My grandparents lived outside of Delmar, close to St George's Church on a small farm of about 26 acres. When my grandfather died in 1936 his will was typical of the wills made in that time period and before. In the will he allowed my grandmother to continue living on the property and on her death or remarriage the land was distributed to their sons, with an allowance made for their one daughter. As I said up until about 75 years ago this was typical of the wills. The wives were not deemed capable of managing property or financial affairs. Just a hundred years before that wives were not even deemed capable of raising their children after the death of their husband and a male guardian was appointed by the courts to oversee the welfare of the children.
Anyway my Grandmother was much disturbed by the will, she felt strongly she had worked just as hard for the farm as her husband had. Her answer to the problem was to not pay the taxes on the farm. The farm went to a tax sale and she bought the farm with the withheld tax money. The farm was now in her name, thusly voiding out the wishes of the will.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Was Your Forefather A Tory?
We would all like to believe that our forefathers were Revolutionary war heroes and patriots but there is a high likelihood they supported the King. After all if you had land and material possessions why would you want to upset the status quo? A recent article in the "Shore Line" Magazine (from the Nabb Research Center) reminded me of this fact. The article is called "Zachariah Campbell: The Patriot Who Saved Salisbury" by David Ranzan.
The part that interested me (since it refers to a location next to Delmar) was the letter written on February 1, 1777 by Zachariah Campbell, in Vienna, Md. at the time, to his brother James Campbell, Captain of the eight gun schooner Enterpise.
The Tories in Sussex, Somerset and Worcester Counties have been assembling for some days. They have 250 men collected at Parker's Mill (situated on present day Leonard's Pond) about nine miles from Salisbury and 'tis reported they have three field pieces, which they received from the Roebuck (44-gun British Frigate) with some men, with intention to seize the Magazine and destroy the property of the Whiggs, Coll. (George) Dashiell is now at Salisbury with what Whiggs he could collect about 130 and is to be reinforced on Monday by eight companies from this county
On February 19th help arrived in the form of General Smallwood and about a thousand men and order was restored. The Tory leaders were arrested, They were Angelo Atkinson, Josephus Beall, Rev. John Bowie, Hamilton Callalo, Dr. andrew Francis Cheney, Jesse Gray, Dr. John Odell Hart, Levi Lankford, Stoughton Maddox, Thomas Malcom, Thomas Moore, Thomas Pollett Jr, William pollett, and Whittington Turpin.
A brief review for those who may have forgotten;
Loyalists/Tories-Loyalists were British North American colonists who remained loyal subjects of the British crown during the American Revolution. They were also called Tories, King's Men, or Royalists.
Patriots/Whigs- supported the Revolution, were called Patriots, Whigs, Rebels, Congress Men
An excellent history of Parker's Mill and Leonard's Mill Pond is located here.
The part that interested me (since it refers to a location next to Delmar) was the letter written on February 1, 1777 by Zachariah Campbell, in Vienna, Md. at the time, to his brother James Campbell, Captain of the eight gun schooner Enterpise.
The Tories in Sussex, Somerset and Worcester Counties have been assembling for some days. They have 250 men collected at Parker's Mill (situated on present day Leonard's Pond) about nine miles from Salisbury and 'tis reported they have three field pieces, which they received from the Roebuck (44-gun British Frigate) with some men, with intention to seize the Magazine and destroy the property of the Whiggs, Coll. (George) Dashiell is now at Salisbury with what Whiggs he could collect about 130 and is to be reinforced on Monday by eight companies from this county
On February 19th help arrived in the form of General Smallwood and about a thousand men and order was restored. The Tory leaders were arrested, They were Angelo Atkinson, Josephus Beall, Rev. John Bowie, Hamilton Callalo, Dr. andrew Francis Cheney, Jesse Gray, Dr. John Odell Hart, Levi Lankford, Stoughton Maddox, Thomas Malcom, Thomas Moore, Thomas Pollett Jr, William pollett, and Whittington Turpin.
A brief review for those who may have forgotten;
Loyalists/Tories-Loyalists were British North American colonists who remained loyal subjects of the British crown during the American Revolution. They were also called Tories, King's Men, or Royalists.
Patriots/Whigs- supported the Revolution, were called Patriots, Whigs, Rebels, Congress Men
An excellent history of Parker's Mill and Leonard's Mill Pond is located here.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The DHAS Holiday House Tour - 2010
I declare the Delmar Historical and Arts Society Holiday House tour a success. A big thanks to the gracious homeowners who opened their house to visitors this year. Also, a big thanks to Faith Krebs and Denise Cugler who organized the event.
I cannot gave a fair review of the home tour as I was a greeter in the Joy Fothergill's house and did not take the tour. Joy’s house is well decorated bungalow built in the 1920’s by the Workman family. The homes in Delmar rarely go beyond the early 1900’s due to the fires the town have had.
Those houses on tour were; The Steve Liller house, The Sue Reszutek house, The Bob and Bobby Hettinger house,The Dorene and Keith Davis House, The Sharon Levodnik house, and the Audrey Serman House (out in the Shadow Hills development). The Del-Mar-Va Model Railroad Club, the Delmar Library, the Delmar Wesleyan Church the Masonic Lodge and St. Stephens Church were open for the tour. Cookies and Hot Chocolate was served at the Masonic Lodge. Jerry Carr displayed part of his enormous Delmar Memorabilia.
This was the First House Tour the the Delmar Historical and Arts Society has put on. Hopefully they will continue annually and it will become a quintessential holiday tradition.
Now since this was the first house tour we know there are many areas for the society to improve in future house tours. We would like your comments and you can post them here or send an email to delmarhas@yahoo.com
Hopefully we will see you next year on the tour.
I cannot gave a fair review of the home tour as I was a greeter in the Joy Fothergill's house and did not take the tour. Joy’s house is well decorated bungalow built in the 1920’s by the Workman family. The homes in Delmar rarely go beyond the early 1900’s due to the fires the town have had.
Those houses on tour were; The Steve Liller house, The Sue Reszutek house, The Bob and Bobby Hettinger house,The Dorene and Keith Davis House, The Sharon Levodnik house, and the Audrey Serman House (out in the Shadow Hills development). The Del-Mar-Va Model Railroad Club, the Delmar Library, the Delmar Wesleyan Church the Masonic Lodge and St. Stephens Church were open for the tour. Cookies and Hot Chocolate was served at the Masonic Lodge. Jerry Carr displayed part of his enormous Delmar Memorabilia.
This was the First House Tour the the Delmar Historical and Arts Society has put on. Hopefully they will continue annually and it will become a quintessential holiday tradition.
Now since this was the first house tour we know there are many areas for the society to improve in future house tours. We would like your comments and you can post them here or send an email to delmarhas@yahoo.com
Hopefully we will see you next year on the tour.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Airport Opens 1943
In October 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration decided an airport in the Salisbury area should be part of the national defense plan. On November 25, 1941 seven farms containing 695 acres were purchased (for $41,452) near Mt. Hermon Road.
Following a basic design of 3 5,000 feet concrete runways, round the clock construction begin. Due to the war time labor shortage of men really good wages were paid and lots of overtime was available.
A lot of people were required as seen in the above ad from B. Perini and Sons. As usual the construction contract did not go to a local company.
E. Clarke Gardner, director of Salisbury public works and Work Project Administration (WPA) labor cleared the land and paved the runways in 51 weeks, at a cost of $1,500,000.
On November 11th, Thursday, 1943, Armistice day at about 2:30 PM the dedication of the Salisbury-Wicomico county airport took place.
Salisbury stores closed for the occasion.
Before a crowd of 6,000 on a very cold, wind swept, snowy day at the airport the "Dawn of a new age" was announced by the politicians. Winters back in the 1940's were much like the winter we had last year. Cold weather started in September and snow was on the ground by November. A number of airports on the East Coast were closed due to the snow so many of planes scheduled to fly in for the opening ceremonies didn't make it. The politicians from the western shore that did make it were forced to spend the night in Salisbury due to the weather. The high winds and failure of the public address system prevented many from hearing the speeches. Today that may be considered a blessing but in the 1940s Politicians were still respected and feared. The Navy group of commanders came in a B-26 Martin Marauder and it was commented on that the B-26 used only a third of a mile of runway to land and take off. It was pointed that the Salisbury-Wicomico airport was one of 865 completed in 1943.
On May 15, 1944 the city and county signed a lease with the navy for one dollar for the airport to become the Salisbury Naval Auxiliary Air Station.
After the war, on November 15, 1945 the airport reverted back to civilian use.
In 1946 Chesapeake Airways (as shown in the above postcard) started operations at the Salisbury Airport. The officers and Directors were; Fred P. Adkins president, Charles D. Briddell and Enos Valliant vice presidents, Stanley Robins secretary, Ralph Grier treasurer, John Downing, Ralph Dulany, Avery Hall, Edgar Bennett and George Radcliffe, officers. It sounded like a who-who of the 1940s and 1950's in the Salisbury area. On April 4, 1946 the first Chesapeake planes arrived, with appropriate politicians giving speeches and taking credit. Mostly their planes were C-47’s and DC-3’s. They handled 25,000 passengers in the first 18 months. At $6.50 for passenger fare from Salisbury to Baltimore the airlines couldn't make it and stumbled on until 1949 and folded. Chesapeake Airways does still exist but as a part supplier. Followed by several other short lived local airlines it was not until Mr. Richard Henson moved his commuter service to Salisbury in 1968 as Henson Airlines that the airport found some stability.
In 1992 U.S. Airways purchased Henson Airlines and made it a part of its U.S. Airways Express system. The name was changed to Piedmont Airlines and the Salisbury operation grew to over 800 employees, as it became the maintenance center for U.S. Airways Express commuter aircraft.
Following a basic design of 3 5,000 feet concrete runways, round the clock construction begin. Due to the war time labor shortage of men really good wages were paid and lots of overtime was available.
A lot of people were required as seen in the above ad from B. Perini and Sons. As usual the construction contract did not go to a local company.
E. Clarke Gardner, director of Salisbury public works and Work Project Administration (WPA) labor cleared the land and paved the runways in 51 weeks, at a cost of $1,500,000.
On November 11th, Thursday, 1943, Armistice day at about 2:30 PM the dedication of the Salisbury-Wicomico county airport took place.
Salisbury stores closed for the occasion.
Before a crowd of 6,000 on a very cold, wind swept, snowy day at the airport the "Dawn of a new age" was announced by the politicians. Winters back in the 1940's were much like the winter we had last year. Cold weather started in September and snow was on the ground by November. A number of airports on the East Coast were closed due to the snow so many of planes scheduled to fly in for the opening ceremonies didn't make it. The politicians from the western shore that did make it were forced to spend the night in Salisbury due to the weather. The high winds and failure of the public address system prevented many from hearing the speeches. Today that may be considered a blessing but in the 1940s Politicians were still respected and feared. The Navy group of commanders came in a B-26 Martin Marauder and it was commented on that the B-26 used only a third of a mile of runway to land and take off. It was pointed that the Salisbury-Wicomico airport was one of 865 completed in 1943.
On May 15, 1944 the city and county signed a lease with the navy for one dollar for the airport to become the Salisbury Naval Auxiliary Air Station.
After the war, on November 15, 1945 the airport reverted back to civilian use.
In 1946 Chesapeake Airways (as shown in the above postcard) started operations at the Salisbury Airport. The officers and Directors were; Fred P. Adkins president, Charles D. Briddell and Enos Valliant vice presidents, Stanley Robins secretary, Ralph Grier treasurer, John Downing, Ralph Dulany, Avery Hall, Edgar Bennett and George Radcliffe, officers. It sounded like a who-who of the 1940s and 1950's in the Salisbury area. On April 4, 1946 the first Chesapeake planes arrived, with appropriate politicians giving speeches and taking credit. Mostly their planes were C-47’s and DC-3’s. They handled 25,000 passengers in the first 18 months. At $6.50 for passenger fare from Salisbury to Baltimore the airlines couldn't make it and stumbled on until 1949 and folded. Chesapeake Airways does still exist but as a part supplier. Followed by several other short lived local airlines it was not until Mr. Richard Henson moved his commuter service to Salisbury in 1968 as Henson Airlines that the airport found some stability.
In 1992 U.S. Airways purchased Henson Airlines and made it a part of its U.S. Airways Express system. The name was changed to Piedmont Airlines and the Salisbury operation grew to over 800 employees, as it became the maintenance center for U.S. Airways Express commuter aircraft.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Delmar Water Treatment Plant - 1997
Today in 1997 Delmar Broke ground on the "new" Water Treatment Plant on York Street.
George T. Jones and the Bi-State Weekly
The newspapers business in Delmar centered around George T. Jones and his wife, Mrs. Jones. Interesting altho the two ran the newspaper jointly I have found no reference to her first name. Prior to Mr. and Mrs. Jones entering the scene in Delmar there was the Delmar American newspaper run by William H. Hayman and the Delmar News, run by Frank A. Robertson. The papers were printed in Dover and sent to Delmar by rail each week. The Delmar American dropped out of existance around 1900. In 1911, Mr. and Mrs. Jones begin publishing The Herald. Shortly afterwards the two papers consolidated into the Delmar News-Herald. In 1913 Mr. and Mrs. Jones took control of the paper and renamed it the Peninsula News. In 1920 the publishing rights were sold to the Wicomico News of Salisbury, Maryland. After a short span Mr. and Mrs. Jones repurchased the paper and edited it again in Delmar, until 1927 when it was sold to Loren Quinn of Crisfield, Maryland. In 1932 Mr. and Mrs. Jones began publication of the Bi-State Weekly. The Bi-State Weekly would continue under various people until 1964. Altho later picked up as part of the State Register of Laurel it was never a Delmar paper after that. To this day Delmar does not have a paper it can call it's own.
Mr. Jones was born near Whitesville, Delaware in 1879. Mrs Jones was born in 1885 near Ward. Mr. Jones had a photography business in Ocean City until he was married in 1903. In 1903 they opened a photograph and print studio on the corner of East and South First street where they mainly printed circulars. After beginning the paper they continued to be the print shop for the town. Later the paper was moved to a shop behind their home on Delaware Avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Jones had one daughter Mrs. Myra Parks.
In 1948 Mr. and Mrs. Jones sold the Bi-State Weekly to two World War II veterans; William C. Calloway and Vernon L. Livingston. They continued to publish the paper until 1962 when it was sold to James K. Hazel, Jr. The paper struggled on, but by 1964 was done for.
Mr. Jones was born near Whitesville, Delaware in 1879. Mrs Jones was born in 1885 near Ward. Mr. Jones had a photography business in Ocean City until he was married in 1903. In 1903 they opened a photograph and print studio on the corner of East and South First street where they mainly printed circulars. After beginning the paper they continued to be the print shop for the town. Later the paper was moved to a shop behind their home on Delaware Avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Jones had one daughter Mrs. Myra Parks.
In 1948 Mr. and Mrs. Jones sold the Bi-State Weekly to two World War II veterans; William C. Calloway and Vernon L. Livingston. They continued to publish the paper until 1962 when it was sold to James K. Hazel, Jr. The paper struggled on, but by 1964 was done for.
DHAS Meeting
The Delmar Historical and Arts Society (DHAS) will hold it's monthly meeting November 11th at the District office at the High School at 7 PM. The public is welcome to attend.
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