1912 LEWES BOARD OF TRADE ORGANIZED

ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

LEWES BOARD OF TRADE

MONDAY, MARCH 10, 1912

On March 10 The Lewes Board of Trade was organized at a public meeting held in the Lewes Town Hall. A number of citizens realizing the value of a Board of Trade on all economic and industrial questions, issued a call which resulted in a hearty response.

George P. Tunnell , one of Lewes' most progressive merchants. Was elected president; F. H. Brewer , vice president; Percy B Vickers, secretary; Charles T. Melson, assistant secretary; Fred C. Wolfe, treasurer. A by laws committee was appointed consisting of Brewer, Vickers and Register.

Ex-Congressman Burton gave an address which dwelt on his efforts while in congress to have the Breakwater extend to our shores and a history of his efforts in that behalf.

William A. Russell entertained with a delightful prophecy “Lewes One Hundred Years From Now” He drew vivid word pictures of the town with its breakwaters, canals, docks and wharves, railway and steamship lines among other various industries.

Mr. Tunnell, the president, is a 'hustler' and will without doubt have the new Board of Trade a 'live wire' in matters pertaining to this old city by the sea.

SOURCE : MORNING NEWS, WILMINGTON MARCH 11 1912

Delaware Breakwater Metes & Bounds

DELAWARE BREAKWATER

The Delaware Breakwater is situated at the entrance into the Delaware Bay near Cape Henlopen. The anchorage ground, or roadstead, is formed by a cove in the southern shore directly west of the pitch of the cape and the seaward end of an extensive shoal called the shears; the tail of which makes out from the shore about five miles up the bay , near the mouth of Broadkill Creek, from whence it extends eastward and terminates at a point about two miles to the northward of the shore at the Cape.

The Breakwater consist of an insulated dike or wall of stone, the transversal section of which is a trapezium, the base resting on the bottom, whilst the summit line forms the top of the works. The other sides represent the inner and outer slopes of the work, that to the seaward being much greater than the other. The inward slope is 45 degrees; the top is horizontal , 22 feet in breadth and raised 5-1/3 feet above the highest spring tide; the outward or sea slope is 89 feet n altitude upon a base of 1053 feet; these dimensions being measured in relation to a horizontal plane passing by a point 27 feet below the lowest spring tide. The base bears to the altitude nearly the same ratio as similar lines in the profile of the Cherbourg and Plymouth Breakwaters.

The opening or entrance from the ocean is 650 yards in width, between the north point of the cape and the east end of the Breakwater. At this entrance the harbor will be accessible during all winds coming from the sea.

The dike is formed in a straight line from E.S.E. To W.N.W. ; 1200 yards is the length of this portion of the work which is designed to serve the purposes of a breakwater. At a distance of 350 yards from the upper or western end of the breakwater ( which space forms the upper entrance), a similar dike of 500 yards in length , is projected in a direct line, W. by S. ½ S. forming an angle of 146 degree, 15 min, with the Breakwater. This work is designed more particularly as an icebreaker. The whole length of the two dikes above described ; which are now partly commenced will be 1700 yards; they will contain when finished 900,000 cubic yards of stone, composed of pieces of basaltic rock and granite weighing from a quarter of a ton to three tons and upward.

The depth of the water at low tide is from four to six fathoms throughout the harbor which will be formed by these works and the cove of the southern shore. It is calculated to afford a perfect shelter over a space of water surface of seven tenths of a square mile.

The object to be gained by the construction of an artificial harbor in this roadstead are to shelter vessels from the action of waves caused by the winds blowing from the E. to the N.W. round by the N. and also protect them against injuries arising from floating ice descending the bay from the N.W.

Source: Encyclopedia Americana : Tuesday , November 16, 1830 Issue Charleston Courier of Charleston, South Carolina.

From the pen of the Engineer engaged in the construction of the work.

DORCHESTER 1900

DORCHESTER COUNTY MARYLAND

IN THE EARLY TO MID

1900'S

Dorchester , made a county in 1669, is the largest on the Eastern Shore but much of it is salt marsh with tidal streams of great beauty were fish, muskrat, deer and ducks thrive for the fishermen and hunters. Lying between two sizable estuaries, the Choptank to the north and Nanticoke to the south, with bays, creeks, straits, large and small islands, a person could spend a lifetime exploring its beauty. There is deep and shallow water for fishing for rock, taylor bluefish, or perch. Ducking is a big sport with large preserves for shooters.

As Dorchester is readily accessible by water it was settled early and many quaint seventeenth century structures are standing. Richard Preston, a Quaker, was the first Dorchester delegate to the General Assembly held in St. Mary's.

There is to the north, East New Market, with old houses so distinctive is style, Cambridge, on the Choptank at its widest point, two miles, the shores second largest city, with narrow overcrowded streets, large trees in the residential area, is a maritime town. At the Point , a residence built in 1706 still stand and is occupied. Also are LaGrange, the Wallace Mansion, with a boxwood garden and the oldest magnolia tree on the Eastern Shore, and the Jordan House with a beautiful interior. Up and down the river are Eldon, known as Shoal Creek House, Glasgow Hambrook, Castle Haven, Sopcot and lets not forget Horns point. On Hoopers Island, to the south, is Church Creek, an ancient place, with the Treaty Oak, the scene of a powwow between settlers and native Indians long ago It was a ship building town until the timber was used up. Next down the Hooper Island Road is Trinity Church, known also as Old Church, established in 1680. This church is in possession of a red velvet cushion on which Queen Ann knelt when

she was crowned, and a silver chalice presented by Queen Ann. The bricks of the church were said for years to have been brought from England but it is known the colonist made bricks as soon as they settled and near by is a hollow, probably where the clay for the bricks was dug. Near here are two old houses, one on Church Creek, known as Old house, now two centuries old. Lake Cove, same age or so by fifty years, where Lovey Lake lived during the Revolution and saved the house from the British, deponent sayeth how. Near by stands an old windmill which until a few years ago was still able to grind grain.

Hoopers Island is really three islands, Upper, Middle and Lower. Applegarth, a ghost town, for a washed out bridge never replace, and the town population moving inland during WWI for high paying jobs never returned. Three other villages, Honga, Fishing Creek and Hooperville, oyster packing towns, with people of ancient customs and friendly hearts.

Tails of the past: Hoopers Straits was once know as Limbo, so named by Captain John Smith in 1608 when driven there by a great storm after which he repaired his sails with his sailors shirts.

On Goose Creek there lived an old chief of the Wiwash Tribe who took the name of Billy Rumley, married a white woman and remained at Goose Creek when the others of the tribe moved north..............Story is that to 'punish' his wife and to 'make her sweet' he would tie her in his big chimney to the 'lubber pole' and 'smoke' her . There are still some individuals with a tinge of copper in their skin who are descendants of Billy Rumley and his white wife in this neighborhood.

SOURCE: Maryland Main and the Eastern Shore by Hulbert Footner

LEWES DELAWARE

MARCH 3, 1937

STREETS RENAMED

MULBERRY STREET WILL BE NO LONGER BE KNOWN AS KNITTING STREET, PARK AVENUE WILL BECME SHIP CARPENTERS STREET . OLD KINGS HIGHWAY TAKES THE PLACE OF KING STREET. SAVANNAH ROAD , SO KNOWN ON ANCIENT GRANTS, WILL REPLACE STATE STREET. CANAL STREET IS NOW FRONT STREET AND WILL TURN INTO PILOTS TOWN ROAD ALONG THE WAY TO CANARY CREEK'

REINSTATEMENT OF THR STREET NAMES WAS APPORVED BY THE MAYOR AN COMMISSIOMERS UPON A PETITION OF THE LEWES ROTARY CLUB.

STRUCTURES ON THE DELAWARE RIVER TO NOTE.

THE BRANDYWINE CHALYBEATE SPRINGS HOTEL

MILL CREEK HUNDRED

NEW CASTLE COUNTY, DELAWARE

The spacious and elegant house of the Brandywine Chalybeate Springs Company, which was completed last fall is now open and handsomely furnished for the reception of visitors and boarders under the superintendence of Mr. Charles Stanley.

This 'Watering Place' is finely situated in the high and healthy country five miles northwest of Wilmington commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country , the Delaware River, and neighboring states. The grounds afford pleasant and shady promenades and are bounded by fine streams.

The virtues of the 'Waters' are those of the purest Chalybeate according to Professor Keating of Philadelphia. They are particularly efficacious in bilious and other fevers and are celebrated as a fine tonic.

The vicinity of Wilmington offers access to excellent markets and travel by steam boat to Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Carriages and horses may always be had for delightful rides over good roads to neighboring towns . Horses taken at livery in good hands.

Charges will be moderate. CHARLES STANLEY, June 1, 1827

Abstract from the Thursday , July 19, 1827 issue of the “Wilmingtonian and Delaware Advistser newspaper.

- ** -

Throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries there were a number of hotels, taverns and inns in Mill Creek Hundred but the one true resort hotel was Brandywine Chalybeate Springs Hotel built in 1827. At that time it was the largest building in the Hundred and certainly the most lavish. It sat at the corner of Faulkland Road and Newport Gap Road

and was owned by the Yarnall family who had operated the Conestoga Wagon Inn since 1800. The property was sold a sheriff's sale to a group of Quaker businessmen who bought it for the foul tasting, reddish water, seeping from the hill behind the old inn and not the beauty of the building. The 'water' came from a chalybeate spring issuing a iron salt water.

The builder was a local, Justa Justice, and the building was on high ground above the spring, a magnificent, gleaming white building with a grand colonnade and wide piazzas. It was first known as New Castle County Chalybeate Spring Company but soon renamed to capitalize on the Brandywine name famous for a Revolutionary War battle in 1777. It was a true resort unlike the many Inn's which dotted the landscape thereabouts. It was not a place where guest stayed overnight on the travels, it was a destination for visits of several weeks or even months, where they had cotillions, balls, and concets . A real French chef prepared what were undoubtedly the most sumptuous meals. It was where you were “seen” morning and evenings when mingling and socializing with other guest. For the elderly and infirm guest the focus was on the “spring” itself.

The chalybeate spring was at the base of a high hill near Hyde Run where stone steps led to the circular stone tower which protected the spring.

It is a sad story that circumstances and a financially unsuccessful life would result in a relatively short life for the Brandywine Springs Chalybeate Hotel.

Abstract from The Mill Creek Hundred History Blog of Scott Palmer.

55 years newspaper priinting

55 YEARS OF NEWSPAPER PRINTING

Colonel John Woolsey Wharton Johnson, age 65, died at his Georgetown home ,

Sunday, February 24, 1924 of a cancer he attributed to a head injury received in a railroad excursion accident at Harrington, fifteen years ago, where he had gone to hear William Jennings Bryan speak at a political meeting. Johnson was born July 30, 1858 at Doe Bridge Mill, near Millsboro, to Benjamin B and Hannah Kollock Johnson. On October 14, 1883, at age 25, he married Ella S Simpler, age 18, in Sussex County. They had a daughter Julia born in 1884.

Johnson had for fifty five years, starting at age eight at the Sussex Journal as a 'printers devil' , been in the newspaper printing business in lower Delaware until 1922 when he was 'placed on pension' at the Sussex Printing and Publishing Company in Georgetown. At the Sussex Journal he worked with Colonel W. Fisk Townsend, who left, as a legacy, the title Colonel to Johnson.

After his employment with Townsend he went to work with the Delaware Inquirer of Robert T. Hart and William Pride, then returned to the Sussex Journal of David Marvel and McKendree Downham. He was with the Milford Chronicle, the Breakwater Light at Lewes, edited by Issac Knowles, which later became Delaware Pilot. Back to Georgetown with the Delaware Democrat, the owner Lawyer Edwin Paynter of Sussex County.

1906, the Delaware Democrat and Sussex Journal merged , the Lewes Delaware Pilot, moved it's printing plant to Georgetown and the Sussex Printing and Publishing Company was formed. Throughout all the mergers, buying and selling , of lower Delaware newspapers, Colonel Johnson, retained his affiliation with printing newspapers. The Sussex Printing & Publishing Company owners in 1921 were Willard Saulsbury and Andrew Lynch who pensioned John Woolsey Wharton Johnson for keeps. 

SOURCE: Wilmington Evening Journal  25 February 1924