Cleydael

[RJNorton]

Thank you to Bob Cook for sending this article:

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A labor of love at historic Cleydael

BY THE EDITORIAL PAGE STAFF OF THE [Fredericksburg, Virginia] FREE LANCE-STAR
Sunday, November 20, 2016


FAR BETTER to study Abraham Lincoln’s life than his death. But there is no denying that the assassination of the United States’ 16th president fascinates lots of folks. It is the stuff of endless debate and many books.

In any year, the history-changing event draws hundreds of thousands of people to Ford’s Theatre in Washington, scene of the grievous crime. And every spring, as the April 14 anniversary of the shooting nears, walking tours of assassination-related sites in downtown D.C. sell out. Ditto for bus tours that follow assassin John Wilkes Booth’s escape route through Maryland, across the Potomac River and into Virginia. The route has its own Civil War Trails brochure, chock-full of maps, images and thumbnail histories; Which is a long way of getting around to calling attention to the ongoing rebirth of an important site along Booth’s zigzagging trail.

Cleydael, a two-story antebellum house in King George County, is one of those rare spots where visitors can connect with people of the past and grapple with questions of what if and what might have been.

Here, Booth and his traveling companion were turned away by the homeowner, Dr. Richard Stuart, after he grew suspicious of the strangers who knocked on his door on April 23, 1865. A supporter of the Confederacy, Stuart fed the men supper, but then forced them to depart. Cleydael was one of the last homes that Booth—who had hoped for Stuart’s medical assistance—would ever see. Three days later, cornered by Union troops, the famed actor was mortally wounded after he hid in a barn on the Garrett farm in Caroline County.

The Garrett farm is no more, but Cleydael survives—a precious touchstone in one of American history’s epic tales. Credit for that fact goes to Renee and Charlie Parker, who bought Cleydael in February and have been busy since patching up the neglected place, by themselves. Talk about the ultimate DYI project.

This month, the couple’s hard work earned them the John Paul Hanbury Award, given to them by the Northern Neck of Virginia Historical Society during a festive gathering on Cleydael’s lawn. The award recognizes “best practices in the preservation and restoration of Northern Neck properties” of historical or architectural distinction.

The Rev. Charles Sydnor, retired rector of St. George’s Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, presented the award and thanked the Parkers for “saving this part of our heritage.”

“Theirs is an outstanding example of a meticulous restoration, doing it yourself, step-by-step and inch-by-inch,” Sydnor said.

The structure is noted on the state and national historic registers. On the Booth escape route trail, only the town of Port Royal in nearby Caroline County, Dr. Mudd’s House Museum in Waldorf, Md., and the Surratt House in Clinton are as evocative.

Pursuing the house’s restoration, which the family continues, the Parkers have kept its original staircases, floors, windows, glass, doors and mouldings, everywhere except the kitchen. To find wood from the dwelling’s era, they’ve visited salvage yards and felled trees on the property to replace rotten beams and floorboards.

The couple had long dreamed of living in a historic house, and chanced to meet Cleydael’s then-owner during an autumn festival. He didn’t have the means to restore it, and one thing led to another. Now, the connection between America’s past and present is stronger for that.

Fixing up such a place with the sensitivity the Parkers have shown takes a lot of time and elbow grease. Charlie Parker, a defense contractor who is handy with tools and loves history, is doing the work with his eight children. Renee Parker, a former King George County School Board member and executive assistant at the Navy base in Dahlgren, tends to the décor and finishing touches. Together, they regularly invite tour groups and neighbors into their home.

That’s great for boosting our region’s national profile to anyone interested in Lincoln, Booth, the Civil War or Reconstruction. Heritage tourism and historic preservation work hand in hand, as countless books, articles, websites and online denizens’ #SavingPlaces tweets attest.

Hats off to the Parkers for committing to such an endeavor with their whole hearts.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/ed...91f49.html