Lewes And Rehoboth Life Saving Service Crews Save 194 Lives During The 1889 Great Storm

On October 13, 1889, from Washington, D.C. the General Superintendent of the Life Saving Service, S. J. Kimball, wrote letters to John A. Clampitt, Keeper of Lewes Station, Theodore Salmons, Keeper of Cape Henlopen Station, and Thomas J. Traxton, Keeper of Rehoboth Beach Station,  in which he said:
  The splendid conduct shown by yourselves and the crews under your command during the great storm of September10th to the 27th last,  has been noted by this office.  Upon that occasion , notwithstanding an unusually high tide that flooded the beach so as to embarrass your crews you gave efficient aid o no less that 22 vessels, taking off by boat 39 persons,  and by line apparatus  155, at total of 194 persons, not a life being lost from any vessel that came within the scope of your actions. In this successful work you showed a zeal and discretion and an ingenuity in availing yourselves of the resources at your command worthy of the highest praise.  Undaunated by the perils you encountered you and your crews manfully worked throughout each day and night without food  enduring extreme fatigue. Such service as this does honor to the Life Saving Service and the country.
  It is the desire of the Secretary of the Treasury to recognize as far as is in his power the worth of your achievements and he has accordingly directed that the pay of each of you be increased to the maximum amount allowed by existing law  to officers of your grade, namely $800 per year.
It is a matter of deepest regret that no means existfor recompensing in a similar manner the brave surfmen of your crews on that occasion since, by law, they receive already the maximum salary.
                                                                                    Respectfully yours,
                                                                                   S. J. Kimball, General Superintendent

EARLY AMERICAN INDIANS CUSTOMS

The Comanche Indian Nation do not have a written language and during World War One,  also World War Two, Comanche Indian, U. S.  Army soldiers ,  were used to transmit messages over radio and phone which were stranger to the enemy than any code the American's ever had.

POST ESTABLISHED A NEW ROUTE KENNET SQUARE & NEWARK

On Wednesday, February 4, 1795, the Wilmington newspaper, Delaware and Eastern Shore Advertiser,  beg leave to acquaint the Public,  that a post rider has now started from the office on a route thru' Kennet's Square, New London Cross Roads,  round by the Susquehanna to Peach Bottom, and return to the main road by the Brick Meeting House,  Fairhill, Newark and New Garden, &c, making a circuit of nearly One Hundred Miles, made every week. This will give the gentlemen along this route the opportunity to receive the Advertiser regularly and connect the post of this area a quicker connection to Philadelphia and Baltimore.

CUSTOMS OF EARLY AMERICAN INDIANS

November 2, 1826 Wilmington & Delaware Advertiser
INDIAN CUSTOMS:
It was a few year since, and probably is now, a custom of the Mohawk Indians along Delaware, to bury their dead in a sitting posture with faces to the east. Tradition was that at some future day a "Great Man" would appear in the East and call all dead to Judgement nd facing East would see the Great Man the moment he would appear and be quick to rise being in a sitting position.
A suicide would be buried with his head bowed downward, facing West, which reminded him that he was the murderer of himself.

DECEMBER 1826 GROCERY'S & TAVERNS & HOTELS WILMINGTON, DE

GROCERY STORES:
Joseph Mendenhall at corner of King and Second Streets
Joseph C. Gilpin, 46 Market Street
James & Samuel Brown, 8 High Street
Clement & Gorden, corner Market and Kennet Streets
Peter Horn  corner King and Front Street
John Rice   Brandywine, south of bridge
Samuel Stroud, corner of Front and Orange
George Williamson,  10 HighStreet
George Winslow,  179 Market Street
Jonh Wright , corner Front and Market Streets
Perry Steward, Market Street opposite Academy

HOTELS & TAVERNS:
James Plumley's Washington Inn, at 39 Market Street.
Joshua Hutton's  Queen of Otaheite, corner of Market and Queen Streets.
William C. Dorsey Tavern, west Front near Shipley
John M. Smith 's Indian King, corner of Market and High Streets.

RICHARD A SHIELDS, DEATH, LEWES SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

Lewes, Delaware August 13, 1959 :
Professor Richard A Shields, age 76, a former superintendent of the Lewes Special School District for almost 20 years, died at his Washington Street home in his sleep early yesterday. His wife found him when he did not rise at his usual time and Doctor Tormet said he had been dead a few hours. He died of a chronic heart ailment but had been in apparent good health when retiring the night before.
Mr. Shields and his family had come to Lewes in 1929 when he was hired as superintendent of Lewes School, where he held a job until 1948. After his retirement he worked for The Antrim Bureau of Philadelphia which furnished educational programs throughout the East and Mid West. He also did research for a national publication, The World Book.
He was born in Allport, Clearfield county, north central Pennsylvania, in 1883, to Alexander and Susan Dale Shields. His father was born in Scotland and mother in Pennsylvania.
He received his early education at Perkiomen School and was a graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1912.
Mr. Shields is survived by his widow, former Mary Ann Moyer of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and three children, Richard, born 1916, Lois, born 1918, and Samuel, born 1921. He was born to a family of six sisters and a brother, survived by two sisters, Mrs Carrie Plikington of St Petersburg, Florida and Mrs Roy Detwiler of Detroit.
Richard A Shields is buried in Bethel Cemetery, Lewes, Delaware.

Customs of Early American Indians and Eskimos

The native Indians and Eskimos of early  North America often killed off their old and superfluous, sometimes set out from the tribes to starve or be taken  by the wild creatures.  It was often that the old were tired of life and would beg to be dispatched.   Barbarism shows in the treatment of the dead. Some of the favorite's were buried but others were dragged a distance from the village and abandoned to the dogs and wild animals. There were no marriage  regulations and women were thought of as a chattel.  A male could have as many female's as he was able to manage. It is possible that there was very little polygamy amongst them.
From the collection of the Chicago Tribune in 1890.