A Brief History of the
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| By Dr. Frank Becker, MFH The story of the New Market- Middletown Valley Hounds begins with the history of its predecessor Hunts. In 1963, The New Market Hounds was founded through the efforts of Gilmore Flautt III. Early members included Dr. G. Ross Brinkley, Honorary Secretary, Thomas R. Taylor, Honorary Huntsman, Richard Zimmerman, and Honorary Whippers-in Ralph B. Shipley, J.W.S. Miller, and Eugene Reid, with Oscar Bell serving as Kennelman. The first hounds were purchased from the DuPonts in Fair Hill, Md. and were American, English, and Crossbred. They were initially housed in a barn on the farm of Dr. and Mrs. Brinkley until the kennels were built at "Hunting Lotte," the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Flautt in New Market where the opening meet frequently took place. Jean Brinkley reports that in those early days she befriended the butcher at A&P, frequently raiding his butcher shop to feed the hounds! The Hunt was recognized in 1967 and hunted the area around New Market including Holly Hills (where the golf and country club now stands) and the area (now developed) around Lake Linganore. |
In 1966, a small group from The Potomac Hunt headed by Richard Moran and looking for new hunt country and smaller fields began to buy up land in the Middletown area. The land purchased included our current Hunt Club Kennels, five neighboring farms, and two more on the other side of I-70. Early members who helped in this process included Bud Horstman who purchased a farm on Quebec School Rd, Clayton Doing Sr. who in the 1970s would leave to become Master of the Antietam Hunt, Val Hogan, Gordon Holohan, Robert Monahan, and Thomas Blackwood. Along with land owned by local farmers, the result was approximately 3000 acres of hunt territory. In addition to hunting around the Kennels, the Hunt would hack to Pleasant Valley Farm (our current Station Road fixture). Hounds were acquired from Potomac, Andrew's Bridge in Pennsylvania, Green Spring Valley Hounds and Orange County Hounds and included American, Black and Tans, and Penn-Marydel (the latter were later dropped). Three couple of English hounds were acquired from the Eastern Shore. Thus began the Middletown Valley Foxhounds. The Hunt was recognized in 1973. | In 1979, Mr. Flautt moved to Texas and the Kennels were temporarily moved to Barry Lucey's Pennterra Farm. Largely through the efforts of Robert Monohan and James Farber Sr. a merger was arranged, and The New Market- Middletown Valley Hounds were recognized in 1981. The Hunt Club and Kennels on Marker Rd. were owned by small groups of members until 1988 when the Farber family assumed sole ownership with the expressed purpose of promoting "the personal out-of-doors enjoyment of Members and their families through association with Field Sports and related activities." Further territory was later acquired in West Virginia with the retirement of The Antietam Hunt and their Master, Clayton Doing. The Hunt's territory now includes Frederick County except for the triangle east of route 15 and south of route 70, Washington County in Maryland, and Jefferson County and part of Berkeley County in West Virginia. Penn-Marydels have recently been re-introduced, and the hounds now are primarily American Crossbred. |
Masters of The Hunt |
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| The New Market Hounds 1965-1979 - Gilmore Flautt III 1979-1980 - inactive 1980-1981 - Phil Pearce |
The Middletown Valley Foxhounds 1966-1980 - Richard Moran 1976-1981 - Robert Monahan |
The New Market-Middletown Valley Hounds 1981-1985 - Phil Pearce Robert Monahan 1984-1997 - Patricia Carter 1997-1998 - Bambi Prigel 1997-2009 - Leo Rocca 1997-2003 - Jean Roberts 1998-2003 - Gerrit Schipper, MD 2001-2008 - Frank Becker, MD 2006-2007 - John Ward 2009-2011 - Kevin Curran 2009-2012 - Jennifer Webster 2013-2014 - Guillermo Warley 2009-present - Katherine Byron 2013-present - Grace Pariso |
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