In the mid-1980s, we formed a committee of the Singerly Fire Company in Elkton to gear up for the organization’s 1992 centennial celebration. While the committee planned a cluster of traditional initiatives, the working group also developed two larger heritage-related goals. One involved restoring two priceless hand pumpers, veterans of many of a fight with…
Catholic Cemeteries of the Diocese of Wilmington Couples Online Burial Database With Smartphone App to Help Genealogists
Catholic Cemeteries of the Diocese of Wilmington has an online, searchable burial database, which contains records for All Saints, Gate of Heaven, and Cathedral cemeteries. A query is able to yield basic information such as the name of the deceased, the date of death, location of the grave, and in many cases a photo of…
Remembering a Bel Air Police Officer Who Died 94 Years Ago While Protecting the Community
Occasionally while researching some criminal justice history matter I find a hint in old records about a long forgotten, undocumented fallen police officer. When that happens, I pick up the evidentiary fragments and trace the trail back through time to make sure the officer’s ultimate sacrifice isn’t forgotten in the mist of time. Over the decades…
Harford County Public Library Makes the Past More Accessible for Genealogists & Local History Researchers
I did some fieldwork in Bel Air last week, and that investigation took me to the Harford County Public Library (HCPL). Over the decades, I have used this branch many times to access research materials, such as newspapers on microfilm and resources in the local history room. These include a long run of the Aegis,…