File:William Boteler Gross one of Brunswick leading citizens.jpg

Brunswick People

Son of one of Brunswick's prominent early merchants, Bill Gross was a long-time community leader and historian. His diverse career and colorful experiences included a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Arts from the University of Virginia.

Following his Masters thesis at U VA entitled "The History of Education in Frederick County, Maryland", he was principal at Walkersville High School from 1925-1934. In 1934, he published a book "Rambling Through the West", an account of a cross-country trek he made with brother Lynch in 1932.

In 1934, Bill and his brother Charles opened a hardware store next to the Bank of Brunswick on Maple Avenue. In 1959, he was appointed Court Commissioner for Frederick County and was known for the rest of his life as Judge Gross. (From the Myer Kaplon photo collection at the Brunswick Community Library; Frederick County Public Libraries; Biographical information from Brunswick: 100 Years of Memories by the Brunswick History Commission) Thanks to Smoketown History

From Facebook: Peter: Judge Gross was one of life's rare characters and great storytellers. He once told me "I was born on Easter Sunday 19-hundred-and-2 and because of that, my mother thought i'd be a priest. But i never heard the inner call.. Jan 8, 2014

Ann Beacht: I was very fortunate to have spent many a happy hour around the Gross's family table as they lived right around the corner from me and Anne-Lynn and I were friends and classmates. It was a remarkable family-- all gifted in different areas. Notably, Anne-Lynn, a breast cancer survivor, went on to establish a breast cancer resource center in Frederick. In this way she has replicated and honored her father's service to his community and her mother's memory as a b/c survivor back in the day when there were not so many. Jan 8, 2014

Peter: My dad said that when he was an attorney and had a case before Judge Gross, he knew his client would be found guilty if the judge started his remarks by complimenting him on what a good job he'd done making the case. Jim Phillips: He could have been a priest. He was a layman at Grace Episcopal and gave wonderful sermons Jan 9, 2014

Peter: He was also great at reciting poetry and verse. As i recall, after a rumor circulated around town in the mid-80s that he had died, there was an article in the Citizen with a picture of him on his sickbed making the famous Mark Twain quote: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Jan 11, 2014