The land on which this property was built was owned by Robert Seneca (1846-1931) and his wife, Caroline, in 1890 when they sold it to Charles B. Thompson. Seneca, together with his brother Stephen J. Seneca (1837-1918), became best known for beginning the S.J. Seneca Fruit Packer and Can Manufacturer at the foot of Pennington Avenue on the water.

Charles B. Thompson in March 1895 was granted a mortgage by the Columbian Building Association of Harford County of which he was a member. He repaid his indebtedness by August 1901, when he was granted a loan by the City Building & Loan Association of Harford County of which he was also a member. Two months later, City Building & Loan granted Charles a second mortgage, secured by his shares of stock and this property, which most likely had already been improved with the construction of this home.

By November 1902, Charles was married to Sarah W. Thompson and together they sold this property to Laura Virginia Thompson, who was Charles’s sister. When Laura died intestate in 1935, her heirs were her brothers, George R. Thompson, John M. Thompson, Harvey R. Thompson, and Almira V. Bramhall (her niece, who was the daughter of her deceased brother, Charles). The heirs together sold this property to their sibling, Harvey R. Thompson, in December 1935.

In March 1948, Harvey Thompson sold the property to Mary Elva McVey Thompson and Grace E. Hosier (d. 1995). Mary was the widow of Harvey’s brother, George R. Thompson, and Grace was Mary and George’s daughter. Mary had grown up on this same street—she was one of the daughters of Joseph and Josephine McVey of 849 Ontario Street. When Mary Thompson died in August 1961, she was survived by her four children—Grace Hosier (d. 1995), Edna Quereau (d. 1980), Eleanor Meyer (d. 1980), and Joseph M. Thompson (d. 1963).

After the 1995 death of Grace Hosier, and during the process of settling her Estate, it was discovered that between 1948 and her death some errors had occurred in the handling of some family members’ Estates. By order of the Orphans’ Court some of the Estates were reopened, new personal representatives were assigned, and previous errors were settled in the interest of clearing title to this property. Between September 1995 and June 1996, the Court appointed Marlene M. Hubbard (1932-2016) and Wayne T. Meyer (b. 1940) as personal representatives of those Estates. Marlene and Wayne were the only grandchildren of Mary Elva Thompson, none of whose children were still living.

In August 1996, Marlene Hubbard and Wayne Meyer sold this property to Dianne H. Klair and Joshua N. League. This sale represented the first time in more than 100 years that this property and home was owned by other than Charles B. Thompson’s descendants. Dianne and Joshua have raised their family in this home, for which in 2006 they received an award from the Havre de Grace Historic Preservation Commission. Dianne’s family have a long history of cherishing historical properties in Havre de Grace and Joshua’s mother owns and restored the elegant 1835 Barnes-Hopper House on North Adams Street.

County Records
Built 1900. 2344 sq ft, 2.5 stories with basement, 12,000 sq ft lot, 1 bath, detached garage.