after his death, the ironmaster was hard to contain. Originally buried on his own estate, Master’s casket kept breaking to the surface, rejecting the evil ironmaster. Supposedly, this happened three times, and at that point, folks were ready to make a change. The townspeople carried his earthly remains to the cemetery at Ascension Church in Westminster and reburied him. One would think the re-interment should do the trick. But perhaps his soul is still restless, as the stone covering his grave has cracked numerous times over the years. The stone shown to the right is the older gravestone for Legh Master. Eventually a newer, unbroken as yet, stone marked his grave.Master married Katherine Hoskins in 1753 and they had two children, but the family apparently remained in England, and are all buried there.