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As Elkton shook off the effects of the Great Depression and World War II a tremendous amount of growth occurred in the community.  To keep up with the demands of the expanding place, new housing developments sprouting up in farm fields at the edge of town, the Singerly Fire Company launched a series of advances.  One of those involved replacing two obsolete pieces of firefighting equipment with a 1952 Oren, a “heavy duty pumper,” capable of pumping 750 gallons of water a minute.  It also had a booster tank carrying three hundred gallons of water.  Costing almost $17,000, the Oren went in service in January 1952.  The department also had a modern fire station on North Street for the unit, which had opened in 1950.  It is this unit that recently returned home to Singerly.

From the Cecil Whig YouTube Channel

A 60 year old firetruck has returned home at last to Singerly Fire Company.
Officials at the Elkton fire company welcomed the 1951 Oren fire truck during a ceremony last weekend.  Charles Richard Fox, a former Oren firetruck salesman who purchased the truck from Singerly for $500 20 years ago, fully restored it. He has now returned it back to Singerly, which plans to exhibit it in its museum.

The Octoraro Branch Railroad once connected Rising Sun, Colora, Rowlandsville, Liberty Grove, and other northwestern Cecil County communities with the outside world.  But in the automobile-age, passenger service declined rapidly and after World War II freight service slowly disappeared.

Although it’s been a long time since the lonesome locomotive whistle echoed through these valleys and hills, plenty of relics from the heyday of the railroad still exist for anyone casually exploring the abandoned right-of-way.  One sunny day this week, I snapped this shot of the old iron bridge where it crosses Basin Run and the tracks enter the deep cut outside of Rowlandsville.  Along the way, plenty of other artifacts from the golden era of the train caught our attention, including railroad stations, depots signs, several bridges and other remnants.

The Octoraro Branch, with its natural beauty, rolling hills, and gentle streams, would make an ideal rails to trails route for public enjoyment.

One of the speakers at this year at this year’s Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Conference is a local historian, Milt Diggins.  The conference, which takes place in Cambridge on June 1^st and 2^nd, will feature a talk by the author and retired educator.  Milt will present original research into the story of Thomas McCreary, a kidnapper and slave-catcher operating out of Elkton, Maryland, who was active a few years before and after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.  This history offers a view of slave hunting and dealing in the Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware areas and its political ramifications.  It tells of McCreary’s most famous kidnapping, that of the Parker sisters in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and the mention of McCreary in the treason trial of Castner Hanway, a Pennsylvanian who refused to help a posse search for a runaway slave.

For those who enjoy the natural beauty of publicly owned lands and the cultural resources found on some of the properties in Cecil County, there’s some great new out of the Historic Elk Landing Foundation (HELF) this morning.   HELF announced that the 62 acres of land purchased by the Town of Elkton through grants from the Maryland Public Open Space program is now open to the public for strolling and picnicking from sun up to sundown year round.  The nearly fifteen year old nonprofit overseeing the restoration of the historic structures, caring for the grounds, and providing interpretive programming says it is “proud and pleased” to make this announcement as it provides stewardship for “a lot of land “ that “is some of the most picturesque ground in the Elkton area.”

The nonprofit has been charged by the Town of Elkton with preserving and presenting this valuable public resource to the community since 1999.  It is accomplishing its mission through living history interpretations, regular programs that draw on the site history, and the restoration of the cultural resources, according to the organization’s website.  The property’s owner, the municipality, transferred responsible for the restoration, management and operation of the site as a living history museum to the nonprofit.  At the time that was done, the town stated that it was creating a public-private partnership that freed the municipality of the responsibility for bearing the cost of the maintenance, upkeep and operation of the site, as a nonprofit would be able run fundraising events and seek corporate sponsors.

Click here to read the full announcement.

While historians learn about the past in many ways, one of the most exciting can be reading letters that were penned long ago.  You never know what these private communications from another age are going to reveal or where they’re going to come from.  Sometimes these old sheets of paper have been stashed away in a long sealed attic trunk or shoe box, placed there by relatives who passed away generations ago.  But a few times they’ve been trapped or secretly stashed behind walls for some reason, and revealed by construction or some other disturbance.  Whatever the case these private exchanges are often illuminating as they put a different sort of light on times gone by.

As the War of 1812 Bicentennial draws near I’ve been examining aging, unpublished manuscripts from that era and came across one from Captain Andrew Hall of the 30^th Maryland regiment.  This document had been in the custody of a relative Thomas E. Hall, who generously shared a copy.

Nearly two hundred years ago on November 13, 1813, the Captain penned this letter to his brother-in law David Wherry and sister in Brandy Camp, Ohio.  He began by talking about the family in Cecil County and his aging mother.  But he informed the recipients that these were dangerous time here as the waters of the Chesapeake were polluted with the English and they had been here since last spring blockading all the seaport towns.  Merchandise of all sorts, especially sugar and salt, was very high as a consequence.   After describing the prices of basic commodities, the officer noted that flour wasn’t selling briskly because of the blockading of the rivers by the enemy.

Despite the blockade, the trade from Baltimore to Elkton and then by wagon to Christiana was brisk.  The demand for wagons exceeded anything Hall had seen and they were charging as high as a half a dollar per barrel for flour and 15 pence per hundred for hauling from Elkton to Christiana as there was no water passage.

Hall also told his brother-in-law about the British invasion on the Upper Chesapeake.  On the 26th of April (1813), the militia had orders to march, but not being armed things were in a confused state.  On the 28th the British landed at Frenchtown and set it on fire, which  “consumed  it to ashes.”  Elkton would have been destroyed if it they’d not been “cowed” by the shot of one cannon ball from a small battery thrown up at the landing.  It had a “good effect on them” which prompted them to retreat by the time the militia was pretty well collected with arms.  The invaders fell down the river till the fourth of May when they attempted a landing at havre de Grace under a heavy cannonading on both sides.  As they had the greatest force they succeeded in landing and setting fire to the town and several small vessels.  From there the British went to Cecil Furnance, which was also burnt to ashes.

Hall was born in Cecil County in 1768 and died in 1846. He married Rosannah Mahaffey on February 6, 1789.  He noted in his communications written in the middle of the war, that he had eleven children living and three dead (seven sons and four daughters).

The history that unfolds in aging letters provides glimpses into a very personal past as they reveal what others thought and observed.  There’s great value in these aging letters for they show what someone though and generally was passing along in a private exchange between two people.  That’s far different from say a newspaper, where an editor wrote for a large general audience and numerous factors affected the coverage provided by those sources.

Be sure to check out your attic for documents like this one that should be saved.  And I’ll share some other private, unpublished communications from this war in the weeks ahead.   I’ll also do a little more digging on Capt. Hall and see what else we can develop on this militiaman’s history.  Crowd sourcing can be helpful in these situations too so feel free to share added information.

Finally thanks to Thomas for sharing this letter so we know what was on the mind of one milita officer from northeastern Cecil County during those trying months, a dangerous times when the war came to our rivers and shores on the Chesapeake.

April 8, 2012 — As gas prices hit an all-time high in Cecil County today, slipping past the $4.00 mark for regular for the first time, those posted amounts called to mind the 1970s energy crisis.  The spike occurred at the John F. Kennedy Highway Service Center, but most spots around Cecil offered a gallon for a few pennies or a nickel below that price.

The difference between today and nearly forty years ago is that the current supply is plentiful.  It’s just sky-high prices now, so as long as drivers empty their wallets to fill ‘er up things are fine. 

When the nation faced the first energy shortage in 1973-74 following an oil embargo the Federal Energy Office developed an allotment system to help balance out the distribution of the nation’s supply. In the spring of 1973, the retail gas price for a gallon of regular was around 38-cents.  By June, it had shot up to a shocking 55 cents a gallon.  A second energy crisis occurred in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. At that time the price got up to around 99-cents a gallon.

The allotment wasn’t enough to keep pumps from running dry as long, long lines formed at gas stations all over Cecil County in 1973-74. With so many motorists rushing to keep their tanks topped off at all times and worry that the shortage was accelerating, lines of cars snaked through the streets of towns, cars idling for an hour or longer waiting for the pump.  Frequently tempers flared during those tedious, wasteful waits and stations closed once the big underground tanks were pumped dry.

On most days during the height of the energy emergency, the line at the North Street Exxon Service Center, owned by Jack Fears, jammed up traffic in downtown Elkton as vehicles stretched down North Street.  Over on High Street motorists idled their engines waiting for a turn to fill the tank with the Firebird brand at Charles R. Browns.  Chief Thomas McIntire and his officers monitored the jam up each day until the pumps ran dry, keeping things orderly while also making sure people didn’t get too impatient.  Similar scenes occurred at other stations around the county.

Since the gas lines steadily lengthened and the number of closed stations increased, the state implemented an odd-even rationing system.  Drivers of vehicles with licenses plates having an odd number for the last digit filled up on odd-numbered days, while drives with even-numbered tags got their ration on even days. This seemed to help as lines were shortened in the days after the system was implemented.

Conservation procedures were also needed.  Buildings turned off extra lights, thermostats were turned down, and sweaters were worn inside.  Outside street lamps were darkened and during the Christmas of 1973 few decorative lights brightened the holiday as Cecil Countians worried about heating supplies for the cold winter ahead.

But after the shortage disappeared and the supply met demand once again, the energy crisis of the 1970s was forgotten.    However, that expensive gasoline out on I-95 today brought to mind another time when shortages and costly gasoline shocked the nation and called for urgent action.

Here’s a note we received from the Upper Bay Museum about an upcoming event to honor museum founders.  Since our readers will find the message of interest, we’re posting it as a regular piece.  Thanks Upper Bay Museum for letting us know and keep up the good work.

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Hello All,     I am contacting you to inform you about an event the Upper Bay Museum, North East, MD, is hosting a dinner benefit to honor their past founders and supporters Nick DeMond, Stewart DeMond, Gene Howell, and Allan Purner. As you may know, the museum has been preserving the life style of our local heritage since 1975. I was hoping you would be interested in writing an article about these men and their contributions to the community.   The Upper Bay Museum hosts,  ” A Night on the Town” a fine dinner/auction/dance at the North East Banquet Hall (VFW) on May 19th to honor past founders and supporters Nick DeMond, Stewart DeMond, Gene Howell, and Allan Purner.    5:00 P.M Cocktail hour begins.   $20 ahead of time $30 at the door.   Questions? info@upperbaymuseum.org   Thank you for your time.

Nichole B. Gillis

Secretary of the Upper Bay Museum.

The personal, detailed records  from the 1940 census, having been sealed for 72-years in accordance with confidentiality restrictions, were  made available online Monday for free at a number of websites. Although the National Archives was the first to post digital images of the entire census on the web at www.nara.gov , the interest in the schedules was so great that the federal website suffered from a “virtual traffic jam,” according to a spokesperson.  Today most of those problems seem to have been resolved as we were able to surf through the pages.  In addition, many state schedules were available at www.ancestry.com.  Delaware, for example, was posted online, but those searching out family roots in Maryland were going to need to wait just a little longer, as the Old Line State enumerations weren’t up as of noon today.  But they’re coming.  Virtual indexing tied to the images is going to take a little longer, but a number of groups are moving quickly with that so it won’t be too much longer before we’re able to search this valuable source for new insight into our past.  But as you wait, you’re able to scan through the pages, as you had to do when earlier releases were made via micorfilm.

http://youtu.be/aYHjXVDkr0Y