Cleydael is an antebellum Virginia plantation house built in 1855-59 as a summer home by Dr. Richard Stuart. It was named after Cleydael Castle, the ancestral home in Belgium of Mrs. Stuart, the former Julia Calvert, who was also a cousin to Mrs. Robert E. Lee.
Cleydael’s Warholian “15 Minutes of Fame” occurred when Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth and accomplice David Herold ate dinner here on April 23, 1865 while attempting to escape pursuing Federal cavalry.
The house is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Virginia Landmark and is featured on the Surratt Society’s Booth Escape Route Tours.
For more information, visit the website at Cleydael.org
August 28, 2007 at 10:55 pm
i would be relly interested in using a paint brush. i understand about your privacy and do respect you for that. i am so nterested in all the history around the era and just love the idea of helping any way i could. i am in a wheelchair but can use a walker to get around so if you need a volunteer please feelfree to call upon my services. my number is 301-638-1429home or 240-346-4597cell phone. thank you so much for taking time to read my letter. take care now.
October 22, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Are there any photos of Dr. Richard Stuart, the man who turned Booth away?