Frederick John Bahr

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Frederick John Bahr (1837-1885) was an immigrant from Baden, Germany, who eventually settled on Wills Mountain in Cumberland, Maryland to avoid the encroachment of the Civil War.

Frederick immigrated West most likely with his brother, Leonard. By 1862, they lived in Sandusky, Ohio, where Frederick apparently operated a theater, and married Margaret Kessler ((1840-1915) from Byron, Germany). While in Ohio, Frederick and Margaret had one daughter, Norma. They then moved to Long Island, New York, where Frederick had orchards, and there they also had a son, Frederick, Jr. Before long, they were living in Pennsylvania, where children Harvey, Annie and Minnie were born. Then the family lived in Winchester, Virginia, where son Leonard was born. But wanting no part of the surrounding Civil War, Frederick bought Wills Mountain, with its "Lover's Leap," which stands 1,652 feet above sea level and has extremely strong and dangerous wind currents that whip up and around the sides. Atop, he built a two-story log cabin for his family of already six, and there also adding two more children -- Elizabeth and Centennial.

Frederick was an inventor. A B&O Railroad magazine wrote an article noting that Frederick was "an eccentric German with indefatigable energy." When Frederick opened a beer garden and bowling alley, he had first built a railroad up the mountainside and had mules walking around a pulley system at the top, which moved the railroad cars around and up the mountain, carrying picnickers. He also invented a type of balloon/blimp ride which was made of fabric pieces sewn by Margaret (by hand). He put paddle wheels on the sides and had two cranks for propulsion windlass. The first blimp was destroyed by fire as they were filling it up. Margaret sewed another. The second blimp was cut to pieces by some of his enemies. Margaret sewed another. With crowds of people to view its launching, the third blimp was taken suddenly by a terrible wind, blowing it far away into trees. That apparently finished Frederick's motivations to invent, and most likely, he ran out of money.

With a person as smart, complex and driven, it was also reported that Frederick was cruel. Margaret did more than her share of support. He worked his family extremely hard, and bound out his son, Leonard, to work for a nearby farmer. Leonard remembered that his father thought nothing of kicking his children to make them work harder and to keep them in line. In 1878-79, Norma painted a picture of the homestead. But to escape Frederich's tyranny and possible poverty, by 1883, all had left home (either together or one at a time), including Margaret. They settled in Baltimore, with Norma going to the Maryland Institute (of Art). It is known that Margaret returned for Frederick's funeral in 1885. The cabin itself was replaced by the Wills Mountain Inn and postcards show its popular splendor. Currently, all that remains is a half-buried foundation.

Before his death, he might have worked as a laborer in West Virginia, but nonetheless, he lived alone his last years. Frederick John Bahr is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere on Mt. Savage.

See also other photos including Lover's Leap, and the log cabin homestead (painted in 1878 by Norma Bahr) at www.findagrave.com / search non-famous/frederick john bahr.