Port Deposit Heritage Corporation, Inc.
PAW PAW MUSEUM ~ 98 NORTH MAIN STREET
PO Box 101, Port Deposit MD 21904

December 30, 2003
 PRESS RELEASE

For IMMEDIATE Release

Contact Information:
Judy A. Leonard, PDHC President, 410-378-2940 or leonardjmd@aol.com
Erika L. Quesenbery, Paw Paw Museum Curator & Snowball's Chance author, 717-456-2957 or inkling@localnet.com

Port Deposit Heritage Corporation
Announces release of A Snowball's Chance
Book features never-before published Civil War letters & photographs

PORT DEPOSIT - The Paw Paw Museum in historic Port Deposit, Maryland, featured an exhibit on the War Between The States 1861-1865 during the 2003 season, and the 2003 Candlelight Tour in Port Deposit focused on the period. The exhibit and tour were part of the themed events leading up to the Saturday, December 13th release A Snowball's Chance the latest book to be published by Port Deposit Heritage Corporation.
The book contains transcriptions of over 100 authentic Civil War documents, with the lion's share of the book being the never-before published letters of officers and men from Snow's Battery B, 1st Maryland Light Artillery, which are part of the Paw Paw Museum collection. "The letters are really the backbone of the book," explained the author of the work, Erika L. Quesenbery, who has served as curator of the Paw Paw Museum for six years.

"The letters have been transcribed and the photocopies and transcriptions are on display in the museum," Quesenbery added. "Now, they have been published for historians of the Civil War, Port Deposit, Cecil County or genealogists to study and review."
Snowball's Chance covers the period of 1861 to 1865 but also gives an overview of the town of Port Deposit and the political climate of western Cecil County, and the county in general at the outbreak of hostilities. The book also devotes space to the lives of many of the men in Snow's Battery following the war, when they returned to their homes forever changed, including their service as Comrades in the Grand Army of the Republic, or G.A.R., and their personal lives, if known.

"We also included as complete a roster of the men who served in Battery B as we could adequately research and provide using military records, primary source documents and a lot of research in old cemeteries," Quesenbery added. "Any information I was able to find about any of the men who served, whether from a census record, a letter, or a newspaper accounting I included in the book."
The book A Snowball's Chance is currently available for $35, including tax, and is over 360-pages in length. It is available at the Paw Paw Museum, which is open the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and is also available at Main Street Station in Port Deposit open Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and at England's Colony on the Bay in North East.

Meet the author

There is a good chance that you can meet the author at the Paw Paw Museum located at 98 North Main Street, Port Deposit whenever the museum is opened.

The book may also be purchased by sending a check or money order for $40 (to cover the cost of shipping and handling) to: