The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1903-08-08
"REMINISCENCES.
LOG CABIN IN THE HOLLOW.
Another Chapter From The Elusive r1emory Of An
Old Resident OF Elkton.

is attninnhe. that everybody. men. wo-
men and children. prayed audibly at the
same time. From every section of the
town the voice of Heavenly Suupication
WAS heard. The educated and the ILL
terate alike believed for the moment. that
the end of the world had come. and that
the hour of final Judgment was at hand
This phenomenal event WAS the great
M"tooric Shower OF the night of Novem-
Der the 18th. 1853. The writer wasn't
here to see it. bur the vivid descriptions
of that a$trOnOmic event received by him
in his early childhood were too real ever
To be forgotten.
The year before. in 1872. the most ap-
palllng c"ntiagration that ever hrfcll the
toWn-thr burning of the Old TAn-Iard
on the old Railroad, in the rear of the
site on which the Hotel Ilkton stands
occurred. The buildings that composed
the old TAn-1arn were of frame and
aged besides. Famed by stiff breeze
from the southwest, the burning shingles
and fire brands We're hurled over the en-
tire centre And eastern portions of the
town. simultaneously fires We're started
on Gay or Main Street and Church or
High Streets. So numerous were these
/ smaller fires. that the owners of the
properties jropardized by them. were
compelled to abandon their efforts to save
the burning buildings of the yard. which
! were with one exception entirely wiped
out.
The events of that night formed food
for gossip for years afterwards in Elk
| ton.
On the 9TH of August. 1871. the first
issue of the Cecil Wing" mndr its ap-
prarancr. printed in the old Log Cabin
in THE Hollow" Next door to it ON the
west, under the same roof the post office
was located. Col. Enoch Cloud was post
master. having succeeded Col. Adam
| Nhnnn. Il Democrat The Wings had
carried Maryland in 1910. by 4I16 ma
jorty Cecil County giving Harrison a
majority of l3i. But the next year 1871.
the Democrats carried Maryland. elect
| ing Francis Thomas. Governor over Will
liam Cost johnson. the Wing Guhcrna-
tolihl candidate. General Harrison Old
| Iippicanor lived but Il month after his
inauguration rs President by the Wings.
AMI John Tyler betrayed the Wings and
turned Democrat. Many office holders
under Harrison Tylcrizcd. and the poll
| teal bitterness was extreme. The Wings
! Denounced Tyler aS the man "who stole
| into their camp in 1910 in their triumph
ant struggle to put down the standard of
the Northern man with Southern prin-
ciplpS. under the color of reform and
Wing resistance to executive uSurpation
aud thus crept up to the summit of
power, and there proclaimS himself Il
Democrat dycd-in-the- wool. turns out of
the executive offices under his control,
honest and honorable men. and hoists
into their places SycophantS and time
SERVERS
Among the Wings IF Elkton who Ty-
lrrizcd was Col. Cloud. the postmaster
But the Colonel could not save his poll |
tical bacon, us COL Wham was again
appointed To succeed him. and the latter
removed the pOst-otficr from the Log
Cabin in the Hollow. To its former loca-
tion up town. where Col. Whann held il |
:" many years. and whore in September,
lS43. he WAS witness to the fatal en-
counter between the Editor of the
Wing and Mr.. Amor +. Forwood.
Opposite the old Log Cabin stood the
blacksmith and wheclwright shops of
Moses Scott, Il prominent business man |
and respected citizen. They occupied the |
entire frontage on the street from his re- |
sidcrce still standing and since occupied |
by Mr.. Nj. Licbcrmam'S family. to the |
line of the sewer which running from |
the railroad. crosses the Academy |
Grounds. and flowing along the east side |
or Bow street. cmptieS itself between the |
Elkton Hotel and the bakery of Mr.. John |
Il. Qucck and Son. In the days of which |
we write, Barney Krauss conducted the |
Hotel built by Jacob Howard. and after |
wards sold to Mr.. Kirk. George Green |
conducted the bakery. having built it on |
the lot purchased from Edward Wilson, |
and afterwards owned by Nicholas T.. |
Johnson.
Next door to George Green's bakery |
on the east and separated from it by |
narrow alley. stood small building in |
which Mr. Biddle opened the first ready |
made clothing store in Elkton. and which |
Joseph Il. Bradbury occupied for Il time |
as Il confectionery and segar store, later |
removing to the old Moore property, on |
the corner of Gay and Bow Streets. |
where Mr.. Frank =. Prices brick store
house now stands. The old frame store |
house. which Mr.. Bradbury occupied. |
was afterwards burned. as well as the |
frame building next it. which John Il. |
Alexander occupied as stove and hard
ware store. We may here note. that
Moses Scott died on February 9th. 1913
and that Mary Scott, his widow. carried |
on the business for several years after
his death.
The great Temperance Reform move
ment which in our last Chapter. we no
ticed as having been inaugurated in Elk
ton in 1872. continued with increased in
terest in 1913. Alexander Evans and
James Henry lamar We're the star speak
ers in Elkton. On Saturday night. April
10Th. 1913. an immense audience more
than packed the Court House to hear
them speak. Mr.. Evans was prevented |