The stories of two successful early farmers tell much about Cloverly past. One farmer was white, one was black, and both still live in local memories.

Charles T. Hill (1853-1942) spent his boyhood with the Asa Stablers much as an adopted son; they housed, fed, and clothed him and taught him to work. He needed little teaching: Asa Stabler, who had four boys of his own, often said, "I raised five sons, and Charlie Hill was the best." Frugal to a fault, Charlie saved, saved, saved. At mid-life he was able to buy a farm--149 acres on Norwood Road, from the Robert H. Millers. Soon he was running High Ridge Dairy, a hundred cows. His milk wagon to Washington also carried passengers, who sat on milk cans, five cents a round trip.

Joseph Harding (1822-1894) bought 200 acres as a young man, cleared most of it, and built a log house on today's Harding Lane. He began raising potatoes and eventually became known as the Potato King of Montgomery County. He served as toll keeper at the Ednor toll booth; he founded a small Free Methodist Church in Cloverly that eventually relocated in Spencerville. He established a family cemetery; the first Hardings he buried were wife Elizabeth Moore and one of their five children. Soon after the Civil War he built three-story Ash Grove, a substantial home reflecting a hard-working farmer's success.

The Laurel stage stops at Joseph Hardings's home Ash Grove. He built the sturdy residence on present-day Harding Lane at the end of the Civil War. Porches lined three sides, and in winter the basement filled with his large potato crop. The Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties recorded in 1976 that he built Ash Grove "to reflect his economic success and position in society as a relatively well-to-do man." Today it is the home of Stephen and Kim Lake.

The lawn of Rose Hill hosts the Canby family c.1892. From left, Laura, who died in her youth, G. Rust, Eliza, mother Sarah Jane (Sally) Rust, and T. Yellott, in a dress. Their companion Miss Omohundro stands at right. Sally's husband William M. may have taken the photo. The back part of Rose Hill dates to about 1800, the front part to 1885. William's father Thomas married Deborah Duvall, whose family owned the Rose Hill farm. Four generations of Canbys and Duvalls served in the Maryland legislature, including Rust and Yellott. The farm included land occupied today by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and nearby Muslim Center.

A dogwood driveway ascends to Pleasant View on Norwood Road, overlooking the valley of the Northwest Branch. The home was built in its present form in about 1870 by Amos Holland, member of the family that shaped much of early Norwood and Brighton. The Annals note that Holland installed an advanced hydraulic motor to supply water to his outbuildings. On his death in 1901 they added that "he completely disproved the theory that neatness is incompatible with success." Pleasant View stands beside the new James Hubert Blake High School.

Alfred Tolson savors his pipe and family on the porch of the O'Hare, or Tolson, House off Good Hope Road, c.1890s. With him are wife Catherine and five of their six children. Tolson was a Confederate soldier and Judge of the Orphans Court. Daughter Nan became Mrs. George F. Bonifant, and son Zeph became a truck farmer on Briggs Chaney Road. O'Hare House is now the home of Martha Lanigan.