history’s stories: gov. robert brooke

history’s stories

By Ralph “Tuffy” Hicks

Robert Brooke from Fredericksburg was elected as the 10th Governor of Virginia in 1794. The Brooke family was incredibly involved in the forming of the new nation especially the state of Virginia and the local areas especially Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania.

Robert was the second son born to Richard and Anna Taliaferro Brooke in 1751 at Smithfield, which is the location of the Fredericksburg Country Club. Robert along with his twin brothers Lawrence and Francis were in the Revolutionary war. After the War, Lawrence was a physician and his brother a judge. Robert along with Bushrod Washington would begin their careers in Fredericksburg and the local counties practicing law. Bushrod Washington later would go on to become a Supreme Court Justice

In 1791 the voters in Spotsylvania County elected Robert as a Delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1794 Robert Brooke replaced Governor Light Horse Harry Lee who resigned to command troops in the Whiskey Rebellion. Governor Brooke while in office built a home in Fredericksburg called "Federal Hill", 504 Hanover Street in 1795.

One interesting fact about Brooke is that the County of Brooke was named after him in 1796. When West Virginia was created as a state in 1863, Brooke County became a part of West Virginia.

In 1796, Robert was elected to replace attorney-general James Innes. Bushrod Washington who was also a Fredericksburg resident had also sought the position, he and Brooke continued to remain friends for many years.

Brooke a member of Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge #4 became Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia in November 1795, an honor that he considered one of his greatest accomplishments. He was succeeded by another Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge #4 member Benjamin Day in 1797.

Robert Brooke died in Fredericksburg while still Virginia Attorney General on February 27, 1800, at the age of 49. His home "Federal Hill" is a private residence today that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Robert Brooke the tenth Governor of Virginia, Virginia Attorney General and Former Grand Master of Virginia Masons is buried in the Fredericksburg Masonic Cemetery. Fredericksburg has been the home of many important people in the history of the United States.

DEDICATED TO: Barbara Snyder, Earnest Taylor, and Brad Bowie

Tuffy is Front Porch’s Resident Historian

Willis Hill

Willis Hill:Preservation Story

One of the legendary quotes from the Battle of Fredericksburg which was fought on December 11-13, 1862, is related to the description of Confederate's artillery crossfire from Marye ' s Heights. Reportedly, Colonel Edward Porter Alexander remarked to other Confederate officers, "A chicken could not live on that field." Later, after the war, Alexander doubted if he had said the attributed quote, but his artillery position became one of the hallmarks of the battle.

Poised on a series of hills often referred to generally as Marye's Heights, Alexander created a series of protective earthworks and rolled batteries of Confederate cannon into position in the weeks leading up to the battle. General Robert E. Lee chided him for placing the guns too close to the brow of the hills, but time eventually proved that Alexander had observed the ground correctly. Though he later admitted he did not expect serious attacks toward Marye's Heights, Alexander watched the skirmishing and

bombardment of the town of Fredericksburg, followed by Union infantry charges toward the high ground and his cannons.

By Sarah Kay Bierle

Cannons on Willis Hill (Marye ' s Heights)

Edward Porter Alexander placed cannons on Marye ' s Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Alexander later remembered the scene by eleven in the morning of December 13: "Evidently more than half of Burnside's whole army was preparing to assault us, & the assault too was not going to be where I had imagined it would be-up along the river bank-but it was going to come right out from the town, & strike where we were strongest…. From that moment I felt the elation of a certain & easy victory."

With cannon on the high ground and infantry firing from the protection of the sunken road and stone wall, the Confederates repulsed 15 separate attacks toward Marye's Heights. For Union soldiers, that high ground still loomed uncaptured at the end of the day while fallen in blue carpeted the open fields.

About four and half months later, Union troops would set foot on Marye's Heights-briefly capturing it during the Second Battle of Fredericksburg in May 1863. But in December 1862, Alexander's artillery and the defending infantry held the high ground position.

In 1996, recognizing the importance of Willis Hill which is part of the high ground of Marye ' s Heights overlooking the Sunken Road, a group of local Fredericksburg citizens formed Central Virginia Battlefields Trust and assisted with the purchase of that site for preservation. The 9.5 acres were just the first of nearly 1,400 that Central Virginia Battlefields Trust has preserved in the last 25 years, creating historic greenspace and saving places where history happened. Today, Willis Hill is part of Fredericksburg National Park and a walking trail leads to historic interpretation signs at the top of the high ground.

This October Central Virginia Battlefields Trust will host a conference and anniversary celebration, including a special tour at Willis Hill and Marye's Heights to explore the more in-depth history and share the story of battlefield preservation. For more information about this event, please visit: www.cvbt.org/cvbtannual-conference

Sarah Kay Bierle serves on staff at Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. When not at work preserving historical sites, she is often exploring archives or hiking. www.cvbt.org

CVBT seeks to preserve battlefield land to protect the memory, meaning, sacrifices, and stories of the Civil War soldiers who fought and fell here. visit: www.cvbt.org

When one talks about historic buildings in Fredericksburg, we naturally think of the downtown Historic District. However, as time marches on, houses that were brand new in our parents' and grandparents' lifetimes have inched their way into becoming part of the historic fabric of our fair City.

One such place is Normandy Village, whose story is captured beautifully by the University of Mary Washington Department of Historic Preservation in its 2013 publication entitled "Normandy Village, A Cultural Resource Survey of a Post-World War II Development".

It's a story of America on the move, a post-w war boom, and the tumbling of racial barriers and other inequities. Once the war and its rationing ended, factories that aided the war effort changed their focus to meeting a booming consumer demand. Millions of veterans returned home, to resume their lives and start new jobs and families, creating huge demands for new housing, appliances and cars. The Federal Housing Administration responded to, and accelerated, the surge in demand for single-family housing through low-interest government-backed mortgages.

Mass-p production techniques so vital to the war effort were retooled into home building by companies such as Levitt & Son. Levitt's template of affordable housing appeared in Levittown NY and was replicated across the country, including here in Fredericksburg. Such changes, along with the country's new heights of prosperity and more car ownership, created the perfect playing field for a residential construction boom of unparalleled proportions. It was now possible for the so-called "average" American family, supported by a single wage-earner, to own a car and have a nice affordable home built quickly. In a few short years, vacant lands on the outskirts of nearly every city in America sprouted subdivisions filled with new single family homes.

And this brings us to the story of Normandy Village. The first phase, built on the site of the old fairgrounds, started in the 1940s as the Fairgrounds subdivision, filling the area east of Fall Hill Avenue and north of US Route 1. This area was annexed by the City of Fredericksburg in 1951 along with its sister area west of Fall Hill Avenue.

In the second half of the 1950s, the west side of Fall Hill Avenue saw the second phase of development, called Normandy Village, consisting of about 100 new homes. Buyers could choose from five home styles, any one of which could be built in about three weeks.

Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that everything was rosy during this building boom: home ownership was for Whites only. Race-based covenants in deeds, together with redlining and racial zoning, blocked African Americans from buying or renting. These discriminatory practices were made illegal by the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Today, Normandy Village is a richly diverse community, reflecting people of every color, persuasion, family composition and political stripe.

All told, over 200 residential and commercial structures were built between 1949 and 1959 in Normandy Village and the Fairgrounds subdivision. Nearly all are still standing and fully occupied today. The lovely summer-flowering crepe myrtle trees still adorn Hansen Avenue, and the City Trail system makes this special area accessible without a car. Over the years, Normandy Village has evolved beautifully.

Normandy Village is now part of an active and forward-thinking community group, the Canal Quarter Homeowners Association, whose residents and businesses are committed to preserving the small neighborhood feel while incorporating the Creative Maker District vision of future growth and development (see www.canalquarterfxbg.com).

So … what's in a Village? Here, a vibrant community that is proud to be a forward-thinking, historic part of Fredericksburg.

The Central Rappahannock Heritage Center is a non-profit, all-volunteer archives whose mission is to preserve historically valuable material ofthe region and make it available to the public for research

900 Barton St #111, Fredericksburg, VA www.crhcarchives.org contact@crhcarchives.org 540-373-3704

Volunteers Wecome! Contact us about donating collections of documents and photographs

What’s in a Village?

Historic Normandy Village

By jon gerlach

An attorney and retired archaeologist, Jon Gerlach chairs the Architectural Review Board in Fredericksburg. Jon is a candidate for City Council, Ward 2 in the Nov. 2021 election.

Photo of 309 Woodford St., courtesy www.brightmls.com, MLS #VAFB2000032