1970 BP Pump Bunny Bikini Girls Pump Gas

In the 1970s the BP Gas Station co-owned by Lee Jackson on US Rt 50 Ocean City used girls in bikinis to pump your gas. One of the pump bunnies was  20-year old Carla Brubaker July 1970.  They were paid $1.75 an hour to pump gas and check oil.

1952 Jimmie's and Maries's

1952 Hockey Team

Delmar Klan No 2 Hold Rally

above photo from Delaware Archives Delmar KKK rally 


The members of the Ku Klux Klan  are planning a big demonstration for Monday evening, to be held on a large field on the outskirt of town.  Dr. J. H. Hawkins, who is coming here for the Rally day services of the M. P. Church will remain for the occasion. 

Refreshments will be served to those who attend by the ladies of the M. P. Church.

above from The Morning News (Wilmington) 1 Nov 1923

Cannon Ferry 1930s

Woodland Ferry 1930s, notice the dirt ramp and the ferry used a Model-T-Ford  car engine to power it.

Memorial Day 2019

1938 Hobo Problem

Railroad, Town Police Kept Busy; Wandering Laborers Complicate Problems; Thefts Jump 

DELMAR, Del., May 28 (Special). The question of what to do with hundreds of itinerant workers and hoboes who annually seem to use Delmar and the railroad yards here for "stop-over" headquarters and nearby woods haunts for "jungles" on their treks north and south during spring and summer, is confronting local and railroad police again, but Is just as far from being solved as ever.

The movement through the town of these Itinerants is heavier this year than ever before, according to police. Many of them are seasonal farm or cannery workers who do not frequent the hobo jungles, but due to conditions work is scarce and may of the better class of workers are driven to hobo tactics.

Six Arrested Daily As Average

Chief of Police Authur Godfrey of the Delmar, Maryland, police, Chief of Police Ralph Williams of the Delmar, Delaware, force, and Pennsylvania Railroad Police Capt. Oscar M. Thomas and Sergt, Miles E. Fitzgerald, stationed here, arrest an average of six tramps or hoboes each day and allow many more than that to pass through the town. Several of the men picked up so far this spring have been fugitives from other states, and two were Negros wanted in murders in Virginia, They were recognized not only by photographs but by fingerprints on file here.

Is "Natural” For "Jungles”

Railroad police say Delmar is a "natural spot" for hoboes due to the stopping of all passenger and freight trains going north and south on the Delmarva Division, and to the changing of train crews and the dispatching of running orders from Delmar offices. This enables the train riders to leave the trains While they are slowing down for the yards or to board them for distant and larger cities.

25 Sometimes In Jungle

Each night the "jungles." one located just north and the other a mile south of the town limits, contain often as many a 25 men, white and Negro, sitting around blazing fires recounting their adventures, travels, or swapping provisions they have begged. Almost all of the men are penniless and possess only the bare necessities of life, such as threadbare clothing and shoes, a razor, and a nearly empty tobacco sack. Police say that it is a rare thing for any of the men arrested or searched to be carrying identification papers of any kind.

Town authorities say that if the scores of transients merely used the yards as a stop-over or rest, there would be no menace. But each spring and summer there is a wave of petty robberies and other misdemeanors within the town that are directly traceable to the transients.

Many Thefts From Railway

The theft of food and small freight packages from the cars is increasing. Much wooded railroad property has been seriously damaged by fire, not only in this section but along the entire division.

 Not the least of the complaints from the fact that several of the transienst are either killed or  severely injured each season within railroad property, and the railroad must pay hospital and burial expenses.

The trainsmen deny the often repeated stories or brutality against the "hoboes' but say that they only fight them when endangered.

above from The News Journal 28 May 1938

Doris Brittingham at Normandy

I am researching Doris Brittingham, a nurse from Delmar in WW2, who landed at Normandy Beach.  The question is if she landed on D day or later?  Whichever  day she landed it was not a walk on the beach.  In the Book "And If I Perish" by   Evelyn Monahan, Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee  she is mentioned and a description of her and her fellow nurses landing on Normandy is included.  Here is part of that book

above page 326

https://delmarhistoricalandartsociety.blogspot.com/2018/05/delmar-army-nurse-in-normandy-since-d.html

1934 Illegal Still

1934 Delaware Liquor Board report of closed down illegal alcohol operation near Delmar.

1950s Dialing For Dollars

The 1950s,some in Delmar could pick up the Baltimore Station WMAR Channel 2 and watch Stu Kerr and Sylvia Scott play "Dialing For Dollars."  Since it was a long distant phone call to Baltimore from Delmar not that many actually participated.

1962 Jello Comes To Delaware

Delaware State News 1962 Jello comes to Dover, the plant has changed ownership a few times but is still there.  Delmar Delaware Mayor Sam Bynum (1930-2009) worked there for about 20 years finally retiring and running for Mayor. 

1987 Lisa Dickerson Delmar Cheerleader

about 1987 Lisa Dickerson Delmar Cheerleader

1955 Class reunion

Laurel DE train Station

Waiting on the train to Delmar.  Photo from Delaware Public Archives Collection

Dr Ernest M Larmore

above from 1955 Bi State Weekly

From the "Bi-State Weekly" June 3rd, 1949

Clara Etta Herbert Weds Local Physician

Miss Clara Etta Herbert of Hagerstown, MD became the bride of Dr. Ernest M. Larmore Jr. Delmar physician, Monday Morning at the Trinity Lutheran Church, Hagerstown.

The Rev. Dr. Wilson P Ard performed the single ring ceremony in a setting of all white flowers.

The bride, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Herbert, was given in marriage by her father. She wore a navy faille bolero suit, matching accessories and carried an old fashion bouquet of white snapdragons centered with a white orchid.

Mrs Herbert A. Stoner of Hagerstown was Matron of honor. She was in a grey silk frock with navy accessories and her arm bouquet was of pink peonies tied with pink tulle.

Dr. Larmore, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest M. Larmore of Tyaskin, had as his best man, Donald Horner of Quantico. Ushers were Frederick F. Burhans, SR, brother in law of the bride and Herbert A. Stoner.

The traditional wedding music was played by Walter Westphal, church organist.

After a wedding breakfast at the Herbert home, Dr. Larmore and his bride left for a wedding trip in the Pocono Mountains. Upon their return they will make their home in Delmar.

Mrs Laramore is a graduate of Hagertown High School, class of '41 and also attended Roanoke College, Salem, Va. In 1947 she graduated from the Washington County School of Nursing, Hagerstown.

 Dr. Ernest M. "Toby" Larmore Jr., 84, of Delmar passed away Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006, at his home. He was born Dec. 11, 1921, in Tyaskin, Md., the son of the late Ernest M. Larmore Sr. and Mattie Culver Larmore. Dr. Larmore graduated from Nanticoke High School in 1938, Washington College in Chester-town in 1942 and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1945, with a doctorate in medicine. He interned at Church Home Hospital in Baltimore and went on to serve in the Army Air Corps for two years as a captain. After leaving the Army Air Corps, he was a resident at Washington County Hospital In Hagerstown, Md., where he met his future wife, Clara Etta Herbert. He began his general practice in Delmar in 1949 and retired in 1992. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Clara Etta Larmore; a sister, Sara Lee Brohawn and her husband, Donald, of Tyaskin; a daughter, Stacey Whiteman and her husband, Ian, of Spain; a son, David Larmore and his wife Jo Anne, of Laurel; a son, Steven Larmore and his wife, Virginia, of Florida; a daughter, Dana Banziger of Reston, Va.; a daughter, Suzy Skidmore and her husband, Bill, of Dayton, Va.; a son, Todd Larmore of Laurel; nine grandchildren, David "Toby," Kate, Medina, Hanna, Brittany, Max, Molly Clare, Hans and Sam; two stepgrandsons, Mohammed and Zack; a stepgreat-grandson, Eddie; and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at St Stephen's United Methodist Church on State Street in Delmar. The Rev. Marsha Carpenter will officiate. Following the service, family and friends are invited to a fellowship luncheon at Camelot Hall. The burial will be private In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to St Stephen's United Methodist Church, 101 E. State St., Delmar, Del. 19940; Tyaskin United Methodist Church, PO Box 72, Tyaskin. Md. 21865; or the Delmar Volunteer Fire Department Ambulance Fund, PO Box 143, Delmar, Del 19940, in memory of Dr. Larmore. Arrangements are by Short Funeral Home in Delmar. Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.shortfh.com.

above from the Daily Times  2006 December 2

1930s Hooverette

Often someone will put a photograph in front of you and ask you to give them some information on it.  Some obvious ways to date the photograph is hair style, dress, objects in the photograph like a car, airplane,  etc.  All of these things call for a study of history of costumes and dress, etc.  An interesting article by Jen Thompson on the Hooverette dress is at this web site
http://www.festiveattyre.com/2013/09/1930s-hooverette.html?fbclid=IwAR1Ap_hdNnGX1YaN5II54DHc61QGs8ao40PWlIXFSDVgog1Er8nlnqCqIzk

It is an interesting blog on sewing clothing and I recommend you take a look.

William Winfield Lowe

above Salisbury Times Feb 23, 1929

William Winfield Lowe (1860-1929) was the son of Selby M. Lowe and Leah Elander McAllister of Delmar.  He was a carpenter.  He married in 1883 Amelia Catherine “Kate” Gordy (1866-1938) daughter of John Gordy and Julia Ann Hastings.  They lived on East street Delmar Md., in the 700 block.  They had for children; Leah Annie  Lowe (1885-1963) who would marry James Dailey (spelled many ways Daly, Daley, Daily etc),  Selby Lowe ( 1892-before 1900), Nettie C Lowe ( 1892-1932) who would marry George M Dutton, and Mary Edith Lowe ( 1895-1992) who would marry Ralph F Williams and later in 1941 Floyd C. Samis.

above Amelia and William Lowe

6 June 1938 Salisbury Times

The Ex-Slave Pension Bill

In 1900 there existed an aging class of people who were ex-slaves.  Freed during the civil war they had now scattered throughout the United States although most were still in south.  Based on the 1900 census there were more than 1,387,000 of them over the age of 40.  Mostly uneducated and poorly trained, as they became older, they relied more on local charities to exist.  Walter Raleigh Vaughan (1841-1915), a white Democrat, former Confederate Captain, and born in Virginia but moved to  Alabama at age 1,  persuaded congressmen to sponsor a proposed bill called  “The Freedman Pension Bill” in congress to give each ex-slave a pension.  The bill providing that ex- slaves should be made pensioners of the United States and that pensions should be granted according to the following scale: negroes 70 years old and upward to receive $500 cash and $15 a month; those 60-70 years old to receive $300 cash and $12 a month; those 50-60 years old to receive $100 cash and $8 a month; those less than 50 years old to receive $4 a month.  Each year between 1890 and 1903 he tried to have it passed.  Judge Vaughan may have sounded like he was looking out for the ex-slave but he was more concerned about the financial hardship to the states where these ex-slaves lived.  By spreading the cost of helping the ex-slaves across the nation it would relieve the local charities from having to provide financial assistance to the slave.  Plus a pension would also ensure the ex-slaves continued to vote democrat.

In addition to the bill he created an organization called “Vaughan’s Ex-Slave Pension Club”.  The club acted as a fraternal order and collected information about ex-slaves so a pension could be secured for them.  Each member paid an initial fee of 25 cents and 10 cents monthly thereafter with the idea the funds would be used to lobby congress for the passing of the ex-slave bill.    He also made the organization a secret order and allowed people to open their own branch of the society.  If any Negro who wished to organize a branch of the organization would come to Chicago for a cost of $25 they could obtain the secret work, grip, password etc. and be given full authority to establish such subordinate orders. 

He also wrote a pamphlet called “Freedmen’s Pension Bill: a Plea for American Freedmen,” about the pension and the Freedman struggle to obtain it.  He sold this for a dollar each and the initial 10,000 copies sold out in a year.  Below is a link to it

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=dul1.ark:/13960/t3905q07c;view=1up;seq=12

Walter Vaughan made out better with the ex-slave pension organization then the ex-slaves did.  He said he had expended $20,000 on pension work and the Commissioner of Pensions in 1899 estimated he collected $100,000 in dues.  Other organizations copied what Vaughan had created.  Some tried to do good for the ex-slaves, but others simply swindled the ex-slave out of his or her dues money. 

The most famous or infamous were Reverend Isaiah H Dickerson and Mrs. Callie House.  They ran the “National Ex-Slave mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association.”  In 1901 Dickerson was found guilty of “Swindling” but the Georgia State Supreme court overturned the conviction, multiple investigations continued with him.  He died in 1909 at age 48, and Mrs. Callie House took over the organization.  Reverend Isaiah H Dickerson was born in 1861 in Georgia to Mills Dickerson and Emmaline Peak. 

Callie Guy was born a slave near Nashville, Tennessee in 1865, her father was Tom Guy.  At the age of 22 she would marry William House and they would have five children; Thomas, Delphia, William, Mattie, and Annie.  She would work as a washerwoman and seamstress until reading the pamphlet “Freedmen’s Pension Bill.”  She would then become involved in seeking financial compensation for slavery by way of a pension.  She would join Reverend Dickerson at the “National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association.”  In part the mutual aid society provided burial and health care for its members and lobbied congress for a pension. She would die in 1928 at age 63.  Callie House has gotten better positive attention in recent years then Reverend Dickerson. Mary Frances Berry wrote a book called “My Face is Black is True” about her.

It is not clear if any of these organizations did anything tangible for the ex-slave except take their money.  In the 1920s these organizations either closed up or were closed by the Federal Government.  Of course they were secret organization and perhaps they are still around serving no purpose since the ex-slaves are dead. 

above This medal was worn by ex-slaves who joined this Association attempting to obtain reparations in the late 19th century. It is a two piece medal with a simple top bar below from which hangs a crescent moon and star on which are printed: "National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief Bounty & Pension Ass'n of the U.S.A

above Baltimore Sun 1903 Feb 6

In spite of tens of thousands of ex slaves joining these organizations (perhaps a half million ex-slaves) there is a lack of relics and paper charters and documents to display.

Delmar St Stephens / Mt Olive Cemetery 1960s

Delmar St Stephens / Mt Olive Cemetery 1960s

Cross stitch 1848

Non Delmar but interesting schoolgirl reflection on cross stitch

1946 Delmar Tavern Brawl

FOUR FINED IN TAVERN BRAWL

 Maryland Inn Wrecked; One Man Jailed

 A. bloody brawl which wrecked the interior of the Maryland Inn, a Route 13 tavern near Delmar, resulted in the trial of four defendants on 15 different criminal charges in Peoples Court yesterday.

                                                                

Judge E. Sheldon Jones found the four giulty on three of four assault charges and four of eight drunk and disorderly conduct charges. Sentences totalled $375 and costs and with 60 days in jail for one man with more time to be imposed for non-payment of fines and costs.

The defendants were Carl Willey and Lance Willey. brothers, of 548 South Division St.; Herman Hill, 20, Route 3, Delmar; and Herbert Pusey, 408 East Locust St.

Hit With Pickle Jar

 The main casualty, apparently, was Carl Willey, who appeared in court with a bandaged nose and eyes. His brother testified Carl had been hit in the face with a one-gallon pickle Jar. The clothing of all four men was stained with blood.

Haakon Christensen, manager of the Maryland Inn, said four of the place's windows were knocked out "wood and all, 75 panes of glass broken from other windows, a $260 set of scales smashed, and the floor littered with broken bottles, glasses, pickle jars, and pickles after the fight Tuesday night.

Christensen told the court he was the target for most of the glassware. He said the brawl started after the' four defendants had had "five or six beers" each and Carl Willey had come behind the bar and struck him in the eye.

Walter Weakley, husband of the owner of the Maryland Inn, testified he arrived just as the defendants were leaving and that Car! Willey threatened him with a "knife as long as a butcher knife." He said the four ran when his wife shouted that police were coming. :

Arrested At Diner

Trooper J. J. Harbagh testified he and Trooper Claude D. Smith arrested the four at the Roseland Diner on Route 13. He testified both Lance and Carl Willey attacked him and resisted arrest. He also testified Pusey helped him by attempting to subdue Carl Willey, who was handcuffed to Pusey. In their testimony both Pusey and Hill denied fighting or destroying property. Lance Willey, who admitted being AWOL from the Army, also admitted throwing the first bottle at the Maryland Inn.

The Charges and Dispositions:

 Carl Willey, assault on Christensen, $50 and costs; assault on Weakley not guilty; assault on Harbaugh, $50 and costs; drunk and disorderly conduct at the Maryland Inn, $50 and costs; drunk and disorderly conduct at the Roseland, not guilty. Lance Willey, whom Judge Jones described as "the ringleader," assault on Harbaugh, $100 and costs; assault on Christensen, not guilty; drunk and disorderly conduct at the Maryland Inn, $50 and costs and 60 days in jail; drunk and disorderly conduct at the Roseland, not guilty.

Herbert Pusey, assault on Christensen, not guilty; drunk and disorderly conduct at the Maryland Inn, $25 and costs; drunk and disorderly conduct at the Roseland, not guilty. Herman Hill, assault on Christensen, not guilty; drunk and disorderly conduct at the Roseland, not guilty.

Above from the Salisbury Times 24 October 1946

Marion B Sherwood

1946 ad

What To Do With That Old RR Track You Have In The Back Yard

Looks a fat family would have no fear of sitting on it.  Must weigh a ton, it would be difficult to steal

Frank Preston, Oak Haven, Jean Wellwood, and the Prestwood Pines

Oak Haven Tourist camp was another one of the hospitality businesses on the south side of Delmar on old Rt13.  Oak Haven was run by Frank B. Preston (1892-1940) and his wife Jean.  Frank was born in Kentucky and moved to New York where he would meet and marry Jean Wellwood from Ontario Canada.  They would manage an apartment building in the Bronx until they moved to Delmar.  About 1934 he would buy a strip of land close to Roseland on what was known as the Delmar Road (BiState Blvd) and put a gas station on it.  Later he would put a dance hall next to the gas station and about 1937 he would add tourist cabins.   He suffered from heart problems and in 1940 he died of a heart attack.  He is buried in Parsons Cemetery in Salisbury.  His wife sold the business and in 1941 S. L. Jones and A. L. Oliphant were running the business.  

Possibly S. L. Jones was Samuel Lee Jones of Eden Maryland and A. L. Oliphant was Arthur L. Oliphant of Delmar. 

Jean Wellwood Preston (1892-1978) stayed in the area.  She purchased a tourist camp south of Fruitland, Maryland.  The south end of Fruitland at that time (1930s to 1970) was in the same shape as the south end of Delmar for having beer joints and tourist camps along what was old Rt13.  Names such as the Silver Dollar, Prestwood Pines, Circle Bar, Pines Bar, Blue Lantern etc all are memories of those who were around in the 1940s and 1950s.  In Fruitland the road was  called Old Princess Anne Road.  Jean had her sister, Clara Alice Wellwood (1887-1962), come stay with her and help manage the tourist camp.  She called the tourist camp “Pinecrest.”  Jean and Clara were the daughters of Robert Wellwood (1845-1916) and Janette Brydon Amos Wellwood.  Photographs of what  Pinecrest looked like are not available at this time.  Below however are a couple of photos of tourist camps in the area of Fruitland about this time.

above the Temple Hill Cabins in Eden or Fruitland. 

above Prestwood Pines

I have no documentation that shows the legal connection between “Prestwood Pines” and Jean Wellwood Preston.  Pinecrest tourist camp and the Prestwood Pines  were close physically on the same road.  One cannot help but think that Prestwood is a combination of Jean’s names of Preston and Wellwood or perhap a partnership of Jean Preston and her sister Clara Wellwood.  The person most associated with “Prestwood Pines” is Frank Hallock.  Frank Hallock came from Syracuse, NY about 1936 to run the “Prestwood Pines” south of Fruitland.  He would die in 1952. 

above grave marker for Clara Wellwood from find - A - Grave. 

Clara Alice Wellwood would die in 1962 and is buried in Wicomico Memorial Park Salisbury, Maryland.  Jean Wellwood Preston would die in 1978 in the Shangri-La Nursing home in Delmar, Delaware and is buried at Melson Cemetery in Melson, Maryland.

1967 Wicomico County Centennial Parade

1967 Wicomico County Centennial Parade

Edna S Northrup

1938 ad Mrs. C J Northrup

Wife of Clarence James Northrup (1894-1969) a railroad freight conductor, Edna E Streeter (1898-1971) married him in 1917.  She was originally from Wisconsin.  His family was originally from Michigan but had moved to Hurlock.  Clarence and Edna had for children; Clarence Vernon Northrup (1918-2015), Eugene Gilford Northrup (1920-1998), Malcom Lynn Northrup (1927-1974) and Peggy Leigh Northrup (1932-1999) and Jerry Collins Northrup (1938-1975).

In 1960 after 42 years Clarence retired

The Roseland Diner and the Kircher Family

 “The worst spot I have encountered between New York and Miami there is a roadhouse every few hundred feet. “ description of Delmar Road (BiState Blvd) in 1938.

After prohibition ended in December of 1933 there were roadhouse and beer joints all along Old Route 13 south of Delmar in Wicomico County.  From Leonard Pond north to the state line there were 14 places along the road that sold beer from gas stations to diners to Dance Halls.  To name a few of the better known ones; Frank Preston’s Oak Haven, Cozy Cabin, Coliseum, Cline’s Tavern, Delmar restaurant and the Roseland Diner and Dance Hall.

The Roseland Diner was a complex that just sort of grew in the 1930 on through the 1970s.  There was a tourist camp with cabins, a gas station, a diner and dance hall.  The owners and managers of the different operations constantly changed.  The Roseland diner was on the North side of the intersection of, what is today, Shell Road and Old Rt13.  Shell Road was at one time Roseland Road.

Roseland was named for Rose Elizabeth Kircher.  She was married to Edwin “Eddie” Kircher and the couple came from New York to Delmar in the early 1930s so perhaps since the operation also had a public dance hall they wanted to play off the name of the famous Roseland Dance Hall in New York City. 

Over the years the place has had fires, sold the tourist cabins off and  removed the gas station leaving a shell of the diner.  Today it is a church called the “Grow In Grace Worship Center”

above Rose Kircher in 1953

Rose Meglio (1900-1963) married Edwin “Eddie” Kircher (1899-1966) about 1920 in New York.  He had been married once before.  They moved to the Delmar area about 1930.  The first mention of Eddie Kircher in the newspapers was in 1932 when he was arrested in Mardela by prohibition agents.  At the end of 1933 prohibition ended and all of those small gasoline stations, dance halls, and diners begin to materialize south of Delmar on Old Rt13. 

In 1934 Eddie was running the “Tom Cat” north of Delmar and Rose was running the “Half Way House” in Fruitland. 

By 1935 Eddie and Rose were running Roseland.

In 1936 Biddy Hudson was running the dance hall part of it

And in 1938 Jim S Hastings was running the operation.

By 1939 the Kirchers were living part time in Florida and returning to Delmar to run the operation during the summer.  The diner had changed names to Jim’s Restaurant (Jim Hastings)  but was up for sale by the Kirchers.

And by 1940 the Kirchers had sold the place and moved to the Tampa Florida area and managed the Pasco hotel.  Rose would eventually work for Sears and Roebuck.

Eddie and Rose Kircher while in Delmar lived opposite the Cozy Cabin.  Besides their business interests they raised pedigreed dogs.  They had for children; Edwin Kircher Jr (1921- 1981 ) and Harriet Rose Kircher (1922 - 2016).  They also had Louise Kircher from Eddie first marriage.

Edwin Kircher Jr (1921 -1981 ) would graduate Delmar Maryland High school in 1939.  He was a very accomplished student.  He was in the school play "Aunt Tillie Goes To Town" 

He would go to Salisbury Normal school (Salisbury University)  until drafted into the army.  He would go to war in WW2 and be wounded with a spinal cord wound.  After his discharge from the Army he would graduated from the University of Tampa.  He would marry Eunice Marie Meoni (1922-1990) in 1947 and they would raise a family.   He would become an attorney, graduating Stetson University College of law.  He would be buried in Arlington national cemetery in 1981.

It would appear, at present, the only Delmar photo I can find that has Edwin Kircher in it is when he was in a 1939 Delmar high school school minstrial show.  He is front and center.

Harriet Rose (1922 - 2016) would attend Delmar High School but the move to Florida would have her graduate Gulf High school in Tampa.  She would go on to nursing school and marry James M Edwards in 1942.

Louise Kircher would marry Grady H. Tuttle but the marriage ended in divorce in 1970.

Rose Kircher mother was Gemma Di Stefano (1884-1945) who was born in Italy to Giovan and Luisa Covelli Di Stefano.  Shortly after arriving in America in 1899 Gemma married Michele Meglio son of Nicola and Rosaria Meglio.  They had for children; Nicholas (1899-1984 and Rose Elizabeth Meglio (1900-1963).  Either the marriage ended in Divorce or Michele died but in 1908 Gemma married Franceso “Frank” Ruocco.  They had for children; Doris (1909-1976), Marie (1910- ), Joseph William (1911- ), Louis (1915- ), Jean (joAnn) (1915- ) and Frank (1917-1996).

The Ruocco (Rocco) family was dysfunctional.  Gemma had the children remove from her custody in 1927.  Rose Kircher seemed to have been that sister that tried to look out for her family and keep it together.  Louis, her brother, traveled from New Jersey to Delmar and lived and worked with his sister Rose at Roseland.  Nicolas Meglio, also her brother, lived with the family and worked at Roseland.  Joseph, another brother, who was in and out of jail since he was 16 years old also came down and worked at Roseland briefly.  In 1939 he would return with Joseph Harley (he had also worked at Roseland) and wearing masks they would come to Edwin and Rose Kircher home (Opposite the Cozy Cabin) and gag and bound her two children; Harriett and Edwin Jr wait two hours for Mrs Kircher and her brother Nick to arrive back at the house then gag and tie them up.  The two men took $420 (the weekend receipts), a quantity of jewelry and the Kircher’s family car. They would eventually be caught and sentenced to six years in jail. 

Nicolas "Nick" Meglio was a doll maker for Trego Dolls in New York City before joining the Army and going to France in World War One.  He returned shell shocked and suffering mentally, as people would say he wasn’t quite right.  His sister Rose took him in and he lived and worked with her at Roseland.  When Rose and her husband moved to Florida he would go with them.  Her half brother Louis Ruocco would also go to Florida with them.  Nick would die in 1984 in Florida and is buried in a veteran’s cemetery in Tampa. 

Roseland continued over the years run by Howard Wiegand, Howard F Campbell, Andrew Caulfield etc.