Milford chronicle., 1960-01-29
L.EWE.S

DIR. Leon H. Farrin, superinten-
dent of the Lewes Special School,
was elected president of the Lewes
Library Commission at the Jan.
quarterly meeting, replacing Mrs.
William P. Orr, resigned. Mrs. Orr
was elected vice president.
Other officers who remain on the
board are Mrs. d. Anthony Potter,
treasurer; Mrs. Raymond Re At
kins, secretary, and Mrs. Walter
Bennett, chairman of the Book Sc
lection Committee. The librarian,
Mrs. Virginia Marshall, does not
serve on the commission according
to the state law.
Mrs. Orr had been president since
1949, following the late Mrs. Ro-
man Tammany, but has served on
formed in 1884. The library oc-
cupies quarters on the second floor
of the ZwaanendaeI House, state
memorial to the first white set
tiers at LeweS.
The public library was organized
due to the efforts of the Rev. Will
lam Wylie, Jr., then rector of st.
Peters Episcopal Church here, and
William Morris, then a member of
the Lewes school faculty. Mr. Wy
lie served as chairman and Mr..
Morris as secretary treasurer.
Others in the organizing group
were Mrs. Orr, Mrs. Samuel Tam
many, the late Capt Harry B. Ly-
Ons, and Raymond r. Atkins. 1t
was first opened for use on Feb. 2,
1885. in space designated for its
use when the building was erected
in 1882. The library has been MAIN
tanned with funds raised by local
organizations, supplemented by an
appropriation from the state Lib
rary Association.
The building is located on ground
once occupied by the Penn Charter
School in 1889, one of the first
girls academies in the colonies be-
fore the Revolution. At that time
Lewes was known for its superior
intellectual attainments."
The library started with 300
books, and now has around 1000
volumes. At it's inception the lib
rary committee tried to collect
columes written by Delaware au-
thors, as well as those of the early
doors of a collection of books of
this nature. Other outstanding
gifts to the library were 124 vol
umes containing the complete Of
ficial records of the Civil War, don
ated by Mrs. l.. HeiSler Ball of Mar
shallton.
People of Sussex County such as
Garden Clubs "have an important
task before them in keeping intact
some of the great natural beau
ties" of the state, Clayton M. Hoff
of Wilmington, well-known Della
ware conservation, said in a recent
talk before the Sussex Gardeners
Club at the home of Mrs. Henry P.
Trask on Norfolk Street, Rehoboth.
The member of the American
Watershed Council began his lee
ture with a description of the
Brandywire Watershed, its history
and accomplishments. Among areas
to be protected in Sussex he men
toned Trussem Pond, near Laurel;
the Cape Henlopen sand dunes
area and the Rehoboth and Indian
River Bay area.
TrusSem Pond" he said, (which
IS a cypress pond just west of
Trapp Pond, can be lost unless we
get busy down here and start some
movement to preserve it." About
the Cape Henlopen Lighthouse area
he reported that the ARMY is to
release this area and the state
should ask for it and keep it as one
OF its natural beauties, adding.
this natural dunes and bog area is
Delng threatened by commercial in
terest."
Citing its Importance. he said
tnere are a number of Indian
camp sites and land-locked lakes
around there and much wildIife as
well as birds and wild flowers IN
the so-called Petrified Forest. that
mas been covered for years by the
shifting sand"
AS to flowers, he said there are
species of orchids growing there.
He recommended that EVERYONE
read the periodicals. of the Marine
Laboratory at Lewes, which keeps
abreast of the natural beauties of
the Cape Henlopen region.
About the Rehoboth and Indian
River Bays area he advised: eve
should preserve that not only from
an economic standpoint but for it's
natural beauty that is outstanding