Profiles and Interviews: Commr. John “Ross” Sines

John Ross Sines’ descendants were from Germany. His great, great uncle, Abraham Lincoln Sines, was the first forest fire chief in Garrett County. His father, Jonas Sines, was an unpaid minister, who had been seriously injured in a coalmine accident. He had served as a county commissioner for 12 years, ending his tenure in 1954.

“My family was never on welfare and we never took charity,” said Sines who remembers his parents making $278.13 for a year’s work. “We had a big garden, milk cows and hogs and never went hungry,” said Sines, who was deferred from the military draft due to his farm work.

Working on the farm, Sines nearly tore off his leg when tractor kicked out of gear, a front pin fell out and the tractor rolled twice over. “Dr. Joe Alvarez fixed me up,” he said. He remained friends with Alvarez, Oakland’s general surgeon, who owned 300 acres nearby and took Sines up in the plane he piloted.

In 1966, Sines was asked by some leading Republicans to run for county commissioner. He faced five other candidates in the primary election and “pulled through with 77 votes,” defeating the Democrat, James Matthews, the half brother of the popular Rev. Don Matthews, Sines’ friend.

“I didn’t take money from anybody for my campaign,” said Sines, who paid for ads in The Republican and “pocket cards.” He said, “I just drove through the communities, asking people to vote for me.”

Hubert Friend, 65, a farmer from Friendsville, also ran for commissioner in a neighboring district in the November primary. “We ran on our own. But, I appreciated his experience,” said Sines.

Sines and Friend won office, joining Commissioner Allen S. Paugh Sr., who had been re-elected to another term.

During his term, Sines said, “I drove to Glen Burnie, Md. to pick up a blacktop plant to mix asphalt, sand and limestone. We put down 50 miles of road a year. I once plowed the roads myself and put a clutch in a truck. I didn’t expect to get thanks,” he said.

“Unions only belong in the private sector. They don’t belong in the public sector,” said Sines. Explaining his stance on negotiations, Sines said: “We [commissioners] sent out the tax bills. If taxpayers were dissatisfied, they didn’t have the opportunity to talk about it. There were no negotiations. If they didn’t pay we sold the property.” The union “wanted control,” said Sines. “The strike wasn’t about wages. You can’t run a bunch of men if you can’t fire anybody,” said Sines.

“The strikers blew up bridges. They dynamited my driveway and threatened my life. I didn’t have fire insurance on my property. I put it in the hands of the Lord,” he said. “If they wanted to burn down my building, I still wasn’t changing my position,” he said.

“During the roads strike, Sines called Gov. Mandel. “I yelled and said, ‘If there’s any bloodshed, it’s on your hands’ [for not supplying adequate State Police.”

After losing his re-election bid in 1970, Sines said, “I felt like a weight had been lifted off my back. I had only made $4,500 a year as a commissioner. I tried to serve my time on the county well. Some of it was appreciated. Some wasn’t. One of my old schoolteachers once told me it was the most unthankful job you could have.”

In 2019, Sines paid a visit to Sheldon Whitacre, a strike participant, confined to an Oakland nursing home. Whitacre’s wife, Nadine, then 73, recalled supporting the strikers at the Garrett County Courthouse until her then three-year-old son “got rowdy.” Nadine Whitacre, who was baptized by Ross Sines’ father Jonas Sines, looked back to events in 1970.

She and Sines both had their shares of profound tragedy after the strike. Her son was killed in a hunting accident at age 12. Ross Sines’ first wife was killed in an accident in the sawmill on their farm.

“Ross Sines was set in his ways. But, so was I. I can’t hold anything against Ross. He stood up for what he believed in,” said Nadine Whitacre.

In July 1970, Sines looked back at the events of 1970 and said,  “If I had the opportunity to decide once again what to do [about the strike], I would do the same thing I did back then.”