Delmar DustPan

Wishing everyone a happy and safe New Years Eve. Finally moved into the "new" house this week. Good to be back into the neighborhood. I was reminded of the advantages of home ownership this week as I shoveled sidewalks and driveways - really getting too old for this damn snow. Once again no internet and no phone, comcast and verizon will give me a stroke before all of this settles down. All the rooms in the house are stacked with boxes of "stuff" from the move and we can't find anything. I just hope Ramona finds that green underwear for midnight as we could use an improvement in money to pay that youngest kid's college tuition next week.

Elihu Emory Jackson, son of Hugh and Sarah Jackson, was born on November 3 in 1836 on a farm outside of Delmar, Maryland in what was than Somerset County. With little formal education he started a mercantile business, at the age of 21, in the new town of Delmar. With his partner, Elijah Freeny, the business was the first store in Delmar. Shortly afterward he would run the first post office in Delmar from this store. When the railroad extended to Salisbury in 1864 he moved there to open a dry goods, general merchandise, grain and lumber business. He expanded his lumber planing operations to Baltimore and Washington becoming well known in those areas. Eventually he had large tracts of land thru out the south to supply him with lumber. In 1882 he was elected as a Member of the Maryland state house of delegates from Wicomico County. In 1884 he was elected a member of Maryland state senate from Wicomico County and in 1888 he was elected Governor of Maryland, He died in Baltimore, Md., December 27, 1907 and is buried at Parsons Cemetery, Salisbury, Md.

Today in 1694 Our sovereign British Queen Mary II died. Mary was a Stuart and she disposed of her father King James II, who was Catholic Mary and Anne, his daughters, were raised as Anglicans so she had a protestant reign. She became regnant of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Mary married William III creating a monarch usually referred to as William and Mary. Mary was a tall woman (5 foot 11 inches) for her period in history and physically active, however small pox managed to kill her at age 32. Judging from the painting she also liked low cut dresses, but of course, if you have got 'em flaunt 'em

Perhaps she and her husband are best known locally for the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia which she endowed in 1693. Williamsburg, itself, was named Williamsburg in honor of King William III of England. Also William Penn and his management of Pennsylvania and the three lower countries (Delaware), in part, occurred at the time of William and Mary reign.

From "ACCOMACK INDENTURES 1798 - 1835" --- A Peter's Row Publication

26 December 1814 --- An Indenture made between the Overseers of the Poor and Reavel Copes to carry out an order made in County Court dated 26 December 1814 to bind Agness a Yallow Gall orphan of Molley until the age of twenty one, unto Reavel Copes who will provide sufficient Meat, Drink, Washing, Lodging, Wearing Apparel and teach her Spinning & Weaving also pay her Twelve Dollars at the expiration of the said time
Accomack VA

Staff Sergeant John Gilmore Cropper, United States Army was killed in action in Leyte on December 27, 1944. He entered the Service from Wicomico County, Maryland.
Cropper was a young married 22 year-old when he was drafted on 2 September 1941. After Fort Meade he was sent to Camp Wheeler, Georgia and then to Ft. Benning, Georgia. When the war began in the Pacific he was in combat on Guam and in the Philippines.

Yes the long awaited for National Fruitcake Day is upon us. Let's hear it for Fruitcake!!! Yea !!!!

The Daily Dispatch: December 27, 1861 - Richmond VA

The subscribers have associated themselves together to conduct a
General Agency business.

In the city of Richmond, embracing the Hiring out of Negroes, Renting out Houses, Selling Real and Personal Estate, &c.

Their special attention will be given to Hiring out Negroes; and from the long experience which each have had feel confident that they will be able to procure fair prices and good homes for all negroes entrusted to their care. They solicit a continuance of that liberal patronage heretofore bestowed upon each of them. They have made ample arrangements to have negroes cared for till hired out; and in cases of sickness will give our personal attention.

We earnestly request our friends to send their negroes to us by the 1st of January. Better prices and better homes can be obtained by sending them in early. E. A. J. Clopton,

Ro. B. Lyne

Office corner of Franklin and Wall streets. opposite Dickerson & Hill. up stairs.

Governor Issues Limited State of Emergency for Delaware Drivers
Driving Warning for Kent, Sussex Counties

(Dover, DE) Governor Jack Markell has issued a limited State of Emergency with a "Level 1 Driving Warning" to begin at 4 p.m. Sunday in Kent and Sussex counties for a storm that is now predicted to dump up to 18 inches of snow on the southern part of the state and up to 8 inches in the north. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for the Delaware coastal area. Heavy snow and high wind is expected make driving dangerous and ill-advised during some periods.

DelDOT crews began working overnight to prepare and plow roads, and the Governor this morning deployed Delaware National Guard personnel to man heavy equipment in each county and at State Police troops to assist with any local emergency needs. DEMA’s Emergency Operations Center near Smyrna has been activated and acts as a link between the Governor’s Office and cabinet and emergency responders around the state.

“With DelDOT crews working around the clock, the National Guard activated and our state and local emergency responders at the ready, the state is fully prepared for the first big storm of this winter but we ask everyone to use good judgment and stay off the roads,” Governor Markell said.

According to Governor Markell, “With heavy snow and wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour, travel on some of the state’s roads will be very dangerous, will hamper the plowing operations and may result in the need to rescue drivers from snow drifts. As such, we strongly urge people to stay off the roads.”

Under a new law passed in the wake of last winter’s snowstorms and designed to provide more clarity to drivers, Delaware now has a three-level driving warning and restriction system. The following levels are found in Title 20 of the Delaware Code, Subsection 3116(b)(12) and may be put in effect by the Governor during a State of Emergency for all or parts of Delaware based on conditions.

•Level 1 Driving Warning: Drivers are discouraged from operating a motor vehicle on the state's roadways, unless there is a significant safety, health or business reason to do so.
•Level 2 Driving Restriction: Travel on the roads is restricted to emergency workers, public utilities, healthcare providers including hospital staff, public and private operators of snow removal equipment, private sector food and fuel deliveries, and those industries, companies or organization that have been provided a waiver, including businesses with pressing continuity and operational issues.
•Level 3 Driving Ban: Complete ban on driving except for first responders, utility personnel, and public or private snow removal. Businesses and organizations should adjust work schedules so that employees do not need to be on the roads during a Level 3 Driving Ban.
The Level 1 Driving Warning issued by the Governor starts at 4 p.m. Sunday in Kent and Sussex and is expected to last at least until Sunday evening. Conditions will continue to be assessed to determine if the Level 1 Driving Warning should be extended to New Castle County, but drivers are encouraged to be cautious and refrain from the roads unnecessarily as conditions worsen. Public notification will be made when the warning is lifted.

Private First Class George H. Long, 366th Infantry Regiment, United States Army Died today in 1944 He entered the Service from Salisbury, Maryland. George “Buster” Long served in the Army and was assigned to the 366th Infantry Regiment, Company F. He was sent to the European theater; on 26 December 1944, while serving in Italy he was reported missing in action. Later, Long was declared killed in action. He served with his best buddy, Charles L. “Jack” Jackson, Jr. who was also killed in action.
Pfc. Long is buried in Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy. He ws awarded the Purple Heart.

I have no idea how Pvt Long died, however during Christmas 1944 the Italians and Germans carried out their last combined offensive of the war. Operation Wintergewitter (Winter Storm) was a limited offensive in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. The offensive badly mauled an American infantry division and achieved some minor results, slightly improving the Axis situation over the western Apennines Gothic Line sector.

My daughters gave us a watercolor/pen and ink sketch (done by that top graphic designer Randie) of our old house that burnt. We were pleased with it. When I asked if they had given Randie a photo of the old house, they said no she had gone on Google Earth and used the photo there for the sketch. Well I have been on Google Earth a couple of times and found it interesting but I have mixed opinions of it.

The Photos of Delmar are about two, maybe three, years old and must have been taken in the summer.

From a history point of view, if you can figure out how to save the images, this is great as you would have a ready made reference file of buildings in town to retain in your archives. Save you the trouble of walking around town snapping photos.

I have also used it for a wedding I was attending out of town, it gave me a photo of the building and where the parking lot was etc, very handy. It is very good for sightseeing in town you hope someday to go to.

The big problem I see is anyone in the world can not only see your house but can look at your block and see how the area is laid out. If a gang in Baltimore decided to rob houses on the Eastern Shore they could just use google earth to check out the area and look for the most promising houses to hit, cutting down on looking around time and possibly attracting suspicion due to their lengthy presents.

Google Earth has some face blurring software so if you are out in the yard when their camera goes by your face won't be recognised. But is it another unwanted invasion of our personal privacy? Between cameras everywhere we go and TSA people feeling your body up (20 years ago they would be hung from a tree and their government IDs shoved up their asses for such a thing) telephone calls monitored, etc etc.

Last winter did me in for snow. I hope to never see anymore and today it is just coming down.

Bear in Mind That trash pickup was on Monday and this was a photo taken on Thursday, normally it looks nothing like this. What comes to mind when you look at this? consumerism, commercialism, consumption overdone, Pension plan for the Chinese, Way too much packaging material, what will it look like after Christmas? How much stuff do we need?