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Holt House restoration nearing fruition
thanks to undying efforts of Susan Dyer
By ED FORD
Bugle Editor
Susan Dyer is dogged determination with a winning smile.
Or, as Judge-Executive Maurice Lucas relates, “I have never met anyone with the commitment or desire of Ms. Dyer to devote so much effort to any project.”
JAG speech
Among the many promotional Holt House efforts
Susan Dyer has undertaken is a major speech at
the Judge Advocate General Legal Center School
in 2010 that helped win project support from the
JAG center. Brig. Gen. John Miller, Ret., (left)
and JAG Historian/Archivist Fred Borch, Ret.,
pose with Susan following her remarks.
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The project is the historic Joseph Holt home in Breckinridge County, an 1850s-era mansion built by the nation’s first Judge Advocate General who also was the presiding official in the trial of the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspirators.
Thanks to Susan’s leadership, the structure is being restored to its former glory and will serve as a living testament to the legacy of a prominent Kentucky attorney and national legal authority. Appointed Judge Advocate General in 1862 by President Lincoln, Holt served in that post for 13 years and was cast into the post-Civil War role of chief judicator in the conspirator trial that concluded with the hanging of three men and Mary Surratt.
Breckinridge’s Judge Lucas, who has worked with Susan the past four years, points out that her passion for the Holt House restoration “has been unbelievable.”
“It all started one Sunday afternoon,” he continued, “when she and her husband passed by the Holt community and she noticed the mansion and said God spoke to her about restoring the home. She started, from that day, the process of bringing the home to the attention of the local officials and would not take NO for an answer.
“She was ferocious in her pursuit of obtaining the 20 acres where the mansion stands, even though the owners did not want to sell the property. She engaged people from Washington to Frankfort to our county officials until grants were received to purchase the facilities. Despite tremendous financial odds stacked against her, she helped form the ‘Friends of the Holt House’ group and involved local officials to start fundraising efforts to begin the restoration process.
“All U.S. Representatives and Senators for our area were contacted by Susan and even Gov. Steve Beshear has toured the home. Funds from a Transportation Enhancement grant have been issued to help with the cost of the project and, as a result of her commitment, construction of Phase 1 will begin in the Spring of 2014, which consists of the exterior portion of the home. We are in the process of raising funds for Phase 2 of the project, which will be the interior of the structure.
“Without Susan’s involvement, the project would never have been started, and now we’re looking forward to sharing this wonderful home with the rest of the country.”
When Susan and husband, Eddie, stopped and gazed at the Holt House on that Sunday afternoon in 1997, it was the beginning of a journey that led to authoring a best-selling book (Lincoln’s Advocate, the Life of Judge Joseph Holt), giving speeches, writing grants, knocking on doors and enlisting the help of countless state and national figures. And, she’s not finished.
“My dream is that the Holt House will become the people’s home,” she said. “It belongs to Kentucky, America and the ages and I’d like to see it as a welcome center, an exhibit on the career of Judge Holt, a museum and a place for special events and educational activities.”
Perhaps the ultimate will be when “the President of the United States makes a personal visit.” She continues to contact and invite the Commander in Chief and those who know Susan say she’ll never give up trying.
“Don’t ever sell her short,” one project supporter said. “Susan’s enthusiasm encourages others to jump on the bandwagon. I won’t be surprised when the President arrives.”
Susan spends some 20-25 hours per week on the Holt project and estimates that she has made “hundreds, maybe thousands of calls.” And, she stays in touch when someone helps.
One of Susan greatest attributes is that she never appears to be discouraged. In the beginning, her own community told her there was no way to save the home as there was no money available to buy the mansion and fund restoration.
The retired middle school teacher points out that she knew little about preservation, writing news releases and grant requests and had never given a formal lecture. But, she was determined to learn.
“Through all this, I’m still learning,” she continued. “I’m a very humble lady who continues to ask God to help me keep the passion and give me wisdom for whatever task that must be performed.
“One thing that has kept me going,” she said, “is the warm reception I’m given when people ask who I am. My reply still today is that I’m a volunteer working to save the Holt Home in Breckinridge County. And, I always give recognition to the TEAM. We’re successful because we’re all working together.”
Keeping the faith and believing in people is part of who Susan is. Her calls and contacts with Governors (Ernie) Fletcher and Beshear resulted in return calls and the White House has called her twice.
A key call occurred in 2010 when officials at the Judge Advocate General (JAG) School asked Susan to deliver its annual Prugh Lecture. Her address was published in the Military Law Review and she won the support of the recently retired Judge Advocate General, Lt. Gen. Dana Chipman, and that of Frederic Borch, historian and archivist at the JAG School. Chipman and Borch were speakers at the Holt Home Community Day last fall and Susan was given the Leadership Medal of Excellence, an honor normally awarded only to soldiers for their U.S. Army leadership.
In all, she has received 10 awards for her preservation work and was named Outstanding Citizen of the Commonwealth by the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2008.
Hardin County Circuit Judge Kelly Easton, who portrays Judge Holt at project community days and other events, is another Dyer supporter.
“Every successful restoration project has at its heart a determined visionary who is not discouraged by the doubts of others and does not accept refusals or obstructions,” he noted. “Instead, that individual works tirelessly to persuade others and find answers for every challenge.
“For the Holt Home, Susan Dyer is that remarkable individual.”
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