|
|
Drawn with permission from Rockville: Portrait of a City by Eileen S. McGuckian (Franklin, TN: Hillsboro Press, 2001), with thanks also to the Mayor and City Council of Rockville and to Wilma Bell.
By the turn of the twentieth century, Rockville's fire safety was in the hands of black uniformed volunteers supervised by George Meads, an African-American delivery man and deputy sheriff. Meads refused payment for his services as a fireman.
Henry Shelton, Sr., of Lincoln Park, was a captain in this first, loosely organized fire department.
After a fire nearly consumed the downtown business district, the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1921. Continuing a family tradition, Shelton's great-grandson, Timothy Bell, joined the department in 1985. He currently serves with Montgomery County's Hazardous Materials unit.
To view enlarged images, click on the pictures below.
','Maggie Wood Shelton (1873-1969), Henry Shelton, Sr. (1878-1947), and their son Kenneth Shelton (1909-1968). Circa 1910.<br>Source: Wilma Bell.')) |
) |
) |