WR 67: Kensey Pocomoke River Collection |
1 document box
(1966 - 1967)
Bulk: 1966
Worcester County Library: Genealogy and Local History Collection, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, MD
|
Identifier: |
WR 67 |
| Creator(s): | Charles C. Kensey |
| Acquisition: |
Unknown |
| Language(s): | English |
| Use: | Records are open for research. Copyright, including literary rights, belongs to the author(s) or their legal heirs. Permission to publish or reproduce must be obtained from the Worcester County Library which extends beyond “fair use”. |
| Preferred Citation: |
“Item, collection name, [Box #, Folder #,] Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch, Snow Hill, Maryland.” |
| Attribution: |
Finding aid written by Erin Pogue, September 2022. |
| Related Materials: | None. |
| Separated Materials: | None. |
The Kensey Pocomoke River Collection contains Charles C. Kensey’s research notes on boats over the Pocomoke River. This research was done in 1966, and was used to publish a pamphlet titled “The Pocomoke River” that same year. The pamphlet was published by Tingle Printing Company in Pittsville, Md. It contained notes on the geography of the river, the wildlife, steamboats and their captains, and homes, churches, wharfs, and landings along the river.
Charles C. Kensey was born in Snow Hill in 1884. He spent much of his childhood on the Pocomoke River, taking out row boats and riding around with his friends. When he was 18 he was hired by The Pocomoke River Steam Boat Company as an engineer for the steam boats. He worked on three different steamers, “The Highland”, “The Countess”, and “The Vivian.” These boats were used to transport freight, mail, and passengers along the Pocomoke River between Snow Hill and Pocomoke City.
The Pocomoke River is about 70 miles long, starting in Sussex County, Delaware, in the Great Cyprus Swamp, flowing across Wicomico County, Worcester County, and Somerset County, Maryland before emptying into Pocomoke Sound in Accomack County, Virginia. The name Pocomoke is said to mean “black water”, though now scholars believe it to come from the Algonquian for “broken ground”. These days you are less likely to see a steam boat on the river, and more likely to see a canoe or kayak taking off from one of the landings located in Pocomoke River State Park.
The collection contains the final pamphlet “The Pocomoke River” by Charles C. Kensey, as well as his handwritten notes during his research, and his drafts of the pamphlet text. It also contains correspondence he wrote to others during his research for the project.
The Kensey Pocomoke River collection has been arranged in the order in which they were originally stored, in a loosely chronological order.
Folders are listed by their location in each box; any given subject may be dispersed throughout the entirety of the collection.
This collection shares a box with WR 68-78 and WR 81.
Topical Terms
Boating
Native Americans
Recreation
Steamboats
Wildlife
Worcester County (Md.)—History, Local
Worcester County (Md.)—Social life and customs
Corporate Names
All Hallows Episcopal Church
B. C. & A. Railway
Eastern Shore Steamboat Company
Pocomoke Steam Boat Company
Tull’s Shipyard
Personal Names
Kensey, Charles C.
McCabe, William R.
Truitt, Reginald V.
Location Terms
Dyghton (Md.)
Indiantown (Md.)
Pocomoke (Md.)
The Pocomoke River
Pocomoke Sound
Snow Hill (Md.)
Sussex County (De.)
Worcester County (Md.)
Folder 1
Folder 2