College of Architecture Library Cornell University F raG CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 189I BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library F 234.F8G6 Historic Fredericksburg; the story of an 3 1924 020 688 234 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020688234 Historic Fredericksburg s H K W H H < ffl U ^3 o I historic Fredericksburg The Story of an Old Town By John T. Goolrick AUTHOR OF 'The Life of General Hugh Mercer' "Irishmen in the Civil War" Etc. Printtd In V. S. A. h WHITTET & SHEPPERSON RICHMOND VA. Photographs By DAVIS GALLERY, FREDERICKSBURG VA. ■J 2 - 3> COPYRIGHT, 1922 JOHN T. GOOLRICK r 2.34 &t)t£ JBook is ©ebuateb QCo one tofto bag not fatleb iter frienbs, or iter butp. tEBHio tjas giben treelp of fin best. aSfjoBe faitb fjas not taltereb, nor courage bimmeb. SffiHijb tiafi fjelb bigf) tier ibeals; toho has ligfiteb a patfjtoap for rtjose sbe lobes. Co ifflp Wife FREDERICKSBURG A Preface Fredericksburg sprawls at the foot of the hills where the scented summer winds sweep over it out of the valley of brawling waters above. The grass grows lush in the meadows and tangles in the hills that almost surround it. In spring the flowers streak the lowlands, climb on the slopes, and along the ridges; and Autumn makes fair colors in the trees, shading them in blood crimson, weathered bronze, and the yellow of sunsets. Over its shadowed streets hangs the haze of history. It is not rich nor proud, because it has not sought; it is quiet and content, because it has sacrificed. It gave its energy to the Revolution. It gave its heart to the Confederacy; and, once when it was thundered at by guns, and red flames twisted in its crumbling homes, it gave its soul and all it possessed to the South. It never abated its loyalty nor cried out its sorrows. In Fredericksburg, and on the battlefields near it, almost thirty thousand men lay on the last couch in the shadowy forests and — we think — heard Her voice calling and comfort- ing them. To the wounded, the Old Town gave its best, not visioning the color of their uniforms, nursing them back to life : And, broken and twisted and in poverty, it began to re- build itself and gather up the shattered ideals of its dead past. Out of its heart has grown simple kindness; out of its soul simple faith. As I look out over the streets, (I knew them well when Lee and Jackson and Stuart, Lincoln and Grant and Hancock knew them too), they shimmer in the Autumn sun. Over them, as has ever seemed to, me, hangs an old and haunting beauty. There may not be as great men here as long ago, but here are their descendants and the descendants' of others like them. And he who comes among them will find loyal hearts and warm hand-clasps. Ah, I know the old town. My bare feet ran along its unpaved walks and passed the cabins many a time in slavery days. I knew it in the Civil War and reconstruction days, and on and on till now : And it has not failed its duty. Fredericksburg's history brims with achievement and ad- venture. It has not been tried in this volume to tell, all of these. I have tried to tell a simple story, with the flame of achievement burning on the shrines and the echoes of old days sweeping through it, like low winds in the pine woods; to make men and women more vivid than dates and numbers. I have tried to be accurate and complete and to vision the past, but above all, I have loved the things of which I have written. There is no possibility of expressing the gratitude the author feels for the aid given him by others, but he must say, briefly, that without the assistance of Miss Dora Jett, Mrs. Franklin Stearns, Mrs. John T. Goolrick, and Dr. J. N. Barney, Mr. Chester B. Goolrick and Mr. John T. Goolrick, Jr., the book could not have been made as readable as we hope the public will find it. We owe just as deep thanks to Miss Sally Gravatt of the Wallace Library. Jno. T. Goolrick. Fredericksburg, Va., October 25, 192 1. INTRODUCTION Rev. Robert Campbell Gilmore. As a public speaker of wide reputation, especially on South- ern themes, Hon. John T. Goolrick, Judge of the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, Va., needs no introduction. It is my privilege to introduce him as a writer of history to an ever widening circle of readers. Other men can gather facts and put them in logical order, but few can give the history of the old town of Fredericksburg such filial sympathy and interest, such beauty of local color, as can this loyal son. The father, Peter Goolrick, a man of fine education, came from Ireland and made his home in Fredericksburg, and was mayor of the town. The son has always lived here. The war between the States' came in his boyhood. His first connection with the Con- federacy was as a messenger at the Medical Department head- quarters of General Lee. Growing old enough and tiring of protected service he enlisted in Braxton's Battery of Freder- icksburg Artillery. He was wounded at Fort Harrison, but recovering, returned to his command and served to the end of the war as "a distinguished private soldier," and surrendered with "The last eight thousand' at Appomattox. Since the war he has been prominently connected with Confederate affairs. At one time he was Commander of the local Camp of Vet- erans and is now on the staff of the Commander of all the Veterans of the South and Virginia. After the war young Goolrick studied law, was elected Judge of the Corporation Court of Fredericksburg, and of the County Court of Spotsylvania, served for a time as Common- wealth's Attorney of Fredericksburg, and later was re-elected Judge of the Corporation Court, which position he has held for sixteen years, and which he now holds. He has been the inceptor often, and always a worker, in every public event in the town. This is not Judge Goolrick's first appearance as a writer. He has contributed many articles to newspapers, and maga- zines, and has published several books. He is thus particu- larly fitted to write the history of his own beloved town. Contents In The Older Days 13 One by one the little cabins are built along the river bank After the Revolution 26 In the days of its glory, the Old Town was famed and prosperous War's Worst Horrors 37 Shelled by 181 guns for hours, the town becomes a crumbled ruin The First Battle 48 When, at Mwye's Heights and Hamilton's Crossing, war claimed her sacrifice At Chancellorsville 55 The Struggle in the Pine Woods when death struck, at Southern hearts' Two Great Battles 64 The fearful fire swept Wilderness, and the Bloody Angle at Spottsylvania Heroes of Early Days 70 The Old Town gives the first Commander, first Admiral and Great Citizens Men of Modern Times 98 Soldiers, Adventurers and Sailors, Heroes and Artists, mingle here Unforgotten Women 123 Some of Many Who Left a Record of Brilliancy, Service or Sacrifice At the Rising Sun 133 Where Famous Men Met; and Mine Host Brewed Punch and Sedition Lafayette Comes Back 139 After Forty Years of Failure, He Hears the Echo of His Youthful Triumph Old Court Record 142 Staid Documents, Writ by Hands That Are Still, Are History For Us Echoes of the Past 15 1 "Ghosts of Dead Hours, and Days That Once Were Fair" Where Beauty Blends 165 Old Gardens, at Old Mansions, Where Bloom Flowers from Long Ago Church and School 173 How They Grew in the New World; Pathways to the Light The Church of England 181 First in Virginia, the Church of England Has the Longest History The 250TH Birthday 188 Fredericksburg Celebrates an Anniversary Appendix 199 Historic Fredericksburg In the Older Days One by one the little cabins are built along the river bank — rLNVELOPED in the perfume of old English boxwood and the fragrance of still older poplars, and permeated with the charm of a two hundred and fifty year old atmosphere, the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia, nestles in the soft foli- age along the banks of the Rappahannock, at the point where the turbulent waters of the upper river rush abruptly against the back-wash of the sea, an odd but pleasing mixture of the old and the new. Subtly rich with the elegance of the past, it looks proudly back across its two and a half centuries, but it has not forgotten how to live in the present, and combines delightfully all that it has of the old with much that is new and modern. Perhaps no other community in the country has had a more intimate and constant association with the political and historic growth of America than Fredericksburg. From the earliest Colonial period, when it was a place of importance, it traces its influence on the nation's development down through the Revolutionary war, the War of 1812, the Mexican and Civil wars and the periods of national progress between those conflicts, and even today, when the old town has lost its touch with affairs as an important community, it still can claim a close connection with events through the influence of its descendants — sons and daughters — who have gone forth in the world and achieved leadership in movements of the day that are aiding in shaping the destiny of mankind; and of these another chapter tells. 13 The Spanish Missionaries But while proud of the accomplishments of these, the old town does not depend upon them for distinction. It bases its claim to this on the events with which it actually has been asso- ciated, and the importance of the part it has played in the past is proved by data found in the recorded annals of the country. It might, indeed, if it sought historical recognition on accepted legend rather than known' fact, assert an origin that antidates that of the first English permanent colony in America. A historian, writing in the Magazine of American History, says the spot now occupied by Fredericksburg was first discov- ered in 1 57 1 by Spanish Missionaries, who erected there the first Christian shrine in America. It is almost certain the town was settled in 1621, three hundred years ago, but this cannot be definitely proven, and the town has not claimed it as a date in its established history. It does not claim to have had a beginning with the recorded arrival of Captain John Smith, one year after the settlement of Jamestown, but takes as its birthdate May 2d, 1671, at which time the site was legally recognized by a grant from Sir William Berkley, then Colonial governor, to John Royston and Thomas Buckner, who are looked upon as the real founders of community life at the spot now occupied by Fredericksburg. Whether or not white men first reached the location as early as the suggested arrival of the Spanish Missionaries probably must always remain a mystery, though there are reasons to believe that this is entirely probable, as it is known that Spaniards made an early effort at colonization in Vir- ginia, and in 1526 came up the James River from Haiti with six hundred people, and, with many negro slaves as work- men, founded the town of Miguel, near where Jamestown afterwards was establishd by Captain John Smith. It is prob- able that these pioneers ventured into the surrounding country, and not at all unlikely that some of them strayed as 1 far as the falls of the Rappahannock. But if the data are not sufficient to actually prove this early visit to the site, it is a fact of record in the diary of "Chirur- 5 v. cq to "3 K CO to a -a to Captain Smith's First Visit geon" Bagnall, a member of the party, that Captain Smith reached the spot in 1608, one year after the establishment of Jamestown, and after successfully disputing possession of the land with a tribe of Indians, disembarked and planted a cross, later prospecting for gold and other precious metals. The diary of Smith's companions, still in existence, tells of the trip in accurate detail and from it is proven that even if the Spanish missionaries did not come as far as claimed for them, at least the Indians had recognized the natural advantages of the place by the establishment there of towns, which might have been in existence for hundreds of years. Captain Smith made two attempts to explore the Rappahan- nock. The first, in June, 1608, ended when the hardy adven- turer in plunging his sword into "a singular fish, like a thorn- back with a long tail, and from it a poison sting," ran afoul of the water monster and because of his sufferings was obliged to turn back. The second trip was started on July 24th, 1608, and was continued until the falls were reached. Dr. Bagnall says in his diary that when near the mouth of the river, the party encountered "our old friend, Mosco, a lusty savage of Wighconscio, upon the Patawomeck," who accom- panied them as guide! and interpreter, and upon reaching the falls did splendid service against the unfriendly Indians, "mak- ing them pause upon the matter, thinking by his bruit and skip- ping there were many savages." In the fighting Captain Smith's party captured a wounded Indian and much to the disgust Of the cheerful Mosco, who wished to dispatch him forthwith, spared his life and bound his wounds. This work of mercy resulted in a truce with the Redmen, which made possible the final undisturbed settlement of the land by the whites, the prisoner interceding for Smith and his party. Captain Smith's first landing on the upper river probably was directly opposite what now is the heart of Fredericksburg. Dr. Bagnall's diary says: "Between Secobeck and Massawteck is a small isle or two, which causes the river to be broader than ordinary; there it 15 About The Indian Villages pleased God to take one of our company, called Master Feather- stone, that all the time he had been in this country had behaved himself honestly, valiently and industriously, where in a little bay, called Featherstone's bay, we buried him with a volley of shot * * *' "The next day we sailed so high as our boat would float, there setting up crosses and graving our names on trees." Captain Quinn, in his excellent History of Fredericks- burg, says that Featherstone's, bay "is in Stafford, opposite the upper end of Hunter's island," but it is probable he did not closely examine facts before making this statement, as his own location of other places mentioned in Dr. BagnaU's diary serves to disprove his contention as to the whereabouts of the bay. "Seacobeck," Captain Quinn says, "was just west of the city almshouse." The almshouse was then situated where the residence of the President of the State Normal School now stands. Massawteck, Captain Quinn locates as "just back of Chatham." If his location of these two places is correct, it is clear that the "small isle or two," which the diary says was located between them, must have been at a point where a line drawn from the President's residence, at the Normal School, to "just back of Chatham" would intersect the river, which would be just a little above the present location of Scott's island, and that Featherstone's bay occupied what now are the Stafford flats, extending along the river bank from nearly opposite the silk mill to the high bank just above the railroad bridge and followed the course of Claibourne's Run inland, to where the land again rises. The contours of the land, if fol- lowed, here show a natural depression that might easily have accommodated a body of water, forming a bay. There are other evidences to bear out this conclusion. Dr. BagnaU's diary says : "The next day we sailed so high as our boat would float." It would have been an impossibility to proceed "high" (meaning up) the river from Hunter's island ini boats, even had it been possible to go as high as that point. 16 Establishment of the Town Notwithstanding contradictory legend, the falls of the Rappa- hannock have been where they are today for from five to one hundred thousand years, and there is no evidence whatever to indicate that Hunter's Island ever extended into' tidewater, the formation of the banks of the river about that point giving almost absolute proof that it did not. No authentic data can be found to prove the continued use of the site as a settlement from Smith's visit forward, though the gravestone of a Dr. Edmond Hedler, bearing the date 1617, which was found near Potomac run in Stafford county, a few miles from the town, would indicate that there were white settlers in the section early in the 17th century, and if this is true there is every reason to believe the falls of the Rappahannock were not without their share, as the natural advantages of the place for community settlement would have been appealing and attractive to the colonists, who would have been quick to recognize them. In 1622, according to Howe's history, Captain Smith pro- posed to the London Company to provide measures "to pro- tect all their planters from the James to the Potowmac rivers." a territory that included the Rappahannock section, which can be taken as another indication of the presence of settlers in the latter. The first legal record of the place as a community is had in 167 1 — strangely enough just one hundred years after the reported coming of the Spaniards — when Thomas Royston and John Buckner were granted, from Sir William Berkley, a certain tract of land at "the falls of the Rappahannock." This was on May 2d, and shortly afterward, together with forty colonists, they were established on what is now the heart of Fredericksburg, but known in those remote times as "Lease- land." This is the date that Fredericksburg officially takes as its birthday, though additional evidence that colonists already were in that vicinity is had in the fact that the boundaries of the land described in the grant from Governor Berkley to the two early settlers, ended where the lands of one Captain Lawrence Smith began. 17 Major Lawrence Smith's Fort Three or four years after the grant was made to Buckner and Royston the "Grande Assemblie at James Cittie" took official cognizance of the Colony by ordering Major Lawrence Smith and one hundred and eleven men to the Falls of the Rappahannock for the purpose of protecting the colonists. Records in regard to this say, "At a Grande Assemblie at James Cittie, between the 20th of September, 1674, and the 17th of March, 1675, it was ordered that one hundred and eleven men out of Gloucester be garrisoned at one ffort or place of defense, at or near the falls of the Rappahannock river, of which ffort Major Lawrence Smith is to be captain or chief commander." It was also ordered that "the ffort be furnished with four hundred and eight pounds of powder and fourteen hundred pounds of shott." A few years later, in 1679, Major Smith was authorized by the Jamestown government to mark out, below the falls of the Rappahannock, a strip of land one mile long and one-fourth of a mile wide, to be used as a colony and, together with eight commissioners, he was empowered to hold court and administer justice. Within this confine he was instructed to build habita- tions for two hundred and fifty men, fifty of whom were to be kept well armed and ready to respond to the tap of a drum. It would appear that the "ffort" mentioned in the earlier meeting of the "Grande Assemblie" was not built until this year. The contention that it was erected on the Stafford side of the river seems to be without any foundation of fact. That the community was now growing seems to be proven by the fact that the same act, defining the limits mentioned above, also mentioned a larger district, defined as extending three miles above the fort and two miles below it for a distance of four miles back, over which Major Smith and his com- missioners were to have jurisdiction. Two years later, in 1681, the iittle town received a great impetus when two hun- dred families came to join the colony. From this time for- ward, the community began to take an important part in the life of the Colonies. 18 Falmouth's Fast Growth In 1 7 10, upon the invitation of Baron de Graff enried, a friend of Governor Spotswood, twelve German families came to America and settled on the Rapidan river, eighteen miles above Fredericksburg, opening the first iron mines and estab- lishing the first iron works in America. They named the place Germanna, and, according to an account left by one of the party, "packed all their provisions from Fredericksburg," then the principal trading point of the section. In 1 71 5, Governor Spotswood and the now-famed "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe," started from Germanna (some of them came through Fredericksburg en route and stopped with Austin Smith). Assembling at Germanna they left on September 24th and continued across the Blue Ridge mountains to the Valley of Virginia. An interesting account of the trip, which has been made the theme of song and story, and even the basis of a secret society, can be found in the diary of John Fountaine, a member of the party. For a period nothing seems to have happened to the com- munity of sufficient importance! to be recorded, and for the next few years the imagination must supply the story of the settlement. It probably was a village of irregular, straggling streets and indifferent houses, with a population that struggled for a living by trading, trapping and other pursuits of that day. Its stores were likely very good for 1 those times, but across the river it had a rival in its neighbor, Falmouth, which as a place of importance was fast catching up with it, and soon was destined to pass it, for in 1720, seven years earlier than "The Leaseland," it received its charter from the House of Bur- gesses at Williamsburg, who vested its government in seven trustees. If not as a political and social center, at least as a trading point, Falmouth had soon superceded Fredericksburg. It was the. market for all the grain of the upper country, which by this time was beginning to be settled, and was in direct com- mercial communication with England, Europe and the West Indies by ocean-going vessels, which, when under 140 tons 19 'Leaseland" Is Chartered burden, could come up to its wharves. It was a great mill- ing center and its merchants began to grow prosperous and wealthy, one of them, Mr. Bazil Gordon, accumulating the first million dollars ever made in America, though he was the product of a little later date than that now under considera- tion. Grain brought out of Falmouth in boats larger than 140 tons was first put upon barges or flat boats of large capacity, which were conveyed down the river to waiting 1 vessels and transferred by slave labor. The stories heard of large vessels docking at the Falmouth wharves are apocryphal; no boat of great tonnage ever got as far as Falmouth. This may account for Fredericksburg's final supremacy over Falmouth, which doubtless came about the time the first ferry was started, permitting the planters to cross the river with their grain and load directly to the waiting vessels, thus saving time and work, valuable considerations even in those days of abundant leisure and cheap slave labor. But, while Falmouth was progressing "Leaseland" was also making strides, and in 1727 it became of sufficient import- ance to receive its charter from the House of Burgesses, and was named in honor of Frederick, Prince of Wales, son of George II. The Prince died before ascending the throne, but his son became George III., and it was thus from the domina- tion of the son of the Prince for whom their town was named that the patriotic people of the little village later plotted to free themselves. The act giving the town a charter names John Robinson, Henry Willis, Augustine Smith, John Talia- ferro, Henry Beverly, John Waller and Jeremiah Crowder as trustees, and the streets were named for members of the Royal family, names which fortunately endure today, despite an attempt made some years ago to modernize the town and dis- card the beautiful and significant old names in favor of the less distinguished and uglier method of numerical and alphabetical designations. Settlers now were rapidly coming into the community which was growing in importance. In 1732, Colonel Byrd 20 < to 2 2 (i,