Olde-Tyme Peach Festival

Most of us have had the opportunity to attend some interesting, fun and historical community events. Well Saturday of last week Middletown, Delaware had the”22^nd Annual Olde-Tyme Peach Festival” hosted by the Middletown Historical Society.  Everything kicked off with a parade at 9am making its way down Broad Street, it was a typical parade with floats, bands, horses and the streets lined with members of the community and surrounding communities. When the parade came to an end the estimated 30,000 plus people then made their way wondering around Main Street seeing all of the booths, exhibits and historical reenactors. You could find music, food, games and of course peaches lots of peaches, peach pies, jams, jellies even peach butter.

This was the first year that I played a part in the event and had a great time.  As I’ve mentioned in past postings I spend some hours volunteering in the research room at the museum.  This year it was decided that we bring some items out of the research room and display them for everyone to see. As most of us know not everyone is aware of what information can be found in some historical societies.  What better way to share these hidden treasures then at an event like this.  Yes this is where part of my role was this year, just in case you are wondering.

Just one of the valuable resources that were offered was the chance to see if “Did your family make Middletown's headlines?”. This alone brought a lot of interesting family stories to the attention of some. The historical society took the opportunity a few years back to have the Middletown Transcript, the oldest existing newspaper in Delaware, digitized and searchable covering 124 years from 1868 – 1992. There were many lined up to enter a surname or two hopping to find their names in the headlines or at least mentioned in an article. Of course some were shocked, to say the least, to find their family member was arrested for public disturbance. Others weren’t so shocked and even said, “Of course they were what else would you expect from a family that celebrates life.”

 I was happy to answer questions and provide some help to those who had always thought about researching their families but had no idea where to start or hit a “dry dead weed rough patch” as one lady put it with a smile and a laugh. The Middletown Historical Society accepted a $150 genealogy research report from me, ARodesky Genealogy, to be given away at $1 chance drawing and all of the money collected went to the society. This was a chance drawing that was very well accepted and some entered many times for the opportunity to find out more about their family history.  The family “stories” that were shared with me were some of the most amazing, funny and some heartbreaking but a reality that they wanted to find out more about.

Middletown Historical Society - Genealogy Classes

From the May 21, 2015 Middletown Transcript in Middletown, Delaware

Hunt for ancestors at Historical Society’s free genealogy classes

From Staff Reports

     The Middletown Historical Society is offering free genealogy classes to help participants research who their ancestors were. Knowing their stories can be life affecting, not to mention fun to find. 

     Beginning Thursday, May 28 at 7 p.m., the community is invited to the Middletown Historical Society Museum for the first of four classes led by genealogist Angie Rodesky which will clear the mysteries about how to find your ancestors.

     While the classes are free registration is required by emailing Rodesky at arodesky@gmail.com or calling 1-913-702-6489.

     Each class will build research skills by teaching about the tools and techniques for finding the amazing amount of information available, often from the comfort of your home.

     Rodesky is a full-time professional genealogist of over 12 years, who has traveled the world doing research and consultations. She does private group presentations such as these classes, and is a published author and freelance writer. Her work has been featured on the History Channel’s “How the States Got Their Shapes,” “Genealogy Roadshow” on PBS, and Federal Genealogical Society radio programs.

     Classes will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and the schedule is as follows:

May 28 – Where do I begin? The research process and organizing your information.

June 25 – Records? What records? Documents such as census records, death certificates, land records, military records, and more – the information they contain and how to obtain them.

July30 – Researching from your couch. How to research on the internet, including some sites that you might not have visited yet, and some helpful tools for maneuvering around them.

Aug. 27 – Middletown’s treasure trove. The amount of information that the Middletown Historical Society has amassed and organized is one of the treasures of our town. Rodesky has spent much time in the Historical Society’s research room, going through books, The Middletown Transcript, and the growing archives. The last session will include a tour of what’s available in the research room and the process of requesting records and assistance.

     Each class includes a question – and – answer session at the end.

     The Middletown Historical Society Museum is location in the Old Academy, 216 N. Broad St., Middletown. 

Look What I Found

     I’ve shared some photos and information about the importance of our local historical societies and mentioned MHS (Middletown Historical Society) briefly. I thought I would shine a brighter light on what can be found at MHS here in Middletown, Delaware. By the way it’s located in New Castle County. When in the area if you mention  MHS you usually hear about the hard work they do with the “Peach Festival” that takes place here in August (I’ll discuss the festival at a later posting).  

     The society is physically located in one of the most historical recognizable buildings here in Middletown.  The building they occupy is the Old Academy Building located at 218 North Broad Street. When you enter this building you will also discover it’s a museum with two floors of unique collections that reflect the lives of community members in years past.   Currently the main exhibit on the first floor is titled “Middletown Goes to War” and is an interpretation of the service and sacrifices of our men and women in Middletown.  It focuses on their sacrifices during our Nation’s wars from the Revolution through Vietnam, and beyond. Venturing up to the second floor you can still see some of the collections focusing on "Downtown Abby", Old Academy Building and education in Middletown plus the importance of peach crops in the area.

"Downtown Abbey" room on the second floor

Both found on the second floor

     

     The archive collection is large and continuing to grow including the discovery of letters, books, photograph, artifacts and many documents. They are constantly working to archive their collection and make if available for your research needs. When conducting your research they have a comfortable large research room on the second floor with someone there to assist you in your research needs and document retrievals. One of the pride and joys of the society is the computer searchable collection of the 125 volumes of Delaware’s oldest newspaper, The Middletown Transcript.  I have spent some time as a member with the society in the research room helping them to index some of their collection, along with sharing the importance of their collection to family researchers and genealogist.  If you have a chance to visit your historical society I advise you to do so. They hold so much information that we as research’s can find very useful. You might just be surprised as to what you find and in turn they might be surprised what you find in their collection.  Here are a few surprises that I found and yes some were a surprise to some of the members.

Miscellaneous document found in donated boxes (yes more then one) that was once in someones attic. 

 1914 Marriage Ledger (Yes I'm working to index this ledger and the 1915 ledger)

The research room is open to members of the society, you will find their schedule below. It the schedule below doesn't work with your schedule you can always call and set up a special appointment.  (302) 378-8265 or (302) 740-5544 

Every Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.  

1^st Saturday of every month from 9:00 a.m. – noon  

3^rd Wednesday of each month from noon – 4:00 p.m.  

You can find me in the research room Fridays 10-2 conducting my own research and offering assistance to those in need. So now I ask, what have you found during your visits to historical societies?