Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Fakes Suicide 1909

above from Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria Va) Oct 26 1909

This was Mathew Washington Collins (1853-1928) who was married to Sarah Catherine Hastings (1861-1945) .  He did not die from his wife killing him.  He lived until 1928 and disease claimed him at age 75.  They had as children Bertha Ellen (1885-1935), Clarence Linwood (1886-1927), Ruben Harston (1895-1973) and Edna (1897-1994),

Hauling Dirt 1909


Molly E. Ellis

Molly Elizabeth Ellis (1907-1947) was the daughter and only child of Arthur Walton Ellis (1879-1963) and Lulu Ellen Stephens Ellis (1882-1962).  Her father  worked for the First National Bank and later the Bank of Delmar.  They lived at 605 Grove Street. Molly attended Delmar High School graduating in 1925 and graduated from what was then called the Womens College at the University of Delaware in Newark Delaware in 1929.  Before college she worked in the bank with her father as a bookkeeper. After college graduation she taught Latin and French at Delmar High School.

Molly and her family belonged to the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Delmar and were very active in it.  Her father being a trustee and her being a Sunday School Teacher. At school she was active as a student council adviser, Girls Honorary Club, arranging athletic banquets, etc.  She was well loved by all the young people in town.

During the summer of 1946 Molly became ill, had a couple of major operation and over the next several months the illness got worst and in January of 1947 at age 39 she passed away.  In her honor a Sunday School class at First Methodist Church (St. Stephens)  was named the Molly E. Ellis Sunday School Class. She, along with her parents, is buried at the St Stephens Cemetery. The Sunday school class retained the name of Molly E Ellis until the merger of First Methodist and Mt Olive Methodist Church into St. Stephens Church in 1964.  With her death that branch of the Ellis family tree stopped.

Monday, October 29, 2018

1931 Delmar Maryland High School Senior Class


9000 miles on a Pullman Train and J J Restein

https://archive.org/details/ninethousandmile00shawrich

Over on Archive.org is an 1898 book that has been digitised and is called "Nine Thousand Miles On a Pullman Train - An Account of a Tour of Railroad Conductors From Philadelphia to the Pacific Coast and return" by M M Shaw.  The purpose of the trip was to attend the 26th session of the Grand Division of the Order of Railroad Conductors in Los Angeles, California in May of 1897.  About 80 people were the tour.  They were Pennsylvania railroad employees and some wives.  Leaving from the Broad Street Station in Philadelphia and sweeping south through Texas to Los Angeles and back through Montana etc., the trip took about a month.   They traveled in a five-car vestibule train.  Included in the group was Joe Restein, a conductor from Delmar.  Joe was one of the three people on the train who took many photographs of the trip.  Only a few photographs are in book and there are none of Joe Restein. Joe Restein traveled by himself on this trip without his wife.


Joseph Jackson Restein (1864-1929) was born in Philadelphia to Louis Restein (born in France) and Mary J. Jackson Restein from Philadelphia.  Unlike many men born in this period his middle name of Jackson did not refer to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson but to his mothers maiden name. Joe Restein married Ida White (1872-1948) in 1890.  Her parents were Captain Noah and Sarah White from Salisbury, Maryland.  Joe was working for the railroad, of course, and before 1890 was transferred to Delmar.  He was a passenger Conductor and later was assistant Trainmaster.  The Resteins lived in Delmar until 1909 when he was transferred to Cape Charles to be Trainmaster.  While in Delmar, Annie M. (1893-1972), Carrie White (1894-1986) and Ernest Louis Restein (1896-) were born.

As a sidenote, Ida White's brother; Ernest White was a brakeman on the Baltimore on Eastern Shore Railroad.  In 1891 he was killed at a crossing in Salisbury while coupling cars.  Perhaps Joe and Ida's son born five years later was named after Ernest.  Also her other brother, Archie, in 1871 was jumping from a train and fell backward onto the track and the car ran over his hand amputating three fingers from it.
above Feb 15 1900 The Evening Journal Wilmington Delaware

In 1909 Joe Restein was promoted to trainmaster of the division and transferred to Cape Charles.  As their children came of marrying age in Cape Charles they did so.  Annie married Aubrey Jarvis in 1914.  Carrie married Paul Hodge in 1918 and moved to Danville Virginia. In 1920 Louis married Carolyn King.  Louis had returned from WW1 in Frances about a year before being married. 

above from the Baltimore Sun August 23, 1919


Restein—King
A quiet but very pretty wedding was solemnized on Wednesday, November 10, at the home of Mr. J. Brooks Mapp, in the village of Keller, between Mr. E. Louis Restein, of Cape Charles, Virginia, and Miss Carolyn Frances King, formerly of Gainesville, Florida. The groom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Restein, Mr. Restein being one of the chief officials of the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad. The bride is the daughter of the late William F. King and. of Mrs. Carrie Hack King. The bride wore a blue traveling suit with gray squirrel furs and carried a shower bouquet of bride’s roses and snapdragons. She was given in marriage by Mr. J. Brooks Mapp and was attended by Mrs. Eloise King Mapp, her sister, as matron of honor. Mr. Brenton Tilghman, of Cape Charles, was the groom’s best man, the ceremony being performed by the Rev. F. A. Ridout of the Episcopal Church. Owing to the recent death of the bride’s father the wedding was a quiet one only the near relatives and a few of the most intimate friends of the bride arid groom being present. The bridal couple immediately after the ceremony left for New, York, Niagara Falls and other Northern points of interest. Both the bride and groom are well known throughout the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland and their many friends wish them great happiness.

Peninsula Enterprise, Volume 40, Number 19, 13 November 1920
Joe and Ida continued to live in Cape Charles until his death in 1929.  He was so well known that the railroad put on a special train to carry friends and co-workers to his funeral in Cape Charles.

Joe Restein would take a number of trips in the 1920s to Key West and Cuba, he always traveled alone and it is not known if it was for business or social reasons.  After his death Ida would move to Danville where she would die in 1948.  The name Joseph Jackson Restein continues through today as Ernest Louis Restein named a son after his father and in turn that son named his son Joseph Jackson Restein.


Sunday, October 28, 2018

Harrington Railroad House Employees

Undated photo from Harrington Historical Society - Railroad house - Jim Campbell, Frank Riffenberg and Norman Smith

Champion Commie Shooter 1926


Sometimes in researching people and subjects you are thrown off by terms that were popular a hundred years ago but today have a different meaning.  An Example would be the above "Champion Commie Shooter" wow! did school kids really hunt communist down and shoot them for sport in 1926.  No after looking into it the school was having a marble tournament and commie refers to a marble that is very common and usually made out of clay.  They were colored by the clay they were made of, tans, reds and browns.  They were sold cheaply such as in the below 1901 ad where 30 could be purchased for a penny.

  






Saturday, October 27, 2018

Raymond Murphy Wild Ride 1930


The Clark Family of Delmar

above from the Delaware Gazette and State Journal May 11, 1899

John F. Clark was born in Pennsylvania in 1854.  He married in 1877 in Pennsylvania to  Flora Adelina Millard (1857-1915).  He worked on the railroad in Bloomsburg, PA.  About 1886 when the railroad was extended to Cape Charles he was transferred to Delmar.  In 1904 the freight train he was on hit another train and a number of railroad employees were killed and he was seriously injured. He was pensioned off. At the time he was the oldest passenger conductor on the line.  His interest turn to the church and he became known as the railroad evangelist preaching in a number of churches up and down the rail line.  His wife would die in 1915 and he would die in 1923.  Although the post is titled the Clark Family of Delmar all of the members have moved south or north and are no longer in Delmar.

Their children were;

Harry Clark  (1879-1899) mentioned above.  Harry was born in Pennsylvania  and after moving to Delmar he attended Delmar High School on the Maryland side of town.  He dropped out of school in his senior year and when to work for the railroad in Wilmington as a brakeman.  He lasted two weeks before attempting to jump on the platform of a rail car and missing it fell to the tracks where his legs were crushed.  He died shortly after the accident.

Walter M Clark (1883-1968) born in Pennsylvania and raised in Delmar, Maryland.  He would initially work for the railroad and in 1916 he would marry Ida B. Hearn  (1888-1970)  daughter of Thomas H. Hearn and Sallie Bacon Hearn of Laurel Delaware.  By 1920 they had established a funeral home on Chincoteague Virginia.  They ran the funeral home until his death in 1968.  Ida would die in 1970 in a Parksley Virginia nursing home.

George Horatio Clark (1886-1968) the first of the family to be born in Delmar Maryland.  He also would work for the railroad.  He would marry Sarah Mattie Dixon, daughter of William and Octavia Sermon Dixon.  They would have a son Harry Clark and a daughter Anna Belle.  Both seem to have been named for his brother and sister who died young.

Minnie Rose Clark (1891-1961) born in Delmar Maryland she would marry Charles Mason Smith (1880-1956).  Her father lived with them in Delmar after the death of his wife.  They would have for children; Millard Clark Smith (1916-1980), Charles Mason Smith (1921-1943) and Flora Lee Smith. They also named their children in a fashion that joined his and her family names.

John Francis "Frank" V. Clark (1894-1964) born in Delmar Maryland He also worked for the railroad for a few years.  He married Pearl Bottomley (1896-1967) in 1921 in Northampton County Virginia.  She was the daughter of William Ward  and Margaret Marker Bottomley  They had for children William Fletcher Clark and Dorothy Mae Clark.  By the 1940s he was working for a steel company in Wilmington Delaware.

Anna May Bell Clark (1899-1899) born in Delmar Maryland died in Wilmington

Friday, October 26, 2018

Miss Freeny and Lieut Burger Marry



An interesting wedding in St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, at College Park, Md., at 3 o’clock Saturday afternoon was that of Miss Frances  F. Freeny, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin E. Freeny of Delmar, Del., to  Lieut. Joseph Charles Burger, U. S. M. C., stationed in Washington. The decorations of evergreens and lilies laced about the altar made an effective back ground for the wedding party, the Rev. Ronald Taylor  performing the ceremony. The program of music given by Mr. Edwin Connor included the ‘Wedding March” from “Lohengrin,” and “O Promise Me” and “I Love You Truly," were sung by the sorority sisters of the bride, Miss Louise Townsend, Miss Katharine Affieman, Miss Eleanor Seal, Miss Louise Marlow, Miss Mary S. York, Miss Mary Jane McCurdy, Miss Minnie Hill, Miss Elizabeth Duvall, Miss Emily Herzog, Miss Margaret Wolfe, Miss Frances Wolfe, Miss Helen Beyerle, all classmates and graduates or under graduates of the  Maryland University.
The bride was given in marriage by her father, and wore a graceful gown of white satin with a long skirt, the trimming of tulle being caught with orange blossoms. The very long and full tulle veil almost enveloped the train and she carried a bouquet of white roses and lilies of the valley. Miss Eleanor Parker Freeny, sister of the bride, served her as maid of honor and wore a gown of orange-color georgette trimmed with net of the same hue, her hat being of gold net and her slippers further carrying out the color scheme. She carried butterfly roses.

Lieut. Burger had as best man Lieut.Caleb Thayer Bailey, U. S. M. C., and as ushers Lieut. J. Farrell, Quantico, Va.;  Lieut. Kenneth B. Chappell of Washington, Lieut. Edward Pugh, Quantico: Lieut. Thomas J. McQuade of Quantico, all officers in the Marine Corps.

A reception in the Sigma Delta Sorority House at College Park followed the ceremony. Miss Marie Mount, dean of home economics, and Miss Adell Stamp, dean of women of the University of Maryland, assisted at the table. Mrs. Freeny, mother of the bride, wore a gown of black transparent velvet, and she and Mrs. Burger, mother of the bridegroom, also assisted.  Later, when Lieut, and Mrs. Burger left for a wedding journey, she wore a costume of navy blue. They will make their home in Washington while he is stationed here.  Both Lieut. Burger, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence W. Burger of Cherrydale, Va., and Mrs. Burger are graduates of the University of Mary land, he in the class of 1925, and Mrs. Burger graduating two years later.

From The Evening Star Washington DC Dec 24 1928 

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

George Alonza Green Ticket agent 1934



1967

Old Ellis Homestead Sold 1917


The old Ellis homestead near Delmar, comprising 121 acres with buildings, was sold on January 13.  Miss Virginia Ellis purchased eighty-acres and the buildings for $4,500 and the residue timbered, was purchased by Bounds & Phillips, of Hebron, for $3,215.

above from Newark post 1917

The homestead belonged to Francis Virginia Ellis parents George Samuel Ellis and Lulu Hearn(e) Ellis.  Virginia would marry at age 39 to Daniel Kemp Short.  before her marriage she worked as a telephone operator in Laurel the same as her sister Charlotte had done. 

Saturday, October 20, 2018

The Chesser Family 1944

The Photo is from The Eastern Shore Railroad Museum
Thomas Hendrix Chesser (1884-1968),  Charlie, his son is by his first wife Sarah Elizabeth "Lizzie" Collins (1876-1954).  Hendrix would take a second wife Beulah Northam.  As was typical of members of the section gangs they would all take jobs elsewhere. 

Charles Thomas Chesser (1909-1991) would marry Agnes McCready and they would have a number of children including George Henry Chesser (1928-1999).  George would live in whaleyville awhile then move to Texas.

Thursday, October 18, 2018

George C R Ellis


Crushed To Death Under Train.

Delmar, Del., May 25. —George Ellis, aged 24, of Delmar, was killed by a train to day while passing over the tracks of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore road, here. Both legs were amputated  and he was crushed to death. A widow and one child survive him.


The Evening Republican May 26 1902

George C R Ellis was born in 1871 to Joseph and Rebecca Knowles Ellis.  He married Sarah Ella Ralph (1868-1941).  Sarah never remarried after the death of George. They had one child, Randall Ralph Ellis (1893-1973). Randall never married and never had children so this branch of a family tree ends with him.  Randall besides working for the railroad was a great book reader and would meet the Wicomico Bookmobile each week when it came to Delmar.

George prior to his death in 1893 had fallen off a freight car and broke his arm.  It was an occupation hazard of being a brakeman on the railroad.


MRS. SARAH E. ELLIS 
Delmar, Jan. 28 Mrs. Sarah Ella Ellis, age 72, widow of George Ellis of Delmar died early yester day morning at her home here after an illness of two weeks. Since the death of her husband 39 years ago, Mrs. Ellis had made her home here with her son, Randall Ellis. Funeral services will be held tomorrow afternoon at two o'clock from the home on West East Street with the Rev. Walter A. Donoway, pastor of the Delmar Mt. Olive Church, officiating. Mrs. Ellis is survived by one son, Randall Ellis of Delmar and one brother, Albert Sidney Ralph of Laurel. Interment will be in Delmar Methodist Protestant Cemetery.

The Salisbury Times January 28 1941

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

John Venables Sues Town


Claiming $20,000 damage for personal injuries caused by falling from his automobile when it struck a stump in a newly opened street in Delmar (Md.), John Venables, in the trial of his suit against the town, in the Wicomico county Court, at Salisbury on Wednesday, was awarded $1500 by the jury.  The Town Commissioners will take an appeal.

above from the Newark post 1914

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

1961 Train Wreck



above Salisbury Times June 30 1961

What Is It?


An easy one for some people, this is a Beer Foam Scraper or sometime called a beer foam comb.  When the barkeep would pour draft beer a head of foam would be produced on top of the beer.  He or she would use a beer foam scraper (looks like a tongue depressor) to swipe across the top of the glass, leveling it off or beheading and return to filling your glass with beer so you got a fairly full glass of beer, not foam.


Usually a beer company supplied item as it had the logo of the beer company on it, it was also one of the most unsanitary items in the bar as it was rarely washed and usually put in a Beer Scraper caddy which had nothing for drainage of the beer collected on the scraper.


Like many things what was a utility item is now collectible and they go for a $30 a piece.

Monday, October 15, 2018

William Joseph Benson

Mr Benson was just a well loved person, as it states he was janitor at the Maryland school for 32 years.  He was born in Whitesville in 1869 the son of J. W. Benson, Married Ida West in 1889, did some farming then moved to Delmar in 1904.  He would die in 1955 and his wife would die in 1970.  He was so well liked he even made one of the Eastern Sketches Cartoon popular in the Salisbury Times in the 1940s

above Salisbury Times 1944 Oct 20

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Delmar Caboose Restoration Fund


The 1929 Delmar Caboose is once again deteriorating.  The Delmar Historical and Arts Society is trying to raise donations to restore it.  Estimated at $15,000 it may take us awhile to raise these funds.  

Should you be interested in donating and please do not underestimate the effect of a five or ten dollar contribution, our address is;

Delmar Historical and Arts Society, PO Box 421, Delmar, DE 19940


Some people and organizations that have donated so far are;   Draper Holding Foundation, Bill and Barbara O’Neal, Pam Price, Dawn Turner, Ford Brewington Jr, Trust, Short Funeral Home, Obbey Tattooing, Bank of Delmarva and the Town of Delmar.

and should you be interested in joining our society to help accomplish some projects like this, dues are only twelve dollars a year (Jan-Dec).  Again use the above address for membership also

Delmarva Model Railroad Club


RR Clearance Message

Above in a blank Pennsylvania Railroad Clearance message form from the Eastern Shore railroad Museum in Parksley VA.

Irma Brewington 1933

Irma Julia Brewington graduated the State Normal School at Salisbury (Salisbury University) in 1933.  It was the first class to complete three years of study.  She was the daughter of Oscar Brewington and Julia Wenisch.  Oscar was from Delmar and went to Brooklyn, NY to work.  There he married Julia in 1904.  He ran a delicatessen for several years in Brooklyn before returning to Delmar to work on Automobiles with his brother Arthur.  He and his wife were founders and charter members  of the Pilgrim Holiness Church in Delmar.

Irma would become a teacher and marry Frank P McCool and after that marriage ended she would marry John L Dumford. 

Civil Defense Instructions For Motorists 1951

Cold War Measures for everyone

Saturday, October 13, 2018

Train Torpedo Harms Child

A torpedo which was used by the railroad companies in signaling trains came near being the death of Elton, the five-year-old son of H. T. Melson. an engineer, of Delmar, Md., Sunday. He pounded it with bricks and it exploded.  One of his hands and eyes were Injured.

above from The Washington DC Evening Star April 12 1910

Elton (1904-1930) was the son of Holland T. (Holly) Melson and Minnie E. Hastings Melson (1882-1964)

1930  - ELTON MELSON, 26. DIES AT DELMAR Special to The Morning New DELMAR, DeL, Dec. 21. Elton Melson, aged 26, the son of Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Melson died Friday night at the home of his parents after an illness of several weeks. The funeral service will be held Monday morning at eleven o'clock from his late home with the Rev. Frank K. Faulkner,
above Morning News

Round House Torn Down 1954

above Bi State weekly Nov 12 1954

Coal Chute Burned 1921

above News Journal 07 June 1921

The Mail Order Bride Arrives


Friday, October 12, 2018

Willard Stephens - Delmar Blacksmith, Wheelwright and Broom Maker

above The Morning News (Wilmington DE) 19 Nov 1913

Willard Oliver Stephens (1861-1928) was a blacksmith and wheelwright who lived over on East Street.  As you can see in 1913 he started manufacturing brooms.  he was the son of Ruben Samuel Stephens and Amanda Andrews Stephens of Roxanna.  He married Mollie Ellen Esham (1862-1909) and they had for children; George W. Stephens, Lulu E Stephens (married Arthur Walton Ellis) , Sarah M Stephens (married Dallas Elliott) , Anna Catherine Stephens (married James Walter Griffin -Greenville, Miss) and Ira Walter Stephens.  Mollie would die in 1909 and Willard would remarry to Martilla A King (1860-1926.) 

By 1928 Willard's mind had wandered a bit and he was assigned a guardian to handle his affair by a sheriff's jury.

Thursday, October 11, 2018

Helen May Hastings

above from The Day Book Chicago June 25 1914

This story made the newspapers across the nation. 

Helen was the daughter of Gardner Latel Hastings (1872-1953) and Clara Ellen Turpin Hastings (1872-1963).  Gardner was a lumber dealer in Delmar at the time (1914) they lived on East street but would eventually live at 407 Lincoln Ave.  Besides Helen they had for children; Glen Turpin Hastings (1893-1959), Marion Latel Hastings (1899-1985) and Paul Luther Hastings (1901-1923).

Helen for a brief period would become a child healer as the below clippings show
above the Morning news 16 July 1914
 above the News Journal March 6 1914  of note her brother Paul would die in 1923 of typhoid fever.

Helen would marry Frank Wilmer Baker have several children and after Franks death marry Bascom A. Belcher

above News Journal 28 Sept 1989

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Jack and Addie Mae Snowden 1911

above from the The County Record Kingstree S.C. February 23 1911

As it says in 1911 David (Jack) Jackson Snowden originally from Kingstree, South Carolina married Addie Mae Hurtt originally born in Wilmington and they lived in Delmar.  They would live on Elizabeth Street with her parents; Albert Spenser Hurtt (1859-1934) and Lovely Lee Smoot Hurtt (1863-1961).  Jack (1884-1947) and Addie (1888-1983) would have one daughter; Margaret Lee Snowden (1914-2002) who would marry Thomas Laird Nelson.  Margaret would be a teacher in the Delmar High School.

In 1942 David Snowden was the engineer on a freight train that went through Delmar heading south.  Carl Jackson Hearn (1880-1942), ex-magistrate in Delmar(1928-1932) and ex railroad worker, was walking across the track at State street and was struck by the train, killing him and was dragged 15 feet over into the Maryland side of town.   It was thought he was killed instantly on the Delaware side of town but since the Maryland side of town had the body he received a Maryland death certificate. This is not put in as humor but to assist anyone who may be researching Carl Hearn and is looking for a death certificate. It is a frequently occurring family tree research problem as people may have lived their life in Delmar Delaware but become sick and are hauled to the Hospital in Salisbury where they are pronounced dead and a Maryland death certificate is issue.  A similar thing occurs on births. 

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

The Laurel - Delmar Canal 1921

above from the Newark Post Dec 21 1921

above News Journal Dec 8 1921


Sunday, October 7, 2018

Thanksgiving 1941


DELMAR, Del., Oct. 8 —Thanksgiving will be celebrated twice in this town of 2,200.

The Delaware-Maryland boundary line runs smack through Main street and the States will observe the holiday on different dates.  Citizens on the Maryland side will eat their turkey on the third Thursday in November—the date designated by President Roosevelt. Delawareans will celebrate a week later.

above from the Evening Star Washington DC Oct 8, 1941

Crew of First Passenger Train from Delmar to Cape Charles 1886

In the Ticket Office of the Parksley Virginia Eastern Shore Railroad Museum is this picture of the crew of the first passenger train from Delmar to Cape Charles.

All of the crew lived in Delmar at the time.  The center man seated I can't make out his name so I don't  have any details of him.

Dan Parker is the youngest, at 17.  He was born in 1869 and he would die in a train accident in 1906.  His wife was Annie.
from the morning news 11 April 1906

E. J. Melson was Elijah John Melson (1856-1931) his wife was Amelia Ann Elliott
above from the News Journal 28 August 1931

W. C. "Bill" Truitt;  William C. Truitt (1853-1916) was the husband of Laura Alice Parker.  In the 1870 census he was 17 and already working for the railroad.  He was the father of Wicomico County Sheriff Charles H Truitt.
above News Journal 10 Jan 1916

G. M Barr is George McCormick Barr (1860-1917), perhaps the person with the most newspaper coverage of the group.  He was married to Carrie E. Chappell.  Both were born in Pennsylvania and lived there until just two years before the passenger service run.
above from the Morning News 24 May 1917

In 1890 George Barr accused his wife Carrie of having an affair with Dr Robert Ellegood of Delmar.  The newspapers picked it up and for several weeks ran updates on the fight between the three of them.  Eventually everything went back to normal and the couple continued to live together until his death.  Below is a taste of the articles of the time.





above from the Evening Journal 30 Jan 1890

Carrie would live until 1955 below is a picture of her in 1954
above from the Salisbury Times 20 Jul 1954