115 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 1, 1909
from the Mathews Journal
On Gwynn’s Island, we are sorry to report Capt. Callis quite ill at this writing.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Godsey was made happy by the arrival of a little girl last Wednesday.
After a long and painful illness, Mrs. Annie E. Godsey died Monday morning at two o’clock. She leaves five sons and four daughters to mourn her loss.—Wild Rose
110 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 2, 1914
from the Mathews Journal
From Cardinal, we hear that several severe storms have passed over this part of the county recently, lightning striking several places.
The Peninsula Civic League will give a picnic at the home of Mr. Charles Crockett on the Fourth of July. There will be ball games and plenty of good things to eat. In the afternoon Rev. Gowen will give an address.
100 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 3, 1924
from the Mathews Journal
The storm on Wednesday night of last week put nearly every telephone in the county out of commission and the employees have been busy ever since getting them back in working order. Service is now back to normal and is widely used to ask for information regarding the New York convention.
90 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 5, 1934
from the Gloucester Gazette
Appointment of Catesby G. Jones, Gloucester lawyer and several years judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court, as trial justice for Gloucester, Mathews and Middlesex counties was made official by Judge J. Boyd Sears Friday. The salary of Mr. Jones for the three counties was set at $2,250, which is to cover all the expenses of the court. Should it be found that a clerk is necessary, it is understood that the salary of the clerk is to be deducted from the salary of the justice. It was also stipulated by Judge Jones that the pay of a substitute justice when services are required of him shall also be deducted from the salary of the justice.
from the Mathews Journal
The Girl’s Athletic Association of New Point High School gave a Beach party on New Point Beach recently.
Those present were: Mr. Oliver Hutson, Mrs. Matthew Hubin, Mr. and Mrs. Carmine, Jeanette Hudgins, Ruby Hudgins, Ellen Owens, Catherine Armistead, Wanza Musick, Kathleen White, Nancy Snow, Hester and Ora Lee Armistead, Ruby Hutson, Elizabeth Dow, Charlotte Hudgins, Waverly Hudgins, Gordon Bradshaw, Taylor Owens, Willie Hurst, Victor Musick, Bille Hudgins, Everette Hudgins, Claude Marshall, Billie Marshall, Lewis Jagger, George Pugh and Chris Hudgins.
Regardless of the hot sun and many sunburns, they spent an enjoyable day.
80 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 6, 1944
from the Gazette-Journal
Supervisors of the Surgical Dressing Unit, wish to express their thanks and appreciation for the splendid response and cooperation to their appeal for help.
The Court House Unit made 4,500 dressings last week and the Abingdon Unit, 1,400 in one day. The packing Unit packed 20,500 dressings during the month of June.
We sincerely hope you will all continue to give your help as we have just received still another shipment and now have 93,000 dressings on hand.
70 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 1, 1954
from the Gazette-Journal
The Young People of Kingston Parish are sponsoring a paper drive throughout the summer to help raise money for the proposed Parish House. Please contact Emma Lou Marchant, Mathews 5-XXXX, if you have a load of newspapers, magazines or other scrap paper you wish to be picked up. The first pickup day will be Wednesday, July 7 instead of July 10 as was first planned. The young people will appreciate any and all cooperation.
60 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 4, 1964
from the Gazette-Journal
The offices of the treasurer and the commissioner of the revenue will be closed on Saturday mornings during July and August according to a statement made to the Gloucester board of supervisors last Friday by county treasurer C. David Burke and commissioner Boyd Gwyn.
Both officers told the supervisors that so little business is transacted on Saturday mornings during these two months they feel the closing is justified. The county clerk’s office has been closed on Saturday the year around since 1962.
50 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 4, 1974
from the Gazette-Journal
Two barges loaded with oyster shells broke away from tugs during the northeast storm Thursday night, and drifted ashore on Gwynn’s Island.
BMC Leland B. Lupton, chief of the Milford Haven U.S. Coast Guard Station, said it was reported that the barges, one 180’ and the other 100’, were lost in the Windmill Point area during the storm, which registered winds of 30-35 knots.
He said both vessels came aground on the east side of Gwynn’s Island, and were refloated Friday afternoon.
40 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 5, 1984
from the Gazette-Journal
The culmination of a four month-long struggle between factions of the commercial fishing industry and oceanographic researchers at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, came last Thursday when the last of 103 artificial reef or fish haven structures was secured to the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay just off Gwynn’s Island, one mile north of beacon “5” of the Hole-in-the-Wall channel.
The Gwynn’s Island reef site is the third and final one of a three-year project designed to study the feasibility and effectiveness of artificial reefs in promoting an increased fish and invertebrate population.
30 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 7, 1994
from the Gazette-Journal
The 150 children and adults registered in the Mathews County chapter of the American Red Cross swimming program can look forward to a more in-depth experience than in previous years. Instead of a one-week instructional course, all class levels have expanded to a full two-week session this year.
The additional class time and a heavy demand for lessons has made the pool at The Islander Motel on Gwynn’s Island a busy spot from 8 to10 weekday mornings.
20 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 1, 2004
from the Gazette-Journal
Celebrating Independence Day will be a private matter in Mathews County this year. For the first time in many years, there will be no public fireworks display, no hot dogs and clowns, no gathering of residents on the boardwalks, beaches, and waters surrounding the Islander Motel and Restaurant.
Mathews County Administrator Steve Whiteway confirmed Monday that the county isn’t planning a Fourth of July celebration. In March, Mathews supervisor Charles Ingram, who along with Mathews resident Elwood Everington, supervised and provided physical labor for the yearly fireworks display, announced that he and his team of over 20 people were taking a break this year but would be glad to help out anyone who was willing to take on the task. When no one else offered to take on the task, it died.
10 YEARS AGO
Thursday, July 3, 2014
from the Gazette-Journal
Motorists preparing to hit the road for the July 4 holiday are feeling some pain at the pump, as gasoline prices are on the rise again.