Kemper's Grave

Orange County, VA
Marker No. F-17

Marker Text: A mile south is the grave of James Lawson Kemper, who led his brigade of Virginia troops in Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863, and fell desperately wounded. He became a major-general in 1864. Kemper was governor of Virginia, 1874-1878.

Location: On Route 15, north of Orange, near Rapidan River bridge, near Orange/Madison County line. Marker is grouped with marker Z-12 (Madison/Orange County). Erected by the Virginia Conservation Commission in 1948.

  My last post was about the residence of Confederate General James L. Kemper in Madison, VA who commanded a brigade of Gen. George E. Pickett's division during Pickett's Charge on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Kemper though seriously wounded survived his wounds.

  After 1882, Kemper moved to this area of Orange County, VA, just across the county line from Madison County, VA.  By 1858 Kemper was a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia. He also served three terms as a Virginia legislator, rising to become the Speaker of the House of Delegates at the start of the Civil War and the chairman of the Military Affairs Committee, where he was a strong advocate of state military preparedness.

Photo taken looking south on Route 15.  Road in the background on the right is the road leading to Kemper’s grave, but is on private property.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  After the start of the Civil War, Kemper served as a brigadier general in the Provisional Army of Virginia, and then a colonel in the Confederate States Army, commanding the 7th Virginia Infantry starting in May 1862. His regiment was assigned to A.P. Hill's brigade in James Longstreet's division of the Army of the Potomac from June 1861 to March 1862. He saw his first action at the First Battle of Bull Run or First Manassas.

Gettysburg Campaign

Franklin County, PA

Marker Text: Here on June 22, 1863, the First N.Y. Cavalry attacked the Southern advance force of cavalry under Gen. A.G. Jenkins. Here died the first Union soldier killed in action in Pennsylvania. Corporal William H. Rihl of Philadelphia, serving in a Pennsylvania unit assigned to the New York regiment.

Location: On U.S. Route 11, just North of Greencastle, PA. Erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1964.

  The main Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania began on the morning of June 22, 1863 when Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia vacated their camps in Maryland and headed north across the Mason-Dixon Line. On that day, Confederate Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins' cavalry brigade again was the advance force that crossed the state border into Pennsylvania. Jenkins' men had earlier on June 15 had entered Pennsylvania to conduct scouting duties.

Photo taken looking north on Route 11 toward Chambersburg.  Monument to Rihl across the road.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  The Confederate troops rode into the undefended town of Greencastle early that morning, then halted to await the slower advance of General Robert E. Rodes' foot soldiers. Some time that morning, one of Jenkins' patrols encountered D. K. Appenzellar, a young Pennsylvanian who was on his way to Chambersburg to enroll in the militia. When asked by Jenkins' men whether he knew of any Yankee military movements in the area, Appenzellar lied. He said that while in Chambersburg the day before he had learned that the Army of the Potomac's first popular commander, General George B. McClellan, had been placed in charge of the state's defenses and was marching south from Harrisburg with 40,000 men.

General Edward Stevens

Culpeper County, VA
Marker No. G-10

Marker Text: Here is buried General Edward Stevens, who served at Brandywine, Camden, Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown. He died on August 17, 1820.

Location: On Route 229 at northern entrance to Culpeper in front of the Masonic Cemetery. Erected by the Conservation & Development Commission in 1927.

  At first glance, you might wonder why I would be including today's marker among my “Jack Jouett” series of historical markers. The simple text of this marker erected in 1927, which is among the group of earliest markers erected in Virginia tells you nothing about Jack Jouett, but Edward Stevens owes a great deal to Jouett.

Photo taken looking north on Route 229. Culpeper Co. School in the background. Click any photo to enlarge.

  Edward Stevens was born in Culpeper County, Virginia and joined the colonial forces fighting England early during the American Revolution. In December 1775, Stevens commanded a battalion of Virginia militia at the Battle of Great Bridge. The battle, a victory for the Americans, prevented then Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, from retaking the state for England.

  Edwards did not remain in the Virginia militia. He was commissioned a colonel in the 10th Virginia Regiment in Continental Army in November 1776. Edwards and his regiment fought at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. He served less than two years in the American army, resigning in January 1778. Edwards did continue to serve Virginia. He was appointed brigadier general of the Virginia militia in 1779.

Presbyterian Church

Boyle County, KY
Marker Number 754

Marker Text: One of three founded, 1784, by Reverend David Rice; earliest of this denomination west of Alleghenies. Here worshipped: James G. Birney, whose presidential candidacy in 1844 caused defeat of Henry Clay; John C. Breckinridge, whose 1860 candidacy resulted in election of Lincoln; Samuel D. Burchard, whose "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" defeated James G. Blaine in 1884.

Location: At 500 W. Main Street, Danville, KY in front of the church also on U.S. Routes 127 and 150. Erected by the Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Department of Highways in 1964.

Marker along Main Street with the church on the right.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  I have not posted a marker for Sunday related to a church for a while. I thought this marker I photographed in Danville, Kentucky about the Presbyterian Church was a good one for today. Though not for the reason you might think. Of course, this Presbyterian Church is an historic church, but mostly because of its unusual text related to presidential elections. Three individuals who had worshipped in this church were significantly involved in the presidential elections of 1844, 1860 and 1884. With this being a presidential election year, I thought this marker made for an interesting addition.

Monument over Rev. Rice’s grave site next to the church, part of church seen in background.

  The Danville Presbyterian Church was organized around 1784 along with others in around Danville, KY by the Rev. David Rice who is buried near the church in the same grave yard as Dr. Ephraim McDowell.

  The Danville Presbyterian congregation moved to this location at the corner of Main and Fifth Streets in 1831. A more complete history of this church can be read at their web site, Danville Presbyterian Church. My attention today will be on the three other men mentioned on the marker related to presidential elections.

Jackson's Mother

Fayette County, WV

Marker Text: In Westlake Cemetery is the grave of the mother of General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. The monument at the grave was placed by Captain Thomas Ranson, who had fought in Jackson's old brigade in the War between the States.

Location: On U.S. Route 60, eastbound side of the road across from the street leading to the Westlake Cemetery, Ansted, WV.

Photo taken looking east on U.S. Route 60 with the town of Ansted in the background. Cemetery mentioned in the marker is up the street to the left across the street from marker. Click any photo to enlarge.

  In an earlier post, I included a marker about the location of the birthplace of “Stonewall” Jackson's Mother in Loudoun County, VA. Today's marker is about the place of her death thirty-three years later in Fayette County, WV in Ansted. At the time of her death, Ansted was in Virginia. West Virginia did not come into existence until 1863 during the U.S. Civil War.

  Julia Beckwith Neale Jackson Woodson (1798-1831) was the mother of Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. Julia sadly had a short and tragic life and reportedly was very intelligent and a devout Christian, but life in the early 1800's in what is now West Virginia was not easy and many families faced tragedy each day.

Hatfield Cemetery

Logan County, WV

Marker Text: Capt. Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, 1839-1921, is buried here. He was the leader of his clan in the bitter family feud with the McCoys. A life-sized statue, modeled from photographs and imported from Italy, marks his grave.

Location: On WV State Route 44, south of Stirrat and north of Sarah Ann WV. Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1963.

Photo taken looking north on Route 44.  Marker for historical designation of the cemetery is below state marker and the cemetery is on the hill to left across the bridge.  Click on any photo to enlarge.

  When the violence between the two families ended, the strangest irony of the feud was the two main family leaders who escaped the direct consequences of the feud, unlike their family members. With all the death, suffering and violence around them, both Devil Anse Hatfield and Ole Randolph McCoy were left unharmed. Both lived well into their 80's. Randolph McCoy was the first to die in 1914 at the age of 88 from burns suffered in an accidental fire.

View of Hatfield’s grave from the road leading to the cemetery.

  William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, who had long proclaimed his skepticism about religion became a born again Christian at the age of 73 and was baptized for the first time.

  "Devil Anse" Hatfield spent the last fifteen years of his life quietly and peaceably living on a small farm he owned in Logan County along Island Creek in Sarah Ann, West Virginia. He raised a good many hogs and but seldom left his community. Once an enterprising amusement manager wanted to profit from Hatfield's fame almost convinced him to go on the vaudeville stage. He made preparations to do so but abandoned the idea when an old indictment for his arrest was produced. Authorities agreed to suppress the indictment on condition he would agree to remain at home the rest of his days.

Lord Fairfax

Marker No. Q-4-d
City of Winchester
Frederick County, Virginia

Marker Text: Thomas Fairfax (1693-1781), sixth Baron Fairfax of Cameron, was the proprietor of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a vast landholding that lay between the Rappanannock and Potomac Rivers, and extended to the Blue Ridge. Born in England, he came to Virginia about 1735 and moved to the Shenandoah Valley about 1747. He eventually lived in Greenway Court in present day Clarke County, while managing his landholdings. In 1749, he was named a justice of the peace for Frederick County, and also served as one of the justices of the county court of chancery that met in Winchester, and as a county lieutenant for a number of years. He is buried at Christ Episcopal Church in Winchester.

Location: On U.S. Route 522 (North Frederick Pike), near Autumn View Lane, 0.3 miles east of Route 37. Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 2003.

  Lord Fairfax, whose home was at Greenway Court in the Shenandoah Valley, was the only peer of the realm to take up permanent residence in North America. "The Proprietor," as Fairfax was often known was a generous and beloved patron. He not only provided Thomas Marshall (father of John Marshall) and George Washington with a substantial income, but also offered a model of wisdom and modesty that was exceptionally rare in frontier America. Equally important, by representing his lordship in Fauquier county, Thomas Marshall acquired an immediate social standing that otherwise might have eluded him. As witnessed today throughout Northern Virginia, Lord Fairfax's name is associated with many places, institutions, and structures. I have posted other markers related to him, Greenway Court, Fairfax Line, Old Chapel and White Post.

Dr. Ephraim McDowell 1771-1830/McDowell-Crawford Surgery

Marker Number 2281
Boyle County, KY

Marker Text: Burial site of Ephraim McDowell, the “father of modern surgery.” His family moved here from Va. in 1784. He studied medicine in Va. and Scotland before practicing in Danville. In 1802, he married Sarah Shelby, dau. of Ky.’s first gov. Was also a founder & early trustee of Centre College.
(Reverse) McDowell-Crawford Surgery- Dec. 25, 1809, McDowell performed world’s 1st successful abdominal operation when he took a 22-pound ovarian cyst from Jane Todd Crawford of Green County. With no anesthesia, she sang hymns during the ordeal. She recovered in 25 days & lived until 1842. McDowell died in 1830 and is buried in the Presbyterian churchyard.

Location: West Main St. at McDowell Park, Danville west of the Presbyterian Church and in front of the location of Dr. McDowell's grave. Presented by Ephraim McDowell Health and erected by the Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Department of Highways in 2008.

  Since November, I have been covering historic markers related to the family of Dr. Ephraim McDowell. When Ephraim was about 12 years old, he moved with his family to the Danville, KY area from Rockbridge County, Virginia around 1783, when Ephraim's father, Samuel McDowell was appointed as one of the judges for the first Kentucky court and later played an important role in the framing of Kentucky's constitution and statehood. Links to other markers are included in this post.

Henry House

Prince William County, VA
Marker No. G-15

Marker Text: These are the grounds of the Henry House, where occurred the main action of the First Battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861, and the closing scene of the Second Battle of Manassas, August 30, 1862.

Location: On U.S. Route 29 (Lee Highway, formerly the Warrenton Turnpike) north of VA Route 234 (Sudley Road, on the left when traveling southwest, north of the Manassas National Battlefield Park’s Stone House parking lot. Grouped with three other markers C-44 (First Battle of Manassas); C-34 (First Battle of Manassas); and G-16 (James Robinson House). Erected by the Conservation & Development Commission in 1935.

  Throughout the Civil War, local citizens living near or on the battlefields of the war were placed in harms way. Many lost property, livestock, livelihoods, and their lives. Farms were burned to prevent one side or the other from receiving supplies while food supplies, cattle, pigs and other livestock were stolen to feed soldiers. Many local citizens living around or on the battlefield at First Manassas were directly affected by the battle on July 21, 1861 and in the weeks following as their homes where used as make shift hospitals for the wounded and dying.

  At the time of the battle, Henry Hill as it is called now, was called Spring Hill Farm and was owned by Mrs. Judith Carter Henry, an eighty-five year old widow confined to her bed. She lived with her daughter, Ellen Phoebe Morris. Due to her infirmity the fields surrounding the house lay fallow and in these fields the first major land battle of the Civil War would be fought.