More valued Charles County history

The performance of, “An Evening with John Wilkes Booth & Friends of Rich Hill”, was held Friday, Feb. 3, at the old Port Tobacco Courthouse and it was fantastic. I am looking forward to the next installment, “An Evening with the Conspirators: A Conversation with George Atzerodt & Mary Surratt,” of the series on Friday, April 7, at the same venue. More will be revealed about Rich Hill’s impact on April 23 at the Rich Hill House off Bel Alton-Newtown Road.

It was the second of a four-part series, paying homage to our extensive Charles County Civil War history. Again, it was a standing-room-only event and received well by all that could attend. Due to a maximum occupancy code, the doors were closed before the performance began and fellow patrons were sadly turned away.

After John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln, his path of escape was through Southern Maryland. He crossed the Potomac River from Charles County’s Pope’s Creek area and into Virginia, where he died soon after in a barn fire. David Taylor gave a riveting performance of the injured Booth, while Booth was hiding in some pine thickets near The Rich Hill House. The performance was given from an intense southerner’s view, but after the presentation Taylor announced that the president’s assassination was not acceptable then and is not now.

The event is co-sponsored by the nonprofit, Society for the Restoration of Port Tobacco. The restoration expenses are paid for by modest membership and donation fees.

Jim McDonald, Port Tobacco