The Gift from Mrs. Louisa d'A. Carpenter

Easter Seals Camp Fairlee , located about seven miles from Chestertown, is celebrating its 60^th year of operation in 2014.  The camp site was a gift in 1953 to the Easter Seals Society by duPont heiress and philanthropist Mrs. Louisa d’A. Carpenter.   The Camp offers children and adults with disabilities a fun and accessible camp experience. 

 “Fare Lee Manor”, which is today spelled “Fairlee” Manor, and which is where Easter Seals Camp Fairlee Manor is located,  is part of a 1900 acre tract of land laid out in 1674 for “James Brown, merchant, formerly of New England.”  “Fare Lee” or “Handy” are the historic names of the farm.  The Fairlee Manor House, now part of the Camp, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Michael Owen Bourne writes in HISTORIC HOUSES OF KENT COUNTY (1998) :  “Little is yet known of this part of the property for its first 125 years, but it was acquired by Philip and Jane Taylor in the late 18^th century.   The Taylors had only one daughter, Mary Ann, who married William Blackiston Wilmer in 1816.  Shortly thereafter, Philip bequeathed the farm to his daughter and on that 212 acre inheritance Mary Ann and William Blackiston Wilmer built the main house….William and Mary Anne’s daughter, Sarah Ann, married George D. S. Handy , Jr. in 1847.  Handy was brought up two miles north of Fairlee Creek on a farm called Green Hill or Handy Point, on part of Great Oak Manor.  The Handys lived in Baltimore, where he was a prominent physician.  Dr. Handy purchased the farm from his widowed mother-in-law in 1859…” In 1867 Handy transferred the farm to his wife.  Then in 1880, Sarah Handy sold it out of the family.  It passed through seven owners until 1936 when it was purchased by Frances B. Jackson, a woman from Elkhorn, Wisconsin…After Mrs. Jackson’s occupancy, the farm was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Heckscher for five years before being purchased by Mrs.. Carpenter in 1953.  Mrs. Carpenter owned the farm for seven years and then moved to Springfield Farm three miles south.  At that time she gave Fairlee Manor to the Easter Seals Society who created Easter Seals Camp Fairlee Manor. 

A cookbook called the Fairlee Manor Cookbook was published in 1976.  The proceeds were used to make improvements to the Camp.  It was dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Louisa d’A. Carpenter, who met her untimely death in an airplane crash in Easton, Maryland that same year.   The Dedication from the book reads:  “THE FAIRLEE MANOR COOKBOOK is dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Louisa d’A. Carpenter  who made a reality of Easter Seals Camp Fairlee Manor by her gift of the 263 acre campsite.  This dedication is in grateful acknowledgment of her generosity and her continued support of the improvement and expansion of camp facilities.” The Cookbook includes recipes from Mrs. Gerald  R. Ford, wife of the President of the United States;  Mrs. Marvin Mandel,  wife of the Governor of Maryland;  The Duchess of Windsor; Actresses Carol Burnett and Vivian Vance; and actors Bob Hope and Red Skelton. 

 “Camp Fairlee is the only camp in the region that provides a residential camp experience for children and adults with disabilities year-round. Camp Fairlee offers week-long camp sessions in the summer, Travel Trips throughout the year and weekend respite/retreat programs from August through May.” (From the Fairlee Manor Camp website).

 

Chestertown's Brick Walk of Honor

Chestertown's Brick Walk of Honor is located at 207 Calvert Street, Chestertown, behind the Kent County Public Library.  The building's official name is The Chestertown Library, Inc. Building but it is often referred to as the "Yellow Building" or "Hearse House".  It was formerly the Kenneth Walley Funeral Home.

In June, 2004, the Board of The Chestertown Library, Inc., (formed in 1943 by the Woman's Literary Club of Chestertown) donated $2650.00 to the Kent County Commissioners for the construction of a brick walk from the front of the Chestertown Library, Inc. Building around to the side entrance.  Note:  The Woman’s Literary Club of Chestertown was formed in 1902 when eleven young Chestertown women got together for their ‘literary improvement’. The Club opened the Chestertown Library in 1907 and it continued to operate as a private small library one hundred years until 2002. 
After the closing of the Library, the Woman’s Literary Club established a partnership with the Kent County Public Library and the Kent County Commissioners to renovate 207 Calvert Street in exchange for meeting rights twice a month.  

More than 100 bricks have been placed in the brick walk of honor. The Woman’s Literary Club manages the sale of the bricks and any profit is donated to the Kent County Public Library. The Woman’s Literary Club installed thirty eight bricks honoring all of the librarians of the Chestertown Library, Inc. along with the special people who nurtured the library for many years including Rafael J. Guastavino, who was the library’s financial advisor. Among other the names one will find along the walk are George Rudolph Brown, former Acting Chief of Police of Chestertown; Sheriff Allan Blizzard;  Judge Elroy G. Boyer; Jeanne K. Geibel, Loyal Librarian, 30 years; Elmer E. Horsey, Mayor; Celebrating pure sea glass – R. LaMotte; Joe Massey – In gratitude – the Friends; Sarah Meredith, Faithful Volunteer; in memory of ‘Hound Dog’ Brown; The Questers, Lambert Wickes Chapter; in memory of William “Shadow” Warren, Jr.; Carol Wilson, Historian; For Love of Books and Kids by Grandbarrows; Judith Reveal, Writer; Adele France, Founder, WLC, 1902; Hazel O. Walsh, Devoted Reader – Loving Mother; The McDonalds – Pat Reads Books – Paul Does Banjo; Good Books, Good Friend – Virginia Croker; Friend Teacher, Gail Jandy Livingstone; Movies Are Magic – Patricia Molloy; in memory of Governor W. Donald Schaefer; Husband – Father – Bruce A. Somers 1950-2011; Chris Roseberry – Queen Bee 1980-2010; in memory of Frank Perdue.