Old Farm Wagon

The Newtown History Center in Stephens City consists of several buildings. One of them houses large equipment, particularly this old wagon.

This one is not a Conestoga wagon, which has more of a banana shape in order to keep cargo centered. It does not even appear to be one of the many wagons that were built in Newtown (Stephens City) back when it was well-known for the the wagons built there. However, I have seen a Newtown wagon in Luray, VA.

Earlier Post: Covered Wagon in Pennsylvania

See also Newtown History, 2nd Oldest Town in Shenandoah Valley

Parade in Stephens City (Encore)

We went to the Newtown Heritage Parade in 2008 and decided to go again this year. Below is a brief video of some parade highlights.

 

Before I built the video, I looked up "fair use" information to figure out if I'm violating any copyrights. Since the band music is heard in excerpts as part of a report on the parade and does not compete with any commercial uses, I'm sure this falls under "fair use." (Posting an entire music video would not fall into that category.)

If you'd like to see more about Stephens City's celebrations of history, see all my Newtown posts. (Newtown was once the name of Stephens City.) You might also want to view pictures of this parade in May 2008 and a short video of the Sherando High School Band in that parade.

Living History in Newtown, VA

These people are dressed in Civil War-era costumes as part of a living history event in Stephens City. Once known as Newtown, Stephens City lies along the historic Valley Pike south of Winchester in the Shenandoah Valley.

Earlier Posts:

• Marker: Town almost Burned by General Hunter
• More Pics of Historic Stephens City
• Field Trip Starts in Stephen's City

The Lucy Simms House and Newtown Cemetery

Harrisonburg, VA

Lucy F. Simms was an educator for over 50 years. Born enslaved around 1855, she obtained an education after freedom and attended Hampton Institute at the same time as Booker T. Washington. 

I first heard of her when I visited the chapel at Zenda. (See this marker that I contributed to Historical Marker Database.) In 2020, I shared a mural honoring her in a post here. 

Her house in Harrisonburg is a private residence. She was buried in nearby Newtown cemetery.

Randoms with a Touch of Green

Random-osity 

The Good: I'm a fan of art, and the thing that makes this painting so impressive is that it takes up an entire wall of a family room. I saw it in a private home. 

Sharing with Monday Murals

The Random: When I read that this barn in Stephens City was slated for demolition, I decided I should get a photo of it. I can see why they decided it couldn't be saved.

I hope someone can salvage some of the wood. It has "character."

Note: I see in the newsletter for Newtown History Center that this was a carriage barn.

The Fun: A political demonstration may not sound like fun, but these folks appeared to be having a great time. This was on a Wednesday afternoon in Front Royal, Virginia.

I made up a collage and for fairness I included a picture of the counter-demonstration as the center photo in the bottom row. It consisted of two men (sitting on a bench) holding a sign.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday

Historical Marker, Stephens City

This marker is in front of the Stephens City Post Office on Route 11 just north of the historic district.

General David Hunter ordered the burning of this town on May 30, 1864; but Major Joseph Streans of the First New York Cavalry prevented it.

Sounds like there's more to the story, doesn't it? Read the rest at the Newtown History Center page of the Civil War.

Parade in a Small Virginia Town

On Saturday we saw the Newtown Heritage Festival Parade. It's the 250th anniversary of the town, now called Stephen's City, which was founded in 1758.

The parade was not as elaborate as the one we saw a few years back on Woodstock's 250th anniversary, but it was fun and nostalgic.

The soldiers made me think that in some countries this is reality: armed soldiers policing the streets. However, the military trucks had antique tags.

Above right: A float from Strosnider Farm.

Left: Revolutionary War Re-enactors

Parade Watchers

Above: The old-timey Newtown Emporium features "Sell on ebay" and "Fed Ex Shipping."

Left: Frank watched the parade from a shady spot on the curb.

The Running Fight, 155 Years Ago

On Saturday I went to a history program in nearby Middletown. My friend Ranger Shannon was presenting "The Running Fight," a tour on the battle that took place along the Valley Pike on May 24, 1862 following the Battle of Front Royal. (I've done a couple versions of the Battle of Front Royal Tour in previous years but have never covered this lesser known battle of Jackson's Valley Campaign.) 

The tour started at the Wayside Inn in Middletown and then went south to the Belle Grove area.

Related Map: Front Royal to Winchester

I thought this fence beside the road was scenic. (If you want to see more fences, check out the linkup at Looking for Identity.)

We turned around at Cedar Creek and headed back north. This marker barely mentions this struggle because it deals with an earlier battle, but it does say:

"... on May 24, as the Federals retreated to Winchester, Collis' Zouaves (Union) were cut off and nearly captured by Jackson when they were left at the bridge as a rear guard."

We turned around at Cedar Creek and finished north of Middletown at the outskirts of Stephens City, which was called Newtown in 1862.

A marker there also deals with another battle but an illustration on it looks like what I imagine this "running fight" would have looked, as Federals struggled to get their wagons to safety.

Sharing with Signs, Signs

One of the men on the tour mentioned that he is raising funds for a marker that relates to the Battle of Front Royal. It will deal with Turner Ashby's attack on Buckton Station, where he cut the telegraph lines, destroying communications between Front Royal and Bank's Fort in Strasburg. (See related post.)

The train no longer stops in Buckton but the station probably stood at the far right of this scene, where a later building now stands abandoned. 

Old Graveyard in Stephens City

Perhaps I wouldn't have noticed this cemetery if the sun hadn't been shining right on it. I had left a gas station and was avoiding traffic by taking Mulberry Street when I saw it and stopped to take a look.

Some of the markers are broken or unreadable. I see on FindAGrave that the fence was erected by a Boy Scout as a project. That article shows stones leaning against a tree, but since then the tree has been cut down.

One thing I've noticed consistently is that old cemeteries belie the myth that people did not live long until recently. Here's a David Wilson who lived to be 80. The belief in short lives is based on averages that are skewed by a large number of childhood deaths, plus deaths from epidemics or women who died in childbirth. But if a person escaped all those, he could easily live to be 80 or more.

The town has changed names over the years, being called Stephensburg and Newtown before getting the current name of Stephens City.

"The Old Graveyard" is composed of town lots number 76 & 77, each a half acre in area. On January 17, 1799 they were sold by Lewis Stephens, Jr. to the following thirteen Trustees: David Wilson, William McLeod, William Elsea, Ebenezer Potter, Richard Barton, Joseph Fawcett, Jacob Leonard, Jacob Moires (Myers), David Mittinger, Lewis Stephens Jr., Bryan Martin Stephens, Henry Stephens, and Andrew Pitman. The deed read, "in behalf of the freeholders of the Town of Stephensburg." Both lots sold for the sum of 5 shillings and were described as being commonly called the graveyard and schoolhouse lots, suggesting that the property was already in use. prior to the dedication of the trustees.

   Inez Virginia Steele wrote 1906: "The dust of the first settlers rests in the graveyard, but being generally marked by common limestone rocks, their graves are not distinguishable." The Stephens family plot is in the southwest corner, adjacent to Mulberry Street. South of these graves is the older part of the cemetery referred to by Miss Steele in her book Methodism in the Early Days of Stephens City.  

The first house of worship in "Stephensburg" was built in the northwest corner of the cemetery. As described in 1850 by Pastor Rueben A. Funk, "This old log church ... was a homely structure with plain board pews and a common floor." Miss Steele further describes this structure as "the old schoolhouse, which stood on the northwest corner, having three windows looking east, west and south; they were about six feet wide and three feet high and were protected by board shutters. When light was required, these were propped up as high as possible by wooden sticks or pins. It was sometimes called the East Academy."

These ground are maintained by the Town of Stephens City.

John Wesley UMC

Harrisonburg, VA

Founded in 1865 at a different location, the church then served freedmen and other African-Americans, including business owners. The current church is on Sterling Street.
 

In front of the church is a state historical marker for Edgar Amos Love. He co-founded the first fraternity at a historically black college, served as an army chaplain during World War I, and worked for civil rights.

Across the street is Newtown Cemetery.. 

Mosaic Monday

Historic Newtown (Stephens City)

On Saturday I visited the history museum in Stephens City. In addition to their main building in a graceful brick house, they provide tours of a couple of nearby buildings. I was impressed by the interior of Steele's Store, pictured below. It's shelves are full of authentic old merchandise, neatly displayed as though ready for customers. All this is a short distance from busy I-81, providing a sharp contrast between the noisy and pressure of heavy traffic and the more gentle pace of the past, at least as we imagine it.

Civil War Books I'm Reading Now

Well, I need to send in my book reports for my Civil War class but there are two books I want to finish reading first. (The links will take you to their listings on Amazon.)

1. Civil War Memoirs of Two Rebel Sisters edited by William D. Wintz, a short book compiled of Civil War-era letters, mostly by the Hansford sisters who grew up in the Kanawha Valley. One married a doctor from Newtown, Virginia and moved there before the war. As a resident along the Valley Pike south of Winchester, she tells of the armies moving by, sometimes visiting her home.
   


2. Conversations with Shelby Foote by William Carter and others.
   

Foote, a well-known southern writer who died in 2005, shares many interesting opinions on writing, the south, and the American Civil War. In one interview, Dick Cavett asked " What would it have taken for the war to go the other way, for the South to win?" Foote said:

It would have taken more than the South ever had. The North fought that war with one hand, the other hand behind its back. If circumstances had called for it, the North simply would have brought that other hand out... One thing you have to realize is how much the North did in addition to fight the war. Vassar, M.I.T. -- I can't remember the long list of universities and colleges that were established during the war. The Homestead Act was in full blast. The West was settled during the war. The North by no means exerted its last ounce of energy and the South very nearly did. There was no way. I think anything the South could have done on its own would never have won the war. the once chance would have been intervention by England or France and there was no chance for that.