Chautauqua, an event that takes place every summer, gives residents of Cecil County a chance to meet and talk with historical figures from the past about their experiences and accomplishments. This year’s theme “Beyond Boundaries” will bring Thurgood Marshall, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and Sacagawea to the county, as we hear from people who broke barriers, crossed borders, and created a sense of place.
Thurgood Marshall challenged racial barriers in education, housing, transportation, electoral politics and criminal justice.
Sacagawea crossed both physical and cultural borders, as the only woman in the famous expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
Frederick Law Olmsted created a sense of place in America’s communities and parks through his strongly held belief in the importance of democracy.
Where: Perryville Outlet Center, Perryville, Maryland
Indoors at the Perryville Outlet Center
When/Who: Warm-up act begins at 4 p.m. with performance at 4:30 p.m.
Almshouse records are available for research at the Historical Society
The Cecil County Cemetery or Potter’s 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 Alms House, as it was also known, 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 for Mt. Aviat Academy, a school.
In time weeds and vegetation took over the abandoned graveyard. But John Beers, who’d grown up in the neighborhood, launched a project to have the Cecil County Cemetery cleaned up and marked with a marble monument. The job of memorializing those unknown persons who rest there and commemorating the burial plot used for the indigent was completed in 1968. The marble stone read: “Potter’s Field, 1776 – 1950, may their soul’s rest in peace.”
Over the centuries, unidentified drifters, the county’s poor, criminals and other outcasts from society, many having spent their final days at the poorhouse, were interred in the county graveyard. Today the sisters bury members of the order in the field.
Mr. Beers wrote a poem about the Potter’s Field. His brother Lawrence Beers, a detective for the Baltimore and Ohio, was shot and killed near Belcamp, MD. in 1919.
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In Potters Field
We will bury them in potters’ field, the criminals and the unknown.
I hear the B & O Freight train coming in on the siding and see the hoboes heading for a warm night’s sleep in the county home.
On my way to the little school house by the tracks, I count them one and all.
We will give them coffee for the road for I know they will not return.
We have had a burial in potters’ field today; he was found floating in the Bay.
When his widow arrives from New York she will identify him as her own, for he was a millionaire without a home.
I see my brother Lawrence Beers passing on the freight, for this was his line of duty for the B & O
Johnny “Cash” Beers
Research Note: The Historical Society has many of the county poorhouse records and those manuscripts are valuable for research.
The Savin-Conrey House located at 221 George Street was built by Thomas Conrey c.1850 and is located in the Chesapeake City Historic District along the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal. The house was used as a telephone exchange at one time and later rented as a private residence. After many years of only minimal basic maintenance to the house the trees had become overgrown, water leaks damaged the roof and caused significant mold problems. Alan Marine and Catherine Soukup carefully rehabilitated the house, repairing the existing historic materials wherever possible, and replacing deteriorated and inappropriate materials with historically compatible new materials where necessary. This modest and unassuming house has been transformed from an eyesore to an attractive home that Chesapeake City can be proud of.
Saving Family Treasures, will be the subject of a program at the Chesapeake City Branch Library (410-996-1134) on June 15, 2010 from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m.
Family treasures are often neglected, frequently tucked away in drawers, trunks and attics. Preserving these heirlooms – items such as marriage certificates, family Bibles, letters, journals, and photos – is important, for they tell us about the past and connect the generations. This talk introduces caretakers to basic methods for preserving and protecting family relics and papers.
Rising Sun Community Little League: A History of the First Years: 1954 and 1955, chronicles the story of this youth-oriented sport in the northern Cecil County town. Just published by the Historical Society of Cecil County, the author, James A. Crothers, II, drew on his experience on the team in those formative years. He also spent countless hours digging through old, yellowing newspapers in the archives and scrapbooks found in the attics of players, while also interviewing team members and coaches. In the process of digging through this aging material, he found clippings, scorecards, old photos and other baseball relics that had been stashed away as the decades zipped by.
Some of the first players.
Aside from a few memories “the real verifiable League history becomes hazier each year,” Jim writes. “The old League minutes and records have been misplaced and destroyed as leaders rotated and officers move. It happens in most volunteer community organizations. And reliance on oral history gets less dependable every year, as memories fade and old leaders, managers and players die.”
“Everyone knows that Little League in Rising Sun began in 1954. The charter on the wall says so. Aside from that, however, there are virtually no documents, scorebooks, photos or old record left that tell about the origins of Rising Sun’s Little League. Whose idea was it? How did this community baseball tradition begin? Who were the leaders, the managers the League officials? Who was this group or ordinary citizens with a love of baseball, pride in their hometown, and an extraordinary vision?“
“Today’s players need to understand where it all started,” Jim continues. “There is a need to have a written record, describing the beginning of the Rising Sun Little League tradition. So the purpose of this written account is to honor those League founders by documenting the early memories and by reconstructing the remaining written fragments of League history.”
Jim has done an excellent job of documenting and aspect of our community history that would otherwise be lost with the passage of time. The book is available for purchase from the Historical Society and as part of the celebration of this aspect of our past the Society opened a special exhibit on the subject at its museum on 135 E. Main Street in Elkton. Be sure to check it out.
Ever held a 500 year old arrow head in your hand? Ever examined a piece of 150 year old china? Ever rolled a piece of charcoal in your fingers that could be from a pre-historic fireplace? You could do just that on Saturday June 5th at Historic Elk Landing during our Archeology Day.
Since Pre-historic times, Historic Elk Landing has been populated by humans. And with each generation came new leftovers: pottery, arrow heads, charcoal, nails, buttons, bricks, glass, and many other artifacts. Since 2000 the Historic Elk Landing Foundation conducted several archeological digs, collecting many such artifacts.
Archeologist Christy Gill, who participated in all of those digs at Elk Landing and who has lectured on the subject here, will return to Historic Elk Landing between 10 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon on June fifth. She will take visitors on a tour of the site, identifying, displaying, and explaining many artifacts that she helped excavate at Elk Landing over the last ten years. But that’s not all.
Christy will also have something for future archeologists as she helps youngsters dig with shovels for their own “artifacts” in a sand box and explain what each find is, its significance, and how it might have ended up at Elk Landing.
That’s Archeology Day at Historic Elk Landing on Saturday June 5th between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Admission is free. Historic Elk Landing is located south of Route 40 at the foot of Landing Lane in Elkton, Maryland.
colonial era map shows the court house and Elk Landing
We try to stay up on media coverage related to Cecil County history and culture in order to share news about the creation of these materials with the blogosphere. An April 1st broadcast on the Baltimore Public Radio outlet, WYPR, slipped past us somehow but it came up this evening during the public hearing on the tax rate.
As a regular feature on WYPR’s midday with Dan Rodricks the show travels once a month to a Maryland county to highlight that location. For April the Rodricks show’s hour-long examination focused on Cecil. The Maryland county of the month segment included pieces on the marriage industry, a haunted historic landmark, tolls at Perryville, fireworks plants, and a few other subjects.
When the paranormal investigator, Rob, called in for his segment, Dan found the “haunting of this historic landmark” of particular interest. Rob reported that his group conducted an intensive study at the 18th century property, Elk Landing. Using sophisticated instruments to capture data, the investigation found a number of spirits in the centuries old property that he believes are members of the Hollingsworth family. The nonprofit organization that oversees the landmark is using the paranormal studies as a fundraiser and they are planning another one for the this Oct. it was reported.
After engaging talk about spirits, it was back to more practical things. The host was concerned with questions such as whether we lean more toward Baltimore, Philadelphia or the Eastern Shore. Kilby Ice Cream, Country and Western Music, and Fair Hill were other subjects.
Although we’re late in announcing this broadcast, it is still archived on the WYPR web site. Click here and scroll down to the April 1st stream and click on the Maryland County of the month link to listen to the radio show.
On May 20th at 7:00, local author David Healey will talk about his soon-to-be-published book, Delmarva: Legends and Lore, in which he explores the sometimes quirky, sometimes spooky, history of our unique region between the Chesapeake and Delaware bays. In his talk patrons will meet slavecatchers, duelists, outlaw oyster boat captains, and a peach baron or two!
Registration is required by calling the library at 410-996-6070, ext. 3.
Down on Main Street this evening, a lively crowd gathered for a reception marking the opening of historical society’s baseball exhibit. Attended by nearly 150 guests and members, the place was almost transformed into an old-time baseball field. The Elkton Eclipse, the county’s 1860s team, was there talking about the national pastime as they played it in the era when the umpires were addressed as sir and dressed formally. Talk about the original rules of the game, stealing, sliding and such filled the room as the players mingled with guests. The hot dog vendor and the peanut dealer were nearby, with treats we associate with a trip to the ball field. On the sidelines, James Crothers discussed his new book, the “History of the Rising Sun Little League” while other people talked about playing the game in Cecil County as youngsters. Of course, the center of all this bustle of activity was the new exhibit, showcasing items from the collection and lots of photographs from the sports earliest period in the county to the era of Little Leagues.
The creative team that put the exhibit together and hosted it. Thanks for an excellent opening.
Imagine a light spring breeze blowing across the Little Elk Creek as picnickers enjoy a lunch and kids pass a football over head. The air is warm and the living is easy at Historic Elk Landing. It’s not a mirage, it’s May first, the first Saturday of the month and the Landing is open for your relaxation and leisure. The gates open at 10 a.m. and will remain open until 2 in the afternoon. In addition to the grounds, which will be open for walking, examining the plants and wildlife, picnicking, sports, etc, you may also catch a glimpse of a War of 1812 Cecil Militia member, cleaning his musket, pitching his tent, or making his own lunch. If you ask, he may even share his stories from the War that came to Elkton’s door step back in 1813 when the British attempted to burn the town, but were fought off by the brave Elktonian defenders.
Whatever your desire: learning, leisure, or both, Historic Elk Landing is the place to be on Saturday, May first, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
