Written by John John Kenneth Carbaugh, Sr.
John Kenneth Carbaugh, Sr. wrote his memoir in 1971. He stopped including the accounts of his life after approximately 1944 and no one knows why. John was born in a small, remote valley, Blair’s Valley, Clear Spring, Maryland, in 1906. He tells the true story of a man’s life during the time period most of us know little about. He writes of his early years growing up in Clear Spring. He recalls the first money he ever earned. He would stand at a gate all day, open and close it for people driving horses and buggies. He usually was paid a cent. At the end of a year, he deposited one dollar in the bank. He tells of going to McLaughlin School, Clear Spring High School, and then to Normal State School in Frostburg, Maryland, which is now Frostburg State University. After two years at Normal State School, he became a teacher and principal at a time when schools had one or two rooms. After a few years, he decided the teaching career was not to his liking. He opened a general store, Carbaugh Brothers Store with his brother, Jacob Carbaugh. During the years in the general store, he married Sarah Flagle. They had two sons, John Kenneth Carbaugh, Jr. and Donovan Carbaugh. John and Sarah wanted their sons to be raised in the country; therefore, they bought a farm and John became a farmer. After moving to the farm, John and Sarah had a third son, Raymond Carbaugh. Through all the changes in his life his faith in the Lord continues to shine. Young people today will learn a lot from reading his memoir.
