Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1940-02-23
Mr.. Eben Hearn Writes Of The
Early History Of Pocomoke City

me. While the War touches this Sec
ton of the country lightly, yet Sec
tional feeling ran high, and it was
not unusual to hear such words as
Yankee, Unionist, Rebel, Secessionist
and other opprobrious epithet, and it
was fortunate that children did not
realize their import. Being on the
border line Between the North and
the South, our sections suffered no
such depredations as did the country
where the fighting occurred. Very
few citizens of this locality Joined
either army. AS slavery still existed,
many slaves deserted their masters
farms and enlisted in the army. I'm
ion troops were CHARTERED in this
town and coupled as their headquar-
ters house known as the Brinkley
House, a typical Southern home in
style, with its two-story front porch.
It stood at the corner of Second and
Market Streets, where the present
Coffman-Fisher Co. store stands. The
house was destroyed by the great fire
that occurred in this town in April,
1922. General Lockwood was the Of
ficer in charge Of the soldiers. At
that time there was no house on Sec
ond Street between Maple Street and
the parsonage of the First Baptist
Church. A large field called the
Stevenson Lot occupied that space
and it extended back as far as the
Elementary School lot, and I had a
chance to see the troops performing
their regular drill maneuvers, and
their exercises were great sight to
boy of eight years of age. The SOL
diers hung a Union flag across Main
Street opposite their headquarters
and travellers from Virginia, being
Southern sympathizers, would detour
at Second and Market Streets to a.
void passing under the flag. Many
times during the War, soldiers from
the North were transported to this
town and would march down the main
street on their way to the South. On
one occasion $4,000 troops marched
through. They passed the home Of
an old lady who perhaps had never
Travelled more than ten miles from her
home. After the troops had passed,
in establishment she threw up her
arms and said to one Of her neighbors
Laws! Mrs. NJ, I didn't know
there were that many people in the
world"
After the close of the Civil War in
1865, Newtown seemed to take a new
lease on life. An Act of Incorpora-
ton was obtained and in it full power
was given to the Town Commissioners
to widen and straighten the old
streets and to lay out new ones. At
the first election held under the new
charter, the people chose C. c. Lloyd,
w. S. G. Polk, Charles Marshall, JOS
eph C. Riley and William jefferson
Long as Town Commissioners. My
father, the late DR.. John Lowder
Hearne, who was surveyor as well
as a physician, was appointed to
make a survey of the town and to pre-
pare map showing the location of
the streets, and the town authorities
selected names for the streets. The
main street was named Market
Street. The streets running north
ard south were numbered, as Front,
Second, Third, etc. The streets run
ming east and west were named Lin
den. Vine, Willow, Maple, Walnut,
Cedar, Laurel and Oak. When the
streets were widened and the side
walks were constructed, fences, gates
and trees had to be removed from
many properties. This plan seemed
to distress one elderly lady who had
a home fronting on Front Street. She
was heard to say: eff burglar were
to break into my home, I would like
to have a gate through which he
would have to enter before reaching
the house."
Seventy-five years is a long period
of time. The generation that was