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Elkton doubled the size of its firefighting force when an additional hand-pumper was purchased in Baltimore in 1859.  Although it was a used piece of apparatus, it was a major step forward as the Rodgers didn’t require a bucket brigade to supply the pump with water.  This suction engine, which the townspeople had purchased for $450 from the Vigilant Fire Company of Baltimore, could pull water from a stream or pond.

It was a grand day for the town’s volunteer firefighters when Captain Ford of the Schooner Iglehort offloaded the precious hand-pumper.  Volunteers proudly marched it in a procession through the streets and there was a general turnout of people.  The young volunteers, after parading it around decided to demonstrate its power at the highest structure in Elkton.  So off they went to the 18^th century courthouse.  There the “boys” threw a stream higher than the steeple of the court-house.

Just about the time they’d successful pumped a powerful stream, some of the senior firemen pulled the town’s older fire engine down to the courthouse and manned the Hydraulion as it was called.  It threw water higher than the new one, to shouts and cheers for that old Philadelphia pumper, a relic of 1818.  The boys at the new machine full of pluck, again railed and this time did better, and it was their turn to cheer.  Back and forth it went until the old engine was put to work one more time, the excitement all the time raising in the crowd, when up went her water ten or fifteen-feet higher than before, beating the new engine fairly and decidedly.

These two old heroes of many a fight with the flames protected Elkton until the early 1890s when the Singerly Fire Company was formed and purchased a steam engine, hook-and-ladder, and hose carts.  This old hand-pumper has been preserved and is on display at the fire company museum.

 Elk

The hydraulion, the county’s oldest piece of firefighting equipment came to Elkton about 1827, after townspeople purchased the unit in Philadelphia for $700.  The “Water Witch,” which was built for one of the volunteer companies in the city, served there for about nine years, before it was sold.  It was a new design, a combination unit with a hand-pumper and hose reel mounted on the same carriage.  That reduced some of the strenous exertion required of the men as all the needed equipment was on the combination unit the men struggled to drag quickly to the blaze.

It became Elkton’s pride and when the courthouse bell tolled out with that chilling alarm in the middle of a dark winter night, men pulled the heavy contraption to the fire.  Once there, they formed bucket lines to keep the tub built into the hydraulion full of water as a gang of others rapidly worked the levers on the pump.  For thirty years, this was the town’s defense against fire. But In 1859 a second-hand pumper, a suction engine was purchased in Baltimore.

As Singerly started planning for its’ 100^th anniversary in the early 1980’s  both of these old heroes of many of a hard-fought fight were restored.  Restoration was done by a Mr. Petersheim, an Amish carriagemaker near Christiana PA.   Today the equipment is displayed in the company museum.  The photos below are before and after photos of the older unit, the hydraulion.  Singerly consulted with two experts from Philadelphia, Al Wills and Jack Robrecht, during the restoration.  The second photo represents the original color of the 1818 relic.  The first image is of the unit just before it was transported to Mr. Petersheim’s for restoration.

Elkton, January 27, 2012 —  This  afternoon over thirty dealers in old photographs, postcards, newspapers, advertising, books and other paper ephemera jammed the fire hall on Newark Avenue in Elkton.  As they busily arranged their offerings for the opening of the 25th annual show, we got a glimpse of some of the magazines, posters, and much more.  

A number of tables had great Cecil County photos, which will be available for purchase once the show opens tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m.  The image below is typical of some of the high-quality pictures we glanced at this afternoon.  The postcard from about 1914 shows the National Bank of Rising Sun.  

If it’s old paper that catches your interest there’s a chance you’ll find it at the 25th Annual Paper Americana show on Newark Avenue at the Singerly Fire Hall in Elkton.  It runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday (January 28, 2012).  The Singerly Fire Hall is located at 300 Newark Avenue, Elkton, MD. near the intersection of Routes 213 and 279.   Admission is $3.00 per person ($2.00 with this ad) — children under 12 admitted free of charge. For additional information contact ayersj@zoominternet.net or call 410-398-7735 or 410-398-7300 during show hours.

Singerly volunteers started the show 25 years ago to raise money to restore two early 19th century hand-pumpers as the firefighters prepared to celebrate their 100th anniversary.

Press Release – Cecil County Public Library

Don’t let your family history disintegrate!  Join us for a hands-on demonstration on how to preserve your family’s artifacts, postcards, and photographs.  information will be provide on supplies needed and methods for storing and displaying these pieces without damaging them.  (Bring one of your items to the workshop for advice about how to handle it).  Registration required.

While the Historical Society of Cecil County  is over 75-years-old, that doesn’t mean it isn’t keeping up with the times.  As early as 1995, the keeper of Cecil’s heritage climbed right on board with the digital age by launching one of the first local history web sites in the region.  It has continued to keep pace with the digital age and in April 2008 we added Facebook.  It’s another way to let people know about local history events, and research collections.  As the preservers of Cecil’s, they’re pleased to make use of these new technologies to reach a far wider audience from coast to coast and around the globe.  Surf on over to Facebook and like the Society to keep up with the latest, see some of their photos, and read articles on local history

January 21, 2012 — On the first day for an accumulation of wintry precipitation this season, a reflective silence surrounds the old Cecil County Cemetery and Poorhouse as freshly fallen snow blankets the almshouse on a Saturday morning in January.  The Potters Field, the final resting place for paupers who couldn’t afford a burial, is located across from Mt. Aviat Academy.

On the grounds of what was the county poorhouse, it contains some 150 to 200 unmarked graves.  The Almshouse opened about 1776  and closed in 1952 when the county put the property up for sale.  It was purchased by Elk Paper Manufacturing Company and the new owner donated part of the tract to the Oblate Sisters of St. Francis de Sales for Mt. Aviat Academy, a Catholic Elementary school.

The order, founded in Troyes, France, opened its first convent in the United States at the old Poorhouse in Childs.  Since then, they have ministered at Mount Aviat Academy and several schools in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  They maintain the Potters Field, and members of the order are buried there today.

In this rapidly expanding world of online information, lots of helpful data is often just a few keystrokes away.  The amount is exploding exponentially as a number of for-profit digital publishers, such as Ancestry and GenealogyBank, have taken the lead in making vast amounts of material available instantly.  Beyond these excellent data aggregators, there are some free, open source repositories which are helpful too.  Since they’re not as well-known, we thought we’d mention a few here in case you’re struggling with fee-based research overload.

Maryland Newspapers – The Early State Records Online repository at the state archives website has started creating digital images from the Maryland Newspaper Project microfilm done in the early 1980s.  If you visit the site, you’ll see listings from Baltimore, Cambridge, Elkton, Centreville, Easton, Chestertown, and elsewhere.  Right now the Cecil Whig is available from 1870 to 1874 but it is not a searchable database.  Users scan through it, reading the pages just as one does when using microfilm.  Still it’s nice to have it available at your fingertips and more will be added as time goes  on.  Also on this site are many other state records, such as the minutes of the legislature, the Maryland Laws, and lots more.

Family Search – This vast online repository is a most valuable resource for genealogical researcher.  It actively gathers, preserves and shares genealogical records worldwide and patrons my freely access resources and services online.  While there are many exciting databases there, one that is particularly helpful for us local involves probate records.  FamilySearch is currently digitizing the records of the Maryland Register of Wills and that work is going in a number of counties.  Right now, you may surf over and access digitized copies of probate records into the early decades of the 1800s.   There are lots of other resources, including census and death records, worth checking out so be sure to visit this valuable online resource.

The Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage Program – This site is a collaborative, statewide digitization program headquartered at the Enoch Pratt Free Library Resource Center in Baltimore.  Its goal is to partner with Maryland libraries, archives, historical societies and museums to digitize and provide free online access to materials relating to Maryland.  Since the program began in 2002, the collection has grown to over 5,000 items, such as maps, manuscripts, photographs, artwork, books and other media.

Library of Congress, American Memory — A portion of the vast resources of the Library of Congress has been digitized and there’ll you find photos, maps, ephemera, advertising, and so much more.  One we often use involves the Great Depression Era photographs of old strucutres, as they were documented for the Historic American Building Survey.  You’ll find plenty to keep you busy there so just check it out.

There are many more and we’ll provide a post on additional free resources later.

Except for an early brush with an unusual October snowstorm that blanketed parts of the northeast with up to 20” of snow, we haven’t seen much of the typical winter around Cecil County.  As for what the remainder of the season holds, the Delaware Climatologist notes that there’s a high probability of continued warmer weather.  Of course, we haven’t forgotten those recent heavy snows, including the big blizzard of 2010.  So while we hope winter doesn’t return with a vengeance in the months ahead, here is a photo of a snow day of yesteryear for readers.  A team of horses pulling a plow struggles to clear Elkton’s West Main Street in the vicinity of the Howard Hotel.  This image is probably from around 1890.

The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Perryville from local author Alan Fox. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by.

From the early days—when Perryville was known as Lower Ferry and John Rodgers hosted George Washington and other Founding Fathers in his tavern on the bank of the Susquehanna River—to the present, Perryville has seen boom and bust, war and peace, and triumph and tragedy. The Susquehanna and the Chesapeake Bay have always shaped the growth of the town, providing jobs, transportation, food, and recreation.

By the 1860s, the emergence of the railroads as a dominant commercial force ushered in an era of unprecedented prosperity for Perryville. A new commercial and industrial base emerged in the 19th century. Spurred by the proximity of the river and the railroads, this brought good jobs and decent wages to the town. Perryville illustrates a century of progress through vintage images, documenting the citizens of Perryville and the town they lived in.

Author Alan Fox is a longtime resident of Perryville and local history enthusiast. This volume offers a unique glimpse at the changing face of a town that has been witness to a wealth of history. Using photographs from museums, archives, and local citizens, Fox brings a human face to the history of Perryville.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888)-313-2665.

Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States. Our mission is to make history accessible and meaningful through the publication of books on the heritage of America’s people and places. Have we done a book on your town? Visit www.arcadiapublishing.com.

Celebrate black history month and join us as Eric Mease presents a program on the lives of Cecil County African-Americans who served with the Union forces during the Civil War.  Over 130 served their county in segregated black regiments.  Find out what life was like for them and the struggles they faced and successes they achieved in this fascinating program at the Elkton Branch of the Ceicl County Public Library on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m, 2012.