Sassafras Neck: A Special Place in Time

Vincent Taylor was born and raised in the Sassafras Neck area of Cecil County, Maryland and lived there until he passed away at the age of 91. As a young boy, and over the years, he tramped, explored the fields, woods, waters and marshes of Sassafras Neck, worked on farms in corn and wheat fields, hay and pasture fields, plowing, cultivating and harvesting many different crops, and hunted, trapped, fished and crabbed in both the Bohemia and Sassafras rivers. Vince always knew this area was a beautiful, special little piece of land between the two rivers and as he got older, he documented the life and times of the by gone days of the 1900's. Sassafras Neck and its people changed quite a bit in Vince's many years, and as he reminisces, not all of that change was good. In his estimation, the old “Neck” and its people and times are gone for good; farming is now a much bigger operation with its bigger equipment, and farms have been sold off in tough times to developers for housing developments, while old farmhouses, barns, and out buildings have been torn down for bigger fields and more tillable acreage. Although the face of Sassafras Neck and its people have changed forevermore, Vince’s hope in writing this book is to commemorate and recapture the work ethic, survival attitude, and family values that made this long gone era such a special place in time.