Recollections from generations past (Tennis & Severn Whitehead- 1)

 

Mrs. Tennis Whitehead (1904 - 1991)

Mr. Severn Whitehead ((1905 - 1988)

Interview recorded April, 1982

TRANSCRIPT PORTION

Interview Begins

TENNIS: When I was a little girl, about 9 years old, I took a trip from Townsend, VA and came to Pocomoke and I crossed the bridge, had to go down the other side of the river, so we came, we came right down in the Front Street there someplace. And it looked like to me, I was a little girl, it was just made of wood, and I went across it in a horse cart, so that was around 1914. I remember that much. I remember a lot of you all probably do. I remember the Acme store was on Clarke Avenue. It was an American store then, and I remember that was there then. And the Duncans worked in there then. They were young men. Remember Linwood Duncan and all worked there, and they were young men then. Okay, that’s all I know. My folks, mother and father weren’t raised up here. I was raised down Towsend, VA so all I have up here is my children, 9 of them, that I raised from 1925 here.

INTERVIEWER:  What were your parents’ names?

SEVERN:  Maude Whitehead, she was a Richardson before she was married and my grandfather’s name was Severn Whitehead and my grandmother’s name Rose Whitehead, and my father’s name Walter Whitehead, and it was about 7 head of us in their family and they were all raised down North Hampton. So we moved up here in 1914 from VA. Up here and we moved over to a little place called Big Mill, Little Mills, near Rabbit Knaw, and that’s where I went to school. That little bit over there. Then I went to Remson school and from there Elizabeth Warren and Frand Warren was the teachers, at Remson school over there, and then my father, he left, went back and stayed down VA a few years and moved back up here and I’ve been up here ever since. And my married life was, got married in 1925, on the Clay Powell farm. Is on the other side of the river, where the John Deere place is now. And I remember the Fairground round here. Used to go there and have good times. There when I was real small and the last time they had a fair, let’s see, that was back, let’s see, I think the last time they had a fair here, used to go to Tasley   come here and then go to Salisbury. But they had a fight down VA, to Tasley and the, some man got in love with one of the showmen’s wives and the showman killed him and they were a week gettin’ up here, and they come up here, then went to Salisbury and that was the last time they had a fair here. And that was back in ‘bout, see I was working for Frank Hudson when they had the last fair, and that must have been about 27 or 28, about 29, when they had the last fair here. And they went to Salisbury and they never did have no more fair here. I remember when Pocomoke got burned down. I remember where it started at. It started in the old barn where the Armory is now, and it switched from there and it went through store. Davis store was on Willow Street and it swept through there and then crossed over and went crossed Market Street and back, otherwise swept right on through. Back where the undertaker parlor is now, swept all the right on down through. I remember some of the buildings used to be there and the wind, I think, if I can think of it right, it was blowin’ about 80 mile an hour. It would blow from one side of the street right straight cross and some of the buildings fell on the fire hose and they had a job to get more fire hose back out there, and it flew from there clear cross the river over there on, I can’t think of his name now, and flew from there clear cross the river over there on his barn and set his barn on fire. I do remember every now and then.  I could go back a little further, and I remember in 1917, ‘18, winter. From Greenback, VA to Chincoteague, bay froze solid and they used to have ice boats to carry food and mail across to Chincoteague, and some fellow said he was going to drive his Model T across there, and he got out there and he struck an air pocket and the Model T sunk with him, and they had to go get him onto one of the ice boats. I remember when the fountain was there in the center of the street where people used to water their horses, and had hitching posts all up and down the street to hitch their horses to. And I remember when Jim Clogg, it’s been run by the Duncans the last few years, but I remember when that was built. And I think that was built, ‘bout long ‘bout 1917, ‘18, when the Model T started comin’ out.

(CONTINUES NEXT SATURDAY HERE AT THE POCOMOKE PUBLIC EYE.).

New WBOC meteorologist-

 

Mike Grewe now handles the meteorologist chores on the WBOC weekend morning news.

Chief Meteorologist Mike Lichniak Facebook post:

He’s a local now that lives out near the beach, but grew up in Harford County, Maryland. He has a degree from the University of Maryland in Geography with a concentration in meteorology, but has never utilized it.

He went into sales for 25 years and never got the chance to really fulfill his dream. That is until he moved here and with his kids in college he decided to get that dream job.

He will be with us on the mornings on Saturday and Sunday!

Monda Marsh leaving Pocomoke City Council

 

(View full article:)

20241122_post_up.pdf

Time Machine Preview-

This Sunday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye: 

THANKSGIVING

1924

&

1985

PLUS  ..

History, culture, and traditions of the Pocomoke Indian Nation (Eastern Shore Post feature article).

Some burn bans lifted.

LIFTED IN SOME AREAS

Due to recent precipitation bans on outdoor burning have been lifted in Worcester, Accomack and Northampton Counties.  Normal burning regulations remain in effect and extra caution is urged in all areas as dry conditions have not been completely alleviated. 

Pocomoke Library-

 

We are so excited to announce that the temporary Pocomoke Library is now open at the old Fire Station on Fifth Street! The door and parking lot are on the far side of the building. We look forward to your visit!

Full address:

401 5th Street, Unit 100

Pocomoke City, MD 21851

Senator Carozza opposes state's okay for U.S. Wind OC Pier

 

(Portion of press release)

November 20, 2024

 BPW Votes to Approve US Wind’s Wetlands Application Hurts Local Fishing Industry

 Annapolis, MD – Senator Mary Beth Carozza (R-District 38) today urged the Maryland Board of Public Works to postpone or deny US Wind’s Tidal Wetlands License Application to build a large pier and bulkhead structure in the West Ocean City Harbor. 

The Maryland Board of Public Works voted to approve Wetlands License No. 23-0813 to construct a 353 foot long by 30 foot wide concrete pier with associated timber fenders and to construct 383 linear feet of replacement steel bulkhead as part of US Wind’s Operation and Maintenance Facility (O&M) in the West Ocean City Harbor.

“It is premature to make a decision today that will permanently damage our local commercial fishing industry and harm our fishing families who have lived and worked here for generations and are an important part of our Shore way of life,” testified Carozza who held up a petition in opposition to US Wind’s application during her presentation. “Many of the people who signed this petition of opposition did so during this year’s annual Harbor Day at the Docks held last month in the West Ocean City Harbor.“

I am both disappointed and frustrated with the Board of Public Works’ decision to approve US Wind’s application which would create a major negative economic impact on our commercial fishing industry.

Rocketlab: Thumbs up to Wallops' future-

 (Shore Daily News)

(View news story:)

Rocketlab says the future at Wallops is bright - Shore Daily News

State forgives Pocomoke restaurant grant

 

(View news article:)

11.21.24-Bayside-Gazette-.pdf

Fifteen years ago I opined that this restaurant was a boondoggle, a waste of taxpayer money and potential source of grift and political favoritism. But, "Oh no, it's needed to stimulate the economy and provide a place for locals to hang out and enjoy good meals," I was told.

It turned out to be a boondoggle, waste of taxpayer money and was a source of favoritism and grift. Unfortunately, it never provided good meals and no longer is a place to hang out.

I don't know all who benefited, and many did, but the late Don Malloy threatened bad things should I complain too loudly about this turkey.

Your friend,

Slim

Missed court calls are a scam-

Worcester County Sheriff's Office   

🚨 SCAM ALERT 🚨

📞 Scammers are at it again, this time pretending to be Worcester County Sheriff’s Office supervisors. They're claiming you owe money for missing court and demanding payment over the phone.

⚠️ Remember:

✅ Law enforcement will NEVER call and demand payment for missed court appearances or any other reason.

✅ Legitimate agencies don’t ask for payment via gift cards, wire transfers, or mobile payment apps.

✅ If you receive a call like this, hang up immediately. If you have been a victim of this scam, please contact the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office at 410-632-1112, or your local law enforcement agency to file a police report.

More on Worcester County's "Atlantic City"-

 In our Pocomoke Public Eye "Time Machine" postings this past Sunday we featured a 1924 article about Maryland's "Atlantic City" where ocean front property had been divided into 4000 building sites and of which 3000 had been sold.  It turned out that this Atlantic City was among numerous would-be Worcester County resorts that would never come to fruition.

Thanks to PPE reader Jerry Barbierri for sending in the additional material, below, that he uncovered about our "Atlantic City."

(View closer up map details, street names:)

Map of Atlantic City, Worcester County, Maryland | Library of Congress

 

****************************************

Disaster aid possible for E.S. Va. ag producers-

 (Shore Daily News)

(View news story:)

USDA announces Disaster Designation for Accomack and Northampton Counties - Shore Daily News

Cookies With Santa!

 

Pocomoke City Police Department will be hosting “Cookies with Santa” on Saturday December 14, 2024, from 11AM to 2PM. Families are invited to join us for cookies and Christmas spirit! 🎅🏻🎄🍪

•Each child will be given a cookie, and the opportunity to make last minute Christmas wishes to Santa himself. They can also find out if they’ve made the naughty or NICE LIST! ✅📋 

•Photographs of your child and Santa will be offered free of charge 📷

Please reach out by email to D/Cpl. Rachael Northam with any questions at rachael@pocomokemd.gov

Nominations open for Worcester Teacher Of The Year-

 

Nominate Your Favorite Teachers for Worcester County's Teacher of the Year

Worcester County Public Schools

November 18, 2024

The nomination period for the 2024-2025 Worcester County Teacher of the Year Program is now open! 

Nominate your favorite teacher(s) for this prestigious honor before nominations close on November 29, 2024, to make sure they are eligible to win!

Schools will name school-level Teachers of the Year in early 2025, and those 14 school-level semi-finalists will compete to be named the 2025 Worcester County Teacher of the Year, who will be named in the spring.

The Worcester County Teacher of the Year will take home great prizes including the use of a brand new vehicle for the length of their term courtesy of our automotive sponsor, the Hertrich Family of Automobile Dealerships!

(Click below link to make your nominations:)
Nominate Your Favorite Teachers for Worcester County's Teacher of the Year | WORCESTER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Snow Hill invites community input.

 

Three meetings are scheduled in Snow Hill to offer residents opportunity to express their views to town officials in helping to craft a vision for the community's future needs.

These meetings will be held November 20, 21, and 25 for the Eastern, Central, and Western Districts respectively, 630pm at 202 Bell Street.

You're viewing The Pocomoke Public Eye BLOG site.

 

You are viewing The Pocomoke Public Eye blog site

 (thepocomokepubliceye.blogspot.com). 

We are not associated with a Facebook page that carries our name. To our knowledge that page is no longer an actively maintained site. Postings on that page (i.e. political) are neither contributed by nor endorsed by our site. 

Time Machine: 1924, 1917, 1929, 2011, 1934, 1914, 1944.

 

(Archived issues for some dates of the Worcester Democrat in November and December, 1924 are not available. The following from The Evening Times of Salisbury is in lieu of our usual "100 years ago this week" feature from the Pocomoke Newspaper.)

    November, 1924

Below see first two items related to this story.

May, 1917

(grimace alert)

The Mayfield Messenger (Mayfield, Ky.)

January, 1929

Every Evening (Wilmington, De.)

January, 2011

Salisbury Daily Times

*September, 1934

The News Journal (Wilmington)

*June, 1914

The Evening Sun (Baltimore)

*May, 1944

Democratic Messenger

tkforppe@yahoo.com

Recollections from generations past. (Katherine S. Etchison- 5)

 

              

INTERVIEWER: Did you ever go to Public Landing?

KATHERINE: Yes, indeed. We used to have Sunday School picnic, a couple of times. Just as we did at Red Hill and Ocean City.

INTERVIEWER: What kind of things. You just had a picnic there?

KATHERINE: Yes, we’d just bathe and eat. We had, oh I guess, supper. Anyway, we’d eat a meal and we used to crab. Catch crab.

INTERVIEWER: You had to get there by boat.

KATHERINE: The Pocomoke River. You have Pocomoke River there. Pocomoke River is a very treacherous river. You can wade in the Pocomoke River, maybe up to your knees, and the next step would be like you were stepping off a hedge top. I remember when we were children, and we used to have a place that we called the Little Winter Quarters. There wasn’t anything there but the river. Sometimes we would go there, take a lunch and go to the Little Winter Quarters and one boy, one of our brothers or somebody would go out find how far we could go and drive a stick, because they could swim. All the boys could swim in those days, but the girls couldn’t, because we didn’t have a swimming pool or anything like that. And they would drive a stick so that we wouldn’t go too far.

INTERVIEWER: And you would just wade in?

KATHERINE: We used to go to the Pocomoke River through Winter Quarters, through the woods out here. We used to get arbutus and teaberries. Teaberries are good to eat. You’ve heard of teaberry chewing gum.

INTERVIEWER: Um-huh.

KATHERINE: Well, same flavor. We used to collect teaberries and arbutus and then go on to the river and have our lunch and wade there at the river. The roads were so that it was hard to visit. Now I am talking about the very early times, probably when I was a child. And people lived on the river and used boats to visit back and forth. But the people inland generally rode horseback to visit.

INTERVIEWER: Do you know anything about Jake the alligator?

KATHERINE: No. Legends and superstitions. I told you about the fairgrounds, haven’t I?

INTERVIEWER: Yea, you told me about that. Do you remember any big storms or hurricanes?

KATHERINE: The windstorm in 1922, no that was fire. There was a storm that cut the inlet. I have forgotten the year that that storm took place.

INTERVIEWER: I think it was around ’30.

KATHERINE: I don’t know, but there used to be, there wasn’t any inlet at all down at Ocean City, from the ocean to the bay. There was land there. And they had a storm there one summer and it made that inlet.

INTERVIEWER: Just cut it in there?

KATHERINE: Yes. Do you know where I’m talking about in Ocean City? Where the bay and the ocean are connected?

INTERVIEWER: Yea. Did you ever go to Ocean City?

KATHERINE: Oh yea. We went to Ocean City. We used to spend the month of July in Ocean City when we were children. This is (unintelligible). They used to have an all-day Ocean City Excursion. The trains would put it on. And we’d get on the train at Pocomoke and change at Salisbury and go on to Ocean City. We’d leave in the morning quite early and return around nine o’clock. And this was how much it cost.

INTERVIEWER: A dollar?

KATHERINE: Yes, round trip. There’s the Excursion. And this was the old station on Clarke Avenue. And then that is the new one. That was a Saturday. Everybody used to come to Pocomoke on Saturday to shop. The farmer’s brought mostly their butter and eggs and their farm products. And then they would take them to the store and trade them for sugar and flour and things of that kind.

INTERVIEWER: They would come from all over?

KATHERINE: Yes, the surrounding country.

INTERVIEWER: Pocomoke has changed then.

KATHERINE: Oh my.

KATHERINE: The last fire was 1922. There was a man that was burning some trash in a trash container on Second Street. Right across from, well it was on the corner of Second and Willow Street. And he was burning some trash in the back of his store and it was very, very windy. And the wind took the fire down by the Peacock Hotel now, but it was the Parker House. It burned the whole block where the vacant store is on the corner and the bank and Scher’s. It burned that whole block. And then it went over across and burnt two blocks. And Front Street was completely destroyed, both sides of the street. People moved their furniture out into the street. And the fire even burned that. Every house on Front Street was burned. It went on down to the river. I think the reason it was such a big fire was because the water, there was something about pressure, the water pressure, it didn’t and then the wind was blowing. My father had a store. That wasn’t burned. That was right next to Vincent’s store. He had retail ice cream and that wasn’t burned. My brother at the time, and his wife lived above that and of course they expected that to burn. So, my oldest brother, Sidney, drove downtown to help this brother that lived there, but he didn’t get downtown. There was a Mrs. Lloyd that lived on Market Street opposite the Maryland National Bank, they lived there. And she called him, and he stopped, and he took her furniture out, we lived out to Hartley Hall, he took her furniture out to Hartley Hall. My sister said when she went out somewhere, she went out about the fire. And when she came back to Hartley Hall later on in the afternoon, it started in the morning. She said the porch and the yard was completely filled with furniture that people had moved out there trying to save from the fire. And she said they didn’t have any lights. They got some candles out and I think somebody made some yeast flour biscuits. My mother wasn’t home. She was visiting me in Washington.

INTERVIEWER: You weren’t here when it burned?

KATHERINE: No, I wasn’t here at the time. Rosemary said that she was invited to a bridge party that day. And the hostess gave the refreshments to the firemen. The firemen from other towns that came. They were going to have a dance that night and the refreshments that they planned to have for the dance they gave those refreshments to the firemen too.

(Series continues next Saturday with recollections of another long-time resident.)