_In the Older Days_
_One by one the little cabins are built along the river bank--_
Enveloped 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 foliage 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.
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 associated, and the importance of the part
it has played in the past is proved by data found in the recorded annals
of the country.
[Sidenote: _The Spanish Missionaries_]
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 discovered in 1571 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 Virginia, and in 1526 came up the James River from Haiti
with six hundred people, and, with many negro slaves as workmen, founded
the town of Miguel, near where Jamestown afterwards was established by
Captain John Smith. It is probable that these pioneers ventured into the
surrounding country, and not at all unlikely that some of them strayed as
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 "Chirurgeon" 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.
[Sidenote: _Captain Smith's First Visit_]
Captain Smith made two attempts to explore the Rappahannock. The first, in
June, 1608, ended when the hardy adventurer in plunging his sword into "a
singular fish, like a thornback 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 accompanied them as guide and interpreter, and
upon reaching the falls did splendid service against the unfriendly
Indians, "making them pause upon the matter, thinking by his bruit and
skipping 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:
[Sidenote: _About The Indian Villages_]
"Between Secobeck and Massawteck is a small isle or two, which causes the
river to be broader than ordinary; there it pleased God to take one of
our company, called Master Featherstone, 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 Fredericksburg, 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.
Bagnall'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 followed, 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. Bagnall'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 in boats, even had it been possible to go as high as that
point. Notwithstanding contradictory legend, the falls of the
Rappahannock 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 proposed to the London
Company to provide measures "to protect 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.
[Sidenote: _Establishment of the Town_]
The first legal record of the place as a community is had in
1671--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 "Leaseland." 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.
[Sidenote: _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
habitations 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
commissioners were to have jurisdiction. Two years later, in 1681, the
little town received a great impetus when two hundred families came to
join the colony. From this time forward, the community began to take an
important part in the life of the Colonies.
In 1710, upon the invitation of Baron de Graffenried, 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 establishing 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 1715, 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 community 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 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 Burgesses at Williamsburg, who vested its
government in seven trustees.
[Sidenote: _Falmouth's Fast Growth_]
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 commercial communication with England, Europe
and the West Indies by ocean-going vessels, which, when under 140 tons
burden, could come up to its wharves. It was a great milling 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
consideration.
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 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.
[Sidenote: _"Leaseland" Is Chartered_]
But, while Falmouth was progressing "Leaseland" was also making strides,
and in 1727 it became of sufficient importance 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 domination 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
Taliaferro, 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 discard the beautiful and significant old names in
favor of the less distinguished and uglier method of numerical and
alphabetical designations.
[Illustration: FROM MRS. WASHINGTON'S FARM
_One Sees, Across the River, the Homes of Such Families as the Mercer's,
Weeden's, Mortimer's_]
Settlers now were rapidly coming into the community which was growing in
importance. In 1732, Colonel Byrd owner of vast tracts where now stands
the magnificent city of Richmond, an important man in the Colonial life of
Virginia, came to Fredericksburg, calling on his friend, Colonel Henry
Willis, "top man of the town," as Colonel Byrd refers to him in his very
interesting account of the visit preserved to posterity. Colonel Byrd was
impressed by Fredericksburg, particularly by the stone jail, which, he
said, seemed strong enough "to hold Jack Shepherd" and with the
versatility of one Sukey Livingstone, or Levinston, doctress and coffee
woman. Some believe that the old stone building at the Free Bridge head is
the jail referred to.
The seat of justice which had been located at Germanna, was this year
moved to Fredericksburg, St. George's parish established and the church
erected, with Rev. Patrick Henry, uncle of the famous orator, as its first
rector.
[Sidenote: _"Town Fairs" Are Begun_]
In 1738 the House of Burgesses authorized the holding twice annually of
town fairs for the sale of cattle, provisions, goods, wares and all kinds
of merchandise, and it is easy to understand how these affairs became the
most important events in the life of the village, attracting plantation
owners from miles and taking on a social as well as business aspect. And
as the act also provided that all persons attending these fairs should be
immune from arrest for two days previous and two days subsequent to the
events, except for capital offenses or breaches of the peace, suits,
controversies and quarrels that might arise during the events, it can well
be imagined that they were lively and exciting gatherings.
One year later the trustees found it necessary to purchase additional land
for the accommodation of the growing population but a bargain was struck
with Henry Willis, "the top man of the town," and John Lewis only after
the House of Burgesses had taken up the matter deciding the ownership of
the lands in question and fixing the sum to be paid Willis at fifteen
pounds and Lewis at five pounds, not a bad total price, considering the
survey shows that only three acres were bought.
[Sidenote: _Masonry Is Established_]
The town had now grown to such importance as a trading point that the
establishment of direct connections with the Stafford shore was made
necessary, and in 1748 the first ferry was authorized by law. Evidently
from this time forward the town began to forge ahead of its thriving
neighbor, Falmouth, for the lessened expense of transferring grain
directly to the waiting ships made it more attractive as a market and many
of the up-country people who formerly had sold their gain and traded in
Falmouth, now crossed on the ferry and spent their money with the
merchants of Fredericksburg. The establishment of Masonry in 1752, at
which time the lodge was known as "The Lodge of Fredericksburg," points to
the growing importance of the place; and that the Colonial citizens were
keenly alive to the benefits to be derived from attracting industry to
their towns is attested to by an act of the General Assembly, passed in
1759, to encourage the arts and manufactury in the Colonies, which set up
a premium of five hundred pounds to be awarded the citizen making the best
ten hogsheads of wine in any one year, within eight years from the passage
of the act. A number of citizens of the town contributed to the fund,
among them George Washington, who gave two pounds.
In the Indian wars of 1755-57, Fredericksburg became an important depot
and rendezvous for troops. Recruits, provisions, supplies and ordnances
were sent to the town in quantities, and on April 15th, 1757, Governor
Dinwiddie ordered Colonel George Washington to send two hundred men there
to be "Thence sent by vessels to South Carolina, to treat with curtesy the
Indians at Fort London, and to send them out in scalping parties with such
number of men as you can spare."
But now the peaceable growth and prosperity of the village were to be
halted. Dissatisfaction with the government in England began to grow, and
there were murmurings of discontent and resentment, not by any means
indulged in by all the citizens, for large numbers were still utterly
loyal to the Crown, and those who opposed its policies congregated to
themselves, meeting in secret or standing in little groups about the
streets to give vent to their feelings.
[Sidenote: _The Revolution Gathers_]
One well-known place for the meeting of "Revolutionists" was the Rising
Sun tavern still standing in good order, at that time kept by "Mine Host,"
George Weedon. This famed old Tavern is told of in another chapter. It is
almost certain that at this tavern the rough draft was made of a
resolution to be later passed in a public town meeting, which was
tantamount to a declaration of independence, and which was passed
twenty-one days before the famous Mecklenburg declaration and more than a
year before that of the American congress.
These resolutions were adopted on the 29th day of April, 1775, amidst the
greatest public excitement. News of the battle of Lexington, fought on the
20th of April, and of the removal by Lord Dunmore of twenty barrels of
powder from the public magazine at Williamsburg to the English frigate
"Fowey," then lying near Yorktown, which occurred one day after the battle
of Lexington, had just reached Fredericksburg. Immediately the citizens
showed their indignation. More than six hundred men from the town and the
surrounding country armed themselves and sent a courier to General
Washington, then at Williamsburg, offering their services in defense of
the Colonies. Delegates were also dispatched to Richmond to ascertain the
true state of affairs, and to find out at what point the men should
report. The men stayed under arms and in readiness to move at short notice
until General Washington transmitted a message, advising that they
restrain from any hostilities until a congress could be called to decide
upon a general plan of defense. This advice was received by a council of
more than a hundred men, representing fourteen companies (the number under
arms having by this time grown), which decided by a majority of one to
disperse for the present, but to keep themselves in readiness for a call.
Many of them afterwards joined the armies of General Washington.
[Sidenote: _The Gunnery Is Built_]
Material preparations for the conflict that everyone, even the Tories, now
felt was certain, were made by the establishment at the town of the first
small arms manufactury in America, which was located on what now is known
as Gunnery Green. Colonel Fielding Lewis, brother-in-law of General
Washington, was one of the commissioners in charge of the gunnery and
active in its management.
With the coming of the Gunnery, and the formation of companies of troops,
the peaceful atmosphere of Fredericksburg quickly changed to one of a
militaristic aspect. Recruits drilled in the street, the manufacture of
arms was rushed, supplies were received and stored, couriers, with news
from other parts of the country, dashed in to acquaint the eager
townspeople with events, and those loyal to the Colonies went bravely
about with every kind of war preparation, while those inclined to Toryism
kept quiet and to themselves, or moved away with their families, hoping,
and probably succeeding in many cases, in reaching England before the
whole country was affected by the war, in which the part played by
Fredericksburg and its citizens was of the utmost importance. The town
gave to the Revolution an unusually large proportion of troops and many of
the great leaders.
During the Revolution, although Fredericksburg men were the leaders of the
Army, no fighting occurred here and the period was not one of danger for
the town, but was one of anxiety for the inhabitants. Tarleton passed
close to this city on his raid towards Charlottesville, and Lafayette and
his men built the road still known as "The Marquis Road," through the
Wilderness toward Orange.
Recently three soldiers, whose uniform buttons testify they were Hessians,
were dug up near Spotsylvania Court House. A prison camp existed about two
miles from here on the Plank Road from which Washington recruited some
artisans to do the interior decorating in the home of his beloved sister,
Betty, at Kenmore.
[Sidenote: _Regiments Are Recruited_]
Several Regiments went from Fredericksburg. General William Woodford (see
sketch of life) was elected Commander of the first. Among his descendants
are the late Marion Willis, Mayor Willis and Mr. Benj. Willis. General
Hugh Mercer was chosen Commander of the third regiment, and James Monroe,
of Fredericksburg (afterwards president) was Lieut.-Colonel, while Thomas
Marshall, father of Chief Justice Marshall, was Major. The other Virginia
Regiment was not recruited here. It was commanded by Patrick Henry.
Although it furnished two of the first three Virginia Regiments, and half
of America's Generals, as well as the Commanding General, Fredericksburg
was not a war center. Its history during that period will be found in the
lives of the men it produced, elsewhere in this book.
It did give most material aid by furnishing arms from the "Gunnery" of
Col. Fielding Lewis, and was generous in its financial aid, and always
ready for attack.
_After the Revolution_
_In the days of its glory, the Old Town was famed and prosperous_
The first mention of Fredericksburg in the annals of the new Republic is
an act of the legislature in 1781, incorporating the town and vesting the
powers of its government in the hands of a mayor and commonality,
consisting of a council and board of aldermen. Courts were established and
provision made for future elections of its officials.
The first mayor was Charles Mortimer, and the Board of Aldermen consisted
of William Williams, John Sommerville, Charles Dick, Samuel Roddy and John
Julien, who, together with the mayor, were also justices of the peace, and
required to hold a hustings court monthly. John Legg was appointed
sergeant of the court and corporation, and John Richards and James Jarvis
constables. The town's initial commonwealth's attorney, John Minor, is
said to have been the first man to offer in any legislative body of the
country a bill for the emancipation of the slaves.
The first action of the court is interesting, especially in these times.
It was giving license to five persons to conduct taverns, immediately
followed by an act to regulate them by establishing prices for alcoholic,
vinous and fermented beverages. There is no mention of opening or closing
hours, Sunday selling, selling to minors or any of the later and stricter
regulations, and the prices to be charged are in terms of pounds, or
parts, per gallon. The American bar was unknown then and probably even in
the taverns and tap rooms, little liquor was sold by the drink. Some of
the prices established translated into dollars, were West Indian rum, per
gallon, $3.34; brandy, $1.67; good whiskey, $1.00; good beer, $0.67 and so
on.
Having taken care that the tavern keepers could not charge too much for
drink, the court now provided that they should not over charge for food
served, placing the score for a "single diet" at twenty-five cents, a most
reasonable sum according to modern standards.
While having the power to regulate, the court was not without regulation
from a superior source as the articles of incorporation show that in case
of misconduct on the part of the mayor or any member of the board, the
others would have power to remove him after the charges had been fully
proved, and it further stipulated that should any person elected to office
fail or refuse to serve, he should be fined according to the following
scale: mayor, fifty pounds; recorder, forty pounds; alderman, thirty
pounds; councilman, twenty-five pounds. In 1782 an amendment was passed by
the legislature, enlarging the jurisdiction of the court to include all
territory within one mile of the town limits.
[Sidenote: _The Famed "Peace Ball"_]
Fredericksburg was not long in recovering from the effects of the
Revolution. It had suffered no physical damage, though it had lost a great
deal of actual and potential value in the deaths of citizens who gave
their lives for the cause. A magnificent Peace Ball was held, in 1784, in
the assembly room over the old City Hall, at Main Street and "Market
Alley," which was attended by General Washington, General Lafayette,
Rochambeau, Washington's mother, who came leaning on his arm and all the
notables and fashionables of the country. The town was soon again a
thriving hustling center of trade and business.
New enterprises came as requirements of the times made themselves felt. In
1786 the Virginia Herald made its appearance, the first newspaper
published in the town, and about the same time whipping posts, ducking
stools, and pillories were established to keep down the criminal
tendencies of the unlawfully inclined. In 1789 an act was passed,
empowering the trustees of the Fredericksburg Academy to raise by lottery
$4,000 to defray the expenses of erecting a building on the grounds for
the accommodation of professors, a method of raising money that modern
morals has outlawed. In 1795 the Episcopal Charity School was established
by Archibald McPherson one of the splendid men of the town and in 1799 the
town experienced its first serious fire, which was held by some to have
been the work of an incendiary and by others as due to a wooden chimney.
The council in an effort to assuredly exclude all danger of another such
from either source, offered a reward of $500. for conviction of the
incendiary, and passed an ordinance abolishing wooden chimneys, and stove
pipes sticking through windows or the sides of houses, provided the
buildings were not fire proof.
[Sidenote: _Commercial Development_]
From 1800 to 1850 Fredericksburg was the principal depot of trade and
commerce for all that region between the Rappahannock river and the
counties of Orange, Culpeper, Rapidan, Madison and Fauquier in addition to
the contiguous territory and the great section lying between the town and
the Chesapeake bay. Commerce with the upper country, however, was the most
productive, for the lower country people were in close connection with the
rivers and, as in those days all shipping was done by water ways, they
shipped from wharves along the Rappahannock near their homes. They
received much of their goods in this manner and were not so dependent upon
the town as the upper country people who were forced to bring their
products to Fredericksburg by wagon trains, which lumbered slowly down
with their burdens of grain, produce and tobacco, and having unloaded and
tarried awhile, lumbered back even more slowly, loaded with groceries,
wines, liquors, household stores, plantation supplies, dry goods and
merchandise for the country stores.
These wagons were of huge dimensions, "their curving bodies being before
and behind at least twelve feet from the ground" according to one writer.
They had canvas covers and were drawn by four horses always, sometimes six
and eight, carrying jangling bells upon their collars. As many as two
hundred of them were often on the streets or in the wagon yards of
Fredericksburg at one time, making prosperity for the energetic merchants
of that distant day, and bringing business for the many vessels, some of
them large three masted schooners, which came from all parts of the globe
to anchor at the wharves.
[Sidenote: _Fires Sweep the Town_]
At about this time Fredericksburg received two serious blows that greatly
retarded its progress and prosperity. The first was in 1808, when nearly
half the town was destroyed by a fire which broke out at the corner of
Princess Anne and Lewis streets, where the Shepherd residence now stands,
and fanned by a high wind quickly roared its way through the inflammable
houses, such as most of the residences then were, until the town was half
in ashes. At the outbreak of the fire most of the citizens were attending
the races at "Willis Field," just below the town, and before they could
get back it had gained such headway that their efforts to check it were
ineffectual. It is said the fire was caused by the overturning of a candle
in the kitchen of the Stannard home, occupying the present site of the
Shepherd residence, where refreshments were being prepared for the funeral
of Mr. Stannard, and that the remains were gotten out of the house only
with great difficulty on the part of the mourners. In those days funerals
were accompanied by feasts, at which cake in sombre wrappings and wine in
glasses with long black ribbons tied to the stems, were served.
Much of the brick construction on the upper business section of Main
street, and a number of residences known as Colonial, are results of that
fire, but deserve to be called Colonial as that period, architectually
speaking, extended until about the year 1812. The Shepherd residence, of
course, was built following the fire; the old Doswell home, now occupied
by Mr. A. W. Rowe, probably was erected afterwards and the old Marye home,
now owned by Mr. A. L. Jenkins, has a corner stone bearing the date 1812,
the residence formerly occupying that site having been burned. However,
most of the older residences in Fredericksburg antedate the fire, and are
of an earlier Colonial period.
[Sidenote: _During The War of 1812_]
Another blow was the War of 1812, and though, as in the case of the
Revolution, the city did not suffer actual physical damage, its business
and trade were interrupted and severely decreased, if not totally stopped,
due to the English dominance of the seas and during the course of that
conflict, the commercial life must have been slow and stagnant.
Fredericksburg itself was for a time threatened when the English admiral,
Cockburn, made a raid up the Rappahannock. Many thought his objective was
Fredericksburg and General William Madison, brother of the President,
summoned a small force which took up positions of defense, from which to
repel the raider, but he never got up the river as far as the city,
turning when much lower down and putting back to sea for a cause which
history has not assigned. During this war, as had been the case in the
Revolution, and was to be in the Civil war to come, the Mercer home, now
occupied by Councilman George W. Heflin, which stands on an eminence on
lower Main street commanding a splendid view of the river, was used as a
post from which to watch for the approach of enemy ships, a use that has
given it the name of "The Sentry Box."
Following the War of 1812, Fredericksburg's trade revived and increased,
and the city settled down to a full enjoyment of that remarkably cultural
era--the only classical civilization America has ever known--which lasted
until the Civil war and which has been made famous in song and story and
the history of the old South. The families of the early settlers had by
now become wealthy; the plantation masters owned hundreds of slaves,
farmed thousands of acres and lived in their handsome old Colonial
mansions in the most magnificent style the times could afford. Surrounded
by many servants and all the comforts known to the day, they entertained
lavishly, kept splendidly stocked wine cellars, boasted of private race
courses and keen thoroughbred hunters and racers, and, as the business of
the plantations was largely in the hands of overseers, they were gentlemen
of splendid leisure with an abundance of time opportunity and means to
devote to sports, politics and literature. Most of them were educated
abroad and were learned in the classics, clever and entertaining
conversationalists, beautiful riders, excellent shots, and when not
engaged in social or literary pursuits that kept them indoors, enjoyed the
sports of the field, hunting to the hounds, gunning for quail, deer, bear,
wild turkey or duck, or fishing in the abundantly supplied streams
tributary to the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. Hard drinking was not
unusual among them, but they were men of the highest sense of honor and
principle, and were always true to an obligation.
[Illustration: THE HOME OF JAMES MONROE
_Who Began His Official Career as a Councilman in Fredericksburg, and
Became President_]
While the townspeople did not enjoy life quite so lavishly as their
plantation neighbors, they were not far behind; entertaining frequently
and hospitably and mingling freely with the people from the country.
[Sidenote: _Care-Free Era of Gayety_]
But though it was a gay and carefree day, the times were not without their
troubles. In 1822 the town was again visited by fire, this time
originating at the site of the present Brent's store, at Main and George
streets, destroying the entire business block encompassed between Main and
Princess Anne and George and Hanover streets. Recovery from this fire was
rapid. The merchants were financially substantial and quickly rebuilt the
burned area.
As early as 1822, Fredericksburg was an important postal point, the mail
for five states being assorted and distributed in the city and sent thence
to its final destination. The conduct of Postmaster General Meigs in
regard to increasing the compensation of carriers on the Fredericksburg
route without authorization from Congress, was the subject of an
investigation by that body, but he was exonerated when it was explained
that the increase was necessary because the mail had become so heavy that
carriers were no longer able to handle it on horse back, being compelled
to use surries, an added expense to them which justified the additional
pay.
James Monroe, a former resident, lawyer and councilman of Fredericksburg,
was at that time President of the United States, and though the town
doubtless was a naturally important postal distribution, it may have been
that the President's influence had some bearing-on the selection of the
place which had given him his political start.
[Sidenote: _The Town Grows Richer_]
For the next decade, the trade and commercial life of the town increased.
The merchants and manufacturers--by this time several large industries of
this character being in operation--were busy and prosperous and had begun
to grow either wealthy, measured in the standards of the time, or were in
very comfortable circumstances, while the citizenry, generally, was
prosperous and free from want. The town was compactly built, many of its
structures now being of brick, and was regularly laid out. The public
buildings consisted of a courthouse, market house, clerks office, the
Episcopal Orphan Asylum, the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist
and Reform Baptist Church. It had two banks, one female and one male
academy of the higher class; a water system supplied through pipes from
Poplar Spring. And the upper river canal was being built, a public
enterprise from which great results were expected and which was to extend
about forty miles up the Rappahannock. Gold was being mined in
considerable quantities in upper Spotsylvania and lower Culpeper counties
and brought to Fredericksburg in exchange for goods, and a generally
thriving trade was being done, chiefly in grain, bacon, tobacco and other
farm products for export. One writer has computed the city's annual
exports at that time as averaging four million dollars, and Government
statistics show that there were in the town in 1840, seventy-three stores,
two tanneries, one grist mill, two printing plants, four semi-weekly
newspapers, five academies with 256 students, and seven schools with 165
scholars. The population in that year was 3,974. Ten years previous it had
been 3,308, divided as follows: whites, 1,797; slaves, 1,124; free blacks,
387.
[Sidenote: _The City Limits Are Set_]
From 1840 until the middle fifties, prosperity was continued. The canal
was completed and had brought about an increased business at a lower cost.
A railroad was in operation from Richmond through Fredericksburg to Aquia
Creek, and steamboats had to some extent taken the place of sailing
vessels as a means of water transportation, meaning quicker trips with
greater burdens. In 1851 the legislature passed an act empowering the town
to extend its limits, which was done according to a survey made by William
Slaughter, and though that was more than seventy years ago, and though the
population has since more than doubled, overflowing the limits and
encroaching on the adjoining county, the limits have not again been
enlarged.
In 1855 Fredericksburg's trade had ceased to grow at a rate equal to its
average yearly increase for the previous twenty years, a condition for
which the business men of that day were not altogether responsible, but
which rather was brought about by the new commercial era the country and
world was just entering--the era of railroad transportation, which quickly
and cheaply, in comparison to past charges, carried the staples of the
farm to the ports of the sea where waiting vessels stood ready to spread
their sable sails on voyages to foreign markets. This era created the
importance of the seaport and spelled the doom, as important shipping
points, of the tidewater cities--those which had been located at the point
where mountain torrent and still water meet in order to get both the
advantage of power production and trade routes.
It is true that the business men of the city made the serious mistake
about this period of building a plank road into one portion of the upper
country from which they derived much trade, instead of building a
railroad, for just a little later transportation by wagon train for export
purposes had nearly entirely given away to transportation by rail, and
Fredericksburg was utterly without such connection with its greatest field
of trade, which soon was largely converted into other channels by the
railroads now beginning to practically surround the town at a distance of
approximately forty miles to the west. The single railroad passing through
Fredericksburg had no coast terminal. Throughout its short length it
paralleled the coast, offering no means of shipping for export, which
comprised most of the business of the day. The plantation owners of the
upper country who had dealt nearly entirely in Fredericksburg, now found
it cheaper to haul to the railroad passing through their country and soon
Fredericksburg was belted by little towns to the west. When later the P.
F. & P. R. R. was built to Orange, it did not save the situation and
except for lumber and ties, a trade it still largely enjoys, it has never
hauled much to Fredericksburg for export, though it did help the city
considerably in the matter of retail business.
Trade, however, had not ceased entirely to grow, nor the town to increase.
In 1860 its population was nearly 5,000 persons, its business men still
were active and prosperous and, but for the Civil war which was to come,
they doubtless would have found a way out of the commercial difficulty
confronting them and a different history of the town from that time
forward might have been written.
[Sidenote: _The War Ends Prosperity_]
But over the course of a few years preceding this date, the community was
troubled and torn by political strife and moral dissention. Black and
ominous on the horizon of men's thoughts loomed the slave question,
perplexing the country's leaders and giving threats of the red carnage
that was to follow. A carnage that cost millions in men and money, caused
unreckoned anguish and suffering, and retarded the growth of the South to
such an extent that at the end of the following fifty years it had only
just begun to emerge from the black shadow cast over it by the war.
By the end of the fifty's, trade had almost ceased, a spirit of patriotism
for the Southland superseded that of commercial enterprise, the quietness
of the soft old Colonial town was broken by wild public meetings; soon the
call of a bugle floated softly across the still air and the heavy
monotonous tread of feet sounded against the ground in unison to the
beating of drums, and though the citizens had been loyal to the Union,
sending by nearly a two-thirds majority a Union man to the State
convention, they made ready for the inevitable conflict, and when the
flame of war burst on the country like a flaring torch, they threw in
their lots with the land of their nativity and bravely shouldering their
arms, marched away from their homes to a fate that would bring them death
or sorrow, and reduce their land to a shambles. The story of the Civil war
as it effected this town is told in other chapters which follow this.
[Sidenote: _A Town in "No Man's Land"_]
For many years after the Civil war, Fredericksburg's connection with the
great tragedy was told in the lines of patient suffering that webbed the
faces of the older generation. It was a town of sombre, black figures--the
widows and daughters of soldiers--gentle creatures who moved about in
quiet dignity, bravely concealing the anguish hidden in their hearts, and
smilingly making the best of such disordered conditions and distressing
circumstances as before they had never known. It was a town filled with
broken, crushed men, ill fitted for the harsher demands of their new
lives; men once rich but now suddenly tossed from the foundations that
always had sustained them, who found themselves aliens in an unknown and
unfriendly world.
Blackened, scarred ruins of what once had been magnificent homes remained
mute, grim evidences of the ghastly horror and the quaint old town was
stunned and still, a tragic wreck of its one time beauty. But as best it
could it gathered up the tangled threads of its existence and for the next
decade struggled dumbly and blindly against the terrible disadvantages
imposed upon it by the ruthlessness of war.
When the war came with Spain, it showed that the hurt of the Civil strife
was gone, when its young men marched proudly through the streets to take
their parts in the crisis; sent on their missions of patriotism with the
feeble but sincere cheers of aged Confederate veterans ringing in their
ears.
With the beginnings of the 20th century, Fredericksburg gave visable
evidence of its recovery from the wounds of war. Its business men had
accumulated sufficient capital to revive trade, at least partially, on its
past scale; additional industries were started, new homes and buildings
sprang up and there was the beginning of a general and steady improvement.
[Sidenote: _A Change in Government_]
In 1909 a group of progressive citizens, among whom one of the most
earnest was the late Henry Warden, a man of immense usefulness, realized
their ambition and the consummation of an aim for which they had fought
for years, when the old form, of councilmanic government was abolished in
favor of the City Manager form, Fredericksburg being one of the first
small cities in the country to adopt it. Since its inauguration, the city
has prospered and improved. Well laid granolithic sidewalks are placed
throughout its business and residential sections, splendid hard gravel
streets, topped with smooth asphalt binding, have replaced the old mud
roadways, the water system has been enlarged and improved, fire protection
increased and other municipal improvements made that have taken the town
out of the class of sleepy provincial hamlets and made of it a modern
little city. New hotels of the finest type, business enterprises and
industrial concerns have come to give it new life and color, but with all
this it still retains much that is sweet and old and is filled with the
charm and elegance of the past.
Though it has just celebrated its two hundred and fiftieth birthday, the
anniversary of a time when America was only beginning to give promise of
its brilliant future, a time when the country was young and weak, but when
manhood was strong and courage held high the torch of hope, Fredericksburg
looks forward to the future with eager longing, confident that in the
mirror of its past is the story of the time to come.
_War's Worst Horrors_
_Shelled by 181 guns for hours, the town becomes a crumbled ruin_
Fredericksburg is the point through which the railway and the roads to
Richmond pass, and is half way between Washington and the Southern city.
During the Civil war the possession of the town was an advantage not to be
despised, and so from the beginning the two great armies of the North and
South were contenders for the town.
The first attempt toward Fredericksburg was made June 1, 1861, when
Federal gunboats and a small cavalry force were defeated, in an attempt to
land troops at Aquia Creek, by General Daniel Ruggles, C. S. A., in
command of the Department of Fredericksburg. This was the first skirmish
of the war, in Virginia, and occurred nine days before "Big Bethel" and
seven weeks after Virginia seceded.
On the nineteenth of April, 1862, the Stafford hills were taken by the
Federals, and on April 27th General Marsena R. Patrick marched troops into
the town and placed it under military rule. General Patrick treated the
citizens with consideration and under his rule there was but little
complaint of oppression. He was, in fact, generally admired for his fair
treatment of the populace.
But with the coming of the conceited and inhuman General Pope, who
followed McClellan in command of the Federal army, all that was changed.
From that time forward this quiet old city between the hills, with its
splendid homes, its old silver and china and tapistry and paintings, its
great trees and broad streets, was to know every cruelty, horror, and
depredation of war.
[Sidenote: _In the Enemy's Hands_]
General Pope, driven back by the Confederates, moved through Fauquier and
Culpeper counties to Fredericksburg, and immediately upon securing the
town, his subordinates scoured the city and arrested nineteen of the most
prominent men, alleging no crime but stating frankly that it was done in
reprisal for the arrest by the Confederates of Major Charles Williams of
Fredericksburg, who was held in Richmond to prevent him from aiding the
enemy. These men were sent to the old Capital Prison at Washington, where
they were held from early in August to late September in 1862, and were
then released in exchange for Major Williams and others. There were Rev.
W. F. Broaddus, D. D., James McGuire, Charles Welford, Thomas F. Knox,
Beverly T. Gill, James H. Bradley, Thomas B. Barton, Benjamin Temple,
Lewis Wrenn, Michael Ames, John Coakley, John H. Roberts, John J. Berrey,
Dr. James Cooke, John F. Scott, Montgomery Slaughter, (Mayor), George H.
C. Rowe, Wm. H. Norton, Abraham Cox.
Fredericksburg was evacuated in August, 1862, when the Northern soldiers
were drawn up in line and marched out of town. A great burden was lifted
from the community. Heavy explosions marked the blowing up of the two
bridges. On September 4th, an advance guard of Confederate cavalry rode
into the town amid shouts of welcome.
The relief was but for a short period. On November 10th, Captain Dalgren's
(Federal) dragoons crossed the river above Falmouth and clattered down
Main street and met a small force of Confederates under Col. Critcher, who
drove them back. But General Burnside's whole army was following and in a
few days held the Stafford hills.
Fredericksburg and the country immediately about it was fought over,
marched over, shelled and ravaged and desolated. The town became a dreary
military outpost of battered, falling walls and charred timbers, of
soldiers, now in gray, now in blue. Under its streets and in yards
hundreds of dead were buried to be now and again, in after years,
unearthed. No other American city ever suffered as did this formerly
prosperous town.
The situation, from a military standpoint, was this: Southeastward of the
city the Rappahannock broadens, so that it is not easily bridged, and
if an army crossed, it still would have to get to Richmond. Northwest (and
much nearer west than north) of the city, the Rappahannock is fordable,
but its course is _away_ from Richmond, and the roads to Richmond _again
lead back toward the rear of Fredericksburg_.
[Illustration: THE SLAVE BLOCK
_Commerce Street, Where Slaves were Sold. The "Step" is Deeply Worn By The
Feet of those Who Mounted It_]
There were, therefore, but two feasible plans for the North to accomplish
its "on to Richmond" purpose. One was to take Fredericksburg and with it
the roads and railway to Richmond; Burnside tried this. The other, to
cross the river just above, and get in the rear of Fredericksburg, thus
getting the roads and railways to Richmond; Hooker and Grant tried this.
[Sidenote: _Threats of Bombardment_]
On November 20th, General Sumner peremptorily demanded the surrender of
the town, under threat of immediate bombardment, but on receiving a
request from Mayor Slaughter, he consented to extend the time twenty-four
hours and sent General Patrick across the river with a message, as
follows:
"Gentlemen: Under cover of the houses of your town, shots have been
fired upon the troops of my command. Your mills and factories are
furnishing provisions and materials for clothing for armed bodies in
rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United
States. Your railroads and other means of transportation are removing
supplies to the depot of such troops. This condition of things must
terminate; and by direction of Major-General Burnside, commanding this
army, I accordingly demand the surrender of this city into my hands,
as a representative of the Government of the United States, at or
before five o'clock this afternoon (five o'clock P. M. to-day).
Failing an affirmative reply to this demand by the time indicated,
sixteen hours will be permitted to elapse for the removal from the
city of women and children, the sick, wounded, and aged; which period
having elapsed, I shall proceed to shell the town.
"Upon obtaining possession of the town, every necessary means will be
taken to preserve order and to secure the protective operation of the
laws and policy of the United States Government."
While General Patrick waited from 10:00 A. M. until 7:00 P. M. (November
21) in a log house at French John's Wharf, the note was passed through the
hands of a civic committee who had previously met General Lee at
"Snowden," (now the beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. F. C. Baldwin) on which
were: Mayor Slaughter, William A. Little and Douglas H. Gordon. A note
from General Lee was then transmitted to the town officials by General J.
E. B. Stuart. This Mayor Slaughter, Dr. Wm. S. Scott and Samuel Harrison
delivered late in the afternoon to General Patrick. General Lee simply
said the town was non-combatant; that he would not occupy it, nor would he
allow any one else to occupy it.
[Sidenote: _The Citizens Driven Out_]
Advised by General Lee, the inhabitants of the town now began to refugee
to the rear. They went in the dark, in a snow storm, afoot, in vehicles
and some in a railway train, upon which the Northern guns opened heavy
fire. They slept in barns, cabins and the homes of country people, and
left behind their silverware and fine old china, their paintings and
portraits and every kind of property, all of which was doomed to
destruction.
But the town was not shelled and a few at a time many of the old men and
the women, the boys and girls, crept back from impossible shelters in the
country to their homes in the town.
Then, twenty-two days later, at dawn of December 11th, at a signal from
the "Long Tom" on Scott's Hill, at Falmouth, Burnside opened on the town,
now half full of residents, with one hundred and eighty-one guns. The guns
were placed along Stafford Heights from the Washington Farm to Falmouth,
and the whole fire was concentrated on the town, where walls toppled,
fires sprang up and chaos reigned.
Frequently the Union gunners fired a hundred guns a minute, round shot,
case shot and shell. The quick puffs of smoke, touched in the center with
flame, ran incessantly along the hills and a vast thunder echoed thirty
miles away. Soon the town was under a pall of smoke, through which lifted
the white spires of the churches.
"The scenes following the bombardment," says John Esten Cooke, in
"Jackson," "were cruel. Men, women and children were driven from town.
Hundreds of ladies and children were seen wandering homeless over the
frozen highways, with bare feet and thin clothing. Delicately nurtured
girls walked hurriedly over the various roads, seeking some friendly roof
to cover them."
The following article by one who, as a little girl, was in Fredericksburg
on the day of the bombardment, catches a glimpse of it in a personal way
that is more convincing than pages of description.