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Obituary: Edwin Calvert 2021

Ed Calvert on 1939 Ford 9N

Name: Edwin T. Calvert                     7/16/1926 to 11/27/2021

Born on the family farm in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, attended local schools, graduated from Glen Burnie High School 1943. Operated farm with father until 1948. Worked part time as carpenter and Foreman of Construction in older brother’s company while farming. Worked as auto mechanic 1948 to 1954 while continuing farm operations part time including a Road Stand (Roadside Market).

At age 16 the Anne Arundel County commissioners asked me to remain home and continue farming instead of enlisting in the service.

Married Lauretta Marie Brumwell in 1946. Raised 4 children (Tom, Betty Ann, Bill, and Marie). All were college graduates with jobs and families of their own. There are 7 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

Worked at Koppers Co. from 1954 to 1968 in American Hammered Piston Ring Div. in Baltimore.

Started evening classes in 1955 and was awarded a B.S. degree in Industrial Management from the Johns Hopkins University 1966.

Recruited by Boeing Vertol in 1968, moved to Delaware County, PA.

Hired in 1970, by Schramm Inc. West Chester, PA, a family owned company that manufactured Air Compressors and specialized hydraulic equipment such as self-propelled air compressor tractors and air operated underground piercing tools. When the Company changed direction in 1982, I left and operated as a freelance consultant and teacher. Taught Basic Science Courses at Delaware County Community College. Assisted my local government, Edgmont Township, Delaware County, PA during this period and was designated as Assistant Township Manager.

While inspecting potential retirement farms in 1989, I stopped in Conewago Township, Hanover, PA to question an ad for Township Manager. Was hired 1990 as the first Professional Manager of Conewago Township, Adams County, PA. Retired in 2003 at age 77.

 

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Active in education organizations while children were in school. Board Member Historic Annapolis Inc. Board Member and VP of Hancock’s Resolution Foundation, wrote and published Hancock’s Resolution Two Hundred Years and Counting in 2000. After move to PA in 1968, active in Methodist organizations. Active in local government organizations in Adams County, PA. Wrote The Calvert Family of Anne Arundel County, Maryland which was published in 2017.

 

HOBBIES

Local and Family Historian – guest speaker at National One Room School Conference at Northern Illinois Univ. in 2001, my paper was published by the Blackwell Museum for Education, an integral part of N. Illinois University. Speaker again in 2004 when annual Conference held at Univ. of Northern Iowa. Genealogist – direct descendent of William Calvert son of Leonard First Gov. of MD, Hancock, Cook and Blunt, ancestors of my other grandparents in MD by 1700. Bird Carving (wooden decoys and song birds), other woodworking. Member, Ward Brothers Waterfowl Museum, Salisbury MD. And member the National Wildlife Federation. Gardening, also collecting and operating Antique Farm Tractors (4)

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Split Rail Fence

The traditional “Snake and Cross” or “Zigzag” fence is based on remnants of the original fence. The 11 foot, hand split rails would have been constructed of chestnut. The chestnut blight killed most of the towering trees in the early 1900’s.

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Entrance

Hancock’s Resolution is now a Historic Park in the Anne Arundel County Park System. While farmsteads like this used to cover this county side (except this one was constructed with stone while the great majority were wood frame) this c. 1785 stone house and milk house are the last surviving authentic, restored but not renovated, farm structures left in the entire region. As such they are of singular importance. (1785 was four years before George Washington became President of the United States.

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Cook House

The owner of this two story farmhouse, Henry Alfred Cook, married Rhoda Virginia Hancock, who was born upstairs at Hancock’s Resolution. Constructed in the mid 1800s with an addition added later in the century, this house was originally located approximately a mile west of its present location. It was moved to the park in 1991 to serve as a care taker’s home.

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Bodkin Creek

In either one or both of June 12 and 14, 1608 (N.S.*) (the first date before going up the Bolus (Patapsco) River and the second date coming back down the river) Capt. John Smith and his crew entered and mapped Bodkin Creek, very probably looking for fresh water. (* “N.S” stands for “New Style”, meaning the Gregorian calendar presently in use and not the earlier “Julian Calendar”, in use at the time of his voyage.”

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Graveyard

The Hancock family graveyard contains at least 125 head and foot stones. The graves are marked with headstones made of the local sandstone, which was readily available. While many of the tombstone’s inscriptions have worn away, several from the 19th and 20th centuries are still readable including one marked “A. H.” and dated 1809, which marks the grave of Anne Hancock, third wife of Stephen. Stephen’s grave is some distance away to the left and the space between the graves may contain the graves of Stephen’s children and earlier wives.

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Farm Field

The farm field is an area where exhibition crops are planted and farming using historical methods is demonstrated.

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Bee Hives

Bee hives in boxes, baskets or even parts of hollow logs were a part of traditional farming practices. Beehives were documented on Francis Hancock’s 1832 probate inventory; honey and beeswax were important to both 17th and 18th century farms. The bees at the farm are tended by the farm’s master gardeners and housed in modern “Langstroth’s Hives.” These movable frame hives, patented in 1852, revolutionized bee keeping and are still preferred today.

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House

Stephen Hancock built the house in 1785 and Hancock descendents continued to live in the house until the 1960s. Lacking electricity, plumbing and central heating the house is largely unchanged since its construction. The house is constructed of native sandstone. Galleting is used on the entire wall surface of both the house and the adjacent milk house. It is the only known rural example of this technique in the Chesapeake region. The first floor contains one large room with plaster over hand-split lath. Original Federal period trim, including baseboards, chair rail, window and door surrounds, decorate the room as does the elaborate mantelpiece.

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Milk House

In the 18th and early 19th century dairy products were stored in the milk house. The Hancock family used the building as a grocery and dry goods store in the early 20th century until the frame building was later constructed. It also has the galleting that is also used on the house.

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Gardens

A “kitchen garden” located just outside the home consisted of both foods and herbs and ornamental plants. Kitchen gardens were common place into the 1900s. The current garden is a historically accurate reconstruction of the Hancock family garden. A grove of ancient Lilacs and a thicket of Chickasaw Plums (known to be utilized by the pre-Colonial Indian populations of Anne Arundel County) are found outside the gardens.

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Well

The well is believed to have dated from the 18th century when the house was constructed. The well remained in use until the 1950’s when the elderly Mamie Hancock could no longer manage the daily chore of hauling water for everyday use and a modern well with hand pump was installed closer to the house. Approximately 14 feet deep, the well is lined with stones “dry laid” and is untouched except for repairs at the frost line.

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Store

The Hancock family ran a dry goods and grocery store in the 20th century. The store served the local farmers, lighthouse keepers, fisherman, and oyster dredgers as well as the seasonal workers who were employed at the farm. This current building is a historically accurate reconstruction of the frame building and houses displays and a small gift shop.

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Barn Site

This is believed to be the site of an early barn. At some future date, we hope to reconstruct the barn and have farm animals.

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Trail

Self-guided Tour (map available at entrance)

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Trail

Self-guided Tour (map available at entrance)

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Bodkin Creek

War of 1812 Burning of Lion picture – wording to use: On August 24, 1814, a British raiding party, patrolling the Patapsco area in advance of their attack on Baltimore, entered Bodkin Creek and burned a “fine” American schooner they identified as being the “Lion of Baltimore”. That is the same name as one of America’s best privateers in the War of 1812 although, it turns out, there may have been more than one vessel of that name.