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Another Zippy Comes Out Of the Woodwork

by Carole Hitchens Quillen

2006

Carole Hitchens Quillen

Zippy Lewis is Ocean City's legendary beachcomber. Zippy's second son, Jonathan Lewis, had a daughter named Mary, Mary married Silas Hitchens and had a son named Jonathan who was my grandfather. I have always attributed my self-sufficiency to Zippy's DNA. Why I even bring my own Kleenex to the doctor's office! In my youth I was frequently call the "B" word, and I don't mean "beautiful," for my gosh, darn stubbornness.

I have also been told that I am related to John Wilkes Booth. Now, there is a combination for you, Zippy and Booth! I may not be right, but I'm going to do it my way!

A family story about Zippy that has come down through the years is that in her old age she would sit in the corner by the fireplace all night and day, smoking a pipe and staring at the flames, until one day she jumped in. Most stories about her say she fell in, I would rather think that myself, but that's one of the family's' versions.

If you have read some of my other memories, you may remember me mentioning that I walked the beach a lot when I was growing up. It seems the beachcombing genes have made it down through the generations.

By now you are either saying "Zippy's great-great-great granddaughter, well, I'll be; or, who the heck is Zippy Lewis? If you fall under either category, but especially the latter, you will enjoy reading Sue Hurley's article on Zippy Lewis located elsewhere on the museum's website.