Samuel J. Dennis
ice puller · d. 1954
Black ice puller at an ice plant on Philadelphia Avenue, first recorded in the 1930 census and still listed in the trade on his 1942 draft registration — at least twelve years at the work. The 1950 census shows him no longer employed. He died in 1954.
In the record (1)
1930
Samuel J. Dennis is recorded as an ice puller at a Philadelphia Avenue ice plant — work he holds for at least twelve years.
The 1930 census lists Samuel J. Dennis, a Black resident of Ocean City, as an ice puller at an ice plant on Philadelphia Avenue; his 1942 draft registration still gives the same trade. Ice was not a convenience in a resort with no refrigeration — it cooled the drinks, kept the commercial catch shippable, and held a marlin together until a taxidermist could reach it. Fester I. Lowe was pulling ice in 1950, by which year Dennis was no longer working; he died in 1954. The guide's other record of a Philadelphia Avenue ice plant is the Ocean City Cold Storage Company, owned by Thomas J. Cropper; whether it is the same plant is not established here.
Every hot-day story this town tells assumes the ice. Somebody pulled it, in August, indoors, and his name was Samuel J. Dennis.
Unverified — sourced but not confirmed against a primary record.
Source · checked 2026-08-11