This building 54 feet north of the northeast corner of North Stokes and Otsego Streets was most likely constructed by William W. Carver and John R. Carver in 1884, each of whom owned a one-half interest and was financed by Robert R. Vandiver. Upon the deaths of both of the Carvers, trustees sold the house at public sale in 1886 to Harford Lodge #54 of Harford County Order of Knights of Pythias “for the benefit of its members.” The Lodge used it until 1909 when they sold it.

In 1915, Charles Nelson Barnard (1876-1958) and his wife, Eva, bought this from Mary Cahill at a public sale as a home for their family. Charles had been born into a waterman’s family and, not surprisingly, as a child he sailed and worked the Chesapeake Bay and Susquehanna Flats on the “Ella Barnard,” a scow belonging to his father, Captain Charles Thomas Barnard (1849-1896). The captain’s wife was Eleanor Barnard. When Charles was 21, he moved away briefly to work as a signalman for the B&O Railroad but moved back to Havre de Grace and lived here until his death in 1958. He and his wife, Eva, raised five children—three daughters and two sons—Edna, Emily Marie, Lola, Frederick, and Homer, and in WWI Charles served as a “signal repairman.”

Some time before returning to Havre de Grace in 1915, Charles began carving decoys and continued throughout his life in a distinct style. He and U.S. Senator Millard Tydings (1890-1971) had become friends as young men and in 1937 Charles Barnard is known to have carved an entire rig of 300 decoys for Senator Tydings. He also created a rig for Joel Pusey (1988-1965). Although best known for his “high neck” canvasbacks, Charles also produced redheads, bluebills, and black ducks.

Charles had a brother named Joseph C. Barnard (1883-1967) who, along with his wife Phoebe, used to live in the Lock House on Conesteo Street in the winter and on a skipjack on the Bush River in summertime. They also were dealers in “Choice Family Groceries” in a store on North Washington Street “below the railroad,” which meant below “The Cut” that ran west to east along Pennington Avenue. Joseph and Phoebe Barnard were the parents of Ada Barnard Wallett (1913-2004) who married William F. “Bill” Wallett, Jr. (1898-1968) who had been a circus performer with Downie Brothers Wild Animal Circus. Ada and Bill opened the popular Wallett’s Market at Juniata and Revolution Streets in 1941. Charles Barnard was not the only member of his family to carve. His older brother, Thomas Parker Barnard (1873-1927) resided on Ontario Street with his wife, Leona, and also carved decoys. Thomas carved miniature decoys and produced flying canvasbacks with applied metal wings until his early death in 1927.

Charles and Eva's son, Frederick Taylor Barnard (1905-1991), worked in his father's shop as a young man and produced several hundred decoys during his lifetime. On Fred Barnard’s Registration Card for WWII he stated that his wife was Edna Marie Barnard and their home was 618 Adams Street (today such a house number does not exist). Fred Barnard was responsible for introducing to the decoy carving world one of the most prolific carvers to come from Havre de Grace, Captain Harry Jobes, who lived just two blocks away on Otsego Street.

After the death of Charles in 1958, this home was conveyed to his wife, Eva Barnard, and daughter, Edna May Fay, in 1959. Three years later, they sold it to Richard W. Deaner, Sr. (1918-1967) and Mary Bernardi Deaner. Richard Deaner was a WWII veteran and he and Mary were the parents of a much respected son, Lt. Richard W. “Dickie” Deaner, Jr. (1941-1996) of the Havre de Grace Police Department and Ambulance Corps. They also had twins, Victor and Victoria with whom Brenda Baker remembers walking to school. After the death of her husband, Mary Deaner sold the house in 1980 to her daughter, Victoria Thompson and her husband, Warren “Buddy” Thompson, Jr., who made this their home for the next 17 years. In 2009, David Wellborn and Joyce Nolan of Wilmington, Delaware, bought this and it appears to be an investment property for them.

County Records
Built 1925. 1,208 sq ft, 1.5 baths, 2.5 stories, no basement, 1,800 sq ft lot.