The USGenWeb Project is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, so I've been thinking a bit about how much change has taken place in the way we reseach our familiy histories. The changes that have taken place over the years make it hard to even remember how we used to conduct research back then, though it's safe to say that the emergence of the internet has had the largest impact. 

Even though I grew up in Baltimore County, I never knew that there used to be a bear kept in a bar in Pikesville! An article appearing in the Bedford Gazette from February 6, 1947 notes a young girl was mauled by the bear.  Here's the story:

Mauled by Bear

A four-year-old girl, mauled and bitten by a full-grown black bear, was taken to the University Hospital, Baltimore in a serious condition Thursday.

The bear was the delight of childen and a neighborhood attraction for several years at Seven Mile House, historic tavern at nearby Pikesville.

Finding the records to document Qauker activities and meetings in Maryland in the colonial can be a bit of a challenge - many of the very early meetings also disappeared early, leaving very little in the way of records. Many of these early meetings only ever met in the homes of their members and many never had either meeting houses or burial grounds, offering few clues to the modern researcher of their history. In many cases, the only clue to their existence may lie in the records of their superior meetings.