Judge Joseph Holt Home becomes
JAG training site for Indiana Guard

The home of the nation’s first Judge Advocate General has officially become the JAG Onsite Training Program headquarters for the Indiana National Guard.

On March 5, three Blackhawk helicopters landed behind the Judge Joseph Holt Home in Hardinsburg to begin four training sessions. Thirty-five guard representatives participated in the training exercise that included a luncheon in the Breckinridge County mansion that is under renovation.

An introduction to the Holt Home was provided by Breckinridge County Judge Executive Maurice Lucas and President of the Friends of the Holt Home Susan B. Dyer.

Plans call for the home to become a national meeting place for Army JAGS across the nation. The Friends of the Holt Home received a grant from the National Trust of Historic Preservation in 2015 for a site-use plan of what the Holt Home will become. The home will have local, state and national new re-uses.

Judge Holt’s most memorable role as JAG occurred when he presided over the 1865 trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators.

The Holt Home and surrounding 19.5 acres were acquired by the Breckinridge County Fiscal Court in 2008 through grants from the Kentucky Lincoln Bicentennial placed in the Kentucky Heritage Council/ State Historic Preservation Office. The 6,225 square-foot mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic places and is undergoing extensive renovation.

Friends of the Holt Home coordinate fund-raising efforts and events for the property and work in a cooperative agreement with Breckinridge County government.

The Holt Home was constructed circa 1850 during the time of Judge Holt’s national service in Washington from 1857-75. The Breckinridge County native served as Commissioner of Patents (1857), Postmaster General (1859), and Secretary of War (1860) under President James Buchanan before being named Judge Advocate General by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.