Category: Uncategorized

More than ever, people are curious about the past that is all around them in Cecil County. Whether they are newcomers just getting acquainted with their community or those who have lived here for centuries, these inquiring types are intrigued by the area’s history and the intersection of the past with the present.

Surviving traces of earlier times — graveyards, old houses, buildings, crumbling stone fences, rusting railroad tracks, or something else — often stimulate the questions.  But frequently, it is something to do with genealogy, research methods, or the narrative about a local organization.  And occasionally, the discovery of a trove of family photographs or papers stored away long ago brings a question to mind.  Whatever the mystery, family history riddle, or surviving relic that stimulates the desire to delve into the past, they want to know more about the past, culture, and people.

To help those mystified or curious about something, the Cecil Whig, the county’s newspaper of record, has a column in the print and online editions that lets you ask questions for the Historical Society of Cecil County to answer.  Each week the volunteer researchers at Cecil County’s history and genealogy library take a current inquiry about a person or something that has intrigued a reader and provide some answers to the puzzle.  There is also a weekly “recognize this” photo, where readers are asked to share their memories of an image from earlier days.

So if you are Cecil County curious, pass along the question that sparked your interest, and our local history and genealogy experts will puzzle over it for you.

At a rapid pace these days, old newspapers are being digitized and made openly available to researchers, and as I work on Cecil and Harford county projects I often find additional collections of these valuable publications.  Some are completely digitized and fully text searchable, while on demand PDFs make up other groups.   Either way, as we undergo a revolution in research methods, the study of the past is strengthened as we make more materials readily available on our desktops.

Previously work with these aging newspapers and the technology from another era required lengthy visits to a library or special collections institution, along with hours of eye-straining labor as the microfilm slowly scrolled along on a screen.

The Maryland State Archives has had some PDFs of state newspapers online for a number of years.  But this evening I needed access to one of those limited runs, and discovered that the Archives has been busy strengthening its virtual publications resources, placing nearly 100 titles online, from around the State.  The serials are not text searchable, but the renderings are clear and easy to read and are great step forward in making a larger universe of data available to a broader audience.  Not all the years are online for the selected serials, but this appears to be a work in progress.

Whatever the case, as it now stands, it is a valued tool for genealogist and local history enthusiasts digging into the past in Cecil and Harford counties.   Here is the link, so check it out and I have also summarized the digital copies in the next paragraph.  Thank you Maryland State Archives.

Cecil County:  Cecil County Star (North East MD – 1930s; Cecil Whig (Elkton), 1870s; Midland Journal (Rising Sun) 1930s and 1940s

Harford County:  Aegis & Intelligencer (Bel Air), 1880s;

Commercial, subscription data providers are also starting to provide online newspapers from the area too.  For example, GenealogyBank has the following:

Bel Air – Harford Gazette and General Advertiser – 1848 – 1852; National American – 1856; Southern Aegis – 1857.

Elkton:  Cecil Democrat – 1845 -1876; Cecil Whig – 2004 –current;

By-the-way, more 21^st century resources are in the product development pipeline.  DigiStew, the blog of digital systems at the University, discusses a project the University library is working on as part of the National Digital Newspaper Project.  Through August 2014, the institution will digitize 100,000 pages of historical newspaper content from the state of Maryland.  “The newspapers will be made freely accessible and searchable on the Library of Congress website, Chronicling America.  Once optical character recognition has been applied to papers, we greatly expand the efficiency of our research, opening such access to much more data.

Also here is a link to Special Collections at the University, about the launch of project.

Early this morning, as Elkton started recovering from yet another blast of wintry weather, it appeared that the Union Hospital greeter had been outside in the freezing conditions too long.

A powerful storm dumped 14-inches of white stuff on the county seat, but before dawn it had moved on up the coast.  And across the county things had remained relatively quiet as people settled in to let this big nor’easter pass.

But upon approaching the main hospital entrance soon after daybreak visitors found the snowman there to welcome them on this Friday in the middle of winter, as the sun started to break through the clouds.

Snowman greets Union Hospital visitors.

Some freedom seekers fled from slavery by crossing the Delmarva Peninsula and others by fleeing from the Peninsula. Some risked running on their own and others connected with the Underground Railroad. What we know about these freedom seekers, their routes, and the help they received will be presented. The upper region of the Delmarva Peninsula will receive the most attention.

February 18, 2014 at 6:30

Cecilton Branch Library

Lecture:  by Milt Diggins

410-275-1091 Pone

for information and a reservation click here

The speaker’s series for the winter of 2013-14 continues at the Historical Society on March 1 when two professional title searchers explore how to dig through records to determine the history of a piece of property or an old house.  In the informative, how-to program, Wendy Webb and Darlene McCall share special skills and insights that will show you how they go about finding the conveyances, the metes and bounds in deeds, and all the things that are crucial to understanding and documenting a property.

Combined they have nearly 80 years of experience combing through deeds, mortgages, tax records, real estate documents, wills, and other public records, while creating property chains that show who bought a property and from whom, as well as when they bought it.  Wendy, and business partner Rosemary Jackson, own “Title Abstract & Research, Inc.” a firm that searches public records in Cecil County for attorneys, realtors, surveyors, and title insurance companies. Darlene retired from the practice, after working for an Elkton attorney.  She is an active Cecil County genealogist and local history researcher, helping other investigate the areas heritage in old newspapers, photographs, maps and other sources.

During the lecture, Wendy, will demonstrate the use of the latest online tools for Maryland Land Records, plats, and property tax assessments.  The Maryland Judiciary, the Clerk of the Court, and the Maryland State Archives provide online access to records, which makes this aspect of being a history detective a little easier, once you learn how to navigate the systems.  And Darlene has done a case study on a local property, leveraging the sources of genealogists and historians such as obituaries, newspapers, and family records, which she will discuss.

Representatives from the Cecil County Historic District Commission will also be on hand to answer questions for anyone interested in learning about listing a property on the Cecil County registry.  The Commission, a part of county government, is charged with preserving historic resources such as old buildings.

This free program, sponsored by the Historical Society of Cecil County, takes place at 2:00 p.m. on March 1^, 2014, at the 135 E. Main Street in Elkton.

After families departed from Elkton following the December 8, 2013, “Remembrance Program,” Historical Society genealogist Billie Todd started curating the “Fight 214 Archives,” which is becoming a permanent collection at Cecil County’s History and Genealogy Library.  It will hold materials created over that long, snowy weekend as nearly 150 friends and relatives traveled to Elkton to pause and reflect on the passage of 50 years since the Pan American jet crashed at the edge of town.

When the Society outlined its objectives for this event two years ago, the final goal was the establishment of the remembrance archives as the County’s heritage keepers felt it was their obligation to preserve these memories so the sad day is never forgotten.

So our resident genealogist is now working on this last step.  A lot of materials were shared or created that weekend.  Those include notes, personal observations, formal programs and remarks, video recordings, photographs, television news recordings, emails, and newspaper clippings.  Billie is carefully processing all of it, the paper and digital content, to make sure those memories are permanently saved.

Our neighborhood cat took advantage of the brief break in the wintry weather Thursday to catch a few rays of sun in downtown Elkton.  Rev. Duke’s Log House at the Historical Society of Cecil County provided the perfect angle for catching the warmth of the short February day.  Billie Todd, our resident genealogist at the Society, noticed our friend when she returned for lunch.  Thanks for pointing out the photo opportunity Billie.

 

Eric Lesniak produced this video promoting the services of the Historical Society of Cecil County.  A graduate of the University of Scranton and Shippensburg University, Eric volunteered at the Society for several summers.  He took this project on for a videography class.   Thanks Eric.

At a rapid pace these days, old newspapers are being digitized and made openly available to researchers, and as I work on projects I often find additional collections of these valuable publications.  Some are completely digitized and fully text searchable, while on demand PDFs make up others.    Either way, as we undergo a digital revolution in research methods, the study of the past is strengthened as we make more resources readily available on our desktops.

Previously work with these aging old newspapers and the technology from another era required lengthy visits to a library or historical society and hours of eye-straining labor as the microfilm slowly slipped past on a screen.

The Maryland State Archives has had some PDFs of Cecil County newspapers online for a number of years.  But this evening I needed access to one of those limited runs, and discovered that the Archives has been busy greatly strengthening its virtual publication resources, placing additional local titles online.  Those include the Cecil Whig, the Cecil Star, and the Midland Journal.  In addition, there are nearly 100 titles statewide.

The serials are not text searchable, but the renderings are clear and easy to read and are great step forward in making a larger universe of data available to an expanded audience interested in the past.  Not all the years are online for the selected serials, but this appears to be a work in progress.

Whatever the case, as it now stands it is a valued tool for genealogist and historians digging into the past in Maryland.  Here is the link, so check it out.  Thank you Maryland State Archives.

By-the-way, more 21^st century resources are in the product development pipeline.  DigiStew, the blog of digital systems at the University, discusses a project the University library is working on as part of the National Digital Newspaper Project.  Through August 2014, the institution will digitize 100,000 pages of historical newspaper content form the state of Maryland.  “The newspapers will be made freely accessible and searchable on the Library of Congress website, Chronicling America.

Also here is a link to Special Collections at the University, about the launch of project.