by Erika Quesenbery
Cornelius Smith,
"what a wonderful man he
was!"
He was the
step-grandfather of
Lucius A.C. Gerry. He
was a mason and as such
is pictured in the
Harmony Lodge Mason’s
Book of 1913 – Port Deposit Heritage Corporation
(PDHC) has
this at the museum to
see a picture of
him. He is buried at Hopewell Cemetary just above Port Deposit.
He was Methodist, very active in
church, his second wife
Hannah Reynolds very
active in Sunday School
– you can find
information on this in
the PDHC Cookbook.
Cornelius, as per the
Gerry House sign,
contributed
philanthropically to the
construction of the Battle Swamp road primarily to help men who had
been thrown out of work
during an economic
depression – as the road
really wasn’t needed but
it did employee many. He
contributed to educating
youth, especially in
religious pursuits and
was, apparently, a heavy
financial backer for
construction of the
second Methodist church
building, later known as
Nesbitt Hall. PDHC
has portraits
of Cornelius and Hannah
at the
Paw
Paw Museum. They are quite striking. PDHC also
has his chair, which
came from the Gerry
House and is on
permanent display as
well as the Bible of
Hannah – which is quite
impressive in its own
right.
It was
Cornelius Smith’s Hotel
known as Smith’s Hotel,
later known as the
Farmer’s and Commercial
Hotel, then Falls Hotel and so
on.
The Falls Hotel likely date to at least 1819
when the Harmony Lodge Masons met in the building.
Heating initially was via fireplaces, and at one
time it was believed that there were seven, but that
number has been altered over time.
The first floor was used for commercial enterprises,
including a bowling lane with pins set up by hand,
and cigar bar, the second floor for restaurant, an
ice cream parlor for ladies, and a lounge, and the
upper floor for guests.
The stables were up the hillside from the property
and apparently there was a sailboat rental office as
well for vacationers. The fireplaces would have used
wood but also coal at some point. Eventually stoves
from the Port Deposit Armstrong Stove Company were
used for heating.
It is my understanding from the Late Miss Marion
Touchstone that the hardware store continued to use
a potbellied Armstrong stove but also added electric
baseboard heating at some point. I have no knowledge
of heating during the time it was used as Longhorn
Restaurant and beyond.
