![]() I remember these because both were controversial at the time. Other than that, I believe he was a Commissioner for quite a few years in the 1930's and possibly Mayor in the late 1930's and again in the late 1940's.ĭuring the time that Thornton was Mayor, two accomplishments come to mind: (1.) Parking meters were installed along Main Street and, (2.) The subdivision of Emmit Gardens was I know he was a Town Commissioner in 1936 and was Mayor in 1950/51. From what I understand, the records concerning elected town office terms are not readily available, that is, they are open to the public but would take some time to It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when my father was Mayor. Making business in partnership with his sons, Bee and Bill, who had just returned from the Navy.ĭedication of the Veterans Plaque in front of the Legion. When he returned to Emmitsburg in 1945, he went to work with Guy Topper in the barber shop but soon opened his own cabinet With five children and a wife to take care of, he couldn't walk away and try something else.ĭuring WWII he again went to Baltimore to work for Bethlehem Steel at Sparrows Point in Baltimore. Woodworking and cabinet making was his true vocation – he always said that he never really liked theīarber trade but it provided a living even during the depression. In the evening, when my Dad returned home from his barber shop, he went to work in his wood shop in the basement of our house. Of course, I was very young and the political scene was the farthest thing I am certain that his long hours in the barber shop must have sparked many a heated political discussion but I don't remember Dad talking politics at home. During the 1930's, Thornton became interested in local politics and served as Commissioner and (It was Houser's Drug Store when I was growing up in Emmitsburg.) It was in this shop that Toss Shorb apprenticed for the barber trade. Thornton's sister, Ethel and her husband Bob Topper, lived inĪround the time that Carrie and Thornt were married, he and Guy Topper opened a barber shop at 26 West Main Street, (Bee), William (Bill), Joseph (Joe) and Donald (Donnie). These burned in about 1928 and the fire came very close to igniting the houses alongĬarrie and Thornt raised five children, all born in the home Lorraine (Rainey), T. Long and had livery stables in the alley behind the house. They were married in April, 1921Īnd moved into the house on Gettysburg Street, now 201 North Seton Ave. Euphemia's School hall, he met Carrie Gelwicks, an Emmitsburg native, who was acting in the same show. Thornton taught himself to play the guitar and used to play in various shows around Gettysburg and Emmitsburg. ![]() He was always an avid baseball fan and took great pride in the fact that he used toĬut the hair of Eddie Plank, a Philadelphia Athletics Hall of Fame Pitcher, who was from the Gettysburg area. Thornton barbered in Gettysburg from about 1910 to 1921 except for a year and a half in 1917-1918 when he worked in the shipyard in Baltimore. Grade any further education was self taught. I am not positive of his age when apprenticed but I do know that he went to school only through the sixth Instead of carpentry, his mother apprenticed Thornton to a barber in Gettysburg at the age of about thirteen. He tried to join the Army during WWI and was rejected because of the leg. he wanted to be a carpenter but his mother told me that she did not want him to learn that trade forįear that he would fall from a scaffolding because of the crippled leg and 2. However, the game leg did affect his life in two ways: 1. The affliction did leave him with a severe limp which IĪm sure most people who knew him can vividly remember although few people were aware of the cause. At that period in time, the disease was quite often fatal so it is a blessing that he survived. Thornton developed Poliomyelitis or Infantile Paralysis at the age of two. Must have spent more years with Grandad Humerick as he said many times that he was raised by him. Although I can't say for certain, I believe Thornton To her father and mother's home on Hornet's Nest Road.Īnnie, Ethel and Thornton lived with Grandad Humerick until Annie married John Kelly in 1902. Annie then moved her little family back to Emmitsburg William Rodgers worked in a pottery factory and developed Tuberculosis and died in 1900 at the age of 31 leaving a young widow, my father who was 3 years old, and his sister Ethel, 7 years old. Annie was born and raised on the mountain to the west ofĮmmitsburg. His father was William Rodgers, a native Baltimorean, and his mother was Annie Lydia Humerick. Thornt was born in the Fells Point area of Baltimore City in January 1897. ![]() Thornton Rodgers & son Eugene, in wood-working and upholstery shop on North Seton Ave.
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