Originally Posted by
dweenk
You may have heard of, or knew of Wadie Murphy. A book was written about him several years ago. I suppose you either love him or hate him.
I had a lady colleague from Tilghman's Island for nearly 8 years. She joked that it was difficult to marry someone from there who was not your cousin.
I joke, but if I had to have someone to cover my back in a crisis, someone from Tilghman's or Hooper's would be a good choice.
Knew of him, but he was only in his teens when I lived there. A little after my time. And he was an off-islander, and we didn't pay them much mind. I wasn't an islander, having been born and raised in San Francisco, but our family was the first off-islanders to live there in...like, ever?
The phone book had but three surnames, Harrison, Rowe, and Taylor. I think it was Taylor, or maybe Tyler? Inbreeding was both acknowledged and a reality among residents; cousins were okay.
And yeah, there was a code of looking out for your neighbor back then. Now Tilghman's Island is not only renamed Tilghman, but it's all developed. New zip codes too, which no one used for a decade out of pure orneriness. So it goes.
Three rules on the Island: Don't f*** with someone's boat, don't f*** with someone's truck, and don't f*** with someone's wife. In that order.
I'd toss Smith Islanders onto that list too, though you'd be hard pressed to ken them. Fortunately, I'd read a lot of Shakespeare.
The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a very curious place indeed.