Window on Cecil County's Past

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. 

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 1^st 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 1^st 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 Hollingsworth House

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. 

See the web site, www.elklanding.org.

The Historic Elk Landing Foundation will throw open the gates and unlock the doors to Historic Elk Landing for a summer season of leisure and learning at the ancient site. 

Beginning on Saturday, May 1^st and continuing every first Saturday of the month through September 4^th, Historic Elk Landing will be open from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. for strolling the 44 acres, picnicking on one of the foundation’s picnic tables or your own blanket, examining the plants and wildlife, throwing a ball or Frisbee around our acres of open fields, or doing a whole lot of nothin’, just taking in the sites and sounds of a Cecil County summer season down by Little Elk Creek. 

In addition, the foundation will offer some learning experiences for young and old alike.  Some of the first Saturdays will feature War of 1812 Cecil Militia encampments, archeological explorations, tours of the Hollingsworth House, the newly stabilized Stone House, plus the grounds around them that have seen three invasions by the British, one tour by Captain John Smith of Jamestown fame, and a shipping business, sometimes referred to as the “UPS” of colonial America!  

The Foundation is also looking beyond the summer and into the fall with a search for real ghosts in October, and in December, a celebration of the Christmas season with live music, seasonal refreshments, and more. 

It will be a busy summer at Elk Landing, but a relaxing one too.  Check us out!!  See the web site at www.elklanding.org for more information.

At the end of dusty old farm lanes, in overgrown fields, and along the shoreline you sometimes trip across largely forgotten Cecil County Cemeteries.  They’re there because of the practice that prevailed from the founding period, which set apart a portion of the estate as a burial lot.  That custom faded as burial in the churchyard became the custom and commercial graveyards evolved in the 19th century. Lots of these lonely parcels have been lost to time since they were never marked on maps and as people moved away from the original properties memory faded with the passing of generations.

One of these long-lost cemeteries is located at the top of the Elk River.  Abandoned to nature centuries ago, it is hidden in the woods under a thicket of weeds and scrubs. Near where the high ground begins to give way to the shoreline there’s a scattering of headstones for members of the Henderson family. This prosperous family, making its wealth from transportation on the Chesapeake, built a fine mansion near Frenchtown. Those old cold stones, many of them broken, aren’t visited often, except for an occasional hunter venturing past the family burial plot. But, curiosity led a reporter to walk through this silent spot in 1881; he mentioned tombstones for Hannah Henderson 1777, Francis Wallace 1785, and Amelia Henderson 1815.

The old Sewell family burial vault at Holly Hall is one people often inquire about, but it has been lost to time and development.  Located near the early 19th-century mansion, it was on a grass-covered hill overlooking the Elk River, one county newspaper reported in 1898. At one time this was a peaceful spot, but today traffic whirls past on Bridge Street while parking lots, fast-food places, and stores have crowded in from all sides, covering most of the ground.  Nothing remains to mark the family graveyard.

Elsewhere genealogists in search of information will find cared-for family plots. One of those is located north of Elkton on a high spot overlooking the Big Elk Creek. Members of the Gilpin Family rest there. Although a burial hasn’t taken place on this ground for centuries, a well-maintained brick fence surrounds this final resting spot and it is cared for by area residents.

There are plenty of others in an area with a history as long as ours.  However, the Cecil Whig remarked in 1881 that many of these graveyards had long since passed away and the ground they once occupied was under cultivation, “leaving nothing to mark the spot covered by them.”

These old gravestones, dating back to the county’s founding period, tell the tale of our history. They hold vital, irreplaceable clues to our past for historians and genealogists so we must care for these remaining relics of what came before us. One area researcher, Gary Burns, has done his part to help out in this area. In doing months of fieldwork, he has documented over 29,000 burials in cemeteries across the county, including many little-known family and church burial grounds. Click here to go to his work.

The Whigonline channel on YouTube has a video clip from the 150th anniversary ribbon-cutting in Rising Sun.

Rising Sun officially kicked off its Sequicentennial Celebration today with a ribbon cutting at the town hall and an open house in the museum.  As brilliant April sunshine warmed the audience, the sense of an appreciation for the past was obvious as remarks by Mayor Cox and others indicated.  The enthusiastic crowd that had gathered provided additional evidence that Rising Sun is a place that values its history, while it grows in the 21st century.  Nearly two generations have passed since the town last held similiar activities 50 years ago on the centennial of the incorporation of the municipality.  Congratulations to the town of Rising Sun for a great start in celebrating this milestone in 2010. 

Editor’s Note:  Thanks to Tari Moore for providing these photos of the celebration.