Reflections on Yesterday — Cecil County History
Although the automobile age is just getting underway in the second decade of the 20th century, people in Rising Sun have adjusted quickly to the new transportation era. Vehicles of all sorts pack Main Street as people visit the shops and restaurants while motorist zip along on the new concrete highway through the center of town.
Holiday postcards were popular in the early 20th century and many of these artistic products were exchanged with friends, family, and neighbors. This old one, providing a “hearty Thanksgiving greeting,” was mailed to Shuwall (?) family in Earleville on November 26, 1907.
The 118-year-old fire bell that stood watch over Elkton for decades, arousing firefighters from their slumbers in the dead of winter nights or calling them from their labors on hot summer days, remains an important part of Singerly Fire Company today. For years this instrument, mounted in the belfry high atop the fire station, alerted volunteers when a blaze threatened the community.
Cast by the C. S. Bell Co. of Hillsboro, Ohio, the 1,190 pound instrument was placed in its perch high above the engine room in the fall of 1893. By 1910 things advanced as the company installed an electric gong. When the operator at the telephone exchange received a fire call, she pushed a button activating the device. Once the first firefighter arrived at the station, he tugged on the rope striking the gong in the tower as that urgent tolling was heard all over town. In time, the tapping out of calls for Elkton’s volunteers on the bell stopped as Singerly installed a modern fire whistle.
Sam Goldwater, a young firefighter in the early 1970s recalled helping put the instrument back into the spotlight. It had been stored away for generations, but when the Newark Avenue station opened in 1970 Gene Meekins became interested in getting the ancient relic out of storage. As part of the opening of the new firehouse, it was placed on a pedestal at an entrance to the station. Later, in preparation for the 1976 Bicentennial, Mark Onifer, Bobby Holmes and Sam cleaned up the sentinel that had tapped out many urgent alerts, cleaning it up and giving it a fresh coat of paint.
Although the bell was silenced once electronic alarm systems arrived, the Singerly Fire Company has made sure this relic from its past has been preserved. The bell was last formally rung when the fire company celebrated its 100th anniversary. Two former presidents, Jim Spry and Gary Storke, struck the gong causing the sound that once called Elkton firefighters to duty to ring out as the members gathered for the special celebration.
While traveling in Western Mass one summer backs in the 1980s, we stopped at a large roadside flea market. There I found a few photographs of Singerly Fire Company apparatus in the inventory at one table so I immediately picked them up. Here are scans of two of those images, one showing the Ahrens Fox and the other the Hale. I suspect the pictures were snapped in the 1950s.
With national archives month drawing to a close, we thought
we’d remind those interested in researching Cecil’s history, that the Society
is the county archives. The County Commissioners asked us to assume the responsibility of becoming the caretakers for centuries old local records years ago. Those visionary local government leaders wanted these materials for researching the past to reside in a repository where the focus was on protecting the manuscripts while also making sure they were available to those looking into earlier times. After we entered into the agreement, the county scoured out of the way places, finding valuable records dumped on the floor of old sub-basements, in fallout shelters, and other uncared for spots. Today researchers are able to use protected and organized records from the almshouse, the insane asylum, road department, and more.
Having official repositories where someone focused on caring for historical records is important, if sources for studying local history are going to survive. That’s what archives do preserve governmental or corporate records, manuscripts, photographs and other valuable materials. Unlike a
regular library where most information comes from books and periodicals,
researchers go to these places to gather firsthand facts, data, and evidence
from original sources. The study of the past, whether it is for a family history project, or some scholarly matter is greatly enhanced when we have strong repositories to protect, organize, and provide access to priceless materials. Locally, our volunteer organization is pleased to fill this role.
As the premier spot for digging into Cecil County ‘s past we can help if you’re searching for relatives from generations ago, clues about an old house, or some other elusive historical facts. Whether it is in these sources or other records groups, there’s a good chance that our stacks hold some clues for you.
On this last Saturday in October, an early wintry mix started falling on Cecil County early this afternoon, causing a little snow and ice to accumulate on the ground of the old Principio United Methodist Church. The mix will change over to snow tonight and accumulate 1.5-inches, according to AccuWeather. Mother-nature apparently decided to play a little trick on the area two days before Halloween.
Free Antique appraisals will be the featured program at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Cecil County Public Library, Wednesday, November 9, 6 p.m., at the Perryville Branch Library in Perryville, MD.
The Friends, who support key reading programs for children such as the CCPL Summer Reading Program and are advocates for reading and our county library system, will hold their annual meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Directly following a short business meeting, Carl York, will talk about antique glassware. Mr. York and his daughter, Carla York, will offer free appraisals following his discussion. For antique appraisals, numbers will be assigned beginning at 6 p.m. Antiques should be portable.
The Friends will also host a silent auction of select antique items. Light refreshments will be served.
Cecil County Public Library will be celebrating National Friends of Libraries week October 16 – October 22. This nationally recognized week was established to raise awareness of the importance of community support for libraries, to encourage community members to join library Friends groups, and to recognize the wonderful ways Friends support libraries.
The Friends of the Cecil County Public Library is a non-profit membership group dedicated to promoting Cecil County’s library system as an essential institution in our community. Volunteer members advocate, educate, and raise funds for activities not ordinarily covered under the Library’s operating budget.
Friends volunteers will be at Cecil County Public Library branches throughout the week to give out bookmarks and answer questions about membership. Individual membership is $10 per year. Families can join for $15 and senior citizens or students for $7. Friends membership information is also available on the library’s website at: http://www.cecil.ebranch.info/about-us/support-us/friends-of-the-library/
About the Library
The Cecil County Public Library operates seven branches located throughout Cecil County, MD. The library serves over 50,000 registered borrowers. The mission of the Cecil County Public Library is to provide lifelong educational and cultural opportunities and resources for all, promoting individual and community success.
One of the things that we’ve said often is that you never know what kind of buried treasures are going to turn up when someone starts digging around older parts of Elkton. Many of the town’s parking areas, streets, and building lots have
yielded relics that were tossed aside and buried a long time ago. But there is one well examined parcel in Elkton where many of the secrets of the soil are known.
That parcel is Elk Landing and this evening the Northeastern Maryland Archaeological Society sponsored a talk by Dr. Jim Gibb about that
subject at the Perryville Library. During a most informative talk, he broadly explored the significant cluster of professional digs that have occurred down at Elk Landing since 1980. That first shovel tests were done as they prepared part of the old farm field for construction of the detention center and during the search they found the remains of Native-Americans. The finding of human bones resulted in a second, more detailed, investigation. Once the Historic Elk Landing Foundation was created, a number of additional studies were done on the historic tract and today the total number is near ten, all done by
professional archaeologists.
In a period of just over thirty years, they’ve found material culture from pre-historic people, aboriginal burial grounds, bottles, arrow-hands, a cannon ball, plenty of relics from the 19th century, and lots more.
This evening, Dr. Gibb took a longitudinal view of this well-examined property and tied the conclusions from all the fieldwork together to provide a broader interpretation of ways to look at the Landing. The room was full of serious, knowledgeable researchers and they had lots of questions about the reports for Dr. Gibb, as well as some insightful interpretations of their own. One of the most informative exchanges concerned the nature of the small earthen fort or redoubt that was at Elk Landing. As the bicentennial of the War of 1812 nears, there’s lot of interest and specualtion about that specific element and Dr. Gibb drew on other projects that have examined smaller, rural defenses during the Revolution and the War of 1812 to present generalized concepts.
Elk Landing is one of the most studied historic sites around and there’s lots of valuable information for anyone interested in the history of that priceless piece of property. Many of them are posted on the Elk Landing website. We’re pleased we were able to catch this program to hear another perspective on the interpretations of investigations that have been going on for nearly a generation. Elk Landing is fortunate to have such valuable insights to help guide restoration and interpretation, as many other historic sites in Cecil County have far less information.
Date: Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Time: 6:30 pm for refreshments and business, speaker program at 7:15
Location: Perryville Library
Program: Dr. Jim Gibb: “Elk Landing: Results of Remote Sensing, Summer of 2011.”
Prevew: During the past summer, Dr. Gibb, his field assistant and ASNC members, Dan Coates, Jack Davis, Ann Persson and Dave Davis conducted magnetometer tests at the Elk Landing site. Dr. Gibb has conducted archeological investigations of the site previously with ASNC member Annetta Schott assisting as a field technician. This presentation will include the results of the various archeological investigations at this site, and some discussion regarding its potential for future investigations and possible site nomination for an Annual ASM Field Session.