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You never know what kind of buried treasures might turn up when someone starts digging around older parts of Elkton.  Many of the town’s parking areas, streets, and buildings lots have yielded relics that were tossed aside and buried long ago.      

It’s been that way for centuries as people have been astonished after unearthing Revolutionary War and War of 1812 artifacts.  Beyond projectiles of war, the soil yields up relics of everyday living including old building foundations, bottles, coins, ceramics buttons, and arrow-heads.  One bona-fide archaeological dig produced  Spanish coins, stoneware from prehistoric peoples, and human bones from an aboriginal burial ground.      

Showing up over and over again, those cannonballs grab much of the attention   A decade before the Civil War shattered the nation, “one of those dreaded implements of war, a genuine bombshell, was dug up in the yard of the Elkton Academy [North Street],” the Cecil Democrat reported.  A few years later in 1863, men laying gas lines on Main Street excavated four cannonballs.  Another time in 1877 masons moving earth for a cellar alongside Main Street found an 18-pounder three-feet below the surface.      

These discoveries continued into the 20th century.  When Elkton put in a new storm sewer on Bow Street in 1970,  a backhoe caught on an old mill stone.  Later hundreds of hand-blown bottles were unearthed.  About a half-block south of High Street, they found four cannon balls.  About ten-years ago a contractor uncovered a projectile at the corner of Main and Bow streets while working on the streetscape project.  That sighting generated a buzz as some argued it was just an old bowling ball three-feet under the oyster shell and stone filled colonial-era turnpike.  It was going to stop the Main Street revitalization project others fretted.  Of course that was an unfounded worry and the bowling ball theory was promptly discarded.  At Elk Landing, an untold number of cannon balls have been found over the years.      

Clusters of artifacts such as buckles, bullets, and typical objects discarded by the military were found, along with an occasional cannonball, out on Grey’s Hill in 1885, the Elkton Appeal wrote.  Tradition has it that a British Army unit camped there during the invasion of 1777.  They also found stone from the old turnpike across the Peninsula.      

One of the most important archaeological excavations ever done on the Eastern Shore took place in 1981 on the site of the county detention center, according to George Reynolds.  Those grounds, which were occupied over a 10,000 year period, contained a Native-American village and burial ground.      

As for the question about how all those cannonballs got here, here are a couple of theories.  The major part of a massive, invading British Army occupied Elkton prior to the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, while other military units used this route throughout the war.  In the War of 1812, English barges sailed up the river toward Elkton.  As they approached some accounts say they fired a few bombshells.  Perhaps some of the shot found at Elk Landing came from those blasts or the defender’s stockpiles since the the small, earthen fortificaton had a cannon.  The others some distance away from the waterway were probably simply left as armies passed through the area.      

These archaeological discoveries put the spotlight on a dimly illuminated part of Cecil County’s history.  Our written record here is strong so we know lots about that long period.  But in earlier times, as the manuscripts grow weaker, we have to depend on archeology to help puzzle out the past.  So whenever someone starts digging deep into the earth in some of the oldest parts of the county seat, one has to wonder what’s being unearthed.  Some of those discarded materials might help us solve historical mysteries since our soil is crammed with lots of artifacts that have been buried for centuries.      

Here’s what brought this matter up.  This week, during the full blast of heat and humidity from a Chesapeake Summer, workers dug deep into the ground around the Clayton Building on North Street.  As they moved earth from around that 1860s granite basement wall, one had to wonder what secrets to the past the soil contained.  This attractive brick structure was the Odd fellow’s Hall and before that the lot was about where the 18th century county jail yard stood.  Immediately next door was the  1790s courthouse .  This is a parcel that is connected with some of the municipality’s earliest development. This area has so much history so you never know what types of surprising artifacts are waiting to be found and how they’ll yield insight to the past.  Whatever we come up with when we search for the secrets in the ground, the key is that there is a lot of stuff we don’t know about that’s buried under Elkton soil.

From Baltimore Sun —-

The state has awarded a $125,000 grant to the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway to complete the final restoration of the Rodgers Tavern in Perryville, a 315-year-old landmark that played a role in the nation’s early history.

The tavern will serve as a modern-day anchor for downtown Perryville revitalization and provide public access to the water and the town in Cecil County. The grant will pay for interior and exterior repairs.

continues on Baltimore Sun

June 24, 2010 – Gilpin’s Falls Covered Bridge, Cecil County’s very own bridge to the past, is prepared for a solid run through the 21st century since master bridgewrights completed restoration work a few months ago. To celebrate that milestone about 75 supporters, politicians, and county officials gathered at the span on June 24th, a hot summer day, to dedicate the structure.  During remarks at the ribbon-cutting it was noted that the American Public Works Association, Virginia/DC/Maryland Chapter, awarded the Historical Restoration the “Project of The Year” for 2010. 

 As links to our past disappear all too fast in the 21st century in Cecil, the old structure that survived the test of the time (the Civil War, the automobile age, floods, and lack of care) is a local preservation success story thanks to the work of a dedicated friend of the span, Earl Simmers. This surviving pre-Civil War relic was at great risk of being lost a few years ago.  But Earl never gave up on the link to our past. He worked tirelessly to ensure that this old structure was not lost to age, neglect or indifference. Spearheading a fund drive that raised private money to help with the cost, he also sought out grants and political support for the old structure.

Thanks Mr. Simmers for making this a Cecil County preservation success story since this aging covered bridge stands as silent proof about our area’s past.  The county puts a lot of effort into marketing Cecil to tourist, relocating BRAC workers, and higher-end corporations. Our natural beauty, historical character, and cultural resources are things these target groups find most appealing here.

As links to our past quickly disappear in the 21st century in the county, historic preservation is a worthy goal.

For more information and many more photos on the span check out the Maryland Covered Bridges website.    Photo courtesy of Maryland Covered Briges web master. 

A few old relics from the county’s past are biting the dust this week in Cecilton as a wrecking crew goes about the task of demolishing three 19th-century houses. 

Late this afternoon, one of old place fell to the swing of the arm of an excavator while a small backhoe and workers rushed here and there tidying up the piles of splintered wood.  Standing silently next to the creaking, groaning walls as they fell is another structure from the late 19^th century.  When this especially attractive Victorian comes crashing to the ground in a pile of rubble, and it’s all done, Cecilton will have lost three special properties.   Architecturally, they created a graceful, unique streetscape that is hard to find in the 21^st century.  All evidence of this charm in the heart of the rural community will have been erased.

They say the loss of a part of the community’s cultural legacy is in the name of progress.  The old first district commercial center that served as an agricultural market town for so long will have another modern convenience store.  What it is losing are three irreplaceable pieces of architecture. 

The town had 103 of these major contributing assets from the past lying along Main Street, Bohemia Avenue, and Church, Wilson, and Richards Streets, according to the Maryland Historical Trust.  These survivors from another century indeed added greatly to the charm of the town, which is located on a scenic Maryland Byway.

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley as it screeched to a stop in Warwick.  The door swung open, passengers piled in, and the car creaked forward.  It rolled on down the line, through farmland and fields, while warm summer air flowed through open windows.  As it approached the end of the line, the motorman threw on the brakes while the car hissed gently to a stop in Cecilton.  That was the dream a group of investors promoted in February 1904.

They planned to bring rail facilities to the southern end of Cecil County, an agricultural area that didn’t have motorized means of getting from here to there.  After all, whether civic pride or the possibility of making a little profit-motivated them, a prosperous region needed a modern system for moving people and commerce.  On the ten miles of rail, passengers could soon hop on a streetcar in Cecilton and ride all the way to Odessa since the road connected with the Odessa and Middletown Railway.  Oh the convenience, breezing along past familiar sights — Cash Corner, Warwick, the State Line.  Surely the 447 townspeople in Cecilton would hop aboard in droves, enjoying the marvel of the age.  Their other public transit choice was a daily stage, raising clouds of dust as it swayed and bounced over the rough public road to Middletown.

About this time trolley fever was driving entrepreneurs crazy in other parts of the county.  Perhaps the idea that that Elkton was going to have more than one if investors got their way spurred these promoters on.  Chesapeake City, Cherry Hill, Singerly, Iron Hill, and Providence would be stops on a line.

But there were practical obstacles to overcome before streetcars could start zipping along on the Cecilton Railroad.  How was it going to be financed and where was the line going to be put down, those were a few of the questions the entrepreneurs struggled with.  As for putting away the wagon and putting away the horse below the Bohemia River, it was still a little early for that though these capitalist got right to work.  They incorporated the Middletown and Cecilton Railway Company (M & C).  When the books opened for subscriptions in Cecilton on April 23, shares of the stock were sold at $25 each, the investors authorized to raise up to $50,000.

The first company president, William R. Polk, also happened to be the secretary of the Odessa & Middletown Railway, the line in Delaware.  He was piecing together a system that would eventually connect Frederickton, Cecilton, and Warwick with the New Castle County communities.  Right-of-ways were the next concern.  By May, the Middletown and Cecilton had secured land.  Grading on the farm of John W. Davis near Cecilton followed as materials and supplies started arriving along the route.

While folks waited, two area residents had a little encounter when one of the Delaware cars came tooting along.  One June day, Amos Merritt of Warwick and Miss Ida Vinyard were near Odessa when the passing machine scared their horse and it ran up a bank.  The buggy was a total wreck, but they were not seriously injured.

Somehow summer passed by without much construction getting finished.  But the railway company said not to worry.  The line would open by Christmas.  Most of the roadbed had been graded and track laying would soon start.  The M & C also announced some changes in plans.  Cars would operate by gasoline motors instead of electric, as was first expected.  Freight cars, an added service, would haul wheat and corn to Middletown for shipment to other points on the Delaware Railroad.  With so many bad roads, what a convenience for farmers near Warwick, Earleville, Middle Neck, and Cecilton, they pointed out.

Delay did not dampen anticipation.  “Give us a trolley,” folks cried — at least that is what a newspaper correspondent from Warwick wrote.  The ladies were saying they would not remain at home once the trolley started passing through, the scribe added.  Old Saint Nick’s time came and went, but nowhere in the county was the ding, ding, ding, of the trolley heard.  The sister company, the Middletown and Odessa, eventually became a “financial basket case,” and in the winter of 1906-07 it suspended service for several months.

Somehow, it just did not go as planned for the Ceclton Railroad, as streetcars never started clang-clang-clanging around in the tranquil land between the Bohemia and Sassafras Rivers.

If you’re looking for fireworks, marching bands, or displays of military might, you won’t find them at Historic Elk Landing this Independence Day weekend. Nope, not a one. But you will find rest and relaxation! How’s that as a way to spend a day away from the grind of work and daily routines?

On Saturday, July 3rd from 10 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, the Historic Elk Landing Foundation houses and grounds will be open for tours, picnicking, walks, exploration of the fauna, enjoying a cool breeze off the Little Elk Creek, throwing a Frisbee or football, or any of a number of relaxing, restful ways to spend a lazy summer afternoon in Elkton.

Our friendly and informed tour guides will gladly take you through the Hollingsworth House and the ancient Stone House. They’ll tell you about the folks who lived there since the late 18th century, and even about some of the events that played a major role in our American Revolution such as the British Invasion of 1777 which led to the Battle of the Brandywine and George Washington’s march through Elk Landing in 1781 on his way to victory at Yorktown, Virginia.

So if you’re looking for a place to reflect on the meaning and impact of Independence Day, a place to enjoy our freedoms with family and friends, then Historic Elk Landing is your place, at the foot of Landing Lane in Elkton, just south of Route 40. Admission is free. For more information, please contact the Historic Elk Landing Foundation at 410-620-6400 and leave a voice message. We will return your call.

Maryland maintains a unique initiative called the resident curatorship, which makes historic properties available for lifetime leases.  In exchange for an annual payment of $1, the curator agrees to restore and maintain the house and grounds at no cost to the state, in accordance with historic preservation standards.   After the restoration, curators are able to reside in a historic house for their lifetimes.  These homes are located on state parkland or natural resources areas and are protected from future development.  The program requires the resident curator to submit a proposal to represent about $200,000 worth of improvements to the property, which must be completed within five to seven years.  This partnering between the public and private sectors provide a method the Maryland uses to ensure long-term preservation of historic properties at no cost to the state. 

The Old Bohemia house, which dates from about 1840, is now available.   The property is located on the grounds of the Old Bohemia Wildlife Management Area in Warwick.  In 2009, the Old Bohemia property was purchased from the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) who owned the property since the 18^th century.  It was built to house tenant farmers who worked the adjacent farmland.  Just north of the house stands the National Register listed St. Francis Xavier Church and Rectory, constructed around 1792.  The Old Bohemia House and the church and rectory were part of the much larger Old Bohemia plantation (established around 1704) that eventually consisted of a saw mill, wharf, blacksmith shop and brick kiln, among other buildings and points of interest.  The house is surrounded by agricultural fields.

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The Historical Society of Cecil County has added two rare and valuable manuscripts from an anonymous donor to its collection.  Beginning in 1701 and running into the 1730s, these folio ledgers contain some of the earliest extant court records for the County.  The long-lost documents, which surfaced recently when a distant donor from New York contacted the Society, promise to be treasures to historians and genealogists as they harvest data about life during Cecil’s colonial period.

 The hand-written entries in a flowing script are sometimes challenging to read, but the browning pages of centuries old manuscripts provide researchers with valuable insight into everyday actions of the local Justice’s Court.  Records pertain to criminal justice, deeds, wills, estates, and the administrative matters of the local governing body.  In addition to its judicial function, the court had extensive administrative powers.  It decided where roads would be built and it authorized and licensed ferries.  There is a discussion about John Hack operating the Bohemia Ferry for 5000 pounds of tobacco in 1724, for example.  The body also issued business licenses, approved apprenticeships and guardian bonds, and kept records of orphans.  Cattle and hog marks were registered and Stephen Hollingworth had his recorded in 1715.  The justices also determined whether the poor were eligible for public assistance and it excused paupers and cripples from paying county taxes.

 When the manuscript begins in 1701 the justices are meeting at the courthouse on the Sassafras River.  Later they meet at Courthouse Point on the Elk River.  The court session typically lasted a few days and in the next few paragraphs we look at a few entries.

 In the November 1730 session, which was adjourned to December, the “worshipful Justice of County, judicially sitting,” received a petition from the vestry of St. Mary Anns.  The “parish church being much decayed” and in need of repair, the petitioners asked the court to grant an assessment on taxable persons in the parish for “eight pound of tobacco per pole” in order for the vestry to make the needed repairs.  The levy was granted.

Aaron Latham worried about improving his land adjacent to courthouse for fear of “trespassing” on the public property since the boundaries had “become blind & unknown,” in March 1724.  His petition requested that a survey be done and that appropriate survey stones be used to mark the boundaries.  The justices issued a warrant directing a surveyor lay out the courthouse land, provided the petitioner pay half the cost.

In the November 1725, John Pain, “being very ancient past his labor and it pleased God of late to take his eyesight from him so that he cannot walk” prayed upon the court for assistance.  The body ordered 200 pounds of tobacco for this poor person.

In June 1724, Sheriff John Hack had custody of Robert Dutch, who was condemned to be hanged on the 19^th of the month.  Due to the insufficiency of the jail, he requested a sufficient place to secure the prisoner until the execution and he asked for the assistance of constables from several of the nearby hundreds.  After considering the petition, the justices ordered that the sheriff summons a ‘two man watch and ward” until 19^th and that the men be reimbursed for their trouble during the next levy.  In addition nearby constables were summonsed to attend the execution.

The donor, a longtime collector of antiquarian books was retiring so he wanted these relics from the past return to their home.  He’d purchased the items in a rare book store in the 1950s.

These records of the county court provide excellent insight into the county’s past during part of the colonial years.  Additionally, since the two 18^th century books are fragile the documents have been conserved by putting them on microfilm in memory of one of our volunteers, Helen McKinney, who passed away in 2006.  Mrs. McKinney was one of our most dedicated researchers, always working tirelessly to help anyone unearth information about Cecil’s past.  The Society expresses its gratitude to the anonymous donors for the donation of these priceless manuscripts.