On Saturday, everyone is invited by the Friends of the Holt House and Breckinridge County Fiscal Court to the 16th annual Holt Home Community Day where visitors can enjoy the transformed Judge Joseph Holt Home.
The celebration will be from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Holt served as President James Buchanan’s Postmaster General and briefly as Buchanan’s Secretary of War. Holt is perhaps best known, though, for serving as President Abraham Lincoln’s Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army (JAG), a position Holt held in the Lincoln administration from September 3, 1862, until Lincoln’s death on April 15, 1865. Holt was the first-ever JAG in U.S. history.
After Lincoln’s death, Holt continued to serve as JAG under Presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant.
Holt also served as chief prosecutor in the trial of eight conspirators involved in Lincoln’s assassination.
The Judge Joseph Holt Home, built in 1850, has undergone an extensive transformation over the last several years.
“Visitors will view restoration of the third floor; historic tinting of the front windows; newly installed beautiful draperies for the Centre College Room designed by Kevin Hereford; and newly installed stainless-steel appliances for the warming kitchen from the Kentucky Colonels Good Works Program,” author and President of the Friends of Holt Home Inc., Susan B. Dyer said.
Attendees will tour the majestic Holt Home and enjoy a Civil War Baseball game, participate in the presidential wreath-laying ceremony at MG Holt’s Monument, as well as enjoy a visit from Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant.
There will also be period music, bands, a cannon firing, the Breckinridge County JROTC, distinguished speakers and much more.
The keynote speaker will be Betsy Hatfield, Executive Director of Preservation Kentucky.
“Hatfield brings experience from previous roles at Hatfield Media, East Downtown Louisville Community Ministry, Waterline Charitable Fund. Inc. and Foundation for Integrative Therapies,” according to Dyer.
A book written by Dyer about the mansion’s restoration, Joseph Holt Mansion: Saving and Restoring the Home of Lincoln’s Judge Advocate General, will be available for purchase.
“Donations are much appreciated and needed as the Friends of the Holt Home Inc. and volunteers work hard to bring the yearly event free to the public,” Dyer said.
The historic Holt Home is located at 6205 Hwy 144 in Hardinsburg. Call 270-756-0268, 270-756-2269, or visit www.josephholthome.com, or Save the Judge Joseph Holt Home on Facebook.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
