This week in Delaware history

Compiled by Roger Martin
Special to the Coastal Point

1864 — Gen. Albin F. Schoepf, commander at Fort Delaware, prepared all Confederate prisoners for exchange. In his report he indicated there were 82 civilian or political prisoners, 1,260 officers, 778 noncommissioned officers and 5,642 privates at the fort.

1942 — Major Hugh Sharp and Lt. Ed Edwards were honored in President Franklin Roosevelt’s office in Washington for a daring sea rescue with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) off Rehoboth Beach.

2003 — A Presidents’ Day holiday storm dropped 11 inches of snow on Georgetown and 21 inches in Kent County, but the worst part occurred in Bear where 23.5 inches fell. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner declared a state of emergency and nonessential traffic was prohibited from traveling on state roads.

Feb. 18

1832 — The Wilmington Savings Fund Society first opened its doors for business on Wilmington’s Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets.

1837 — The General Assembly commissioned Professor James C. Booth of Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute to conduct Delaware’s first statewide geologic survey.

1944 — Richard McMullen, former governor (1937-1941) who was prevented from gaining reelection because of a heart attack at the beginning of the campaign in 1940, died at age 76.

1979 — The City of Wilmington received 16.5 inches of snow in 24 hours.

Feb. 19

1717 — Based upon scant records, at least 5 feet of snow purportedly covered Delaware.

1910 — The Blue Hen basketballer Liston A. Houston scored 52 points in a game against Lebanon Valley.

1985 — The Most Rev. Robert E. Mulvee was named bishop of the Wilmington Catholic Diocese.

1994 — The last meal was served at a favorite restaurant in Glasgow, the Glasgow Arms. The site later became one of a fast food chain.

Feb. 20

1878 — Charlotte Georgiana Rodney, the right honorable dowager Lady Rodney, died in England at age 82 years. Her late husband George, Third Lord Rodney, was a cousin of Delaware’s Caesar Rodney and his brother, Thomas Rodney.

1888 — The General Assembly passed a resolution to erect an equestrian statue of Caesar Rodney in Dover.

1890 — The Delaware Hospital opened in Wilmington on 14th and Washington Streets.

Feb. 21

1683 — William Penn presided in court at New Castle and naturalized Swedish and Dutch settlers, of whom there were 116.

1861 — The Town of Middletown was incorporated.

1868 — President Andrew Johnson futilely appointed New Castle’s Gen. Lorenzo Thomas as interim Secretary of War, a move that led to the president’s impeachment.

1936 — A section of the Queen Anne pier in Lewes was destroyed by ice and snow.

Feb. 22

1841 — With white-tailed deer virtually extinct, the General Assembly passed a law prohibiting the killing of such in the state.

1862 — Episcopal Bishop John Johns, the son of Delaware Chancellor Kensey Johns and grandson of Gov. Nicholas Van Dyke (1783-1986), administered the oath of office to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America.

1882 — The Trustees of the Poor of New Castle County purchased a farm of 100 acres near Farnhurst from Graham Blandy. The site later became Farnhurst Hospital, south of Wilmington.

1902 — The Delaware State Society of Cincinnati placed a plaque at 303 West Street in Wilmington commemorating Gen. George Washington’s Headquarters there between Aug. 25 and Sept. 8, 1777, just before the Battle of Brandywine.

Feb. 23

1726 — Thomas Noxon, late of Jamaica, bought land south of Middletown.

1849 — John M. Clayton resigned as a Delaware U.S. senator to become President Zachary Taylor’s U.S. Secretary of State.

1922 — The Nanticoke Indian Association in Millsboro was incorporated with William Russell Clark, Chief Wyniaco, as its head.

1925 — Civil War cavalryman General James H. Wilson died at age 87 and was buried in Wilmington’s Old Swedes Church Yard. He helped capture Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Georgia in May 1865, and only three Civil War generals lived longer.