"I have arrested Mr. George E. Chancellor"

 

George E. Chancellor at a breastwork near Ellwood, April 1866

     Born in Spotsylvania County about 1842, George Edwards Chancellor was one of ten children born to Reverend Melzi Sanford Chancellor and the former Lucy Fox Frazer. He spent his first years at Hazel Grove, near Chancellorsville. In 1857, his uncle Lorman Chancellor bought Dowdall's Tavern on the Orange Turnpike (modern Route 3) near Wilderness Baptist Church, and Reverend Chancellor and his family lived there until it was destroyed by a fire in 1869.

Dowdall's Tavern, April 1866

     George Chancellor enlisted in Company E of the 9th Virginia Cavalry in Fredericksburg on April 25, 1861. His compiled service record shows that he was promoted to lieutenant in December 1862. On October 19, 1863, at the Battle of Buckland Mills in Fauquier County, Chancellor's horse was shot from under him. Like most soldiers in the Confederate cavalry, he owned his own horse, for the loss of which he was compensated $1,100 (in Confederate currency).  

     In his obituary published in The Free Lance on November 15, 1887, it was noted that Chancellor was wounded while leading his company on a charge near Petersburg in the waning days of the Civil War. His death notice also reported that: "In his wardrobe may be found a coat he wore in the war, in which are a dozen or more bullet holes, pierced by missiles from the enemy's guns, which he kept as a relic."

Chancellor family, April 1866

     In the Chancellor family portrait shown above, George Chancellor is seated next to his father.

     Although Chancellor continued to farm land he owned in Spotsylvania until 1883, by the late 1860s he realized that his skills and ambition would be better served by joining the merchant class of Fredericksburg. By 1870 he was living in the household of  Patrick McCracken, who owned a grocery and dry goods store on Commerce (William) Street, where Chancellor worked as a clerk. 

     In 1873, Chancellor bought a building at the corner of Commerce and Charles streets, where he opened his own farmer's supply and grocery store, which he successfully ran until his death in 1887. It was then owned by his younger brother Melzi Sanford Chancellor, Jr. (shown in the portrait above seated at his father's knee). After Sanford Chancellor's death in 1925, the store was operated by his nephews until 1954.

Broadside advertising Chancellor's business (Library of Virginia)

     In addition to his success as a merchant, Chancellor was also active in the civic life of Fredericksburg. Among his other endeavors, he served as vice president of the fair association, was a member of the Battlefield Excursion Committee, and played a role in the local politics of the Conservative Party.

     In October 1876, General Joseph Hooker and his literary executor, Samuel P. Bates (who was also the state historian of Pennsylvania) engaged the services of Chancellor to act as their guide to visit the Chancellorsville battlefield. In an article for The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Bates wrote:

"We were accompanied on our ride to the Chancellorsville field some ten or twelve miles above Fredericksburg by Major George E. Chancellor, a son of Melzi Chancellor, whose home at the time of the battle was at Dowdall's Tavern, where General Howard had his headquarters. On setting out, General Hooker suggested that we should take some lunch along with us, as when he was there last, there was very little to eat in all that region. Major Chancellor thought it unnecessary, and in fact, we feasted most sumptuously at his father's house."

Chancellor's Retreat, 1884 (National Park Service)

     Chancellor, Hooker and Bates had their lunch at Chancellor's Retreat, the home that Reverend Melzi Chancellor built behind Wilderness Baptist Church after Dowdall's Tavern burned in 1869.

     At the conclusion of the Civil War, however, George Chancellor's accomplishments and adventures still lay ahead in an uncertain future. In 1865, George and his fellow veterans in the region were obliged to make a new start in a war-ravaged landscape, where money was scarce and prospects were bleak.

     For George Chancellor, a possible solution to this problem might be found by offering his services to a group that had plenty of money--the Northerners who began to surge into the Fredericksburg area after the surrender at Appomattox. Chancellor's intimate knowledge of his home county and the battlefields where he had fought provided him with a unique skill set that could be of use to his former enemies.

    His first step was to make a sales pitch directly to Secretary of War Stanton. In his book Where Valor Proudly Sleeps: A History of Fredericksburg National Cemetery, 1866-1933, author Donald Pfanz mentioned that on December 1, 1865 Chancellor wrote a letter to Stanton in which he offered to act as caretaker for the two federal cemeteries created by volunteers earlier that year (and presumably the cemeteries of the Union hospitals that were set up during the war) and to create another by gathering the remains of U.S. soldiers still unburied. He hinted that there was some urgency involved, as those remains were subject to being disturbed by the natural elements (including wild animals) as well as the hand of man. Quoting from Chancellor's letter, Pfanz writes: "If [the bodies] are not taken up and carried to some burying ground they will soon be plowed over by the farmers as a great many are in the cultivated fields." As it happened, the government gave careful consideration to Chancellor's proposal, but decided it could achieve the same result with less expense by undertaking the work itself. 

     Another idea Chancellor had in this line of work had, perhaps, a greater potential for success. He advertised a list of names of Union soldiers whose graves he could identify. For those who might take him up on that offer, he would (for a fee) take relatives to the grave site of their loved one so that the remains could be taken back to their home states and given a proper burial. As we shall see, Chancellor's experience with one such person seeking the grave of his brother-in-law got him into some trouble with the provost marshal of Fredericksburg. 

Dr. Reed Brockway Bontecou

Harewood Military Hospital, Washington D.C.

    

      Either by means of this advertised list of names or by some other means of self-promotion, the name of George Chancellor came to the attention of Dr. Reed Brockway Bontecou, the chief surgeon of the Harewood Military Hospital at Washington, D.C. During the years the hospital was in operation, 1863-1866, Bontecou revolutionized war-time medicine by photographing his patients. These photographs were used to document the treatment of the wounds of his patients and to track their progress. A great many of these photographs still exist, including this one of Frederick Pilgrim of the 8th New York Cavalry:

Frederick Pilgrim

     These pictures were taken by, or under the direction of William H. Bell, chief photographer of the U.S. Army Medical Museum. Bontecou's unique access to Bell's skills and equipment allowed him to undertake a historic project quite unrelated to his duties at Harewood Hospital. In the early spring of 1866, Bontecou led three photographic expeditions to the battlefields of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse. A total of 121 photographs were taken by Bell and his assistants. (My thanks to historian and author John Cummings, whose research discovered Bontecou's link to these historic images. Mr. Cummings is currently working on a book on this very topic).

George Chancellor and Dr. Bontecou at Confederate works near Spotsylvania Courthouse, April 1866

     During Dr. Bontecou's visits to the area's battlefields, George Chancellor acted as his guide. The two men developed a friendly rapport and Dr. Bontecou was grateful for Chancellor's assistance. George, it can be assumed, was grateful for the business opportunity. 

Prentiss M. Fogler

     About the same time that he was guiding Bontecou and his crew, Chancellor was contacted by Prentiss M. Fogler of Hope, Maine. Fogler had somehow become aware of Chancellor's list of known burials of U.S. soldiers in the Spotsylvania area. He requested Chancellor's help in locating and retrieving the remains of his brother-in-law, Sergeant John D. Leach [2]. Both men served in Company I of the 20th Maine Infantry, which Fogler had commanded. Leach had been killed in action in the Wilderness on May 7, 1864, and was buried in the 5th Corps hospital cemetery there.

     Prior to meeting Fogler, Chancellor removed Leach's head board from his grave and took it to his house for safe keeping. He placed his own marker on the grave so that, it would seem, only he would be able to locate Leach's grave. 

     Fogler and Chancellor met Saturday, April 21, 1866. With them was William H. King [3], who later worked as the porter at the Exchange Hotel. King offered to drive Fogler out to the cemetery in his wagon for $12. At this point, Chancellor spoke up and said that since he had removed Leach's head board, King would not be able to identify his grave. Chancellor said that he was willing to accompany Fogler and King and designate the grave. His fee was $20. Fogler realized that he had no other choice than to accept Chancellor's offer, so the three of them, together with Sanford E. Chaffee [4], went out to the 5th Corps hospital cemetery. On the way there, they stopped by Chancellor's house to retrieve Leach's head board. 

Colonel Henry A. Hambright

     Fogler was decidedly unhappy about the way Chancellor conducted his business with him. As soon as he returned to Fredericksburg, he went to the office of  Colonel Henry A. Hambright [4], the provost marshal, whose office was located at the corner of Princess Anne and George streets. Fogler wrote an affidavit, witnessed by Hambright's adjutant, Richard Robins attesting to his experience that day. Fogler was quite angry about being charged $20 for three hours work, not to mention the fact that Leach's head board had been removed prior to his trip to the cemetery, which forced him to accept Chancellor's terms. 

     On April 27, 1866, Colonel Hambright wrote a letter to General Edward W. Smith, assistant adjutant general in Richmond:

"Sir,

I have the honor to report that I have arrested Mr. George E. Chancellor on the charge of removing the head board from the grave of a Union soldier. The charge was made by Mr. P.M. Fogler of Hope, Maine, a copy of which I herewith enclose, the original being a file in my office.

Mr. Chancellor states that he advertises a list of names of men whose graves he can designate. Mr. Fogler seeing the name of 1st Sergt. John D. Leach Co. I 20th Maine Vols. on the list wrote Mr. Chancellor to find out about said grave. Mr. Chancellor answered his letter when Mr. Fogler wrote that he would send some one for the body who would see Mr. Chancellor about it. Mr. Chancellor immediately removed the head board from the grave, as he says, placing his own mark there to designate the spot then he gave his reason for taking the head board as follows--that he was afraid the head board would be destroyed in some [manner] and then when Mr. Fogler came down he would not be able to designate the grave. Mr. Fogler came down and hired Mr. [William] H. King of Fredericksburg to convey him to the grave of 1st Sergt. John D. Leach Co. I 20th Maine Vols. on the Wilderness Battle field where the 5th Corps hospital had been established, take up the body and return to Fredericksburg with it for the sum of $12. Mr. Chancellor being near said that they would not be able to find the grave as he had removed the head board but would show Mr. Fogler  the grave and take up the body for $20 which bargain Mr. Fogler was obliged to make.

Mr. Chancellor having given the above facts I gave him his liberty upon his signing an agreement to appear upon being sent for. 

I remain, sir, your most obt. servt.

H.A. Hambright"

     Two days after this letter was written to General Smith, William H. King and Samuel E. Chaffee [5] came to Hambright's office, where each submitted his own affidavit. King said that after Fogler learned it would cost him $20 to be shown the grave site of Sergeant Leach, "We then started to the grave, on our way we stopped at Mr. Chancellor's house. There I saw the head board. It was put in my wagon. When we arrived at the grave Mr. Chancellor dug up the body and put it in the coffin."

     Mr. Chaffee, who was also a witness to this affair, stated: "I heard Mr. Fogler ask Mr. Chancellor if he could show him the grave of Sergt. Leach and he replied that he could for he had the head board at his house. And he added that he had taken it up to prevent it from being destroyed. I also saw the head boart at the house of Mr. Chancellor the same afternoon."

     It is not known what consequences George Chancellor may have faced for his actions, but he was sufficiently concerned to get word of his difficulties to Dr. Bontecou, who came to Fredericksburg and wrote a letter on Chancellor's behalf. I am unable to tell for certain whether his letter was intended for Hambright or Smith, but I think that General Smith did at least see this letter:

"Fredericksburgh, Va

Apr 29--1866

Dear Sir

I desire to state what I know of Geo. E. Chancellor who has shown myself and party great attention & friendship on three visits recently made to the battlefields of Chancellorsville, Wilderness & Spotsylvania. He resides near the Wilderness and is engaged with his brother [Vespasian Chancellor] in cultivating a farm, is of excellent character & is respected by all who know him. His thorough knowledge of the country led me to secure his company in showing all the points of interest, and in these rambles I have observed him to replace many head boards of U.S. soldiers that had been disturbed and seemed to manifest and earnest desire to preserve their condition. I have volunteered to make this statement from having heard to day that complaint had been made of his having removed head boards. I do not pretend to know the merits of the case in question other than the grounds about the graves are an open common exposed to fires and depredations by hogs, indeed I saw many not many rods from that house the remains of three soldiers that been rooted up by the hogs and several head boards plainly marked lying about the ground in the vicinity of the graves.

I do not believe that Mr. Chancellor would willfully destroy the identity of any grave, but would rather trouble himself to preserve such. He has been able to give great assistance to parties from the North looking after friends which his intimate knowledge of the Battle grounds renders a good value.

I have recently taken a series of Photographic views of our line of works from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania for the Army Med[ical] Museum and have observed many remains of men that never have been buried, and many quite imperfectly covered, their heads & feet now exposed.

I should judge that on the Chancellorsville fields there are one hundred skulls lying about. Mr. Chancellor would be of great service in pointing out the locations of these to any party the government might send to gather them up.

I have the honor to be very respectfully & truly yours

R.B. Bontecou

Bvt. Lt. Col. & Surgeon Harewood USA Gen' Hospital"

     The influence of Dr. Bontecou seemed to clear this matter up for George Chancellor, who was apparently summoned to the office of General Smith in Richmond. On May 3, 1866, Chancellor wrote a letter to Smith, reminding him that he had promised to compensate Chancellor for the expenses he incurred to make the trip to Richmond and for his absence from his farm. 

[1] Prentiss Mellan Fogler (1838-1897) was born on his family's farm in Hope, Maine. He attended the Westbrook Seminary (now Westbrook College) in Portland, Maine. He commanded Company I of the 20th Maine Volunteers, which achieved a measure of immortality for its heroic defense of Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg. The regiment's commander, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions that day. After the war, Fogler served as secretary to Governor Joshua Chamberlain, was the registrar of deeds for Kennebec County for 20 years and served as assistant secretary of the state senate. In 1897, he died as the result of burns received when a lantern he was carrying shattered after he stumbled and fell, covering his arms with burning oil.

[2] John D. Leach (1839-1864) was born on his family's farm in Hope, Maine. Just prior to his enlistment in the 20th Maine, he married the sister of Prentiss Fogler. Despite the unpleasantness experienced by Fogler in retrieving his body, Leach's remains were successfully transported to Maine and laid to rest in West Rockport Cemetery.

[3] William H. King (1844-1869) was born in Rochester, New York and came to Fredericksburg shortly after the Civil War. He worked as the porter at the Exchange Hotel. He married Fredericksburg native Margaret Jennings, a seamstress, in 1868. The following year, William King died of tuberculosis, and Margaret returned to the household of her widowed father, a shoemaker. After his death from tuberculosis in 1875, Margaret lived with her brother for a number of years. She spent the last 24 years of her life in the Fredericksburg Alms House, where she did of tuberculosis and syphilis in 1918

[4] Henry Augustus Hambright (1819-1893) was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was a veteran of the Mexican War, and worked as a public works contractor prior to the Civil War. He commanded the 79th Pennsylvania Volunteers until he was mustered out in June 1865. He then served for 14 years in the 11th United States Infantry. He served in several posts until his retirement in 1879, including duty as provost marshal in Fredericksburg January-June 1866.

[5] Samuel Erasmus Chaffee (1838-1920) was born in East Windsor, Connecticut. Just prior to the Civil War he worked as an axle maker. During the Civil war he served in the 20th Connecticut Infantry. He came to Fredericksburg shortly after the Civil War, and was appointed by the military authority as the city tax collector and as a justice of the peace. In October 1869 he married Fredericksburg native Mary Elizabeth Turner. They had one son, James Sanford. Samuel Chaffee returned to Connecticut sometime during the 1870s, leaving his wife and son behind. Mary and James lived with her parents until their deaths, then she lived with brother, Fredericksburg merchant William G. Turner. Mary died in 1923.

My primary source for the details surrounding George Chancellor's involvement with Prentiss Fogler is at Ancestry.com--U.S., Union Provost Marshal Papers, 1861-1867

  

    

"I may never see you all again"

 

Salem Baptist Church, 1870s (Confederate Memorial Literary Society)

     John C. Davis was born  in 1837 on a farm in Limestone County, just west of Huntsville, Alabama. He was the oldest of fourteen children born to Elizabeth Covington Davis and James Brown Davis, a farmer, slave owner, constable and justice of the peace. 

James Brown Davis (Ancestry)

Elizabeth Covington Davis (Ancestry)

       John C. Davis married Elizabeth Jane Jackson by the mid-1850s and they had at least three children together--James "Buck" Buchanan, Mary Helen and Elizabeth. By 1860 the Davis family was living on a farm, one they likely rented.         

Muster of new recruits in Company H, 9th Alabama

     John enlisted in Company H of the 9th Alabama Infantry in Athens, Alabama on March 22, 1862. He was soon sent to Virginia to join the rest of his regiment. Like many new recruits, John soon fell ill with one of the many ailments that afflicted soldiers new to camp life. He was twice a patient at Chimborazo Hospital No. 4 in Richmond during the summer of 1862, with a diagnosis of "Debility," meaning general weakness from some undiagnosed illness. He returned to active duty after his second hospital stay on September 28.

First page of John's letter to Betty Jane

     Just three days before the Battle of Chancellorsville, John sat down to write a four-page letter to his wife. My transcription of this letter follows below. To make it easier to read, I have corrected many of his misspellings but have otherwise let his writing speak for itself. 

April the 28th 1863

Camp Near Fredericksburg Virginia

Elizabeth Jane

Dear Miss

After my love and respects to you I will answer your very welcome letter. I received it a few days ago and was mighty glad to hear from you all and you were all well, was very good news. You gave me great satisfaction to hear and see a letter should come from under your loving hand. Betty Jane I can look at it and think that your hand has been the instruction of it & I can bring the very image of your lovely looks. Betty Jane I can see that black spot on your face in my mind as plain as noon day. Betty Jane never cease writing me for I love to hear from you and the little children. Now if I  just could see Buck & Mary's little sharp teeth a-smiling at me once more. Betty, you say that you have a mighty pretty little girl [Elizabeth Jane, their youngest child]. Well Betty I expect she is pretty if she is any kin to Mary. Betty I know Mary is a pretty child. Her eyes will always help her out for beauty. Please give me the Baby's name in full. I thought I never would ask you her name because you would not tell me. But Betty it is no time for curiosity for I may never see you all again. Tell Buck to go to school and you try to encourage him to learn. For if I ever should get home I am determining to educate him if he will partake of it and if I should never get home I will Request you to give him good learning if you have to live on dry Bread never think Poor folks can't send their children to school it is all a mistake. We know that if you could live with his work you could live without it. Betty I reckon it will be a great while before I can see you again but make yourself sure if we can but only live that time will surely slip off after a while and then it will be for life time. I do not intend to ever go into another war. It is a rough one and when I get home again it will take a great deal more than the Yankees ever done to make me mad enough to come away to old Virginia and leave all that is near and dear to and bind myself tighter than any negro you ever saw. I tell you my dear Betty Jane I can never do it again. You say a heap of the Boys have deserted. I can't blame them much for they do not treat the private soldiers right. You written to me that you was glad when the cavalry came in there a-picking up the Conscripts that I was gone. I will join you there. I am glad I was not there but I wish I had a-stayed longer and a-got in Thompson's Cavalry and then I would have a-been so much closer to home. You said that you would not blame me to desert. Betty I would be afraid that you would not give me anything to Eat. Well do not think I shall ever desert if I am treated as well as I have been. We do not get enough to eat. We get a quarter of a pound of Bacon and a heap of time there is half of that dirt and a pound and 2 ounces of flour and then it is all [illegible]. We have got two messes of Irish potatoes this spring. Tell me in your next letter all of the deserters' names and do not let everybody be a-reading your letter. It is not concerning anybody but you. What I write to you I do not care for pap a-reading them. Tell me whether Sam Cot was in the army or not. Tell me whether Pink Davis has ever gone back to the army  and all about the connection. You take good care of all the things. Mind the horses and do not let them be rode to death. I expect my saddle and my fiddle will both be ruined before I ever get home. Well my paper is gone and I must stop for this time.

John C. Davis to Elizabeth Jane Davis

     At the time John wrote this letter, the 9th Infantry was one of five Alabama regiments in the brigade commanded by General Cadmus Wilcox. This brigade would undertake some serious work in the days ahead.

     On the morning of May 3, 1863, Union forces commanded by General John Sedgwick attacked General Jubal Early's Confederates defending Fredericksburg. This was the beginning of an effort to open a second front against General Robert E. Lee's troops at Chancellorsville. The outnumbered Confederates were pushed off Marye's Heights, and the Federals began to march west on the Orange Turnpike (modern Route 3) toward Chancellorsville. Most of Early's troops retreated a couple of miles south to defend the railroad to Richmond. Hearing that Sedgwick had dislodged the defenders at Fredericksburg, Lee sent the divisions of McLaws and Mahone to reinforce Early.

The Battle of Salem Church (Official Military Atlas of the Civil War)

     Wilcox's brigade, which had been guarding Bank's Ford on the Rappahannock, moved to the turnpike and occupied a position across the road at Salem Baptist Church. They were soon joined by McLaw's and Mahone's men. Wilcox set up a skirmish line, which included two pieces of artillery, at the turnpike's toll gate about a mile east of his main line at Salem Church. After exchanging a few shots with these Confederates, the U.S. army then pushed them back and advanced toward the church.

     The men of the 9th Alabama, together with those of the 10th Alabama, stopped the advance of the 121st New York, which suffered fifty percent casualties. Then the 9th, 10th and 14th Alabama, joined by the 51st Georgia, pushed the Union troops back toward the toll gate, where their artillery was placed. The retreating soldiers in blue reformed their line there, and poured withering fire into the charging Confederates. Wilcox called off the attack shortly before dusk.

Salem Baptist Church (Library of Congress)

Salem Baptist Church (National Park Service)

     A makeshift hospital was set up at Salem Church, and hundreds of wounded soldiers were brought there for treatment. Among those men was John C. Davis, who died of his injuries. John and the many others who died there were buried in the church yard. Later, his remains were taken to the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg.

Headstone of John C. Davis (Dan Janzegers)

Sources:

-John C. Davis's letter was shared with one of my readers by one of his descendants, Robin Burchfield

-Ancestry.com

-Fold3.com

-Battle of Salem Church: Final Federal Assault at Chancellorsville

    

                                                      

Reverend Elmer Grant Barnum

 

Elmer Grant Barnum

     Elmer Grant Barnum was born in New York near Lake Ontario in the farming community of Sanborn, Niagara County, on October 14, 1868. He earned a master of arts degree from the University of Rochester in 1896 and became a member of prestigious Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the United States. He then attended the Rochester Theological Seminary (forerunner of today's Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School) and completed his studies in 1900.

     On November 21, 1900 he married Edna Westfall, who was the librarian at the seminary. Edna was the daughter of Gilbert and Emma Westfall of Rochester, where her father, previously a farmer, was a grocer and milk delivery man. The following year, the American Home Baptist Missionary Society selected Elmer to travel across the country to the little mining town of Republic, Washington to provide religious leadership to its residents. Elmer and Edna spent one year in Republic before returning to New York. 

     In 1902, Edna's father bought a farm in Girdletree, Maryland. Elmer and Edna moved to the farm with her parents, and for a time Elmer managed the farm for the Westfalls. On July 10, 1903 Mildred Edith, who would be the Barnums' only child, was born in Girdletree. 

     Elmer managed the farm for his father-in-law, who bred sheep, cattle and hogs. While Elmer was a stock man himself, his true calling was that of a minister and educator. Soon after his arrival in Girdletree, he became the principal of the local high school and a preacher in the Baptist church.

 

Democratic Messenger, 27 May 1905

 

Democratic Messenger, 24 November 1906

     Although they seemed to be prospering in Maryland, the Barnums and Westfalls made the decision to move to Stafford County, Virginia in 1908. Gilbert bought the 200-acre Riverside Farm on River Road, and he and Elmer resumed their business together as stock breeders. As he had done in Girdletree, Elmer continued his career as a pastor in Stafford County. He served as a minister at both Falmouth and Bethany Baptist churches until 1911. Elmer and his family moved to Fredericksburg that year and he was soon thereafter asked to assume the pastorship of four Baptist churches in Spotsylvania County--Salem, Goshen, Wilderness and Ely's Ford. His congregation at Falmouth Baptist Church was sad to see him go, and published a resolution to that effect in The Free Lance.

 

The Free Lance, 17 August 1911

 

The Free Lance, 7 September 1911

     At some time prior to 1920, Elmer moved to Spotsylvania County to be nearer his churches. The Barnums lived at "Pleasant View," which had been the home of the late Absalom McGee, located on the north side of Route 3 near McLaws Drive. Absalom's widow, Cicely Timberlake McGee, sold the house and 30 acres to Elmer in 1921.

     In addition to the four Baptist Churches mentioned above, Reverend Barnum over time also became the minister at Zoan in Spotsylvania and Flat Run in Orange County. While he undoubtedly left a lasting impression at each church he served, his most enduring legacy was at Goshen Baptist Church. When Elmer became the minister there, the existing church building was still the small structure erected in 1875. In 1912, Goshen's building committee laid plans for the construction of a new sanctuary. Reverend Barnum drew up plans for the new church and made a miniature model of its design. Elmer did much of the actual construction work himself, including making the large wooden columns for the front of the church (during the installation of one of these columns he fell to the ground, but escaped serious injury). The new building was completed in 1913, and remained standing until 1957, when it was replaced by the brick sanctuary that stands today.

Goshen Baptist Church 1875-1913

Goshen Baptist Church 1913-1957

     The newly built Chancellor School on Old Plank Road was dedicated in December 1912. The school offered classes for grades 1-12, and was the first public high school in Spotsylvania County. Mildred Barnum was a student there, as seen in this photograph of the high school students and principal taken about 1920 (she is number 11):

     Following her graduation from Chancellor, Mildred attended the State Normal School in Fredericksburg, the forerunner of today's University of Mary Washington. She graduated in 1923.

Mildred Barnum, 1922 (The Battlefield)

Mildred Barnum, 1923 (The Battlefield)

    

     When the United States entered the First World War, many of America's ministers did their part for the war effort by volunteering to join the YMCA's venture to sustain the morale of America's fighting men overseas. Hundreds of YMCA facilities behind the lines provided rest-and-recreation opportunities for the soldiers. In June 1918, Reverend Barnum applied for a passport so that he could join this effort. His application was endorsed by the War Department in August 1918, and he left for France shortly thereafter. He remained in Europe until May 1919, when he boarded a ship in Brest bound for the United States.

U.S. Army Transport List (Ancestry.com)

     After the war, Reverend Barnum served two stints as principal of the Chancellor School. The first was 1922-1924. He then served for two years as principal of the Franklin-Sherman High School at McLean in Fairfax County. Mildred taught there during his stay. He then returned to the Chancellor School, where he was principal 1926-1931.

The Free Lance Star, 24 August 1928

     On the evening of August 23, 1928, Elmer and Edna Barnum left their home and drove west on Route 3 in order to attend services at Flat Run Baptist church, where he had previously served as pastor. In an approaching car in the eastbound lane were Mr. and Mrs. Richard Irving Scott and their two daughters, Anna and Evelyn, who were on their way to Wilderness Baptist Church for evening services. Just west of Wilderness Church, one of these two cars inadvertently crossed the center line of the road and sideswiped the other vehicle. Both cars careened off the road and overturned. Young Evelyn Scott fell through an open window and the car rolled over her, killing her. No one was ejected from the Barnums' car, but after the car stopped Edna cried out, "Oh, my chest." Because she had been suffering from heart problems, it was assumed at the time that she may have been having a heart attack (her death certificate indicated that she had suffered internal injuries). Edna Westfall Barnum died shortly after her arrival at Mary Washington Hospital. Her funeral service was conducted by Reverend Edward Voorhees Peyton at Salem Baptist Church, and she was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery.

The Free Lance Star, 25 August 1928

     During the 1930s, Mildred Barnum worked as a writer for the Works Project Administration. She conducted research and wrote brief summaries of many of Spotsylvania's historic properties, including my family's old plantation, Greenfield (part of which now comprises a portion of the Fawn Lake subdivision):

     By the mid-1930s, the energetic and seemingly indefatigable Elmer Barnum began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. In the 1940s he also developed significant heart trouble and was bedridden for the last five years of his life. He was cared for by Mildred, who never married and lived with her father until he died on September 5, 1951. Like Edna, his funeral service was conducted by Reverend Edward Voorhees Peyton, and he was buried next to Edna at Oak Hill Cemetery.

Free Lance Star, 6 September 1951

     During the 1940s, Mildred worked as a bookkeeper for Fredericksburg Hardware, and by the 1950s she was keeping the books for Brown Brothers and Company.

   The photo below, which was shared with me by Jim Orrock, shows Mildred Barnum with sisters Mollie and Maggie Orrock during a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Mildred stands at right:

     Late in her life, Mildred suffered from dementia and was placed in the Virginia Baptist Home in Culpeper. She died there on May 28, 1989 and lies buried near her parents at Oak Hill Cemetery.    

 

Edgar Wilton Harrison

 

Farm of Edgar Harrison, 1866 (National Park Service)

     About the early life of Edgar Wilton Harrison I have been able to learn very little. He was born in Virginia about 1829, but I cannot say with any certainty where he was born, or who his parents were. He first appears in the written record, so it seems, in the 1850 census. A 22-year-old "E.W. Harrison," a clerk, was living in King and Queen County in the household of merchant Moore Boulware. 

Fredericksburg News, 23 September 1851

     In 1851 Edgar was living in Caroline County. On September 18 of that year, Edgar married Ann Maria Smith Goodwin at St. George's Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg. Reverend Edward C. McGuire presided at the ceremony.

     Ann's parents were William Peter Goodwin and Mary Byrd Crutchfield Burke. A veteran of the War of 1812, William was active in the civic life of Fredericksburg. He was a merchant, a member of the Hope Fire Company and he was active in Democratic politics. 

   In 1829, Ann Goodwin's maternal grandmother, Frances Crutchfield, wrote her will. She left to Ann and her brother, William Mary Byrd Goodwin [1] her interest in Rose Hill plantation in Spotsylvania. This land would remain in the Goodwin family until 1915.

Ford's Hotel (Encyclopedia of Virginia)

     The obituary of of Edgar W. Harrison revealed that at some point in his life he had been the proprietor of Ford's Hotel in Richmond, located at the intersection of Broad and 11th streets. This may have been the case, but I have not found any contemporaneous sources to substantiate that. 

     Sometime during the 1850s, Edgar and Ann acquired property on Brock Road near Spotsylvania Court House, just south of the Neil McCoull farm. Although they could have not foreseen this at the time, this would be the place where the Bloody Angle battle would be fought in May 1864. In the meantime, they farmed their property in peace and raised their young children: Edgar Wilton, Jr., William Henry, Ellen Byrd and Temple, whom they called "Temmie."

     The 1860 census tells us that the Harrison family was well-off for their time and place. They owned 190 acres, worth $1,500, and their personal property was valued at $9,500. This amount was based primarily on their ownership of nine slaves: a 39-year-old man, a 34-year-old woman, and seven children aged four months to eleven years. 

     Edgar and Ann's youngest child, Temple, was born on February 10, 1861, which may possibly explain why he did not rush off to join the Confederate army when Virginia seceded two months later. On April 1, 1862, Edgar Harrison enlisted in Company E of the 9th Virginia Cavalry at Camp Boulware in King George County. He signed up for a three year stint, and received a $50 bonus for doing so.

     His surviving compiled service record shows that Edward was marked present on most muster rolls, except for the four month period January-April 1864, when he was absent without leave. He was then present until October 1864, which is the final entry in his military record. Although there is no mention of his being a patient in any hospital during the Civil War, his wife attested in her 1900 application for benefits as the widow of a Virginia veteran that Edgar had been badly wounded and could not perform manual labor for the rest of his life. Ann also mentioned that he was receiving a $30 year veteran's  pension at the end of his life. 

Approval for Harrison's claim for damages (Fold3.com)

     In May 1863, Edgar hired James L. Taliaferro to represent his interests in a claim for damages to his property. During the Chancellorsville campaign, soldiers of the 16th Virginia Infantry, while passing through the Harrison neighborhood, helped themselves to 64 panels of  his worm fencing. In his letter to General Robert Hall Chilton, Lieutenant Colonel H.W. Williamson recommended the payment of $32 to settle this claim. He noted: "This fencing was destroyed and burnt by the trains of this army in passing to and from the Battle field and Spotsylvania Court House during heavy rain storms..."

Receipt for the hire of Jeff (Fold3.com)

     In October 1864, Edgar received payment for the hire of one of his slaves, Jeff, by the Confederate quartermaster department for the period January 15 to October 5, 1864. For Jeff's work as a teamster, Edgar received $319.33.

     The most profound impact of the war on the Harrison family took place in May 1864, as the Federal Army emerged from the Wilderness and began to make its way to the crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House. As it so happened, the Harrison farm stood very near the spot where some of the most savage fighting of the war occurred. 

Jedidiah Hotchkiss map of the Mule Shoe Salient (Fold3.com)

     On May 4, 1864 the Army of the Potomac, commanded by General George Meade and accompanied by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, crossed the Rapidan River and plunged into the Wilderness of Spotsylvania County. The Union army fought pitched battles against the outnumbered Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Robert E. Lee. On May 7, the Union army sidestepped the Confederates and made an attempt to reach the crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House before Lee could get there. Had they been successful, the Union troops would have been between the Confederate army and Richmond, and the war could have taken a very different direction.

     As fate would have it, however, the Confederates got there first and interposed themselves between the Federals and the court house. The rebels were able to block Brock Road on May 8 and repulsed Union attacks at Laurel Hill, the Spindle farm. On that same day, General Jubal early assumed temporary command of the Confederate Third Corps, replacing General A.P. Hill, who was ill (likely with another flare-up of the venereal disease that he had contracted as a cadet at West Point in the 1840s). General John Brown Gordon assumed command of Early's division. 

     The Confederates immediately set about constructing more than four miles of fortifications extending across Brock Road from Mrs. Spindle's place to a point beyond the home of Neill McCoull, a neighbor of the Harrisons. Because of its shape, as can be seen on the Hotchkiss map above, this defensive position was called the Mule Shoe. 

     On May 11, the usually canny Lee made an error that could have had catastrophic consequences for the Confederacy's fortunes. Movements of some Union forces were misinterpreted and Lee ordered the artillery in the Mule Shoe salient to be withdrawn and be prepared for a movement to the right. Unbeknownst to the Confederates, the section of the Confederate line now stripped of artillery was precisely where Union General Hancock planned to attack the following morning. On the night of May 11, Confederate General Richard Ewell made his headquarters at the Harrison house, and General Lee pitched his tent in the yard.

     Early on the morning of May 12, Union troops came crashing through the Mule Shoe salient near McCoull's. Word of this disaster now unfolding soon reached Lee and Ewell. General Gordon assembled his division in the Harrison's yard, and the Confederates quickly advanced to stem the Union tide. Thus began a 22-hour fight known as the Battle of Bloody Angle. Huge losses were incurred on both sides, but Meade was not able to budge the Confederates and advance to the court house.

     Meanwhile, all was confusion and panic in the Harrison household. Joseph F. Walker [2], a young slave at the Harrison farm at this time, remembered the events of that day in a memoir written in 1940: "Later in the afternoon my mistress Miss Harrison and my mother began gathering up the silver to leave...My mistress asked if there was any danger, and we all clustered around the officers for safety; but in a few minutes we were ordered to get out as the firing was going to begin, which it did like a thunderstorm. All I could hear was "Go to the rear!" We managed to get through the three lines of soldiers and went to a house known as the Dabney [Spotsylvania Clerk of Court Robert C. Dabney] House."

     The war would grind on for another 11 months after the fighting near the Harrison farm. When Edgar mustered out of the cavalry he was impoverished, and his injuries prevented him from adequately rehabilitating his farm.

     In 1870, Edgar and Ann, with her brother acting as her trustee, bought a 60-acre property from Dr. Addison Lewis Durrett across Brock Road from their first house. The Harrisons called their new residence "Forest Home." Edgar, Ann and their two daughters lived there for the rest of their lives. 

     In order to finance this purchase from Dr. Durrett, the Harrisons borrowed $250 from Fredericksburg attorney John Minor Herndon, who died a year later. Except for one $30 interest payment, the Harrisons did not pay anything toward the principal. In 1881 Charles Minor, acting as executor of his father's estate, sued the Harrisons for the money they owned. In court papers, Edgar was described as "insolvent." The following year an arrangement was made regarding the outstanding debt, and the Harrison family continued to live at Forest Home.

In order to supplement his meager income from farming, Edgar Harrison became a school teacher. The first mention of his new career in the local newspapers was in September 1875, when he was teaching at the "Alsop Gate School," presumably at the Alsop farm at the intersection of Brock and Gordon roads. Throughout the 1880s, Edgar's name was mentioned in the papers as a teacher in the public schools. 

     Edgar's obituary reveals that he also taught at the "Hotel School." In 1887, New York native Joseph Bittle bought the Spotswood Inn at Spotsylvania Court House. He established a private school there called the Virginia Collegiate Institute. The Bittles were Free Methodists, and their school curriculum was infused with that religious philosophy. In 1894, Bittle sold the inn to local merchant Thomas H. Harris (whose family owned nearby Bloomsbury farm). School continued to be held at the inn, but without the Free Methodist teachings, and the name of the school was also changed. The school closed for good in 1898.

     By the 1890s, Edgar's health began to decline. In February 1896 he suffered a paralytic stroke and died two days later on February 9. He was buried in the cemetery at Christ Episcopal Church at the court house.

The Daily Star 11 February 1896

The Daily Star 12 February 1896

     In 1939, Edgar's daughter Temple ordered a veteran headstone for her father from the War Department:

Temple Harrison's application for headstone

Headstone of Edgar Wilton Harrison

     Ann Harrison outlived her husband by 9 years; she died December 18, 1905 and was buried at Christ Church. Her daughters Ellen and Temple, neither of whom ever married, are also buried there.

The Free Lance 20 December 1905

Footnotes:

The Free Lance 17 September 1889

[1] William Mary Byrd Goodwin was born about 1828. In 1852 he married Nancy Holladay, and they raised their two daughters at Rose Hill. After the death of his father in 1859, he inherited some of his slaves, including Joseph H. Walker (the 1860 census shows he owned a total of 13 enslaved people). On March 1, 1862 he joined Company E of the 9th Virginia Cavalry at Camp Boulware in King George County. His military record is notable mainly for his being absent without leave during much of 1863-1864. The last mention of him was on February 7, 1865 when he was a patient at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond. 

     After the Civil War,William, like his father, was active in local Democratic politics and for a time served as chairman of the Spotsylvania Democratic Party. He was also a justice of the peace in addition to farming at Rose Hill. 

     In 1877 Charles E. Pendleton killed a black man with whom he worked at Bradley's lumber yard in Fredericksburg. He was found guilty at trial and sentenced to serve five years in the state penitentiary. Upon Charles's release in 1882, William offered him a job working at Rose Hill. William's impressionable 17-year-old daughter Kitty fell in love with Charles. Kitty and Charles eloped to Washington, D.C. where they were married in August 1882. William strongly disapproved of their union, and forbade them from coming to his house. That being the case, Kitty and Charles lived in Orange County. 

     After a time Kitty-who by this time had two daughters of her own--pleaded with her father to allow them to come stay with him. She was living in poverty and her marriage was not a happy one. William relented, and allowed Kitty and Charles and their children to come live at Rose Hill. He still did not like Charles, and they quarreled frequently, but William adored Kitty and his granddaughters and so he put up with Charles. 

     On September 13, 1889 Charles announced that he was going to buy some pigs at Jack Carter's, and William asked him to buy some pigs for him as well. When Charles returned that evening, he was roaring drunk and instead of the pigs he brought back a couple of hunting dogs. Charles and Kitty got into an argument and Charles called her a "damn liar." Upon hearing that, William rose from his sick bed and picked up a 2-inch piece of wood about 18 inches long. He then delivered two blows to Charles's head. Stunned but still full of fight, Charles grabbed William's shotgun and pointed it at him. William grabbed the barrel of the gun and pointed it at the ceiling and then pulled the trigger, emptying the gun. He and Kitty then pushed Charles out of the house on to the porch and secured the door behind him. Charles picked up another loaded gun that was on the porch and fired it through the door, striking William in the thigh. Doctors Martin and Voorhees were summoned and with the help of Spotsylvania County sheriff  Thomas Addison Harris they amputated William's leg. Their efforts to save William's life were in vain. William died the next day, September 13, 1889. A few days later Spotsylvania clerk of court Joseph Patrick Henry Crismond wrote a memorial for William on behalf of the Zion Methodist Church Sunday school:

The Free Lance 27 September 1889

     At trial, Charles Pendleton was found guilty of murder. For the second time, he was sentenced to serve a term in the state penitentiary, this time for 12 years. The year after he killed her father, Kitty divorced Charles and took back her maiden name. In 1893, while suffering from tuberculosis, Charles appealed for clemency from the governor. His appeal was denied. 

     Some time in the early 1900s, Kitty Goodwin moved to the household of now former clerk of court J.P.H. Crismond. She worked for him as a domestic servant for the rest of her life. In 1915 she sold Rose Hill to Fredericksburg builder Elmer Grimsley "Peck" Heflin. Kitty died of complications from a perforated ulcer in 1923.

 

[2] Joseph F. Walker (1854-1943) was born a slave in the household of William P. Goodwin at Rose Hill farm. Upon Mr. Goodwin's death, ownership of Joseph passed to his son William Mary Byrd Goodwin. Joseph's mother and sisters were given to William's sister, Ann Harrison. After the Civil War, Joseph served for decades as sexton at St. George's Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg and also worked as a butler for Judge William S. Barton. Joseph was a member of Shiloh Baptist New Site, where he was a deacon for 48 years. Together with educator Jason Grant, Joseph helped establish the Fredericksburg Normal and Industrial Institute in 1905, which was the forerunner of the Walker-Grant School named in their honor.

Joseph F. Walker

Sources:

Joseph Walker

Walker-Grant School 

Library of Virginia Chancery Causes

Fold3 Compiled Service Records for Confederate Soldiers, Confederate Citizens File, Civil War maps

Contemporaneous newspaper articles from The Daily Star, the Free Lance and the Fredericksburg News

Fredericksburg Research Resources