Virginia Forwood Pate Wetter (1919-2018) said that by the time she was four, her mother and father (Bennita and Walter F. Forwood, 1897-1969) had started building this “bungalow,” and by the time she was five, they moved in here with her grandmother, Agatha Charshee. They were living in the Burns Apartments on Green Street when they were first married. Virginia’s parents had bought the lot from William V. and Harriet R. Spencer in 1923. The Spencers lived on Stafford Road in Lapidum from 1909 to 1939 in the Abrams-Nicholson House (now part of the Susquehanna State Park).

Virginia Forwood’s father, Walter, who was in the automobile business, ran a garage at the corner of Revolution and Juniata Streets where he sold Esso gasoline. Her mother, Bennita, made all her “spending money” during the spring and fall horse races at The Graw—she fixed up the attic so the family could sleep up there and she rented out the bedrooms below to the same Graw attendees year after year. Many local families did this. The home was owned by Bennita Forwood until 1969.

Virginia and her husband, Jason T. Pate (1915-1960), lived here with Bennita from 1941 to 1955 when they built another home in Havre de Grace. In 1948, Jason had started the first radio station between Baltimore and Wilmington—WASA. The station made its fame by establishing itself as an authority on folklife in the Appalachian and Chesapeake Regions. Influential artists such as jubilee singers, the Little Wonders, banjoist Ted Lundy, country gospel singers E.C. and Orna Ball, singer and banjoist Ola Belle Reed (1916-2002) and her brother, guitarist Alex Campbell (1923-2013), performed frequently at 500 watts. Jason Pate died unexpectedly in 1960 while broadcasting about the fatal Havre de Grace Fireworks Company, Inc., explosion on Ontario Road extended.

Most people alive at that time remember that day because a series of explosions ripped through the 10-acre sprawling fireworks plant touching off a mammoth fire and killing the owner, James Archie Fabrizio (1928-1960). A lady who lived nearby, Nellie Stansbury, also lost her life from a heart attack during one of the explosions and others were injured. And another man, Jack Charles Howe, was injured badly and died four days later, leaving Minnie Howe a widow along with three infants. James Fabrizio‘s father, Achillo Fabrizio, had opened the fireworks factory in 1922. On that memorable day, buildings in the city shook, nearby houses collapsed, windows blew out, and Don Forsythe remembers seeing a roof flying up in the air like an umbrella. And David Malin recalls that the plume of smoke was so high it engulfed the press helicopter taking photographs. He also recalls that, as a high school student, they later “cleared many fireworks from the site,” and took them to school. That location is now home to the Grace Manor housing development.

The day after Jason Pate’s funeral, Virginia took over the radio station with her son, Jason David Pate, ran it for the next 30 years. She became the chairman and CEO of the Chesapeake Broadcasting Company and was President of Multiview Cable Company, later known as Comcast, from 1966 to 1982. She earned the American Broadcast Pioneer Award from the Broadcasters’ Foundation in 2001 and the Distinguished Service to Broadcasting Award from the Broadcast Pioneers of the Washington Area in 2001, as well. She married Edward Wetter and, after becoming an inspiration in the community, she died in 2018. Virginia Pate Wetter was inducted into the Havre de Grace High School Hall of Fame in 2019.

In 1969, the newly widowed Bennita Forwood sold this home to her son, Lawrence B. “Larry” Forwood and his wife, Patricia Forwood. Larry ran the “Cash Loan Company” at 300 St. John Street, which had been started by his father, Walter F. Forwood. Larry Forwood later became Manager of Forwood Motor Sales. In 1982, Larry deeded this house to Patricia, from whom he was divorced. In 1993 Patricia Forwood sold this home to Francis and Carmen Cunningham.

Carmen Cunningham says she did some research and believes that this was a Sears Roebuck Model Home Kit. A standard Sears Home Kit contained around 25 tons of materials, more than 30,000 parts, 750 lbs of nails, along with a 75-page instruction book that were shipped directly to the purchaser. The 370 different designs were only offered in Sears mail order catalogs between 1908 and 1940. Sears houses built after 1916 have stamped lumber elements that could be found in attics or basements. Pictures of some models are listed online at: http://arts-crafts.com/archive/sears/, but many homes have since been modified. During those years, Sears sold about 75,000 homes by mail order in all 48 states, with several in Havre de Grace due to the convenience of the railroad for shipping. And Carmen says that the 4 over 1 pane windows are the original ones.

In 2013 this home was deeded to Francis J. Cunningham who continues to own it.

County Records
Built 1925. 2137 sq feet, 1.5 stories with basement, 2.5 bathrooms, detached garage, 12,000 sq ft lot.