Eli Huntt's Store

[L Verge]

Some of you may not know that what sparked my interest in the Lincoln assassination was a family story that David Herold spent the night of April 13, 1865, in my great-grandparents' home in the village of T.B., five miles south of Surrattsville. I was raised in that house and now own it (but do not live there, and vandals and thieves have nearly destroyed it).

The story is that Davey had been in Southern Maryland that day (and perhaps the day before), likely on Booth's business of readying the Secret Line for some upcoming action. On his return to Washington, he was caught in an afternoon rainstorm. He stopped in at my great-grandfather's store and asked to spend the night by the warm stove.

Davey was known to my family - may even have been a distant relation - so he was invited over to the family home for dinner and spent the night in the downstairs bedroom. When the family got up around dawn to feed their two-month-old son, Davey was gone; but he had left a nightshirt with John Surratt's laundry mark in the collar. That shirt is now on display at Surratt House Museum.

Around 1 am the next night, April 14-15, the family was up again feeding the baby when they heard horses galloping past the house, which sat right on what is now Brandywine Road (then the New Cut or T.B. Road). Troops later knocked on their door and inquired as to riders, but did not report what had happened.

When great-grandpa went back to his store after his noon-day meal, he found out from John Chandler Thompson, owner of the T.B. Hotel, what had happened. Mr. Huntt told Thompson of Davey's visit and was advised to keep quiet -- which he wisely did. The story never became public until I told it to Mr. James O. Hall in the spring of 1976.

That said, and the purpose for me posting this: Many historians - most famously Stanley Kimmel, and now some amateurs - are photographing and reporting that the country store which stands currently in the village of T.B. (and is now an Italian deli) is the Huntt store of 1865. IT IS NOT!

The current store was not built until 1867, and my family did not own it until 1876, when the original builder and owner went bankrupt because of his losses during and after the Civil War. The Huntt family continued to own the store for 110 years.

So what happened to the original Huntt store, the one that Davey knew to come to? In 1865, the store stood very near to the Huntt home in T.B. After my great-grandfather acquired the newer store (literally in the crossroads), he had the original store rolled across a field and placed near the newer store. It was added onto and made part of a house for the village blacksmith's family. That house still stands, but one would never know that it includes a ca. 1850s store.

So, if you see the common pictures of the cute little store standing in the middle of crossroads today or read of coordinates that will take you there, be aware that you have been mislead. However, I do recommend that you stop in and have a meal at the 1867 store. The food is quite good.

[BettyO]

Thanks for the verification on a facinating story, Laurie!

[RJNorton]

Thank you for sharing, Laurie.

[Donna McCreary]

Laurie, this is a fabulous story, and thank you for sharing it with everyone.

[Craig Hipkins]

Laurie,
Very interesting. If only the walls could talk what stories they might tell!

Craig

[LincolnMan]

Really interesting story!

[Thomas Thorne]

Fascinating Story!!
Tom