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NOTES ON CECIL COUNTY CANNING COMPANIES — A number of towns once had canneries, processing corn, peaches, tomatoes, and other products. Some of the largest were located in the northwestern part of Cecil County.

By the late 19th century, there were canneries in the Colora and Liberty Grove area. For example, the Cecil Whig reported in August 1899 that two canneries at Colora had started operating for the season and that Silver’s Cannery at Liberty Grove was also operating. For the 1902 season, a record year, R.L. Christie’s Cannery at Colora packed 10,000 cases while Chas B. Silver’s Cannery, Liberty Grove, packed 19,000 cases.

George Lidell took charge of the canning factory at Liberty Grove in 1903, expanding the factory there (Midland Journal, Aug. 15, 1903).

Elwood Balderston sold land to Harry P. Strasbaugh and William Silver in 1911 and a year later the Colora Canning Company was incorporated. In 1928 the property was transferred to Francis S. and William E. Silver. In 1944, canning companies in Colora merged, forming the Silver Canning Company.

With an abundant crop being harvested in late August 1932, the canneries of Cameron Brothers at Rising Sun, Colora Packing Company and J H Liddell at Colora and the Liddell Canner at Liberty Grove were running full time. They were packing corn and tomatoes (Midland Journal, Aug. 26, 1932)

An eagerly anticipated annual custom at the Silver Canning Company was the “Harvest Home Party.” On Oct. 5, 1946, the company hosted its 10th annual party at its “up-to-date and sanitary cannery” near Colora. The company served cigars, coffee, ice cream, and coca-cola and more than thirty cakes made by the ladies who worked at the plant. “Diddy” Nesbitt and his band opened the party, providing music and entertainment. When the party closed at midnight everyone agreed that it had been a memorable occasion and a fitting close to the company’s 36th consecutive season (Midland Journal, Oct. 25, 1946)

When harvest season rolled around in 1951, The Silver Canning Co. advertising for cannery labor and trucks. Corn handlers, huskers, cutters, filler operators, and husk and corn trucks were needed.

The Silver Cannery located about a half-mile south of Colora was partially destroyed by a fire on March 3, 1965, according to the Cecil Whig. About 125 firefighters and nine units from Rising Sun, Port Deposit, Perryville and Darlington worked to contain the blaze. The building was fully involved when the first engine arrived, according to Chief Courtley Carter of the Community Fire Company of Rising Sun. The newspaper reported that the structure had not been used as a cannery for about 10 years.

Canneries were once very important for Cecil County’s economy, purchasing the crops of local farmers and employing hundreds of people.

For additional Cecil County Canning photos see this album on Facebook.

For an article on the railroad line serving canneries in this part of the county, see our blog post — All’s Quiet on the Octoraro Branch.

“An unpretentious resort where people could enjoy the country, the great shade trees, and the safe, sandy beaches” is how one magazine once described Red Point Beach.  The vacation spot about 4 miles below North East was established in 1926 after Alphonse Pericat and C. F. Park of Wilmington purchased the 112-acre property in Elk Neck.

The partners added some summer cottages, created campsites, had a beachfront store, and acres of wooded land for outdoor pleasure, along with the sandy beach on the North East River, all making it a beautiful spot for mooring craft, fishing, and enjoying the summer.  In those early days, people traveled down dusty roads, drew water from a hand pump, and lit their cottages with kerosene lamps.  Generations of families spent their summer at Red Point.

Over time the state paved the main road and electricity arrived. In 1953, the Post Office announced that residents at Red Point Beach would have home delivery from June 16 to September 15 each year. Odette (Skip) Scrivanich, whose grandfather (Pericat) was one of the partners, managed the beach for several decades.  She died in June 1975 after contracting rabies from a bat bite.   After her death, the property was put up for sale in 1978.

For Additional Photos and information, see the album Red Point on Facebook

Cecil County Becomes a Vacation Spot

Note & Sources

Maryland in Congress, Baltimore Sun, Aug. 2, 1953

Red Pont Beach Advertisement, July 3, 1963

Red Point Beach:  50 Years Old This Summer, Cecil Whig. Aug 25, 1976

Women began joining the fire service in Elkton in the 1970s, entering the all-male Singerly Fire Company ranks as first responders.  These trailblazers started with emergency medical services but soon expanded into firefighting.  Over forty years later, they are found driving the apparatus, entering blazing buildings, providing pre-hospital acute care, and commanding incidents.

It certainly was a milestone in fire service history, as the first trailblazers met the challenge of leading the way.  Those fire department pioneers in Elkton, beginning with the first two waves in 1975 and 1976, were Doris Swyka, Rosemary Culley, Helen Atkinson, Ann Boulden, Ruby Spry, and Shirley Herring.

After completing an intensive EMT course, this group learned the ropes and passed a demanding examination. Soon, they were answering ambulance calls alongside male colleagues. They never considered it a big deal, but in later years, other young women joining the fire department had female first responders as role models, which wasn’t available to those 1970s trailblazers. Also, in a few more years, additional women joined to become firefighters.

Along these lines, another entry was added to the record on Feb. 2, 2015, when Michelle Walker-Ewing became the chief of Singerly Fire Company.  The 38th commander to take operational charge of the Elkton unit was also the first woman to attain the top rank in the county.  Assuming the leadership reigns came naturally for the veteran commander, with both volunteer and career experience.  Chief Ewing started as a rookie in 1981, joining the Community Fire Company of Rising Sun when she turned 16.

At a time when the service was mostly male, the recruit worked her way up the ranks, acquiring credentials as a firefighter, EMT, and paramedic.  She also launched a career in the Cecil County Dept. of Emergency Services.  After 26 years of service there, the chief retired as the deputy director, the agency’s second in command.

For More on Women in the Fire Service, see

Martha Finley, Joined the Fire Company in 1892

Note

The first women in the fire service in Elkton, serving with the Singerly Fire Company (along with the date of acceptance as a probationary member).

Helen Atkinson, Feb. 2, 1975

Ann Boulden, Feb. 2, 1975

Ruby Spry, Feb. 2, 1975

Rosemary Culley

Shirley Herring, Nov. 10, 1975

Doris Swyka, Jan. 12, 1976

Recently, while researching the Singerly Fire Company’s 125th anniversary, we searched the archives for information on members when we discovered another marker to add to the company’s annals.

In 1892, as the Singerly Fire Company started serving the community, a man was issued a share of stock to show that he was a member. The board of directors voted on the candidates and three nays out of 12 were sufficient to block enlistment. In addition, you had to pay $1, and for that, you became a shareholder.

In those old 19th-century rosters, there is one woman, a card-carrying member of Singerly. Martha Finley (1828-1909) was an immensely popular children’s author whose works reached an estimated audience of 25 million readers. Born in Ohio, the internationally acclaimed writer lived in Philadelphia and New York before settling in Elkton in 1876, according to the biographer C. D. Merriman.¹,²  

From her beautiful residence on E. Main Street (now R.T. Foard Funeral Home), “one of America’s best-loved authoresses” produced her volumes for national publishing houses.  The writer was a progressive philanthropist interested in advances for women.

In those old volumes is stock certificate No. 33 issued to “Miss Martha Finley” on March 8, 1892.   After that, the official membership roster doesn’t have names of other women until the mid-1970s.  There is no evidence to indicate other types of participation by this pioneer, but she was a stockholder, granted “full privileges of membership,” according to the company bylaws.

Singerly most likely generously benefited from financial contributions from the civic-minded, progressive writer, one of the nation’s leading authors at that time.

Also, See Women Join the Fire Service in the 1970s

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Endnotes

1. C.D. Merriman, “Martha Finley,” Jalic Inc.[↩]
2. “Martha Finley,” Wikipedia.[↩]

In the Elkton Cemetery on Howard Street, a small stretch of grass alongside Howard Street has served as the fireman’s lot since 1892. Here is the story behind this little plot of land in the old burial ground.

The Singerly Fire Company incorporated on Jan. 22, 1892, and in early November of that year the department’s first president, Richard Thomas, died. The Elkton firefighters promptly called a special meeting to make arrangements for the funeral.

O.R. Chaytor was appointed to serve as the marshal at the fire service funeral. The company also draped the fire apparatus in mourning for 30 days.

Mr. Thomas, 73, a native of England had settled in Cecil County in 1842. For many years, he was engaged in the lumber and canal boat business at Port Deposit and in 1871 he was elected sheriff of the county, filling the office for two years. He died suddenly of heart disease on Nov. 1. 1892 while sitting in a chair at his home on Main Street (Evening Journal, Nov. 2, 1892).

The men voted to purchase land in the cemetery for $14 to serve as the final resting place for President Thomas. The deed, made out to Singerly, notes that Mrs. Thomas had the privilege of being buried beside her husband in the fireman’s lot.

Mrs. Thomas was buried there in 1928.

A number of years ago, Ed McKeown of the Elkton Monument Company donated a monument to formally mark the fireman’s lot at the Elkton Cemetery.

For Additional Photos, see this album on Facebook — The Fireman’s Lot at the Elkton Cemetery

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019, at 7 p.m., Rein Jelle Terpstra will talk about Senator Bobby Kennedy’s Funeral Train, which passed through Cecil County on June 8, 1968.

Over four years, Professor Terpstra worked on his project “Robert F. Kennedy Funeral Train: The People’s View.” As part of his fieldwork, he visited Cecil County several times, collecting old snapshots, home movies, and memories of that sad, unforgetable day.

Late in the afternoon of June 8, 1968, the long-delayed funeral train carrying the body of Senator Kennedy to Washington passed through Elkton. It was around 6 p.m. and the train was about 4-hours late. Larry Beers, a 15-year-old, was taking home movies that captured the scene that hot June afternoon so long ago. This rare movie footage and many other Cecil County photographs of those sad, fleeting moments from the past will be discussed at the Newark Historical Society program.

This program will be of great interest to many Cecil Countians. Here’s the formal press release from the Newark History Center.

Newark History Center Hosts Robert F. Kennedy Funeral Train

This extensive project, Robert F. Kennedy Funeral Train-The People’s View by internationally renowned artist, Rein Jelle Terpstra, is about the Robert F. Kennedy funeral train and the memories of those who looked to this promising leader for a better future for themselves and how his tragic death profoundly affected them. The train rode from NYC to Washington, D.C.  carrying the body of Senator Robert F Kennedy. About one million mourners stood along the tracks, paying their final respects.

Terpstra conceived the idea of collecting both memories, amateur photographs and home movies from the train’s onlookers along the train’s path. He accomplished this over a period of about four years. Terpstra’s Robert F. Kennedy  Funeral Train-The People’s View project has been shown all over the world including, the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, International Center of Photography NYC, the Smithsonian Institute and The Nederlands Foto Museum in Rotterdam.  He has also just recently won the Gold Award for the most beautiful book of the world, 2019.

 It has been just over 51 years since the death of Senator Kennedy with the funeral train passing through Newark. Since many of the mourners stood on the steps of the Pennsylvania railroad station, now home to the Newark History Museum, the historical society deemed it appropriate and fitting to sponsor this event. As the 50^th anniversary has just recently been observed, this moment is still very alive in the minds of many Americans. Many believe that Robert Kennedy’s ability to unite people would be of such worth in these days of political turmoil. Our vision is to invite not only the Newark community but also those communities, historical societies, government representatives and places of higher learning located along the path of the funeral train’s journey.

Keynote speaker: 

Governor John Carney

Wednesday, October 23, 2019. 7pm-9pm

Newark Country Club

300 West Main St.

Newark, DE. 19711

Free Admission; Light Refreshments

PORT DEPOSIT — On Nov 10, 1960, Port Deposit resident, Patrica Taylor Stamps, 23, was rushed to Harford Memorial Hospital. There she was admitted to the segregated ward for African-Americans. Expecting to deliver her baby boy, Carlos, the doctor told her there were medical complications and the procedure needed to happen immediately.

On delivery, Carlos was in acute distress. A modern, state-of-the-art incubator, a piece of medical equipment that provided an oxygen-enriched environment for newborns was not available in the segregated area. With the baby struggling to breathe, a white nurse soon made a decision. She grabbed the newborn, rushing to the white maternity ward on an upper floor where had the special equipment.

But it was too late as Baby Carlos passed away. Patricia died soon hearing that her bay died.

George Thomas Stansbury (1922 – 1996), an African-American Physician in Havre de Grace, stayed with Patricia all night working to comfort her. Dr. Stansbury provided care for black residents in western Cecil and a large part of Harford County.

While dealing with his grief, Mr. Stamps made an important decision. He decided that the thing to do was to seek to end segregation at Harford Memorial Hospital. In 1963, a year before federal laws caught up, the Havre de Grace Hospital agreed and integrated. In 2018, the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center formally acknowledged the 1960 family tragedy with a ceremony and mounted a plaque on a wall in the lobby of Harford Memorial.

Last Wednesday (9/26/19) Mr. Willie Stamps visited Harford Community College to talk about this sad event and events throughout his life. The standing-room-only facility was filled with about 110 to 115 guests as faculty, students, and the community came to hear this untold story.

Some things, such as school integration, have received a good bit of attention in recent years in, but there are many unexplored aspects about Jim Crow in this era in northeastern Maryland that history publications and newspapers haven’t examined. And that is something Harford Community College is working to address.

Segregated Hospital

Most hospitals in Maryland and Delaware were segregated. African-Americans were admitted to a special ward as the law accepted separate but equal care. Of course, that standard was often ignored.

Also, African-American physicians had either no or very limited admitting privileges. In some places they could visit the “colored ward,” but in Elkton, they had to go to the white doctor when one of their patients needed in-patient care.

As brave people like Mr. Stamp took a stand, it gradually began to change to end to the segregated hospital in the northeastern corner of Maryland until finally, the federal laws caught up with everything.

Here’s a photo album about this tragedy and Mr. Stamps lecture at the College. Some of my students are involved in interviewing him, and I’m sure that will be an experience they won’t forget.

For the full article on Mike’s History Blog click this link
http://www.dixonhistory.com/…/segregation-at-harford-memor…/

Also See

Remember Dr. James L. Johnson, a respected Cecil County African-American Physician

A recent NBC News piece about a small town of under 1,000 people having a hometown radio station serving the rural community reminded us of when Elkton had a full-service outlet, WSER.  With the station providing original daily programming for Cecil County, the broadcasters talked to the community.   DJs played the hits and chatted up area happenings, a reporter had local news, and programming highlighted local people, things, and sports.  

Elkton’s radio station, took to the airwaves on Thursday, Aug. 22, 1963, at noon.  As the transmitter came to life with regular programming for Cecil County, listeners heard a special opening ceremony. County and town officials were on hand, and the Rev. Howard O. Van Sice, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Elkton, gave the invocation.

For some 40 years from the studio on Maloney Road, it was Cecil County’s daytime spot on the dial, the airwaves filled with conversation about Cecil County in between the hits of the day.  The station was a central part of the county.

On snowy days, families immediately turned on WSER to hear if the schools were closed.  And the all too eager students jammed the phone lines at the station, calling to ask if the overworked morning crew had heard anything yet.  On those snowy sunrises, the early morning announcer knew he had his work cut out for him as he would often remind students not to jam the lines so the Board of Education could reach the station.  The announcement would hit the airwaves as soon as it was received, he assured young listeners.

Sometimes news bulletins interrupted the daily routine. For many here, the first they head that President Kennedy had been shot down in Dallas came from the network flash on WSER.  On that November 22, 1963, the mid-day disc jockey worked the turntable playing the hits of ’63 when the network flash interrupted his entertaining routine.  Once the first flash got everyone’s attention, listeners huddled near receivers at home, work, and in cars to hear the latest.  As the hours unfolded, the network kept up a steady stream of bulletins and flashes.  Soon afterward, the station informed its advertisers that all commercial spots were being pulled for a few days as the nation entered a period of mourning. 

A few weeks later on Dec. 8, 1963, Pan American Airlines Flight 214 crashed in Elkton, 81-people perishing when the big jet exploded high in the sky over the town.   The tragedy occurred around 9 p.m. on Sunday night.  When the station signed on the air at sunrise Monday morning Elkton’s radio station kept local listeners informed as the painful recovery process got underway with the first light of day, the work continuing over several days.

On October 31, 1965, Chief Edgar Slaughter of the Singerly Fire Company ordered an urgent, mandatory evacuation of parts of western Elkton, after a train carrying hazardous material wrecked in town.  The announcer working the Sunday morning shift at WSER interrupted the regular church programming which aired in that time slot, taking to the airwaves to broadcast emergency information to residents of west Elkton as National Guardsmen, police officers and firefighters went door-to-door to make sure people dearted immediately.

For many Cecil Countians, it was their spot on the dial in the daytime and It was all focused on Cecil County.

In late 1999, a Delaware-based religious group, Faith City Church, purchased the station from First Philadelphia Properties. Around this time it started simulcasting a remote feed, according to Wikipedia. Thus local programming was discontinued. The station changed its call letters to WXHL on Feb. 15, 2002.

As we travel around, from Pilottown to Fredericktown and every place in between, we often encounter old landmarks and historic buildings in Cecil County that grab our attention for numerous reasons. Sometimes it’s the end of the line for an aged, neglected building, its days dwindling quickly as a wrecking crew gets to work.  Other times, there is a sign alongside the road announcing that a faded historic home is being restored to something akin to its former state.  But frequently it’s simply the uniqueness of the structure – architectural features or social history – that make us curious about the place that has survived the passage of centuries.

As naturally curious types, whatever it is we often stop to look at the landmarks of yesteryear that dot our northeastern Maryland landscape during our little history chases as we contemplate the passage of time at places that provide direct links to the past.  As we ramble about we will share a few notes about our adventures in a special series on old structures.  Many will be humble old buildings from another era in the countryside, but some posts will focus on the architectural treasures around the county.    All have stories to tell.

We will begin this series in an upcoming post as we focus on an old structure on Main Street in Elkton, the former Cecil County Public Library Building, which has watched over Main Streets since the first half of the 19^th century. 

Here’s a link to our first post about 135 E. Main Street, the old bank building in Elkton.

Also see – The Gilpin Building Anchors Downtown Elkton

ELKTON, Sept. 9, 2019 – On this Monday in late summer, first responders, friends, and family gathered to say goodbye to N. Keith Sinclair.  The sixty-four-year-old, passed away suddenly Wednesday morning (Sept 4), while preparing to report for a duty shift at the Cecil County Department of Emergency Services.  Keith was a 911 dispatcher, a position he held for 43-years. 

For all of his adult life, Keith volunteered with county fire departments and worked in communications for Emergency Services.  As a teenager, he joined the ranks of the Singerly Fire Company as soon as he was sixteen.  Starting in May 1971, he worked his way up the ranks, becoming certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and serving as Elkton’s Ambulance Director.  Later, he joined the Chesapeake City Volunteer Fire Company.

In 1978, he was a member of the first Cecil County class of what was then known as paramedics.   In those formative years for Emergency Medical Services, the first ALS providers were known as paramedics as training, and additional levels of certification were some years in the future.  That first class composed entirely of Singerly members had been taught by Frank Muller, Paramedic Instructor. 

In 1976, he took a full-time job as a dispatcher at fire headquarters.   In the mid-1970s, one dispatcher worked a shift, juggling calls and handling radio traffic for police and fire departments while also maintaining handwritten records of the activities.  Dispatcher Sinclair grew with the job, as 911 came in, computers replaced paper logs, and the call volume increased dramatically.  Now a full team of call takers, dispatchers, and supervisors provide the first contact someone has in time of an emergency.

Dispatcher Sinclair, a professional in every way, was a highly respected public safety colleague.  He kept his officers safe on the streets, kept up with changing times, and was that calm, reassuring voice thousands of people heard when they needed help the most.  From the first call he took in 1973 to the last one he handled a few days ago, he was a caring public servant.  That could be seen today as tears were shed and people sorrowfully hugged each other on this sad, sad Monday in late summer.    

Following services at Hicks Home for Funerals, police fire vehicles, paramedic units, and fire trucks led family and friends in a processional motorcade to the graveside service at Gilpin Manor.  At Gilpin Manor the clouds gave way and the sky cleared as the mournful sounds of the bagpipe faded off into the distance while uniformed first responders carried the casket from the old North East Fire engine.  In the final moments of the graveside service, the sound of a dispatcher broke the silence with the final call for Dispatcher Sinclair. 

Keith Sinclair dedicated his life to emergency services and to serving the people of Cecil County.  The friend, colleague, and public servant will be missed.

See album for additional photos from the funeral service for Keith Sinclair. (under construction)