June 14, 1919
Eunice Hamilton was born July 21, 1867 to John and Jennie Cleaver in Port Penn, DE. In 1885 she was married to August Hamilton, the prominent businessman whose family had done so much for our community. She was preceded in death by an infant daughter who passed in 1887, and her husband, who joined the ranks of heaven in 1903.
Mrs. Hamilton will be remembered as a pillar of our community. Dedicated to her church and to a sense of civic duty, she had been a gracious doner for many beneficial projects. The church service will be held at St. Daniels Methodist Episcopal Church on Saturday afternoon. Interment will be in Hickory Grove Cemetary following the ceremony.
Miss Victoria Louise Clifford, schoolteacher and midwife for the Port Penn community was found dead of a broken neck on Port Penn Island this past Thursday. She had been on the island with other members of the Port Penn Centennial Time Capsule Committee, namely; Dr. Albert Dunn, Miss Beatrice Miller (a women's columnist from New York), and Mrs. Clara Randall-Holmes (a visitor to our area). Miss Clifford appeared to have lost her footing and fallen while closing the windows in the middle of the ferocious storm that battered the greater Port Penn area last week. "It is a tragic accident," said Dr. Friedrich Klaus, Chief of Psychiatric Medicine on the island, "the committee had come over to interview me in regards to the great advances in mental health that are being made at this institution. I wish to extend my condolences to her family as well as to the Port Penn Township."
Miss Clifford is the daughter of Nathaniel and Hesterbelle (nee: Fischer) Clifford of Mount Pleasant, Delaware. She was their third of four children and their only daughter. A lifelong resident of the greater Port Penn community, Miss Clifford only left the area to go to Wilmington College where she earned her Teacher's Certificate. She had learned midwifery from her mother and attended at the births of many local children. Miss Clifford had been employed by Port Penn Primary School for the past three years, and resided at Mrs. Marsh's boarding house on Willow Lane. After her recent bout with influenza, she quickly regained her strength and joined the Time Capsule Committee, where she was compiling a short history of Port Penn as well as letters from local children to be included for future generations to enjoy. She will be deeply missed by the whole community.
Surviving family members include: parents- Nathaniel and Hesterbelle; two older brothers- Jonathan (spouse; Virginia, children; David, Emma, and Matthew), and William (spouse; Mary Ellen, children; Felicity and Gabriel); one younger brother- Samuel; paternal grandmother- Francine (nee: Nichols) Clifford of Mount Pleasant; and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents- Montgomery and Delphine (nee: Saunders) Fischer of Bay View Beach, Delaware; and her paternal grandfather- Gilbert Clifford.
Funeral arrangements for Miss Clifford are being handled by the Urbanski Funeral Home of Mount Pleasant. The funeral is scheduled for Monday morning at 10:00 am at Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church, the Reverend Theodore Smythe presiding. Memorial contributions can be made to the Wilmington Children's Home.
Classes for children in Port Penn grades One through Three will recommence in September, once a new primary teacher can be hired.
