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Showing posts from September, 2022

A Letter Written To, and Printed in, "The Farmers' Register," About the Ponies on Assateague and Chincoteague Islands, on 30 July 1835

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The Farmers' Register  was a monthly publication "devoted to the improvement of the practice, and support of the interests of agriculture" that was founded by Edmund Ruffin and edited by him from 1834 until November 1842, the last issue.  Ruffin had the magazine printed and mailed out for 9 and a half years.  Edmund Ruffin served as President of the Virginia State Agricultural Society, and identified himself as "a practical farmer of Virginia from 1812."  The first issue of each year began with page number 1, and with each new month's issue, the page number began where the previous month had ended. The cover of the first issue of The Farmers' Register    This is a letter from Thompson Holmes, who moved to his farm named "Pharsalia" on Chincoteague Bay in 1811.  His farm was in Accomack County, and covered a large portion of what is now the community of Captain's Cove.  Soon after writing the letter published in The Farmers' Register , H...

The First "Big" Fire on Chincoteague Island Was 102 Years Ago Today, September 5th

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This is my own synopsis of the first "big" fire:   On September 5th, 1920, a fire started in the ice cream parlor owned by L. N. Doughty, at what is now 4102 Main Street.  He had paid a 15-year-old boy $10 to start the fire.  Doughty was charged twice by the Grand Jury, but was never convicted due to insufficient evidence.  The boy confessed when confronted.  The boy stated he had started the fire in a specific place; but the fires inspector said the fire started elsewhere in the business.  The young man was also charged and acquitted by a jury.   The fire was first spotted and and the locals alerted at 1 a.m. Main Street, about 1915 There was a "stiff northwest wind" blowing. The buildings on both sides of the ice cream parlor caught fire.  The island's volunteer fire brigade arrived, but the fire engine would not function. Firemen from the U. S. Coast Guard Stations at Assateague, Wallops and Pope's Islands arrived to help fight the fi...