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(Reader-friendly viewing of newspaper archives material)
September, 1905
(The Galveston Daily News- Galveston, Texas)
SOCIETY GIRL FARMER
Baltimore, Md.- Miss Georgia Gelston Jones, daughter of the late Isaac D. Jones, has given up her fashionable life in Baltimore and ceased to take an active interest in the old First Presbyterian Church, having taken over management of a farm of 400 acres under cultivation and 200 acres in woodland. She has raised one of the largest crops on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Cares of a big farm are just the opposite of the easy life that has been the life of Miss Jones. Her grandfather, Hugh Gelston, was one of the leading merchants and real estate owners of this city in the 40's, and her father was Attorney General under Governor William Pinkney Whyte. Miss Jones inherited wealth from both. She is a cousin of the late Countess Machido of Paris.
When the father of Miss Jones died she fell heir to Arcadia, an estate of 600 acres near Princess Anne, on the Eastern Shore. She soon found she could not get a capable overseer or manager for the place and it was going to wreck and ruin. She closed her ancestral home at Linden Avenue and Hoffman street, boarding up its exterior to protect its rich furniture, works of art, and fine linen, placed the family silverware in storage and decided to go to Princess Anne to run the farm herself.
The estate lies on the bank of the Manokin River, and is crowned by a large and roomy old mansion. Fifty thousand dollars has been refused for the place. A wooded lawn stretches away in front of the house, a score of negroes are in the fields busy cutting corn and a heard of Jersey cattle roams over the place.
"I did not come here to live, or, rather, I did not come here to stay," said Miss Jones. "I came here fully intending to get a good tenant, to get the dear old place, the house of my father and the home of my childhood, straightened up. I failed to get the kind of tenant I wanted. In the meantime I am managing it myself."
"It had been under the care of tenants who seemed to make money for themselves but not for my father, and none for me when I came into possession of it. I urged my father to sell it, but he thought he could get returns from the farm equal to a 6 percent investment. Year after year passed and expected returns came not. All the time it was falling into bad repair."
"Imagine my consternation, and, indeed, my grief, when I saw the fences down, the lawn covered with sedge grass, the front porch a dishevelled wreck, the house badly lacking paint. Before I reached the house I set the sedge grass on fire. The neighbors thought there was a big conflagration on the place. I made my way amid the smoke to the house I had loved so dearly. It did not seem to be the same house, and I could hardly realize that within the same walls only a few years ago had gathered some of the most prominent men and women of the State and that here had been heard their gay laughter. Why, in the living rooms in the days of my father I had seen twenty-five guests assembled, the flower of Maryland."
"Mad? I was so mad I did not know what to do. No, I didn't cry, though I am a woman. I wanted to restore the dear old place, and I wanted to restore it all at once. I was too busy with my plans to cry. I could not get rid of the tenant, for he had a lease that would not expire for six months. When that period was up I came into undisputed possession and I set about my work of restoration."
"I advertised for a tenant. I got replies by the hundred. I picked out a young man who seemed to be capable. He stayed here for a while and then received an offer to go to West Virginia to engage in some kind of construction work. He employed all of the industrious negroes of the community on the promise of good wages. He carried them as far as Baltimore, where he heard a big strike was going on in West Virginia. He did not go any farther and the negroes had to return as best they could."
"The next tenant was a married man with children. I built a tenement for him, a nice two-story house. Well, he came. He had not been here long when the men of the place asked me what they should do. It was then 11 o'clock. I told them to get the manager and get their orders from him. But he was not to be found. I went to his house. What do you suppose he was doing? He was playing the organ. He told me he did not like to give up his music. I told him I employed him as a farmer, not as a musician. Well, I got rid of him."
"Would-be purchasers came. But when I asked them to put up a sufficient cash deposit before they cut off the timber they declined. I had all kinds of troubles. Everybody seemed to think he could make any kind of bargain with me , simply because I am a woman, but I still have the farm. Even if I am a woman I know something about law. I learned it from my father."
"You can see I have restored the farm to what it was, in greater part, during my father's lifetime. This year I beat all my neighbors in raising wheat. My wheat averaged thirty-five bushes to the acre. I have been told the average in the county was twenty-five bushels. So remarkable was the yield and of such fine quality was the grain that the Chamber of Commerce of Baltimore passed most favorably upon it. I have been in receipt of hundreds of letters from all parts of the United States asking for seed wheat. My neighbors said I sowed more to the acre then they did, and yet I sowed only a bushel to the acre, while they sowed a bushel and a half."
"My oat crop was equally satisfactory. The yield was 100 bushes to the acre. I don't know how my corn crop is going to turn out, but it certainly looks promising."
"I derive pleasure from farming, in a way. I would find it a greater pleasure if I could get the kind of help I want. I like farm life."
Footnotes: More on Arcadia:
http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/019000/019900/019992/pdf/msa_se5_19992.pdf
More on Isaac D. Jones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Dashiell_Jones
April, 1990
The production line at the Campbell Soup frozen foods plant made its final run marking the end of operations at the Pocomoke facility and the loss of 200 jobs. Some of the workers were to be transferred to Campbell's Salisbury plant. The Pocomoke closing was part of a Campbell's worldwide restructuring program that also resulted in the closing of the company's Mrs. Paul's plant in Crisfield.
Footnote: In later years the Salisbury plant would close.
January, 1952
Dedication was set for a Catholic Church for Pocomoke City. The newly constructed building on Market Street Extended would have seating accommodations for 200. For about ten years Catholic worship services had been held at the Pocomoke armory. Cost of the new church building was $50,000.
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. Your name won't be used unless you ask that it be. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
Left to right- Councilman Clarke, Pocomoke City Manager Russ Blake, Senator Jim Mathias, Pocomoke City Police Chief Kelvin D. Sewell, Pocomoke City Mayor Bruce Morrison, Councilperson Tracey Cottman, Delegate Mike McDermott, Councilman Don Malloy, Councilperson Diane Downing, Worcester County Commisioner Meryl Lockfaw, State Director U.S.D.A., Jack Tarburton
(Don't worry about the arm in the photo- the time on the watch will forever show that things did, indeed, run on time.)
The Pocomoke City Police Department now operates 24/7/365 from the new headquarters on Market Street.
I have so much more to report and so many more photos so please be patient. This has been quite a day for so many... a very exciting day. A day that so many are proud to have been a part of, including myself.
Organized in 1952 with 22 members, the club became Pocomoke's first service club composed entirely of business and professional women. Very soon after the club's formation it took on a major project to meet the needs of the senior citizens in the local community.
PHOTO/Lynn Lang, Pres. of Pocomoke Soroptimists (standing) with Beaulah Baylis, the only charter member
Within three years, the members purchased the large Market Street home from the Hartley Stevens heirs. Hartley Hall, as it was named, became a home for the aged. In providing assisted living services, the home was considered ahead of its time. The home was converted to meet the requirements of a nursing home. With the united efforts of the members and the support of the community, the building was paid off in five years.
Then, in 1979, when the home could no longer meet state requirements, a new 50-bed facility, still under the name of Hartley Hall, was constructed. A new wing was later added to enlarge the home. Still involved in the home, the Soroptimist Club has a member on the board.
Advancing to the past decade, the club members saw a need for more space at Samaritan Shelter. When they learned in 2006 that 350 women and children had been turned away from Samaritan Shelter because of space, the club, now with 23 members, felt that they had to help. The following year they started the Samaritan Shelter Capital Campaign to build a wing for women and children.
Receiving a $10,000 grant from Soroptimist International early in the campaign, the club was able to raise $120,000 in cash and more than $80,000 in donated materials and labor. A little over two years later the shelter was completed and an open house was held. Since the wing opened it has been a shelter to 151 women and 282 children.
The members have also been involved in a number of other projects during the club's tenure. They have been involved in elementary, middle, and high school projects as well as the Samaritan Shelter and Relay for Life. They have provided scholarships for women and girls through fundraising efforts throughout those 60 years. They also honor those who volunteer and women who go above and beyond to help others better their lives.
As a member and leader in the club Beulah has served as president, vice-president, delegate, international liaison, and committee chair for many projects during her 60 years of membership. She attends meetings regularly and still serves as a liaison between the Pocomoke club and its Friendship Club in Finland.
She was married in 1932 to Preston Baylis and they shared their lives for 57 years until his death in 1989. The couple owned and operated a feed store and later Beulah worked as a proof operator in the baking industry until her retirement in 1977.
Other charter members included: Ruth Callahan, Hilda Craigmile, Mary Coleburn, Doris Duncan, Anna Davis, Juanita Harman, Joyce Hoffman, Virginia Hall, Grace Kirby, Elizabeth Kelley, Charlotte Lewis, Gladys Peacock, Myrtle Polk, Nannie Hughes, Vergie Reid, Annie Ross, Madeline Ross, Any Schoolfield, Ida Vincent, Margaret Watson and Alice Young, all of whom are deceased.
The Pocomoke City Lions Club and Rotary Club and the Soroptimists of Accomack County helped the local Soroptimists mark their anniversary.
Current members are: Lynn Lang, president; Denise Walter, vice president; Shelly Mitchell, recording secretary; Crystal Webster, corresponding secretary; Darlene Dean, chaplain; Beulah Baylis, Dorothy Bodley, Betty Burgert, Donna Byrd, Patty Dean, Amy Mason, Dawn Mason, Kathy Mason, Deidra Mears, Terrie Mullis, Gloria Pennewell, Margaret Pilchard, Carolyn Thompson, and Kathy Trumble.
The three acre site was donated to the county by the Girdletree Fire Department to develop a neighborhood park. The future park will include a playground comprised of two adjoining sections, one for young children ages 2-5 and another for youth ages 6-12, a pavilion with grills and picnic tables, and a parking lot.
Earthwork at the park got underway recently and will continue through early summer in preparation for construction of the new park equipment, which will begin this fall.
Photo/Girdletree Vol. Fire Co,Inc.
For more information about the Girdletree Park, contact Parks Superintendent Bill Rodriguez at 410-632-3173 or wrodriguez@co.worcester.md.us
(Reader-friendly viewing of newspaper archives material)
January, 1914
(The Denton Journal)
A Notable Banquet In Prospect
From The Baltimore Sun
The board of governors of the Eastern Shore Society have perfected plans for the first annual dinner, which will be given at the hotel Rennet on January 21. The menu has been arranged with a view of selecting those dishes for which the Eastern Shore counties are famous and nearly every dish served will carry the name of the county it represents. Here it is:
Selected Somerset Oysters.
Tomato bisque, Caroline County Style.
Wicomico Celery.
Salted Nuts, Terrapin, Dorchester County Style.
Queen Anne Filet of Beef.
Mushroom Sauce, Cecil County Peas.
Broiled Young Chicken, Kent County.
Worcester Sweet Potatoes Grilled.
Old Talbot Ham, Hearts of Lettuce.
Old Fashioned Ice Cream, Cakes, Coffee. Cigars, Cigarettes.
Eastern Shore Beaten Biscuit.
Beaten Biscuit will be imported direct from the Shore. The oysters will come from the waters of Somerset, while down in Kent they broil chicken as on one else can. Then there is the genuine diamond-back terrapin. It is said that in the board meeting there was considerable competition among the county vice-presidents as to which county the claiming of the terrapin should go. No one disputed the claim of Caroline to the tomato, for she grows more than any two counties put together; nor was there much dispute about the sweet potatoes, for the southern counties on the "Shore" produce the best that reach the city markets. Cecil took the petit peas, but Somerset, Dorchester, Kent, and Talbot all thought their terrapin the best.
A committee has been appointed to look after speakers and they will all be Eastern Shoremen. Lyn R. Meekins, of Dorchester, will be the toastmaster.
August, 1887
(The Denton Journal)
Maryland Cooking
(Excerpts)
(Quoting a New York Times correspondent.)
In Maryland one of the roads to Paradise begins in the kitchen and ends in the dining-room. Nowhere in the world do people as a class live better. They are born to good eating, and the cultivation of the appetite becomes a second nature.
The choicest things of life flourish here with a luxuriance that few, if any sections of the country can match.
... Cantaloupe, oysters, soft crabs, trout, rail birds, luscious peaches just plucked, and an indescribable watermelon fresh from the vine!
Good eating is so infectious in the State that it pervades politics. In one of the counties, Wicomico, the campaign is invariably opened in the spring by a great turtle dinner. All the candidates and politicians and district leaders come together in a love feast of turtle and politics. They sit around on stools and fences eating and talking and laughing booms and courting friendships. The affair lasts an entire day, and after it is over the candidates proceed to slaughter one another instead of turtle. Oyster roasts are features of all large campaigns. Several dozen bushels of oysters are roasted in one great fire and every man, equipped with an oyster knife, helps himself. Good dinners are also numerously used in a political way, and many a boom had its fruitful origin in well cooked food, flavored with rare old wines.
A year or so ago the best restaurant here, and all in all the best in the south, imported a staff of high-salaried New York cooks. The arrangement lasted less than a week. By that time the guests had asked for a return to Maryland dishes, for to a Marylander the subtle charm of home cooking is the greatest glory of the ages.
March, 1957
With the dualization of the nine mile stretch of U.S. 13 from just north of Princess Anne to Salisbury completed, plans were in the works to dualize the stretch from Pocomoke City to Princess Anne. By-passes for Pocomoke and Princess Anne were also being planned. 1956 saw the completion of a new railway overpass near Pocomoke that replaced a dangerous Route 13 grade crossing.
Footnote: Digging out tons of gravel for the overpass created a quite sizable man-made body of water, perhaps about a quarter of a mile across, just to the east of the overpass. This became known as Merrill's Beach and with the help of one of Pocomoke City's civic organizations it was maintained for a number of years as a popular local swimming and bathing area. Merrill's Beach eventually had to close because Health Department water standards could not be maintained.
December, 1967
Pocomoke City residents were remembering retired long time Market Street merchant L. Griffin Callahan who passed away at age 71. He had owned and operated Callahan's Ladies Shop; he was a charter member and past president of the Pocomoke Lions Club and had served several times as Commander of American Legion Worcester Post 93.
August, 1892
(The Daily News- Frederick, Md)
A stranger who attempted to introduce politics into a Farmer's Alliance meeting in Worcester County was surrounded by the Snow Hill Brass Band and blown off the stump.
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. Your name won't be used unless you ask that it be. Send to tkforppe@yahoo.com and watch for it on a future TIME MACHINE posting!
A G E N D A
POCOMOKE CITY MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEETING
7:30 p.m., Monday, June 18, 2012
City Hall
2. Review and approval of minutes from meeting of June 5, 2012.
3. Review and approval of bills to be paid.
4. Second Reading of Res. 461 to adopt the City budget for fiscal year 2012-2013.
5. Second Reading of Res. 462 to adopt the tax rates for various categories of real and personal property for fiscal year 2012-2013.
6. Second Reading of Res. 463 to adopt the schedule of fees and charges for fiscal year 2012-2013.
7. Presentation by representatives of Opto Traffic regarding speed cameras.
8. Representatives of Save the Youth Program to discuss future plans.
9. Review report from consultant Ron Hamblin concerning condition of building at 124 Willow Street. (Lawson’s Bar)
10. Second Reading of Ord. 409 to regulate the types of furniture that may be placed on open porches and other outside areas.
12. Authorize bids for purchase of radio read water meters. (MDE Grant project)
13. Review bids for demolition of fire damaged house at 621 Young Street (Allen Blount, owner).
11. Review letter from Delmarva Discovery Center requesting loan funds.
14. Discuss vacancies on list of Boards and Commissions.
15. Review proposed mailer and application for ambulance department memberships.
Comments from the Audience.
Mayor and Council Items.
Adjourn.
AGENDAS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE UNTIL THE TIME OF CONVENING.
CAPE CHARLES -- A Northampton County woman has been charged with falsely reporting she was raped on the Cape Charles beachfront, an allegation that triggered a lengthy investigation and manhunt.
Suzanna Bowen, 20, of Exmore, was charged with making a false report, a Class 1 misdemeanor, said Cape Charles Police Chief Charles Brown. She was arrested Monday and released on bond.
Bowen apparently alleged she was sexually assaulted March 23 at about 6:30 p.m. on the north end of the town's public Chesapeake Bay beach. It was reported to police at about 11 p.m. that day.
Laboratory tests were ordered and the police department received the help of a sketch artist who made a drawing of the suspect based on details from the victim.
At one time, the entire town police force was involved in the ensuing investigation. Two officers coordinated the inquiry and a Sheriff's Office investigator assisted.
By May, Brown's investigation determined that no sexual assault had happened.
"It was a false report," he said this week.
Lorain Municipal Court Judge Mark Mihok held Durrell Brooks in contempt of court Thursday because Brooks’ pants were riding so low, his underwear was showing. He then ordered him jailed for three days.
“I think he was a little shocked and upset,” Mihok said by phone.
Brooks was attending a hearing with a woman who was facing a traffic violation for a May car crash, when he approached the bench to tell Judge Mihok that he had insurance on the car Jackson was driving.
Mihok said when Brooks turned around, he could clearly see the exposed underwear and ordered him arrested.
Mihok said the incident with Brooks was the third time in the past month he has sent someone to jail for problems with the way they were dressed. Those two people had been warned by court security to pull their pants up before entering the courtroom and when their underwear was still showing when they came in, Mihok sent them to jail.
Mihok said every day, court security has to deal with men wearing their pants too low.
“Some even come in in their jail outfits and put their jail pants low trying to show their friends and relatives that they’re a tough guy,” Mihok said.
He said the issue is not just a matter of decorum, but he wants all those who come into his courtroom, including the elderly and teenagers, to feel safe.
(Whaleyville, MD) – Investigators from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit are investigating the murder of a woman found in an embankment off of a dirt road in Worcester County.
The victim is identified as Nicole Bennett, 35, of the 33,000 block of Windswept Drive in Millsboro, Delaware. Bennett was found deceased and lying in an embankment off of a dirt road in Worcester County, in an area where there are no homes in the immediate vicinity. Bennett’s body has been transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
Shortly before 9:00 a.m. today, Worcester Central received a 9-1-1 call reporting the body of an unidentified woman found deceased on Swamp Road, a dirt road east of Nelson Road. The caller told police he was in the area walking when he noticed the woman’s body lying in an embankment which slopes downward from the roadway.
During the course of the initial investigation, police learned Bennett was the subject of a missing person’s case being investigated by the Delaware State Police. Bennett’s husband had called 9-1-1 at about 8:00 a.m. this morning reporting his wife missing after not coming home from work the night before.
According to the missing person report and family members, Bennett had a rose tattoo on the inside of her right ankle. The woman found in the embankment had the same rose tattoo as verified by Delaware State Police and Bennett’s family.
A family member told police they had last heard from Bennett on the night of June 14, 2012. At this time, a monetary reward is being offered to anyone with information leading to the arrest of the individual(s) responsible for Bennett’s murder. Calls are being taken by the Worcester County Lower Eastern Shore Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776. Calls will remain confidential.
Deputies from the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, investigators from the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation, Delaware State Police and the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit responded to the scene. Crime scene technicians from the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division responded to gather evidence. The Worcester County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Wicomico County Bureau of Investigation, and the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation have also been assisting with the investigation.
As of this update, Maryland law enforcement is taking the lead on this case. Delaware State Police are assisting in the investigation. Police are interviewing suspects while the investigation continues...