Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Statistics and Information of Maryland. 1903. Thomas A. Smith, Chief. (Volume 1904) online

nificent facilities that nature has given for the production of food prod-
ucts and other necessities of civilization.

BANKS AND SCHOOLS.

There is a national bank at Leonardtown, the county seat of St.
Mary's, and the business facilities of the county are first-class.

The public schools are of a high standard and furnish good practical
education. St. Mary's Academy, at Leonardtown, St. Mary's Seminary,
at St. Mary's City, and Charlotte Hall Academy, at Charlotte Hall, are
among the high class institutions of the county, the public school sys-
tem being nearly up to the standard of the entire State.



STATISTICS AND INFORMATION. 25I

MANUFACTURliS AND INDUSTRIES.

There are no large manufactories in St. Mary's County, and grist,
saw and planing mills and canning houses nearly exhaust the list.

The county is a splendid field for tlie canning industry, and is but
beginning to he utilized.

The following comprises a list oi the principal manufactories of the
county and their location :

The Pearson Packing Company, Pearsons ; The St. Mary's Packing
Company, Wynne; The Webster & Ford Packing Company, Drayden;
Greenwell & Hearn, brick manufacturers' P. F. Greenwell, roller mill,
Leonardtown ; George B. Cecil, roller mill, Valley Lee ; John T. Cecil,
roller mill, Great Mills; Joseph F. Neal, planing mill, J. Frank Golds-
borough, lumber, Paul Hayden, lumber and grist mill, Leonardtown ;
Michael Kelly, lumber, Oakville ; Leo M. Wathen, lumber and grist
mill, Compton; John Gray Lilburn, lumber and grist, St. Inigo's; W.
Bernard Guy, lumber and grist, Morganza; Dan. T. Dixon, lumber and
grist, Laurel Grove; H. B. Cawood, lumber and grist; J. C. & S. S.
Reeves, lumber mill, Aubrey Gardiner, roller mill, Chaptico ; Virgil
Parsons, lumber, Piney Point; Callaway Mill Company, Drayden;
William F. Chesley, lumber and grist, R. Smoot, water mill, H. Carrico,
water mill, Charlotte Hall ; Birch Brothers, lumber, St. Inigo's.

TALBOT.

In the year 1706 the bounds of Talbot County were laid out by Act
of Assembly, though it was probably formed in 1660-61.

The county lies on the Eastern Shore, with a considerable portion of
it facing the Chesapeake Bay, and is bounded as follows : on the north
by Queen Anne's, on the east and southeast bj' Caroline, on the south
by the Choptank River, and on the west by Eastern Bay and the
Chesapeake Bay.

Talbot has a population of about 21,000 and an area of 286 square
miles, with a large water surface. It is cut up into peninsulas by the
Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and is famous for its beautiful
landscapes and water fronts.

The history of Talbot County is rich with records of Colonial events,
being particularly noted for its energy in establishing schools, and its
earnest desire to educate the settlers. Indeed, no other county in the
State has evinced a greater interest in its educational facilities, nor ex-
pended more energy of time upon this subject than have the citizens
of Talbot. The tax rate of the county for 1903 is 88 cents.

INCORPORATED AND OTHER TOWNS.

Easton, the county seat of Talbot, is a thriving city of 3,000 inhab-
itants, and is a railroad centre of no mean dimensions. Other pro-



-52 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OE

gressive villages in the county are St. Michaels, Claiborne, Royal Oak,
Kirkhani, Oxford, Skipton, Wye Mills, Cordova, Tilghman, Belleview
and others. Avalon, on Tilghman's Island in this county, is supposed
to be the place of one of the first settlements in Maryland.

••*. TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.

The county has ample facilities for the transportation of agricultural
and fishery products. In addition to the B., C. & A. Railway, the
Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington Railroad, and the Queen Anne's
Railroad and connections, its rivers and bay front are daily touched by
numerous steamboat lines, plying from Baltimore, thus placing the
markets of Baltimore, Washington and New York within a day's
reach of the farmers and fishermen.

EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. " .

The second public school in Maryland was established in Talbot,
under Act of 1723. There are a number of private educational insti-
tutions in the county, and the public school system now is one of the
features of the county of which its citizens are proud.

NATURAL ADVANTAGES.

Agriculture, canning and oyster catching are its principal industries.
The land is a rich loam, light in parts and quickly responds to cultiva-
tion. Small fruits abound throughout the county in great variety,
and vegetables, wheat, corn and potatoes are among its most prominent
products. The canning establishments, which have become quite numer-
ous throughout the county, are putting up large quantities of tomatoes,
peas and fruits, and this is a growing industry. Improved land on the
river side is worth from $10.00 to $100.00 per acre.

OYSTERS AND FISH.

The oyster catch and fisheries of Talbot are well known. In 1903 it
is estimated that 150,000 bushels of oysters were taken by dredge or
tong in the waters of Talbot. There are 884 boats of all kinds engaged
in the industry, and about 3,000 persons find a livelihood in taking and
shipping the oyster.

The following firms are engaged in packing and shipping oysters and
crabs and crab meat, the latter being a growing industry, and the
total of their operations for the year are given :

Jerry Valliant & Company, Valliant & Crockett, Wm. B. McKenzie
& Company, Oxford ; Wm. H. Valliant & Company, Belleview ; Geo. R.
Caulk, J. B. Watkins, Geo. Blades & Company, Edwin H. Burroughs,



STATISTICS AND INFORMATION. 253

St. Michaels ; Win. Erhardt, Alex. Haddaway, Isaac J .Smith, Clai-
borne; Louis Warner, Sherwood; Geo. B. Taylor, McDanie! ; W.
Camper Harrison & Brother. Wni. S. Covington & Company, Capt.
Jno. B. Harrison, Tilghman's Island — Number of employees, 549; value
of total product, $265,700; capital invested, $73,750; amount paid an-
nually in wages, $48,935.

Fish in the county's waters are plentiful, the Choptank and Tuckahoe
abounding in shad, perch, rock and similar food fish.

industrie:s.

The industries of Talbot are varied, though not extensive, except
in the canning business. A number of small manufactures, principally
flour and grist mills, are established in the various industrial centres
of â–  the county.

The following list gives some idea of the progress that Talbot is
making on industrial lines :

Flour, Meal, etc.— Geo. M. Wilson, John C. Bartlett & Son, Easton;
Wm. M. Bergman & Son, Oxford — Number of employees, 10; value of
total pi'oduct, $95,000; capital invested, $50,000; amount paid annually
in wages, $4,695.

Canned Goods — C. L. Wrightson, Preston Canning Company, Nick-
erson Canning Company, Landoff Packing Company, Easton ; W. D.
Kirby, Trappe; King & Newman, Oxford; Peter Student, Hambleton;
J. C. Nossick, P. Kennedy, Windyhill; Saulsbury Brothers, Sisk & Com-
pany, Cordova; Kennedy & Martin, Barber's; North, Tilghman's;
Bradley, McDanieltown; J. E. Watkins, St. Michael's — Number of
employees, 997 ; value of total product, $388,700 ; capital invested, $392,-
700; amount paid annually in wages, $41,980.

Easton Furniture Manufacturing Company, furniture ; Norfolk Man-
ufacturing Company, shirts; Peninsula Steam Laundry, laundry work;
Mercantile Manufacturing Companj', overalls, Easton; W. H. Tunis
Lumber Company, Tunis Mills ; Jos. H. White & Son, brick and tile ;
W. H. Withcutt & Company, iron foundry; Geo. W. Wiugard, macliin-
ery, Easton — Number of employees, 235 ; value of total product, $330,-
000; capital invested, $172,600; amount paid annually in wages, $92,000.

Canned Goods — Hubbards, Easton Packing Company, Easton.

Carriages and Wagons — N. P. Corkran, Barber; James A .Spence,
Easton; Wm. H. H. Pasterfield, Trappe.

Cheese, Butter, etc. — L B. Harrington, Merchants' Manufacturing
Company, Easton ; J. B. Harrington, Matthews ; La Trappe Creamery
Company, Trappe.

Confectionery — Henry D. Aldrich, Easton.

Tee — Easton Ice Company, Easton.



254 REPORT OP THE BUREAU OF

Illuminating and Heating Gas — Easton Gas & Electric Light Com-
pany, Easton.

Looking Glass and Picture Frames — John R. Treganowan, Easton.
. Lumber and Timber Products— Thos. R. Hunt, Bozman; Wm. P.
Day, Morris, Lowe & Brother, Caleb Sechrist, Cordova; C. C. Stewart
& Sons, Edward Stoops, Chas. P. Warrington, Easton; Porter Saw
Mill, Longwood; Jacob W. Porter, McDaniel; Frick Saw and Lumber
Mill, Oxford^ W. P. Todd, Royal Oak; W. F. Howeth, Sherwood;
Enterprise Saw Mill, Trappe.

Monuments and Tombstones — E. H. Lachmar, Easton.

Photography — Theodore Steinhard, Easton.

Printing and Publishing — Easton Gazette, Easton Ledger, Easton
Star-Democrat, Easton; Comet and Advertiser, St. Michael's; Talbot
Times, Trappe; Wm. F. Roloson, Sherwood.

Saddlery and Harness— Jos. Mules, Easton.

Ship and Boat Building — John H. Branzell, Eastport; Wm. P. Pe pleasant, uniform and healthful throughout



STATISTICS AND INI^ORMATION. 26 1

the year. The season temperatures are as follows : For summer, 74-77
degrees ; for winter, 34-38 degrees ; for year, 54-58 degrees, which
shows that Wicomico escapes the extreme heat of summer and the
extreme cold of winter. Our winters last only three months, and
are often no more severe than the month of November in New York
and New England States. Cattle need scarcely be fed or housed
during this time; farm work, and even plowing, can generally be done
during some part of every month in the year.

The purest of drinking water can be obtained by driven wells, at a
very small expense.

Oak, chestnut, pine and other timbers grow well.

Land can be bought for from $5 to I50 per acre, according to situa-
tion and quality. It is kind and gives large returns for the fertilizers
used.

FISH, OYSTERS AND CRABS—PACKING, ETC.

The Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers and their tributaries supply
the people of the county with shad, rock, perch and other kinds of fish,
as well as an abundance of oysters.

The oyster packing industry in Wicomico is not as large as formerly,
and planting is now being entered into by several of the largest
packers. It is expected that within a few years most of the oyster
bottoms along the rivers will be under artificial propagation.

At present there are but four oyster-packing houses in Wicomico,
and it is estimated that at least $100,000 is invested in said property —
oyster catching machinery and shore property. There are about 300
citizens of Wicomico county employed on boats in the taking of
oysters, but there is an additional large nymber of persons engaged in
the packing and shipping of the bivalves. Much money is also invested
and a number of people employed in the fish industry in the Western
section of the county.

The packing of soft crabs and the shipping of hard crab meat, in
various ways, is one of the new and growing industries of the county.
There is a big revenue in the business and the opportunity for expan-
sion is unlimited.

AGRICULTURE AND CROPS.

As heretofore stated, Wicomico County is well adapted to the growing
of small fruits and truck, prominent among which are strawberries,
blackberries, huckleberries, cantaleupes and watermelons, in addition to
which there is a considerable amount of corn, wheat and tomatoes
raised.

Within the past few years great strides have been made in the
growing of grasses and grains, and the land has been improved for
cattle feeding, which is being engaged in quite extensively.



262 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF

By this latter means the farmer has improved his land by feeding-
the short and long feed through his cattle, thereby making much
manure and realizing a better price for his feed than if he had sold it
on the open market.

The strawberry crop is the largest in the county. There are at
present upwards of 3,000 acres of land set in strawberries, yielding
about 3,000 quarts to the acre. It is estimated that in a good year
9,000,000 quarts, salable at an average price of 5 cents net to the
grower, will yield in round numbers $450,000, nearly all of which
is bought by the Northern cities of the country. When it is remembered
that an average of $20,000 will be paid to pickers, it will be readily
understood what a good yield of strawberries means to the county,
where at least 7,500 persons are employed in picking, packing and
shipping the fruit.

The blackberry crop is also large in Wicomico. It is estimated
that there are 1,000 acres set in blackberries, which yield about 2,000
quarts to the acre, making a total crop of 2,000,000 quarts, which it
would take at least 1,000 pickers to gather, and means a net income to
the growers of $150,000.

The huckleberry grows wild in Wicomico, and the fruit belongs to
whoever will pick it. It is mostly found in the swampy and low lands
of the county in large quantities, and as it costs nothing to cultivate, it
is a net revenue to the pickers. The fruit is purchased by the country
stores and shipped to Northern markets, where it brings good prices.
Many estimate that the annual worth of the crop is at least $60,000.

There is also a large acreage in raspberries, and the wild asparagus
crop brings considerable money to the county. This asparagus grows
along the salt water marshes, in the western section of the county,
and is shipped in large quanfities to Baltimore and the West.

Cantaleupes and watermelons are both valuable crops in this county.
About 600 acres are set in cantaleupes and they will average 100 carriers
to the acre. In a good year these carriers will average 75 cents net,
making the crop worth $45,000 to the grower. About the same amount
of acreage is devoted to watermelons, and with a good yield this crop
will net the growers at least $150,000.

TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES

The transportation facilities of Wicomico are good. The New
York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad runs through it from north
to south, and is a trunk line from New York to Richmond and Norfolk.
The B., C. & A. Railway crosses the county from east to west,
running from the Atlantic Ocean to the Chesapeake Bay.

A large fleet of sailing and packet vessels offer cheap transportation
to Baltimore, and steamboats run on the Nanticoke and Wicomico
rivers every day.



STATISTICS AND INI'ORMATION. 263

PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

Fifteen thousand dollars per year is appropriated by the county com-
missioners for the system of public schools, and with the State appro-
priation secures ample accommodations and facilities for the educa-
tion of the youth of the county. Separate schools are maintained for
the colored population and graded and lii^h schools abound in the
villages and incorporated towns.

PUBLIC ROADS.

There is plenty of room for improvement of the public roads of the
county, though much has been done for their betterment in the last
few years. Lacking hard material with which to build the roads, much
money has been spent in oyster shells, which make the very best of
hard roads, though expensive material. It is estimated that it costs
about $3,000 per mile to build shell roads, but the county commissioners
look forward to utilizing slag or other hard material, and to continue
with the road building.

MANUFACTURES.

In connection with the large fruit shipment and manufacture of fruit
packages, crates and baskets is a big industry. There are four large
basket, crate and barrel manufactories in this county. Conservative
estimates place the expenditure for fruit packages and barrels of
various kinds at $60,000, all of which are manufactured here, in addi-
tion to the thousands shipped to other counties of the Eastern Shore and
Southern Maryland.

About 1,000 persons, including women and children, are employed
in these factories, and the average wages earned are stated to be about
$5.50 per week, when employed.

The fertilizer factories located in Salisbury, three in number, manufac-
ture at least 12,000,000 tons per year. These factories make a specialty
of manufacturing fertilizers for every separate crop, and are unique in
their way.

In every town and hamlet in Wicomico there is some branch of
manufacturing. All these establishments give employment to many
people at an average weekly salary of from $4.00 to $8.00 per week.
The principal industries in the small places are the shirt factories.
Starting off with Salisbury, where there is a shirt factory which em-
ploys 400 people ; there is one at Hebron with 50 employees ; Mardela
Springs, 50 employees ; Parsonsburg, 40 employees ; Sharptown, 50 em-
ployees ; White Haven, 35 employees. Most of the employees in these
factories are women and girls. Altogether there are about 600 people
who find employment in the shirt factories of Wicomico, who will
average a weekly pay-roll of at least $3,000 per week.



264 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF

Another lucrative emplo3'ment for girls is the kindling wood mills,
situated at Salisbury, Hebron, Delmar and Parsonsburg. This business
is the bundling of wood for sale in the large cities. In these four
factories about 200 girls find emplo3'ment, and they earn about $5.00
per week each. The work is light and very healthful, as the smell of
the pine wood keeps the girls in excellent working health.

The lumber business has for years been the principal manufacturing
business of Wicomico County. There are in Salisbury eight large
lumber, planing and box mills, two sash and door factories and two
crate and barrel factories. These mills give employment to at least
1,000 men and boys. The average wages earned are for the boys, $3.00
per week; for the men, $6.00 per week. Of course, there is some
skilled labor employed in these mills, especially in the wood-working
departments, who earn from $2.00 to $3.00 per day. It is estimated
that the different mills in Salisbury will cut and use 60,000,000 feet of
lumber each year.

There are also large lumber mills at Sharptown, Fruitland, Mardela
Springs, Willard, Powellville, Parsonsburg and Quantico. It is esti-
mated that in all the mills in Wicomico County there are employed at
least 2,000 people and 500 horses and mules.

There are at present four large brick manufacturing plants in
SSlisbury and one at White Haven, in Wicomico County, and also one
at Delmar, just on the Delaware line, but within this county. The
average output of these plants will reach 8,000,000 bricks each year.
Some very fine bricks are made here, one firm recently having con-
tracted with the government for a large consignment of white bricks
to be used in the Naval Academy at Annapolis. These bricks are sold
as high as $40.00 per thousand. There are about 200 people employed
in these plants at an average salary of $7.50 per week.

Salisbury has two very extensive ice manufacturing plants, and the
average output is about 30 tons per day. The refrigerator cars of
Armour and Swift, which operate on the N. Y., P. & N., and on the
B., C. & A. Railway, have their iceing stations at Salisbury,

The coal and flour business, which is run in connection with these
plants, is quite extensive.

There are two large roller jBour mills in Salisbury, each 50 barrels
capacity per day.

Salisbury is the distributing point on the Peninsula for groceries,
feed and hardware. There are six wholesale firms here who do a
business in this line of about $850,000 per year.

Another large manufacturing business is that of soda waters and soft
drinks, two establishments doing a rushing business the year round.

The B., C. & A. Railway shops, situated at Salisbury, give employ-
ment to a large force of men. Here is where skilled labor is em-
ployed. Besides repairing the engines and cars, large forces of painters



STATISTICS AND INFORMATION. 265

are employed all the year round painting and decorating the cars of
the company. There are about 100 men employed by this company,
who live in Salisbury, and whose wages average about $50.00 to $75-0O
per month.

There are at present three large machine shops in the city of
Salisbury, employing about 40 hands. The average pay of these men is
about $3.00 per day.

At Sharptown, White Haven and Salisbury there are ship yards,
also at Sharp's Point. The building of gasoline launches is also being
engaged in to a considerable extent. The number of men employed
is estimated at about 150, and their average pay is $2.25 per day. Con-
nected with two of these plants are sail-making establishments, which
give employment to a small number of people.

TOMATO CROP AND CANNERIES.

It is estiinated that there were 50 canneries in operation in Wicomico
County in 1903, most of the concerns making a specialty of tomatoes,
Ijut there was also a big pack of peas, corn, sweet potatoes and peaches.

The total pack of tomatoes for Wicomico last year was estimated
at 350,000 cases, or 8,400,000 cans, to which can be added 1,000 cases
of corn, 5,000 cases of peaches, 25,000 cases of peas and 1,000 cases
of pumpkins and potatoes, making a grand total of about 10,000,000
cans of fruits packed in the county. Without any definite reports from
the canneries, it is estimated that 50 hands were employed by each of
the canneries, making a total of 2,500 hands, at an average of about
75 cents per day for eight weeks, or about $85,000 paid out for labor.

The acreage of tomatoes in 1903 was reported as 1,000, with an
average yield of three tons to the acre, or a crop yield of 30,000 tons.
The average price paid during the year was $8, which would yield the
growers $240,000.

The following is a list of the canneries and their locations, and fol-
lowing it will be found the principal manufactories of Wicomico County,
with a total of their output, altogether making an excellent showing of
this prosperous section of the State :

CANNERIES.

W. F. Messick, Allen. D. J. Elliott, White Haven.

B. F. Messick & Son, Allen, G. M. Catlin, White Haven.

O'Brien & Godell, Allen. W. H. Delby, White Haven.

K. V. White, Powellville. Stephen W. Delby, White Haven.

E. G. Davis, Willard. G. A. Bounds & Company, Hebron.

Phillips & Humphreys, Parsons- M. N. Nelson & Company,

burg. Hebron.

W. K. Leatherbury, Salisbury. Truitt & Phillips, Hebron.



266 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF

L. J. Gale, Quantico. Thos. S. Roberts, Jesterville.

T. R. Jones & Brother (3 fac- Tyaskin Packing Company,

tories), Quantico. Tyaskin.

E. A. Denson, Whayland. Jno. W. Willing, Nanticoke.

Denson & Chatham, Whayland. Rockawalking Canning Company,
Enterprise Canning Company, Rockawalking.

Whayland. Guy Crawford, Quantico.

Messick & Cooper, Whayland. Willie Gillis, Quantico.

W. H. Jackson, Salisbury. O. W. Taylor, Quantico.

Frederick Strattner, Salisbury. C. A. Taylor & Son, Quantico.

Jno. H. Tomlinson, Salisbury. W. J. Windsor, Salisbury.

Salisbury Canning Company, Staton & Delby, White Haven.

Salisbury. E. S. S. Turner, Nanticoke.

Messick, Wilson & Company, Hebron Canning Company, Salis-

Delmar. bury.

T. D. Langsdale, Mardela Springs. Pittsville Canning Company (2
I. S. Bennett, Riverton. canneries), Pittsville.

Wm. H. Knowles, Sharptown. Jesse Travers, Nanticoke.

Dulany & Sons, Fruitland. Samuel Shockley, Whoten.

H. W. Roberts, Clara. W. C. Brady, Quantico.

Shirts — Salisbury Shirt Company, Salisbury; Hebron Shirt Fac-
tory, Hebron; Mardela Shirt Company, Mardela Springs; White
Haven Shirt Company, White Haven ; Sharptown Shirt Company,
Sharptown; Parsonsburg Shirt Company, Parsonsburg — Number of
employees, 375 ; value of total product, $225,000 ; capital invested,
$192,000; amount paid annually in wages, $92,500.

Foundry and Machines — Salisbury Machine Shops, Salisbury Ma-
chine Works, L. W. Gunby, B., C. & A. Machine Shops, Salisbury —
Number of employees, 60; value of total product, $195,000; capital
invested, $50,000; amount paid annually in wages, $20,000.

Barrels, Baskets and Crates — A. W. Robinson & Company, Sharp-
town; Powellville Manufacturing Company, Powellville; E. G.
Davis, Willard; J. H. Tomlinson, Salisbury Crate and Barrel Com-
pany, Salisbury; G. A. Bounds & Company, Hebron — Number of
employees, 560; value of total product, $120,000; capital invested,
$60,000; amount paid annually in wages, $52,000.

Lumber and Timber Products — Jackson Brothers' Company,
E. S. Adkins, L. E. Williams & Company, T. H. Mitchell, Salis-
bury; Delmar Manufacturing Company, Delmar — Number of employees,
1,030; value of total product, $1,625,000; capital invested, $750,000;
amount paid annually in wages, $166,000.