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Two Historical Society of Cecil County volunteers, Billie Todd and Evelyn Wekke, are pouring over aging business ledgers from the Grant
Funeral Home of Cherry Hill.  Scanning the old, yellowing pages they meticulously extract information on deaths from the undertaker’s account books, cataloging information about the people whom W. J. Grant and son buried, including names, family ties and key biographical data.

Evelyn reads the fading handwriting penned in these volumes by the mortician from the late 1880s until the 1920s, as the Society’s resident genealogist, Billie, inputs the data into a spreadsheet.  Once they finish this task, one that requires painstaking care, and attention to detail, they will digitize the images of these century old pages that document the services Grant provided for the burials and their work will be made available on the Society’s website.  This efficient team has done other demonstration projects of this nature, linking web-based data with the high quality images.  Their effort makes valuable family history research materials accessible to patrons of the Historical Society.

Cherry Hill had two funeral homes. William J Grant, the founder of the one business, worked as a cabinet maker and undertaker, engaging in that business for over 40-years. After the elder Mr. Grant died in April 1887, his son, Clark S., continued the business until the 1930s.  When he passed away in November 1938, the Cecil Democrat said he had retired from the business in 1936, having worked in the profession for nearly 60 years.  Alfred T. Abernathy, the other undertaker, died in 1934. His wife continued the business, according to newspaper accounts.

Evelyn Wekke and Billie Todd work on another volume of the Grant Funeral Home Books

The scorching summer heat has made outdoor activities nearly
unbearable for a few days now, and people are coping with the tropical conditions in a variety of ways.  Late this Saturday afternoon, families’ crowded tables at Betterton Beach, enjoying outdoor picnics while hopefully catching a cooling breeze from the Chesapeake Bay.  Elsewhere people outside quickly scattered for whatever shade they could find and restaurants were crowded.

Over forty years ago, Cecil Whig Photographer Jim Cheeseman caught
this picture of a young-man attempting to escape a 1969 summer heat-wave by resting briefly in a self-serve ice-box at a business in the county seat.  Elkton had a National Weather Service Observation Station from 1927 to 1976, by-the-way.  H. Wirt Bouchell, the local weatherman, recorded the highs and lows every day for nearly 50 years and the highest reading  he recorded in Elkton was 106-degrees on July 10, 1936.

Dr. James R. Koterski, the author of Potters and Firebrick Makers of Cecil County Maryland & Nearby, 1750 – 1950, will be at the Palette and Page, 120 E. Main Street, Elkton, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 5, 2011, to sign books.  Click here for additional information on the Aug. 5th activities.

Here is some additional information on this informative new title.

Clay deposits played a major role in the economy of by-gone Cecil County. Some were mined and shipped out-of-state while others provided the key raw material to potters and firebrick makers. Wheel-thrown redware and stoneware were fired in kilns at Rising Sun, Brick Meeting House, NorthEast and Rock Springs. Meanwhile some Delaware and Pennsylvania potters relied on the county’s clays to turn their pots. The names of some potters like William Carter and Eli Haines were virtually unknown until this book traced the role this craft played in their lives. An exquisite harvest jug fashioned by Carter in 1847 survives today. Other names – Remmey, Grier, Hare, Magee, Brown and Schofield – are much more recognizable to today’s collectors and historians, yet in many cases, connections to Cecil County were unknown or incomplete.

Commercial firebrick operations were attracted by the abundance of kaolin-based clays. Some were short-lived while others carried on for decades. Most companies like Cecil, North East, Wakefield, Green Hill and United molded and fired these refractory bricks around the town of North East.

Potters and Firebrick Makers of Cecil County, Maryland, and Nearby is illustrated with over 100 images, nearly half in color. Spanning 140 pages and 8.5” X 11” in size, this book was built from numerous newspaper accounts, land records, family histories and pottery collections. It provides a valuable window to the past and deserves the widespread interest from fans of local history and pottery enthusiasts and collectors alike.

Bird’s Eye View maps, popular from the 1860s until about 1920,
depict places as if they were viewed from above at an angle.  Using direct observation and some imagination, artists working for a number of companies specializing in these panoramic products visited towns to sketch out the place.
The sketches, which were sold to local residents, were not drawn to scale,
but showed streets, patterns, individual buildings, and major landscape
features in perspective.  They are very useful for researching the history of a community or an old house.  In 1907, the cartographic artists representing
Fowler and Kelly of Morrisville, Pa were busy at the head of the Chesapeake Bay.  As they made a sweep of the area the illustrators produced Bird’s Eye Views of Elkton, Havre de Grace and Rising Sun.

Here’s the Rising Sun Map from 1907.

July 16, 2011 — The Cecil County Public Library will have a booth at the Fair, located in the building next to the midway and carnival rides, open every weekday evening from 5-8pm, and 1-8pm on Saturdays and Sunday the 24th. All booth visitors will be able to take a free book and play a guessing game for the chance to win a $50 Walmart gift card. A game and craft will be available for children.

The library will also participate in “Daycare Day” on Monday, July 25th at 10:30am at the small stage area past the barns. Children and their caregivers will take a “musical tour around the globe” with song, dance and play in accordance with the Library’s summer reading theme: “One World, Many Stories.”

Sixty-four years after Eastern Airlines Flight 605 crashed outside Port Deposit, taking 53 lives on Memorial Day 1947, a monument has been erected at the place where the plane hit a Cecil County hillside. Jeanette Nesbit Hillyer, 89, whose father was one of the first to respond to the terrible accident, arranged to have the memorial placed near the intersection of Jackson Park and Principio Roads, the Cecil Whig reported.

Related article

TripAdvisor™ TripWow ★ Port Deposit Town Tour Slideshow ★ to Port Deposit. Stunning free travel slideshows on TripAdvisor

via Port Deposit Town Tour Slideshow & Video.

Lt. Don Hash (Retired) of the Maryland State Police, the first emergency responder to arrive at the plane crash site east of Elkton on December 8, 1963, recently talked to the Singerly Fire Company Museum about his recollections of that dark night in a Maryland cornfield where 81-people perished.

On that stormy December Sunday evening in 1963, Trooper Hash, a 23-old rookie one year out of the academy, was cruising northbound on Route 213 near Brantwood Golf Course. With an unusual late fall thunderstorm rolling across Cecil County, heavy rain pelted the patrol car when a powerful bolt of lightning in the shape of a wishbone suddenly came out of low-hanging clouds, illuminating the area. One or two seconds after that, a large airplane enshrouded in an orange glow flew out of the cloud. The doomed craft flew for 10 to 15 seconds before a wing fell off, and the plane nosed straight down into the ground. Trooper Hash radioed the barrack as he raced toward the crash, somewhere east of Elkton near the state line.

Don, who retired from the State Police as a lieutenant, talked to us on June 9, 2011, about his experience on that troubling, unforgettable experience. The first emergency responder to arrive, he remarked: “I could see flames on Delancy Road as I neared the crash site. It wasn’t a large fire. It was several smaller fires. A fuselage with about 8 or 10 window frames was the only large, recognizable piece I could see when I pulled up. It was just a debris field. It didn’t resemble an airplane. The engines were buried in the ground 10 to 15 feet from the force of the impact.”

By this time, everyone was mobilizing. The state police rushed troopers from other barracks to help the three roadmen patrolling the county that night. In a few minutes, the fire company arrived, and during the next hour, officers from across the state arrived to help. Trooper Don Hash stayed on location throughout that long night until he was relieved the next morning.

Related articles on Plane Crash

Remember Cecil County’s Fallen Firefighters

On Memorial Day 1947, Eastern Airlines Flight 605 Crashed Near Port Deposit

Early this morning in downtown Elkton, a bunch of characters  were hanging out in the vicinity of the Historical Society.  The buzz around the Main Street crowd was unusual for a Saturday, and when passersby took a closer look at this gaggle curiosity was peaked even more.

They were at the Historical Society to welcome about 50 visitors to the county, the Teague family History Group.   The Teague association traveled from around the country to visit here as part of an annual family get together.  And they were in for a treat as they chatted with Zebulon Hollingsworth, Judge Sample, Kitty Knight, other important people, and children who lived through these troubling times.

Soon after being welcomed to the Society by librarian Carol Donache
the visitors to our historic region were treated to an excellent stage show about
the history of the county by these fine performers.  It was great to see Zebulon Hollingsworth return to the stage for he keeps things rolling along with some history, plenty of humor, and the best interplay with an audience you’re ever going to see.  But there was Judge Sample, too.  The old man, present when the enemy attacked Cecil County, recalled those troubling days when the cry the British are coming, the British are coming frightened citizens.  Kitty Knight told her story about confronting the British, and there was a dramatic skit as local citizens and children worried and argued about the upcoming Revolution War.

For an hour or so this morning some of the most interesting people from our past, individuals with stories of dramatic times were hanging around downtown welcoming visitors to this place with so many historical connections.  The Troupe does an excellent job and has great performers, taking our visitors on a fun filled and enjoyable trip to the past.

A week earlier another Descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth were at the Society for their annual reunion, so it’s been a busy time in Elkton for visitors making our county a destination because of our past and the institutions that are working as our heritagekeepers.

We recently received a press release from the West Nottingham Historical Commission advising that the organization is planning to erect a historical marker noting the forceful 1851 kidnapping of Rachel Parkier, an African-American. A slave catcher from Elkton, Thomas McCreary, was involved inthe abduction, which alarmed Pennsylvania and galvanized popular opinion against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.  Click here to read a webpage on the kidnapping. The press release follows.

Press Release from the West Nottingham Historical Association

We need your help!

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) has approved an historical marker for the Kidnapping of Rachel and Elizabeth Parker. In preparation and dedication of this historical event, the West Nottingham Township Historical Commission is trying to locate any descendants of Rachel and Elizabeth Parker, also Joseph Miller.

Rachel and Elizabeth Parker, young black women, were kidnapped from Nottingham in December 1851. Falsely accused of being escaped slaves, the sisters were taken to Baltimore, MD and imprisoned for more than a year. The local community reacted to the Parkers’ abduction with indignation. Pennsylvania officials also sprang to their defense. This swift reaction brought attention to the incident and, tragically, cost Joseph Miller, one of the would-be rescuers, his life. He is buried in Union (Fremont) Methodist Church cemetery.

We only know the following information:

Rachel and Elizabeth were daughters of Ned and Rebecca Parker (who were free Blacks). Elizabeth worked for Mathew Donnely.

Rachel worked for Joseph Miller. Joseph Miller married Rebecca Kirk, had several children and resided in West Nottingham Township.

Elizabeth (Parker) Miller lived at 427 W. Barnard St., West Chester, PA.

In 1918, Rachel Parker died at the home of her daughter. This daughter, Lucy, lived in Oxford and was married to James Jones.

If you have any information on descendants, please contact any member of the West Nottingham Township Historical Commission. You may phone 610-932-3305, 717-529-2962 or Historical Commission Secretary at 610-932-8823.

We welcome any and all information. We are eager to include any descendants in the celebration of this historic event.