New Chimney Nearly Done

A dedicated crew from Decker Contracting, Inc., of Elkton, Maryland, has been hard at work the past two weeks on a new chimney for Tudor Hall.

The chimney, which was nearing completion when these photos were taken on July 30, 2009, is being built to resemble the original chimney. A big "Thank You" goes out to Victor Miller, a dedicated member of the Harford County Historic Preservation Commission, who worked hard to make this happen.

This is a closeup of the chimney as it looked in 1865 when the first known photo of Tudor Hall was taken.

If you left click on this photo to access an enlargement, you'll see that there is one space left to be filled on the outside rim of the chimney.


The last brick on the outside rim is going into place in this photo. Hurray!

It's been a good year for berries in Harford County. There are several varieties ripening at Tudor Hall. The ripe berry in this photo was consumed by the photographer right after this photo was taken, and the photographer says it was DELICIOUS!


There's at least one apple tree growing behind Tudor Hall. Junius Brutus Booth Sr. planted an apple orchard and had a cider press on the farm.

Left click on this photo for a better view. Children from the surrounding neighborhoods are frequent visitors to the grounds at Tudor Hall. It's wonderful to hear their excited voices and to see them having so much fun.

Photos by Dinah Faber, July 30, 2009.

"Brick Brigade" Transfers Old Chimney Bricks to Historical Society of Harford County

The "Brick Brigade" from left to right and front to back include:
Kathleen King, Mike Brown, Sally Cassilly, Dinah Faber, Ben Knight,
and Maryanna Skowronski.

The old brick chimney at Tudor Hall was recently removed so a new chimney can be built by Decker Contracting of Elkton, Maryland. The workmen carefully removed as many whole bricks as possible using hammers to tap them loose. The bricks were brought down from the roof and carefully stowed in a couple of big boxes awaiting transfer to the basement of the Historical Society of Harford County where they will be stored, analyzed, and eventually used for fund raising projects to benefit Tudor Hall and the Booth Research Center of the Historical Society.

Mike Brown and Sally Cassilly were already hard at work by the time the other volunteers arrived on Saturday morning, July 25, 2009. Mike is a tour guide for Spirits of Tudor Hall, and Sally was a frequent guest of Howard and Dorothy Fox when the Foxes lived at Tudor Hall.

One of the boxes containing the old bricks appears in the center of this photo along with Ben Knight, Kathleen King, and Sally Cassilly engaged in the arduous task of hauling bricks.


The task of loading the bricks went much more quickly than expected; and, before long, the boxes were nearly empty. Mike Brown and Ben Knight pitch in.

Maryanna Skowronski, director of the Historical Society of Harford County, hard at work emptying the second box.


After the bricks were loaded, everyone drove to the Historical Society of Harford County located at 143 Main Street in downtown Bel Air where the bricks were unloaded by Sally Cassilly and Ben Knight and the rest of the hardy volunteers.


Kathleen King worked on her hands and knees at times to stow the bricks in an out-of-the-way spot in the basement (also known as the dungeon) of the historical society. Spirits of Tudor Hall cannot thank Kathleen, Sally, Mike, Ben, Maryanna, and Dinah enough for taking quick action on short notice to "save" the bricks. We also wish to thank volunteers Sonja Marshall and Jill Redding for coming out to help as well. Sorry we just missed you at Tudor Hall!

July & August Tours Canceled Due to Work on New Chimney & Roof Starting on July 20, 2009

Spirits of Tudor Hall has just learned that work on the new chimney and roof for Tudor Hall will begin, Monday, July 20, 2009. It is uncertain just how long the work will take since so much depends of weather conditions and other factors that cannot be anticipated with any certainty.

As a result, we are canceling the tours of Tudor Hall we had scheduled for Sunday, July 26th, and Sunday, August 30th, 2009.

If you have reservations for either of these dates, you will be contacted about rescheduling your tour to Sunday, September 27 or Sunday, October 25, 2009, the two last tour dates of the year.

We apologize for any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause.

Summer Flowers in Full Bloom at Tudor Hall

Tudor Hall Photographed July 17, 2009.

Tudor Hall will soon be undergoing some significant changes to its chimney and roof. Be sure to keep an eye on the blog for updates.

John Wilkes Booth in Washington Times July 9, 2009

An article entitled "Booth the Star of Band of Conspirators" by Kimberly Largent Christopher appeared in the Washington Times on July 9, 2009. You can read this lengthy article focusing primarily on the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln online at:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/09/john-wilkes-booth-assassin/

If the link doesn't work, try copying it and pasting it into your browser window and hitting enter.

See Junius Brutus Booth Sr. Letter on Library of Congress Website

You can see a photo of the letter JBB Sr. wrote to Andrew Jackson on the Library of Congress website. The site also features a brief article about the letter.

http://www.loc.gov/blog/2009/07/library-helped-finger-another-would-be-assassin-named-booth

If the link doesn't work, try copying it and pasting it into your browser window and hitting go.