New Book

[L Verge]

The Surratt gift shop is now carrying a wonderful new book entitled Gateway to the Confederacy: Charles County, Maryland. This is written by a Charles County retired educator, historian, and SCV member whose family goes back for many generations in this county that lays along the Potomac River and was a routine "escape" route to Confederate Virginia.

Garth E. Bowling, Jr. has done a marvelous job of documenting family stories passed down by countians who lived through the Civil War under the military occupation by Union forces. He covers these stories, the men and women who lived them, and places where the action was -- or where the Confederate underground operated. Garth is a member of the Surratt Society, and a group of us enjoyed about an hour today listening to him when he brought our books to us. Coming from a family from Charles County (and also St. Mary's County) myself, it was like reliving stories that my grandmother (b. 1874) used to tell, having heard them from her parents.

We hope to have Garth give a talk and hold a book signing in early-2020; he also does a bus tour of many of the sites and histories mentioned in the book. We hope to sponsor one of those also.

We are selling the 166-page (with bibliography) paperback for $15.95 + $4 p/h. Check or money order payable to Surratt House Museum and mailed to 9118 Brandywine Road, Clinton, MD 20735. Visa or MasterCard via phone at 301-868-1121.