1947.. Ten people charged with operating slot machines in Ocean City; 1977.. Recalling a tunnel short-cut to school in Princess Anne; 1913.. Help for delivering Deal Island mail- it's an automolbile!; 1910.. Carrie Nation, nationally known for her vigorous campaign against alcohol, stomps through the Eastern Shore; 1774.. Tobacco levy on citizens will pay for new Worcester County church; and a final portion of the observations written by a visitor to Chincoteague in 1903.
Although you may not find all of these items in a history book, they are a part of our local history and you can read more about it this Sunday right here at The Pocomoke Public Eye!
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
November, 1882
The Denton Journal (Denton, Md.)
Thanksgiving Day
The following Thanksgiving proclamation has been issued by President Arthur:
"In conformity with a custom, the annual observance of which is justly held in honor by this people, I, Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States, do hereby set apart Thursday, the 30th day of November, a national day of thanksgiving. The blessings demanding our gratitude are numerous and varied. For the peace and amity which subsist between the public and all the nations of the world; for the increasing friendship between the different sections of the land; for liberty, justice and constitutional government; for the devotion of our people to our free institutions and their cheerful obedience to mild laws; for the constantly increasing strength of the republic while extending its privileges to fellow-men who come to us (legally); for improved means of internal communication and the increased facilities of intercourse with other nations; for the general prevailing health of the year; for the prosperity of all our industries, the liberal return for the mechanic's toil, affording a market for the abundant harvests of the husbandman, for the preservation of the national faith and credit; for wise and generous provision to effect the intellectual and moral education of our youth; for the influence for the conscience of a restraining and transforming religion, and for the joys of home; for these, and many other blessings, we should give thanks.
Wherefore, I do recommend that the day above designated be observed throughout the country as a day of national thanksgiving and prayer, and that the people ceasing from their daily labors and meeting in accordance with several forms of worship, draw near to the throne of Almighty God, offering to him praise and gratitude for the manifold goodness which he has vouchsafed to us, and praying that His blessings and His mercies may continue. And I further recommend that the day thus appointed be made a special occasion for deeds of kindness and charity to the suffering and the needy, so all who dwell within the land may rejoice and be glad in this season of national thanksgiving."
"Friendliest Town On The Eastern Shore." Our tradition runs deep. Excerpt from a letter to the editor from a visitor to Newtown, (former name of Pocomoke City) published in the Baltimore Sun, April 28,1847.
This place (Newtown) is a pretty snug little village, containing about 500 clever and hospitable inhabitants; it has good wide streets, quite clear of that "eye sore," known mostly over the Peninsula by the name of "deep sand"; the houses, though built of frame, are generally built substantially and with some discretion and taste; there are two neat, new, and quite handsome frame churches in it; as for the merchants of the place, suffice it to state that they are very clever and hospitable. F. Mezick, Esq., the landlord with whom I stopped, and his very obliging and jolly assistant, are richly deserving of a passing notice, for the good treatment and the extension of the many civilities to "the stranger."
(Reader-friendly viewing of news archive/historical archive material)
August, 1963
The Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Md.)
Tawes Still Uncommitted On Future Of Assateague Island
SNOW HILL, Md. (AP)- Gov. Tawes, still publicly uncommitted on the future of Assateague Island, says he's giving the problem close consideration.
That was about as far as the governor would go last night in indicating his views on the sand island after a second hearing on how it should be developed.
About 200 persons jammed the Worcester County Courthouse Thursday night to hear the case argued before the Board Of Public Works.
Tawes and Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, board members, heard 19 speakers, 16 of them expressing a preference for private development of the island, to a U.S. Interior Department proposal for federal development.
Goldstein has expressed an opinion favoring the federal plan for making the sparsely settled island into a national seashore park.
State Sen. John L. Sanford, D-Worcester, made an apparent reference to this in addressing the board Thursday night when he said he felt like a lawyer facing three judges- one of whom had already made up his mind about the case.
Sanford urged Goldstein to reconsider his stand.
Dels. Mark Pilchard and Russel O. Hickman, D-Worcester, also opposed the Interior Dept. plan advanced by Secretary Stewart L. Udall.
Pilchard urged the board to "do some soul searching before recommending federal development" and Hickman called Udall's plan the "most brazen socialistic scheme ever forced down the throats of Worcester Countians."
September, 1962 (Time Machine archive)
Pocomoke area residents were in shock on learning of the death of Dr. C. Stanford Hamilton. The Pocomoke City physician, who was in his mid 30's, died in a violent single vehicle crash on Route 50 west of Salisbury when the car in which he was a passenger left the roadway and struck an abutment. Two others, including Salisbury physician William Fisher Jr., were also killed and Donald Ramsey of near Pocomoke was critically injured. The four were returning from Baltimore where they had attended a Baltimore Colts game.
Footnote: Dr. Hamilton came to Pocomoke in 1955 when Dr. Lewis Llewelyn left to practice elsewhere. Dr. Hamilton's daughter Linda, who was six years old at the time of his death, is Hollywood actress Linda Hamilton. In later years Dr. Llewelyn's son Doug was host of the original "People's Court" TV program.
August, 1892
Juniata Sentinel And Republican (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.)
A Maryland newspaper says:- Down in Somerset county Maryland, the other day. The farmers have been in the habit of working on the roads, not when the roads needed it, but when it suited the convenience of the farmers. To destroy the absurd custom, a Maryland law authorizes the road supervisors to summon the farmers to work when work needed to be done. Supervisor McDorman tried this plan, but the farmers refused to obey his summons. He called the Sheriff, who tried to arrest the sluggards, who hit the deputy on the head and otherwise despitefully abused him. Forty farmers then gathered around the Sheriff and his deputy and drove them out of the community.
May, 1891
The Richmond Dispatch (Richmond, Va.)
ONANCOCK GALA-DAY
A GRAND CELEBRATION OF ITS BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIES
Procession, Banquet, and Fire-Works in Progress, An Attractive Programme and Fine Prizes.
(Correspondence of The Richmond Dispatch.)
ONANCOCK, May 23.- Next Tuesday will be a big day in Onancock. Extensive preparations are making to celebrate the occasion in a becoming manner. In the afternoon several hundred mounted men, all masked and clad in gay costumes, will ride through the streets of the town, following will come floats representing the business houses and industries of the town, and at night there will be a sumptuous banquet and a musical concert at the Town Hall. The celebration will close with a grand display of fireworks. The Onancock Brass Band will furnish music for the occasion. It is confidently expected that this will far surpass anything of the kind ever witnessed on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
November, 1944
The Salisbury Times
(Ad)
THANKSGIVING At The WILLIAM PENN HOTEL In The Center Of Salisbury.
DINNER MENU
Cream Of Chicken Soup or Tomato-Grapefruit Juice
ROAST TURKEY with Fixings.. $1.25
Celery Hearts and Olives..Pickle Chips.. Cranbury Sauce..Candied Sweet Potatoes..Peas..Turnips..Corn..Cole Slaw..Mashed Potatoes..Ice Cream And Cake.
Come. Let Us Join Together In Thanksgiving.
DINNER SERVED 12 NOON TIL 8P.M.
WM.PENN HOTEL & GRILL
North Division Street, Salisbury, Md.
(A visitor to Chincoteague writes his observations)
August, 1903
The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Va.)
PART 6 (continued from last week)
It was deeply interesting to hear John A. M. Whealton, who was born on the island seventy-three years ago, tell of his struggles to obtain education enough to enable him to get along in the world. If I could convey to the reader's eye a true picture of the old gentleman, and could reproduce his language as he told me of his life, I am sure the recital would be as interesting at second hand as it was to me.
"When I was six years old I went to work with the women helping my father pick up oysters," he said. "The women folks worked in that day and time. I never went to school but three months in my life. But I saw that a man had to have some education if he was going to get along in the world. I studied my speller at home and worked all the sums in Pike's arithmetic until I got to the single rule of three. That was so tough I sent to Philadelphia and got another arithmetic-Bennett's-and in that I worked until I got so I could understand fractions, and could work out percentage and fellowship. Then I got Mitchell's geography and atlas, and it didn't take me so very long to learn the names of all the countries and the States and capitals and rivers. I read Goldsmith's history of England and a history of the United States. I have always liked history, and have read histories of old Greece and Rome."
Mr. Whealton's language is, as a rule, that of an educated man, though he occasionally drops into the careless speech of the waterman. "I belong to the universal church of God," said the old man solemnly when I asked him regarding his church preferences. "I do not go to church often. But I read the Bible and God is good.
Mr. Whealton's wife, two years his senior, is still living. He is in very comfortable circumstances, though in 1867 he saw all his property swept away through his having to pay a security debt. He is the authority on all matters pertaining to the history of Chincoteague.
"The old people in Chicoteague used to have the habit of handing down traditions like the indians," said Mr. Whealton, "and I used to love to listen to them."
He has a most remarkable memory. Frequently he gives the year, the day of the week, and the month of an event, and will then remark in an interjectory way:
"I remember the wind was blowing nor'west," or "nor'east," as the case might be.
(A final portion from this article next Sunday.)
Do you have a local memory to share with PPE readers.. such as a big snow storm, a favorite school teacher, a local happening, something of interest your parents or grandparents told you about? It can be just a line or two, or more if you wish. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
"Somewhere Over The
Rainbow Bluebirds
fly.."
Flying On For JMMB.
Her Pocomoke Public
Eye postings (April,
2008 to June, 2014)
kept us informed.
