Delaware, U.S., Marriage Records, 1750-1954
Past In Review from 02-17-2005
100 years ago
Feb. 5, 1905
A Test of Nerve
Among the Indian Tribes the method of fighting duels differs. There are some tribes where a challenge to a duel means inevitably that both me must die. When an Indian feels aggrieved he demands a combat. The fray for the same is fixed far in advance and is made the occasion of a little celebration. The entire tribe assembles. The braves sit in a circle, behind them their squaws and the young bucks.
The offended man ins armed with a rifle or a shotgun. The challenged principal is unarmed. At a word both men arise and face each other, the unarmed man baring his breast to the bullet of his adversary. With eyes riveted on the little round hole at the end of the barrel pointed at him, the doomed man must face the protracted ordeal of expecting death at any instant without the least sign of weakening. The executioner may hold his gun as long as he pleases in order to try to break down his enemy. He may raise it and lower it or hold it steadily on the man under the frightful strain, but not even with an eyelid must the unfortunate betray his anxiety.
At last the gun cracks and the bullet speeds its way and the victim lies dying. The slayer hands the weapon to a relative or a friend of the deceased and is put through the same ordeal.
Feb. 11, 2005
NEW YORK FASHIONS
For the Gay Young Girl come bewitching little three-cornered hats, or as a variety there is a very large shape in grossamer straw, with maline ruchings at the edge of the brim and a flat crown, with a wreath of small rose buds and forget-me-nots, finished by bows of colored velvet ribbon, with a very full face trimming at one side, and worn in a slanting position. Taken as a whole, hats are smaller. Toques and turbans of violets, hyacinths, rose-leaves or lilacs, with an intermixture of foliage, make a very pretty showing in the shop windows and it is already a certainty that flowers will be used to a greater extent that any other trimming.
Local News
It is rather a curious co-incidence that the years in which the great blizzards and snow blockades have occurred in this locality, all began on Sunday -namely 1888, 1893, 1899 and 1905.
While driving up Main street yesterday morning the horse of Mr. Edward Sparks was frightened by some object and in turning up North Broad Street, the occupants of the sleigh, Mr. Sparks and his daughter, were thrown out, but fortunately were not injured. The animal broke lose from the sleigh and cantered up Broad street but was soon captured. The sleigh was badly damaged.
BRAKEMAN EDWARD PHILLIPS KILLED
Stepped in Front of Passenger Train While Throwing Switch.
Death in a horrible form overtook Brakeman E. H. Phillips of Wilmington, while throwing a switch in front of the railroad station in this town Monday afternoon. He was run down by a south-bound passenger train and almost instantly killed. His body was hurled several yards and death was almost instantaneous.
Phillips, who was 35 years of age, was a Delaware Railroad freight brakeman, and boarded with his wife and five-year-old son at No. 402 East Fourth Street, Wilmington. It was while making the trip up the Delaware road that the accident occurred. The freight train on which he was working was standing on a siding at the Middletown station about 4 o'clock, when Phillips ran ahead to throw a switch. He evidently did not see the passenger train bearing down upon him, for he stepped on the south-bound tracks and was struck.
The plight of the unfortunate brakeman was not discovered until it was too late to give warning. After the train had passed, several railroad men picked up the mangled form and carried it into the station. A physician was summoned, but death had ensured a short time after the accident.
The body was taken to Wilmington Monday evening and the sad news broken to the wife, who was prostrated with grief.
75 years ago
Feb. 13, 1930
FREE TICKET FOR FINDER OF "LOST ZEPPELIN"
A very novel method will be used to give away free tickets to the Opera house when at noon, on Saturday next, February 15, several dozen gas-filled balloons will be released in front of the Post Office at Dover, each bearing a message that when returned to the Opera House, will be good for a ticket to see, "The Lost Zeppelin." playing Monday and Tuesday. It is expected that many miles will be covered before most of the balloons come to earth. The direction and extent of travel will of course be governed by weather conditions, but it is hoped that all messages will be recovered in time to use them for this thrilling drama of the Antarctic.
Watch the direction of the wind Saturday. If it is blowing your way be sure to be on the lookout for the fleet of free tickets which will be sent aloft at Dover. A toy balloon will be given to each child attending the Saturday matinee, February 15.
Just one big thrill after another, with love and adventure crowded in is the way Tiffany s all-talking special, "The Lost Zeppelin" is described. This great production is headed by Conway Tearle, Virginia AValli and Ricardo Cortez.
Tearle takes the part of the Zeppelin Commander, who, on the eve of starting for the Antarctic regions, learns that his wife is in love with his chief aide on the expedition. When the Zeppelin gets near the South Pole it is wrecked. All those on board except the Commander and his aide perish. An aeroplane, having picked up distress signals from the expedition before the huge dirigible was wrecked, reaches the scene and there is room in it only for one passenger. The commander insists that his aide go back to safety believing this will bring happiness to his wife. The ending of the picture is filled with surprises.
What Others Are Doing Throughout This Country
Splendid Representation
Reports from London indicate that the American delegation to the Naval Arms Conference, headed by Secretary Stimson, has made a strong impression upon the special ambassadors who are attempting to improve the affairs of the world. Dress-up clothes seem to have gone out of style in heavy statesmanship, and Army and Navy aides accompanying the delegation have been told not to appear in uniforms. A detachment of the united Staes Marines is guarding the American headquarters and these snappy youths, who are called "devil dogs" at home, are considered among the gay dogs in the London Capital.
However, America's real hit has been made by a dozen bright American girls who accompanied the delegates to the Naval conference as stenographers. London marvels at the chic displayed by their clothes and as Washington furnished these girls the Capital City regard the reception given to them as a unequivocal endorsement of the daily styles show on F street.
50 years ago- Feb. 10, 1955
Delaware City Trapper Marooned On Island
Man Rescued By Coast Guardsmen When Trapped By Ice On Island.
Patrick O'Donnell, a Delaware City muskrat trapper who was marooned on Pea Patch Island due to the heavy ice in the Delaware waters last week, was returned to the town over the week-end. He had been on the island since Jan. 24th.
"Shucks, I could have been trapped there indefinitely, but I figured my folks on shore were worried, so I decided to leave," Explained the stalwart 68-year-old trapper as coast guardsmen ushered him on the deck of Cutter No. 64305.
With the trapper went a bag of pelts, representing the muskrats he had caught and skinned. O'Donnell said he had plenty of" Chow" in the little shack he had lived in during the near-zero weather of the past week. The cutter experienced difficulty getting into the icebound islet, site of the historic Fort Delaware where Confederate soldiers were interned nearly a century ago. The craft had to smash its way through "windorw ice - " several layers of ice piled on top of the other. The rescuers said the veteran Delaware City trapper was in excellent health when picked up. O'Donnell, however, had one complaint - a shortage of tobacco.
When the trapper left for Pea Patch Island in his small rowboat Jan. 24, he promised his on that he would signal if he got into any trouble. No signals were forthcoming from the island, but O'Donnell 's relatives in Delaware City became alarmed for his safety because of the extreme cold Saturday morning, Coast Guard officers at their base at Gloucester, NJ read a story in the papers which said that O'Donnell had not been heard from for some time. They decided to work their way to the island on a cutter and rescue him.
Meanwhile, Delaware City residents, who feared for O'Donnell's welfare, were unable to get out to the island because of the solid sheet of ice stretching from town to the island. Veteran rivermen said it was the first time the Delaware River at that point had frozen solid since the 1930s.
Police Chiefs Ask Whipping Post Retention
Will Notify 118th General Assembly of its Views Of Meeting Mon.
The Delaware Association of Chiefs of Police Monday night adopted a resolution favoring retention and use of the whipping post, and made preparations to notify the 118th General Assembly of its views.
Said the resolution in part: "We definitely feel that the use of the whipping post would be an excellent retardant toward the elimination of petty crimes, as well as the more serious crimes.
"We also feel that it would keep the transient type of criminal out of the state, and would serve as a great deterrent in the category of repeat criminals."
The association meeting Monday night at the Paddock Inn, Smyrna, was attended by about 30 members. The President, Sgt. Fred Nichols of the Wilmington Bureau of Police, presided.
The resolution is to be signed by all officers and forwarded to the General Assembly. A bill has been introduced in this present session of the legislature, proposing the abolition of the whipping post.
The whipping post still is on the statue books as a means of punishment for conviction of infractions of the law, but it has been used less and less in recent years.
A spokesman at the New Castle Coutny Workhouse location of the post for New castle County recalled Monday night that the whipping post was last used in May of 1952, when 20 lashes were administered to a man for beating an aged woman. Posts also are located in Kent and Sussex Counties.
