Robert Seneca (1846-1931) and his wife, Caroline Seneca, owned the land on which this house (and others nearby) was built. They sold it to Robert’s brother, Stephen J. Seneca (1837-1918) and his wife, Annie E. Seneca, in 1901. The Seneca brothers were prominent in Havre de Grace including as property owners, mayors, businessmen, and for owning the Seneca Cannery. Two years later, Archer M. Botts (1872-1950) and Margaret A. Botts bought part of the land on which this house sits and Harry T. Borrell (1881-1953) and his wife, Margaret E. Borrell, bought the other part, making up 6,600 square feet.

In the middle of 1904 John T. Whalen (1860-1937) bought both pieces of the property and it is assumed that he built this house for his wife, Mary R. Whalen, and family. It is not known whether the Whalens lived here or used this as a rental property. What is known is that George Hayes Kennedy listed this as his address in July 1917 when he enlisted in the US Navy to serve in WWI. George, who was born in Havre de Grace in 1893, is listed on the Roll of Honor at Tydings Park. He became a Seaman, and later a Fireman 1st Class, aboard the USS Ohio and then the USS Georgia before going on inactive status in May 1919.

Coincidentally, Mary R. Whalen died in an automobile accident in 1919 and the widowed John T. Whalen sold this house, fronting 33 feet on Otsego Street, to Frederick W. Corse and Sarah E. Corse. They had two daughters who lived here with them, Marion and Helen Corse. However, Frederick died in the 1920s, prior to Helen’s 1928 wedding to Alan Walker of Baltimore in St. John’s Episcopal Church. They made their home in Delaware.

By 1936, the widowed Sarah Corse had married Lee Jones and together they sold this home, fronting 33 feet on Otsego Street, to Corporal Frederick J. Lieske (1900-1964) and Mary Wilson Lieske (1896-1984). Corporal Lieske was a WWI veteran and he and Mary had a son, Wilson F. Lieske (1922-1997). Following WWII, when housing was scarce, Corporal and Mary Lieske made some renovations to the original house in order to make it a duplex (and added a two-story addition to the rear of one side). Then, in 1953, they deeded one-half of this property (only fronting 17.5 feet on Otsego Street) to their son, Wilson F. Lieske and his wife, Sara Virginia Thomas Lieske (1924-1977).

Wilson F. and Sara Lieske had a son, Wilson Walter Lieske, in 1942 who married Lou Ann Lieske. Wilson Walter served in the U.S. Air Force and worked at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. One day in 1968, at age 26, he suffered a massive gunshot wound to the head and was rushed to Harford Memorial Hospital. His wife, Lou Ann, gave permission for his heart to be donated and his heart became Baltimore’s first successful heart transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Nine years later, Wilson F. and Sara had a daughter, Sally Lieske Daigle.

In 1973, the widowed Mary Wilson Lieske deeded all of this property (fronting 33 feet on Otsego Street) to Wilson F. Lieske, her son (who already owned one-half of the property with his wife, Sara). With that, this became a single family home again although the two front and rear doors remain.

In 1992, the widowed Wilson F. Lieske deeded this home jointly in his and his daughter’s names. Since Wilson F. Lieske’s death in 1997, this whole property is the home of Sally Lieske Daigle and her family.

County Records
Built 1900, 1932 sq ft, 2 stories, no basement, 2 baths, 6,600 sq ft lot.