E. J. Thomas
councilman, Ocean City · active 1922–
Elected to the Ocean City council on the unopposed citizens' ticket of Monday 7 August 1922, alongside Clifford Cropper and John W. Mumford, with William W. McCabe as mayor. The county paper noted it was the first Ocean City municipal election in a number of years that was not "a hot contest."
In the record (8)
1923
The pound fishermen set their poles in March, and the councilmen's fishing farm buys out a competitor.
Worcester Democrat, 3 March 1923: "The fishermen are beginning operations, hauling the poles for the pounds and arranging to set them; and hope to be able to start fishing by the twelfth of March. The Fishing farm of Thomas and Mumford has increased its capacity by the purchase of the outfit of Captain Hagnes." By 28 April: "The Fishing camps have commenced their work, and all the Pounds are now in operation, many of them bringing in large catches of fish." In May, "Mr. E. Franklin Purnell reports large catches of sturgeon during the last week. The fish have been large and in good condition." Edwin J. Thomas and John W. Mumford — the two men whose fishing farm expanded — had been elected to the Ocean City council alongside Mayor McCabe in August 1922, and in April 1923 the county land records show them jointly buying an undivided half interest in Ocean City real estate from John Hagan.
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1924
More than a hundred property owners renominate Mayor McCabe and his three councilmen by acclamation, and nobody stands against them.
Worcester Democrat, 9 August 1924: 'Mayor And Council Of Ocean City Renominated — At an election held recently in Ocean City, Md., the Mayor and City Council were renominated without opposition on a non-partisan ticket. This means that the election of municipal officers August 12 will not be contested. The officials are William W. McCabe, Mayor, and John M. Mumford, Edward J. Thomas and Clifford Cropper, Councilmen. They have held office two years. They were renominated by acclamation at a meeting of more than 100 property owners of the seashore resort.' The same three men had been returned unopposed with McCabe in 1922; Chapter 405 of 1924, passed four months earlier, fixed the election for the first Monday in August, which fell on the 4th — the paper's 'August 12' is the only date printed and is recorded as given.
August 1924 — the statute says the first Monday, the county paper says the 12th
William W. McCabeClifford P. CropperJohn W. Mumford
Source · checked 2026-08-06
1951
The Maryland Municipal League convenes at Ocean City — 150 officials, Baltimore's mayor included.
The Maryland Municipal League held its convention at Ocean City in mid-June 1951, attended by over 150 officials of Maryland municipalities, including Mayor Thomas D'Alessandro of Baltimore. Hosting the state's municipal establishment was part of the resort's standing off-and-shoulder-season convention trade.
Source · checked 2026-08-05
1960 · 1960-09-15
Thomas F. Johnson challenged Edward T. Miller for the county's congressional seat, and Ocean City gave Johnson a reception in August
Miller had taken the seat from the Democrats in 1948 and held it in 1954. Census takers worked the county in April; Kennedy reached the front page in October; a brochure inviting visits to Worcester appeared on 15 September — the county marketing itself in the same weeks it was choosing a congressman.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1960 · 1960-11-17
The County Commissioners spent over $40,000 to boost the Snow Hill health service, and approved a park project in September
A Shore canal survey followed in July on the waterway the paper had campaigned for in 1959; Thomas N. Kay of the Maryland State Roads Commission confirmed by letter which Worcester roads would receive immediate attention; State Police demonstrated a new sobriety tester in June; a shutdown left workers unemployed in November; and on 1 December resort robberies were attributed to Delaware youths, with Worcester merchants nonetheless optimistic.
Maryland State Roads Commission
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1962 · 1962-03-08
Congressman Thomas Johnson asked the President to declare Ocean City a disaster area, and reported that the Coast Guard had promised help with the inlet
On the same front page that carried the evacuation, Congressman Thomas Johnson asked the President to declare Ocean City a disaster area and reported that the commander of the Fifth Coast Guard District had promised help with the inlet.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1965 · 1965-01-28
The Supreme Court took up the case of Thomas F. Johnson, the Eastern Shore congressman convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States — the appeal that became the Speech or Debate Clause case
"The Supreme Court has decided to review the appeals court decision overturning the conviction of Thomas F. Johnson, the former congressman from the Eastern Shore, on a conflict-of-interest charge … On June 13, 1963 Mr. Johnson was found guilty by a federal court and sentenced to six months in jail and to pay a $5,000 fine … Mr. Johnson and three others were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, when he was accused of attempting to [influence] the Justice Department to dismiss an indictment against defendants in a Maryland savings and loan case … the [Fourth] Circuit Court of Appeals held that only the House of Representatives could punish Mr. Johnson for his conduct." This is the Thomas F. Johnson for whom Ocean City held a reception in August 1960, and who unseated Edward T. Miller. The appeal was decided as United States v. Johnson in 1966.
Source · checked 2026-09-02
1990 · 1990-09-25
FEMA told the council the replenished beach and its new dune could convert oceanfront land out of the V Zone into ordinary floodplain — and waived its own waiting period to do it
The dispute was narrow: whether an excavated area at 9100 Coastal Highway was a basement, forbidden in a coastal high-hazard V Zone. The answer is the whole point of the previous decade. Dave Thomas of FEMA: "the Corps of Engineers' project on the beach front including the beach renourishment and the creation of a dune could have an influence on that V Zone designation … it shows that in fact is very possible, that the land that the Royal Princess is on could possibly be converted from a coastal high-hazard area or V Zone to a normal floodplain area or A Zone based on the as-built conditions created by this Federal project." FEMA normally waits two to four years after such a project. Not here: "In Ocean City though we recently decided that because it's unreasonable to assume that this beach front project would be self-maintaining, that we would waive that waiting period requirement if the Federal agency that created the project would in fact certify that it provides 100-year flood protection … It has been decided at the highest levels in FIA."
Source · checked 2026-09-02