Ruth and John McGolerick 2010

Ben, Jackie; Fry, Dennis; McGolerick, Ruth; McGolerick, John

Born on September 29th, 1923, John McGolerick describes his life growing up in Weverton Hill, MD during the 1920s and 30s, and his forty-one year-long career working for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Highlights of his high school years include meeting fellow student and later wife, Ruth, and being the catcher for the Brunswick High School’s champion baseball team in 1940 and 1941. McGolerick also recounts his contributions to World War II, including making gas masks for the war at Rickter Products in Hagerstown, MD, as well as serving in the 69th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and overseas in Europe from 1943-1944. Finally, McGolerick gives a detailed description of his years working on the Cumberland Division of the B&O Railroad, running from Brunswick to Cumberland to Keyser. From 1942-1983, McGolerick worked his way up in the company, starting as a shop worker, and finishing his career as a yardmaster, with stents along the way as a night watchman, a brakeman, a flagman, and a conductor. In this interview, John McGolerick is joined by his wife Ruth, and is interviewed by two staff members of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Dennis Fry, who seems to have been friends with the McGolerick’s when he was growing up, and Jackie Ben. Born in 1923, Ruth McGolerick recalls growing up near Sandy Hook, MD and the surrounding towns of Harpers Ferry, Weverton Hill, Pleasantville, Brunswick and Dargan during the the first half of the 20th century. Her parents operated the Salty Dog Saloon, a local tavern about a mile and a half from the family’s home on Valley Road. She shares stories of her adventures and daily life, including the local floods, rowdy behavior of the patrons at the Salty Dog, and her husband John’s work on the railroad.

Ruth and John McGolerick 2010

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