Ghost Walls: The Story of a 17th-Century Colonial Homestead
5/5
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About this ebook
In 1638, John Lewger made a home in the wilderness of the New World, in a place called Maryland. He named his house St. John's, and for nearly eighty years, it was the center of an ambitious English plan to build a new kind of community on American soil. Men and women lived and worked within its walls. Babies were born. Last breaths drawn. St. John's walls witnessed the first stirrings of the great struggles that would dominate the continent for the next three centuries: The unimaginable wealth of the New World's crops and natural resources. The promise of religious tolerance under a new model of government. The injustice of slavery. The betrayal of native peoples. The struggle for equality between men and women. If St. John's walls could have talked, they would have spoken volumes of American history.
And then the walls crumbled. One hundred years after it was built, St. John's House had been abandoned. The buildings slowly deteriorated, returning to the Maryland soil to be plowed under by generations of Maryland farmers. St. John's walls were silent for more than two centuries, little more than ghosts haunting the historical and archeological records.
But they weren't lost. Not entirely.
Award-winning author Sally M. Walker tells the story of how teams of scientists and historians managed to hear the ghostly echoes of St. John's House and, over the course of decades of painstaking work, made them speak their stories again.
Sally M. Walker
Sally M. Walker is the author of Champion, a JLG selection, one of NCTE's 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Books, and a 2019 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book. She is also the author of ALA Notable Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917; the acclaimed picture book Winnie; and Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, which was awarded a Sibert Medal. She lives in Illinois.
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Reviews for Ghost Walls
2 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghost Walls: The Story of a 17th Century Colonial Homestead
by Sally M. Walker
Thank you Lerner Publishing Group, Carolrhoda Books and Netgalley.com for the opportunity to preview this book.
This 84 page children's book , Ghost Walls, is a fact-studded history of the colonial home of the John Lewger family of St. Mary's City, Maryland. The home was built in 1638 near the St. Mary's River; a 100 mile boat trip from the only other settlement, Jamestown, VA.
The book is much more than a children's book; it is a primer for anyone interested in colonial (Maryland) history and politics, archaeology, religious strife, racial and gender roles, and native American relations. There is not a wasted word and the book is chock full of fascinating graphics and photographs. The author has done a superb job of bringing the construction, abandonment and resurrection of this homestead to the reader. The archaeological site is now preserved within a uniquely constructed museum.
Intensive research into the various owners of the property over the life-time of the house provides a captivating snapshot of the individuals themselves. The photographs of some of the unearthed artifacts bring the people alive in your mind; you can practically smell the tobacco burning in the pipes at the town meetings.
I would highly recommend it for libraries in the mid-Atlantic states and specially for Maryland and Virginia. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5OCT - First off, this isn't about ghosts, hauntings or anything of that nature. I'm fascinated by what a riveting, fast-paced, interesting non-fiction history book this is. Ms. Walker has an excellent storyteller's voice and writes as if she is with the reader telling you first hand a fascinating story she is enthusiastic about. Peppered densely with quotes from contemporary sources such as letters, diaries and court records this book is a history lover's dream. To start off with the topic was only of general interest to me. My interests in archaeology, architecture and early settlers pointed me towards this book but main interests lie in the early 19th century, while this book tells us the history of 17th century Maryland. A topic I never thought I'd be so enchanted by, the author's skill in research and obvious love for her topic make the reader join her enthusiasm. While the book is recommended for Gr. 4-8 by the publisher, I honestly would not hesitate to say the writing style is mature enough for any teen or adult to thoroughly enjoy. I've added St. John's House to my "list of places to visit someday" and am checking the library for more of Sally M. Walker's books.