Happy Tuesday!  Yes, the blog is a day early today, because tomorrow I will have on my Assistant Museum Shop Buyer hat rather than my curator hat.  But at any rate, on to today’s topic. 

As most Americans are aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Less well known is that November is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.  To help raise the profile, so to speak, of cancers that affect men, an organization called “Movember” encourages men to grow moustaches and raise money for a variety of charities.  Keeping in mind that MCHS has no stake in this group other than a general wish for the well-being of all people, please enjoy a selection of Montgomery County gentlemen – all with fine moustaches – to inspire any of my readers who will be participating in Movember this year!

William Rich Hutton (1826-1901) of Clopper (now part of Gaithersburg), shown here in 1880.  He was a civil engineer and a farmer.  From the Woodlands collection, MCHS Library.

John Holmes Magruder, Jr. (1889-1963)… or, perhaps more likely, his father John Holmes Magruder, Sr. (1850-1925), since the photo appears to date from the 1890s.  The Magruders are a long-time Montgomery County family.  MCHS Library.

Louis W. Hicks (1883-1974) of Lincoln Park, shown here in the 1930s.  Mr. Hicks was a cabinetmaker; here he is posing with the flag stand he made for the White House in the early 1930s.  Donated by Evelyn Hicks Gaunt, MCHS Library.

Thomas Carroll, circa 1880s.  Unfortunately we haven’t researched this gentleman’s specifics yet, but his moustache is too great to be left out.  [See the next post for more info on him.] Donated by Hania Warfield, MCHS Library.

John Jones (1838-1916) of the Poolesville area, circa 1880s.  Mr. Jones was a farmer.  Donated by Ethel Hott, MCHS Library.

The young lady in the middle is Helen Muncaster (later Gassaway) of Rockville; one of the gentlemen is her brother, Dr. Stewart Muncaster, an oculist who practiced in D.C.  The other man’s identity is unknown, and I don’t know which guy is which.  At any rate, both are sporting some fashionable facial hair in this 1887 photo.  Donated by the Anderson family, MCHS Library.

Frank Dorsey (ca. 1861-?) of Jerusalem (upper Montgomery County) with his wife Mollie, shown here circa 1950s.  Mr. Dorsey was born enslaved just prior to the Civil War.  After his 1893 marriage, he built a house in Jerusalem where, according to research done in the 1970s, he lived the rest of his life.  From George McDaniel’s research on African American communities in upper Montgomery County, MCHS Library.

John Henry Parsly (1851-1927) of Brookeville, with his wife Cornelia Search Parsly, 1907.  Mr. Parsly was a storekeeper.  Donated by Lewis Parsly, MCHS Library.  [Mr. Parsly is not showing up in my preview; if he doesn’t appear, I will try to fix that later!] [Solved by giving him his very own post.]

…Well, this could go on for a long time, so I’ll end here.  If you’re local, and want to check out some more inspirational historic moustaches for your Movember challenge, stop by our library in Rockville!

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