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This magnificent Georgian mansion, its various outbuildings and dependencies, and the historic ground which surrounds it represent a small preserve in which the entire scope of Virginia heritage can be understood and appreciated. Today Chatham is part of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. The buildings and grounds are open daily 9:00-4:30. Five of the…

George Brent’s home “Woodstock” was located a stone’s throw from the Brent Cemetery near Route 1 and the Crucifix.  Now it is an archaeological site, that discloses the fireplace hearth.  Due its location close to a marsh and mosquitoes, George Brent and his family rebuilt/relocated “Woodstock” on the hill located in today’s Aquia Harbour.  His…

After situating the former enslaved people by the Conway family in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Moncure Conway traveled to Boston.   He had speaking engagements along the way and visits with abolitionist activists Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe (author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”). Moncure was clearly astonished and impressed with the economic…

Conway brought this group of people his father formerly enslaved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, to settle in freedom.  Eliza and Dunmore Gwinn were the patriarchs of the group.  Eliza was mother of 19 children, 9 of whom she brought to Yellow Springs.  The picture is of the Gwinns in later years.

One of the Stafford men who had been enslaved by J. Horace Lacy of “Chatham” that escaped was Andrew Weaver.  He escaped in spring/summer 1862 and was later a soldier in the 23rd U. S. Colored Troops (USCT) Infantry Regiment.

For years Norman Schools (current owner of the Moncure Conway House), John Hennessy (chief historian of the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Park), and Al Conner (of the Stafford County Historical Society) have been gathering names of people enslaved who sought freedom.  The following list is constantly changing when new names are discovered.    The photograph is of…

The path to freedom for the people that were enslaved by Conway: Georgetown, D.C. to Baltimore, MD.  to Pennsylvania to Columbus, OH. to Yellow Springs, OH.

In May of 1862, after saving and securing the Conway House, Eliza and Dunmore Gwinn, who had been enslaved by Conway, led a group of at least 42 former Conway enslaved people north to freedom.  Some historians say that there may have been more freedom-seekers who joined the exodus and traveled north to Georgetown in…

“It had been long since tidings concerning my relatives in Virginia had reached me. A small parcel containing an old china cup and saucer and a silver spoon had been sent me from Washington at the request of a Union soldier who had saved them from the wreck of things at Conway House, Falmouth. These…

Prior to the two “Trail to Freedom” exoduses during the Civil War, Stafford’s Aquia Landing witnessed other enslaved persons attempting freedom.  Solomon Northrup was the subject of the movie, “12 Years a Slave.” (The movie received an Oscar for best picture!)  Solomon Northup’s autobiography detailed that he was a free-born black in New York who…

The Gwinns and the rest of the people formerly enslaved by Conway established two businesses, a laundry and a bakery in Georgetown.  By July, they were making a profit when Moncure Conway found them.  He then realized that African Americans, if free, could make a living for themselves.  Reportedly, those that had been enslaved by…

The people formerly enslaved by Conway did well in Ohio.  Moncure Conway, despite his travels to Boston and the United Kingdom, constantly sent the colony money to help them out.  Other family names besides the Gwinns were Hempsteads, Morgans, and Taylors.