The History of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia Part 17

Ford, Mrs. A. F. T. Fitzhugh, Mrs. Fannie S. White.

_Board of Directors_--Miss Mary G. Browne, Miss S. Freaner, Mrs. W. K.

Howard,[64] Mrs. S. J. Jarvis, Mrs. E. A. Fitzgerald, Mrs. L. J.

Huffman, Mrs. J. H. Bradley, Mrs. Magruder Maury, Mrs. Joseph Alsop, Mrs. Monroe Kelly, Miss Ellen P. Chew, Miss Lizzie Braxton.

_Treasurer_--Dr. F. P. Wellford.

_Recording Secretaries_--Miss L. G. Wellford, Mrs. Lucy Herndon.[64]

_Corresponding Secretary_--Miss Ann J. Carter.

_a.s.sistant Secretaries_--Miss V. S. Knox,[64] Miss Mary Thom, Miss Bettie L. Scott,[64] Miss Lizzie Alsop, Miss N. S. Wellford, Miss Mary G. Browne, Mrs. L. T. Kearsley, Miss Helen G. Beale, Miss Nannie Taylor, Miss Virginia Goolrick, Miss S. Freaner, Miss Lizzie Braxton.

_Executive Committee_--Major J. H. Kelly, Thomas F. Knox, George Aler, J. W. Slaughter, Edwin Carter, Joseph W. Sener, Dr. L. B. Rose.

_Advisory Committee_--Gen. D. H. Maury, Gen. Daniel Ruggles, Gen. C.

L. Stevenson, Col. R. S. Chew, Col. C. M. Braxton, Col. W. W.

Fontaine, Major George Freaner, Major Chas. S. Green,[65] Capt. C. T.

Goolrick, Capt. W. R. Mason,[65] Rev. M. Maury, Rev. T. W. Gilmer, Rev. Patrick Donelan, Rev. W. H. Williams, Rev. F. C. Tebbs, Mayor M.

Slaughter, Judge R. C. L. Moncure,[66] A. A. Little, J. H. Kelly, Judge R. H. Coleman, John L. Marye, Jr., John E. Tackett, D. H.

Gordon, W. P. Conway, J. L. Stansbury, Ab. P. Rowe, James B. Sener, W.

K. Howard."

In response to the appeal of the a.s.sociation, liberal contributions were received from all the Southern States, with which the ground was purchased, the present, cemetery laid out and the remains of all the Confederate dead, who were killed and buried throughout this community, gathered together, transferred to the cemetery and the graves marked with cedar posts. These posts were removed a few years afterwards and marble headstones took their places. The next work of the a.s.sociation was to raise money for a monument to be placed in the center of the cemetery, and, as in their other patriotic work, the appeal was not in vain. The necessary amount was raised and the monument was erected and dedicated.

Mr. Leyburn, of Lexington, Va., contractor; Mr. Ca.s.sell, of Baltimore, architect. The stone used is gray granite and was taken from the farm of Mrs. Mary Downman, in Spotsylvania county. The monument contains inscriptions as follows:

On the east side--S. Carolina, Virginia, N. Carolina.

On the north side--Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas.

On the west side--Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas.

On the south side--Georgia, Florida, Alabama.

The monument stands on a mound about five feet high, and is five feet and six inches high without the statue. With the statue it is twenty feet in height. On the west side, cut in the granite, are muskets; on the south side, a castle with battlements; on the north side, sabres; on the east side, cannon and the inscription "To the Confederate Dead." On each corner of the monument is a column of red granite, with gray granite plynth and base. The corner-stone was laid on the 4th of June, 1874, by Fredericksburg Lodge, No. 4, A. F. & A. M., Grand Master Wm. H. Lambert presiding, and was completed and unveiled on Memorial Day, June 9, 1884.

The statue of a Confederate soldier, at dress parade, which crowns the apex, is of bronze, and was manufactured by the Monumental Bridge Company, of Bridgeport, Conn. It was ordered through Mr. George T. Downing and placed in position by him.

THE NATIONAL CEMETERY.

The National Cemetery, in which were gathered and interred the Union soldiers who died in camp and were killed in the various battles in and around Fredericksburg, was commenced in 1865, soon after the close of the war. It is located on Willis's Hill, about half a mile south of the town.

It is on the range of hills known in the war histories and correspondents as Marye's Heights, which overlooks the beautiful valley of the Rappahannock and affords a fine view of Fredericksburg and the surrounding country. It afforded a splendid location for the Confederate artillery at both battles of Fredericksburg, which did such fearful execution as the Union troops were advancing on General Lee's position.

The remains of the Union soldiers were taken from their temporary graves and conveyed to the cemetery by a "burial corps," consisting of a large detail of Federal soldiers and a few veterans employed by the superintendent. The work was continued for three or four years, and it was thought that all the dead had been cared for, but even now remains of soldiers are sometimes found in different places and turned over to the superintendent for interment. The Fredericksburg cemetery is not the largest in area in the United States, but it has a larger number of interments in it than any other in the country. Up to the present time the interments number 15,294, of these 2,496 are known and their names, regiments and State are registered in a book in the superintendent's office, and 12,798 are unknown. The superintendent of the cemetery is Major M. M. Jefferys, and under his management it is kept in good condition.

The superintendent has a "lodge" or residence near the cemetery gate, constructed of stone. It is made of the stone taken from the historical stone wall, behind which the Confederates were stationed when they successfully resisted the many gallant charges of General Hanc.o.c.k's men on the 13th of December, 1862. Several years ago the government constructed a Macadamized road from the railroad depot to the cemetery, making it a pleasant drive to that "city of the dead," and it is visited by numbers of persons, both citizens and strangers. In 1901 Gen. Daniel b.u.t.terfield erected a beautiful monument in the cemetery to the valor of the Fifth Army Corps, which he commanded, at a cost of $11,000.

MAURY CAMP OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS.

The Confederate veterans of Fredericksburg and surrounding country organized themselves into a camp in 1883. It was one of the first camps of the kind organized in the State and had quite a large members.h.i.+p. It was called Maury Camp in honor of General Dabney Herndon Maury, a native of Fredericksburg, who rose to the rank of major-general in the Confederate army, and distinguished himself as a skillful commander as well as for conspicuous gallantry on many fields of battle during the Civil war.

Maury Camp flourished for several years, having at one time in the neighborhood of one hundred and fifty members. At first it was independent and separate from any other camp, but upon the organization of R. E. Lee Camp, of Richmond, which obtained a charter from the General a.s.sembly of Virginia, thereby giving it authority over other camps, Maury Camp obtained a charter from that organization, and holds its authority under that charter at present.

For some cause in late years the camp has not been prosperous; on the contrary, it has merely maintained its organization. Many of the members withdrew their members.h.i.+p or allowed their names to be dropped from the rolls, while those who still retain their members.h.i.+p, with a few exceptions, exhibit but little interest in the affairs of the camp.

Notwithstanding its decline, however, it has done much good in the past in a.s.sisting needy Confederate veterans, besides they have relieved the necessities of the widows and orphans of veterans, and have decently buried their old comrades who have died in dest.i.tution. The camp has had for commanders at different periods Colonel Robert S. Chew, Judge John T.

Goolrick, Capt. Daniel M. Lee, Thomas F. Proctor, Geo. Shepherd and Capt.

S. J. Quinn. At present Prof. A. B. Bowering is the commander and the camp seems to be taking on new life.

SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS.

The organization of Maury Camp of Confederate Veterans was followed in a few years by the organization of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. This camp came into existence on the 10th day of May, 1890. It was organized, mainly, if not entirely, through the efforts of Mr. James A. Turner, who was its first commander, and, by annual reelections, without opposition, he was continued until he retired and Mr. Wm. H. Hurkamp was elected and is commander at this time.

This camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans was named in honor of Colonel Robert S. Chew, who was, at the close of the war, Colonel of the Thirtieth Virginia regiment of infantry, a native of Fredericksburg and was honored and beloved by all who knew him. The camp has done a n.o.ble work in the way of looking after the comfort and supplying the needs of the dest.i.tute Confederate veterans, who are rapidly pa.s.sing "over the river to rest under the shade of the trees," and providing for them a decent Christian burial when they shall have "answered the last roll call."

As an organization the R. S. Chew Camp has attended nearly all the reunions of Confederate veterans in the State, and has taken as much interest in them as if they had been veterans instead of the sons of veterans. In all of these visitations the camp, by the discipline and military bearing of its members soon won for itself a position in the front rank of Sons of Confederate Veterans in the South. About thirty of its members volunteered in the United States army in the War with Spain, some of whom are now in the regular army, holding important commissions. The camp has flourished from its organization, and has now nearly one hundred members on its rolls, who are earnest in their work and faithful to the memories of their fathers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Stevens House," on "Sunken Road"; the Confederate line of battle, 1862 and 1863, in front of fence. Gen. Thos. R. R. Cobb killed where gate swings to right. (See page 91)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: City Hall, in which are Mayor's Office, Council Chamber, etc., and where a ball was given in honor of Gen. Lafayette on his visit here in 1824. (See page 144)]

THE SCHOOLS OF FREDERICKSBURG.

Fredericksburg, from its earliest days, possessed educational advantages, greatly in advance of many larger towns of the colonies. Soon after its establishment by the House of Burgesses, schools of a high order were established here by the best of educators and it is highly probable that the leading men of the State--those who conducted public affairs in colonial times, and who were the first to oppose and resist British tyranny and who inaugurated and conducted the movement for separation and independence--were educated in those schools. And it can be safely said that from that time to the present Fredericksburg has not been without schools that would be creditable to any town.

In 1796 a lottery scheme--which was a popular method of raising money in those days for such purposes--was chartered by the Legislature of the State for the purpose of raising money to erect a school building on what was known as the "old poor-house grounds," at present the property of Alexander Lang's estate near Gunnery Spring. Whether or not this scheme was successful is not known, but it is a fact that a male academy was established by some French refugees, gentlemen of education and refinement, who, having lost their fortunes, adopted teaching as a means of support. Many distinguished Statesmen and jurists, in after years, were educated at this school, among them was Judge John Tayloe Lomax, who, in his old age, when president of the Young Men's Christian a.s.sociation of Fredericksburg, referred to his connection with this school by contrasting the teaching of the school of French philosophy of that day with the instruction of Christian teachers of a later period, showing the advantages of the latter.

In a letter from Dr. John Brockenburg to Rev. Philip Slaughter, D. D., in 1846, about another matter, he said: "I had been entered as a student at the Fredericksburg Academy, then (1790) in high repute, under the Rev.

Mr. Ryan, an eminent cla.s.sical scholar and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin." Dr. Brockenburg finished his education in this school, preparatory to entering a medical college in Edinburg, and speaks highly of it.[67]

It is also claimed that Was.h.i.+ngton, Madison, Monroe, and others who made their mark as soldiers, statesmen, and in the various professions, were educated in the schools of Fredericksburg.

The establishment of a female college at "Federal Hill," in the year 1789, and which was kept up by different teachers for half a century or more, was an important event in the history of the town, and, in connection with the male academy, gave to Fredericksburg great distinction as an educational center.

On the 27th of September, 1795, a fund was created by the sale of lands, which were devised for the purpose by Mr. Archibald McPherson, which fund was held in trust by the Mayor and Common Council of the town for the time being, and afterwards, by an act of the Legislature, by six trustees, annually appointed for the benefit of the Charity School of Fredericksburg. These trustees organized into a board, the first president being Major Benjamin Day, who continued as such to the day of his death.

The school was kept in the brick building on the north side of Hanover street, just below the Masonic hall, now used by Miss Willie F. Schooler for her Hanover school. The funds derived by the sale of some of the McPherson property were afterwards supplemented by a legacy from Mr.

Thomas Colson in 1805.

In the back part of the room in which this male charity school was kept are to be found three tablets of marble let into the brick wall, in good preservation, with these inscriptions:

"In memory of Mr. Archibald McPherson. He bequeathed his property to the trustees of this town for the education of the poor. By an act of the Legislature the funds were transferred to this inst.i.tution as best fulfilling the testator's charitable design. Died A. D. 1754; age 49."

"In memory of Thomas Colson, Esq., who, by his last will and testament, contributed largely to the permanent funds of this school.

His benevolence claims the grat.i.tude of the poor, and the respect of all. Died A. D. 1805."

"In memory of Major Benjamin Day, one of the founders of this inst.i.tution and its first president. This office he filled for twenty-six years with zeal and fidelity. As an humble tribute to his philanthropic services this simple monument is erected. Died A. D.

1821; age 69."