John Denver, a past president of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association, joined the ranks as a probationary member of the Singerly Fire Company in 1968. Over the decades, he served the company in many positions, and two years ago he served as in the senior leadership position with the State Association. In this session with…
Singerly Firefighter Robert McKinney
Last month, Singerly Fire Company launched an oral history project to document the Department’s story. The project is initially focusing on recording interviews with the most senior members. As the initial interviews are collected, we are sharing brief outtakes from the much longer sessions. In time, as the initiative advances, we will use the raw…
Links to High Quality Digital Content for Local & Family History Research in Cecil & Harford counties
Since there is an enormous, rapidly growing body of research information available on the web, there is a need for a curated landing page, a place in the public commons on the net, to help someone digging into the past. This opportunity to help researchers is something I encounter often during public lectures and courses as…
Diggins Works With National Park Service to Nominate Two Sites For Underground Railroad Listing
By Milt Diggins Myths and legends abound about the Cecil County Underground Railroad sites. Old houses with a secluded space set off speculation that it was a station on the Underground Railroad, despite the lack of documentation. Quilts hanging up in yards supposedly gave secret signals to escaping slaves. The Underground Railroad was presumably a…
Photographing an Execution
Mounted on the wall in Sheriff John F. DeWitt’s office in the antiquated 19th-century Cecil County jail were two photographs he proudly displayed and discussed. When someone first visited the county’s top lawman in a space that was full of career-related memorabilia, he often directed the visitor’s gaze to these images of a hanging. Those…
CAB Accident Investigation Reports for Eastern and Pan American Airlines Crashes in Cecil County Available Online
The National Transportation Library of the Department of Transportation has digitized numerous collections to provide easy access for DOT library customers and researchers. In that array of valuable research materials are the investigations of aircraft accidents from 1934 – 1965, the investigations of railroad accidents 1911 – 1993, and much more. Here is the link…
Singerly Listening Station Continues: An Interview With Chief John Turnbull (retired).
The Singerly Listening Station was open on July 12, 2014, and many of the most senior members of the fire department stopped by the company museum to share stories about serving the community decades ago. In this session we listened to past Chief John Turnbull talk about joining the ranks in 1963, some of the unforgettable incidents…
Singerly Junior Officer Recalls Fire Company Working a Presidential Detail
Elkton, July 24, 2014 — Today, a veteran firefighter, Leroy Hampton Scott, III (Scotty), sat down to help fill in Singerly Fire Company’s past at the department’s listening station. With over half a century under his belt, the former assistant chief shared stories that are part of a structured initiative called the Singerly Listening Station,…
Singerly Listening Station Opens as Senior Fire Service Members Share Memories
Singerly Fire Company officially kicked off an oral history initiative, the Singerly Listening Station, on July 12, 2014. Part of a larger process that is preserving and documenting the history of the department, the recordings will be archived in the company museum. Longer, raw footage is retained for research and future use. A shorter edited video production of about…
Video Overview Demonstrates Use of Helpful Cecil County Government Product, Cecil Maps
Cecil County’s GIS Map is a helpful product for family and local history research, as well as everyday use. This video provides a brief overview of some of the system’s capabilities and demonstrates some of the navigation options. Link to article on Cecil Maps Link to Cecil Maps