An Audio Tour of Some Insley History

After Mom (Granny) moved from her house on Kent Island, I “inherited” all of her genealogy records and research. During the 1980's and 1990’s she had spent considerable time researching her family history at libraries and other places. (Remember, this was before the internet so things had to be done the hard way!) She also corresponded with her cousins and other more distant relatives to obtain copies of their research. Her main focus was on the ancestors of her Insley maiden surname.

One day, sometime in between the years 1986 when Mom’s mother passed away and 1990 when her father was still alive, she and Dad (Ernie) took a car ride with Grandpop Russell (her father) to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to try and find some of the places where Grandpop grew up and record is thoughts and memories on a tape recorder. Along the way, they picked up Grandpop’s younger sister Aunt Alice (Insley) O’Neil so she could also reminisce out loud about where they were driving.

Mom recorded much of the discussions that day and left the cassette tape with her genealogy files. I found the cassette and have digitized it to make it available for you to listen to here. Its an amazing recording, about 46 minutes long) that reveals some fascinating details about how Grandpop met Grandmom Minnie (Hope) and how he came to propose to her. That happens toward the beginning of the tape.

The recording begins on Hooper’s Island simply because they were driving West to East on the Eastern Shore and Hooper’s Island came first. However, the church they were looking for was one that Grandmom’s father Coley S. Hope served as Pastor late in his life.

Later in the recording as the four travelers search for old sites from Grandpop and Aunt Alice’s childhood, they describe in wonderful detail what life was like during the Depression of the 1930’s, how Grandpop and Alice’s father (Walter G. Insley) lost his farm and things they had to do to make money during those hard times. There is even a quick reference of “Ol’ Jim Polk Insley” (1844–1912) who was Grandpop and Alice’s grandfather toward the end of the recording. Apparently Grandpop’s mother Mary didn’t want his father Walter working for Ol’ Jim Polk Insley so they moved away from the area of Nanticoke and Bivalve (at the time, the center of all things Insley) and moved to the Salisbury area where Grandpop, Alice and the rest of their siblings grew up.

I thought it would be useful to look at some old family photos as you listen to the recording, so you can picture who the various relatives are that are mentioned. I’ve also included a few other images that I hope will allow you to get your bearings on topics discussed on the recording. I suspect any of the kids listening to this may not know about some of the things being talked about (like a shell road) so the pictures should be educational.

Note that the recording is difficult to hear in a few spots. I was able to eliminate most of the road noise as they drive in the car but eliminating any more of it would make the voices more difficult to understand, so this is the best I can do with my limited skills and equipment.

Many thanks to Mom and Dad for having the forethought to make the recording and to save it so it could be found and used for our education and enjoyment. And of course, thanks to Grandpop and Aunt Alice for their awesome color commentary and fantastic Eastern Shore accents. Enjoy!

Click here to listen (You’ll see a Dropbox screen pop up. Just click on the “Or continue to website” button at the bottom to start listening).

Grandpop Russell D. Insley (1909–1990) and Grandmom Minnie (Hope) Insley (1913–1986). My guess is the photo was taken in the 1940’s when Grandpop would have been in his early 30’s and Grandmom in her late 20’s.

Ancestry.com page for Grandpop Russell.

Ancestry.com page for Grandmom Minnie.

Minnie F. (Johnson) Hope and Rev. Coley S. Hope.

I believe (not 100% sure) this is the church on Hooper’s Island where Coley Hope served as Pastor for several years later in his life after Grandpop and Grandmom had already moved to Washington, DC. This is now Riverside Wesleyan Church.

Example of a 1920’s laundry truck.

Example of what a tent church service looked like in the 1920’s. Coley Hope used to travel around the Eastern Shore and preach to groups like this.

Delmar, DE in relationship to Salisbury, MD.

Brown County Road. Grandpop’s father’s 100 acre farm that they lost during the Depression.

A photo of Mom on her Grandparents’ farm near Delmar in the 1930’s during the Depression.

Example of a WPA crew building roads in the 1930's.

WPA Logo.

Example of a Model T truck.

Aunt Alice is 2nd from the left in the back row. Back row: Elmer, Alice, Evelyn, Raymond, Russell. Front row: Walter (1879–1959) and Mary (Rencher) Insley (1879–1966). Photo likely taken in 1950's.

For comparison purposes, here’s a photo of Walter G. Insley (back row on the right) and Mary Insley (next to him). Grandpop is in the front row, third from the right with the curly (red) hair. Since he was born on Valentine’s Day 1909, I think this photo was probably taken in 1910 or 1911. That would make Walter and Mary about 31. Two of the boys in the front row are Raymond and Elmer. Alice and Evelyn weren’t born yet. The rest are from Mary’s (Rencher) side of the family. Notably her mother Annie Statia (Robertson) Rencher next to Mary in the back row. She is my Great, Great Grandmother.

Aunt Alice talks about “Aunt Annie” who is Grandpop and Alice’s mother’s (Mary’s) sister Annie Rencher who married Uncle Will or Wilfred Jester who “always had money”. The 1910 and 1920 censuses show him as a merchant of general merchandise.

Mary and Walter G. Insley. Mom and her mother (Minnie Insley) are on the porch. This is the house they were looking for on the recording but when they found it, it had been remodeled. The photo looks to be taken in the early 1940’s. Mom was born in 1931 and she looks like she’s maybe 9–10 years old. That would make Walter and Mary 61 and Minnie 33.

Zion Methodist Church on Zion Road, Salisbury, MD where Grandpop, Alice and their parents went to church.

Example of an oyster shell road.

Relationship of Nanticoke (where Grandpop and Alice’s grandparents lived and had Sunday dinners) in relationship to Salisbury and Delmar. Their grandparents were James Knox Polk “Jim Polk” Insley (1844–1912) and Biddy (Mezick) Insley (1841–1905).

Example of one of the steam ships that traveled from Baltimore down the Chesapeake with stops at places like Tyaskin.

I hope you enjoyed this. Let me know if you’d like to see more genealogy pages like this one. Dan