There seemed to be no lack of schooling when my father was a young lad. Needless to say, book learning presented a problem. Books and materials were scarce, and transportation could be a hardship. Time and traveling were important to any child, and discouraging at times. Home chores were performed before and after time spent in the one-room schoolhouse.

My father's older brother, Michael, an attorney, played a role model for him, and he pursued law as a profession. In the late eighteen-hundreds, my father 'read law' under the tutorage of Charles Fink, Esq. After apprenticeship had been completed, he passed the bar requirements, and his 'shingle' was placed along with his brother Michael's. The law office was located one block from our home--a wing extended from the Michael Walsh three-story brick dwelling on Main Street, and housed the young attorneys as they performed their legal tasks.

My parents were married in 1902, at John's Catholic Church, Westminster, Maryland. They resided in Westminster. Both were farm-raised young people, had a love of the land, and settled into a busy routine in a town of several thousand people.

My father was one of the five Walsh Brothers to form a partnership of road construction. The business did not survive. Not because of inferior material or workmanship--a concrete built road, from Main Street to the bend beyond Cranberry, had to be blasted when repairs were necessary along the railroad. It was built well and received much praise. Recently, a stretch of Walsh road, running parallel to Route 32 was removed because of a new development. The work was high quality, and intact.

My father was a member of the Medford Grange, then very active and helpful over the countryside. He always answered the toll of the firehouse bell that announced the monthly meeting of the Town Council. He was a board member of both organizations. He was a volunteer fireman. It was unique, each fireman had a bell in his home to give warning of a fire. At that time, the firefighters pulled the fire engine to the burning site. It was equipped with a water tank, hose and hand tools.

In 1912, my father was elected the thirty-sixth Mayor of Westminster. He served one four-year term and was reelected for a second term. He resigned to accept a position with the government. He was assigned to the Ordnance Department as Inspector of Ammunition, United States Army. He traveled to the operating munition plants through the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia. He was very proud of this assignment, and his visits home were filled with many fascinating experiences.

After Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, he remained with the government and was assigned with the Veterans' Bureau Administration. He worked mainly with placing disabled servicemen after their training period for a career that qualified them to work in a chosen field.

My father lived in Baltimore during this period of time. His weekend trips home were filled with happiness for our family. Lexington Market was in its heyday, and he always arrived with two big shopping bags filled with seafood, fresh fruits, horseradish, candy etc.

Living in Baltimore gave my father the opportunity to serve in several organizations. He continued being active in the Knights of Columbus and interest was high. He was a charter member of Council No. 1393 when they organized at St. John Catholic Church in Westminster in 1908. He became Grand Knight, and District Deputy of the Western Maryland area. He was a member of the Hibernians, Alhambrians and Sons of Irish Freedom. Along with a Knights of Columbus group, members located and secured beach property at Rivera Beach, Anne Arundel County, to develop their community, they built their own church, and shore resort privileges were enjoyed by the families. This movement was the first of the existing and desirable development today.

My father died at age 52. He had a great love for all of his family. Had he lived, he planned to visit Ireland in March of the year of his death.

[Memories of David Edmund Walsh, by his daughter, Mary Verona Walsh Stouch, and compiled by P.W. Walsh (Pol Breatnach) in the 1989 Walsh Booklet]