Amusement Parks

 With the close of summer, here are a few amusement parks. Summer may be over, but the memories are still there.

Island Park on the Delaware River

 

 

Weona Park, Pen Argyl, PA

                                                                          Dorney Park

The Mysterious Disappearance and Murder of Edith Ford: Unresolved After 89 Years

The Mysterious Disappearance and Murder of Edith Ford: Unresolved After 89 Years

Written by Libby Ortiz

 

Edith Ford was born in October 1898. Little of her personal life is known up until her untimely disappearance in January of 1935 when she was 37 years old. 

The Known Details

What we know: In her adult life, Edith lived in Bangor, PA. She worked as a silk worker and waitress in Bangor, Reading, and Atlantic City. She took frequent trips to Atlantic City for pleasure. What she did on these trips was unknown, but we do know that occasionally she went with Joseph (Guisseppe) Cimo to participate in their extra-marital affair. These trips last anywhere from 15-20 days at a time.

The Last Day: January 12, 1935

We have a few accounts of what Edith did on her last day (Saturday, January 12, 1935) she was seen. She visited her mother’s house. At some point during the day, she went to her sister’s house for a meal. This meal consisted of liver sausage, fried potatoes, pickles, and bread and butter.

 

Around 6:30 she rendezvoused with Joseph (Joe) at Finkbeiner’s Cafe for a beer.

Joseph excused himself to test his cheese at the cheese store he owned and when he came back to the cafe, Edith was no longer there.

Apparently she had left to go to the Strand Theater with another man.

Joe said he saw her leave the theater with another man in a car with a New Jersey license plate.

 

The alarm bells did not go off for many months as it was Edith’s habit to be gone for long lengths of periods at a time.

The Discovery

On the morning of Saturday, June 15th Olga Di Thomas opened a cistern in the back of her father’s property to water the garden. She saw something white in the water.

 

 When the police arrived they inspected the figure and then called the coroner to the area. The crew were able to lift the form from the well and found that it was a body that was connected via guy wire to a large rock that weighed around 126 pounds. The only article of clothing found with the body was a singular black glove. Curiously, the wire had been fashioned around her pinky finger, which took some attention to detail to do so. Amateur sleuths indicate this may signify a broken promise or broken heart.

 

To add another clue, they found that the only access to the cistern was either through the grape arbor or an old lane. Because the cistern was set back into the Di Thomas property, the party responsible for the crime would have to have known about the cistern and thus be local to the area.

The Investigation

Following the discovery of the body, the police detectives took Joe Cimo in for questioning as he was the last known person to have seen or interacted with Edith. Oddly enough, Cimo admitted that he was at the scene when the police retrieved the body. When prodded further, Cimo said he used to live next door to the infamous cistern and used it on occasion. To further tie himself to the crime, it was discovered that Cimo’s wife had a prior violent altercation with Edith when the affair was made known to the wife. Despite all of this information, Cimo and his wife were released from questioning.

 

During her autopsy, the coroner determined that she was strangled via guy wire and curiously found her last meal in her stomach. Clearly she must have been murdered soon after she ate supper at her sister’s house as food remains in the stomach for approximately two hours. Aside from these two facts, no other clues could be uncovered from the body.

 

More details surrounding Edith and Cimo emerged. A few weeks after Edith was last seen, Cimo asked Edith’s brother, Howard if he had seen Edith recently. Howard said no, then Cimo explained that he had received a letter from Edith stating that she found a job and moved to Florida. Cimo then told police conflicting stories regarding letters from Edith which were further explained by Al Shook, a local shopkeeper who would read these letters to Cimo. Further, a woman came to police stating that Cimo had dictated a letter to be written, “Dear Sweetheart: I am very sorry for what I have done and can’t write so well. I am going away to Florida and will stay there.” Signed Edith.

The envelope was left blank and therefore could not have been sent through the mail.

 

On August 10, 1935 a warrant was issued for Cimo’s arrest on the grounds of murder, however he was released as the police only had inconclusive evidence.

Unresolved Questions

89 years later we still don’t have any answers. To date, Cimo has been the only person held for official police questioning. Edith Ford’s clothes have never been found. Only questions remain. What happened to her clothes? Why was she killed?  When exactly was she killed and why had her body not deteriorated if it had been in the cistern for 154 days? Was her body being stored somewhere else, in a cool environment that happened to preserve the body? Most importantly, who killed Edith Ford?

 

Keeping it Real with "George Washington at Princeton" Paintings and the Easton Flag - Part 2

 

 

 Keeping it Real with George Washington at Princeton Paintings

and the Easton Flag

 

By Sharon Gothard

 

 

Charles Willson Peale (1741 – 1827) is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution, including George Washington.

Charles Peale Polk (1767 – 1822) was an American portrait painter and the nephew of artist Charles Wilson Peale.1

It was not unusual for an artist to copy a painting of another artist. This was done often. Even an artist would make “copies” of their own paintings, putting both small and large changes in it. Charles Peale was commissioned to do many copies of his portraits of George Washington.

“Polk likely found inspiration for George Washington at Princeton in Peale's well known 1779 painting of the subject.  This painting celebrates Washington's victory at Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, an early win that helped morale and renewed confidence in the Revolutionary War effort.”

“These differences in approach to the theme reflect the two artists' very different relationships to the historic battle. Charles Willson Peale commanded a company of Philadelphia militia during the war, and served under George Washington at Princeton. His paintings are first-hand recollections painted while his memories were still fresh and the war ongoing.”

“Charles Peale Polk was just ten years old during the Battle of Princeton. By the 1790s, when he painted the subject, it had entered the realm of history painting. His canvas possesses a gravity and monumentality befitting a retrospective image of the landmark event.”2

This brings us to the three paintings and the Easton Flag.3,4,5

Trying to date the Easton Flag has been hard and frustrating. Mr. William J. Heller, a true patriot and historian had an American Flag factory in Easton in the early 1900’s. He staunchly believed the flag was from the Revolutionary War, yet he never could produce any solid proof. He wrote a two-page pamphlet titled Easton’s Flag of the Revolution explaining why he felt the flag was from this era. 6

Polk did write a letter to George Washington on August 6, 1790, asking him, “His object is if Possible to Obtain the Honorable “priveledge” of One Short Setting from the President to enable him to finish a portrait of your Excellency (in head size) “Prapaired” with that design.”7   Polk mentions that he had already “executed” over 50 portraits of Washington, but was not pleased with the likenesses.  It is thought that George Washington never responded to Polk and did not have a sitting.

The portraits of George Washington at Princeton, painted by Charles Peale Polk, have a militia in the back ground. Along with the men, a flag is flying. It is the same design as the Easton Flag. We know that Northampton County, PA men were at the battle of Princeton. It is because of these flags; I believe the Easton Flag is from the Revolutionary era.

During the Revolution, Peale served as an officer in the Trenton and Princeton campaigns and in the defense of Philadelphia. Perhaps he mentioned to his nephew, Polk, the descriptive events at the Battle of Princeton, including the Easton Flag. Otherwise, at this point, we do not know why Polk painted these flags. As far as we are aware, there was no other flag that looked like the Easton Flag.

 I had reached out to the Princeton Historical Society and spoke to Paul Davis, Collections and Research Assistant, asking him if they had any information on this specific painting with the flag. This email was between Paul and Roger Williams:

Q. Is it possible the Easton Flag was at the Battle of Princeton? I realize the textile conservator says it’s unlikely, but given that it’s a very unusual design for a flag (my opinion), where did Charles Peale Polk get the idea for this flag? And why would he include it in his painting?

 RSW: Sure it is possible...We know that a few of the participating regiments that were engaged DID have regimental banners, but we do not have any evidence that those banners were present at the battle either. We have to remember that in 1777 regimental flags for the American troops just were not used in the fashion that banners were used by their European counterparts. It was not until the 19th century that American regiments regularly carry flags into battle. That is not to say that regiments never carried banners. Some regiments did have junior infantry officers called, ensigns (cavalry had a similar rank of coronet). But even then...depending on the circumstance, the flag officers did not always carry banners; especially in the early phases of the war...most soldiers and junior officers, regardless of rank, were carrying weapons. 

Although I would like to think the Easton Flag was the same “Standard” that was flying when the Declaration of Independence was read in Easton Square on July 8, 1776, I personally do not believe that to be true. Again, I do believe the Easton Flag IS from the Revolutionary War era for many reasons. One, is the Polk portraits. Two, the design of the flag with 13 eight pointed stars and the stripes. Three, I do not think it would be reasonable to think the ladies of Easton in 1814, made a two-sided flag in a few days, when they were busy making uniforms and knapsacks and some soldiers did not even get a uniform. Four, when Congress passed the design of the flag on June 14, 1777, the description sounds like the Easton Flag.8 Of course, saying and thinking all of this is just that, saying and thinking. There is no proof of when this flag was made or who made it. The search goes on…..

 1.       Charles Peale Polk was the nephew of Charles Willson Peale and was taken in by the Peale family at or near the age of 10 after being orphaned.

2.       mountvernon.org

3.       see image 1

4.       see image 2

5.       see image 3

6.       Marx History Room @ Easton Area Public Library H 929.9H477e

7.       The Papers of George Washington (Digital Edition) University of Virginia

8.       see image 4

 

 

 

1779 - George Washington at Princeton by Charles Willson Peale, owned by PA Academy of the Fine Arts

 

 

            @1790 to 1793 signed #30                                                Image1

 

  

 Image 1a

 

 

  

                 Circa 1790                                                                       Image 2

 

 

                                                                                   Image 2a

 

 

                                                                                                                                         

                 1790 painted by Polk – Owned by Lafayette College                                       Image 3

 

 

 

                                                                                                              Image 3a

 

                Dunlap and Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser September 2, 1777     image 4