Bizarre History of Cape May, NJ
Bizarre History of Cape May > Did the future Duchess of Windsor stay at Cape May’s Windsor Hotel?
Last Updated on Sunday, October 07, 2012 10:38 am Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Friday, October 05, 2012 10:43 am
During World War I, when she is said to have visited Cape May, Bessie Wallis Warfield would never have made the list of famous American women.
Fast forward 22 years later to the sequel to the war that was supposed to end all wars and that same Bessie Warfield was known as the Duchess of Windsor, one of the world’s most famous, and some will say one of its most scandalous, women.
Bizarre History of Cape May > African Americans made important contributions to Cape May
Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Thursday, September 27, 2012 11:00 am
Although the world did not treat them kindly or fairly, some African Americans in Cape May managed to survive the indignities with history-making contributions to the world around them.
Among the most famous who brought their cause here, either directly or indirectly before and after the city was to be renamed Cape May, were Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Booker Washington.
Read more: Bizarre History of Cape May > African Americans made important contributions to Cape May
The Bizarre History of Cape May > Civil War generation also has a claim on ‘greatest’
Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Thursday, September 20, 2012 01:00 am
How really great was “The Greatest Generation,” as described by Tom Brokaw, former TV anchorman turned author, in his best selling book of the same title?
Is it possible he might have the wrong generation? Perhaps the tribute belongs instead to those who lived through the Civil War.
Read more: The Bizarre History of Cape May > Civil War generation also has a claim on ‘greatest’
Bizarre History of Cape May > Joseph Leach was minister, teacher, newspaper editor and politician
Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Tuesday, September 11, 2012 11:00 pm
The word was out in 1840, even heard as far north as Shutesbury, Mass., 112 miles west of Boston, that there existed a nice place to live in the south of New Jersey, a place called Cape Island, sometimes referred to as Cape May.
The climate, it was said then, was milder than Shutesbury’s, where the temperature dropped to around 23 degrees in January, and there were growing opportunities for anyone desiring to settle there.
The Bizarre History of Cape May > Cape May home to heroes of Civil War and World War II
Last Updated on Thursday, December 13, 2012 12:19 pm Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Sunday, September 09, 2012 01:00 am
While much fame as a cavalry soldier from Cape May has been given Henry Washington Sawyer for his capture by the South during the Civil War, and his near execution that followed, sometimes forgotten is the name of another Cape May man who was killed while acting heroically during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Edwin Joseph Hill was a chief boatswain aboard the Nevada when the Japanese dropped their destruction on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. The ship’s 23 bandsmen and a Marine color guard were standing at attention on the fantail of the battleship waiting to play morning colors when a rear gunner of a Japanese plane spotted them and opened fire.
Read more: The Bizarre History of Cape May > Cape May home to heroes of Civil War and World War II
Bizarre History of Cape May --The story of Cape Island’s first walking mayor
Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Tuesday, August 28, 2012 03:02 pm
The first mayor of Cape Island, so history has told us, enjoyed walking so much that when he was 20 years old he trekked 400 miles or so from Lancaster, Ohio to his birthplace in Philadelphia.
His name was Isaac Miller Church Jr. and seldom was there a more appropriate name for what life designated him to do. From 1848 to 1852 Church served as pastor of the Cape Island Baptist Church, causing parishioners to quip, “We go to two churches every Sunday morning.”
Read more: Bizarre History of Cape May --The story of Cape Island’s first walking mayor
Bizarre History of Cape May -- Cape May’s first ‘rock star’ was Anna Jonas Stose
Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Wednesday, August 22, 2012 04:45 pm
Long before Elvis Presley or Chubby Checker came on the scene there arrived in Cape May a woman who was a rock star in her own right.
Her name then in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was Anna Jonas, later to become Anna Jonas Stose, and her rock credentials didn’t include singing, playing an instrument or dancing the “Twist.” Instead, she became internationally famous as a geologist, defining many major geological structures in the central and southern Appalachian areas. She was considered a geological pioneer at a time when there were few women doing field work among rocks.
Read more: Bizarre History of Cape May -- Cape May’s first ‘rock star’ was Anna Jonas Stose
Bizarre History of Cape May -- Early physicians left their mark on Cape May County
Last Updated on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 10:46 am Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Tuesday, August 14, 2012 11:00 am
Imagine a time when there were no heart pills, certainly no Medicare, and when the only anesthesia was a good slug of whiskey while people held you down and extracted part of your body.
Welcome to medicine circa 1800s and 1900s in Cape Island before and soon after it was renamed Cape May. Obviously times were not that scientific then, and some today may argue in absence of tangible evidence that then was better than now, although today’s life longevity proves otherwise.
Read more: Bizarre History of Cape May -- Early physicians left their mark on Cape May County
Bizarre History of Cape May -- Cape May County saw its share of action in War of 1812
Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Wednesday, August 08, 2012 04:45 am
The War of 1812, more accurately described as the war of 1812, 1813, 1814 and 1815, was referred to by at least one chronicler as the war that few people at the time understood why it happened in the first place.
Today, as the 200th anniversary of the war is marked, little attention is being given to that occasion in the media or elsewhere. If the Korean War is called “The Forgotten War” then The War of 1812 certainly deserves to be referred to as “The Lost War,” despite all the history it has made.
Read more: Bizarre History of Cape May -- Cape May County saw its share of action in War of 1812
Bizarre History of Cape May --Town Bank was once touted as a whaling town
Written by Jacob Schaad Jr. Wednesday, August 01, 2012 04:19 pm
It can be said with levity that the early settlers who came to the Cape Island/Cape May area had a whale of a time here. Many historical accounts have recorded that these arrivals from Long Island and Connecticut migrated in the 17th and 18th centuries to profit from whaling, and not so incidentally to make an impact on the future of the territory.
The most popular place to catch a whale then appeared to be the waters of what is now the Town Bank section of Lower Township. So popular, in fact, that Town Bank, also known as New England Town, Portsmouth Town and Falmouth, was being touted in the 17th century as one of the most successful whaling communities in the New World.
Read more: Bizarre History of Cape May --Town Bank was once touted as a whaling town
More Articles...
- Bizarre History of Cape May -- Cape May County had its own little ‘civil war’ over site of new court house
- Bizarre History of Cape May -- Parkway
- Bizarre History of Cape May --Inaugural trip of Cape May-Lewes Ferry was not so smooth
- Bizarre History of Cape May --Cape May Canal’s history runs deep
- Bizarre History of Cape May -- Turn of the century was a time of change for Cape May
- Bizarre History of Cape May -- Cape has seen its share of panics, recessions and Depression
- Bizarre History of Cape May -- Roaring Twenties brought Suffrage, Prohibition to Cape May
- Bizarre History of Cape May > West Cape May is younger than its neighbor, but still has storied history
- Bizarre History of Cape May > Cape May tried many different gimmicks to attract visitors
- Bizarre History of Cape May > ‘Fun Factory’ was transformed into naval base during World War I
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News
- Jersey Shore Pops appoints new assistant music director
- Local woman named Coast Guard’s best civilian employee
- Aviation museum announces 2013 events
- Lower looks to address local drug issues in town meeting
- Voll says zero tolerance for unleashed canines
- City backs $8M renovations to Victorian Towers complex
- Students go green for Earth Day
- Lookout Tower hosts area veterans May 18
- National Safe Boating Week is May 18-25
- Kiwanis Club names charity essay winners
History
- Bizarre History of Cape May > 1850s brought a number of firsts to Cape May
- Bizarre History of Cape May > Telegraph helped to bring Civil War home to ambivalent Cape May
- Bizarre History of Cape May > Religion played important role in early Cape May life
- Patriots and Tories fought for their causes in Cape May
- Bizarre History of Cape May > What’s in a name? Plenty of history
- Bizarre History of Cape May > Assemblyman was cast out for absences, but voters cast him back in
- The Bizarre History of Cape May > Cape May County was strong for Lincoln in 1860 and 1864
- Bizarre History of Cape May > Cape May history not immune to slavery
- Stites make their mark on Cape Island
- Bizarre History of Cape May > First Cape May congressman was told to ‘Sit down, clam’
Sports
- Scoring milestones for LCMR lacrosse pair
- Middle golfers finish 3rd straight unbeaten season
- Schwartz makes Middle's lone hit count in playoff win over LCM
- COLUMN >> The athletes who establish the standards
- Ocean City youth football registration begins on Monday
- THIS MONTH in OCHS Sports
- Brigantine, Linwood play OCYAA Sunday
- OCHS alumni notebook
- OCHS girls clinch CAL lacrosse tie with victory over MRHS
- Raider spring sports roundup, edition of May 15, 2013