In 1839, this property was one of ten lots sold by Captain William W. Virdin (1803-1871) to Volney B. Palmer (1799-1864) of Philadelphia. Virdin was well known as a property owner in Harford County and from 1836 to 1851 as Captain of the 453-ton “Susquehanna” steamboat with its 1,200 person capacity. His son of the same name was a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Physicians and Surgeons in 1858 and later became a prominent physician in Lapidum. Volney Palmer was known to have created America’s first “advertising agency” in Philadelphia in 1841; this was followed by his work in the real estate and coal business. Volney died intestate in 1864 and in 1903 this lot was conveyed by his four daughters to Peter Lesley Hopper (1856-1917) of Havre de Grace. It is probable that Hopper built a house here.

Peter Lesley Hopper’s name became best known for his having created the “Hopper Map of Havre de Grace—1899.” Peter L. Hopper also served as Mayor of Havre de Grace in 1888 and owned this property until his death in 1917. The home here was sold in 1920 by a Court Trustee to meet obligations of Hopper’s estate. Later, during the 1920s, the property was owned by Joseph Gilbert (1883-1956) and his wife, Lily A. Gilbert, for about five years. The next owners were Eldon F. Leithiser (1904-1990) and his wife Dorothy who owned it for a year before deeding it to Eldon’s parents, Richard and Rebecca Leithiser in 1928. The senior Leithiser operated a very successful apparel store for men on Franklin Street.

In 1944, the Leithisers sold the home to Ralph E. Lawrence, Sr. (1912-1993) and Carrie Poplar Lawrence (1907-2010) and this address remained in their name for more than 60 years. However, it is most likely that they replaced the original house in 1962 with the one we see today. They raised their son, Ralph E. Lawrence, Jr. in this home. During the WWII years, Ralph Sr. and his brother-in-law, John Poplar, ran the L&P Grocery (Lawrence & Poplar) store at 109 North Union Avenue, while Carrie Lawrence worked at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Harford County Council proclaimed Carrie Lawrence as a Harford County Living Treasure in 2000. During that interview, Carrie said that her grandfather was T. Wysong Saunders (1845-1923), who was a steamboat captain with a long beard whose portrait hung in the Lock House for a long time. He had a store in town where he “grubbed” the fishermen she said, which is to say that he supplied them with food for fishing trips.

In 2013, the estate of the senior Lawrences deeded the house to Ralph Lawrence, Jr. He appears to have been living in California and during that time the house appeared unlived in. Ralph, Jr., died intestate in 2016 so trustees for his estate sold this home in 2017 to Paul Lawder and Murray B. Lawder, Jr. Lawder family members have been active in Havre de Grace since the 1800s in various businesses and real estate. Paul and Murray Lawder completed a major renovation of the house, added a porch, landscaped the garden, and sold it in 2018 to Charles E. Packard, Jr. and his wife, Heather. Charles Packard, Sr. is a member of the Havre de Grace Board of Appeals. This house is enjoying a new life with the Packards, who have made further changes to improve this house.

County Records
Built 1962. 1806 sq ft, 1.5 stories with basement, stone, 2.5 baths, 12,000 sq ft lot.