Irish Genealogy

Irish Genealogy

The Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society is proud to present

 Mike Healy  

Irish Genealogy: Tips, Techniques, Tales, and Lessons Learned

Mike Healy is an Irish American United States Military Academy (USMA), West Point and Trinity College, Dublin (TCD) graduate, whose Irish grandparents came to America in May 1912.  He has been active in the Irish American community for over 30 years, with a number of past and present Irish American community affiliations

The presentation is an entertaining, beautiful pictorial presentation of Mr. Healy’s extensive Irish genealogy research experiences.  He will discuss proven research methods for finding your Irish ancestors’ origins and historical records, to include researching on-line genealogy resources such as Ellis Island passenger lists, U.S. and Irish census records, and 19th century Griffiths Valuation records.

This event is open to the public and is free.

 

Wednesday afternoon at 2 PM April 27th at the Ocean Pines Community Center, 235 Ocean Parkway, Ocean Pines, MD 21811

Bark Mills

There were many types of mills on Delmarva; they ranged from saw mills to grist mills, one type, not often thought of was the Bark Mills.  The Bark Mill would grind bark into a powder, which was shipped to a tannery to be used in tanning hides.  In our area Oak bark was favored because of the high tannin levels in oak.  The bark is about 10% tannin and the oak wood is about 6 %.  The color of tanned hides from oak bark is usually a yellow brown color.

Since a bark mill was sometimes part of a saw mill operation and sometimes part of a tannery operation they were not often marked on maps in the 1800's, instead the title "saw mill" or "tannery" was shown on the map.  There were however bark mills that stood alone by them selves.

The Bark mill may have been as simple as this one shown above in Connecticut, almost similar to a sorghum mill operation only on a larger scale.  Sometimes the bark was ground by stone mill stones the same as flour and grain mill stones.

usually though purchased cast iron mills made to grind bark were used. 

The mill was turned by a mule (frequently a blind mule as all it had to do all day was walk in a circle).  Usually boys operated it by thrown bark in the mill than shoveling up and packing the powdered bark into barrels.  In turn the barrels were shipped to a tannery, (local or by ship to Baltimore) where the powder was watered down in vats and allowed to sit for several weeks to absorb the tannin in the bark and then the liquid was drawn off to other vats where hides were soaked in the solution it for six months to a year. 

 

 

 

In the July 24, 1880 "Salisbury Advertiser and Eastern Shoreman" Newspaper  is the above article about John,  a bark mill horse.

Interestingly in China in the 1800 and 1900's a blind man was used to push or pull the shaft on the grinder, as it employed the person and he worked cheap.

The Kings Church Cypress Grave Marker

As we all know Delmarva lacks stone, so it should come as no surprise that early grave markers were wood, usually cypress.  Even cypress eventually succumbs to the elements and disappears. The early markers have all but gone.  Some were replaced with stone when the monument carvers begin to move into the area about the 1860s.  One of the last ones is out at Kings Church on Gordy Road between Whitesville and Salt Barn Road.

The marker is so weathered you can not make out any lettering.

There may be a record as to whose grave this is but at the moment I am too lazy to investigate and find out. 

Sorrowful Margaret Custis

It is a rare given name for a child to be named Sorrowful, but it did occasional occur.  Mostly the given name of Sorrowful occurs more (but still rare)  in Hyde County North Carolina.  In some cases you can see, where in later generations those who had Sorrowfull as a middle name, the spelling was changed and it became Sarfull. In researching early settlers of the Eastern Shore of Virginia I encountered Sorrowful Margaret Custis (born 1681 - died about 1750), daughter of John Custis III (of Wilsonia ) and Margaret Michael.  In her case, she was named Sorrowfull because her mother died giving birth to her.  The Custis family has always had a certain eccentric in it, so to give a child that kind of name is no surprise.

John Custis was a well off planter and merchant who lived at Arlington Northampton county Virginia.  They had at least five children of which Sorrowful Margaret was the last (makes sense if her mother died giving birth to her) .  His grandson would marry Martha Danridge, who after the grandson's death, would marry George Washington.  His great grand daughter would marry Robert E. Lee.

So back to Sorrowful.  She married William Kendall and after his death Thomas Cable.  She had as children; Littleton Kendall, Col. Custis Kendall, William Kendall IV, Ann Kendall, Peggy Kendall, Leah Kendall, Henrietta Kendall,  George Mason Kendall and Ester Cable, Elizabeth Cable, and Sarah Cable.  Yes she was productive. .

1813 Request For food for the British

On March 16th the Mayor of Lewis received this letter for food from the British.  The Mayor turned him down.  Normally the handwriting of this period is so loopy that it is unreadable unless you train yourself to read it but this letter is fairly clear. The letter was published by the Delaware archives on their site.

Jay Hearn Will Speak At Nabb research Center Wednesday

Calling All Hearnes

The Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society is proud to present

 Jay Hearn  

Jay Hearn will be speaking on “A Father & Son’s Journey:  From a Delmar Confederate Veteran to an Immigrant Merchant, William Hearne’s London Roots.”  Jay and his father have been passionately researching the Hearn(e) family of Delmarva since 1973, however it has only been in the last year that new discoveries have shed some light on his English roots and those of his wife, Mary Westcott.  Anyone with interest in the Hearn(e) and Gray Families of the late 1600’s from  old Somerset  County will not want to miss out on these findings!

This event is open to the public and is free.

 

Wednesday afternoon at 2 PM March 23rd at the Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University - Wayne and Powell Street Unit #190

 

Clean water In 1966

From Daily Times 1966
Samuel J. mitchell