This National Cemetery is located on one of the most prominent and imposing hills overlooking the City of Fredericksburg, formerly called Willis Hill. On July 15, 1865, this location was selected and the cemetery begun. It has since been made beautiful with shrubbery and flowers and terraced, and now it is known for its attractive appearance. It is, in fact, counted as one of the most beautiful cemeteries in this Country. It comprises about twelve acres. Of the soldiers gathered from the adjacent battlefields there are of the known dead 2,496 and of the unknown 12,798.
Very many handsome monuments are erected on these grounds, among them one by General Butterfield in memory of the 5th Corps; another to General Humphreys by the State of Pennsylvania; and by the same State a monument in memory of the 127th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Head stones mark the resting place of very many others.
On each recurring Decoration Day, May 30th, from a beautifully constructed forum, services are held in tribute to the memory of the brave men who sleep there. At these services many who wore the grey and fought on the other side unite with the boys who wore the blue, in paying this tribute.
Near Fredericksburg Governor Spottswood instituted the first iron work in America, and an old plate cast in his furnace is now in the possession of Mr. Val Dannehl of this city. It is probably the oldest piece of cast iron in America.
Governor Spottswood built the village of Germanna on the upper river for German workmen brought over here, and it was from that place, the first Courthouse of Spotsylvania County, that the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe began their journey. The mansion of this famous Virginian stood close beside the Germanna road.
Today, almost on that spot, stands a small white cottage, and within it are various relics of the Old Governor and his family and of the battle of the Wilderness.
But the strangest thing about the small cottage is that within it lives, with his wife, Alexander Spottswood, the lineal descendant of the Governor. Mr. Spottswood stands over six feet, erect and with the bearing that inevitably proclaims the descendants of great men. His daughter recently married Mr. E. H. Willis.
Thus a Spottswood lives today on the tract where the great Virginia Governor built his mansion and where he founded the famous Spottswood mines and furnace almost two hundred years ago.
An incident brought the great singer Patti to Fredericksburg, to remain for some time. When she was a girl of sixteen, just beginning to train for her great career in Grand Opera, her brother Carlo Patti expected to institute a school of music and was here for that purpose when he was taken suddenly ill. She came with her sister Madam Strackosh to see her brother. He remained ill for months and his sisters were with him during the entire time. They boarded at the Old Exchange Hotel on Main Street, now the Hotel Maury, and gave more than one concert at what was known then as “The Citizens Hall.” If there are few here now who remember her, there is still among us one woman, a little child at the time, whom the singer often held in her arms and caressed. The parents of the child were boarding at the Hotel temporarily and the mother and Adelina became great friends and remained so for many years. Madam Strackosh and her famous sister said they enjoyed “real life” in our little Southern town. Carlo after regaining his health went farther South, joined a Confederate Company, and again as one of the boys in gray under the stars and bars, was in Fredericksburg and was well known to the writer. He entertained the weary boys in camp when the hard days were over, with his beautiful songs.
John Forsythe referred to in the above order was born in 1781 in a frame house, now standing at the corner of Prince Edward and Fauquier Streets. He graduated from the Princeton Academy early in life, moving later with his family to Georgia where he studied law, practiced and in 1808 he was elected Attorney General, and in 1812 was chosen Congressman and served until 1818.
In 1819 he was appointed Minister to Spain and while acting as Minister, he was instrumental in the ratification of the treaty with the Country for the cession of Florida to the United States.
In 1827 he was elected Governor of Georgia and in 1829 became a member of the Senate and was in that body when he accepted the office of Secretary of State, which position he occupied to the end of Van Buren’s administration. He died in the City of Washington, October 21, 1841, and is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.
National Cemetery
And Monument to the Fifth Corps.
Here Sleep Thousands Who Died in the Battles About Fredericksburg
Fighting “Joe” Hooker, as his troops called him and as he was, came here shortly after the war to gather evidence to refute the charges his enemies at the North were disseminating against him in a campaign of scandal. He attempted while here, and he was here for a long period, to show that his failure was not entirely his own fault, and the evidence which he procured, together with his own statements proved sufficiently that Gen. Hooker’s plan for the campaign at Chancellorsville far surpassed any conception of any other Northern general. They left the inference also (Lincoln had warned him in a letter that his insubordination to Burnside and other superior officers would one day result in his inferiors failing to co-operate with him), that Sedgwick had not put his full heart into the battle, for, important factor in the movement that he was, he started one day late and allowed 4,000 men at Salem Church to hold back the advance of his 30,000 men. Had he won this fight, he could have been at Chancellorsville and turned the tide of battle long before Jackson’s genius had ruined Hooker’s army.
The subject of this sketch was the son of Captain and Mrs. Joseph W. Sener. His father was several times Mayor of this city. Judge Sener graduated when quite a young man, with the degree of Bachelor of Law, from the University of Virginia, and was a very successful practitioner for many years in the courts of this State. He was elected to represent the first Virginia district in the Congress of the United States several years after the civil war. After his retirement from Congress he was appointed by President Hayes Chief Justice of the then Territory of Wyoming. After performing the duties of this office very acceptably for several years he returned to Virginia, and again took up the practice of his profession. Much of his time was spent in Washington where he died. He was buried in Fredericksburg with Masonic honors, being a very active member of Lodge No. 4, A. F. and A. M. of this city.
When the Federal army first held Fredericksburg, during the winter of 1861, President Lincoln came to stay at Chatham and hold a grand review of the army of the Potomac. He was accompanied by Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State, and Edward Staunton, Secretary of War. On the plateau behind Chatham there was held a great artillery review. On the following day the President, accompanied by some of his cabinet officers and the staff officers of the army, crossed the river on the lower pontoon bridge. They rode immediately to the provost marshal’s headquarters in the building on the corner of Princess Anne and George Streets, which the National Bank now occupies. After taking lunch with General Patrick and in response to the calls of some troops present, President Lincoln from the front steps made a short but splendid address. The writer of this, sat on the steps of the St. George’s Church, on the opposite side of the street and heard President Lincoln’s speech.
On the Bowling Green road, a mile from town, a stone marked “Stuart-Pelham” shows about where those two brilliant young men met when they advanced their guns against the Northern host. In the woods, back of Fredericksburg, a stone marks General Lee’s winter headquarters—where stood his tents. The spot where Cobb fell is marked, and there is a marker where the pontoon landed near the foot of Hawk street. The New Jersey monuments are near Salem Church, General Hays monument (where he was killed) near Plank road on the Brock road. “Lee to the Rear” one mile west of Brock on Plank road, Sedgwick’s monument near Spotsylvania Court House. Where Jackson fell, monument two miles west of Chancellorsville on Plank road.
In the midst of the war England sent Lord Wolesley, who became the Commander-in-Chief of the English Army, to serve a short time as Military Observer with the army of General Lee. He was with General Lee about Fredericksburg and in his commentaries on him said, “There was about General Lee an air of fine nobility, which I have never encountered in any other man I have met.” General Wolesley attended a dance here in the house then called the Alsop house, on Princess Anne Street, now occupied by the Shepherds.
The Prince of Wales, who afterwards became King Edward the Seventh, visited Fredericksburg in 1859. The Prince was accompanied by the Duke of New Castle, Lord Lyons and others of the Royal family. They were welcomed here in an address by the late Maj. Elliott M. Braxton. The local band played “God save the Queen” and flowers and bouquets were presented to the Prince.
Among those who came in time of peace we record the name of one whose fame is known to all English readers. Thackeray, the great English novelist, was here, and on taking leave said, “To come to Virginia and mingle with its people, to learn how they live and see their home life, is to have England pictured to you again.”
Again the father left, and we next hear of the little girl as Madam Romero, wife of the once Secretary of State of Mexico and then Ambassador to the United States from Mexico. During the stay of Ambassador Romero at Washington, this girl of Virginia lineage became the leader of the social life of the Capitol of our Nation, and one of the most popular women ever known there.
It was perfectly natural that Chester A. Arthur should be often a visitor to Fredericksburg for he married Miss Ellen Lewis Herndon, of this city, a daughter of Captain W. L. Herndon, whose distinguished life has been touched upon. The home in which President Arthur stopped on his visit is on Main Street, now occupied by Mrs. R. B. Buffington.
Certainly the greatest orator who ever visited Fredericksburg was Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, distinguished among literary men of his day. He came to this city to speak and was entertained in several homes here. He afterwards spoke all over the Nation in an effort to aid the Mount Vernon Association to purchase Washington’s home.
An English officer Colonel Henderson, whose life of “Stonewall Jackson” is from a literary and military standpoint the best work of its nature in the world, came here and stayed for a long period securing data for his book. He lived during his time here at the Old Eagle Hotel, now the Hotel Maury.
Among our old time merchants was Mr. William Allen. His son married and lived in many foreign lands. The son’s wife died and he returned to visit his father bringing his beautiful little daughter, a child of ten or eleven years. The writer recalls her at that time, with her lovely golden curls.
Another nobleman who came here drawn by the quaintness of the old American town and his desire to see the home of Washington, was the Count De Paris, of the French Royal Family.
The Irish poet, Thomas Moore, was here once and declared he would not leave America until he had been a guest in an old Virginia home.
Old Gardens, at Old Mansions, Where Bloom Flowers from Long Ago
Buds and blossoms everywhere! and honey-bees, butterflies and birds! It is Spring now in the lush meadows and sweeping hills about Fredericksburg. Flowers, leaves, shrubs and vines have burst forth once more with joy and life. The wild tangle of beauty and fragrance is everywhere perceptible; hedges of honeysuckle, whose hidden foundation is the crumbling old stone wall, trellises heavy with old-time roses, arbors redolent with sweet grapevine, sturdy oaks and maples, whose branches shelter the clinging tendrils and the purple wistaria blossoms, borders, gay with old-time favorites, heliotrope, portulaca, petunias, verbenas and hollyhocks, and the loved English ivy, with a welcome right of way wherever its fancy leads.
The characteristic which is conceded to be the chief charm of Fredericksburg is its historic association and its picturesque past. This feature alone does not appeal to all who agree that the old town is charming, but when this is combined with romantic and interesting tales of the gentry of years agone who have won immortality not only in this locality, but in this world, the charm is undeniably irresistible to all. Fredericksburg has many beauty spots which combine these conditions—spots which are of increasing pride to residents and visitors.
Some of the gardens here are old, very old, antedating by many years the celebrated formal gardens at Mt. Vernon, but few preserve so well their pristine form. Though the box-bordered parterres have largely disappeared, the old-time favorites are here still, the same loved shrubbery “just grown tall,” descended from those set out originally by those of generations gone. Mazie V. Caruthers has, in a few words, unknowingly delineated some of the garden spots here:
“Long, brick-paved paths, beside which row on row,
Madonna lilies in their sweetness grow—
Planted by hands to dust turned long ago;
Odors of fern and moss and pine are there—
Wild loveliness of roses everywhere
With pinks and mignonette their fragrance share;
Around the dial, stained by sun and showers
(Whose slender finger marks the passing hours),
Stand purple iris, proudest of the flowers;”
At the corner of Charles and Lewis Streets stands the pretty little garden spot, which, since the year 1775 has been associated with Mary Washington. The tall and vigorous, pungent and aromatic box-wood trees, planted by her own hand, seem typical today of the splendid old lady. A small section of the pathway bordered by the same old shrub, which led to “Betty’s” home at Kenmore, is still here. And here is also the sweet-scented lavender, and the roses, and near the high board fence on the north, is the sun dial, that still and silent informant of the passing hours. Washington, Mason, Jefferson, Marshall, the Lees—a score of the great have trod these shaded walks.
Not far away are two frame structures. The style of each bears the unmistakable mark of age, though the date of construction is undetermined. Both are still private residences, with attractive grounds. From the continuity of the terraces, it is supposed that in other days only one spacious and beautiful terraced lawn was here. It is still beautiful with its carefully kept grassy sward, from which at irregular intervals, spring the majestic Norway maples, the black walnuts, the apple trees, and lilacs, the flowering almond, and other climbing and flowering shrubs, thick with picturesque bird homes, tenanted year after year by possibly the same line of robin, wren and oriole. In this magnetic atmosphere was born in 1781, the future governor of Georgia, John Forsythe.
In Kenmore Hall
The Remarkable Work About the Mantle and Ceilings Was Done
by Hessian Prisoners, at Washington’s Request
Can it be that some subtle and indefinable influence lurked in these magic surroundings, and left an ineffaceable impress for good upon the boy?
A delightful old colonial home is the brick structure on the east side of lower Main Street. It was built in 1764, and its present attractive appearance attests the quality of material in its construction, and also the discerning care with which the old home has ever been maintained. In Revolutionary times it was the residence of Dr. Charles Mortimer, the loved physician of Mary Washington. From the east window can be seen the graceful curves of the river, and the Stafford hills and dales still form a pretty picture in their verdant beauty and symmetry. Within the solid ivy covered brick wall encircling the premises two of the most magnificent trees of this section are noted, a Norway fir and a southern magnolia which, with other ornamental trees and shrubbery, and a charming rose garden, are such splendidly beautiful color schemes that one is constrained to linger in the presence of their beauty and age.
Across the street stands another solid brick residence, which, though of a later period in history, is equally beautiful. It is the one-time home of Matthew Fontaine Maury, one of America’s greatest men. Its architecture, its interior decoration, its moss-covered, serpentine, brick walk leading to the old kitchen, and the fascinating flower garden, still radiant with old-time favorites, attest the age of this old home. Nowhere does the trumpet vine attain such luxuriant and graceful growth, and many other varieties of flowering shrubs and vines linger in the sun or throw their fragrance out on silent nights.
Two other landmarks in the list of charming homes built in bygone days—the latter part of the 18th century—each with enchanting grounds, are located one on Hanover, and one on upper Main Street. These are the old homes of Dr. James Carmichael, and Dr. Robert Welford. Lineal descendants occupy both of these premises today, and with the same loving care the bewildering tangles of beauty in leaf, bud, and blossom, which characterize these alluring old garden spots, with their accompanying moss-grown brick walks, is continued. The Rappahannock river laves the east slope of the Welford garden. The picturesque windings of this river, and its wooded shores, together with glimpses of the ancient and interesting little village of Falmouth with “the decent Church that tops the neighboring hill,” form a pleasing panorama. At the old Carmichael home, oak, walnut, apple, and mimosa trees, with a pretty arrangement of japonica, crepe myrtle, dogwood, lilac, English ivy, and other climbing and flowering shrubs, combine to make a setting of alluring beauty.
Nearby, and still on Hanover Street, is the old colonial residence known now as Federal Hill, the one time home of the distinguished attorney, Thomas Reade Rootes. Its white enamelled wainscoting, panelling, and other interior decorations; its colonial doorways, dormer windows, and spacious grounds where old-time favorites, both radiant and redolent are enclosed within its boxwood hedges and honeysuckle glen, all bear witness to a carefully preserved and graceful old age. Here too is the sun dial, its pedestal half concealed by luxuriant tangles.
Beautiful Hazel Hill, with its spreading grounds, the old-time residence of General John Minor; and the unusually attractive home on Princess Anne Street, the pre-revolution home of Charles Dick, supposed with every proof of accuracy to be the oldest house in town; Kenmore, with its storied frescoes, always associated with Betty Washington, sister of George, where graceful wood carving was done by Hessian prisoners, is magnificently beautiful; “the Sentry Box,” on lower Main Street, the old home of General Hugh Mercer, though altered and modernized, has still the same attractive grounds, and because it was here that the country doctor, who was to be “General” Hugh Mercer and the tavern keeper who was to be “General” George Weedon gained the hearts and hands of pretty Isabella and Catherine Gordon, one infers that this was once the trysting place for many a gallant cavalier. All these historic spots deserve front rank in the realm of beautiful and interesting old age.
Among the pleasant places worthy of consideration, from an historic, and artistic viewpoint, none is more interesting than old Chatham, on Stafford Heights, directly across the Rappahannock from Fredericksburg. Situated on an eminence commanding an extended view up and down the picturesque river, and with glimpses of the church spires, and quaint roof tops of the old town, gleaming through the splendid shade trees dotting the grounds, it has stood for almost 200 years, a typical colonial Manor house, with characteristically beautiful proportions, an example of English material and English workmanship.
It was built in the year 1728 by that sterling patriot, William Fitzhugh. “Fitzhugh of Chatham,” as he was known, was the descendant of the old Norman of the same name, progenitor of all of the race of Fitzhugh in Virginia. He was the intimate friend and classmate of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and the plans for the mansion on his large Virginia estate, which he named for the earl, are said, with every proof of accuracy, to have been drawn by Sir Christopher Wrenn.
Writers of long ago tell of the beautiful box-bordered garden at Chatham, and of the wonderful terraces, built by numberless slaves, “stepping down to the river like a giant’s stairway.” These latter still exist in their beauty, and form one of the chief attractions of the place, which has ever been famous, and whose most recent owner was the brilliant journalist, Mark Sullivan, and Mrs. Sullivan, who made their home there until recently.
William Fitzhugh, Esq., married Ann Bolling Randolph, and their daughter Mary, who married George Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, was the mother of Mary Custis, the wife of General Robert E. Lee. A conversation between General Lee and Major J. Horace Lacy, (who with his family owned and occupied Chatham until the War Between the States) is illustrative of the devotion of both of these men for the old colonial homestead.
On the day before the battle of Fredericksburg, Major Lacy was at the headquarters battery of General Lee. By the aid of field glasses he saw across the river the white porches of his home filled with Federal officers, and simultaneously there was wafted on the breeze the strains of “Yankee Doodle” and “Hail Columbia.” He requested General Lee to authorize the fire of the heavy guns, which would have laid Chatham in the dust. With a sad smile, General Lee refused to do so, and taking his seat on the trunk of an old tree, he said, “Major, I never permit the unnecessary effusion of blood. War is terrible enough at best to a Christian man; I hope yet to see you and your dear family happy in your old home. Do you know I love Chatham better than any place in the world except Arlington! I courted and won my dear wife under the shade of those trees.”
Space does not permit a recital of the accomplishments of those who followed Mr. Fitzhugh, of Major Churchill Jones, of William Jones, his brother, or of Judge John Coalter.
The Lacys returned to Chatham after the war and occupied it until 1872.
The attractive interior with its hand-carved panels and corners is well worthy of detailed description, particularly the west bedchamber, with its alluring old fireplace and its high mantel, and is said to have been the room occupied by George and Martha Washington, who spent a day or two here during their honeymoon. Not alone have distinguished men of the Revolution reposed in this room, but John Randolph of Roanoke was also here, and later General Lee, and still later President Lincoln when he came to review the Union Army. Clara Barton, to whom suffering humanity owes such a debt of gratitude, was also here, a day or so previous to the battle of Fredericksburg, and Washington Irving and other notable men visited Major Lacy at the old mansion after the war.
The interesting and historic old estate, Fall Hill, which is now the attractive home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred H. Robinson, commands a view surpassing almost any near Fredericksburg. The house, built in 1738, is of the Georgian type of architecture, and its white panelling, its mantel pieces, and other decorations bear the impress of the care and taste with which the solid old brick structure was planned. In close proximity to the Falls Plantation, and the Falls of the Rappahannock river, this homestead well sustains its reputation as having had an artistic and romantic past, which is inseparably intertwined with the present.
Situated on a high eminence in Spotsylvania County, about two miles from Fredericksburg, it commands an entrancing view, for miles, of the glistening waters of the river, and the hills and dales of the Rappahannock Valley, with its smiling cornfields, and its cheerful apple orchards, and of the white pillared porches of Snowden, the charming seat adjacent.
It is a wonderful panorama. At the Falls are numberless moss-covered, age-old rocks, over which the waters flash and sparkle in the sunlight, fresh, soft, green, masses of grassy sward are here, dotted with the stately poplar, sycamore, and cedar trees; over there the gnarled old oak spreads its hoary branches, and honey locusts and elms are near, and climbing honeysuckle everywhere. Under the cedar tree, hollowed out of the flinty bosom of the big boulder, is Francis Thornton’s punch-bowl, with “1720” and “F. T.” engraved on the circle. All of this is close to the great house at Snowden.
Though not so old, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank C. Baldwin at “Snowden,” has long passed the century mark, and the substantial brick structure, with its massive white pillared portico, its wealth of English ivy, wistaria, and other shrubs, its magnificent shade trees, planted irregularly on the extensive lawn, its flower garden on the west, in which peonies, hollyhocks, crepe myrtle, and other gay perennials vie with each other in glowing color and beauty, all unite to form a lovely spot. Nor can one forget that here General Lee and his staff, and citizens of Fredericksburg, sat in the old parlor twice before they decided that though the Federals carried out their threat to devastate Fredericksburg, they would not submit to an unjust demand, and for the only time in the war save at Appomatox and where Jackson died, tears gleamed in General Lee’s eyes as he stepped in boots and gauntlets from “Snowden’s” front porch to mount Traveler on the driveway.
The old Marye home, Brompton, on far-famed Marye’s Heights, is today a handsome and imposing brick structure, with its white columned portico, and its impressive and enticing doorway, so suggestive of good cheer and hospitality. Each of these spots will appeal to all who see them, and each will bring back from the rich past a memory of its own.
Mannsfield Hall, a beautiful home below Fredericksburg, owned by Capt. R. Conroy Vance is part of the original grant by the Virginia Company to Major Thomas Lawrence Smith in 1671, his duty under the grant being to keep at the mouth of the Massaponax a troop of 150 sharpshooters and to erect a fort as protection against Indians. For this he was granted land two miles north and two miles south of the Massaponax.
The estate was known as Smithfield and the original house was of stone and two dwellings still standing are now being used. The present house built in 1805 was added to in 1906, and Smithfield was joined to Mannsfield, one of the Page family estates. Mann Page in 1749 built the beautiful old mansion of stone as a replica of the home of his second wife Judith Tayloe, of Mount Airy, in Richmond County. This house was burned at the close of the Civil War by accident, by the North Carolina soldiers returning home.
The Mannsfield Hall estate of today practically marks the right and left of the contending armies during the battle of Fredericksburg, being bounded on the south by the old Mine Road to Hamilton’s Crossing which is on the property. It was at Mannsfield that the great Virginia jurist, Judge Brooke was born, the property being owned by that family until sold in 1805 to the Pratts.
The Sentry Box
Below, Where Gen. Mercer Lived. Above, Mansfield Hall, a Splendid Old Home
How They Grew in the New World; Pathways to the Light.
In the spring of 1877, during the rectorate of Reverend E. C. Murdaugh at St. George’s Church, questions arose as to certain forms of the Episcopal ritual. Some of the members of the congregation approving Dr. Murdaugh’s views, believed them to be in perfect accord with the doctrines of the church, but others felt that the introduction of these debated minor forms was an innovation and tended towards a High Church ritual. These discussions were followed by the resignation of Dr. Murdaugh, and his followers assembled in old Citizen’s Hall on the 7th day of August, 1877, and steps were there taken to organize Trinity Church.
Reverend Dr. Murdaugh was promptly called to the rectorship of the new church, and Reverend Robert J. McBryde was called from the chaplaincy of the University of Virginia, to fill the vacancy at St. George’s. With the kindly good fellowship, the tact, and the piety characteristic of his Scotch ancestry, “he lived in accord with men of all persuasions” both in the Mother Church and the youthful Trinity.
This congregation first worshiped in the unoccupied Methodist Church on Hanover Street, but on Christmas Day, 1881, they assembled in their own attractive edifice, which had just been completed on the corner of Hanover and Prince Edward Streets. Through the efforts of the Reverend J. Green Shackelford, (who succeeded Dr. Murdaugh,) and the congregation, the debt was finally paid, and on February 12, 1890, the church was consecrated by Rt. Reverend Francis M. Whittle.
One of the prominent characteristics of this congregation has ever been the energy and perseverance with which they grapple discouraging problems, and the unfailing and stubborn optimism of its women, out of which is born that success which almost invariably crowns their oftentimes unpromising efforts. Reverend John F. W. Feild, the present rector, is a young man of unusual attainments, and under his able leadership the church is a vigorous organization. A handsome parish house has been built.
The Baptist Church
Very little credence has been put in the old superstition that an inauspicious beginning implies the promise of a good ending, but the Baptist Church here is a conspicuous example of the truth of the old saying.
In 1768 three Baptist zealots were imprisoned here on two charges: “for preaching the gospel contrary to law,” and, to use the words of the attorney bringing the second charge, “May it please your worships, these men cannot meet a man upon the road, but they must ram a text of scripture down his throat.” But this intrepid trio continued to preach their doctrine, and to sing their hymns from the grated doors and windows of their prison cells, and each day drew crowds of awed and interested listeners.
To the Rev. Andrew Broaddus, who organized the Church here in 1804, to Reverend Thomas S. Dunaway, whose pastorate covered a period of thirty-two years, to Reverend Emerson L. Swift, the present efficient pastor, and many other able and faithful men, is the church indebted for the largest membership in church and Sunday School in the city, the communion roll numbering twelve hundred and eighty-nine members, and eight hundred and twenty-eight officers, teachers, and pupils of the Sunday School.
The present large and splendidly equipped building on the corner of Princess Anne and Amelia Streets was erected in 1854, under the pastorate of Reverend William F. Broaddus, and has had frequent additions as the increasing activities and congregations demanded. Dr. Broaddus conducted a successful school for young women in the basement of his church for several years preceding the War between the States.
The Presbyterian Church
To the Presbyterians belongs the distinction of having the oldest house of worship in the town. The present brick edifice on George Street was erected in 1833, the ground having been donated by Mrs. Robert Patton, the daughter of General Hugh Mercer. At the time of the coming of Reverend Samuel B. Wilson, as a domestic missionary in 1806, there were two Presbyterians in the town—surely an unpromising outlook.
This was about the time of the critical period in the life of the Episcopal Church in Virginia. For various reasons many of St. George’s congregation had become dissatisfied. This fact strengthened by the forceful intellectuality, and the magnetic sympathy of Dr. Wilson, brought about the subsequent rapid growth of Presbyterianism, and proved that the psychological moment had arrived for its development here. In 1810 their first house of worship was built on the corner of Amelia and Charles Streets.
Adjacent to the present church on Princess Ann Street is the beautiful chapel, built of Spotsylvania granite, through the donation of the late Mr. Seth B. French of New York, in memory of a much loved daughter.
Dr. Wilson resigned his pastorate in 1841, and among the names of his efficient successors are Rev. A. A. Hodge, D. D., Rev. Thomas Walker Gilmer, Rev. James Power Smith, and the present much loved pastor, Rev. Robert C. Gilmore.
Dr. Wilson organized the female school which was taught for years by him at his residence on Charles and Lewis Streets, the former home of Mary Ball Washington. One of his teachers, Miss Mary Ralls, continued this school with great success, and admitted boys. How interesting would be the register of this old school, if it were available today! The older residents of the town remember well, and with pleasure, some of the men who were educated there, and won distinction in their chosen fields. Among others are Judge William S. Barton, John A. Elder, Judge Peter Gray, of Texas, Dr. Howard Barton, of Lexington, Dr. Robert Welford, Lieutenant-Governor John L. Marye, Byrd Stevenson, attorney, and the Virginian historian, Robert R. Howison, LL. D.
Dr. Francis A. March, the renowned philologist, and for years’ president of Lafayette College, taught school here for several years, assisting Reverend George W. McPhail, the Presbyterian minister who succeeded Dr. Wilson. Dr. March married Miss Mildred Conway, one of his pupils, and General Peyton Conway March, so well known in military circles, is a son of his, and is claimed by Fredericksburg, though he was not born here.
The Methodist Church
Shortly after the Revolution, the Methodists began to hold services here. It is thought that for some years they had their meetings at private residences, as there is no record of a house of worship until 1822, when a church was erected on George Street, in the rear of where Hurkamp Park now is. Reverend “Father” Kobler began his ministry here in 1789, and continued for more than half a century. He died in 1843, and his ashes, with those of his wife, repose today beneath the pulpit of the present church. As a result of his godliness and assiduity, combined with the fervor and zeal characteristic of that communion, the Methodists, under the leadership of faithful men, have enjoyed a successive series of prosperous years, materially and spiritually, culminating today in a handsome, modern brick edifice on Hanover Street, well equipped for its many activities, and a large membership both in Church and Sunday School. Reverend H. L. Hout, the present pastor, is a conscientious, capable, and intelligent leader.
Roman Catholic
Until a sermon of unusual ability and power was delivered here in 1856, by Bishop McGill, of the Roman Catholic faith, that denomination had no organization of any kind. This event, together with the energy and enthusiasm of the small band of disciples of that faith, was the impetus which forwarded the establishment of the church here in 1859. The visits of Bishop Gibbons—the late Cardinal—and Bishop Keene greatly strengthened the prospects of the church, and though its membership roll is not a long one, it embraces today some of our solid and successful citizens. They have erected a neat brick church, and comfortable parsonage adjacent on Princess Anne Street. The priests who have officiated have been men deserving the high esteem of the community, and well able to carry on; the genial Father Thomas B. Martin is the present priest in charge.
The Campbellite Church
An inconspicuous red brick building on Main Street which has the undeniable stamp of age, though decorated with a new and modern front, is the Christian, or Campbellite Church, built in 1834. This was only two years after Alexander Campbell, the eloquent founder of the sect, came here to expound his creed, and to organize his church. Its little band of workers has passed through many stages of discouragement, but with fortitude and energy they have again and again revivified the spark of life, which at times seemed to burn so low. The building was used, during the War between the States, as a hospital. Under the leadership of Reverend Landon Cutler, Reverend Cephas Shelburne, Reverend Samuel H. Forrer, and others, with the labors of the present pastor, Reverend Daniel E. Motley, the membership has of late been greatly increased. The Bible used by Alexander Campbell on some of his visits here, is a highly esteemed relic.
Some Schools of Fredericksburg
The Public School system was established here as early as 1870. At first the schools were not well patronized, owing in part to the unusual and well-merited success of the private schools, and old-time prejudice against new methods, then termed “socialistic.” Their popularity increased with their efficiency, prejudice was entirely eliminated, and to-day we have a splendid brick building on Main and Lewis Streets, which houses the elementary grades, well-equipped and with a commodious auditorium.
The handsome high school building on Liberty street has been completed within the past year. It cost 125,000 and is a credit to the town. The chief problem here is the lack of room to accommodate the unexpectedly increasing number of lads and lasses who present themselves on the opening September morn. More than several times have the efficient and painstaking principal and teachers congratulated themselves on acquiring adequate conditions for placing the pupils, when in an incredibly short time, “congestion,” and “half-day sessions,” are again topics in school circles.
The State Normal School
The crowning glory of Fredericksburg in the educational line and probably the most far-reaching in its benefits and results is the State Normal School, established here by Act of the Virginia legislature in 1908, State Senator C. O’Conner Goolrick being most active in securing its location here. The massive buildings crown the apex of one of the most picturesque slopes on the left of the far-famed Marye’s Heights. An institution of this caliber, in order to radiate the best in every line of its many activities, must be apart from the business, social, and commercial life of the community, and yet near enough to benefit from the many obvious advantages its proximity to such a center affords. The Normal School fully meets this condition. The drive of about a mile from the center of the town is an interesting one, and, when the summit of the hill is reached, the driveway circles around the imposing brick structures; the Administration Building, Frances Willard Hall, Virginia Hall, Monroe Hall, and others. To the east, in all its historic pride lies the ancient city. To the west, beyond the carefully kept, and attractive campus, and over the Athletic Field, nothing is visible but fields and forests and rolling hills,—nature’s handiwork,—and, as the eye sweeps the horizon, it is arrested by more hills and dales of that region of our state named in honor of that daring and picturesque character, “The Knight of the Golden Horseshoe.”
Near Bloody Angle
Monument at the Spot Where General Sedgwick, of
Connecticut, Was Killed by a Confederate Sharpshooter
Under President A. B. Chandler, Jr., and a faculty of teachers chosen to provide that type of instruction calculated to prepare young women for successful vocations, the school is a success.
Schools of Old Times
If justice were done to each of the excellent schools of varying characteristics, in the old days of Fredericksburg, many times the space allotted to this subject would be infringed upon. But at the risk of this infringement, the names of some of the local educators of other days must be included. Mr. Thomas H. Hanson was sometime Master of the Fredericksburg Academy, that old school which is said to have begun its existence on Gunnery Green, which in its early days disseminated the seeds of learning to many youths, who afterwards became distinguished statesman. Messrs. Powell and Morrison were principals of a girl’s school in old Citizens Hall; Mr. John Goolrick and son George educated some of our most influential citizens of the past generation; Judge Richard H. Coleman taught a school for boys at Kenmore, and also at Hazel Hill; Mrs. John Peyton Little conducted a popular school for girls at her residence, the old Union House on Main Street; Colonel W. Winston Fontaine had a large school for girls, and at a later period Miss Frank Chinn, Miss Tillie Slaughter, and others, and still later Miss Willie Schooler (Mrs. Frank Page) conducted elementary schools, which by reason of their efficiency gained great popularity. The school of the late Charles Wisner was largely attended by both sexes.
Fredericksburg College
The interesting building (now the home of Mr. W. E. Lang, Smithsonia) has almost since its construction been closely associated with the religious or educational life of the community. In it for years was conducted successfully, under various teachers, a school for young ladies, always under Presbyterian management. For years it housed some of the departments of the Presbyterian Home and School, of which that popular and efficient institution, familiarly known as The Fredericksburg College was a part.
Founded in 1893 by Reverend A. P. Saunders, D. D., the beneficial activities of this institution continued until 1915. Not only were the widows and orphans of Presbyterian ministers the beneficiaries in many ways, but it afforded unusually fine opportunities to the youth of the town, and surrounding country, not only in the usual college courses, but in its school of music and art as well. In many instances its graduates have distinguished themselves at the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins, and elsewhere.
Colored Institutions
The colored citizens of the town—and the phrase is synonymous with law-abiding, respectful and intelligent citizens—have shown commendable energy and interest in their churches and schools, as is manifested in the substantial buildings housing their religious and educational activities. Three churches, all of the Baptist denomination, each with its own pastor, hold services regularly. Each has a large congregation and a flourishing Sunday School. Though the equipment of both high and graded schools is only fair, the corps of teachers, all of their own race, is as efficient as anywhere in the State.
“Shiloh Old Site” and “Shiloh New Site” are the leading colored churches, and each of these has been steadily growing for years.