This Weatherman Knew the Highs & Lows in Cecil County

As the mercury rose and fell each day and rain drenched Cecil County every so often one person carefully observed the changing Elkton weather. That gentleman, H. Wirt Bouchelle, trudged out to the backyard of his home at 6 p.m. each evening to check the temperature, note the day’s highs and lows, and read the rain gauge. 

The summer day he launched his nearly fifty year career as a volunteer observer for the National Weather service was an unusually comfortably one by Chesapeake Bay standards. The thermometer climbed to a comfortable 77 degrees while overnight it fell to 66 degrees on July 22, 1927. There was no precipitation. Almost Fifty years later on November 30, 1976, the aging weather observer dutifully took his last observation. That chilly autumn day, the temperature never climbed above freezing, the mercy just hitting thirty degree. Overnight it fell to a frigid 12 degrees, but at least it didn’t snow. 

Over the year’s he recorded the weather extremes here.  The highest temperature was on 106 degrees on July 10, 1936 and the lowest was 14 below zero on Feb. 9, 1934. The largest amount of precipitation, 6.05-inches, was dumped on Elkton on June 27, 1938.  On January 30, 1966, he noted the record for snow-fall, 20-inches.

Born near Mechanics Valley, he moved to Elkton in 1908 to become a rural letter carrier. He delivered mail by horse and buggy that year.  In 1915, he was appointed the assistant postmaster and served in that capacity until he retired in 1968. At the suggestion of County Extension Agent Tom Bartilson he began making those backyard weather observations in 1927, giving us a valuable historical record of day-to-day conditions in Cecil County. He died at the age of 90 on July 19, 1979.

His daily observations are available through the Utah State University Climate Center. It is something I use as a research source while writing articles. Click here to reach the database.  The database contains plenty of other data reporting stations, which are helpful too.

A block full of century old buildings on North St. are blanketed with snow in March 1978.

Nov 7 at Elkton Library: The 101st Screaming Eagles, a Walk With Heroes

Local veteran Joseph Lofthouse was a radioman and paratrooper for the 502nd regiment and participated in such major events as D-Day, Market Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and the occupation of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.  Hear his first hand experiences of an extradordinary time and events that changed the work at the Elkton Central Library on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd at 7:00 p.m.

Cecil County Chapter of NAACP Organized: 1962

As the local chapter of the NAACP prepares to celebrate 50 years of civil rights advocacy a Window on Cecil County’s Past has checked the old newspapers for that year for information.  The Cecil Democrat carried a front page story, but nothing was found in the Cecil Whig.

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In February 1962, the Cecil Democrat announced the organization of the Cecil County NAACP branch. A front page photo showed the officers meeting to organize at Wright’s AME Church in Elkton. McKinley Scott of North East was the Vice-President; Mildred Johnson of Elkton was the treasurer and Rev. H. R. Curtis, Ekton, President; and Laurie Loper Charlestown was the secretary.

Cecil County Chapter of NAACP Observes 100th Anniversary of the National Civil Rights Organization

The Cecil County branch of the NAACP gathered for its annual banquet Saturday evening in Perryville. The national civil rights organization is observing its 100th anniversary this year and the local chapter will mark 50 years of advocacy in 2012. The evening’s keynote speaker was Major General (retired) Joseph McNeil. On Feb. 1, 1960, General McNeil along with, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond and Franklin McCain, protested a segregated lunch counter at a Woolworth department store in Greensboro, N.C., by conducting a sit-in. Their non-violent protest quickly attracted the attention of the national media , which called them the Greensboro Four. Their protest at the lunch counter, which sparked sit-ins across the country, became one of the defining moments for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Since the local chapter is getting ready to mark its 50th anniversary, I put together a video slide show of images related to African-American history in Cecil County in the 20th century. Many of these images were used in a Power Point slide show during the Saturday evening program.

Meeting To Explore John Smith Heritage Trail in Havre de Grace Thursday

Four hundred years ago Englishman John Smith and a small crew of adventurers set out in an open boat to explore the Chesapeake Bay. Between 1607 and 1609 Smith mapped and documented nearly 3,000 miles of the Bay and its rivers. Along the way they visited many thriving Native American communities and gathered information about this “fruitful and delightsome land.” In December 2006 the U.S. Congress designated the routes of Smith’s explorations of the Chesapeake as a national historic trail—the first national water trail.

As part of the planning process to develop a trail, which will allow you to learn about this aspect of the Chesapeake’s past, the National Park service is seeking public input through meetings held across the Chesapeake Bay region. These are opportunities to meet directly with representatives of the national historic trail.

The meeting focuses on topics related to interpretation, education, and trail use to help guide the interpretive plan for the trail. Based on input from the 2008 meetings, the National Park Service is currently developing several alternative proposals for ways to manage, interpret, and access the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.

The meeting in Havre De Grace takes place on Oct. 22 at the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum

100 Lafayette Street, Havre de Grace, MD from 6 to 8 p.m.

Click here for more details

Library Friends Host “Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake” Program

The Friends of the Cecil County Public Library will host an exciting historical program, “Shipwrecks on the Chesapeake Bay,” on Wednesday, November 4, at 7 p.m. at the Elkton Central Library. The Chesapeake Bay is a key feature of Maryland’s geography, but less well known as a graveyard for ships, passengers, and their crews. More than 1800 shipwrecks have been documented on the Bay from Colonial Era to present. Presenter Don Bonsteel, from the Maryland Department of the Enoch Pratt, will discuss five of the most interesting documented cases for shipwrecks on the Bay.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information or to register please call the Elkton Central Library’s information desk at 410-996-5600 ext.481, or visit our website at www.ebranch.cecil.info.

An Old One Room Schoolhouse Opened to the Public

The Fair Hill Natural Resource Center opened one of Cecil County’s surviving one room schools to the public Saturday.  Located in the center of the state park, the structure was restored by the Elk Creeks Preservation Society about a decade ago.

Built about 1830, the fieldstone schoolhouse predates the establishment of the county school system in 1850.  It was a subscription school, a place built by local residents to educate their children but in 1852 Center School was incorporated into the county system.  Classes were held here until it closed about 1920.

The restored Center School on a Saturday in October and (below) the school in 1962.

Cecil Observer: Q&A with ‘Cecil Soldiers’ author Jenifer Grindle Dolde

From Cecil Observer

Earleville resident Jenifer Grindle Dolde will be giving a talk about her book and oral history project, “Cecil’s Soldiers: Stories from the World War II Generation,” at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19, at the Chesapeake City Library. The book was published by the Historical Society of Cecil County and provides an insightful look at how the war shook up sleepy little Cecil County. Dolde, a Washington College graduate and alumnus of the University of Delaware’s Museum Studies graduate program, was formerly a museum curator and now works as a historian and museum consultant.

Article Continues on Cecil Observer

Robert F. Kennedy’s Funeral Train

Earlier we posted a piece on Robert F. Kennedy’s Funeral Train passing through Cecil County and there has been a lot of interest in that subject.  Here’s a photograph of the image published in the Cecil Whig that June day in 1968.  Here is the link to our earlier post.

 

Book Features Details About Powerful World War II Era Bainbridge Naval Training Center Football Team

Wilbur D. Jones, Jr., the author of “Football! Navy! War! How Military ‘Lend-Lease’ Players Saved the College Game and Helped Win World War II“ will speak about his new title and sign books at the Historical Society of Cecil County on Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m. While highlighting the Navy’s role in preserving the game and football’s impact on national morale and the war effort during the 1940s, it has a significant local angle. One of the star players, “Choo-Choo” Charlie Justice trained at the Bainbridge Naval Training Center.

During World War II, the U. S. military and colleges joined forces, fielding competitive teams to prepare men for combat. The book highlights the Department of the Navy’s role in preserving the game and football’s impact on national morale and the war effort through their “Lend-Lease” to colleges of officer candidates, including All-America and professional players. It describes wartime college and military football.

From a local perspective, the book features details about the powerful Bainbridge Naval Training Center teams of 1943-45, whom Jones rates as the No. 1 military wartime team.  Bainbridge opened in 1942 as a boot camp and advanced training station, and closed in early 1970’s. The center was located at the Jacob Tome Institute at Port Deposit. This is a major previously unpublished work on the history of Cecil County and region during WWII.

“Exciting military games were a diversion from war’s horrors and sacrifices, and they helped boost bond sales and home front morale for civilians and the military,” Jones writes. His book covers such games as Great Lakes Navy’s final-minute 19-14 upset over perennial power Notre Dame in 1943 (though the Irish won the national championship anyway). Featured in previously unpublished detail is the sport’s wartime star, teenaged halfback Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice, a kid among the All-Americas and NFL players at Bainbridge Navy and a postwar superstar at North Carolina.

Admiral James L. Holloway III (Ret).., 20th Chief of Naval Operaitons and Chairman Emeritus of the Naval Historical Foundation said Football! Navy! War! “is an untold story about the relationship of America’s great game with the armed forces – especially the United States Navy – during this struggle against the Axis powers. As one who fought alongside many of the outstanding athletes that Wilbur Jones portrayed, I can testify how the smash-mouth tactics of the gridiron were applied in the waters and archipelagoes of the Western Pacific. The book is a must-have for any patriot and fan of the sport.”

Don Jenkins of Sports Illustrated said: “I’ve been waiting for somebody to do this book and preserve these treasured college football memories, and now Wilbur Jones has done it – and done splendidly.”

The author, Wilbur D. Jones, Jr., is a retired Navy captain with four decades of service. He spent several days in Cecil County working on this project. This free program takes places at the Society’s headquarters at 135 E. Main Street in downtown Elkton. Light refreshments will be served.

Click here to read a full review of this title in the Star News Online (Wilmington, NC)