The Gloucester Museum of History has plans for its second floor—an overview of Gloucester County.
The vast job of researching what is already on hand has been underway for some time. Sidney Ripley is a Museum Specialist who grew up in Gloucester and loves working with the museum. She enjoys doing research and adds, “I especially love to research old records.”
Sidney recently discovered a gem when going through the military section. She found two diaries written by Charles A. Beyer, MM1c 1918-1920, written during the time he served in the Navy aboard a World War I minelayer. Beyer enlisted in the Navy in Richmond on June 9, 1918. He was sent to Norfolk to a training station and his next step was Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he caught his first ship.
He was a most meticulous writer with a fabulous handwriting, and his diary entries are written in both ink and pencil. The date, time, hour and minutes are included with many of his wartime experiences and port stops. He even tells about...