TIME MACHINE ... A "Marriage Tree" Near Pocomoke City.

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October, 1937

(The Salisbury Times)Lower Shore's Marriage Tree Marked By Roads Commission

Elkton has ministers who boast of performing thousands of marriages, New York has the Little Church Around The Corner and... The lower Eastern Shore has its Marriage Tree. It has been left to the State Roads Commission to perpetuate the latter fact.

The Commission has recently placed a historic marker on US 13 at the Maryland -Virginia boundary line containing the following inscription:

"Boundary Line Maryland-Virginia. 500 feet East of this point near the Boundary Stone is a large white gum, one of the old Marriage Trees under which Virginia and Maryland couples married."

The curious may turn east of this sign and, following the state boundary, will come to a grooved concrete post, about ten feet inside the woods. The south side of this post is Virginia, the north side is Maryland.

Then, if he knows his trees, he will readily distinguish an old white gum among the pine, oak and black gum. This is the tree the Roads Commission has caused to be entered in the historical records.

It is said there were originally three such trees, made use of in the early days by Virginia youths who found the law in their own commonwealth too exacting with respect to age requirements. Once over the Maryland line, the ceremony was performed under these trees, possibly with the moon as witness.

Thanks to Mrs. Aaron F. Adkins of Pocomoke who emailed these comments on last week's Red Hills item:
My mom speaks very kindly of Red Hills/Sinnickson. She was born in 1953, and visited there just about every weekend from 1955-1963. The long road leading down to the beach (currently Red Hills Rd) wasn't paved and seemed to travel forever. There were concessions available, and she mentioned something about a few carnival-type rides. When the tide would go out- the water would be waist deep and the sandy, soft bottom would go on for about a tenth of a mile. Certain times of the summer would be unswimmable due to the bloom of jellyfish or the horseshoe crabs. In fact, when she passes away, she wants her ashes to be placed at the water's edge.
And thanks to Slim for clarifying the location of Red Hills (comment posted on 10/7):
Actually, Red Hills was not quite located at Sinnickson. Sinnickson was on the left fork of the road, where the small boat harbor and Sparrow's Oyster Bar were located. Red Hills was reached by taking the right fork and proceeding farther down the road. Sinnickson and Red Hills were close, but still at least one half to one mile apart.
October, 1908

(Cumberland Evening Times- Cumberland, Md.)FIRES NEAR SNOW HILL

Rural Mail Carrier Scorched Before He Got Out Of Trap

Snow Hill, Md., Oct. 21- For the last few days three large fires have been burning in woods in the vicinity of Snow Hill. The largest fire is at Klege-Grange, on the Drexel tract and much fine timber has been destroyed. James Webb, of the rural free delivery service, was deceived in the extent of the burning area, and in making his mail delivery, was caught in one of the roads and was slightly scorched before he could get out. He covers his route on a bicycle. Last night the atmosphere in and around Snow Hill was filled with smoke. During the evening great flocks of migratory birds from the marshes along Sinepuxent Bay became bewildered in the smoke and circled above the town.

March, 1969
Allen P. Schoolfield, who had been in the clothing business in Pocomoke City since 1911, passed away at age 77. He was a parnter in Schoolfield & Ham and a director of Citizens National Bank in Pocomoke. 
December, 1885

(Peninsula Enterprise- Accomac)A Child in Peril.

reprinted from Baltimore American, November 30.

Mr. T. L. Northam, of the Eastern Shore Steamboat Company, reports the narrow escape of a small child from being carried off by an eagle. Wm. Foster, who at one time worked on the steamer Eastern Shore, but is now a farmer, living near Taylor's wharf, at the head of Hungar's Creek, Northampton county, Va., is the father of the child, which is about a year old. About four o'clock Thursday afternoon Mrs. Foster, the mother, wishing to get some wood from the wood yard, left the child in the yard. The eagle came swooping down, and would have caught the child had not Captain Richardson a resident of the place, who happened to be near with a gun, shot the bird. The shot disabled the eagle by breaking the left wing. It was caught by four men of the steamer Eastern Shore and taken on board, put in a chicken coop and brought to Baltimore. The eagle measured, from tip to tip of wings, seven feet and four inches.

June, 1944
A Pocomoke area road construction project was one of twelve in Maryland for which Governor Herbert R. O'conor requested priority consideration from the federal government. The project would involve relocation and rebuilding nine miles of a 24 foot lane of an ultimate dual highway on Route 13 from Pocomoke to the Virginia line. The cost would be $665,000. The governor's plea to the Facilities Review Board of the War Production Board stressed the urgency of the twelve projects from a safety and traffic requirements standpoint.


October, 1884
(The Denton Journal) David M. Nelson and George F. Sterling of Crisfield, have made a novel bet on the presidential election. Nelson is a Republican and Sterling a Democrat. If Blaine is elected Nelson is to hang up Sterling "in a bag to be made by James Richardson," for the space of one hour, in front of the post office on the 10th day of November, 1884. If Cleveland is elected Nelson is to be bagged and suspended by Sterling. The agreement is in writing; and a failure to comply with the bagging clause involves a forfeit of ten dollars.



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