Swann house

[Rhatkinson]

I read Mr. Hall's article on the Swann family from one of the circa-1980's Surratt Couriers and wondered about the exact location of the home. He traced it to the intersection of Crackling Town Road and Route 231 near Hughesville. I believe this is the spot on google maps (attached). Can anyone confirm this?

ps - Jim, please hurry with your book on assassination locations then and now. That is a subject that really fascinates me, and I am very much looking forward to your book.

Heath

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Here's the picture (sorry)

   

[Jim Garrett]

I read Mr. Hall's article on the Swann family from one of the circa-1980's Surratt Couriers and wondered about the exact location of the home. He traced it to the intersection of Crackling Town Road and Route 231 near Hughesville. I believe this is the spot on google maps (attached). Can anyone confirm this?

ps - Jim, please hurry with your book on assassination locations then and now. That is a subject that really fascinates me, and I am very much looking forward to your book.

Heath

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Here's the picture (sorry)
Rich & I are dilligently working on multiple projects. This way, we don't burn out on one project........we burn out on all of them

[Laurie Verge]

That is the approximate location. Since there is nothing left, it is hard to pinpoint the exact location of his house, however, we believe that it would have been just to the left as you turn from 231 onto Cracklingtown.

BTW: Does anyone know where the name Cracklingtown comes from?

[BettyO]

Maybe hogs were killed there or near there, and cracklin was made and sold there; akin to a butcher shop or something? Hence the name Cracklintown? Just a thought....

[Laurie Verge]

I figured a girl from the South would know! Usually the month of November was hog killing time in Southern Maryland after the first killing frost. Many times, this became a community gathering time - especially for the farmers who did not have slave labor to help.

After the butchering and the saving of every conceivable part (including feet, which were pickled, and bladders that were used to cover canning jars or as balloons for the children during the holidays), the fat was rendered into lard. Cracklings are the tiny little pieces of skin that remain (similar to pork rinds of today, but smaller and tastier IMO). These became snacks, but could also be used in making cracklin bread.

Surratt House composed its first cookbook in the early-1980s, and James O. Hall sent us on quite a chase to find a recipe for cracklin bread like his grandmother used to make. JOH was born and raised in southern Oklahoma.

[richard petersen]

Always can learn something new; never heard of the word Cracklintown and I come from the "hog Butcher of the World"

Thx for the explanation; I could use a pulled pork sandwich.

[BettyO]

Pulled pork?!? Makes me hungry! And I also love cracklin -

[Laurie Verge]

Yearning for pulled pork? You need to travel to Bel Alton (near Cox's Rich Hill), Maryland and visit Johnny Boy's. It's just a roadside shack, but it draws a lot of people.

[BettyO]

Johnny Boy's! Oh, yes Laurie - Joan and I stopped there one time - it's great! And yes, although that was years ago - it's still there - pass it every time I come up....

[Jim Garrett]

From Oswell Swann to Johnny Boy's. I guess if Oswell was still around, he'd be a regular at Johnny Boy's

[L Verge]

And Thomas Jones wouldn't know whether to take the fugitives in the pine thicket some Q or ribs from Johnny Boy's or crab cakes from Capt. Billy's...

[Rhatkinson]

Judging by Laurie's approximation, here's the view that Booth amd Herold would have seen upon making a right turn onto Cracklintown Rd. (minus the asphalt!)

   

[J. Beckert]

Yearning for pulled pork? You need to travel to Bel Alton (near Cox's Rich Hill), Maryland and visit Johnny Boy's. It's just a roadside shack, but it draws a lot of people.

This Yankee is smelling a short road trip next year, Rebel......

[Jim Garrett]

Interesting how so many of these threads have a common side-theme.........food. It brings out the best and worst of us.

[L Verge]

Yankee Joe - We can hit two shacks in one day. After Johnny Boy's, we can cut across Cracklington Road and hit Randy's Ribs in Hughesville. If you make a second trip during the growing season, we can head just a few miles further south into St. Mary's County and hit the Amish markets. Fresh produce, but also great breads, rolls, pies, etc. It's Maryland's version of Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, but not commercialized.