tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85277504567198474942024-02-22T11:09:09.101-05:00Bits of HistoryThe "hisbits" blog focuses on my interests – history (particularly family history) and old houses.Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-66880167938640921662023-04-15T10:31:00.003-04:002023-04-15T10:31:34.063-04:00Through North Carolina -- April 15 to 18, 1865<p> Jefferson Davis and the Confederate government did not travel far on Saturday, April 15, 1865. </p><p>Under Construction</p>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-29962920793539892642022-12-29T16:01:00.008-05:002022-12-29T16:21:23.389-05:00Treasure in Chennault, Georgia<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">While visiting Washington, Georgia, Sarah (my heritage
travel partner) and I traveled northeast to the area known as Chennault. Our purpose was to trace the route used by Jefferson Davis as he fled from Virginia.
Little did we know that Chennault had significance beyond Davis’s
passing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Chennault takes its name from the family who lived and
planted there. A plantation house at the
corner of Elberton Road (GA 79) and Graball Road (GA 44) once belonged to Dionysius
“Nish” Chennault, a 300-pound Methodist minister who was also a planter. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">While the house has had wings added to the side and rear over
the years, it is listed on the National Register for its architectural as well
as social significance. Built shortly
after 1850, it<span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">is</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">a</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">five-bay, two-story,</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">late</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">Greek</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">Revival</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">frame</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">weatherboard</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">house </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">with</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">high</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">pitched</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">gabled</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">roof,</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> a</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">full</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">width</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">two-story</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">portico</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">and</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">two</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">central</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">chimneys,</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">serving</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">eight</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">interior</span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; pointer-events: all; transform-origin: left bottom;">fireplac</span>es. The photo below shows the house in 1976 – the
year of its nomination.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9Wy7utd-Rg6gkfMT1Vhih32NTR0SNXQ81D8QY47NIYhgbD_osOdLHFdyYUv6sR_TxF0fyL8nGS0I43K22C7vtmN5A6MGMlRZEQUQEebPXN34J0Cqd6_tBzbdwOu3OYTfv72C5AIfYIgV7jXU-C3bXsW9RrynRcpX_uN1TlRwHvdDoe_UdDbhjGay/s1308/chennaultHouse_c1976.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1308" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9Wy7utd-Rg6gkfMT1Vhih32NTR0SNXQ81D8QY47NIYhgbD_osOdLHFdyYUv6sR_TxF0fyL8nGS0I43K22C7vtmN5A6MGMlRZEQUQEebPXN34J0Cqd6_tBzbdwOu3OYTfv72C5AIfYIgV7jXU-C3bXsW9RrynRcpX_uN1TlRwHvdDoe_UdDbhjGay/s320/chennaultHouse_c1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chennault Plantation House c. 1976</td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Part of its architectural significance is its relationship
with three other houses – all within six miles.
The houses are of remarkably similar style suggesting a single master builder,
and all were nominated to the National Register. Part of its social significance is from Jefferson Davis and other Confederate officials passing nearby on the morning of May 3, 1865</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">.</span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Chennault property also has the unique significance of witnessing
two raids on the Confederate treasure. The
treasure had two parts – specie and jewels belonging to the Confederate government
and precious metals belonging to the Bank of Richmond. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The wagons carrying the treasure – some called it a treasure
train – traveled to Georgia with and behind the fleeing Davis party. On May 4, 1865, at Chennault, unpaid
Confederate troops demanded immediate payment from the Secretary of War General
Breckenridge. Breckenridge acquiesced with
later ratification by President Davis. The remainder of the Confederate treasury
along with the precious metals belonging to the Bank of Richmond continued on
to be held at the Bank of Georgia in Washington. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Twenty days later, on the night of May 24, 1865, Union troops were not-so-secretly returning the Bank of
Richmond metals to the north. They
camped at Chennault for the night. Confederate raiders, some say Tennesseans, attacked
as night fell. Much of the bank’s gold
and silver was carried off, though bank employees recovered about $40,000 that
had been dropped in the dark the next day. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Local legends say the name of route GA 44 near Chennault is a result
of this raid. Graball Road was where you
would “grab all the treasure you can.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Some say parts of both treasures are still missing. Some is said to be buried at Danville,
Virginia, some buried at Chennault, and some moved to other locations. Entire books have been written and reality TV
episodes produced on the whereabouts of the lost treasure. One TV mini-series even searched the bottom
of Lake Michigan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The pastoral Chennault house today belies its exciting
history.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7kPqHvs7tBzvcDrJwB5lwqpfOqBBK1wZwUNC-G6cN0JEJ5j9hi6cbybuYS0XZEA0ANqAK3CS59_3l7AjWSS5Ezhz-l-WjON0GAxzmh6k5gZzxX8Yy4fYnI6cS-QFwe5tTHbUY4OhCI0souFQbN65ddJBLXPZzhVKpnwFdOvNy2NGQmCAOQ1uCVZ-/s1412/chennault_20220304_115508.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1059" data-original-width="1412" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-7kPqHvs7tBzvcDrJwB5lwqpfOqBBK1wZwUNC-G6cN0JEJ5j9hi6cbybuYS0XZEA0ANqAK3CS59_3l7AjWSS5Ezhz-l-WjON0GAxzmh6k5gZzxX8Yy4fYnI6cS-QFwe5tTHbUY4OhCI0souFQbN65ddJBLXPZzhVKpnwFdOvNy2NGQmCAOQ1uCVZ-/s320/chennault_20220304_115508.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chennault House 2022</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">Sources:<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Carroll, J. Frank; Confederate Treasure in Danville (1996)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Davis, Burke; The Long Surrender (1985)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Williams, Vinnie; Legends surround old homes named to national register;<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> Augusta Chronicle-Herald (September 5, 1976)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Willingham, Robert M. Jr.; The History of Wilkes County, Georgia (2002)</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-75970108862334152052022-11-07T07:31:00.005-05:002022-11-11T13:34:30.409-05:00Jefferson Davis Came to Danville Twice<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Most Danvillians know the story of the Confederate
government evacuating from Richmond to Danville. President Jefferson Davis, his cabinet, and
many other officials arrived in Danville by the Richmond and Danville Railroad on
Monday afternoon, April 3, 1865. Here they
received a warm welcome from the mayor </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">and the townspeople.</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZE1fKiZAW0g8OJLWshBqPFxUJ74VJnOvcAphAR2k2ThXgbwgAGnk4CE92_MBB7psmJ-CVgyCm_1WSbcMhRMVxtWhqR5GNdHcecELTIGPDvU3R29W3-kA-SSYfLB21_Bs7FqIiknZd9Rsf7QBBzInIWmssHu6tcBUttMDU2wZbKuVm3XP2fZxFQ0F/s900/davisJefferson.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="900" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZE1fKiZAW0g8OJLWshBqPFxUJ74VJnOvcAphAR2k2ThXgbwgAGnk4CE92_MBB7psmJ-CVgyCm_1WSbcMhRMVxtWhqR5GNdHcecELTIGPDvU3R29W3-kA-SSYfLB21_Bs7FqIiknZd9Rsf7QBBzInIWmssHu6tcBUttMDU2wZbKuVm3XP2fZxFQ0F/s320/davisJefferson.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Confederate President Jefferson Davis</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">President Davis became a guest at the stately home of Major
William T. Sutherlin on the outskirts of town.</span><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span><span style="font-family: arial;">Other cabinet members also became guests at other fine Danville homes.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">And space was assigned for the necessary government
offices.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">It was hoped that the
government would remain in Danville for a time</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">.</span></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">However, the situation changed quickly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less than six days later, about noon on Sunday,
April 9, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at
Appomattox. Word of the surrender reached Danville the next day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was feared that Union troops could arrive
at any time, so the decision was made to move further south. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>President Jefferson Davis and the Confederate
government left Danville for Greensboro on a Piedmont Railroad train at 11 p.m.
on Monday, April 10, 1865.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Confederate First Lady, Varina Howell Davis, passed
through Danville a few days ahead of the President’s arrival. For her safety, he
had sent her ahead to Charlotte where he had rented a home for the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Varina traveled with their children (Maggie
age 8 or 9, Jefferson Jr. age 7, Willie age 4, and Varina Anne a.k.a. Pie Cake
or Winnie age 9 months), an informally adopted black son four- to six-year-old Jim
Limber, Varina’s sister Maggie Howell, two servants, and the President’s trusted
private secretary Burton Harrison as escort. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The party also included the two daughters of
Treasury Secretary George Trenholm and Midshipman James Morris Morgan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to his duty as a guard for the
party, Morgan was also the fiancé of Betty Trenholm.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWt6l8f6Lpi3j9-GBoJpJ0tpcdsAz6P7sazNEcEhxtVuBXhKQJ-976mt8WNWrC3JuQKXV_tqtH-PnCdiqvtJ5A8wtjYbWq_1q5W4UqbUhdrdXaEHIxGeM8tXmOxSPLQUgdNFRTpBSThG48O7Gtt5CbrkwmWUWUwoRCRD6BkB3DxCFoIvC7LA2tvJmx/s1339/davisChildren_w_Limber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1339" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWt6l8f6Lpi3j9-GBoJpJ0tpcdsAz6P7sazNEcEhxtVuBXhKQJ-976mt8WNWrC3JuQKXV_tqtH-PnCdiqvtJ5A8wtjYbWq_1q5W4UqbUhdrdXaEHIxGeM8tXmOxSPLQUgdNFRTpBSThG48O7Gtt5CbrkwmWUWUwoRCRD6BkB3DxCFoIvC7LA2tvJmx/w400-h221/davisChildren_w_Limber.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Davis Children -- Jefferson Jr., Maggie, Varina Anne, and Willie with Jim Limber</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Historians disagree on when the party left Richmond – either
March 29 or March 30, 1865.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">Due to the
poor condition of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, they did not arrive in
Danville the next day. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">While Danville
extended its usual hospitality and offered for the party to stay, they
continued on, arriving in Charlotte on Tuesday, April 4. <o:p></o:p></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Skipping ahead many years, the Davis family took up
residence in Biloxi, Mississippi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
traveling, Jefferson Davis died in nearby New Orleans on December 6, 1889, at
the age of 81.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A grand funeral was held
drawing larger crowds than even for Carnival. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jefferson Davis was temporarily interred in
the tomb of the Army of Northern Virginia at Metairie Cemetery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JFLdajELEU6CoMkKnfZ_5YK4tVOAmgHc72GsPtMHfJs9NFMgeaPXFwyGaDetSWGhyQRtW6kCDhFZ-7sG7luCMf6aWgcbbxvnlUkof0dM7qF5IbesgA5GbiwkTI-RRxP0BOxpcIEvMVHUdlJUWwq45zUWqQ3xCK03ek90mozDNviIYQmo3_ULMZwe/s1354/davisBody.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1354" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JFLdajELEU6CoMkKnfZ_5YK4tVOAmgHc72GsPtMHfJs9NFMgeaPXFwyGaDetSWGhyQRtW6kCDhFZ-7sG7luCMf6aWgcbbxvnlUkof0dM7qF5IbesgA5GbiwkTI-RRxP0BOxpcIEvMVHUdlJUWwq45zUWqQ3xCK03ek90mozDNviIYQmo3_ULMZwe/w400-h281/davisBody.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />Soon after, Varina moved to New York City to be near to publishers
of her husband’s memoirs and because the hot climate of the Mississippi coast
was bad for her health. She likely passed through Danville when she moved and perhaps
on other occasions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Danville was, after
all, a railroad hub at that time and is still on the line to New Orleans.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was not until July 1891 that Varina Davis decided that
her husband’s final resting place should be Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She visited Richmond later that year to select
a specific site. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also decided
that the reburial would take place on May 30, 1893, though this was later
changed to May 31. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, Jefferson
Davis’s body would be transported from New Orleans to Richmond by rail.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">At the request of the state governments, the body would lie
in state at their capitals – Montgomery, Atlanta, and Raleigh – and then be
carried north through Keysville, Virginia, to Richmond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the people of Danville pleaded
urgently to have a stop in their town – the Confederacy’s last capitol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was agreed once officials of the Richmond
and Danville Railroad assured the organizers that this would not affect the
schedule in Richmond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Thus, the funeral train backtracked to Durham and Greensboro,
and then north to Danville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It arrived
at 9:00 p.m. on May 30, 1893.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it
rolled into the station, a choir sang “Nearer, My God, to Thee.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 6,000 people were assembled and so
crowded the train that soldiers were forced to press them back with their
rifles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few ever saw the casket in the
funeral car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Every church bell in Danville rang on the second visit of
Jefferson Davis as the funeral train departed for Richmond.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGK4Owk4sJ_4ifdvLX7wU4222PxT-SvB0x6KQXbDDzxLy5JE0VUDJZZQwtMvF2NO9xWyEKDcf3uyovSTiTHFbFsZpfMzwb7hh-P6yA0RtH402bvlImFIoxDM9XciK--8ma-GueCDXQkyp7GYE4SRfcxe8UHUoNDs0qbIZKE5eYzK7-lJKXfwb56Px/s469/davisFuneralCaisson_Richmond.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="469" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGK4Owk4sJ_4ifdvLX7wU4222PxT-SvB0x6KQXbDDzxLy5JE0VUDJZZQwtMvF2NO9xWyEKDcf3uyovSTiTHFbFsZpfMzwb7hh-P6yA0RtH402bvlImFIoxDM9XciK--8ma-GueCDXQkyp7GYE4SRfcxe8UHUoNDs0qbIZKE5eYzK7-lJKXfwb56Px/w400-h281/davisFuneralCaisson_Richmond.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Sources:<br />Ballard Michael; A Long Shadow (1985)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">
Clark, James C.; Lat Train South (1984)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">
Collins, Donald E.; The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis (2005)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">
Davis, Burke; The Long Surrender (1985)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">
Johnson, Clint; Pursuit (2008)<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">
Swanson, James; Bloody Crimes (2010)</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p></o:p></p>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-78518899169661208372022-09-07T15:35:00.019-04:002023-04-15T10:29:34.870-04:00Five Days in Greensboro – April 11 to 15, 1865<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Flight of Jefferson Davis</span></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;">On alighting in Greensboro on Tuesday, April 11, 1865, President Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet found a much different welcome than they experienced in Danville. Greensborians knew of the raids being conducted nearby by General George Stoneman and feared that assistance to the Confederate government would worsen their plight. The doors of their homes were closed. But during their stay, the men of the town assured an ample supply of liquor for the Cabinet and the ladies provided pies and other delicacies.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLo6RjAogcel8Go8hHdlXIGaZX9nRi8sC9om0_wcSnaohzYNOsZR9BmUSzvxQ3rR6GNuMqiKHWdyY9weQ9xxc9WxcvRymXK1YmlvRCrTx_BPLMmpCDrAOmg94udhcBNPs32cvIqwmTqUK5G0DVXPCMtg72O6MQ_FgzzzG_PH-nOewIdyl7QFC5Sibh/s720/blandwood.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="720" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLo6RjAogcel8Go8hHdlXIGaZX9nRi8sC9om0_wcSnaohzYNOsZR9BmUSzvxQ3rR6GNuMqiKHWdyY9weQ9xxc9WxcvRymXK1YmlvRCrTx_BPLMmpCDrAOmg94udhcBNPs32cvIqwmTqUK5G0DVXPCMtg72O6MQ_FgzzzG_PH-nOewIdyl7QFC5Sibh/w400-h234/blandwood.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blandwood Mansion</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Only one Cabinet member was taken in by a local resident – the ailing Treasury Secretary Trenholm by former North Carolina governor John Motely Morehead at his Blandwood Mansion (above). Some historians say this was less an act of kindness than an effort to have the Secretary exchange Morehead’s Confederate securities for gold or silver.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjGgu4IpFq9BGPeLkUyKDjt--wQ0GIfHqQ1dfzBA9GqI7UAuY63ObA6Tzb-XjZEqnteZffRjlw3w8V8_nGVq-DZyQC03c1-LjTseeL8et8AFRtw4SymoP7LqxJ0y769T4KH9PpWQ3hPy28c9NHu5yXE-48gtWFix-prxbzb4ZzYNEx9fl5m5KIHaY/s240/woodJohnTaylor.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="189" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjGgu4IpFq9BGPeLkUyKDjt--wQ0GIfHqQ1dfzBA9GqI7UAuY63ObA6Tzb-XjZEqnteZffRjlw3w8V8_nGVq-DZyQC03c1-LjTseeL8et8AFRtw4SymoP7LqxJ0y769T4KH9PpWQ3hPy28c9NHu5yXE-48gtWFix-prxbzb4ZzYNEx9fl5m5KIHaY/s1600/woodJohnTaylor.jpg" width="189" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Taylor Wood</td></tr></tbody></table></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While President Davis may have been offered other lodging, he stayed with his first wife’s nephew, John Taylor Wood. Wood, the grandson of President Zachary Taylor, a Confederate naval hero, and an aide to the President, had moved his family from Richmond to Greensboro several weeks earlier. Much of what we know about Jefferson Davis’s flight comes from Wood’s diary. In his family’s modest apartment, he furnished President Davis with a small second-story room. In <i>Flight Into Oblivion</i>, A. J. Hanna reports the house was located on the site that later became the National Theater – about a block from the depot.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap6pqKR_nlQTsMHS-tzoFHfO_m3alhOkY5UjJTx-WAswbYr75cyCx4mlDDdm_87xQTjvB6MgQGLhvwSdtm6ZIzEId-1ZUt8a7sXUTvuYecGo0qg3xYqgktLgOYYoCcrD4a_rta1Kn-dhaHn0Ojy1CI8qtPgXsrvar4WboWGW16uJ8Dt2wJgjNKNHl/s640/nationalTheater.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="640" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjap6pqKR_nlQTsMHS-tzoFHfO_m3alhOkY5UjJTx-WAswbYr75cyCx4mlDDdm_87xQTjvB6MgQGLhvwSdtm6ZIzEId-1ZUt8a7sXUTvuYecGo0qg3xYqgktLgOYYoCcrD4a_rta1Kn-dhaHn0Ojy1CI8qtPgXsrvar4WboWGW16uJ8Dt2wJgjNKNHl/w400-h284/nationalTheater.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Theater</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The National Theater in its heyday (above) and the site today (below). The site of John Taylor Wood's apartment will soon be lofts.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnaMomXKq4vc2Jcl_y4-l9TkAY3eBtoDYYfkuyKxWcTgL2lFjH35hIcZdfeQ8bl_EkHTcB1mY_KtleW3V_29dyD67uXAmLD6EOc1Cn_6k7MLX6rAL76B84QBQFbGOsuQN5iQoB00cv8-Drx-1xe3oDXVUILP0EjsfhHk3c0IbByTF0vsNUFhZFJsz3/s1107/nationalTeater_location.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="1107" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnaMomXKq4vc2Jcl_y4-l9TkAY3eBtoDYYfkuyKxWcTgL2lFjH35hIcZdfeQ8bl_EkHTcB1mY_KtleW3V_29dyD67uXAmLD6EOc1Cn_6k7MLX6rAL76B84QBQFbGOsuQN5iQoB00cv8-Drx-1xe3oDXVUILP0EjsfhHk3c0IbByTF0vsNUFhZFJsz3/w400-h184/nationalTeater_location.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtiUbe-iom-_1sw4haR3nFFWN1Or_e51hwmT2mvxZsl6M8G5g4IRbVx5TmDiy-JkhsF6E2FQ0c5OR7fgUjsqKSSbaPymGS3b6oazFhoQ9gtfdVHloQj5EtQ65lsBgIPg4G7PBDozUGWb17U6YRRpr_-X8w_2x92HUJjHgVTg1W0uoLl7OJuUKjegF/s367/cabinetMarker.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtiUbe-iom-_1sw4haR3nFFWN1Or_e51hwmT2mvxZsl6M8G5g4IRbVx5TmDiy-JkhsF6E2FQ0c5OR7fgUjsqKSSbaPymGS3b6oazFhoQ9gtfdVHloQj5EtQ65lsBgIPg4G7PBDozUGWb17U6YRRpr_-X8w_2x92HUJjHgVTg1W0uoLl7OJuUKjegF/w171-h200/cabinetMarker.jpg" width="171" /></a></div></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, the rest of the Confederate Cabinet occupied a dilapidated leaky passenger car and a boxcar on a siding nearby. The cars served as both their quarters and their offices. The railyard today is shown below. </span></p><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Shortly after the arrival of Davis and most of his Cabinet, General P. G. T. Beauregard also arrived in Greensboro by train from Raleigh and set up his headquarters in boxcars near the Cabinet car. </span></p><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzwFEQIPz9bQ4Iv0TjQtrX7dI0EyleeoaJy5YI-YAdZhppSxs4FeMsfuQLQ8i3qW7W7q6GPqKNmKcbc5YFwcR4vOtAdVjGe0sKER2S-2xXfFcIWbUZeQiPspX6N0l-c5kL14mHTDZjMT1079hsJHMtjGkxp12iMuH-GEkMrSphtTw9iL7DPsb3X2Q/s800/siding.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="800" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwzwFEQIPz9bQ4Iv0TjQtrX7dI0EyleeoaJy5YI-YAdZhppSxs4FeMsfuQLQ8i3qW7W7q6GPqKNmKcbc5YFwcR4vOtAdVjGe0sKER2S-2xXfFcIWbUZeQiPspX6N0l-c5kL14mHTDZjMT1079hsJHMtjGkxp12iMuH-GEkMrSphtTw9iL7DPsb3X2Q/w400-h173/siding.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greensboro Rail Yard -- Location of Boxcars</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The next day, April 12, General Joseph E. Johnston also steamed into town and set up offices in one of Beauregard’s boxcars. The two generals conferred that morning before being summoned by President Davis to his own boxcar offices.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLz9E1PRyUsQ3-CVRDHHe7V7v0rf3mYyELKcAYozf19SiRgQFhVFQyy2BgTr5TDmBIokx_i--FcmOY9QmeZ12XCmvDE435EVoooiq63Xbje6M8QUts05tBZKfxxrOv6YViNXC8Vg-5Sy7AmRYN6sg2APE0AzuUFYAsM0SL0mSaHMNobgZS50c8EKjt/s881/generals.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="881" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLz9E1PRyUsQ3-CVRDHHe7V7v0rf3mYyELKcAYozf19SiRgQFhVFQyy2BgTr5TDmBIokx_i--FcmOY9QmeZ12XCmvDE435EVoooiq63Xbje6M8QUts05tBZKfxxrOv6YViNXC8Vg-5Sy7AmRYN6sg2APE0AzuUFYAsM0SL0mSaHMNobgZS50c8EKjt/w400-h236/generals.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Johnston and Beauregard expected to brief the President on military conditions. Instead, the President spoke of gathering conscripts and deserters to quickly field an army large enough to continue the war. On hearing the generals’ opinions that this would be impossible, Davis dismissed the meeting until the following day.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYk9uQs-u5Q0GgBb36Hc_7RBg7dRQdmzGY91Eyvw0ldKks9QldlgdQzxhJTnV_J4EQE6nZjdxdz1F8geMrf4VKUeoq24AUEdwkaNditJvPOx019hTuKbVPbY817SuvOL2snF4haEd2faf9yo-nk19PzncE-steX6JpRL2d3Z8bgEomZ6czlCnE36Iy/s400/greensboroCabinetMeeting_woodHome.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYk9uQs-u5Q0GgBb36Hc_7RBg7dRQdmzGY91Eyvw0ldKks9QldlgdQzxhJTnV_J4EQE6nZjdxdz1F8geMrf4VKUeoq24AUEdwkaNditJvPOx019hTuKbVPbY817SuvOL2snF4haEd2faf9yo-nk19PzncE-steX6JpRL2d3Z8bgEomZ6czlCnE36Iy/w200-h200/greensboroCabinetMeeting_woodHome.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On the morning of Thursday, the 13th, President Davis called a cabinet meeting in the small apartment of John Taylor Wood. The generals later joined this meeting. Neither Johnston nor Beauregard offered any hope of carrying on the war. They estimated Confederate strength at 25,000 men while Union forces totaled 300,000. Johnston suggested it would be a crime to continue the effort and urged the president to negotiate for peace. Polling his cabinet, Davis found all but one in agreement. Reluctantly, Davis dictated a letter to be transmitted to Union General Sherman.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Late on the 13th or early on the 14th, the President received official word from General Robert E. Lee about his surrender at Appomattox. This telegram convinced the President that the government must move further south for its safety. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Packing began on Friday the 14th. Because Union General Stoneman had cut the railroad lines, travel would have to be by the unpaved roads and trails of the time.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., Union President Lincoln was preparing for the ill-fated evening at Ford's Theater.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibVa5b5cXKFpZs7zCulUUqL8rDQ4NwLr0JA3HNIJGFFt8hl9k6mbZhJvNJfoS6z5Z_fqgB_d-zKQ337HVvEKf-pcRClYQNNdckvJ0rTetq3jjCsXVpe1KVFCUSyiQV4n9VB4DyKNpQ7NWcVCnEgjs1jMLTfO0K1Wc1bWK99H2bIMm4t0Upzu50dE6/s800/ambulance.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibVa5b5cXKFpZs7zCulUUqL8rDQ4NwLr0JA3HNIJGFFt8hl9k6mbZhJvNJfoS6z5Z_fqgB_d-zKQ337HVvEKf-pcRClYQNNdckvJ0rTetq3jjCsXVpe1KVFCUSyiQV4n9VB4DyKNpQ7NWcVCnEgjs1jMLTfO0K1Wc1bWK99H2bIMm4t0Upzu50dE6/w400-h180/ambulance.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On Saturday, April 15, at about the time of Lincoln's demise, the Confederate government left Greensboro in wagons, ambulances, and on horseback. As in Danville, the government’s departure resulted in rowdy troops and Greensborians raiding the Confederate warehouses for food and supplies.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">It should have been during the Confederate government’s five days in Greensboro that President Davis realized the futility of additional combat. It seems, however, that he vacillated between the desire to remain true to Confederate cause and to return to his beloved family that he believed to be in Charlotte.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Overall, the Confederate government was not treated to the fine southern hospitality for which Greensboro is still so well known. This was a harbinger of things to come. </span></p><p><span>Sources:<br />Ballard Michael; A Long Shadow (1985)<br />Clark, James C.; Last Train South (1984)<br />Collins, Donald E.; The Death and Resurrection of Jefferson Davis (2005)<br />Davis, Burke; The Long Surrender (1985)<br />Hanna, A. J.; Flight Into Oblivion (1938)<br />Johnson, Clint; Pursuit (2008)<br />Swanson, James; Bloody Crimes (2010)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: large;"><span><o:p></o:p></span></p><span><br /></span><p></p></div></div>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-33210105038308235612022-09-07T14:28:00.006-04:002022-11-07T10:03:34.480-05:00Danville to Greensboro – April 10 and 11, 1865<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Flight of Jefferson Davis</span></h3><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXqw6A5NbdZEYHApSaZvb6fXoPlRzqngSYiQ8EPy81tLErqHXHUVcaeC5htEN-FXWFGwzcYtD_QJ0e3E14yyfFaw5lhtY0fMf3ABEHA8yjwBVDai1qg_Xy83AbPPxcDcwb39ZxTHlFxpYLUXn7V1LrKrQl11QE0UX1veoGy0uRbp7OlH_wCtZBPrG/s249/wiseLtJohnS.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXqw6A5NbdZEYHApSaZvb6fXoPlRzqngSYiQ8EPy81tLErqHXHUVcaeC5htEN-FXWFGwzcYtD_QJ0e3E14yyfFaw5lhtY0fMf3ABEHA8yjwBVDai1qg_Xy83AbPPxcDcwb39ZxTHlFxpYLUXn7V1LrKrQl11QE0UX1veoGy0uRbp7OlH_wCtZBPrG/s249/wiseLtJohnS.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="232" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsXqw6A5NbdZEYHApSaZvb6fXoPlRzqngSYiQ8EPy81tLErqHXHUVcaeC5htEN-FXWFGwzcYtD_QJ0e3E14yyfFaw5lhtY0fMf3ABEHA8yjwBVDai1qg_Xy83AbPPxcDcwb39ZxTHlFxpYLUXn7V1LrKrQl11QE0UX1veoGy0uRbp7OlH_wCtZBPrG/s1600/wiseLtJohnS.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lt. John S. Wise</td></tr></tbody></table>On April 8, 1865, Lieutenant John S. Wise arrived in Danville after a hard ride from General Lee’s headquarters at Appomattox. He appeared just as President Jefferson Davis and others were dining at the Sutherlin mansion. Lee had authorized Wise to make an oral report for fear that a written document might be intercepted. Though Wise, Lee reported that his army was now too far west to turn south to Danville and that his only hope was to break through Union lines. Wise also offered the opinion that Lee would be forced to surrender in just a matter of days. As we now know, surrender occurred at Appomattox the next day. The first word of that surrender was received in Danville on Monday, April 10.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">By that time, preparations were being made to move the President and the Confederate government further south. It was feared that Danville would soon fall into enemy hands. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">(As it turned out, the absence of President Davis and his Cabinet meant Danville was no longer a primary target. The mayor surrendered the town to Union forces on the morning of April 27, more than two weeks after Davis’s departure. Civilian control was returned in May just a few weeks later.)</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuVx9aE0WvjRjODnfeFRSFghBSGzzXvwU548-Yc93gYuNjxACLp4c--NYRuTgHIW6x7pc0HPVghBkLqtwkDACyBb_1QKiIRMjMtcXyg24vNKS6kUqlQp50twHzi8uHYKSHaVVGSH6usv2IPc6aj__d8QaVLkZuy7Y5w5icQU133RCQqXMeJ6Tnktc/s768/piedmontRailroad_map.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="584" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuVx9aE0WvjRjODnfeFRSFghBSGzzXvwU548-Yc93gYuNjxACLp4c--NYRuTgHIW6x7pc0HPVghBkLqtwkDACyBb_1QKiIRMjMtcXyg24vNKS6kUqlQp50twHzi8uHYKSHaVVGSH6usv2IPc6aj__d8QaVLkZuy7Y5w5icQU133RCQqXMeJ6Tnktc/s320/piedmontRailroad_map.jpg" width="243" /></a></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Travel to the south for the President and many others would be by the Piedmont Railroad. This road, constructed between 1862 and 1864, was not in the best of condition. Due to shortages when it was built, the ties were spaced too far apart. Fully open for only a year, it had seen heavy use transporting supplies from further south to Danville and on to Richmond in support of Lee’s army. </span>It was only a hope that that the Piedmont Railroad had not been cut by the forces of Union General George Stoneman. </span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">An overloaded train with the President and his Cabinet left the Danville depot near eleven o’clock that night. The train proceeded at a walking pace during the night so the engineer could verify there were tracks ahead. Whether there were any depots along the line is unknown, but there were stations at Pelham, Ruffin, and Reidsville (the only real town along the line). While stops were likely made for wood and water, the only known halt was to replace a failed engine five miles from Danville and still above the North Carolina border. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The tracks, now part of the Norfolk Southern, still follow their original route. While there is little evidence of the Piedmont Railroad per se, there is a Civil War Trails marker in Reidsville. It is across Market Street from the rails in front of the retirement home of antebellum North Carolina governor David Settle Reid. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDeuKacod9cWEemy5yrsiUskP5O1DA6zTMWF7iPi1Z_-jVGfzH1TQSiIrIPzYEdcZSTRtPn_Dvjd3BQpY3I9dcDoGgdGGPaMrNYwiIyKDgTN6WT-hUkyJbnC7qhGb7DsLW866WyIHDtuIfKQvwTB5tp-zhnGwyNfP6bbwJPnVcxZWnarrXqS1HVIG/s1200/reidsvilleMarker.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="1200" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNDeuKacod9cWEemy5yrsiUskP5O1DA6zTMWF7iPi1Z_-jVGfzH1TQSiIrIPzYEdcZSTRtPn_Dvjd3BQpY3I9dcDoGgdGGPaMrNYwiIyKDgTN6WT-hUkyJbnC7qhGb7DsLW866WyIHDtuIfKQvwTB5tp-zhnGwyNfP6bbwJPnVcxZWnarrXqS1HVIG/w400-h239/reidsvilleMarker.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />(Having first served in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1843 to 1847, David Reid was elected the 32nd North Carolina governor seated in 1851. In late 1854, a month before his term as governor expired, he was named to fill a vacant seat in the U. S. Senate until 1858. Later, he was one of five North Carolina delegates to the February 1861 Washington Peace Conference just before President Lincoln was inaugurated. The unsuccessful Conference sought compromise between the states and to avoid additional secessions.)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Moments after Davis’s train crossed the Reedy Fork Bridge (see map above), about ten miles north of the Greensboro depot, the bridge was burned by Brigadier General Palmer’s brigade as a part of Stoneman’s Raid on North Carolina. The Confederate government had escaped destruction by minutes.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Twnxmj6K0fuj51Yp_R6IM6Q2z6sGBV0pl9VdQ8LxDXxB98_2-IVatvd2pk3X2xD1BtgBzr0hApqF__UQyWTcl-YIYqGl4Hq2xPVTyGcB-_Km165CD4PedmkCcpnromaHlSn1ZGx7h_yzu0rlG5xkwNL-4tVP0mml6hCqDcFYocO9SCNjjVyVFvHX/s1200/greensboroDepot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1200" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Twnxmj6K0fuj51Yp_R6IM6Q2z6sGBV0pl9VdQ8LxDXxB98_2-IVatvd2pk3X2xD1BtgBzr0hApqF__UQyWTcl-YIYqGl4Hq2xPVTyGcB-_Km165CD4PedmkCcpnromaHlSn1ZGx7h_yzu0rlG5xkwNL-4tVP0mml6hCqDcFYocO9SCNjjVyVFvHX/s320/greensboroDepot.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Present Greensboro Depot</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPD7ywusw-ofZb8iuBAO3-hiXpFe-kfygyzDIK6zxgMFoeNdcs4qtu4byscdwoPuprpiRlE9bL3kyHBPm2ymEbT6lqphiTKbxHEovpGJQOu7jcF1fkPMSgmCxBK0vJ_AgXK9nPJqDhUFJqtR5qjWAC3ewLqw9okJq4Vmkpq-4ZX99TEHVnfZCdf6D/s673/greensboroPiedmontRR_marker.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPD7ywusw-ofZb8iuBAO3-hiXpFe-kfygyzDIK6zxgMFoeNdcs4qtu4byscdwoPuprpiRlE9bL3kyHBPm2ymEbT6lqphiTKbxHEovpGJQOu7jcF1fkPMSgmCxBK0vJ_AgXK9nPJqDhUFJqtR5qjWAC3ewLqw9okJq4Vmkpq-4ZX99TEHVnfZCdf6D/w178-h200/greensboroPiedmontRR_marker.jpg" width="178" /></a></div><br />Early Greensboro maps show a wooden passenger depot near South Elm Street about two blocks west of the newer 1927 depot (above). An historic marker for the Piedmont Railroad stands in front of the new depot. The older depot (later part of the Richmond & Danville Railroad) was at the approximate location of today’s McGee Street at the railroad underpass (below).</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4S84ID6OYOqzuANnwdtbB3dEdOYRGSimEu71BQy-sV1db5rhAA81ZNdlOjPxMcocTX3x863jTiE86kCSR_V998gE2yLDY_2aHMoacvXolLrR90lSkX2Sz_IJYPM6GyKCW_mbecF8CF01gaFhPHarHGg1wFnKwXaAbbdqpWZN8Hcc67FYN1dk82wSw/s1029/oldDepot_map.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="873" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4S84ID6OYOqzuANnwdtbB3dEdOYRGSimEu71BQy-sV1db5rhAA81ZNdlOjPxMcocTX3x863jTiE86kCSR_V998gE2yLDY_2aHMoacvXolLrR90lSkX2Sz_IJYPM6GyKCW_mbecF8CF01gaFhPHarHGg1wFnKwXaAbbdqpWZN8Hcc67FYN1dk82wSw/w339-h400/oldDepot_map.jpg" width="339" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-69990397583571973812022-08-16T07:41:00.007-04:002022-11-07T10:04:38.964-05:00 To Danville – April 3, 1865<h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Flight of Jefferson Davis</span></h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;">President Jefferson Davis and members of his cabinet left Richmond sometime between 10:00 and midnight on April 2, 1865. They traveled on a special train via the Richmond & Danville Railroad (R&D RR) – the only railroad remaining operable from the Confederate capitol. Many historians agree the train was pulled by the engine “Charles Seddon,” but as with most information about Davis’s flight, that name is uncertain. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4Ad22oCiEN6tLtP7CvpzitRFx9uXcwZk_9yQePcufurGk0A3DAxBsFpaR_XicqZ5XMh-Z_ucutPAddc2eCROAq82dikAnzLQhexGLumPdJhNjTcdhRv2S3aTYoiP27OUiW-i6UKzx4aa9DY74ZlMu6XveM9RP1OlNBQfHMLfpbtYnwGk_CqvddsM/s830/the%20Locomotive.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Charles Seddon" border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="830" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4Ad22oCiEN6tLtP7CvpzitRFx9uXcwZk_9yQePcufurGk0A3DAxBsFpaR_XicqZ5XMh-Z_ucutPAddc2eCROAq82dikAnzLQhexGLumPdJhNjTcdhRv2S3aTYoiP27OUiW-i6UKzx4aa9DY74ZlMu6XveM9RP1OlNBQfHMLfpbtYnwGk_CqvddsM/w400-h301/the%20Locomotive.jpg" title="The Charles Seddon" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Charles Seddon</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />After the Civil War, the R&D expanded aggressively laying new track and purchasing other railroads. By 1890, it had grown to over 3,300 miles of track but was on shaky financial footing. In 1894, the R&D and other lines emerged from a reorganization as the Southern Railway. The Richmond & Danville was no more. The Southern Railway became the Norfolk Southern in 1982.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Much has been written about the Confederate government’s 1865 trip on the R&D. Perhaps the most complete account is Jefferson Davis’s Flight from Richmond by John Stewart. My purpose was not to add to that detail. Instead, I wanted to follow Jefferson Davis and, to the extent possible, see what he saw in 1865.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwG9grPNtztI3oI189Mr6ayPO8x85BZ97Xo8IosUMK25tglYy_Re_xvZQmPtvftreuZonAQLqgo0wjv2ABD0AVPPKnT1yxSrbzVLRDvFqyAIWakS8tX0Mij4ZYMbcWD2JhYA9T2v1xZzKD2MQFg16GqAf7UdlsiReQxtT7ET6k6CmVAl5mKK7EsUcT/s1018/mapAppleton_1864.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Railroad Map from 1864" border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="1018" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwG9grPNtztI3oI189Mr6ayPO8x85BZ97Xo8IosUMK25tglYy_Re_xvZQmPtvftreuZonAQLqgo0wjv2ABD0AVPPKnT1yxSrbzVLRDvFqyAIWakS8tX0Mij4ZYMbcWD2JhYA9T2v1xZzKD2MQFg16GqAf7UdlsiReQxtT7ET6k6CmVAl5mKK7EsUcT/w400-h286/mapAppleton_1864.jpg" title="Railroad Map from 1864" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />The tracks of the R&D are still in place west from Richmond to southwest of Keysville (just over halfway to Danville), from Clover to South Boston, and from Ringgold to Danville. Except for a few miles southwest of Keysville operated by the Buckingham Branch Railroad, the tracks are owned and operated by Norfolk Southern. In every location I visited with tracks in place they were shiny suggesting they are currently used.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeFYiCusjzDSRItSdn7hFoL4P8JgqqxamaHLa6QxOg04Bj-CBme4MyMl5vBU_aaQ1HxRUB-XS_qWl3tRqeSNdSSCGPpKEzz0lgVYOsu1XndqN5mStysMp5KBvbOQZ1dv9GXx8aHD2s2CFfUooGAgHjaKbotnzX-Wl4RuRjrLN--uRv9eekMkDH1TG/s614/mapNS_2016.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Norfolk Southern Routes in 2016" border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="614" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyeFYiCusjzDSRItSdn7hFoL4P8JgqqxamaHLa6QxOg04Bj-CBme4MyMl5vBU_aaQ1HxRUB-XS_qWl3tRqeSNdSSCGPpKEzz0lgVYOsu1XndqN5mStysMp5KBvbOQZ1dv9GXx8aHD2s2CFfUooGAgHjaKbotnzX-Wl4RuRjrLN--uRv9eekMkDH1TG/w400-h295/mapNS_2016.jpg" title="Norfolk Southern Routes in 2016" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Railroads always have stations – a location where trains come to a stop perhaps for fuel or water. Some stations have depots – one or more buildings for use by passengers and for handling freight. R&D locomotives were wood fired and stopped often for supplies of wood and water. Depots were often targets of Union raiders seeking to disrupt the Confederacy’s transportation system.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rNANFXROqcAaltTo_GiswTpmQI7GqiTczup9eHDmHgGmBnXXfaQv69cipvSK2VZb2gxPoyPMrAAOaHV-HdTQMNnAHfEH33sb-ZdKQd8CMHvy27u9BgBSj4OH2clivCrHISCg_8mc5onLgxyQcrR9bjOe_VZtKtavxeVe3P9Clva02XNiV5AZ6g32/s912/manchesterDepot_1910.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Manchester Depot on Hull Street" border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="912" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rNANFXROqcAaltTo_GiswTpmQI7GqiTczup9eHDmHgGmBnXXfaQv69cipvSK2VZb2gxPoyPMrAAOaHV-HdTQMNnAHfEH33sb-ZdKQd8CMHvy27u9BgBSj4OH2clivCrHISCg_8mc5onLgxyQcrR9bjOe_VZtKtavxeVe3P9Clva02XNiV5AZ6g32/w400-h241/manchesterDepot_1910.jpg" title="Manchester Depot on Hull Street" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manchester Depot</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Every train stopped in the City of Manchester – once the county seat of Chesterfield County but now incorporated into the City of Richmond. There is a Southern Railway station there on Hull Street, but it isn’t near the R&D tracks. The depot appears to be from the 20th century and is now the Richmond Railroad Museum. The museum is open only on Saturdays and Sundays and I was traveling on Wednesday. Jefferson Davis would not have been here.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The next stop of any certainty by the Presidential train was Moseley Depot in Powhatan County some 22 miles down the tracks. There is no evidence of a station or community today except for a Moseley Road paralleling the tracks for about 700 feet. Less than a mile past Moseley the tracks change general direction from west to south / southwest.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The rails continue to Chula in Amelia County. There are some older homes there. Reportedly, Chula depot was destroyed by Union forces in 1864 but was soon rebuilt.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hos9oaXFOGtie71E20s-m3JVUpIN48rHtwh-ohq76NRU6uSJOyv9df1OvUt_dBkfJw0RRdArNFFZ3NmULjP8r_uXu_Y90eicvmPQEDs2KChyi_ukZm1hkSxUOi4j2iwtzB8BmefIynHvk-iG1EmX1bVxZNuK8tA4URRbjdfqMEdXzdRYISs1rZ9r/s444/ameliaSign.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Amelia Sign" border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hos9oaXFOGtie71E20s-m3JVUpIN48rHtwh-ohq76NRU6uSJOyv9df1OvUt_dBkfJw0RRdArNFFZ3NmULjP8r_uXu_Y90eicvmPQEDs2KChyi_ukZm1hkSxUOi4j2iwtzB8BmefIynHvk-iG1EmX1bVxZNuK8tA4URRbjdfqMEdXzdRYISs1rZ9r/w135-h200/ameliaSign.jpg" title="Amelia Sign" width="135" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">About three miles further on, in the community of Winterham, U.S. 360 begins to follow the route of the R&D. Drivers on 360 will often see the rails over the next 40 miles.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The next station with a depot, 36 miles from Richmond, was Amelia Courthouse. In The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Davis himself reports that no stop was made at Amelia.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_Xt0vBmPzGfEt6o1GPoNVJCYf0eL5dlLdhWP4W8bYo72UpT2rO3PVoLPSwsXfmk2e7cpWfzS1CnVQvy30gSEXl3Ii8QwPDjGDxEAk-_vT80vQqJpajyMDrferWaxdrsWSDO8B-UNxzBzxkyCCHw9TC_4WIr7vZW9bTcxn-M9KVrJWG9CzFpX_tJ9/s800/jetersville.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Jetersville" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_Xt0vBmPzGfEt6o1GPoNVJCYf0eL5dlLdhWP4W8bYo72UpT2rO3PVoLPSwsXfmk2e7cpWfzS1CnVQvy30gSEXl3Ii8QwPDjGDxEAk-_vT80vQqJpajyMDrferWaxdrsWSDO8B-UNxzBzxkyCCHw9TC_4WIr7vZW9bTcxn-M9KVrJWG9CzFpX_tJ9/w400-h300/jetersville.jpg" title="Jetersville" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jetersville</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Rather, the train stopped at Jetersville about seven miles on – then a comfortable village with several stores and a depot. One store, possibly from 1865, remains next to the tracks. Two days later, General Lee’s retreating army followed the same route from Amelia Courthouse to Jetersville. He encountered Union forces here forcing him to turn north toward Amelia Springs and Farmville.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiglvLRGBfw23hZb27ybFjFOiBVLFIoGJSRwgyErZvgwmpPt_I-PQaPOxhwvC-pmh0mM3IUTzn9ZYtEb9BzL8JRt--TqKAuwizJIzrlS_m04FLuRj9jvxkEpPPU4MdsmXoUypqcdYPWZSO2jnXFovnOE-uxiunZb-ACWEQtN5LWvjbXeS24-eleEOJ/s1024/burkesvilleStation_c1890.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Burkeville Depot ca. 1890" border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1024" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiglvLRGBfw23hZb27ybFjFOiBVLFIoGJSRwgyErZvgwmpPt_I-PQaPOxhwvC-pmh0mM3IUTzn9ZYtEb9BzL8JRt--TqKAuwizJIzrlS_m04FLuRj9jvxkEpPPU4MdsmXoUypqcdYPWZSO2jnXFovnOE-uxiunZb-ACWEQtN5LWvjbXeS24-eleEOJ/w400-h294/burkesvilleStation_c1890.jpg" title="Burkeville Depot ca. 1890" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Burkeville, in Nottoway County, was the junction of the R&D and South Side (Petersburg and Lynchburg) Railroad making it a special target for Union raiders. The President’s train pulled in just before sunrise at about 5:00 a.m. for wood and water. Here the Presential party left the train for the first time to see the raiders’ ruins. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JZhIllDbsarBdir1PP-Ar246X944FWTxVTvm-IcPbYaqZlXrFoe0VzUExXrC0QJoe_fiUb4kZIuUdGhOtdeTvPXohemBnSRZDU3MdEMshe7GHGOkKEUqk7ecndN3zq3C7EMhO_TFCuKeDyVxJ9B2j0587QRblVjuCXpqr6wT2Y1gVFBESqNIPgjF/s800/burkevilleDepot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The New Burkeville Depot Today" border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="800" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JZhIllDbsarBdir1PP-Ar246X944FWTxVTvm-IcPbYaqZlXrFoe0VzUExXrC0QJoe_fiUb4kZIuUdGhOtdeTvPXohemBnSRZDU3MdEMshe7GHGOkKEUqk7ecndN3zq3C7EMhO_TFCuKeDyVxJ9B2j0587QRblVjuCXpqr6wT2Y1gVFBESqNIPgjF/w400-h170/burkevilleDepot.jpg" title="The New Burkeville Depot Today" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Present Burkeville Depot</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Burkeville presently has a beautiful depot, but it was constructed in 1915 and moved across the railroad tracks to its present location in 2001. </span></p><div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Norfolk Southern leaves the tracks of the R&D here to follow the old South Side Railroad toward Appomattox and Lynchburg.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQruPEXqxOOSZOzOgY0gGGD1DWeB4uTEhG3CJS8qWALLoQhAt9B-L_3WcVKTL1rRztQnWVjAZ7x5hI6MDMboMY9sPU4EHtpoIZhkpkoHG8cVuysubQlCjMbk3gUu7JgifgK9EBhgNv07G08TryxINvKx70qtOeffGW-OcdPwMtgnVqRHRfGejMtk4k/s800/twinBridges.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Twin Bridges in Green Bay" border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="800" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQruPEXqxOOSZOzOgY0gGGD1DWeB4uTEhG3CJS8qWALLoQhAt9B-L_3WcVKTL1rRztQnWVjAZ7x5hI6MDMboMY9sPU4EHtpoIZhkpkoHG8cVuysubQlCjMbk3gUu7JgifgK9EBhgNv07G08TryxINvKx70qtOeffGW-OcdPwMtgnVqRHRfGejMtk4k/w320-h238/twinBridges.jpg" title="Twin Bridges in Green Bay" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />The hamlet of Green Bay also had a depot destroyed by raiders in 1864 and quickly rebuilt. The Presidential train did not stop here. Interestingly, Green Bay has a beautiful, trussed bridge of uncertain age over the tracks of the Buckingham Branch Railroad – the former R&D.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vPVyYJx3OeFreDSZtCPBTk7B-MO8zzYdFnUxWUrTlpLdZ9L71q6-FEDLUWCC7tB8Y6soqDtpP-1OIAGiDz72xlA9YzJ1bjntyAcbNy2l1oDHyR1bPz-EikTWiO_gqsrQ7IqB0ZMiPR4JAkoD1R89z9qGkktYWXwMcjT6b9466cFGx6iJlExgEBNg/s800/keysvilleDepot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Keysville Depot" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vPVyYJx3OeFreDSZtCPBTk7B-MO8zzYdFnUxWUrTlpLdZ9L71q6-FEDLUWCC7tB8Y6soqDtpP-1OIAGiDz72xlA9YzJ1bjntyAcbNy2l1oDHyR1bPz-EikTWiO_gqsrQ7IqB0ZMiPR4JAkoD1R89z9qGkktYWXwMcjT6b9466cFGx6iJlExgEBNg/w400-h300/keysvilleDepot.jpg" title="Keysville Depot" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Present Keysville Depot</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Y9VDl6c6S4xoONIq90QEQGsPGF6hAOqdJnwZlmqZcn769VeZVAlU_2O-fSOb2TDmfYWWja8AC32MUXfnX_c-ZT2ZnMcEVHKRZi2QF-dM8thYRmGRyAUOFbTYQwXSpKkKa5QIXjERcD9Jl1ZKhDmeCSkB1FK4UItVWmP2-Jl-vZLeYEWylWHUMbaz/s375/keysvilleWaterTower.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Keysville Water Tower" border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Y9VDl6c6S4xoONIq90QEQGsPGF6hAOqdJnwZlmqZcn769VeZVAlU_2O-fSOb2TDmfYWWja8AC32MUXfnX_c-ZT2ZnMcEVHKRZi2QF-dM8thYRmGRyAUOFbTYQwXSpKkKa5QIXjERcD9Jl1ZKhDmeCSkB1FK4UItVWmP2-Jl-vZLeYEWylWHUMbaz/w107-h200/keysvilleWaterTower.jpg" title="Keysville Water Tower" width="107" /></a></div><br />While there is no record of the Presidential train stopping here, Keysville is still a delightful little town with a block-long main street. The town once centered on its railroads – the R&D mainline and an R&D spur to Clarkesville built in 1875. The depot is likely from the very early 1900s and stood in for depots in Eastport, Maine, and Warm Springs, Georgia, in the 1976 filming of the TV movie Eleanor and Franklin. The Keysville station retains its water tower.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiO60_rjuGvlg7AOPc7NvpzJf6cCDf2nyQBr30SWRNJ7Nbw5fAM3qKunZm194-q4titL6z3x5GjBRlLIKLmZE_MtwgDSIPoBj1V0_zhGC2YWP0C8QBcNR2MiF10Rz0umkJm4IiM2Bbo6dm-2bAafIu-AtCbMHyeLlTKIOdP6vAz3IRus8qnB2Xvm89/s800/keysville_charlotteHotel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Charlotte Hotel" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiO60_rjuGvlg7AOPc7NvpzJf6cCDf2nyQBr30SWRNJ7Nbw5fAM3qKunZm194-q4titL6z3x5GjBRlLIKLmZE_MtwgDSIPoBj1V0_zhGC2YWP0C8QBcNR2MiF10Rz0umkJm4IiM2Bbo6dm-2bAafIu-AtCbMHyeLlTKIOdP6vAz3IRus8qnB2Xvm89/w400-h300/keysville_charlotteHotel.jpg" title="Charlotte Hotel" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlotte Hotel</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Across from the depot is the 1907 Charlotte Hotel. This and two other hotels were busiest when gold and copper were discovered in the area. The gold didn’t amount to much. The copper played out in the early 1920s.</span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT67kAXy4PVo8HY79TdORvdM87qZXKGBRy8sBPBZABbWc3t3OCpELy1Lr5JnSeTFINm1PdWZSZRLBI5TdnnazSaRJCK7cLrw1Ew15s7-lPJcm5KtGFajgiMQX7pXhRxp1ugrNwxPXVzlwtqSfYxdbt3pCXlDhP6pfdTpvjdNoX4zjB7_HAkjG_Fnd/s249/wiseLtJohnS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="232" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT67kAXy4PVo8HY79TdORvdM87qZXKGBRy8sBPBZABbWc3t3OCpELy1Lr5JnSeTFINm1PdWZSZRLBI5TdnnazSaRJCK7cLrw1Ew15s7-lPJcm5KtGFajgiMQX7pXhRxp1ugrNwxPXVzlwtqSfYxdbt3pCXlDhP6pfdTpvjdNoX4zjB7_HAkjG_Fnd/s1600/wiseLtJohnS.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lt. John S. Wise</td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">The rails of the R&D in Clover exist primarily to serve the coal-fired Clover Power Station near the Staunton River. In 1865, Clover certainly had a depot and the Presidential train stopped for wood and water. In an account that some say is unreliable, Lt. John Wise, stationed in Clover, stepped aboard the train to chat with his brother-in-law Dr. Alexander Garnett – physician to the President. During this visit, Wise noted that the President’s face showed physical and mental exhaustion.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">We learn of Lt. Wise again as the messenger between Davis in Danville and Lee in Appomattox just a few days later, a well-documented account.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">About two miles before reaching South Boston, the presidential train was delayed by a wreck. The train ahead of the President derailed following the collapse of the floor in a boxcar. Five lives were lost.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAmlVsNYRfJmSDmGRUA3jYHLNsxFwVK-mv-Y92HlZPN6VgKKQs4IS3zufJIKZ6N1NtzGzi45LJ7fuZ6Vabj6vA9TmvclkdOAUaUeCDbMQmUGIOoo2bBGkR0co4gKgeA5ZfIx6lzVCcqdp7Bk_G9E66J7m7KAOzycEnYw1WclvP6dSe-BoVcQM7oG-/s757/soboMap.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Location of South Boston R&D Depot" border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="757" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihAmlVsNYRfJmSDmGRUA3jYHLNsxFwVK-mv-Y92HlZPN6VgKKQs4IS3zufJIKZ6N1NtzGzi45LJ7fuZ6Vabj6vA9TmvclkdOAUaUeCDbMQmUGIOoo2bBGkR0co4gKgeA5ZfIx6lzVCcqdp7Bk_G9E66J7m7KAOzycEnYw1WclvP6dSe-BoVcQM7oG-/w320-h307/soboMap.jpg" title="Location of South Boston R&D Depot" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />South Boston certainly had a depot by 1854 as it was the end of the R&D Railroad at that time. It is also the end of the line today as the trains from Clover proceed north on the tracks at this point. It is not known whether the Presidential train made a stop at that depot adjacent to the Dan River and the covered bridge across the Dan. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqN0LxN-sB5ch3VdI5Ho2IU6fM8OkfmX1sY4QHA8RNS49o9seKGMtofqR7zLTC7DCIP1JypfImtqYggMLYBu5bK6kBAnWQMDe6Br_MrkQJk5bQlJzD7xqLD-6-sEkoQZdIJ2LMbm1mScZG9ea7NfVHTubGpQXGHu4pU3_27kecieqfDhx8xvXAGpZV/s800/soboDepot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="South Boston Depot" border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="800" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqN0LxN-sB5ch3VdI5Ho2IU6fM8OkfmX1sY4QHA8RNS49o9seKGMtofqR7zLTC7DCIP1JypfImtqYggMLYBu5bK6kBAnWQMDe6Br_MrkQJk5bQlJzD7xqLD-6-sEkoQZdIJ2LMbm1mScZG9ea7NfVHTubGpQXGHu4pU3_27kecieqfDhx8xvXAGpZV/w400-h250/soboDepot.jpg" title="South Boston Depot" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Present South Boston Depot</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />South Boston has a depot today built along the tracks of the Lynchburg & Durham Railroad (now Norfolk Southern) by 1917. This depot is far from the R&D rails.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJR3OKJczHudEdmNdO79AivmQ-Qou1RrYEIaq7JPKwt4j1KOEPH0TWXBkZqEY7q648UQnc6i6bVm0kOQ4yU48XLmttTcOj7ZWO3SI02R-MFF1HS4kJx4JspZRmDW3kcoyXYikL4EWhMMk-1Yn4DYzjq9vnionnpsxykU-Ddaiplw5GovF0xCu0OFG/s800/ringgoldRailTrail.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ringgold Rail Trail Sign in Sutherlin" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJR3OKJczHudEdmNdO79AivmQ-Qou1RrYEIaq7JPKwt4j1KOEPH0TWXBkZqEY7q648UQnc6i6bVm0kOQ4yU48XLmttTcOj7ZWO3SI02R-MFF1HS4kJx4JspZRmDW3kcoyXYikL4EWhMMk-1Yn4DYzjq9vnionnpsxykU-Ddaiplw5GovF0xCu0OFG/w400-h300/ringgoldRailTrail.jpg" title="Ringgold Rail Trail Sign in Sutherlin" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Sutherlin was a station but there was no known depot. Later, in 1878, the narrow-gauge Milton & Sutherlin Railroad terminated here. Sutherlin is presently the eastern terminus of the Ringgold Rail Trail on the railbed of the R&D. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNDl5R_jNilk6O5tXOCkoZZQHowOHhSkVLgJdfD_5vHKdFn4g0mSa_6o8y02BBeECAAk3DJrus6x7S1UiUAWZqQ39pXGkqqTVOzsYrypjE29TjL2iKv6PL1mXzhRvzKRcX-oCI8fDzfwizyjP1_EbywNb-u4mq9JTUfxwoQv7n1Jobpj8uLJKS3MW/s800/ringgoldFreightDepot.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ringgold Freight Depot" border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="800" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNDl5R_jNilk6O5tXOCkoZZQHowOHhSkVLgJdfD_5vHKdFn4g0mSa_6o8y02BBeECAAk3DJrus6x7S1UiUAWZqQ39pXGkqqTVOzsYrypjE29TjL2iKv6PL1mXzhRvzKRcX-oCI8fDzfwizyjP1_EbywNb-u4mq9JTUfxwoQv7n1Jobpj8uLJKS3MW/w400-h226/ringgoldFreightDepot.jpg" title="Ringgold Freight Depot" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ringgold Freight Depot</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Ringgold, just five miles from Danville, had a freight depot in 1865 but no passenger accommodations. Today that depot it is the western terminus of the Ringgold Rail Trail. Norfolk Southern operates just west of Ringgold to Danville serving local industries.<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-MKmWXkuxIUAX-WPBFHGldbRkpCKG3UnWKwUW25uHAXp8XBQgOjrF7rYM5PsfLd9GH4Vg_jKz_O8RXFCorvh3LLhGk98kEv8ZIVMD1K4TahnS_1CnJ7c6J94TZZRO08XTdFGza9t431Af7GV1P0c5nBwjW4XYvWAj1yCf1G03jLfEgT01Xge1K5Z/s738/danvilleDepotMap.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Location of Danville Depot" border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="738" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-MKmWXkuxIUAX-WPBFHGldbRkpCKG3UnWKwUW25uHAXp8XBQgOjrF7rYM5PsfLd9GH4Vg_jKz_O8RXFCorvh3LLhGk98kEv8ZIVMD1K4TahnS_1CnJ7c6J94TZZRO08XTdFGza9t431Af7GV1P0c5nBwjW4XYvWAj1yCf1G03jLfEgT01Xge1K5Z/w400-h217/danvilleDepotMap.jpg" title="Location of Danville Depot" width="400" /></a></div><br />On the afternoon of April 3, 1865, after about 18 hours of travel, the Presidential train crossed the Dan River on its wooden trestle and arrived at the Danville depot. The depot too was a wooden structure. It was immediately adjacent to Craghead Street – in front of today’s station. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9i8qOmRGNdMYFU27EIEPeVDKRx0c5mGRfKBrnBmAFckWTzWETZN9YZRiuF0rxkT01ftgDYbTdSNUox6YOk5uqkjWzC4ICyRc6F2n7qrjxZ-9lW11L9SFPv-4YLpbaF1HTVUgqGUerYZ_z1uY-mDaV-Ewcle6tZiT05MhP3P8iZUNg-PP42omqgUxx/s800/sutherlinMansion.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Sutherlin Mansion" border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="800" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9i8qOmRGNdMYFU27EIEPeVDKRx0c5mGRfKBrnBmAFckWTzWETZN9YZRiuF0rxkT01ftgDYbTdSNUox6YOk5uqkjWzC4ICyRc6F2n7qrjxZ-9lW11L9SFPv-4YLpbaF1HTVUgqGUerYZ_z1uY-mDaV-Ewcle6tZiT05MhP3P8iZUNg-PP42omqgUxx/w400-h236/sutherlinMansion.jpg" title="Sutherlin Mansion" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sutherlin Mansion</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Danville’s Mayor Walker organized an official welcoming committee. President Davis was escorted to the stately home of Major W. T. Sutherlin near the outskirts of town. He stayed until April 10 before continuing his flight south.</span><p></p></div>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-46787568285158986182022-08-13T14:44:00.007-04:002022-11-07T10:03:55.844-05:00 In Richmond – April 2, 1865<h3 style="text-align: left;">The Flight of Jefferson Davis</h3><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Much of the history of Jefferson Davis’s flight from Richmond on April 2, 1865, until his capture in Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10 is imprecise. There was no one whose purpose was to record the actions or the location of the Confederate President. What we have is often from the diaries and recollections of those around him – and from his own writings completed many years later in 1881. This post is about the first day of his flight.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">All who were in Richmond on Sunday morning, April 2, described the day as “bright.” Some said beautiful, clear, balmy, or springlike. One chronicler even said peaceful, though that seems unlikely with the skirmishes occurring in nearby Petersburg. For my visit in August 2022, the day was oppressively hot and humid.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-a3MuA1R87AC-kDiU_Lk4jprMmXigRaU9P6yihFovzTdu0td4coVJ38DbGH64LZW2Ql7Tc9ClYSThB_gwQA8Fqur6qkkWZeZ6qNPKl8lStZaSQvwNSOw_lYX7r07INr6BCbmjtKBhDnhEeliT7VhyGqColYsl8s__-iJqi6kwu5yQgxgb42Sffla2/s875/whitehouse_1865.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Executive Mansion a.k.a. White House of the Confederacy, April 1865" border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="875" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-a3MuA1R87AC-kDiU_Lk4jprMmXigRaU9P6yihFovzTdu0td4coVJ38DbGH64LZW2Ql7Tc9ClYSThB_gwQA8Fqur6qkkWZeZ6qNPKl8lStZaSQvwNSOw_lYX7r07INr6BCbmjtKBhDnhEeliT7VhyGqColYsl8s__-iJqi6kwu5yQgxgb42Sffla2/w400-h283/whitehouse_1865.jpg" title="Executive Mansion a.k.a. White House of the Confederacy, April 1865" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />On April 2, Davis left the Executive Mansion, now referred to as the White House of the Confederacy, in time for the 11:00 service at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. The church was about six blocks away. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Executive Mansion was erected in 1818 at the corner of 12th and K streets – now 1201 East Clay Street. It was built by Dr. John Brokenbrough, president of the Bank of Virginia. The mansion was updated just before 1861 by merchant Lewis Crenshaw adding its third floor, gas lighting, and a bathroom. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7uZT2lRFbxUYDaU0TfqGBXOVxRBnWLEcatM1Sn-jWoEh2GapnVScKhYrjjdhcI7XixQbGJJvHg_6OsqnDk2Lc_15-vBlACKW2FglcDtRHJ_DVKJE_gi4nRC--cw33vUqkAtA_CtXnfWtWjJCvhFfRSTCBpn4G60OTvNSlQUKCNz91WA7XFseMQrH/s1058/whitehouse_streetSide.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7uZT2lRFbxUYDaU0TfqGBXOVxRBnWLEcatM1Sn-jWoEh2GapnVScKhYrjjdhcI7XixQbGJJvHg_6OsqnDk2Lc_15-vBlACKW2FglcDtRHJ_DVKJE_gi4nRC--cw33vUqkAtA_CtXnfWtWjJCvhFfRSTCBpn4G60OTvNSlQUKCNz91WA7XFseMQrH/w151-h200/whitehouse_streetSide.jpg" width="151" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Acquired by the Commonwealth of Virginia for use by the President, the mansion was near the edge of the city in the posh Court End neighborhood. It had commanding views of valleys to the north and east as well as Shockoe along the James River to the south. I had expected some of the same, but instead found the mansion on a tiny plot of land surrounded by the high-rise hospital of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). I’m sure President Davis would have found the parking garage quite interesting.</span><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Clay Street side of the mansion is Federal and, in my view, not very attractive. The rear, however, has an attractive columned portico. Across a small courtyard there is a welcome center and gift shop located in a VCU building.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjnC-PHlTnGB1-FBdgyffqqV0scIYMpYO7TaF7hoxfbZXNsoScDEl37Nsv-K_-XlsdpTovNPX2SOdYbZYL6zkJeYecesCpcRqiH95LOH5kBESBSp_pSZjb39SsGQEw9a88YnaxJxxemHHj9-2mIsF88-fqLYFgvUdqtKtAwQiw0JdyOTYU3XdBnkb/s883/whitehouse_rear.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Executive Mansions -- Rear / Garden" border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="883" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjnC-PHlTnGB1-FBdgyffqqV0scIYMpYO7TaF7hoxfbZXNsoScDEl37Nsv-K_-XlsdpTovNPX2SOdYbZYL6zkJeYecesCpcRqiH95LOH5kBESBSp_pSZjb39SsGQEw9a88YnaxJxxemHHj9-2mIsF88-fqLYFgvUdqtKtAwQiw0JdyOTYU3XdBnkb/w400-h358/whitehouse_rear.jpg" title="Executive Mansions -- Rear / Garden" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />During Reconstruction, the mansion served as a military headquarters. It was returned to the Commonwealth in 1870 when it became the Central Public School. When the city proposed to replace the building with a new school, local ladies formed the Confederate Memorial Literary Society and received the house from the city in 1894. They opened the home as the Confederate Museum in 1896. In 1976, a new museum opened and restoration of the mansion to the time of the President’s occupancy was begun. It reopened to the public in 1988 in its present form. </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJ6GRSDdWcVfJH4oojWCTshE2qNZLw5kcv4Nx-Dvqcy76sX5ECr8GOUZ22WeNRuy7D1u7jrOPQ-JMMlTMLyjzADAi1TKG-nTvqRY7w-TN1Lnt14tTcbQxbRzH-NGHPIsV1ogqhfm4S3_XJpTddLQklvw1tU-0G9p1IceH0-wXFsrSElg_cxowhage/s416/parlorDrawing.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Center Parlor and Drawing Room" border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="323" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpJ6GRSDdWcVfJH4oojWCTshE2qNZLw5kcv4Nx-Dvqcy76sX5ECr8GOUZ22WeNRuy7D1u7jrOPQ-JMMlTMLyjzADAi1TKG-nTvqRY7w-TN1Lnt14tTcbQxbRzH-NGHPIsV1ogqhfm4S3_XJpTddLQklvw1tU-0G9p1IceH0-wXFsrSElg_cxowhage/w155-h200/parlorDrawing.jpg" title="Center Parlor and Drawing Room" width="155" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />That form is quite accurate with rugs and carpets recreated from the many descriptions of the mansion by contemporary visitors. Much of the furniture is original as it was the property of the Commonwealth, not the Davis family. My tour guide was entertaining and supplemented his presentation with a folder of original photographs. Tour reservations are required.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eBS6fif3sWTAJHiToq1XAYdS2mh7YmjLy0WPfxAmcamO5XnWRgrdDkYw0GoH7TKvf-uVIVEA0a3N1jIHrnr9MrImvj-nPDCnPqXZIABcpSnjgYOUxrKV5KW7srN1jvL8dfVfQf1HRdysG_AXYo8VY92p_vnmgd4RKyIvMWBUhDnJSC2r9nXnxAXO/s756/stPauls_ext.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="St. Paul's Episcopal Church" border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6eBS6fif3sWTAJHiToq1XAYdS2mh7YmjLy0WPfxAmcamO5XnWRgrdDkYw0GoH7TKvf-uVIVEA0a3N1jIHrnr9MrImvj-nPDCnPqXZIABcpSnjgYOUxrKV5KW7srN1jvL8dfVfQf1HRdysG_AXYo8VY92p_vnmgd4RKyIvMWBUhDnJSC2r9nXnxAXO/w251-h320/stPauls_ext.jpg" title="St. Paul's Episcopal Church" width="251" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Like President Davis, I left the mansion to go to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at the corner of Grace and Ninth Streets. The Greek Revival building was consecrate in 1845. The style complements the Thomas Jefferson designed temple-form Virginia Capitol across Ninth Street. The church is open for prayer and meditation from 10:00 to 4:00 daily. It also has an underground parking garage.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">At the time the Davis family was in Richmond, it was customary for parishioners to buy or rent their pews. Davis had pew #63. He shared that pew with Robert E. Lee when General Lee was in the city. That pew remains available to visitors, and I took the opportunity to sit there for my meditation.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In 2015, the congregation removed all symbols related to “the lost cause.” This included several plaques and changes to some stained-glass windows. There is no visible evidence of Davis’s membership or attendance. The church and Richmond in general are becoming more and more devoid of their history.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cKRCZ6ZBKuKPElM5o3EHaCR9lK0q5DlYnxVx1UQRYk8jwCDguVAMqIiwXGJVmj4ctMxQ_29bJzKeY5Q0jwNq7uCkpcvPM1dFZfyyecaQLLqYcWaCwUluymRIeAQ5PW_Powcrg0SVccPLIbMq034GIG-kAa__aIwfViEDrcJu69Ja5op5r-X1CEVz/s900/stPauls_int.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="St. Paul's Episcopal -- Interior" border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="900" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cKRCZ6ZBKuKPElM5o3EHaCR9lK0q5DlYnxVx1UQRYk8jwCDguVAMqIiwXGJVmj4ctMxQ_29bJzKeY5Q0jwNq7uCkpcvPM1dFZfyyecaQLLqYcWaCwUluymRIeAQ5PW_Powcrg0SVccPLIbMq034GIG-kAa__aIwfViEDrcJu69Ja5op5r-X1CEVz/w400-h256/stPauls_int.jpg" title="St. Paul's Episcopal -- Interior" width="400" /></span></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While in pew #63 on April 2, 1865, Davis received a telegram from General Lee announcing his withdrawal from Petersburg and the need to evacuate Richmond. According to Davis, he then arose, went to his office, assembled his cabinet, and instructed them to be ready to leave that night at 8:00. </span></p><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJ5n-qWLRFI4vMzLDKmtJ2TWwNmhBNnlm34llYNYvqmYMEwmQRrAadVvTzLG2aATA3O6va5sOjYSrOaavMuwQAyBwdoJNgjI9DVhmKRRxGqZUdXnbZEW8DRODD7w0hQXGa_TkIAku2FfqLp2EuA8WWxraTxcvpw5nmp1TMWLFcS-3LGLw8__5PoJB/s800/eob.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Executive Office Building" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPJ5n-qWLRFI4vMzLDKmtJ2TWwNmhBNnlm34llYNYvqmYMEwmQRrAadVvTzLG2aATA3O6va5sOjYSrOaavMuwQAyBwdoJNgjI9DVhmKRRxGqZUdXnbZEW8DRODD7w0hQXGa_TkIAku2FfqLp2EuA8WWxraTxcvpw5nmp1TMWLFcS-3LGLw8__5PoJB/w400-h300/eob.jpg" title="Executive Office Building" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Confederacy’s Executive Office Building was at 1000 East Main Street with Davis’s office on the third floor. That same building is now the Lewis F. Powell, Jr., United States Courthouse. (Powell was a Supreme Court Justice at the time of Roe v. Wade.)</span></p></div><div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Davis then returned to the Executive Mansion to pack his personal belongings and make final arrangements for the contents of the house. He reportedly left for the Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D RR) Station at dusk – about 7:00.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Richmond presently has an historic train station – the Main Street Station and Trainshed. It is a familiar sight to anyone traveling I-95 North through Richmond. But that building was not erected until 1901. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTOK9IJMXSu57o10yakJYiUz3M-M9BGq1yL8fOho3XH1UY6f0b6bE1wDglC9Zmhh1hlOY8KtYWZivy048js34oixHiBBqaJve_YMRH6hVI9jrA66T7Jr0R4cKzS-K2pOcTn04qce80-YVYZKklzCmAoPJYz3pMP9MFRtd66H78pOZo0r96Icw5L05/s602/depot_1864.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Richmond & Danville Railroad Depot" border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="602" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTOK9IJMXSu57o10yakJYiUz3M-M9BGq1yL8fOho3XH1UY6f0b6bE1wDglC9Zmhh1hlOY8KtYWZivy048js34oixHiBBqaJve_YMRH6hVI9jrA66T7Jr0R4cKzS-K2pOcTn04qce80-YVYZKklzCmAoPJYz3pMP9MFRtd66H78pOZo0r96Icw5L05/w400-h311/depot_1864.jpg" title="Richmond & Danville Railroad Depot" width="400" /></span></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Finding the site of the R&D station proved a bit of a challenge, especially because the fleeing Confederates burned the adjoining area, the depot, and parts of the railroad bridge.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFlKvxUm3_KMr7_kkZZRAOQiYcMtqekvjcVbcI0epsJsN50zWYHaoQJ0LWgEtTbeEKdld-E2m67c8x_emJwYvG2a1CTon6ApaLywRiA5IMOMx64eLRx5bM8SJ6XzxmrLMWvSggxA4-HZEhOyGa3KAOO8HI2OC59hFlIiLYo-HKqNQp3fg59iVo3pI/s497/depotRuins.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="R&D Depot Ruins" border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="497" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNFlKvxUm3_KMr7_kkZZRAOQiYcMtqekvjcVbcI0epsJsN50zWYHaoQJ0LWgEtTbeEKdld-E2m67c8x_emJwYvG2a1CTon6ApaLywRiA5IMOMx64eLRx5bM8SJ6XzxmrLMWvSggxA4-HZEhOyGa3KAOO8HI2OC59hFlIiLYo-HKqNQp3fg59iVo3pI/w400-h313/depotRuins.jpg" title="R&D Depot Ruins" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Old maps suggest the R&D depot was on Virginia Street just 100 feet or so from the James River. That site that now contains a high-rise condo. The R&D also had freight yards a little further along 14th Street. It seems the Southern Railroad, the R&D’s successor, erected a newer building on that site, shown below.</span><p></p><div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYPim8qSiol3YXAPMz_Ku9lT9FCfEuC6XvsZKtNyMWLLJmU2KC-xeZEufOPZcp7vmHOA8hOQ3gOrEMj2kqNefew9JD12aP6W5VmgUb2pmH_cSfrnlRMfgbCiaXU99E3OA-T29dGeDQ8oxsUXMlPb4iAEIw-6kjVa6JuYvQvgj7ywg5ChPQvOBrR0i/s834/southernBldg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img alt="Southern Railway Building" border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="834" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYPim8qSiol3YXAPMz_Ku9lT9FCfEuC6XvsZKtNyMWLLJmU2KC-xeZEufOPZcp7vmHOA8hOQ3gOrEMj2kqNefew9JD12aP6W5VmgUb2pmH_cSfrnlRMfgbCiaXU99E3OA-T29dGeDQ8oxsUXMlPb4iAEIw-6kjVa6JuYvQvgj7ywg5ChPQvOBrR0i/w400-h256/southernBldg.jpg" title="Southern Railway Building" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />The actual time the Presidential train left Richmond for Danville is uncertain. While an 8:00 departure was planned, the crush of people and the many last-minute details slowed things down. Some say actual departure was at 10:00 while others say 11:00 or even midnight. Due to the poor condition of the railroad and frequent stops, the President did not arrive in Danville until late the following afternoon. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Richmond to Danville by car takes less than three hours. My trip took much longer as I searched for the remnants of the R&D RR.</span></p></div></div>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-87439042330125095932022-07-18T14:50:00.025-04:002022-08-13T14:50:19.018-04:00Ocean Springs, Mississippi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Where Is Ocean Springs" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBM-tfcJzxjMqNjwcYQl1H65Tw9Clp7PUaLGdGGuUv8luyfYIcyqCXla4Qb7tl61aGOw49da7-geXcp4GUE2O_WWiG8RHDYOhxxUE6weEfwJ12-VjnDlD_fkf09iY5UTRhBzsHiswtNC-4TYFrbRD9JXKKuuAVKBsfZVb1MfjSb5nV7q52OUynztZn/w400-h267/whereIs.jpg" title="Where Is Ocean Springs" width="400" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">Commissioned by French
King Louis XIV, Pierre LeMoyne, Sieur D’Iberville, explored the upper Gulf of Mexico
in 1699. He first located what we now call Ship Island about twelve miles from
the mainland. He then sailed into a bay where he spotted a high, defensible
bluff. There he founded Fort Maurepas, the first capital of the French Louisiana
Colony.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">The surrounding area and the bay
into which he sailed was called Biloxy after the local Native American tribe.</span></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 1720, the area we now
know as the City of Biloxi was settled for the first time. The original
settlement across the bay was known as Vieux Biloxy or Old Biloxi. In 1811, the
area became part of the Mississippi Territory, with Mississippi becoming a
state in 1817.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 1854, Old Biloxi, the
site of Fort Maurepas, became known as Ocean Springs because a New Orleans
physician believed the local springs had medicinal qualities. Many tourists visited
the local spas.</span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the early stages of the </span>Civil
War, Ship Island was captured by Union forces,
enabling them to take control of the area. No major battles were fought in the
area saving Ocean Springs from direct damage from the war.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In 1870, the Mobile to New
Orleans railroad came to town returning Ocean Springs to a tourist destination.
It also allowed the easy shipment of Ocean Springs’ seafood to regional
markets.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SUqhWGPhMzOp05WNCcd58oFOHq2Vw4JroIW647CbstRd8cjagw1Dz7oTXVJkn5cMvsuK-G_Wi2Gw7MhUQxfMkQ1FnKbKEHyYVUv4rOXmwzI7cWFUwf647IwjXJy4oQOjRwNtGSWb8Qfqw1blZFNJ2T1nERDVX_qCoG8yqLdG4mxCU1HeBUWhYqx6/s538/biloxiBridge_2005.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="US 90 Bridge 2005" border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="538" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3SUqhWGPhMzOp05WNCcd58oFOHq2Vw4JroIW647CbstRd8cjagw1Dz7oTXVJkn5cMvsuK-G_Wi2Gw7MhUQxfMkQ1FnKbKEHyYVUv4rOXmwzI7cWFUwf647IwjXJy4oQOjRwNtGSWb8Qfqw1blZFNJ2T1nERDVX_qCoG8yqLdG4mxCU1HeBUWhYqx6/w400-h250/biloxiBridge_2005.jpg" title="US 90 Bridge 2005" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Life changed again in 2005
because of Hurricane Katrina’s 28-foor storm surge. The US 90 bridge from Ocean
Springs to Biloxi was destroyed as were many bay-front estates, homes, and businesses.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Drgnc3RGmpZtednKRBxienKKsxxCga3kMt0fqNO2A5Sgf5X4CE0QF4iGhhACKs_XW7VsBi15PWimOjnMlTq5483RIxoL7peOCILvAQHq3yKCI_vQV36mc4kyZzg5bB7L9yaG9dRE_6YobCAcSUeOMZArgtlixy67KECCVFT1FasP4h72SXGa6uoN/s640/downtown.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Downtown" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Drgnc3RGmpZtednKRBxienKKsxxCga3kMt0fqNO2A5Sgf5X4CE0QF4iGhhACKs_XW7VsBi15PWimOjnMlTq5483RIxoL7peOCILvAQHq3yKCI_vQV36mc4kyZzg5bB7L9yaG9dRE_6YobCAcSUeOMZArgtlixy67KECCVFT1FasP4h72SXGa6uoN/w400-h300/downtown.jpg" title="Downtown" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />The town has a reputation
as an arts community. Its historic downtown streets are lined by live oak trees.
It is home to several art galleries and over 150 shops, boutiques, and restaurants.
There is nightlife in abundance.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYH6pPRuitf7Vmj_67Y-JwjpmBDqcRHUs87WGA2-_Ef70MmG-85i0F4S2fcIV33S6s8z1XoJE8xyBDoAwvvytN__AiMnuZcfmMHYngZXk_rrT_cYF57eEuGzMe_mjUMhr68pMEAqnKWyqpBIPc7q81a37p2U1JLVWlZi7vSfJStLNe8iS5IRIUyG3M/s1167/theOffice.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Office Bar & Lounge" border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1167" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYH6pPRuitf7Vmj_67Y-JwjpmBDqcRHUs87WGA2-_Ef70MmG-85i0F4S2fcIV33S6s8z1XoJE8xyBDoAwvvytN__AiMnuZcfmMHYngZXk_rrT_cYF57eEuGzMe_mjUMhr68pMEAqnKWyqpBIPc7q81a37p2U1JLVWlZi7vSfJStLNe8iS5IRIUyG3M/w320-h223/theOffice.jpg" title="The Office Bar & Lounge" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />My favorite spots are The
Office Bar & Lounge ($3 happy hour) and Maison De Lu for its Escargot
Stuffed Mushrooms. They’re amazingly good. I also get to visit my daughter and
grandson who have chosen Ocean Springs as their hometown.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMf_TEbL6Xzi-XGr9dWXUYotuEBMu2J0PdXNTNkzZAZKfOia1oBpMzDKv4BWkPhnnra-1ZSDnZTeLlcDm4GTSJFzENJMt5Pu458hxX2kxf72DRq1oS9OlW403ClxZXw1MohUwnsTOdJvcIF6jt8XkXeMKMA9IPqBgDr3pJdZKmJH00r4EWJz3xhLX/s727/maisonDeLu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Maison De Lu" border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="727" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMf_TEbL6Xzi-XGr9dWXUYotuEBMu2J0PdXNTNkzZAZKfOia1oBpMzDKv4BWkPhnnra-1ZSDnZTeLlcDm4GTSJFzENJMt5Pu458hxX2kxf72DRq1oS9OlW403ClxZXw1MohUwnsTOdJvcIF6jt8XkXeMKMA9IPqBgDr3pJdZKmJH00r4EWJz3xhLX/w320-h222/maisonDeLu.jpg" title="Maison De Lu" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Just before our visit in June
2022, Ocean Springs was named the <span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt;">best small coastal town in the United States
by USA Today. Well-deserved in my opinion.</span></span><p></p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Ocean Springs is also an
excellent stepping-off point for other Gulf Coast communities and attractions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both New Orleans and Pensacola are less than
two hours away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The luxurious Biloxi
casinos (I like the Beau Rivage) are just minutes from Ocean Springs. </span></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.2pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpfQ2te6W6PgQVjEbFwpKpmfRdkOYsCT-WE9j5sGgO9xCGC_vxsXFBZ7rDkoqHPQpSu8pTORbPF3IoNWOm_OSqio04eZaa3AI-fYKmQepQpUl9XvR8rAVs82KFjsNbe9LWOilPB35a1xsRv4tpOMB45GtN3fIDvUHiU171Ksso7bZfFiL0VhxO6kT/s800/davisLibrary.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Presidential Library" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpfQ2te6W6PgQVjEbFwpKpmfRdkOYsCT-WE9j5sGgO9xCGC_vxsXFBZ7rDkoqHPQpSu8pTORbPF3IoNWOm_OSqio04eZaa3AI-fYKmQepQpUl9XvR8rAVs82KFjsNbe9LWOilPB35a1xsRv4tpOMB45GtN3fIDvUHiU171Ksso7bZfFiL0VhxO6kT/w400-h200/davisLibrary.jpg" title="Presidential Library" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />For the Confederate
history buff (like me), the retirement home and library of President Jefferson
Davis are also located in Biloxi. It was here at Beauvoir that Davis wrote <i>The
Rise and Fall if the Confederate Government.</i> Beauvoir barely survived Hurricane
Katrina in 2005 and much of its collection of artifacts was lost. The adjoining
library was replaced with a new building that has a bit of an empty feel. Excellent
guided tours of the mansion are available every day. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0l0e2dgsZ8VVRN8geatG6Az_JywYwq2TFaa3kEEDPavGikzHm0C886v0GKxSEgFqOxQojBwJ25w1uhhnC2Pgibb59rxgff1Ph1h0vXrfnXgvT-IR-o8hNZwgIeSwpYWj3MycRUmkkf2QQs4P8IpVQFomsFBK4bbXIdhCs0LeiQxfDePOmoZjfxKYg/s974/beauvoir_2005.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Beauvoir Mansion after Katrina" border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="974" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0l0e2dgsZ8VVRN8geatG6Az_JywYwq2TFaa3kEEDPavGikzHm0C886v0GKxSEgFqOxQojBwJ25w1uhhnC2Pgibb59rxgff1Ph1h0vXrfnXgvT-IR-o8hNZwgIeSwpYWj3MycRUmkkf2QQs4P8IpVQFomsFBK4bbXIdhCs0LeiQxfDePOmoZjfxKYg/w320-h214/beauvoir_2005.jpg" title="Beauvoir Mansion after Katrina" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8u933pXXl5cLw93WYxHToDXTq_CyARs9QHExOln_b6JZPBM-Is0niOj7Mq6akScO720gmkOZuy0Cc9doyron-J0lEsDxJhrGujogQ0XpzwRwi9_DH_i4MgbMmXPWWt8st05aOBanAF1zhL5zbq9ppWo97K-BNwEJD68UQfWJExdMqYogrRWQzhUv9/s800/beauvoir_2019.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Beauvoir Mansion Today" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8u933pXXl5cLw93WYxHToDXTq_CyARs9QHExOln_b6JZPBM-Is0niOj7Mq6akScO720gmkOZuy0Cc9doyron-J0lEsDxJhrGujogQ0XpzwRwi9_DH_i4MgbMmXPWWt8st05aOBanAF1zhL5zbq9ppWo97K-BNwEJD68UQfWJExdMqYogrRWQzhUv9/w400-h300/beauvoir_2019.jpg" title="Beauvoir Mansion Today" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-15591236443937124632022-07-14T16:13:00.010-04:002022-07-19T16:32:20.974-04:00Welcome to Natchez, Mississippi<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yXSS_F6rVke4okva5FyyqL0MqMSe4-fqvuRjTGjDVZd5Xkv3USO1jhc8k8WcB6CP2X_cT-SBtc-Ko5E83haCJuytu5wHhDz2GfFLdoHE-ROuOnw_PHGt5QTBZHEFuyi8Eq7iWtSApj4RYqTjy8Z2Il1yjJTT6lnLengLjmahTsCAbd4OBsIU6oSp/s800/riverboat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cruise riverboat docked Under the Hill" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-yXSS_F6rVke4okva5FyyqL0MqMSe4-fqvuRjTGjDVZd5Xkv3USO1jhc8k8WcB6CP2X_cT-SBtc-Ko5E83haCJuytu5wHhDz2GfFLdoHE-ROuOnw_PHGt5QTBZHEFuyi8Eq7iWtSApj4RYqTjy8Z2Il1yjJTT6lnLengLjmahTsCAbd4OBsIU6oSp/w400-h300/riverboat.jpg" title="Cruise riverboat docked Under the Hill" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Natchez proper sits on bluff far above the Mississippi River. However, Natchez was founded in 1716 in an area called “Natchez-under-the-Hill” at river level. This area was once the rowdiest port on the river – now sometimes called “Natchez improper.” Like the steamboats of the past, riverboat cruises now dock under the hill.</span><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">At the time of the American revolution, Natchez was recognized as Britain's fourteenth colony. Much of Natchez was pro-Tory and paid little attention to the conflict occurring on the eastern seaboard. And it was so remote and inaccessible that England never sent troops to the area.<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>The lowlands along the river in both Mississippi and Louisiana were prime country for growing large crops of cotton and sugarcane using slave labor. Natchez was the main point of export. Before the Civil War, wealthy planters built town homes there in addition to or instead of plantation homes. </span>In the decades preceding the Civil War, Natchez had the most millionaires per capita of any city in the United States. <span>Many of their homes – often mansions – remain today because Natchez surrendered to Union forces without a fight. The homes are now part of Natchez identity and make it a tourist destination. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUd4jpWKn6gNG21aotg8PVPrKExfQSH-qkEkr3lMtq9V5zaOxo42bBfeoDwQkxUN9jOH7XS03prajiCGC051hmeGMxiDjH5OrNH4Q1i0Vatq3JnR4lZWGMSWBRrI9O4XO7-rHNATx5ovCAbXBT6ZhG8uhtUvTlmvokzVcMMsdFxSOxV2jrokyyGp9/s881/forksOfTheRoad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Shackles at Forks in the Road" border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="881" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUd4jpWKn6gNG21aotg8PVPrKExfQSH-qkEkr3lMtq9V5zaOxo42bBfeoDwQkxUN9jOH7XS03prajiCGC051hmeGMxiDjH5OrNH4Q1i0Vatq3JnR4lZWGMSWBRrI9O4XO7-rHNATx5ovCAbXBT6ZhG8uhtUvTlmvokzVcMMsdFxSOxV2jrokyyGp9/w400-h176/forksOfTheRoad.jpg" title="Shackles at Forks in the Road" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span><br />Natchez was the second largest slave trading center in the United States. Slaves were placed on display at a place called “Forks of the Road.” Shackles that bound them remind visitors of this terrible time. </span>Forks of the Road is recognized by The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world heritage site.</span></div><div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FE9J69z3F5m9QYEVM7Y45j6EkOfDV8NZvJfZYQSt1jDUhg0XTwVow4CV5td7U1jgW28uGj1lWWAkD1qEwheojkqM4PiL-PdhsNJq_iAC5AzishyeJUuwp0JnXnW4Sog1jbrhsd0DiIp2E_PJgflLh833UvStUjBYsefpSOZH9TgqbRKMjDMmOn5z/s800/jeffersonCollege.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Jefferson College" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FE9J69z3F5m9QYEVM7Y45j6EkOfDV8NZvJfZYQSt1jDUhg0XTwVow4CV5td7U1jgW28uGj1lWWAkD1qEwheojkqM4PiL-PdhsNJq_iAC5AzishyeJUuwp0JnXnW4Sog1jbrhsd0DiIp2E_PJgflLh833UvStUjBYsefpSOZH9TgqbRKMjDMmOn5z/w400-h300/jeffersonCollege.jpg" title="Jefferson College" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Other Confederate connections include the military boarding school attended by Jefferson Davis as a boy. Davis attended Jefferson College, named in honor of President Thomas Jefferson, in 1818 at the age of ten before transferring to a school in Kentucky.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnqd3s4Buk5l7kmB83NkA5IFeuMBO-CbHyudpWjMGm3FYY5trZXLAB7vJHA3Sg-s8FxavtQ7UnVYwKWAwsF5d5_HuyNb2EVko6koO9ROwzYXnQxJogewP65zrM_oGlmPKbM-a45DozwTKSvDz7wO05WoGi6jwD6kh2rsEGLYEZTUGlhxQebH8tNiT/s600/theBriars_natchezDemocrat.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Briars" border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="600" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnqd3s4Buk5l7kmB83NkA5IFeuMBO-CbHyudpWjMGm3FYY5trZXLAB7vJHA3Sg-s8FxavtQ7UnVYwKWAwsF5d5_HuyNb2EVko6koO9ROwzYXnQxJogewP65zrM_oGlmPKbM-a45DozwTKSvDz7wO05WoGi6jwD6kh2rsEGLYEZTUGlhxQebH8tNiT/w400-h226/theBriars_natchezDemocrat.jpg" title="The Briars" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Davis also took a Natchez native, Varina Howell, as his second wife. They were married at the Howell’s residence, The Briars, in 1845. (The Briars was inaccessible and for sale at the time of our visit.) It is said that Jefferson Davis once owned the Governor Holmes House on Wall Street, now a bed and breakfast.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_PcO_MFTNDQx0aYmCDr0j4bmsVfS1JlNHJm3lfmK3zwN1GROr6QOjhbMvawlfPYBXTmsqoYXM25fwJEozAe6ZsDRaN-gZYZxsX_Dv762l5bM44O-c2ivJVmDZ1zqdO4sQqbQFG4Qrp3J0z3uHG82-4dO2Wo7qrDxSqThZCwpQedMT_sw6cj-XAd_/s768/dixonFacade.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dixon Loft above" border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="614" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_PcO_MFTNDQx0aYmCDr0j4bmsVfS1JlNHJm3lfmK3zwN1GROr6QOjhbMvawlfPYBXTmsqoYXM25fwJEozAe6ZsDRaN-gZYZxsX_Dv762l5bM44O-c2ivJVmDZ1zqdO4sQqbQFG4Qrp3J0z3uHG82-4dO2Wo7qrDxSqThZCwpQedMT_sw6cj-XAd_/w320-h400/dixonFacade.jpg" title="Dixon Loft above" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZcLB3YFM9mFAzAQTTF-yUFridIdNy2ob4EFhaF2en9Pkfxk6TEoSTzPWWeQrRaRbVfw5yjzdK2UZ5Qp-TrK97x0GZTOG9665Z_IfwLJ0uOXGYvcWcM8xmLbHwPlHS7s36I0pv4h5hDpsiw-Se3ts5coDV_j8jKXSDalCPlJQCUolPEyGF8mgUqBK/s800/dixonBalcony.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Adult beverage on the Dixon balcony" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZcLB3YFM9mFAzAQTTF-yUFridIdNy2ob4EFhaF2en9Pkfxk6TEoSTzPWWeQrRaRbVfw5yjzdK2UZ5Qp-TrK97x0GZTOG9665Z_IfwLJ0uOXGYvcWcM8xmLbHwPlHS7s36I0pv4h5hDpsiw-Se3ts5coDV_j8jKXSDalCPlJQCUolPEyGF8mgUqBK/w150-h200/dixonBalcony.jpg" title="Adult beverage on the Dixon balcony" width="150" /></a></div>For our short-term stay, Sarah (my heritage travel partner) and I were fortunate to book the Dixon Lofts. Newly refurbished, the 3,000 square foot Dixon features 13-foot ceilings, a fully equipped galley, and a balcony with wrought iron overlooking Main Street. Three large on-suite bedrooms and a laundry provided every comfort. We greatly enjoyed the immense sitting / dining / living area. The balcony was well used for both morning coffee and evening libations. These 160-year-old quarters just couldn’t have been better. We visited over Father’s Day and the Juneteenth holiday. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4RuyA3KyErc22YVEeNo6hTjfrLb3RofkocHN_B8YBVRoTsjcZ0BDLf0r1OqZaYQvboJafuIMPcakossisAhsMtiVg6mw2yirK-GJLOdSDjw9VgwX5RsSTQ4_tYZMvbEoJTpZWo3B7sgCpfpwbSdtFodOmT5knAgnjssZ6hjSjedYtQOKeShXaH4h/s800/magnoliaView_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="River view from the Magnolia Grill patio" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih4RuyA3KyErc22YVEeNo6hTjfrLb3RofkocHN_B8YBVRoTsjcZ0BDLf0r1OqZaYQvboJafuIMPcakossisAhsMtiVg6mw2yirK-GJLOdSDjw9VgwX5RsSTQ4_tYZMvbEoJTpZWo3B7sgCpfpwbSdtFodOmT5knAgnjssZ6hjSjedYtQOKeShXaH4h/w400-h300/magnoliaView_1.jpg" title="River view from the Magnolia Grill patio" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJ1Ok31pkGXJ6rlfbdgecS4TOF9sjCpuDxazFtSsCm5XgvQRcTAcZFwwRiXJ_jRnn840Cv_cL7dLBjQ-i1Z24OpCL8RF9klGgJdUxgnQN6Zp8-YXomjMCth-1P6nkHHJtswHIHdvkuMMcigFTcCDwUxe74Rg0Wc_3lsxlfnXSZCX238jy_lHpN3fu/s800/magnoliaView_2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Another view from the Magnolia Grill" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJ1Ok31pkGXJ6rlfbdgecS4TOF9sjCpuDxazFtSsCm5XgvQRcTAcZFwwRiXJ_jRnn840Cv_cL7dLBjQ-i1Z24OpCL8RF9klGgJdUxgnQN6Zp8-YXomjMCth-1P6nkHHJtswHIHdvkuMMcigFTcCDwUxe74Rg0Wc_3lsxlfnXSZCX238jy_lHpN3fu/w200-h150/magnoliaView_2.jpg" title="Another view from the Magnolia Grill" width="200" /></a></div>There are plenty of dining choices in Natchez. The best for us was the Magnolia Grill located under the hill. The Magnolia has an enclosed patio with great views of the river. This is complemented by their excellent menu. For appetizers we enjoyed the fried green tomatoes and the crabmeat stuffed mushrooms. I had the Silver Street Pasta that I thought was the best past dish ever. Sarah enjoyed the fried shrimp.</span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8fD1WLHQQVI_WA6XobxXl2tX5InzlpSuZEEgy9wqdYdO3S0NeL-91L154dMqWPt-PkZoiZ1pAMwpjqxNqLBENbjA-5VlmZAQGH8aonxLtMtZg6otdp3-4fujaBjK_yg2IH3fYb-gbM1hMIZKNGWnYSO-UiJwGGW0zX_c8S2BTvfcPUzKbH3jaMI8/s800/castleAtDunleith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="The Castle at Dunleith" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho8fD1WLHQQVI_WA6XobxXl2tX5InzlpSuZEEgy9wqdYdO3S0NeL-91L154dMqWPt-PkZoiZ1pAMwpjqxNqLBENbjA-5VlmZAQGH8aonxLtMtZg6otdp3-4fujaBjK_yg2IH3fYb-gbM1hMIZKNGWnYSO-UiJwGGW0zX_c8S2BTvfcPUzKbH3jaMI8/w400-h300/castleAtDunleith.jpg" title="The Castle at Dunleith" width="400" /></span></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Another great dining choice is The Castle. This building was originally the carriage house for the antebellum Dunleith house – now a historic inn. Sunday brunch options on Father’s Day included a smothered pork chop that got rave reviews. </span></span></div></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-qeAw7qTKMKVdaWPp-UQI0pUouZx1Iu44IZQnsPr2QLRKZ_nkpB7zqBo8zuzN1Ho-yzcO0Hyn4hQIQb0sJ-hZwTGDxmAgmnB7H3BbtvI7gaUp3v0BH9R4lH8VlCNUEn35-7gaAcaiBRJdvTgBwdfD_rQpFzQ7e4piFdDRbC_g1_pRDSIzQ17SlxE/s800/hopOnHopOff.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Sarah with the Hop On - Hop Off Bus" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6-qeAw7qTKMKVdaWPp-UQI0pUouZx1Iu44IZQnsPr2QLRKZ_nkpB7zqBo8zuzN1Ho-yzcO0Hyn4hQIQb0sJ-hZwTGDxmAgmnB7H3BbtvI7gaUp3v0BH9R4lH8VlCNUEn35-7gaAcaiBRJdvTgBwdfD_rQpFzQ7e4piFdDRbC_g1_pRDSIzQ17SlxE/w400-h300/hopOnHopOff.jpg" title="Sarah with the Hop On - Hop Off Bus" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">We also recommend a stop at the Visitor’s Center and the Hop On – Hop Off bus available there. The bus tour is a great introduction to the city’s attractions and an excellent means of transportation between historic sites.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The best and worst times to visit Natchez are for the spring and fall “pilgrimages.” These times are the best because more antebellum homes are open for tours and there are many special events. These times are the worst because the city is crowded with other pilgrims. However, for history and old house lovers, a visit to Natchez is worthwhile most any time.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Read the companion blog titled Antebellum Splendor.</span></p><div><br /></div></div></div>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0Natchez, MS 39120, USA31.5604442 -91.4031710000000153.2502103638211537 -126.55942100000001 59.870678036178845 -56.246921000000015tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-21147144809346787912022-06-30T15:47:00.009-04:002022-07-19T16:09:39.117-04:00Antebellum Splendor in Natchez, Mississippi<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwR7wochE4cxlE8HTefLxzm6lxHQwv0hV4ppibWYtI9my1RaQIASmaVlXmC4fV-k7wwNJvFrjMnJ3yJJn9R4QhCCnnWaxVj6HqM1n_fd37L4rb2IjRDIu0AiDzb0UVzt60s8udZddD0G8hUIXPahqPqjja5pnqOvH8ew4rre5oMLAqqXViAIf0N3tU/s799/longwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Longwood Mansion" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="799" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwR7wochE4cxlE8HTefLxzm6lxHQwv0hV4ppibWYtI9my1RaQIASmaVlXmC4fV-k7wwNJvFrjMnJ3yJJn9R4QhCCnnWaxVj6HqM1n_fd37L4rb2IjRDIu0AiDzb0UVzt60s8udZddD0G8hUIXPahqPqjja5pnqOvH8ew4rre5oMLAqqXViAIf0N3tU/w400-h300/longwood.jpg" title="Longwood Mansion" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />We visited Natchez, Mississippi, for its wealth of
antebellum homes – many available to tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was in Natchez perhaps 30 years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For my heritage travel partner Sarah this was a new experience. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s more about out travel experience at
Welcome to Natchez.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Before the Civil War, Natchez had more millionaires per
capita than any other city in the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those millionaires displayed their wealth
lavishly with their homes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All that we
visited are built of brick and cypress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cypress is resistant to both moisture and insect damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Freshly cut cypress is also less likely to
warp than its the more readily available pine. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Many of the most impressive homes are now owned by nonprofit
organizations and are open to the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All the historic homes we visited on this trip (and those we hope to
visit in the future) are National Historic Landmarks (NHLs). This designation shows
the importance of a property to the heritage of the United States. According
to the National Park Service, each represents an outstanding aspect of American
history and culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Longwood <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I did not tour Longwood (photo at top) on my earlier visit and was certainly
on my bucket list for this trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the
largest octagonal house in the United States and one of the largest homes in
Natchez at 30,000 square feet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Begun in late
1859, it is also unique because it has stood unfinished since 1861. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Longwood was built for Dr. Haller Nutt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he had a medical degree, Nutt was
primarily a planter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He and wife Julia
had eleven children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eight lived to
adulthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Julia had always wished to
reside in Natchez rather than on one of their plantations, and Haller surprised
her by purchasing the land on which Longwood sits in 1850.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The land included an old house which they
used for a time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Nutt hired Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan to draw the
plans for his mansion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wishing to avoid
the Greek Revival style so prominent in Natchez, Sloan proposed a villa with a
Moorish dome. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was a proponent of the
octagon shape because it provided 20 percent more interior space than the same length
of walls built in a square.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also
created the opportunity for more balconies and exterior spaces.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8UYKcj8mhqdLVDTzugH1wU2jdfn8oihFwS7-cyfitx2-4DkjotjBSY7vydyAlcNwkINtxctWICACSKO8AAjeSMqKbrXer0oshQfGyR2htVuzaNMbRtk9B-KEx9g6D-XknNIOWFwNkRLYqYCZYOSYykj1vgRJoMYQ0M7eKrrhwxIvuhGagQYyAYmuc/s800/longwoodSlaveQuarters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Longwood Servant / Slave Quarters" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8UYKcj8mhqdLVDTzugH1wU2jdfn8oihFwS7-cyfitx2-4DkjotjBSY7vydyAlcNwkINtxctWICACSKO8AAjeSMqKbrXer0oshQfGyR2htVuzaNMbRtk9B-KEx9g6D-XknNIOWFwNkRLYqYCZYOSYykj1vgRJoMYQ0M7eKrrhwxIvuhGagQYyAYmuc/w400-h300/longwoodSlaveQuarters.jpg" title="Longwood Servant / Slave Quarters" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />The first construction was the large brick dormitory for the
anticipated 32 servants / slaves that would eventually be needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Nutt family temporarily occupied this
building when the original old house was removed to make way for the new
mansion.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Architect Sloan brought artisans from Philadelphia to build
the main house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, with the
outbreak of war in April 1861, those men returned to their homes in fear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nutt used local craftsmen and his own slaves to
finish the basement as new temporary quarters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Haller Nutt passed from pneumonia in 1864.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family never regained its wealth after
the war and the house remained uncompleted. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Haller and Julia’s descendants occupied
the lower level for another century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUIOESd3W7Tos8jvRX8AkPoEGQdxBNahlZed-yOrjovAb_pFuLlSz0gcbXok8pJXIrbdQM0s8dROrC-QxLUkEZKtLUd8MDY9mODjzlqNElMcSp-FRVpZbJnv1tgfLA_6NAJGSFlQnNFZgP-o1UAg4X1VSEbJwm_kD5oOdCvtZBuYYwpoK8rdKIwMc/s800/longwood_side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Longwood Balcony" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUIOESd3W7Tos8jvRX8AkPoEGQdxBNahlZed-yOrjovAb_pFuLlSz0gcbXok8pJXIrbdQM0s8dROrC-QxLUkEZKtLUd8MDY9mODjzlqNElMcSp-FRVpZbJnv1tgfLA_6NAJGSFlQnNFZgP-o1UAg4X1VSEbJwm_kD5oOdCvtZBuYYwpoK8rdKIwMc/w150-h200/longwood_side.jpg" title="Longwood Balcony" width="150" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The Pilgrimage Garden Club has owned Longwood since 1970.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time, the roof and especially the
gutters were in desperate need of repair. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some inside timbers needed to be replaced due
to water damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A supply of similar
timbers was found in an old barn on the property, and wood salvaged from the
barn itself was used to repair the Moorish cupola. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Perhaps one day the garden club will be able to restore Julia’s
15 acres of gardens including 10 acres of rose bushes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The grounds are now completely overgrown
making the approach and departure from the mansion far less than exciting.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Rosalie Mansion<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wOiGG6b3Vy1I4oCJz4yrKNCRrBk8RPfPoAv4HtUy6lD3CfTf-BlgikqjQ9RamBVhcMr-CjiGD1xqtztPeaxD7200Z2cnpnVPDtP250YwEd1E9JRSy1V7EifZXNAxRGt65ZlXFJhFkMHCGrziRERXsErzMw_p4r0Tl02QpBEyokde_hmgVa06rVGA/s800/rosalie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Rosalie Mansion" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7wOiGG6b3Vy1I4oCJz4yrKNCRrBk8RPfPoAv4HtUy6lD3CfTf-BlgikqjQ9RamBVhcMr-CjiGD1xqtztPeaxD7200Z2cnpnVPDtP250YwEd1E9JRSy1V7EifZXNAxRGt65ZlXFJhFkMHCGrziRERXsErzMw_p4r0Tl02QpBEyokde_hmgVa06rVGA/w400-h400/rosalie.jpg" title="Rosalie Mansion" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />One of the nation’s first Greek Revival mansions and the
oldest in Natchez, Rosalie was built in 1823.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of all the mansions we toured, it sits closest to the river on the edge
of the high bluff providing a magnificent view of the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also the smallest of the mansions we
saw at “only” 13,000 square feet.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzEYvn_XsKyemHCpYXZpE8Q4uiDEuR9eSz3q6wiR2jFESOLf6i6pki4rDmDf_fVuHzMwjlepdqeKa5OmYv03hYIBZpaXagt9LZybU01VLR1A07Ri2ZiDhbZtgafwAI5rnuNZa9EX1Mu091mbee6R0IHYQHkeycKTsgwAPnvSx55dyyqFgUL5-oAcM/s800/rosalie_river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="View of the Mississippi" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzEYvn_XsKyemHCpYXZpE8Q4uiDEuR9eSz3q6wiR2jFESOLf6i6pki4rDmDf_fVuHzMwjlepdqeKa5OmYv03hYIBZpaXagt9LZybU01VLR1A07Ri2ZiDhbZtgafwAI5rnuNZa9EX1Mu091mbee6R0IHYQHkeycKTsgwAPnvSx55dyyqFgUL5-oAcM/w400-h300/rosalie_river.jpg" title="View of the Mississippi" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Fort Rosalie was built when the city was founded in 1716 and
the neighboring house took its name. The site of the fort today is part of the
Natchez National Historical Park. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Rosalie was the dream home of Pennsylvania cotton broker Peter
Little and his wife Eliza. They lived in the home until 1857 but had no heirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second owners, the Andrew Wilson family,
redecorated including elaborate plasterwork, marble mantels, and gilt overmantels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the Wilson’s furnishings remain
today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">During the war, Rosalie was used as Union headquarters,
occupied by General U. S. Grant and others along with the Wilsons. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson family members remained in the house in
1938 when it was sold to the present owners, the Mississippi Daughters of the
American Revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Wilson heirs
remained in the home until 1958 and gave daily tours.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrW-8RF4GIhWCw0I31hyPwx29Yc2Xe1ioKIXyfkW6zlTl754UastKSAlEqEOI2BDf2dPjVuPu7eadTG8QWD65zEY0PsK3SufOlbm5BMz4ZWSxO1goJu_Av-O4GYCmTNe0TX_cwvmVWJ3f7g34MAcE3Z2DnZpf2_R4ViCoPuw1ty2M8vrnFWS3-S-d/s800/rosalieKitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Kitchen and Whistler Walk" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrW-8RF4GIhWCw0I31hyPwx29Yc2Xe1ioKIXyfkW6zlTl754UastKSAlEqEOI2BDf2dPjVuPu7eadTG8QWD65zEY0PsK3SufOlbm5BMz4ZWSxO1goJu_Av-O4GYCmTNe0TX_cwvmVWJ3f7g34MAcE3Z2DnZpf2_R4ViCoPuw1ty2M8vrnFWS3-S-d/w320-h240/rosalieKitchen.jpg" title="Kitchen and Whistler Walk" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Like so many older homes, Rosalie had a separate building for
its kitchen and cook’s quarters to keep heat and the possible cooking fire away
from the main house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We never learn whether
the covered “whistle walk” from the kitchen to the dining room was original to
the home.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3Q0jGpNZQqw9M7MIMQuwePvBmLBEc67lyrIfzG_MZfsLGQK0hw4aZrDCxNu-LBoVR301HMG29PidHONmkzXjpcGOvqEzY5DwkLI2WpeZYlXOvw7HF7aEpuoZKXOXg0NOscUft_btg-YcRSO0_J6zrroAxAzpVijGkFKEUcyULTlJaZVdm1BL5BWf/s800/rosalie_bell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Bell from the U.S.S. Mississippi" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3Q0jGpNZQqw9M7MIMQuwePvBmLBEc67lyrIfzG_MZfsLGQK0hw4aZrDCxNu-LBoVR301HMG29PidHONmkzXjpcGOvqEzY5DwkLI2WpeZYlXOvw7HF7aEpuoZKXOXg0NOscUft_btg-YcRSO0_J6zrroAxAzpVijGkFKEUcyULTlJaZVdm1BL5BWf/w150-h200/rosalie_bell.jpg" title="Bell from the U.S.S. Mississippi" width="150" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />The bell from the World War I U.S.S. Mississippi hangs in plain
sight in the gardens at Rosalie. Interestingly, online research suggests the
same bell is on display outside the Naval Shipyard Museum in Portsmouth,
Virginia, and at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Stanton Hall<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdPlch-J_tWfn41Du0JrH4FJtO-yIcJAC2XJldMDyfB12ofo9WFeuaLD1KgIlOdqqwgY76oklAUK5OlV_FD68sRWT8fakHQnsadI7jrgkDaV46GB7GWcxhJJ6OdQ490GiW-LqR0rG_oyaZ2Diz_O5e94ukTjAJJFe4Mmbax-3d8pybYLvP42PceH6/s800/stantonHall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Stanton Hall" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdPlch-J_tWfn41Du0JrH4FJtO-yIcJAC2XJldMDyfB12ofo9WFeuaLD1KgIlOdqqwgY76oklAUK5OlV_FD68sRWT8fakHQnsadI7jrgkDaV46GB7GWcxhJJ6OdQ490GiW-LqR0rG_oyaZ2Diz_O5e94ukTjAJJFe4Mmbax-3d8pybYLvP42PceH6/w400-h300/stantonHall.jpg" title="Stanton Hall" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Cotton broker Frederick Stanton built the 40,000 square foot
Stanton Hall in 1857. The largest home
in Natchez, Stanton called the home Belfast after his ancestral Ireland but
lived there only nine months before succumbing to yellow fever. The name change came in 1890 when the
building became home to the Stanton College for Young Ladies.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Another of Natchez’s Greek Revival mansions, this one occupies
an entire two-acre city block. The owners, the Pilgrimage Garden Club, has found
creative ways to provide for maintenance of the home including year-round tours
and adding a pool and restaurant to encourage club membership. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Because we were there on a Monday that was also the Juneteenth
national holiday, the restaurant was open only to club members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the staff at the gift shop suggested
an interesting breakfast and lunch restaurant also on High Street called The
Little Easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quirky but good.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Stanton Hall’s most interesting feature is its triple parlor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One third is enclosed by sliding doors while
the larger portion is divided by a structural hanging arch to support the walls
above. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Mr. Stanton certainly spared no expense in building the home
sending its architect to Europe to obtain the finest accessories
available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That architect, Thomas Rose,
wished to sign his name somewhere on his masterpiece, but Stanton would not allow
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to be thwarted, the wrought iron
fence surrounding the home is decorated with roses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p><b>Next Time</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">There’s a lot that we missed, partly because of timing and
partly due to sweltering heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hope
to return to Natchez one day to see more mansions including the “suburban”
homes below.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Monmouth <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCB-WrwnVggFFxSx6MULF31YXnP0pI35RwFN8IQc0aBtCiCf0VZ8oe9dwgeD5bhfs1elwkie-8RjGojv5cljBfh7ncuPRpxn6JM7C9zV5tTO6MRvI9yL7pytH0JK_SjTMG4yzfiN-XUa8FkccOigPiLOLEZFzg5mcIczZ9ToM7KkJ3Hfvw0oB5OwNq/s800/monmouthFacade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Monmouth" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCB-WrwnVggFFxSx6MULF31YXnP0pI35RwFN8IQc0aBtCiCf0VZ8oe9dwgeD5bhfs1elwkie-8RjGojv5cljBfh7ncuPRpxn6JM7C9zV5tTO6MRvI9yL7pytH0JK_SjTMG4yzfiN-XUa8FkccOigPiLOLEZFzg5mcIczZ9ToM7KkJ3Hfvw0oB5OwNq/w320-h240/monmouthFacade.jpg" title="Monmouth" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Set on 26 acres of gardens, the ca. 1818 Monmouth Mansion is privately-owned and operated as an Inn with the Restuarant 1818. It is Natchez's only AAA Four Diamond Hotel.
Tours are available at 10:00 and 2:00. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Melrose<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANRzdjY8NGo63vNny5TiR99_KNTOlUA8dwv3cWxKVSomAAJsk0iz5vmNuaJKyLVbailZA_Zy7dmTVY_VAgBtTCxSVt9r83O0gtfk68U7nJq890gIcoVq2k9dRyH7VPiQSvrjJrSuouMbBXA5HKEsAinXq-Zu7aCSf-FK86vib8mmQzAZVa528XqUP/s800/melrose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Melrose" border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="800" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANRzdjY8NGo63vNny5TiR99_KNTOlUA8dwv3cWxKVSomAAJsk0iz5vmNuaJKyLVbailZA_Zy7dmTVY_VAgBtTCxSVt9r83O0gtfk68U7nJq890gIcoVq2k9dRyH7VPiQSvrjJrSuouMbBXA5HKEsAinXq-Zu7aCSf-FK86vib8mmQzAZVa528XqUP/w320-h233/melrose.jpg" title="Melrose" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />Melrose is a 15,000 square foot Greek Revival mansion that is
part of the 80-acre Natchez National Historical Park. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was completed in 1848 for John T. McMurran,
a lawyer and planter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because the house
was always sold with its furnishings, it is said to be the most intact
antebellum estate in the South. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tours
are available at 10:00, 11:00, 2:00, and 3:00.</span><p></p><p></p>Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0Natchez, MS 39120, USA31.5604442 -91.4031710000000153.2502103638211537 -126.55942100000001 59.870678036178845 -56.246921000000015tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-43323315926892196742022-03-31T14:29:00.023-04:002023-12-18T11:12:50.298-05:00Small Town Big History in Washington, Georgia<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">While in Savannah, Sarah (my heritage travel partner) and I took the opportunity to visit Washington, Georgia. The most direct driving route would take a little over three hours. Instead, we traveled west to Dublin, Georgia, and then north through Sandersville to retrace the path (in reverse) of Jefferson Davis as he fled from Union forces at the close of the Civil War. This route took about four hours.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>Washington, </span>population just over 4,000, is the county seat of Wilkes County, Georgia. This small city is often called Washington-Wilkes to differentiate it from other places with the same name. It is located equidistantly from Augusta and Athens, Georgia – less than an hour from each.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxO5DGdqTNGzrCs5VM-r5JubQIVGryrRHXsU9OpkpA8Z3uEJadoDAm0IGi1Ql4bn7-gdU-AF4qzmzupEK3ltPipIobrEqy9PzTDkpcHW1eFFPt1APIw9hPuQ0pnplyj_CxH2E7boqC_hbIT-m-exFHVRreGk_y4LDZjknDNX4CxsQdUtd4NE552QUX/s760/fitzpapatrick_website.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fitzpatrick Hotel" border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="760" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxO5DGdqTNGzrCs5VM-r5JubQIVGryrRHXsU9OpkpA8Z3uEJadoDAm0IGi1Ql4bn7-gdU-AF4qzmzupEK3ltPipIobrEqy9PzTDkpcHW1eFFPt1APIw9hPuQ0pnplyj_CxH2E7boqC_hbIT-m-exFHVRreGk_y4LDZjknDNX4CxsQdUtd4NE552QUX/w400-h294/fitzpapatrick_website.jpg" title="Fitzpatrick Hotel" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />One part of our attraction to Washington was its historic hotel – The Fitzpatrick. First completed in 1898, the hotel stood empty from 1951 until 2004 when it reopened after a complete renovation. The Fitzpatrick today reflects its Victorian origins with period furnishings and a color pallet of reds, golds, and greens. Our stay in a second-floor suite overlooking the town square gave us all the modern conveniences including a newly installed elevator.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The Fitzpatrick is also home to Maddy’s Public House, open Thursday through Sunday. Opened in 2019, Maddy’s has live music on Thursday and Saturday nights. We found Maddy’s to be the best in town with selections ranging from sandwiches to Fish and Chips and Prime Rib.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIi-RrjAuFSBiw3tX3njCfhYviLY44AOnCRz3PH2Ydv29RJJzKjmlW4-bX9fH1KJWlZdqzqBKGk9CEa3tHAuJ9PWVJjft5GYq3kMhHXU7sxEfQ21QGhdQyTQ-MnPDRAcanRV064Wu1L3Q1joFMV2LlhEqFGcxLYOg4sqQduEoGhnBQRyRuoXwB9SB1/s870/heardsFort_cropped.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Heard's Fort Marker" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIi-RrjAuFSBiw3tX3njCfhYviLY44AOnCRz3PH2Ydv29RJJzKjmlW4-bX9fH1KJWlZdqzqBKGk9CEa3tHAuJ9PWVJjft5GYq3kMhHXU7sxEfQ21QGhdQyTQ-MnPDRAcanRV064Wu1L3Q1joFMV2LlhEqFGcxLYOg4sqQduEoGhnBQRyRuoXwB9SB1/w184-h200/heardsFort_cropped.jpg" title="Heard's Fort Marker" width="184" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">In Washington, history runs deep. The revolutionary Battle of Kettle Creek took place about eight miles southwest of present-day Washington in 1779. It was an important victory for the patriots who scattered a loyalist force and killed about 70 while losing only 32 of their own. In 1780 and 1781, Heard’s Fort, a now desolate location about seven miles northeast of Washington, was the temporary capital of Georgia. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">But Washington is better known for its role at the beginning and the end of the Confederacy. Some would even say that one Washingtonian was indirectly responsible for Jefferson Davis being elected to the Confederate Presidency. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUHpyPtQAETQJPN0b8Z9lcOM6HQ7lZoL5jCrRA8RXPrqAWIK267sQ26yGiw4MrY2uRdyZqwJ4OJbslxMz7qTdh7dijsg6R20wczxTamCTlbqwwPk3CJWaN7Utr_VOIzHiRf0if1w9SUbfl2eEpoDPhU05WWRDP5Be8bWpi8x8Q2VPSdedcILGH4A-/s230/toombsRobert.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Robert Augustus Toombs" border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLUHpyPtQAETQJPN0b8Z9lcOM6HQ7lZoL5jCrRA8RXPrqAWIK267sQ26yGiw4MrY2uRdyZqwJ4OJbslxMz7qTdh7dijsg6R20wczxTamCTlbqwwPk3CJWaN7Utr_VOIzHiRf0if1w9SUbfl2eEpoDPhU05WWRDP5Be8bWpi8x8Q2VPSdedcILGH4A-/s16000/toombsRobert.jpg" title="Robert Augustus Toombs" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Robert Augustus Toombs, a wealthy planter and slaveholder, served in the United States Senate from 1853 to 1861. On secession, he traveled to Montgomery, Alabama, to help craft the new nation. He was considered a likely candidate for President of the Confederacy. Unfortunately, the night before the election, Toombs partied with the South Carolina delegation and became a little too "tight." This reduced his stature with the delegates, resulting in Davis being elected as the provisional president. The people of the Confederacy later elected Davis again.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Despite Toombs' failings and lack of diplomatic skills, Davis selected him to be the Confederacy’s first Secretary of State. However, in frustration with President Davis, Toombs quickly resigned his cabinet position. In July 1861 he was commissioned as a brigadier general. After being wounded at Antietam, he resigned that commission in March 1863. He later fled to Paris to avoid union arrest, returning to Georgia in 1866.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPSv8QTTALgof_wMjrsn-_8n7LFm8I6k92QITvRdv8xBxYItzqCKbDtWs_dBiloOpJDzgg9y6Ido6y5uxAimMyNbB_k_QgnpnHCg3g8nws77n8wNrqzlIuiENCDZWVVa4WZ-2iiKYp8FaVhPGpCEWNRIb89pdS6bW8uU32msySlERd4IoY3ln7_HY/s800/toombsHouse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Robert Augustus Toombs House" border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="800" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPSv8QTTALgof_wMjrsn-_8n7LFm8I6k92QITvRdv8xBxYItzqCKbDtWs_dBiloOpJDzgg9y6Ido6y5uxAimMyNbB_k_QgnpnHCg3g8nws77n8wNrqzlIuiENCDZWVVa4WZ-2iiKYp8FaVhPGpCEWNRIb89pdS6bW8uU32msySlERd4IoY3ln7_HY/w400-h293/toombsHouse.jpg" title="Robert Augustus Toombs House (c) TampAGS, for AGS Media, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons" width="400" /></span></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The Toombs House, built in 1797 by Dr. Joel Abbott, is preserved as an historic site and is open for visitors. Guided tours were not available at the time of our visit, but an excellent visitors' book led us through the house. The are many displays on the basement level detailing the life and career of Robert Toombs and also the enslaved people who worked at the home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Because the family occupied the home until the 1970s, the main and second floors contain many items that belonged to Toombs himself. Interestingly, the main floor includes a room reserved for Alexander Stephens – Toombs’ best friend, vice president of the Confederacy, and later Georgia governor. Though slight (less than 100 pounds) and frail (often using a wheelchair), Stephens was a political powerhouse. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAEDgWwM8KDwr75tuHM0XZl_MBftHezTLlHLn7Hw1ruuKbX99SG97jNNXmB65nmgqE3lqcT3TX3pGeAdzmxVz8tu5sRs2me5TvUomc-kR2q7t2LuVeZ6hqL5q9JkxqHIPW1Tjt9TcKdPyflT2kEUwySa3asfgOdROKiFjCD9Ymg9-B6zD5A5noD0tX/s800/historicalMuseum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Wahington-Wilkes Historical Museum" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAEDgWwM8KDwr75tuHM0XZl_MBftHezTLlHLn7Hw1ruuKbX99SG97jNNXmB65nmgqE3lqcT3TX3pGeAdzmxVz8tu5sRs2me5TvUomc-kR2q7t2LuVeZ6hqL5q9JkxqHIPW1Tjt9TcKdPyflT2kEUwySa3asfgOdROKiFjCD9Ymg9-B6zD5A5noD0tX/w400-h300/historicalMuseum.jpg" title="Wahington-Wilkes Historical Museum (c) TampAGS, for AGS Media, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0CC BY-SA 3.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /><span>Just to the east on Robert Toombs Avenue is Washington-Wilkes Historical Museum. The home was built ca. 1835 by Albert Gallatin Semmes. As a museum, it has an interesting collection of artifacts including Jefferson Davis' camp chest – left behind in Washington as he traveled further south to avoid capture. </span></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Wilkes County was fortunate not to be included in the battle plans of either the North or the South during the Civil War. After General Sherman cut the South Carolina Railroad, Washington became a thoroughfare between the capital in Richmond and much of the South. Avoiding larger cities and Union forces, it was also on the route used by Jefferson Davis and, proceeding ahead of him, his wife and family during their flight. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqQTqjHF2b4xsrH8x7fKy_NM1xF7MX3oF2eDuM2bPY83BS16nTXIXeBoeab7A4_hus3-aAzGieOdUgjEVq31nCOrt-xcQ9gno2nXjkhR0TR0wwvupLXIFPjmH5em03HV0D5wxcvxB3pcUZKGX6hNIe0sdQhe62PepBbFkj30VIkmbFfIkC8yRahM7/s498/bankOfGa_1865.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bank of the State of Georgia" border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="498" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqQTqjHF2b4xsrH8x7fKy_NM1xF7MX3oF2eDuM2bPY83BS16nTXIXeBoeab7A4_hus3-aAzGieOdUgjEVq31nCOrt-xcQ9gno2nXjkhR0TR0wwvupLXIFPjmH5em03HV0D5wxcvxB3pcUZKGX6hNIe0sdQhe62PepBbFkj30VIkmbFfIkC8yRahM7/w400-h286/bankOfGa_1865.jpg" title="Bank of the State of Georgia ca. 1865" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span>Davis arrived on May 3, 1865. While important guests typically stayed with General Toombs, he was out of town. Thus, Davis stayed above the Bank of Georgia with bank cashier Dr. J. J. Robertson. </span><span>The bank was located at the north end of the square. </span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYOZB-BVAiSTZwjkjubKGG-x2Ok52FAqG_43q5SHzyC8WgYkV4fRL8c7CjnDIBkoX8JHjvZ8P0agBzcT7sPLZyzMLF2V6bHoneujp3iCXYUmapmdbXrZ57clkcfXErPXiuCNpBOcymMG4R97rXMlCRmjA9mSSNfFioXYhASrkjQx70D2KQOkWZR2Q/s800/davisMarkerCourthouse.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img alt="Jefferson Davis Marker" border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="800" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYOZB-BVAiSTZwjkjubKGG-x2Ok52FAqG_43q5SHzyC8WgYkV4fRL8c7CjnDIBkoX8JHjvZ8P0agBzcT7sPLZyzMLF2V6bHoneujp3iCXYUmapmdbXrZ57clkcfXErPXiuCNpBOcymMG4R97rXMlCRmjA9mSSNfFioXYhASrkjQx70D2KQOkWZR2Q/w200-h168/davisMarkerCourthouse.jpg" title="Jefferson Davis Marker" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The next morning, before his departure, Davis called the last cabinet meeting of the Confederacy at the bank. It was where Davis made his last official act as president, effectively dissolving the Confederacy. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">While some locals tried to preserve the bank building, it was replaced by the present Wilkes County Courthouse in 1914. In front of the courthouse is a marker commemorating Davis's time in Washington.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeiQGEuS9nXuCsusWqKOFvXYbNTp9rE5uDz5WJh0ri6ekqR3DN1QpNHeBHIAv2L9KUvgF71U1qLEf0XZGZcQVGWhsjgV6fGly8K39y340l99YpRCiOvFhRyMBJXH3uoA93IziZX_tjVmk3hHll3SjMqsSV_uaJm1JC4jmGOcAQRF6dZfVoYN-didj/s800/willisLibrary_cropped.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Tiffany Window" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeiQGEuS9nXuCsusWqKOFvXYbNTp9rE5uDz5WJh0ri6ekqR3DN1QpNHeBHIAv2L9KUvgF71U1qLEf0XZGZcQVGWhsjgV6fGly8K39y340l99YpRCiOvFhRyMBJXH3uoA93IziZX_tjVmk3hHll3SjMqsSV_uaJm1JC4jmGOcAQRF6dZfVoYN-didj/w150-h200/willisLibrary_cropped.jpg" title="Tiffany Window" width="150" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span><br />Among our last visits in Washington was the Mary Willis Library. When it opened in 1889, it was the first free public library in the State of Georgia. While built as a library, it more resembles a church with ornate Tiffany stained-glass windows. Included in its collection is a trunk </span><span>left behind in Washington </span><span>that once contained a part of the Confederate treasure.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wx3kr4zqkdEd97x29bHsvSxKX3rpLbIeXPUEfcDlYHX0EAGGQD-ePayxlWwYwYK3TWg3vJupOyukcMYGahbyOCt6j3RUlWpYM1Wj6iLBqBCZ1qk8Px2oLap47otOHqXQbb0usu3BfWKKoaVHPfqzoYo2B_xRaxPOx7fpi626LZoKPUjQw7RlfZya/s800/treasureChest.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><img alt="Treasure Chest" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6wx3kr4zqkdEd97x29bHsvSxKX3rpLbIeXPUEfcDlYHX0EAGGQD-ePayxlWwYwYK3TWg3vJupOyukcMYGahbyOCt6j3RUlWpYM1Wj6iLBqBCZ1qk8Px2oLap47otOHqXQbb0usu3BfWKKoaVHPfqzoYo2B_xRaxPOx7fpi626LZoKPUjQw7RlfZya/w400-h300/treasureChest.jpg" title="Treasure Chest" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /><span>No trip to Washington would be complete without viewing the scores of National Register historic homes on the city's many side streets. Many are antebellum. There are also five National Register historic districts with even more homes and properties to be seen.</span></span><p></p><div style="mso-element: endnote-list;"><div id="edn1" style="mso-element: endnote;">
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Archer Thomas Gammon was born near Chatham, Virginia, on September 11, 1918. A son of Walter and Cordie Evans Gammon, Archer was one of fifteen siblings. The Gammons were a farming family living on Route 29. The sons, on completing the seventh grade, worked with their father in the field and the daughters helped their mother keep house.<br />
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Life changed for Archie in 1942 when he enlisted in the U. S. Army at Roanoke. He was assigned to Camp Lee in Price George County for basic training. But he was not the only Gammon sibling to serve. Brother Robert was also in the army serving as an anti-aircraft gunner in Fredericksburg. Brother Walter joined the Navy and was slightly wounded in the Pacific theater in 1944. Brother James was a fireman in the Coast Guard. And sister Mildred was a member of the Women’s Army Corps.<br />
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By January 11, 1945, Archie was a Staff Sergeant serving in Company A, 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, 6th Armored Division. On that day, near Bastogne, Belgium, he destroyed a German machine gun position before beginning a one-man assault on a German tank. He killed nine Nazis before he was silenced by a shot from the tank. For these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His full citation reads:<br />
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He charged 30 yards through hip-deep snow to knock out a machinegun and its 3-man crew with grenades, saving his platoon from being decimated and allowing it to continue its advance from an open field into some nearby woods. The platoon's advance through the woods had only begun when a machinegun supported by riflemen opened fire and a Tiger Royal tank sent 88mm shells screaming at the unit from the left flank. S/Sgt. Gammon, disregarding all thoughts of personal safety, rushed forward, then cut to the left, crossing the width of the platoon's skirmish line in an attempt to get within grenade range of the tank and its protecting foot troops. Intense fire was concentrated on him by riflemen and the machinegun emplaced near the tank. He charged the automatic weapon, wiped out its crew of 4 with grenades, and, with supreme daring, advanced to within 25 yards of the armored vehicle, killing 2 hostile infantrymen with rifle fire as he moved forward. The tank had started to withdraw, backing a short distance, then firing, backing some more, and then stopping to blast out another round, when the man whose single-handed relentless attack had put the ponderous machine on the defensive was struck and instantly killed by a direct hit from the Tiger Royal's heavy gun. By his intrepidity and extreme devotion to the task of driving the enemy back no matter what the odds, S/Sgt. Gammon cleared the woods of German forces, for the tank continued to withdraw, leaving open the path for the gallant squad leader's platoon.</blockquote>
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But that was not the last of Archie Gammon. He was among 29 Congressional medal of Honor winners to be honored with the renaming of a Navy support ship, the USNS Sgt. Archer T. Gammon. She was a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship built at the end of the war and named for Archie in 1947. After serving in the demilitarization after World War II, the Gammon also delivered cargo for the Korean Conflict. She was decommissioned in 1973.<br />
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By the end of the war, the Gammon family was living at 120 Broad Street in Danville (now part of a parking lot). Father, mother, Archie, and many of his siblings are interred at the nearby Mountain View Cemetery across the drive from the memorial to Danville’s World War II soldiers and sailors.<br />
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Sources:<br />
The Bee: 13 Jan 1943, 8 Dec 1944, 14 Feb 1946, 21 Feb 1946, 19 Nov 1947<br />
Wikipedia<br />
Ancetsry.com (photo)<br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-59743217653748843512018-01-01T12:11:00.002-05:002018-01-01T12:11:47.101-05:00Disneyland in Danville?<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;">
Actually, the story begins in nearby Salem, Virginia. A 49-acre amusement park there called Lakeside was named after a million-gallon swimming pool opened in 1920. The pool was surrounded by a beach and was a favorite summer retreat. Amusement park rides were added within a few years. The park also included a pavilion, which hosted performers such as country artists Tom T. Hall and Conway Twitty and teen idol Ricky Nelson.<br />
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By the late 1960s, Lakeside had competition from new large parks such as Six Flags Over Georgia. Even larger parks such as Walt Disney World, Kings Dominion, and Busch Gardens were in various stages of development. With no land for expansion, Lakeside’s owners announced a new park in June 1971. The 947-acre Sugartree entertainment complex was to be built in Axton, 15 miles west of Danville – spanning U.S. 58 and adjacent to Route 855 (Martin Road).<br />
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“Sugartree” came from the Sugartree Creek running through the property – so named by our area’s explorer, William Byrd. The property was once owned by Patrick Henry. Beginning in 1904, there was a one-room Sugartree school that also served as the community’s church. The school was closed with the completion of the nearby Brosville school in 1920.<br />
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The proposed recreation complex was to include a convention center, an 800-room hotel, camp sites, an 18-hole golf course, and a shopping center in addition to entertainment attractions. The first of those was to be a 1.4 mile miniature steam railroad modeled after the old Danville and Western (Dick ‘n Willie) line. The engine was already under construction and was displayed at Lakeside by June 1972.<br />
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Needless to say, an undertaking this large encountered many problems. Perhaps largest was the lack of water and sewer connections – a bone of contention with Pittsylvania County. As a result, the developers considered relocating to municipally-owned land in Danville, adjacent to the City Farm, in 1972. Council was cautious because that land was the city’s last available major industrial tract – close to the airport and the proposed Danville Expressway. It may be the developers proposed the Danville site to prod the Pittsylvania supervisors into a sewer agreement.<br />
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Various opening dates for Sugartree were scheduled – first for 1973 and then for 1975. By that time, the future was in doubt. The only visible structure was a metal maintenance building erected by Danville contractor Hughes and Dalton Construction in 1973. And the Kings Dominion complex opened less than 200 miles away in 1975.<br />
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Nothing remains of Sugartree today – the community or the entertainment complex. Most of the acreage remains wooded nearly 47 years after the ambitious plan was announced.<br />
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As the result of increasing competition, Salem’s Lakeside park closed after 66 years at the end of 1986 season. Missed by the older residents of Roanoke and Salem, that land is now the Lakeside Plaza shopping center.<br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-59268269133536087452017-01-24T06:53:00.002-05:002022-06-28T14:01:22.667-04:00Danville Daytrips -- Yanceyville<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;">
Danvillians often hurry south on Route 86 on their way to more-distant destinations – Burlington, Hillsborough, and beyond. Yet as stop in our nearest neighbor of Yanceyville in Caswell County, North Carolina, makes an interesting daytrip for those with an eye for history, architecture, and art.<br />
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Caswell County was founded in 1777. At that time, it included present-day Person County to the east with the county seat of that larger area at Leasburg. With the division into two in 1792, both counties sought more central locations for their county seats. Roxboro became the seat of Person County. The remaining portion of Caswell County purchased land for a new county seat at its geographic center. Originally named Caswell New Courthouse, then Caswell Courthouse, Yanceyville took its present name in 1833. The source of that name remains in dispute. Some say the town is named for James Yancey (1768-1829) while others claim it was named for his younger brother Bartlett Yancey, Jr. (1785-1828).<br />
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A daytrip to Yanceyville is best begun in mid to late morning on Wednesday, Thursday, or (depending upon your selected lunch location) Friday. Two of the recommended locations are government offices and are available only on business days. And the volunteer-staffed museum is only available Wednesday through Friday afternoons.<br />
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Park downtown in the Court Square where you will be immediately drawn to the star of the show – the courthouse itself. Listed on the National Register of Historic places, this is actually Caswell’s fourth courthouse. No longer in use for trials, it now houses county offices. Completed in 1861 and fully restored in 1999, it is an over-the-top statement of Victorian, Romanesque, and classical design. <br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;">Until 2000, the clock in the tower had not operated for almost 30 years. At that time, it was restored and converted back from electric to mechanical operation and now chimes again at every hour. The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors awarded this restoration first prize in its horological craft contest in 2008.</span><br />
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Venture inside to visit the second-floor courtroom that now hosts county commission meetings twice monthly. The ceiling is tremendously elaborate. The small dour behind the bench originally led to a small private staircase should the judge need to make a hasty exit.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;">In the center hall on the main floor, you should find a brochure title “Yanceyville Historic District Walking Tour.” Or you can <a href="http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ncccha/pdf/yanceyvillewalkingtour.pdf" target="_blank"><i>download a similar document</i></a> in preparation for your trip.</span><br />
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To the rear of the courthouse are the Poteat Schoolhouse and the old Caswell County Jail. The 1913 one-room school was moved here from its original rural location about six miles to the northeast. The 1906 jail is a two-story Romanesque Revival building and one of the last to be built with an indoor hanging cell. This building remained in use until 1975.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;">Further to the rear is the Caswell Community Arboretum. This seems to be a fledgling effort with few species, none labeled. Your legs are better saved for the Historic District Walking Tour.</span><br />
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To begin the Walking Tour, return to the front of the courthouse, turn to the west / left, pass the old theater and some offices, and arrive at the first of many historic homes on West Main Street. Caswell County experienced a “boom era” from about 1830 to the time of the Civil War. This resulted in Yanceyville’s many fine Greek Revival style homes. Use the Walking Tour guide to learn more about many of these homes. The total walking distance is about two thirds of a mile. This entire district is listed on the National Register. <br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;">Returning eastward toward Court Square, you’ll pass an 1815 commercial building constructed by Azariah Graves. This building is now home to Hushpuppies, one of two downtown lunch locations. True to its name, this restaurant serves really good unusually shaped hushpuppies as a free appetizer. This location is your downtown choice for a hot lunch, especially seafood.</span><br />
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Back on the square, “The Drug Store” has an old fashioned soda fountain with a nice sandwich menu (closed Friday). It is also one of the few places anywhere around where you can get a made-to-order Ice Cream Soda, sometimes called a float. A Philadelphia invention that’s a combination of soda water, syrup (three flavors here), and ice cream, it’s best ordered with or ahead of your meal to allow some time for the ice cream to partially melt into the soda while you eat. This took me back to the 1950s.<br />
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Other choices for lunch include sandwiches at Yoder’s Country Market deli and the locally-popular Venice Italian Restaurant, both on or near Route 86.<br />
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With lunch completed, the Richmond-Miles History Museum, located across the square from the courthouse, opens at 1:00. Located in the 1822 Graves-Florance-Gatewood house, the museum is owned and operated by the Caswell County Historical Society.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;">Small town museums are always a joy. A broad range of exhibits includes portraits of many of Yanceyville’s founders, several pieces of Thomas Day furniture, a large collection of antique clocks, numerous military uniforms, other bits of Caswell County history, and a genealogy research room.</span><br />
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In addition, this house was the birthplace of nationally-known Yanceyville artist Maud Florance Gatewood (1934-2004). An exhibit of her art, including her final unfinished painting, can be found on the second floor. Gatewood attended and then taught at the University of North Carolina for several years. The Gatewood Studio Arts Building at UNC’s Greensboro campus is named in her honor. However, most of her teaching career was at Danville’s own Averett College where she served as a Professor in the Art Department from 1975 to 1995. <br />
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Perhaps a hundred yards behind the history museum is the Yanceyville Museum of Art. Located inside the municipal services building, this art gallery features a more-extensive collection of the Maud Gatewood’s works as well as pieces from her personal collection. It may be best to retrieve your car from Court Square and drive to the municipal building whose address is 158 East Church Street. Gatewood’s work is also in the collection of our own Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, one of the stops on the <a href="http://www.danvillemuseum.org/news/details/ID/53" target="_blank"><i>Maud Gatewood Trail</i></a>.<br />
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Beginning your return trip to Danville, Yoder’s Country Market (mentioned earlier as a possible lunch location) on County Home Road near the intersection with Route 86 makes an interesting stop. In addition to Amish bulk foods, they offer naked goods, meats, and cheeses. Recently, the have added numerous gluten free products for their patrons with gluten intolerance.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;">For your return drive to Danville, consider taking Old NC 86 (now numbered NC 1500) through the settlement of Purley and the village of Providence. Follow Main Street to the north or turn right from Route 86 just north of town. While there’s nothing to do along the way, the old road has many interesting twists and turns, making the trip between Danville and Yanceyville a bit more authentic. The present straight-as-an-arrow Route 86 was constructed in 1956 or 1957.</span><br />
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Didn’t get enough? More historic information about Yanceyville and Caswell County generally can be found on the excellent <a href="http://ncccha.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Caswell County Historical Association blog</i></a>.<br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-42684076460742299552016-04-21T06:45:00.005-04:002021-09-26T10:39:21.790-04:00Danville Hospitals<div style="line-height: 125%;">
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Medical care has always been a focus for the citizens of Danville. There have been at least ten hospitals plus two sanatoriums over the years. Numerous hospital expansions have occurred, and additional hospitals were proposed several times.</div>
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Older hospitals began as homes for the sick who had no one to care for them. The patients were often soldiers, transients, and the very poor. People from the middle and upper classes were nursed in their own homes. Even surgery was performed at home. It has only been since the turn of the twentieth century that hospitals became centers of science and technology, and since the Second World War that care in the patient’s home has become unusual.<br />
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<b>In The Beginning</b></div>
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The first record of a hospital in Danville was during the Civil War. Thousands of sick and wounded Confederate soldiers and Union prisoners temporarily resided in Danville. More than half of the soldiers who died passed from disease rather than from combat. Nursing care was desperately needed.</div>
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According to the online Encyclopedia Virginia the hospital was initially located in a former tobacco warehouse, but was relocated to an empty hotel near the Richmond and Danville Railroad depot when Union prisoners of war began to arrive in November 1863. An entire complex of hospital buildings was erected on a hill behind the hotel. The sketch below from the Library of Congress, drawn by prisoner J. M. Thurston of Ohio, shows that complex, though seemingly in a valley in a more rural location. This facility closed with the end of the War.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Library of Congress</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;">Discussions of the continuing need for a hospital in Danville began among a group of ladies shortly after reconstruction. The next hospital, called the “Home for the Sick,” came in 1884. It was established by 28 society matrons who incorporated as the Ladies Benevolent Society. The Home for the Sick was for those who had no one to care for them – particularly the young men on the tobacco market who were living in boarding houses.</span></div>
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This Home was located in a two story frame house on the alley behind Tazewell Street (now South Ridge Street). It was rented from Capt. W. T. Clark and equipped with contributions of furniture from the ladies’ homes and mansions. Interestingly, this same house briefly served as the capital of Virginia during April of 1865. “The Home” was staffed by a live in couple, Mr. and Mrs. Burnett, assisted by a “colored” orderly named Silas. The fee of $8.00 per week covered room, board, and nursing care. This Home for the Sick was the first precursor to today’s Danville Regional Medical Center.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The Home" Image: Danville, A Pictorial History</td></tr>
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The Danville Female Academy, built in 1854 at the corner of Jefferson and Loyal Streets, ceased operations and was vacant. Captain Clark, who was Chairman of the Board, suggested to the Ladies Benevolent Association that they might be able to occupy this larger building. With approval of the sale granted by Virginia’s General Assembly on March 1, 1886, the ladies began raising funds. The Academy’s Trustees sold the property to the Ladies for $3,500 on February 26, 1887, promptly donating that same amount for conversion of the property to a hospital.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danville Female Academy was the wing at right<br />
Image: Postcard History Series</td></tr>
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Danville’s Masons, called upon for their assistance, donated a room to be called the Roman Eagle Lodge room for poor members of the lodge or others in need. The Lodge also subscribed for $120 per year in aid, payable in equal installments, to the new Home for the Sick.</div>
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In 1898, following the example of Florence Nightingale, the School of Professional Nursing opened at the Home, though the living facilities for the nurses were said to be very inadequate. <span style="font-size: 13pt;">In 1911, the Ladies Benevolent Association corrected the housing situation for the nurses, erecting the building at right on Loyal Street – behind the General Hospital and connecting with its courtyard.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmTVKwh2PzRHGovmnq1eNbDP1Bp6Xy46IbrHzUIDozdGONNjNUo_suDrivaGsvfLs1iz7h854-czyFTUvu9Fo7G3RqVV5AC5E6RsIUVUS-o5_CbUlckbNv_dvgQWCAcctWfPW8GAbaxk/s1600/nurses_housing_1911.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwmTVKwh2PzRHGovmnq1eNbDP1Bp6Xy46IbrHzUIDozdGONNjNUo_suDrivaGsvfLs1iz7h854-czyFTUvu9Fo7G3RqVV5AC5E6RsIUVUS-o5_CbUlckbNv_dvgQWCAcctWfPW8GAbaxk/s200/nurses_housing_1911.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nurses' House on Loyal Street<br />
Image: Danville, A Pictorial History</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br /></div><div style="line-height: 125%;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px;">In 1903, when Danville went dry, the Anti-Saloon League proposed to provide alcohol at no charge </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17.3333px;">for medical reasons. A </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17.3333px;">doctor's </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17.3333px;">prescription</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17.3333px;"> would be required. The Home for the Sick was asked to be the dispensary for this </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17.3333px;">medicine</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17.3333px;">. The manager of the Home declined, suggesting the use of drug stores would be more appropriate. </span></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px;">The Ladies Benevolent Association continued to raise funds in the late 1890s and early 1900s. With $20,000 in hand, new wings were completed in 1904. It was at that time the name was changed to General Hospital.</span></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">John Edward Hughes, a bachelor, was the largest leaf tobacco dealer and exporter in the country with his company headquartered in Danville. In 1912, Mr. Hughes was stricken with appendicitis, and underwent an operation at General Hospital. As a result, he became interested in the work of the hospital, serving as a member of its board and, for a time, as its president. He was also very generous to the hospital, including the gift of an elevator. However, by 1918, he was in ill health with high blood pres-sure and hardening of the arteries. Despite rest and the best medical care, Mr. Hughes became the victim of a stoke on January 13, 1921. As a result, he was confined to General Hospital until his death on March 27, 1922 at the age of 51.</span></div>
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In 1923, when Mr. Hughes’ will was offered for probate, it included a gift of $250,000 which he hoped would enable the erection of “a new hospital suitable and adequate to the needs of this community.” This gift was, in fact, adequate, resulting in the construction of a new hospital on South Main Street named Memorial Hospital in his honor (see below). </div>
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A new hospital was the smaller of Hughes’ gifts to the area. He also bequeathed his farm on the Franklin Turnpike and $2,500,000 for the creation of an orphanage. His orphanage opened in 1927, and is now the Hughes Center for young people with intellectual disabilities or Autism. </div>
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After the opening of the new Memorial Hospital, various uses for the old General Hospital buildings were discussed by the trustees. One proposal was to use the facility as a YWCA with the nurse’s home converted to a dormitory for single girls and the basement made into a large swimming pool. But this was not to be. The oldest portion of the General Hospital building became the Fairfax Apartments with 10 units, and later the Madison Apartments with 18 efficiencies. One wing of the building facing loyal street was removed in favor of stores including Danville’s first drive-in bank and a two-story Chevrolet dealership with a ramp to the repair shop above. While a fire at the Madison Apartments in 1996 ultimately led to demolition in 2011 (below left), the stores on Loyal Street remain to this day (below right).</div>
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<b>Hilltop Sanatorium</b></div>
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In 1915, Dr. C. C. Hudson formed what became the Hilltop Sanatorium for tubercular patients near the Neapolis reservoir. Hilltop began in a tent, then moved to a renovated pest house (a home for those with infectious diseases). Its new building in the 2500 block of North Main Street opened in 1922.</div>
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Throughout the years, many fundraisers were held and gifts made to benefit Hilltop, including twelve blankets from Mrs. Harden Hairston made from the wool of her own sheep. The Danville Garden Club raised funds beautify the premises.</div>
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The Hilltop property later became the original Roman Eagle Memorial Home. That 1922 building, a portion of which is shown below, was completely replaced by Roman Eagle in 1962.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hilltop Sanatorium<br />
Image: The Bee</td></tr>
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<b>Lawless Cancer Sanatorium</b></div>
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Robert Lee Lawless, originally from Patrick County, was for some time one of the Southern Railway’s best known engineers. Later, he served with the City fire department as engineer of its steam fire truck.
During that time, he treated people with cancerous growths using a secret formula left to him by his father.</div>
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“Doc” Lawless, as he was often called, began advertising his treatment locally and throughout North Carolina as early as 1920. He patented the formula, a “preparation for treatment of cancers, tumors, &c.,” in 1921. That same year, he opened the Lawless’ Cancer Sanatorium at 1432 North Main Street (below) devoting all of his time to that effort. The sanatorium closed upon his passing in late 1936 and is now an apartment building.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: Postcard History Series</td></tr>
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<b>Colored Hospitals</b></div>
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Providence Hospital was founded on September 8, 1919, at 223 South Main Street at the corner with Paxton Street to serve what was then called the City’s “colored” population. About a year later, a training school was established for black nurses, though this was short lived. Miss Smith was the first superintendent, followed by Mrs. Pearson with the assistance of a graduate nurse.</div>
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In 1924, the Providence Hospital Association held a funding campaign, raising $10,221.68. The purpose of this campaign was to pay off an indebtedness of $3,000 and to expand the hospital to 50 beds, though so many beds were rarely needed. <i>The Bee</i> reported that the Danville Ku Klux Klan donated to this effort, receiving a letter of thanks from Providence President Rev. G. W. Goode.</div>
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Apparently, the Providence Hospital was not serving the black population very well, as City Council began studying the construction of a new colored hospital early in 1940. This new facility with 35 beds (45 in an emergency) was constructed at 709 Betts Street in the Almagro neighborhood at a cost to the City of $45,000. Named for negro practitioner Dr. A. L. Winslow, the new building (below) was formally dedicated on November 27, 1940, with a speech by the mayor and “the thanks of the colored people to the city for its generosity” by Danville colored lawyer J. C. Carter.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winslow Hospital Image: Danville, A Pictorial History</td></tr>
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Providence Hospital closed its doors on the day that Winslow Hospital opened. The City gave some thought to purchasing the Providence building as a center for its various clinics. However, the residents of South Main Street objected because “the venereal disease clinic is held at night and is attended by a surprisingly large number of people.” Ultimately, the Providence Hospital Building was converted to the Bell Apartments in 1942. The building was demolished in 1974, the lot becoming a parking area for the now-closed H. L. Brooks Funeral Home.</div>
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The new Winslow Hospital continued operation until 1971, when all patients were transferred to the expanded and integrated Memorial Hospital. The Winslow Hospital building remains on Betts Street today, and has served as headquarters for the City Health Department, and more recently as the Ashwood Home for Adults, Wilson’s Home for Adults and Winslow Loving Care, Inc.</div>
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<b>Edmunds / Danville / Community Hospital</b></div>
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Located in a large 2½ story frame residence at 212 West Main Street, this 20-bed hospital was, from its inception in 1919, owned by Dr. Thomas W. Edmunds, an eye, ear, and throat specialist. When he moved to Reidsville in 1929, Edmunds Hospital was purchased by Memorial Hospital for $25,000 with patients transferred across West Main Street. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Edmunds Hospital Image: Danville, A Pictorial History</td></tr>
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In 1933, the building was purchased and refurbished by a private company and reopened as Danville Hospital (or perhaps Danville General Hospital), partly to relieve overcrowding at Memorial Hospital. At that time, it was operated by Dr. Hawkins, and seems to have opened and closed several times.</div>
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In September 1934, ownership was transferred to a large group of citizens interested in creating a form of hospital insurance. For just three cents a day, the 300 shareholders of the Community Hospital would receive their hospital care for one quarter of the usual cost. In 1937, the Community Hospital purchased the adjacent dwelling, long used as a home for its nursing staff, and extensions were soon made to the main building to raise its capacity to 35 beds.</div>
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In 1938, the Community Hospital saw an opportunity to replace its aging building courtesy of the Public Works Administration (PWA). Council agreed to lend the City’s name to the application for a $150,000 loan and grant request for a new facility. The application was approved by the regional PWA office in Atlanta, but ultimately rejected in Washington. Despite the City’s support and the promise to accept charity cases, the proposal was seen as a private effort. This was but the first of several efforts to build a new second hospital in Danville.</div>
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By 1944, the “hospital insurance” arrangement begun in 1934 was proving too large a drain on Community’s finances. In addition, there were a large number of charity cases. Considering the maintenance needs of its aging and potentially unsafe building, the Community Hospital’s board voted for liquidation. Editorials called for the creation of a City hospital for white people similar to the City-administered Winslow Hospital for colored people. The Community Hospital closed its doors on September 30. </div>
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Because of a shortage of hospital beds, quick action by City Council resulted in a reopening on October 19, 1944. In return for a gift of $4,000 in city funds to tide the hospital through the winter, there would be no free or reduced-cost hospitalization for shareholders as in the past. </div>
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A group of Danville doctors purchased the Community Hospital in 1947 and began making plans to re-move the buildings, then capable of 45 beds, and replace them with a three story fireproof building. This did not happen. Community Hospital again ceased operation in February 1954 after Memorial Hospital completed an expansion. Some say Community’s main building was about to be condemned.</div>
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By 1955, the Lutheran Church of the Ascension, then located at 295 West Main Street (now numbered 305 and for sale), acquired the site and razed the buildings for the construction of a new sanctuary. However, this location was never used by the church, which built its new sanctuary further west and across the street at 314 West Main in 1972. The Edmunds / Danville / Community Hospital property is now beneath Central Boulevard.</div>
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<b>Memorial Hospital / Danville Regional Medical Center / SOVAH Health</b></div>
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Upon his death in 1922, John Edward Hughes, a wealth tobacconist and philanthropist, left $250,000 for the erection of “a new hospital suitable and adequate to the needs of this community.” <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Edward Hughes<br />
Image: Hughes Memorial Foundation</td></tr>
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The planning for a new hospital soon began, and the Fuller home at 142 South Main Street was purchased. Alf Patterson was retained to move the 12-room home to the rear of the lot where it was later converted into nurses’ quarters. The Fuller house can be seen at its new location (lower left) in the 1926 photo below.</div>
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During 1924, the hospital’s building committee suggested to the Ladies Benevolent Association that the new facility be called “Memorial Hospital” in honor of Mr. Hughes, and a new charter was issued in January 1925. However, that decision was not well received in the community or by the local newspaper because Mr. Hughes name had been omitted. For many years, the newspaper refused to call the new facility anything but “Hughes Memorial Hospital” in print.</div>
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By September 1924, plans for the new building were completed and approved by the building committee. The contract for construction of the building was let to C. M. Webber of Danville in January 1925. Additional contracts went to Blesdoe Furniture for flooring and to Westbrook Elevator in February. The Bee noted the unusual size of the passenger elevators – large enough to admit wheeled stretchers.</div>
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In August 1925, the building committee purchased additional property that fronted West Main Street and abutted the hospital property at the rear. The homes of T. T. Addams and E. E. F. Scales, each with a 50 foot frontage, sold for $15,000 and $11,000 respectively. While used for a time as nursing homes, these houses were soon demolished.</div>
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Even before construction had been completed, consideration given to a merger with Edmunds Hospital (above). A committee of doctors from the Danville Academy of Medicine discussed the matter with Dr. T. W. Edmunds, and suggested that consolidation would occur early in 1926. Dr. Edmunds had no statement to make at that time, and continued operating his facility until his move to Reidsville in 1929.</div>
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The new building was set back about 90 feet from South Main Street, creating an imposing presence. <i>The Bee</i> included an entire section on the new hospital on July 5, 1926. After several days of public tours, Memorial Hospital opened on July 8, 1926, with the transfer of patients from the General Hospital.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBjnZAXhoOCmqQDA0unIpoFMBb6ADUhS2gusSksI0K1fWNN495qlAsqWXct609gyhnR0_fqE-2izTyOLA4J-m5kJ3FAkW0GuqoEHaS2HKqCI59pIO1FzJFlklVhKW7DQP3tDFnl4TIZI/s1600/memorial_hospital_1926.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCBjnZAXhoOCmqQDA0unIpoFMBb6ADUhS2gusSksI0K1fWNN495qlAsqWXct609gyhnR0_fqE-2izTyOLA4J-m5kJ3FAkW0GuqoEHaS2HKqCI59pIO1FzJFlklVhKW7DQP3tDFnl4TIZI/s320/memorial_hospital_1926.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memorial Hospital in 1926 Image: Postcard History Series</td></tr>
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In 1941, Memorial Hospital was enlarged by 50 beds to a total bed capacity of 170 with an addition to the rear (west) next to the old Fuller House.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-yhKkK51wnTwCK6LkM5vCdclLnf-Dw2dmhbNC7Gl8HZuEinZO8iSMopxd3VvnbHbQqF6QfoGacxyqqxTaQvqrKOzPly-ucbvNe9y6EBs8_66vXK2ZhkG07O2fZJtiLhEILDk8bLL5-o/s1600/memorial_hospital_1941.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-yhKkK51wnTwCK6LkM5vCdclLnf-Dw2dmhbNC7Gl8HZuEinZO8iSMopxd3VvnbHbQqF6QfoGacxyqqxTaQvqrKOzPly-ucbvNe9y6EBs8_66vXK2ZhkG07O2fZJtiLhEILDk8bLL5-o/s320/memorial_hospital_1941.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memorial Hospital 1941 Expansion<br />
Image: Danville, A Pictorial History</td></tr>
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By the fall of 1944, the need for more hospital beds had become acute. Many of Danville’s doctors were serving overseas in the military, nearly eliminating the possibility that patients could be cared for in their own homes. This brought more patients to the hospitals – many of whom could not afford hospital care. Then Community Hospital announced its closing, primarily for financial reasons. And there was little possibility of expansion because all available materials were also going to the war effort. Community Hospital was reopened to fill the need for additional beds, and remained open until 1954 when the next Memorial Hospital expansion was completed</div>
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Despite calls for a second hospital during and after the war, the Memorial Hospital’s board thought it best to concentrate medical services in a single facility. A 1946 study reported that the region’s hospital needs could be met by expansion of the South Main Street property for the foreseeable future. As a result, the 1926 Memorial Hospital building was again extended to the north and south and a new east wing was completed in 1953, bringing the hospital nearly to the South Main Street sidewalk. Capacity rose to 275 beds and 50 bassinets. The Nurses Home on West Main Street, at far right in the photo below, was dedicated in 1961.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0b6eoCAPbot4eZI1M2hv2afFlJx9Y0U9xSddly5LqOhcn-_DsJfxCmlmDCd98x7d0qzuw7yFdQAI7Rqom1r2uazLF7KLqe1162sPZ99WwMGgRzs2uLueOxW0cnmb3y2oU0aiDbgIL7nc/s1600/memorial_hospital_1961.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0b6eoCAPbot4eZI1M2hv2afFlJx9Y0U9xSddly5LqOhcn-_DsJfxCmlmDCd98x7d0qzuw7yFdQAI7Rqom1r2uazLF7KLqe1162sPZ99WwMGgRzs2uLueOxW0cnmb3y2oU0aiDbgIL7nc/s400/memorial_hospital_1961.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memorial Hospital with Nurses Home<br />
Image: Danville, A Pictorial History</td></tr>
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Memorial Hospital added a new Cobalt x-ray unit in 1966. An Extended Care facility was added early in 1971 with a 92 bed capacity. This addition freed many beds for acute care patients.</div>
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In July 1974, Memorial Hospital purchase the entire campus of nearby Stratford College. While at least one aging dormitory was demolished, the hospital quickly moved its nursing education department to Stratford’s Simpson Hall. By 1988, nursing education had returned to the hospital complex and plans were drawn to create a hospital subsidiary, Stratford House, as an independent living community. The present Stratford House opened in 1990 with its assisted living facility opened in 1991.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh8Ejd_0eBzlwQtj8KjA5wJsMUfGdK4yaH5Hs5Bh5XQ2ahAv7rmSkcN4-ca23tGVrRVY4iVisCdeyMMVyvnsRjcI65zmWWOMXJRc35K0bNUZsLkTgljImapwPYQTpzbgPF6jXv4ihheNM/s1600/stratford_house.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh8Ejd_0eBzlwQtj8KjA5wJsMUfGdK4yaH5Hs5Bh5XQ2ahAv7rmSkcN4-ca23tGVrRVY4iVisCdeyMMVyvnsRjcI65zmWWOMXJRc35K0bNUZsLkTgljImapwPYQTpzbgPF6jXv4ihheNM/s320/stratford_house.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stratford House Image P. Liepe</td></tr>
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Memorial Hospital nearly doubled in size in 1975 with construction of its Memorial South addition. The two-year construction project provided 80 private rooms along with new facilities for intensive care, coronary care, operating rooms, x-ray, pharmacy, and central supply services. This addition is now largely hidden by later construction.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgSmOyga2itVAsGXhMDJ6lom79hY3UwInD3JU5Omzvr5msr5qhM7jTFzqS41sW_8Hhk6DeZxMax1eqQ3Jty2yv5k-nQh33OIlG3B7485yysDbV2B16k0ERcu5wg9a5YzTLPGuAfHdybk/s1600/memorial_hospital_1975.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgSmOyga2itVAsGXhMDJ6lom79hY3UwInD3JU5Omzvr5msr5qhM7jTFzqS41sW_8Hhk6DeZxMax1eqQ3Jty2yv5k-nQh33OIlG3B7485yysDbV2B16k0ERcu5wg9a5YzTLPGuAfHdybk/s400/memorial_hospital_1975.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1975 Memorial South Addition<br />
Image: Danville, A Pictorial History</td></tr>
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April 1993 finally brought an end to the hospital name controversy. “Hughes” Memorial Hospital was renamed as Danville Regional Medical Center (DRMC). This name changed also marked the start of another major expansion program, beginning with the completion of a new $3.2 million Center for Radiation Oncology in April 1994 (below). The center’s 11-ton dual linear accelerator replaced the aging Cobalt therapy machine first installed in the main hospital building in 1966.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1mbyRZvFnQqPhXkLWnmvMcFCAK6KpPD5rC9ra8f5AMIXRxHfIcsEnouM8MtLS9Wda2dQHcaVUgN7KoQF0BJDeBZNC9WFymaMwEPP9lYB9-Wuzruau7nHj9G_b_gk88At16l7PBMupXMU/s1600/radiation_oncology.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1mbyRZvFnQqPhXkLWnmvMcFCAK6KpPD5rC9ra8f5AMIXRxHfIcsEnouM8MtLS9Wda2dQHcaVUgN7KoQF0BJDeBZNC9WFymaMwEPP9lYB9-Wuzruau7nHj9G_b_gk88At16l7PBMupXMU/s320/radiation_oncology.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Center for Radiation Oncology Image: P. Liepe</td></tr>
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Further expansion plans were also announced in 1994. A new 90,000 square foot, $28 million South Pavilion (later named for Landon R. Wyatt Jr.), encompassing today’s main entrance was completed 1997, followed by an upgrade of the hospital’s Emergency Room. </div>
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July 2005 brought the largest change since the hospital’s inception in 1884, 121 years later. The Danville Regional Health System was sold to LifePoint Health for over $200 million. These funds were used to create the Danville Regional Foundation. There were stipulations to the sale, including two empty floors in the Wyatt Building were to be fitted into an additional 92 beds. This was completed in 2007. The Stratford House would be spun off as an independent organization, completed in 2008, and the Foundation House would become an arm of Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services. </div>
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While the building created from bequest of John Edward Hughes is in active use at DRMC, only small portions remains visible from South Main Street. The most easily viewed section is directly above the Emergency Room entrance.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6ntJ1yscdEQ1VV0mqhOC9oEeFvcdytPPPROICVx0_xfpEMLn9r0Rx9ha4hA3r9SHGKKTrQMqck07UliySvwY00dv1PvjLXhEZ6WC_kwy0vCCH_tUrGbAy1glzIbO0HV6GRTxyKBdKmU/s1600/memorial_hospital_today_north1926.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6ntJ1yscdEQ1VV0mqhOC9oEeFvcdytPPPROICVx0_xfpEMLn9r0Rx9ha4hA3r9SHGKKTrQMqck07UliySvwY00dv1PvjLXhEZ6WC_kwy0vCCH_tUrGbAy1glzIbO0HV6GRTxyKBdKmU/s320/memorial_hospital_today_north1926.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The north portion of the 1926 building is at center-left in this photo. Two<br />
1953 additions are also visible – the east wing at left and north wing at <br />
right. The emergency entrance was completed in 1998. Image: P. Liepe</td></tr>
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The Ladies Benevolent Association together with Mr. Hughes would certainly be surprised by a visit their Danville hospital today, shown below.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNBk_cMCqCL1IE_e9fun_sknMdFbrw0KXA8Ho7uM_Of2VJiOjZgOADYCkH36cHjuubgz5kxInxZAPxNMnw2u8HyWRJtbhbNt5zFIKA573lK7UNxZsa2Qp3IyyNs1Nti_0Xe39OYmFRKc/s1600/drmc_high.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNBk_cMCqCL1IE_e9fun_sknMdFbrw0KXA8Ho7uM_Of2VJiOjZgOADYCkH36cHjuubgz5kxInxZAPxNMnw2u8HyWRJtbhbNt5zFIKA573lK7UNxZsa2Qp3IyyNs1Nti_0Xe39OYmFRKc/s400/drmc_high.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DRMC Image: LifePoint Health</td></tr>
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Update: Under common ownership by LifePoint Health, Danville Regional Medical Center and Martinsville Memorial Hospital began operating as a single system in July 2017. The two hospitals now share the common brand of SOVAH Health.<br />
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<b>Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute</b></div>
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The Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute on Taylor Drive is a regional psychiatric hospital with 72 beds. Accepting its first patients in 1977, SVMHI performs a comprehensive psychological assessment is completed on each patient upon admission to the facility. Three phases of treatment are afforded – stabilization, intermediate care, and community reintegration.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeWevmakFCKnIEI1ILyCS6lQO0096jrXK7PDaHxxu0_OtzRqfDsiGZBx5KKwecJgcZ2OpkETlz7jibUxZRF1OQK2vFQZQvI47CZwxD7oJgv_bXxhnmP46ruk6-abMUnnTtESuQt26QMY/s1600/svmhi.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeWevmakFCKnIEI1ILyCS6lQO0096jrXK7PDaHxxu0_OtzRqfDsiGZBx5KKwecJgcZ2OpkETlz7jibUxZRF1OQK2vFQZQvI47CZwxD7oJgv_bXxhnmP46ruk6-abMUnnTtESuQt26QMY/s400/svmhi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute Photo: P. Liepe</td></tr>
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<b style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;">Proposed Hospitals</b></div>
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There have been many proposals for an additional hospital in Danville. Though there has often been a shortage of hospital beds, a second hospital has always met with opposition from Memorial Hospital / DRMC on the basis that this would weaken rather than strengthen the quality of medical services that can only be provided by a large facility.</div>
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With the temporary closing of Community Hospital in 1944, there were many calls for a new second hospital. A site in Ballou Park was proposed, where there was already a controversy over removing trees for a proposed 9-hole golf course. Ultimately Council gave a section of the park near the river to the Dan River Hospital Association for construction of an 80 bed facility and requested federal funds for the preparation of plans. This proposal did not move forward, and the land reverted to the City.</div>
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Yet another new hospital was again proposed in 1946 by a group of citizens possibly backed by a large civic organization. The proposal was for 120 beds at a cost of approximately $1 million. However, this was to be considered only if the board of Memorial Hospital decided against further expansion.</div>
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A group of north side women petitioned for a second hospital in 1966, which became an issue in the race to elect City Councilmen. However, no action was taken.</div>
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In 1971, Extendicare, a Louisville-based firm proposed construction of a 200-bed full service hospital, off Piney Forest Road. At that time, Extendicare operated 33 hospitals and 44 nursing homes. Despite strong support from north side and Pittsylvania County residents, the proposal was ultimately dropped due to opposition from local doctors who believed that better care could be achieved through a single larger hospital.</div>
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A second “hospital” was again proposed for Danville in 2010. Lynchburg-based Centra planned to create an out-patient surgical center, a freestanding emergency department, and a diagnostic imaging center. Their request for a certificate of public need was denied by the State health commissioner, partly out of concern for the financial stability of DRMC. Not to be dissuaded, Centra opened several clinics in Danville and, in April 2015, announced that it would build the Centra Danville Medical Center, consolidating all of its Danville facilities under one roof. That Centra building, conceptualized below, is now under construction.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGw4nyqn3kRzPffiOu28rm6kBkarANYaxz09tpE5QZo2NNaUCz2XzQyc0X2RbDAbCSVX0WbEVyB_ZkJoHu1EO7QZlYnEbhnjX52xi8AxWPfym6O1qseg_1ddEqo3OInjVwUfaEGWUpYw/s1600/centra_concept.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggGw4nyqn3kRzPffiOu28rm6kBkarANYaxz09tpE5QZo2NNaUCz2XzQyc0X2RbDAbCSVX0WbEVyB_ZkJoHu1EO7QZlYnEbhnjX52xi8AxWPfym6O1qseg_1ddEqo3OInjVwUfaEGWUpYw/s400/centra_concept.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 125%;">The Future</b></div>
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There is little doubt that medical care, including hospitals, will change as much in the coming years as they have in the recent past. Some say that hospitals will become more integrated, providing all health care services from a central facility. However, there is already a trend toward more outpatient services and fewer admissions. As technology advances, it seems that more and more tests and procedures could be performed at local clinics or even in the home, leaving hospitals to treat only the most critically ill patients. And genetic or regenerative medicine may eliminate many condition and diseases. </div>
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<b>Timeline</b><br />
<br />
1861 - Temporary hospital created in former tobacco warehouse<br />
1863 - Hospital moves to empty hotel near depot, complex built<br />
1865 - War hospital closed<br />
1884 - "Home for the Sick" opened on South Ridge Street<br />
1887 - Home for the Sick moved to corner of Jefferson and Loyal<br />
1898 - School of Professional Nursing opened at Home for the Sick<br />
1903 - Home for the Sick enlarged<br />
1904 - Home renamed "General Hospital"<br />
1911 - Nurse's home for General Hospital constructed on Loyal Street<br />
1915 - Hilltop Sanatorium for tuberculosis opens at Neapolis reservoir<br />
1919 - Providence Hospital for Negroes opens on South Main Street<br />
- Dr. T. W. Edmunds opens Edmunds Hospital on West Main<br />
1921 - Lawless Cancer Sanatorium opens on North Main Street<br />
1922 - Hilltop constructs new building on North Main Street<br />
- John Edward Hughes bequeaths $250,000 for new hospital<br />
1924 - Providence Hospital expands<br />
1926 - Memorial Hospital opens on South Main Street<br />
- General Hospital closes, becomes Fairfax Apartments<br />
1929 - Edmunds' hospital closes on his move to North Carolina<br />
1933 - Danville (General) Hospital opens in Edmunds' building<br />
1934 - Community Hospital opens in Edmunds' building<br />
1936 - Lawless Cancer Sanatorium closes<br />
1940 - City constructs Winslow Hospital for Negroes<br />
- Providence Hospital closes, later becomes Bell Apartments<br />
1941 - Memorial Hospital enlarged by 50 beds<br />
1944 - Community Hospital closes, reopens with city funding<br />
1953 - Memorial Hospital expanded to 275 beds, 50 bassinets<br />
1954 - Community Hospital closes for the last time<br />
1961 - Memorial Hospital constructs new nurses' home<br />
1966 - Cobalt therapy machine installed at Memorial Hospital<br />
1971 - Winslow Hospital closes, later serves as nursing home<br />
1975 - Memorial South addition constructed<br />
1977 - Southern Virginia Mental Health Institute opens with 72 beds<br />
1993 - Memorial Hospital renamed Danville Regional Medical Center<br />
1994 - Center for Radiation Oncology added to DRMC<br />
1997 - South Pavilion (now Wyatt Tower) added to DRMC<br />
2005 - DRMC sold to LifePoint Hospitals</div>
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References<br />
<br />
Choate, Margaret. History of the Ladies Benevolent Society<br />
Dame, George W. Historical Sketch of the Roman Eagle Lodge 1820-1895. J. T. Townes Printing Co.<br />
Danville Commercial Appeal, various dates<br />
Fountain, Clara G. Danville, A Pictorial History. Donning Company, Virginia Beach<br />
Fountain, Clara Garrett. Danville Virginia, Postcard History Series. Arcadia Publishing, 2000<br />
Hagan, Jane Gary. The Story of Danville. Stratford House New York, 1950<br />
History of Hospitals and Training Schools in Danville, Danville Library Clippings. c. 1933<br />
Library of Congress online<br />
Roller, LeAnne. LifePoint Health<br />
The Bee, various dates<br />
The Register, various dates<br />
Wall, Barbra Mann. History of Hospitals. University of Pennsylvania<br />
Wayland, Lee. If Streets Could Talk. Lulu Publications, 2011<br />
Wright, Catherine M. Encyclopedia Virginia, “Danville During the Civil War”</div>
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-71719953995704630522016-04-16T06:38:00.001-04:002016-04-16T06:38:23.552-04:00The Senator's Daughter<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
G. Carter Glass was a Lynchburg newspaper man and politician. He was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1899 at the age of 41, and was a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention of 1901-02. The 1902 Constitution implemented a poll tax, making voting difficult for poor people including many African-Americans. When asked if this wasn’t discriminatory, Glass replied, “Discrimination! Why that is exactly what we propose. To remove every negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally, without materially impairing the numerical strength of the white electorate.”<br />
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Glass went on the he U.S. House of Representatives in 1902. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson, another Virginia-born segregationist, appointed him Secretary of the Treasury. At the 1920 Democratic National Convention, he was among the nominees for President. That same year, he was appointed to an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate. While he was offered the post of Secretary of the Treasury under Franklin Roosevelt, Glass continued in the Senate for 26 years until his death in 1946. <br />
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In 1923, during his time in the Senate, Glass built Montview Mansion in Lynchburg. Montview was purchased by Liberty University in 1977 and served as the executive offices for Dr. Jerry Falwell. The mansion has been restored and is available for tours.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">Carter Glass had two sons and two daughters with his first wife, Aurelia Caldwell. After her passing, he married again in 1940 at the age of 82 to Mary Scott, she being 54.</span><br />
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The senator’s older daughter, Mary Archer Glass, was born in 1895. She attended Gunston Hall, then the premier Washington school for young ladies. In October 1919, it was announced that Mary would marry John Guerrant Boatwright, a returning WW I serviceman and resident of Danville. <br />
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John Guerrant Boatwright was the second son of Herbert Lee Boatwright and his wife Mary Elizabeth Vaughan. He was named for his grandfather, a physician and Confederate surgeon. John remained close to his parents – after John and Mary were married, they lived with his parents at 904 Main Street. Their oldest son, Robert McDearman Boatwright, was born in his father's home in 1920.<br />
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In 1922, John and Mary built a home on a small lot on Chestnut Place subdivided from his parent’s property. Their two younger children were born on Chestnut Place –Nancy Carter Boatwright in 1928, and Elizabeth Boatwright in 1929. Senator and Mrs. Glass visited there often. <br />
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In 1930, John and Mary began restoration of Dan’s Hill, a Federal-style antebellum mansion above the river west of the city. Dan’s Hill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<br />
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John followed his father in the tobacco business, ultimately rising to the presidency of Dibrell Brothers. Mary contributed to her father’s Lynchburg newspaper business. Both were active in Danville community affairs including the founding of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History in 1973. The Boatwright Gallery there is named for their family.<br />
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John and Mary rest together at Danville’s Green Hill Cemetery.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 17.3333px; line-height: 23.4px;">John Guerrant Boatwright was not the only member of his family to marry a politician's daughter. His youngest brother, Herbert Lee Boatwright, Jr., married <a href="http://hisbits.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-governors-daughter.html">The Governors Daughter</a>.</span><br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-46930562376719859422016-04-13T07:29:00.002-04:002016-04-16T06:41:25.065-04:00The Governor's Daughter<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
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John Garland Pollard was the 51st governor of Virginia, serving from 1930 to 1934. Among his many accomplishments, he established the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.</div>
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At the time he took office, his wife, Grace Phillips Pollard, was an invalid. As a result, his daughter Suzanne Virginia Pollard, age 23, became the acting first lady of Virginia, accompanying her father for important events and serving as hostess at the governor’s mansion in Richmond. A graduate of the National Cathedral School in Washington, DC, Suzanne was an accomplished actress and, according to press reports, a sought-after beauty. </div>
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The hopes of many bachelors were dashed when on October 1, 1930, Suzanne’s engagement to Herbert Lee Boatwright, Jr., was announced. Lee Boatwright was then a Washington lawyer, having graduated from Princeton in 1927 and then attending the University of Virginia Law School. Lee Jr. was raised at 904 Main Street in Danville, the son of Herbert Lee Boatwright and Mary Elizabeth Vaughan. Lee Sr., along with R. L. Dibrell and A. B. Carrington, was a driving force in the success of the Dibrell Brothers tobacco firm.</div>
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Danville society was agog when Suzanne spent several days with the Danville Boatwrights in mid-October. The wedding ceremony for Lee and Suzanne took place in the governor’s mansion on January 3, 1931, with only family in attendance. However, the mansion reception that followed was attended by the social elite from around the state and the nation.</div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">Following a honeymoon in Cuba, Lee and Suzanne again visited with his parents in Danville in late January. The groom’s mother held an elaborate tea in her daughter-in-law’s honor at her home on Main Street. By February 1, Lee was back at work in Washington while Suzanne commuted between Washington and Richmond so that she could continue to assist her father.</span></div>
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Suzanne gave birth to their first son, Herbert Lee Boatwright, III, on February 13, 1933. Governor Pollard was planning a trip to Washington the following Tuesday for a meeting with President Herbert Hoover. When he heard the news about his new grandson he remarked, “I shall see the sitting president and the future president of the United States on the same day.” A second son, John Garland Pollard Boatwright, was born there on April 18, 1936.</div>
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During World War II, Lee served as an air combat intelligence officer, USNR, in the Pacific. In 1945, he decided not to return to the practice of law, and he and his family moved to Belle Isle Farm on the Rappahannock River in Lancaster County, Virginia. There, Lee and Suzanne restored the plantation’s mansion house and Lee engaged in cattle raising and oyster farming. A third son, Beverley Vaughan Boatwright, was born there on December 22, 1947. </div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">Herbert Lee Boatwright, Jr., passed in 1974 followed by the governor’s daughter, Suzanne Virginia Pollard, in 1977. The mansion house remains in private hands while the majority of Belle Island Farm is now a state park.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 17.3333px; line-height: 23.4px;">Herbert Lee Boatwright, Jr., was not the only member of his family to marry a politician's daughter. His older brother, John Guerrant Boatwright, married <a href="http://hisbits.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-senators-daughter.html">The Senator's Daughter</a>.</span><br />
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The Bee<br />
Princeton Alumni Weekly<br />
Richmond Times Dispatch<br />
Wikipedia</div>
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-85025182774532887042016-03-21T05:44:00.001-04:002016-03-21T05:44:06.687-04:00The Christian Gottfried Gamper Family<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
Christian Gottfried Gamper, called Gottfried, was Paul’s third-great grandfather. He was born in 1797. The Gamper family hailed from Kaltental, on the southern outskirts of Stuttgart – the capital of the Kingdom of Württemberg for almost a century before his birth. Gottfried’s Gamper ancestors were:<br />
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<li>Father Christian Gottfried Gamper of Kaltental (b. 1756)</li>
<li>Grandfather Ludwig Heinrich Gamper of Reutlingen (b. 1729)</li>
<li>Great grandfather Georg Adam Gamper of Malsburg (b. 1704, called Adam)</li>
<li>Great great grandfather Andreas Gamper of the Black Forest (b. 1676)</li>
<li>Third great grandfather Peter Gamper (b. about 1650)</li>
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Gottfried’s ancestors never lived more than forty miles from the intersecting borders of present-day Germany, Switzerland, and France.<br />
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<strong>More Ancestors</strong><br />
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Of particular interest is Gottfried’s great grandfather Georg Adam Gamper. Adam married Maria Margaretha Hohloch. Researcher who have followed Margaretha Hohloch’s family trace back to Bertoldus Hubere, Gottfried’s 18th great grandfather, born somewhere in Bourgogne (Burgundy), France, in 1185. Burgundy is the area that begins about 50 miles southeast of Paris and extends nearly to the Swiss border. Sometime before 1222, Bertoldus actually moved to Oberkulm, Switzerland, where his descendants were born. This move may be related to the continuing wars in France at the time.<br />
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Bertoldus’ son, Burchard Hubere, Gottfried’s 17th great grandfather, had a son named Hans Huber, his 16th great grandfather. Note that Hans dropped the trailing “e” in his last name. Hans was an undersheriff and married the daughter of local nobility – Lady Fredea van Hallwyl. Lady Fredea’s father, Lord Hans Frederick van Halwyl, granted them their own Swiss fiefdom. His noble title may have been Swedish. Lord van Hallwyl, the grantor of the fiefdom, born in Switzerland in 1205, was also one of Gottfried’s 17th great grandfathers.<br />
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Generations later, the Huber family moved to the city of Reutlingen, just south of Stuttgart, now Germany. The family name changed again with that move – from Huber to Uber – around 1500. (Other branches of the family that relocated to English-speaking countries often use the surname Hoover.)<br />
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Another of Gottfried’s 17th great-grandfathers, Albert von Werenwag, was born in 1190 in that same city of Reutlingen where his descendants lived for many generations. Albert is Gottfried’s oldest known ancestor to be born in what is now Germany. <br />
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In 1612 in Reutlingen, the Uber and Werenwag families intermarried. Gottfried’s 5th great grandfather Georgicus Werenwag wed his 5th great grandmother Agathe Uber. It was their great-great granddaughter Margaretha Hohloch who married Adam Gamper in the 1720s.<br />
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<strong>Immediate Family</strong><br />
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Gottfried Gamper and his wife Catherina Seher, had five children – Johanna Margaretha (b. 1928), Johann Georg (b. 1830), Christina Margaretha (b. 1831), Sophia Catharina (b. 1833), and Johann Gottlieb (b. 1835). Johann Georg passed over at age 1, Christina at age 6, leaving just Johanna, Sophia, and brother Gottlieb. The widower Gottfried married a second time in 1836 to Dorothea Klenk and produced another daughter Rosina, who died in infancy. Gottfried was again a widower before 1852. <br />
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<strong>Emigration</strong><br />
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Gottfried came from a family of nine boys. This in itself may have made life difficult for him because of the inheritance tradition of dividing the family property among the sons. Many farms became so small that they could barely feed a family. This was compounded by the potato blight that struck in the mid-1840s. While most famous in Ireland, the potato famine existed throughout Europe. This time known as the “hungry forties.” <br />
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Presumably as a result, Gottfried and all three of his children emigrated to the United States. The first was Gottfried’s older daughter Johanna. She is listed in the Württemberg Emigration Index in March 1849. The particulars of her travel are not known – only her destination of North America. <br />
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Gottfried Gamper and his remaining children, Sophia and Gottlieb, emigrated in 1852, arriving in New York from Le Havre, France, on the 12th of April aboard the sailing ship Republic. They were among a group of 366 farmers with a destination of llinois. Their travel together may have been the result of sponsorship by one of the German princes, who thought it more cost-effective to export their poor. Or they may have had a U.S. sponsor who paid for their passage in return for their labor. No certain U.S. records for Christian Gottfried Gamper or his son Johann Gottlieb Gamper have been found. However, there was a John Gamper living in Chicago in the 1880s and 1890s.<br />
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<strong>Johanna Margaretha Gamper Lang</strong><br />
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While difficult to find, there is one online record containing the name of older daughter Johanna Gamper – the 1940 Brooklyn death certificate of one of her daughters, Wilhelmina (Lang) Glier. This record also provided the name of Johanna’s husband, John Lang, another German émigré. <br />
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John Lang and Johanna Gamper were likely married by 1851 when their oldest known child, Frederick was born. In later records, Johanna reported that she was the mother of nine children, six of whom were living in 1900. Sadly, John Lang passed over in 1869. His will confirms the name of his wife – Johanna Margarethe. And his probate records tell us about their six living descendants – Frederick (b. 1851), Sophia (b. 1855 and perhaps named for Johanna’s sister), Elizabeth (b. 1859), Joseph (b. 1861), Wilhelmina (b. 1864), and George (b. 1866) – are listed as living in Brooklyn at the time of probate. <br />
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The same children are listed in the 1870 New York Census but without Frederick Lang, who would have been 19 years old and out on his own. In that document, Johanna was said to be the owner of a butcher shop. Johanna (Gamper) Lang had at least thirteen grandchildren. Sixty-five of her descendants have been identified from online records.<br />
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Johanna’s daughter Elisabeth Lang married a man named Albert Ehrlich and moved with him to Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Albert died at age 31, but not before they had a daughter – Laura Sophia Ehrlich in 1889. Laura married into the Karrer family, a well-known name in Egg Harbor. <br />
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Johanna’s son Fred is also mentioned in her will as “Frederick Lang or Kalmbach.” She specifically left him nothing because he had borrowed so much money from her during her lifetime. From what I can make out, Frederick Lang adopted the name Charles Frederick Kalmbach. Charles F. Kalmbach was an entertainer, usually working as a xylophonist at the Coney Island casinos. Fred / Charles had four children, and was a widower by 1900. He then died in 1903, and the children – John, Alida, George, and Katherine Kalmbach – went to live with their widowed aunt Elisabeth Lang Ehrlich (above) in Egg Harbor. They were living there in 1910. Alida also remained in the area, marrying into the well-known Nell family. <br />
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<strong>Sophia Catharina Gamper Molz Yoos Meier</strong><br />
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Gottfried’s younger daughter Sophia was in New York in 1854 where she married my great-great grandfather John George Molz on the 17th of July. Next she was in Chicago in 1856 for the birth of her oldest daughter Ernstine Molz, and then back to New York by 1858 for the birth of her son John George Molz, Jr., and daughter Carolina in 1860. A fourth child, Susanna, was born either in New York of Philadelphia in 1863. Both of the younger girls were baptized in Philadelphia in 1864. <br />
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Sophia’s husband John George Molz was killed in the Civil War Battle of Wilderness in May 1864. In 1865, Sophia remarried a man named Jacob Yoos. Yoos proved insane, and was committed. Sophia then took refuge for several years with her widowed sister Johanna in Brooklyn following the insanity of her second husband Jacob Yoos. She later married again (bigamously) and moved back to Philadelphia with her third husband Joseph Meier – with whom she had two more daughters. A total of 409 of Sophia’s descendants, including the writer, have been identified. <br />
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Sophia’s daughter Ernstine eventually relocated with her husband, Ernst Platz, to a farm on the Harding Highway near Mays Landing, New Jersey. Upon her passing. That farm was inherited by her brother, John George Molz, Jr. Many of his children came to live in the same area.<br />
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<strong>Cousins Nearby</strong><br />
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Egg Harbor and Mays Landing, New Jersey, are just a few miles apart. As a result, Johanna and Sophia’s descendants were often known to one another because of their proximity but not their common ancestry. The writer himself, Sophia’s descendant, unknowingly went to high school with several of Johanna’s descendants.<br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-56593008108503443072016-01-31T10:56:00.000-05:002016-01-31T10:56:18.480-05:00The Importance of Germantown<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
The first German immigrants in America came seeking land and the promise of religious freedom. They had heard that both could be found in the newly chartered colony of Pennsylvania, which was governed by a Quaker, William Penn.<br />
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Francis Daniel Pastorius, an agent for a land purchasing company in the city of Frankfurt am Main, organized the original party of settlers. It was a group largely made up of German Quakers and Mennonites from the Rhineland.<br />
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Pastorius preceded the settlers to America, arriving in Philadelphia in mid-August, 1683. He negotiated with Penn for a tract of land a two-hour walk northwest of Philadelphia on which to build a settlement, which was to become known as "Germantown." Six weeks later, on October 6, 1683, the ship Concord sailed into Philadelphia's harbor from Germany. On board were individuals from thirteen interrelated families:<br />
<blockquote>
Lenert Aratts (Arents)<br />
Elizabeth Bennett, servant to James Claypoole<br />
Johannes Bleikers<br />
James Claypoole and wife Helena and seven children<br />
Edward Cole, Jr., servant to Claypool<br />
William Hard<br />
Peter Keurlis<br />
Thones Kunders (Conard)<br />
Hugh Lamb<br />
Jan Lensen<br />
Jan Luykens<br />
Hugh Masland and wife, servant to Claypoole<br />
Abraham Op Den Graeff<br />
Derick Op Den Graeff<br />
Hermann Op Den Graeff<br />
Jan Siemes<br />
Wilhelm Streypers (Streepers)<br />
Leonard (Ryner/Rynier) Teison (Tyson)<br />
Abraham Tunes<br />
Cicely Wooley, servant to Claypoole</blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">The German settlers felt an immediate kinship to their new home, as Pennsylvania's rolling hills and fertile plains resembled the terrain of the land they had left behind. Their accounts of life in the New World soon prompted other German immigrants to follow their lead. Settlers representing a variety of Protestant religious groups began descending on Germantown. Descendants of these first German immigrants are called Pennsylvania Dutch - an Anglicization of the word "deutsche" meaning "German."</span><br />
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Wilhelm Streypers and his wife are both the grandparents-in-law of Marjory’s 8th-great aunt as well as Paul’s 7th-great grandparents. Marjory is also linked to the Teison / Tyson family (see <a href="http://hisbits.blogspot.com/2014/11/welsh-quakers-and-pennsylvania.html" target="_blank">Welsh Quakers and Pennsylvania Ironmasters</a>) while Paul is also the 7th-great grandson of Thones Kunders and his wife (see <span style="color: red;">First German Ancestors</span>). Perhaps soul groups on the other side do travel together.<br />
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The tri-centennial of the arrival of these first German settlers was celebrated in both the United States and Germany by the of commemorative stamps shown below.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">Some 94 years later, Germantown became the site of British occupation and is remembered for its Revolutionary War battle. On October 2, 1777, George Washington conceived a bold plan to attack a 9,000 troop garrison of British General Howe stationed in Germantown. It called for the simultaneous advance of four different units of troops, moving by night. At dawn on October 4, the four columns were to converge not far from General Howe's headquarters and catch the British by surprise.</span><br />
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The morning started well for the Revolutionaries who had the British retreating. But Washington's plan went astray when one of his four columns lost its bearings in a dense fog and thick smoke. The British defense was particularly strong at a 1763 Germantown mansion called Cliveden.<br />
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In the end, bad luck and poor timing forced Washington to retreat. In the end, the Revolutionaries suffered 152 losses including William Harvey, Paul’s 4th-great grandfather and husband of Mary Streepers, the great-granddaughter of Germantown settlers Wilhelm Streypers and his wife. While the Battle of Germantown was considered an American defeat, it did serve to boost morale and self-confidence among Washington’s troops.<br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-59324518188178781512015-12-20T16:19:00.003-05:002015-12-20T16:19:54.404-05:00The Family of Gustav Anton Gottlob Schmiedigen and Auguste Emilie Richter<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
Gustav and Auguste Schmiedigen were Paul’s second-great uncle and aunt, Gustav being the brother of his great-grandmother Antonie Marie Caroline Johanne (Schmiedigen) Liepe. The photo below is from Paul’s grandmother’s album labeled “Onkel Schmiedgen + Frau.”<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">Both Gustav (1835-1904) and Auguste (1839-1925) were born in Schönewalde, a small German town about 45 miles south from the center of Berlin. They married in Berlin in 1863 – the day before her twenty-fourth birthday and he age 28. </span><br />
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While Gustav and Auguste had six children, only three are known to have lived to adulthood. The oldest to survive was born on 24 May 1866, and was named for his father – Gustav Anton Gottlob Schmiedigen. Second to survive was daughter Ida Anna Luise Emilie Schmiedigen, born 12 Mar 1871. The youngest of their children, Theodor Richard Albert Schmiedigen, was born more than ten years after his sister on 16 December 1881.<br />
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Eldest son Gustav was both a soldier and a civil servant. Early in life, Gustav volunteered for military service, intending to make it his career. However, he was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain of the Reserve so that he could enter government service. At that time, bürgermeisters or mayors were appointed positions, and Gustav was appointed to the German Empire’s city of Opelln, now Opole, Poland. <br />
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Gustav later moved closer to home, serving in Zossen, about 25 miles south of Berlin, from which he retired at a young age on a civil servant’s pension. However, in 1902, he reentered service as head of the municipal council of Britz, a Berlin suburb. He remained until Britz was incorporated into Berlin as a part of the borough of Neukölln, retiring again in April 1921. During his tenure there, he remarked to his sister Ida (below) how relieved he was that Wilhelm Voight had chosen Köpenick instead of nearby Britz for his escapade (see box). <br />
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On October 16, 1906, an out-of-work German
shoemaker named Wilhelm Voigt donned a second-hand military captain's uniform
he had bought, walked out into the street, and assumed control of a company of
soldiers marching past. He led them to
the town hall of Köpenick, a small suburb of Berlin, arrested the mayor and the
treasurer on charges of embezzlement, and took possession of 4,000 marks from
the town treasury. He then disappeared
with the money. The incident became
famous as a symbol of the blind obedience of German soldiers to authority – even
fake authority.<br />
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The police tracked him down nine days later, and he was sentenced to four years
in jail. But he proved to be such a
likable character (and popular hero) that the Kaiser pardoned Voigt after he
had served less than two years. Voigt
subsequently pursued a career in show business, where he entertained audiences,
including in the United States, by re-enacting his stunt on the stage.<br />
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His bronze statue on steps of<span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 16.8667px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 16.8667px;">Köpenick city hall is shown at right.</span></div>
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Gustav and his wife (name unknown) left Berlin during the second World War. Due to the intense bombing by the allies, many either lost their homes or were forced by the government to move out of the city. However, in a letter to his cousins in America (<a href="http://liepe.com/liepefamily/letter_gschmeid.htm" target="_blank">see letter</a>), Gustav states he was driven out by the occupying Russians. In that 1947 letter, this proud civil servant begged for care packages from those cousins. Paul was told as a child that many were sent.<br />
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This letter must have been among his last acts, as he reportedly passed in 1947. There were no children as far as is known.<br />
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Gustav was so well regarded for his service in Britz that a brief biography was recorded as both a street and a path in Berlin were named for him. First was Schmiedigenstrasse, formerly Chausseestrasse. But the name only held for just over a year in 1950 and 1951, when the street was renamed Britzer Damm. Second was Schmiedigenpfad in June 1975. This path, a public right-of-way, connects Lipschitzallee and Sollmannweg and provides access to several residential blocks (apartment buildings). “Schmiedigen Path” remains in use today.<br />
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Comparatively little is known about Gustav’s sister Ida and baby brother Theodor. Ida married the older Adam Friedrich Heim in Berlin on 16 Nov 1893. There are no known children from this marriage, and the date of Ida’s passing is unknown.<br />
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As far as can be determined, Theodor Schmiedigen never married. Berlin telephone directories list him as a fuhrunternehm, a hauler or trucker. According to Gustav’s letter to America, Theodor was buried under the rubble of his destroyed house after a direct hit by Allied bombers. He was rescued, but later died after prolonged suffering. Though no specific date is mentioned, the most severe bombing of Berlin occurred between March 1943 and March 1944.<br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-48220874867112132252015-08-10T06:10:00.002-04:002022-07-01T09:36:08.614-04:00Millford Plantation<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
Millford, near Pinewood, South Carolina, is the second home that we have visited acquired and restored by Richard Jenrette and donated to the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust. The first, in the spring of 2014, was <a href="https://www.blogger.com/">Ayr Mount</a> in Hillsborough, North Carolina.<br />
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Built around 1840, this Greek Revival mansion was built by the son of a South Carolina governor who later became governor himself. While the exterior of the house is stunning, it is perhaps most famous for containing most of its original furnishings by Duncan Phyfe & Son. <br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">In addition to its furnishings, the double parlor was particularly interesting because it could be divided by closing a large set of mirrored folding doors. In fact, there are many outstanding mirrors throughout the house.</span><span id="goog_1504683413"></span><br />
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At first, it struck me as odd that Millford had no connection to the nearby Santee River other than as a means to receive its furnishings from New York. However, while labeled a plantation, Millford was actually a large country home rather than a working farm. Water transportation was not needed to ship the produce from its fields.<br />
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This lack of water, my lack of interest in Phyfe, and its complete isolation left me thinking that I would not want to live at Millford – then or now. Choosing between Mr. Jenrette’s properties we have visited, I much prefer Ayr Mount for its location and its more practical layout.<br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-4782121149065364562015-06-09T10:14:00.000-04:002015-12-20T16:25:18.106-05:00June Meeting<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
Some who see into the great beyond say that the greatest pleasure its residents receive is to be remembered here on Earth. If that is so, there were a great many smiling on Sunday, June 7, 2015. But I get ahead of myself.<br />
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Before her family moved to Florida late in the 1950s, Marjory remembers going to the June Meeting. But because she was a small child, those memories are indistinct – certainly not including the location or the way to get there. It was not long after we married 46 years ago today that I began to hear about the June Meeting from Marjory’s family. Uncle Arlie talked about the difficulty of walking to Wind Cave and of finding the cemetery. Grandma, born Annis Isaacs in Wind Cave, spoke wistfully of her years in the mountains before much of the surrounding land became a national forest in 1937. <br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With each passing – Marjory’s grandma in 1985, her father in 1990, and Uncle Arlie in 2011 – our desire to attend the June Meeting increased. At the same time, our ability to learn more about the time and the place became less. In 2013, in a conversation with Marjory’s Aunt Gerd, she said that her son, Danny Lee Gabbard, attends every year. She said he was in Richmond, Indiana, and was listed in the phone book. Not true. And then Gerd had a small stroke, eliminating her as a source of information for some time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, in early 2015, I thought to ask Marjory’s Aunt Glory is she had a phone number for Danny Lee. Turns out she did and dialed him right away. It took a while to explain who I was, but the connection was made with a promise to talk again in late May or early June. Our next contact resulted in a promise to talk on Saturday evening, June 6, but that didn’t happen because of the non-existent cell coverage in the area. So on Sunday morning, we set out for Wind Cave on a prayer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">First we reached the City of McKee, county seat of Jackson County, with a population of about 900. From there, we headed further up the mountain based solely on a location for the area called Wind Cave on Google Maps. Uncle Arlie was right about it being difficult to find, but GPS has made life easier. After about 20 minutes of twist and turns on single-lane asphalt, we were on Wind Cave Road – a one-lane affair that eventually became just crushed stone. But there was a small sign for the Wind Cave Baptist Church that gave us confidence we were headed the right way. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At the church, we found a grave yard with many of Granma’s kin. Her parents are there, Godfrey and Matilda “Tildy” Isaacs (below), as are some of her brothers and sisters. At 11:00, there was a small service (six people counting us) at the church. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While we had found some of what we wanted to see, there had not found Danny Lee. Fortunately, he found us. (Marjory and Danny Lee below.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Turns out, the larger meeting is at the Lakes Cemetery about two thirds of a mile further on. While we had thought this was an Isaacs meeting, it was really a Lakes meeting. Carter Lakes arrived in the area in the early 1800s and is the father of Wind Cave, both figuratively and genealogically. Carter Lakes is Marjory’s fourth great-grandfather and, with eleven children, an ancestor of most everyone who lived nearby.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, along with fifty or sixty others, we attended the June Meeting at the Lakes Cemetery in Wind Cave, Kentucky. There were Lakes, Gabbards, Maupins, Isaacs, and many more. Prayers were offered and songs were sung. And we were all reminded of the importance of family and of honoring our ancestors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">From there, we adjourned to the site of the Gabbard homestead. While there are no original family houses in the area, there was a new cabin being fitted out and a nice stretch of land to sit and talk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Our trip to the June Meeting in Wind Cave was certainly a memorable one, and something we intend to repeat. We’ll be better prepared next time with bug spray, toilet paper, folding chairs, and plenty to eat and drink. And we invite any of the descendants of Carter lakes to travel with us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve prepared a map with points of interest for those who might like to make the trip themselves including the location of the sign pointing to the church and another local landmark. It seems there is nearly always a dog sleeping in the road at the intersection of Lakes Creek Road, Foxtown Road, and Salt Rock Road. See you there the first Sunday after the first Saturday of every June.</span><br />
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-84499448649811146722015-05-19T14:51:00.000-04:002015-05-19T14:51:16.073-04:00Temperance and Prohibition in Danville Virginia<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
It’s not a simple story. Danville has gone from “wet” to “dry” and back many times. Those who favored a dry town were often personally wet. And at least one citizen died for the cause of Prohibition.<br />
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The battle over a wet or dry Danville began in earnest in 1886 when Virginia adopted legislation that made liquor sales a “local option.” From that time, the citizens of counties, independent cities, and towns could vote to ban liquor sales within their borders.<br />
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One of the most outspoken proponents of a dry Danville and a dry Commonwealth was the Rev. John R. Moffett. In addition to his duties as a pastor of a North Danville Baptist church, Moffett was editor and publisher of a weekly Prohibition newspaper called Anti-Liquor. <br />
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Despite the best efforts of Rev. Moffett and the Danville chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, a July 1891 local option vote was 291-273 in favor of keeping Danville wet. <br />
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In 1892, Moffett went so far as to challenge the polling practices in Danville, resulting in a battle of words with one J. T. Clarke, a member of the predominant Democratic party and ex-bartender. The battle escalated when Moffett lost his self-control, struck Clarke, and informed him that he “only conversed with gentlemen.” Later in the week, on a Friday evening on Main Street, Clarke shot Moffett four times. Moffett expired early on Sunday, November 14, 1892. The North Danville Baptist Church, then under construction, was renamed Moffett Memorial (shown below) soon thereafter. Clarke was convicted only of manslaughter, and received the light sentence of just five years from a jury of whiskey sympathizers. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivHoddqVHqBgwoq0o0qxEOzDq-sNC-IC1qRvi0RG6acAIHNp7XypJjIDn_wwlVAJBUv81NJoUykZ6b-p6UFfe5-93aKjPuP7ik6RPCsBndw4cKR-lQyaIRviAbl8m3jHhRoIGKxG0olKs/s320/moffett_memorial.jpg" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moffett Memorial Baptist Church prior to 1971 fire</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It is difficult to track exactly when Danville went dry, but it is clear this was so by 1905 when the local option would again come to a vote. The wets won this election, and by 1906, seventeen saloon licenses had been issued. Later that year, a new city ordinance forbade screens or obstructions that would block the view of passersby into the saloons as well as amusements such as billiards.<br />
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During this time, Chief of Police R. E. Morris vigorously enforced the liquor laws, perhaps too much so, causing rebukes from Mayor Harry Wooding and Corporation Court Judge Archibald Aiken. Later, in 1911, to Danville’s great embarrassment, Morris was identified as Thomas Edgar Stripling, wanted for murder in Georgia.<br />
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Perhaps to the relief of local officials, the entire Commonwealth went dry on November 1, 1916 – three years before national prohibition began. In 1918, Virginia was the second state to ratify the 18th Amendment. The entire country went dry on January 17, 1920.<br />
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As in many other locations, Danville found enforcement of Prohibition difficult. Mayor Wooding was accused by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of being too lenient as judge of the Police Court while wets thought Judge Aiken was thought too harsh in the Corporation Court. The police were anxious to shut down the “blind tigers” on Craghead Street. (A blind tiger was a place where liquor could be purchased without the buyer and the seller seeing one another, making one unable to testify against the other.) At the same time, individuals such as Mike H. Hatcher of Grove Street were also prosecuted. Hatcher was convicted of possession of at least a gallon of liquor no less than four times by 1927.<br />
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While Prohibition was modestly successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed and initially reduced the crime rate, it ultimately created a new breed of criminals and failed to reduce crime overall. Chicago’s Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in 1929 was pivotal in changing public opinion on Prohibition.<br />
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On March 22, 1933, President Roosevelt signed a law legalizing beer and wine with low alcohol content – 3.2% by weight. Virginia followed suit on August 17, legalizing 3.2% beer and making arrangements for a referendum on Prohibition. On October 3, in a special election, Virginia voters agreed to end statewide Prohibition when and if the 21st Amendment repealing national Prohibition was ratified. Virginia was the 32nd state to approve the amendment on October 25. National Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933.<br />
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On March 7, 1934, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) was established to control the sale of alcohol. The ABC has an absolute monopoly on the sale of hard liquor by the bottle in Virginia. There are about 350 ABC stores, now located mostly in strip malls. With a high markup on wholesale prices, these stores generated $140 million in profit for the state during 2014 in addition to the 20% excise tax and 5% sales tax.<br />
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However, some Virginia counties remain dry under the “local option” including Bland, Buchanan, Charlotte, Craig, Floyd, Grayson, Highland, Lee, Patrick, and Russell.<br />
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Liquor “by the drink” sales were not allowed by state law until 1968. Before that time, private “brown bag” clubs were the only legal way to enjoy a drink with dinner out. It remains unlawful to transport more than a gallon of liquor into Virginia from neighboring states.<br />
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For those who are so inclined, it’s interesting to compare the history of liquor sales and Prohibition with today’s efforts to legalize marijuana. During national Prohibition, doctors could prescribe medicinal alcohol much as we now have medicinal cannabis. I think Rev. Moffett would be opposed.<br />
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Sources:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Bailey, Fankie Y. and Alice P Green. Wicked Danville: Liquor and Lawlessness in a Southside Virginia City, The History Press, Charleston, SC 2011.</li>
<li>O’Conner, Adrian. River City: Stories of Danville, publisher not listed.</li>
<li>“Prohibition in Virginia,” http://www.rustycans.com/HISTORY/virginia.html, accessed May 17, 2015.</li>
<li>“The ‘ABC’ of Legal Liquor in Virginia,” http://www.virginiaplaces.org/alcohol/abc.html, accessed May 19, 2015.</li>
<li>Thompson, S.H. The Life of John R. Moffett, Mrs. Bruce Pearl Moffett, Salem, Va. 1895. </li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8527750456719847494.post-52932378330743009152015-03-28T11:30:00.002-04:002022-09-02T09:59:09.809-04:00Danville and the Steam Railroad<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">
When most of us think about the steam railroad in Danville, we think of the arrival of the Confederate government in 1865 or the wreck of the Old 97 in 1903. There is much more to the story.<br />
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The first line to reach Danville was the Richmond & Danville Railroad in 1856. This was before the standardization of railroad gauges, built to a five-foot width. It was the R & D that brought the government and President Jefferson Davis to Danville, but it was not the only railroad to serve the city; four more lines arrived by 1890.<br />
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Built in 1862 and 1863, the Piedmont Railroad extended from Danville to Greensboro, North Carolina. This line was the only railroad chartered by the Confederate government because it was a military necessity. North Carolina agreed a day later to ensure the line would be built at that state's 4'-8<span style="font-size: 17.3333px;">½</span>" gauge. <span style="font-size: 17.3333px;">This caused through freight to be transferred at Danville, thus making the North Carolina's port of Wilmington more attractive. </span><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Eastern North Carolinians wanted their state’s goods to ship through their own port. </span></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 135%;">Once chartered, the R & D owned 99 percent of the stock, and built and operated the railroad. Service began in late 1863. Because of war time shortages, this road was also poorly built, further discouraging its use. However, it proved its value after the Petersburg Railroad to Richmond was cut by Grant’s army in 1864, leaving only the Piedmont Railroad and the Richmond and Danville to bring supplies to Lee’s army defending the Confederate capital. It is said that the existence of the Piedmont Railroad extended the life of the Confederacy by many months.<br />
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On the close of the war, the Federal government seized and operated the Piedmont on the theory that it was the property of the Confederacy. It was not returned to control of the R & D until December 1865. At about the same time, the North Carolina legislature authorized conversion of the line to the R&D five-foot gauge. The first through train from Richmond to Greensboro rolled on February 14, 1866. The profit from this property to the R & D was minimal until the R & D converted its lines to what had become the nation standard of 4'-8½" by 1886.<br />
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The third line was the Virginia Midland Railway. Technically, this road had its terminus in North Danville, a separate city at the time. Began in 1880 and extending south from Washington, D.C., service to Danville through Alexandria, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg began in 1882 or earlier. The Virginia Midland also offered connections through other lines to many of Virginia's mountain resorts. <br />
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The fourth line to serve Danville was the narrow-gauge Danville and New River Railroad (D & N R R). While chartered in 1873, construction actually began in 1880. By late 1882, the 43-mile run to Martinsville was carrying passengers. The D & N R R never had the resources to extend much farther and was sold to the Richmond & Danville in 1891. It was then reorganized as the Danville & Western Railway. Known locally as the “Dick & Willie,” a third rail was added for standard gauge traffic reaching Martinsville in 1902. Its superintendent was George King Griggs who owned the home at 848 Green St. <br />
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The Dick & Willie still exists today as a branch line of the Norfolk Southern Railway extending from the Stokesland area of Danville to the Leaksville Junction. (Leaksville is known today as Eden, North Carolina.) A part of the rail bed abandoned in 2009 is now the Dick & Willie Passage Rail Trail through Martinsville.<br />
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The fifth line, the Atlantic & Danville Railway, extending 270 miles from Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, arrived in 1890. Its purpose was to move Danville products, primarily tobacco, for shipping at the Hampton Roads. The A & D ran south of the Dan River passing through Denniston (near Alton) and crossing the Roanoke River (with the contributing Dan River) at Clarksville, Virginia. The railroad bridge there is still in use today and can easily be seen from U.S. 58.<br />
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With later mergers, the western section of the A & D became redundant and was abandoned. Parts of the roadbed are now used as the Tobacco Heritage Trail.<br />
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Back to the original Richmond & Danville, control of the Piedmont Railroad and acquisition of the Danville & New River Railroad were only the first of its many acquisitions. By 1890, the R & D had grown to over 3,300 miles of track extending north through Charlottesville to Washington with connections to New York City, and south to Columbia, South Carolina, and Augusta and Atlanta, Georgia, with connections to New Orleans and Jacksonville. The extent of the R &D with its connections is shown on the map below.<br />
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As early as the winter season of 1874-75, private railcars were making their way to Florida through Danville, even though a gauge adjustment was required at Greensboro. By the winter of 1881-82, many railroads were advertising their Florida passenger routes, claiming superior accommodations to the prevailing steamships. Jacksonville could be reached from New York in only 36 hours. An 1885 northbound schedule including both the coastal and Danville routes is shown below.<br />
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With the advent of the luxury hotels and Florida East Coast Railroad built by Henry Flagler, the rich and famous often traveled to Florida through Danville. In 1890, President and Mrs. William Henry Harrison along with Vice President Levi P. Morton visited Winter Park onboard Mr. Flagler’s private car.<br />
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Just think, if the Interstate Highway System had followed the most popular rail route to Florida, I-95 would pass through Danville.<br />
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The great expansion of the 1880s placed the Richmond and Danville Railroad on shaky financial footing. In 1894, it emerged from reorganization as the Southern Railway Company along with the Virginia Midland. It was “The Southern” that constructed Danville’s ornate passenger depot in 1899, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Meant more to be seen than used by through passengers, the one-story cream-colored brick building was somewhat plain inside.<br />
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It was also “The Southern” that operated the Old 97, the Fast Mail that derailed at Danville’s Stillhouse Trestle on September 27, 1903. Nine people were killed including the locomotive crew and a number of clerks in the mail car. The wreck served as the inspiration for a ballad first recorded in 1924. Since then, “Wreck of the Old 97” has been covered by numerous Country artists including The Statler Brothers with Johnny Cash. The wreck also inspired a mural in downtown Danville, shown below.<br />
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Danville was important to the steam railroads, and the railroads were important to Danville for the many jobs they provided. Green Street was home to many of the railroaders, including Montilla “Monk” Clark who served as an engineer for the Southern Railroad, often piloting the Old 97 both before and after the great wreck. Monk’s neighbor Samuel Rickman was an oiler and his friends and neighbors Walter Millicer and Albert Griggs worked there as clerks. Spotswood Pace was baggage master at the Danville station, a position later assumed by his son Spots Pace, Jr. <br />
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In 1939, the Southern Railway began using diesel locomotives, with the last fire “knocked out” in 1953. Change came again in 1982 when “The Southern” merged with the Norfolk and Western Railroad creating today’s Norfolk Southern Railway. In addition to freight, the Norfolk Southern tracks through Danville are also used by Amtrak’s Crescent, the sleeper train between New York and New Orleans. Its progenitor, the Southern Crescent was mentioned in R.E.M.’s song “Driver 8.” (R.E.M. was one of the world’s best-selling rock bands from 1980 to 1996.) <br />
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Today, using the Crescent, you can spend the work week in Washington, DC, and the weekends in Danville, returning to your Capitol office by 10:00 a.m. Monday. All aboard!<br />
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Sources:
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<ul>
<li>“Atlantic and Danville Railway,” Wikipedia.org, 7 Feb 2015.</li><li>"A History of Track Gauge," Trains.com, 2 Sep 2022</li>
<li>Brown, C.K. “A History of the Piedmont Railroad Company,” <em>The North Carolina Historical Review</em> 3.2 (April 1926), pp. 198-222, via JStor accessed 7 Feb 2015.</li>
<li> “Dick & Willie Passage Trail,” TrailLink.com, 7 Feb 2015.</li>
<li> “Driver 8,” Wikipedia.org, 7 Feb 2015.</li>
<li>"Excursion Guide of the Virginia Midland Railway" published by the company.</li>
<li>“It took 123 years to put out this fire”, Southern Railfan, Southen.Railfan.net, 7 Feb 2015</li>
<li> “Richmond & Danville Railroad,” RailGa.com, 7 Feb 2015.</li>
<li>“Richmond and Danville Railroad,” Wikipedia.org, 7 Feb 2015.</li>
<li>Rinhart, Floyd and Marion. <em>Victorian Florida, America’s Last Frontier</em>, Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers Limited, 1986, book.</li>
<li>The Bee, Danville, VA, various dates, Newspapers.com, 6 Feb 1015</li>
<li> “The Norfolk, Franklin & Danville Railway,” AmericanRails.com, 7 Feb 2015.</li>
<li> “Tobacco Heritage Trail,” TrailLink.com, 7 Feb 2015.</li>
<li>U.S. Census, 1910 - 1940</li>
<li>“Wreck of the Old 97,” Wikipedia.org, 7 Feb 2015.</li>
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Paul Liepehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239226012808734438noreply@blogger.com1