“During the perilous and unsettled period through which Delaware passed in 1863,” begins historian J. Thomas Scharf, “there was less disposition to enter the service of the country voluntarily than the preceding year, and it soon became evident that a draft would have to be ordered to fill up the quota.” The draft bill that…
Fleatown, DE was one of those towns whose only reason to exist was that it was a convenient halfway stopping point between two popular destinations. The distance as the crow flies from the heart of Milford, DE to the heart of Georgetown, DE is about 16 miles. Traveling between these two places today wouldn’t even…
Plenty of people throughout history have faked their death in order to get out from under debt or a bad romance. But writing an elaborate letter about being lost at sea, stuffing it in a bottle, tossing it into the ocean, then hoping someone finds it? Seems like a dicey way to announce your demise.…
Solomon Bayley, newly on the run, woke in terror to see two slave hunters walking straight toward the thicket where he’d spent the night. “I was struck with dread,” he wrote in his autobiography, “afraid to move hand or foot. I sat there and looked right at them; and thought I, here they come right…
