The latest news for you

On Sale: Daisy Turner's Kin

On Sale: The Circle Unbroken

On Sale: Fredericksburg Memories

Volume 12, Issue 11

November 2021

Central Rappahannock Heritage Center

Newsletter

A place that loses its history loses its soul

Message From The Chairman

Your Board will meet for the last time this year, in person, on 16 November 2021 at the Heritage Center.

This will be the last meeting that our superb Secretary will attend. Kitty Farley has been the strong right arm for the Heritage Center for six years. I have thought of every way to keep her on, to include kidnapping. But alas, to no avail. Kitty, we will miss you. God speed and thank you for your service.

To date, we have been unsuccessful in finding her replacement. The person selected does not have to be a member of the Board. Meeting minutes are only required six times a year. Some of her duties could be spun off, such as Editor of the newsletter.

On a different note, the Annual Meeting was successful even though it was not in person. We elected Denise Benedetto, Yvette S. Blake, Phillip N. Jenkins, and Carol G. Walker to three-year terms. And we elected Marceline Catlett and Roy McAfee to three-year terms following earlier appointments to fill vacant positions. Following the meeting, we were treated to a very informative talk by Jervis Hairston.

If possible, I believe a Yuletide get together by the Board members and guests would be delightful. It would be wonderful to socialize with board members to build cohesion and buy-in for the Center’s mission. Stay tuned.

I complete this message on a very positive note. Diane Ballman and John Reifenberg have been recognized by the Masonic Lodge. They have been awarded the Community Builder Award. The award will be presented on 15 December. More information will follow. I can think of no two more deserving volunteers. Congratulations!

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving in advance.

Jack A. Apperson, Chairman

The Heritage Center

Welcome New Members!

Joanne C. Close

Dale Scott

Heritage Center memberships support the important work done by The Center.

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

Please join us as part of the Heritage Center's preservation team. As a member, you will be helping to preserve our priceless local history.

Click here to become a member today!

Membership

Thank you for your support,

The Heritage Center

MANY THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS

2021 HERITAGE CENTER SPONSORS

Barbara Barrett

Barbara Hicks Cecil

Dovetail Cultural Resource Group

Kitty Farley and Vic Ramoneda

Jim and Betsy Greene

Mary Katherine Greenlaw

Lucy and Wayne Harman

Mary Jane O'Neill

Hon. and Mrs. J.M.H. Willis

To become a Heritage Center Sponsor, please visit our website. If you have any questions, please contact The Heritage Center at (540) 373-3704.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

November is the month we honor veterans, men and women who have served in the military, fought in wars and made great sacrifices. Those who suffered physical wounds and those who died, they were the visible casualties of war and conflict.

What about the men and women who sustained trauma without a visible evidence? Since 1980, the American Psychiatric Association has recognized a condition called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Is this something new, the result of service during the Vietnam War (1955 – 1975) or has it been around longer?

People have always been affected by trauma and violence; classical literature alludes to people’s altered behavior after witnessing shocking events. It was called nostalgia, as in being homesick or being despondent. During the Civil War it was considered a moral weakness, a lack of character, a source of shame. An individual exhibiting such symptoms lacked courage or manliness. This belief was held during World War I when it was called shell-shock and in World War II, battle shock, psychiatric collapse, combat fatigue and war neurosis. Individuals returning from wars were expected to be stoic, go back to work, get married, start families and resume “normal” lives. It is almost certain that some alcoholism, drug abuse, dysfunctional relationships and homelessness are manifestations of PTSD.

On February 9, 1906, the Fredericksburg Daily Star published this brief obituary.

“At the Western State Hospital, Staunton, February 5, at 7:30 p.m., aged 83 years, Absalom Waller Wigglesworth, of Spotsylvania county, peacefully passed from the trials of this turbulent world to the reward of the just. It was beyond the most skillful medical help, aided by kind and efficient nursing, to prolong his days. Peace to his ashes.”

The Heritage Center holds a collection of Spotsylvania County records call the Lunacy Files, as mental illness was once called. One record is a receipt, paid to the Spotsylvania sheriff for transporting Absalom Waller Wigglesworth [Wiglesworth] to the train station so that he could be taken to Western State Hospital in Staunton, Virginia. Mr. Wigglesworth was born about 1824 in the Eastern District of Spotsylvania. He lived with his father and brothers and was drafted into the Virginia 30^th Infantry, Company D on October 1, 1864. He was paroled on May 2,1865, after Southern forces surrendered. Subsequent census records show Wigglesworth living on the family farm in the Berkeley District. Only the receipt contains details. In the years following the Civil War, Mr. Wigglesworth was repeatedly involved in fights and drunken behavior. Did he suffer from PTSD? We will never know. Death records for this period were not maintained in Virginia, but he was never “cured” of his troubling behavior. His body was returned to Spotsylvania where he was buried in the Wigglesworth Family Cemetery (Twilight Lane off Marye Road). The grave is unmarked.

Beth Daly

Volunteer

Collections Update: The Little House That Could.

Or Not.

Recently a small collection arrived at The Heritage Center consisting of a group of unrelated books, but all reflecting some aspect of local history. One in particular caught our attention. Written by John Goolrick and Larry D. Silver in 1995, it reflects on the life and times of Carl David Silver, Larry’s father. The book contains many interesting insights and facts surrounding Mr. Silver and his beginnings.

As an example, almost everyone is familiar with the small house located at Four Mile Fork, situated on the northwest corner of Route 1 and Route 208, next to the present day Hardees. As the book references, about 1965 Carl Silver began purchasing properties around the junction of these roads in order to build a place for shoppers, to be named Four Mile Fork Shopping Center. He began in earnest, visiting each land owner over time. Not one to accept no for an answer, he would return several times until the deal was closed. (As an aside, while looking through the archives for additional information, we came across some aerial photographs of the area taken in 1937. On that property are shown about six houses, nearby farms, and lots of woods. And Route 1 did not extend from Lafayette Boulevard north to Route 3 yet).

He eventually was able to acquire all the property on the four corners, with the exception of that one small parcel. The property at that time was owned by Lambert Dye and Annie Patton. To quote from the book: “Carl Silver went to that bungalow dozens of times over the years as he steadily made other acquisitions.” Mr. Silver even offered them a five acre parcel in the Massaponax area, with a house included. He was turned down again. Why those two refused to sell is unclear, but even as the offers were increased and subsequently refused, they appeared to remain on friendly terms with Mr. Silver.

The Heritage Center is full of human interest stories such as this.

Flashback: Remember the photograph of the four woman sitting on the fence that appeared in the September newsletter? The building to the rear is the lodge for the Mary Washington Monument, now obscured by bamboo.

Please remember that we are accepting collections. Contact me at jreifenberg@crhcarchives.org for more information. Your contributions are important!

Thank you for your interest in the Center's collections.

John Reifenberg

Collections Manager