Oakland Archives - OLD LINE PLATE

I imagine that Anna D. Cannon had some stories. After graduating high school in 1942, she became the first female school bus driver in Montgomery County, and worked the job for 30 years.

Unfortunately, Anna is another person whose stories I may never know. I know only that she was born in 1924 in Garrett County to Gilmore and Linna DeWitt. Anna and several of her eight siblings on the family farm were listed as “unpaid family worker” in the 1940 census.

Anna married Lawrence A. Winters, who died in 1960. Her second husband, Frank Cannon, died in 1994.

Anna Cannon lived to be 93, and her 2017 obituary lists many losses in her life aside from her two husbands. Two of her children preceded her in death, as did five sisters and four brothers.

She did leave two daughters and four sons.

She was from a large family and she had a large family, most of whom dispersed from their Oakland, Maryland roots.

I made this pie weeks ago. Maybe months now? At the time, I was living in a lot of fear of exposing myself or others to the virus. Those fears are still there, but we’ve since adapted a little better.

As weeks went by without grocery shopping, I felt a more personal perspective on some of the stories I read and share. Eggs and butter became precious. I rationed my reserves of flour and sugar carefully. When I wanted a sweet treat, I had to weigh the benefits of using those ingredients.

Scarcity or preciousness could mean so many different things across time. I love these stories of course: an era when oysters were abundant and ordinary, a time when celery was a status symbol; nearly inconceivable differences in our relationship with familiar foods.

Tag: Oakland

Orange Carrot Cake, Anna D. Cannon

Cinnamon Pie, Mrs. B. F. Selby

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