By Kathryn Willis On a cold February night in 1985, a homeless man had curled up to sleep in the entrance foyer of Faulkner Hall. Next morning, at a gray-dawn 7 A.M., a small band of St. George men, members of the Brotherhood of St. Andrews, discovered the would-be guest “trying to play the piano … Read more
Marshall Hall is known for serving over 30 years as superintendent of Sunday School at St. George’s. The Hall family were druggists at the corner of William and Caroline Streets and had been since the 1790’s. Marshall’s father John Byrd Hall was active in St. George’s 2nd Church and was one of seven children. During … Read more
Alexander Philips was chiefly a commission merchant in grain and other commodities a field he inherited from his father Samuel Phillips. Before the era of the railroad, Fredericksburg played a major role in shipping throughout the Americas. After Samuel Phillips died he used part of the estate to establish his own company A. K. Phillips … Read more
Thomas F. Knox (1807-1890) was from Culpeper and came to Fredericksburg in 1821 to work with his uncle William A. Knox and became a “wheat speculator and flour manufacturer” according to Quinn’s history of Fredericksburg. The Central Rappahannock Regional Library has part of a diary when Knox was in his 20’s describing a trip to … Read more
The next to the last year of the 19th century saw Easter fall on April 2nd. William D. Smith was the rector at St. George’s having assumed that position as of January, 1897 at the tender age of 34. St. George’s was a traditional place. Marshall Hall had been superintendent of Sunday school for 34 … Read more
Bank President, Physician and father of a dynasty, Wallace was a well-known personality at the time of the second St. George’s church (1815-1849) and current building (1849). He was an original pew holder of our church, paying $400 for Pew 62 (about $12,800 today). He was not a member of the Vestry and there is … Read more
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Part 1 – An Introduction Part 2 – The Pictures Part 3 – The Church in 1860 Part 4 – Parishioners in the Fray Part 5 – Church as a Fortress Part 6 – The Sacking of Fredericksburg Part 7 – Return of the Church Part 8 – The Church as a Hospital Part 9 … Read more
The war ended in 1865 leaving Fredericksburg in disarray, affecting all life within. John Hennessy, National Park chief historian of Fredericksburg, writes “By war’s end, the community had been transformed, physically (more than 80 buildings destroyed – just under 10% of the city), economically (personal wealth dropped by more than 70%), and socially (thousands of … Read more
By May, 1864, Julia Wheelock, a Union Relief Worker, describes the medical scene, after the three of the four Civil War battles that affected Fredericksburg: “All the public buildings—the Court-House, churches, hotels, warehouses, factories, the paper mill, theatre, school-buildings, stores, stables, many private residences— and, in fact, everything that could give shelter was converted into … Read more