A Place that Loses its History Loses its Soul.

The house at Arcadia was described as a two-story structure with two-story porches on the front and back, with a basement and an attic. It was built on a hillock of earth created by slaves, and its foundation was constructed of bricks made in a kiln on the property.

Gray Boulware was a devout Baptist and an important supporter of Liberty Baptist Church, which survives to this day as the post chapel at Fort Walker. Gray's oldest daughter, Judith Terrell Boulware (1821-1850), became the first wife of Liberty's minister, the Rev. Richard Henry Washington Buckner, when they married on Feb. 29, 1848.

An entry on Jan. 1, 1853, in Gray’s plantation account book lists the names of 43 enslaved people at Arcadia. The overseer, whose name appears to be J.A. Stephens, also listed their job descriptions and monetary value. The two oldest, Frank, 70, and Edmonia, 60, were listed as foremen.

Other job descriptions among the enslaved people included hog hand, plougher, field hand, house boy and cook. Nelly and Jacob, both age 9, worked as field hands.



Aside from agriculture, Gray also raised prize-winning stock at Arcadia, including purebred horses and Suffolk pigs.

Liberty Baptist Church at Fort Walker

In May 1839, Gray bought from his nephew, Lee Roy Boulware, a 1,000-acre acre tract in eastern Spotsylvania County along the road to Guiney's Station. This land had originally belonged to Fielding Lewis, brother-in-law of George Washington.

Gray called this new farm The Grove. It is likely that he farmed this land, but he did not build his second home there until 1855.

This is the property which was later named La Vista by Gray's youngest son, Alfred Jackson

Boulware, who was known as “Jack” to friends and family.



During the 1840s, Gray appeared to be active in local Democratic politics. In April 1844, his name appeared on a list of Caroline County citizens who were members of the Democratic Committees of Vigilance.



These committees were politically affiliated, extra-judicial organizations that performed certain law enforcement activities beyond those usually handled by the sheriff.

Alfred Jackson "Jack" Boulware was born at Arcadia on November 3, 1828.

In an era when there was no public school system in Virginia as we know it today, Jack would have been educated by private tutors or at one of the many private academies that flourished in the region at that time. Whatever form his early education took, young Jack was well prepared for his years at college and medical school.

Jack first attended Columbian College in Washington, D.C., where he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1849. While a student at Columbian, Jack met John Moore McCalla Jr., with whom he began a romantic

"Jack" Boulware 1828 - 1870

relationship in 1848. This was the beginning of their long friendship, which lasted for the rest of Jack's life.

Jack first attended the University of Virginia from 1851 to 1852, and subsequently received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1853.

On November 15, 1853, he married Ann Trippe Slaughter at a ceremony held at her parents' home in Rappahannock County.

Not long after Jack and Ann were married, his father began to build a second home at The Grove, the property in Spotsylvania he had bought in 1839.

The house was finished in 1855, and Gray and Harriet made this their new home, and Jack and Ann joined them there.

Jack and Ann's first child, Harriet Gray (affectionately known as "Hattie"), was born at The Grove on Feb. 23, 1856.

Their first son, John McCalla (known as "McCalla"). was born May 18, 1858. Frank, the youngest. was born in 1860.

Jack's older brother was their father's namesake, Gray Jr. He was married in 1852 to Mildred Hudgin, daughter of Robert Hudgin, clerk of court in Caroline County for decades.

After Gray Sr. moved to his new house at The Grove, the plantation at Arcadia became the home of Gray Jr. and Millie. They raised a family of 11 children there.

On Jan. 15, 1857, just two weeks before he died, Gray Boulware wrote his last will and testament.

Gray’s wife Harriet was given a life estate in both Arcadia and The Grove. But he bequeathed Arcadia to Gray Jr., and The Grove to Jack.

Gray's will also stipulated that the slaves at Arcadia and The Grove be equally divided between Jack and Gray Jr.

By this time, Gray Sr. had accumulated 83 enslaved people. An appraisal of his estate

included the names of the enslaved, their ages and the monetary value assigned to each one.

The youngest listed were 1-year-olds, Bob and Judy, each valued at $150. At 70, Frank was the oldest, valued at $75. Men in their 20s and 30s were appraised at roughly $800 to $975.

Gray's will was witnessed by Ann J. Swann

and Richard H. Garrett, whose first wife was a niece of Gray's. Eight years after Garrett witnessed Gray's will, his name would be forever linked to that of John Wilkes Booth, who was killed at his farm in April 1865.

The 1860 census shows that Gray Jr. had personal and real property totaling almost $66,000, making him a wealthy man.

He owned 47 slaves that year, and in addition to his farming operations at Arcadia, he owned a hotel in Bowling Green.

Like his father, Gray Jr. was well known to the publishers of The Southern Journal, a trade journal for Virginia farmers.

In the July 1860 edition, he is thanked by the editors for sending them a "very fine Berkshire pig," and he is named as one of the judges of the roadster mares and fillies at the 1860 State Agricultural Fair in Richmond.

Jack and his family at The Grove were also thriving. In 1860, he had a combined wealth

totaling $62,000, and he was the owner of 39 enslaved men, women, and children.



He also owned 22 horses, more than any other household in St. George's Parish, and he had raised 20,000 pounds of tobacco, also more than anyone else in the parish.

The 1860 census shows six white people in residence – Jack, Ann, their three children, and his mother, Harriet.

Harriet is also shown living at Arcadia that year, which indicates that she divided her time between the two homes.

It was around this time that Jack changed the name of The Grove to La Vista, the name by which the property continues to be known today.

When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, both Jack and Gray Jr., supported their state's resistance to federal authority.

In 1862, Gray Jr., received a $50 bounty for his one-year enlistment in Company B of the 9th Virginia Cavalry. He also sold goods to Confederate quartermaster officers, primarily fodder, and he applied for a mail contract with the Confederate government.

Jack Boulware was exempted from military service, but he still aided the Confederate cause by selling tons of fodder to various quartermaster officers, and by providing the use of his wagons and his slaves as teamsters.

One of Jack's quartermaster receipts was signed by Elliott Muse Braxton, who in civilian life was an attorney in Fredericksburg and a former state senator.

Jack's first encounter with the Union army occurred in 1862, when soldiers under General McDowell's command stole 110 barrels of corn, among other things. Further depredations took place in May 1864, when the Union army stopped to visit during their march southeast on the road to Guiney's Station.

As Jack described in his application for a presidential pardon in May 1865: "I have suffered severely in property by the operations of the war. During 1862, the Federal army took from me, eighteen horses and mules, being all my working teams. The fencing on my farm has been twice destroyed, cropping in a great measure prevented throughout the war. And my household furniture and supplies of food destroyed by military violence."

However, one small item was saved from the clutches of marauding United States soldiers.

A silver cake tray was hidden under a hen in the chicken coop. The hen was snatched, but the cake tray escaped the notice of the hungry thief. This cake tray was at one time displayed at the National Park Service Visitor Center in Fredericksburg.

In many ways, Jack would be more fortunate than many others during the Civil War. He had plenty of food and most of his slaves chose not to run away from La Vista. But his family would be ravaged by tragedy and grief.

Nothing could compensate for the loss of two of his children. Frank, his younger son born in

1860, died (the date is unknown), and on Nov. 15, 1864, 8-year-old Hattie died.

It is said that Jack, overcome by rage and grief, tore the works out of the upright clock, screaming Hattie's name and exclaiming that the clock should keep time no more.

During the Victorian Age, many people believed in spiritualism, the notion that certain people could communicate with the dead.

In his grief, Jack Boulware sought help from a spiritualist in Boston, and a reply was published in the Dec, 31, 1864, edition of Banner of Light.

The spiritualist reported that Hattie Boulware's spirit had made the following statement: “I want my father to give me someone I can speak through. I died at La Vista at nine o'clock in the morning, of inflammation of the lungs and brain, on Nov 15."

At the time of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox, there were still 28 former slaves living at La Vista, including 13 who were too young or otherwise not able to work.

Despite his sadness, Jack continued to provide food and shelter for all of them. He also shared what food he had with his impoverished neighbors.

In March 1865, the occupation authority of the federal army named Jack as commissioner to oversee which families in Spotsylvania County would be eligible to receive government rations.

On May 8, 1865, Jack applied for a presidential pardon, a necessary step to re-establish his citizenship in the United States and be able to exercise his right to vote.

His brother Gray Jr. also took the oath of allegiance later that year.

Losses incurred during the Civil War forced both Jack and Gray Jr. to declare bankruptcy.

In 1866, Jack executed a deed of trust to attorney Elliott Muse Braxton of Fredericksburg, conveying to him all of his property in trust in order to secure his debts. Jack managed to successfully navigate the bankruptcy process, and by 1869 his case was resolved.

By 1867, Jack had become active in local politics. In August of that year, he was elected as a delegate from Spotsylvania to the Conservative Party convention in Richmond.

Also serving as delegates from Spotsylvania were John A. English, R.C. Dabney, Corbin Crutchfield, J.L. Marye, St. George Fitzhugh, John A. Waddy, C.B. Welford, John B. Jenkins, and Jonathan Johnson.



Gray, Jr. was not so fortunate. He was forced to sell Arcadia at public auction, and he was forced to seek employment. The 1870 census shows his occupation as "hotel manager."

Several years later, Gray Jr. and his family moved west and lived for a time in Chillicothe,

Missouri, before ultimately settling in Lawrence, Kansas.

In 1895 Gray Jr., was declared insane and was confined in the state asylum in Topeka, where he died three weeks later.

Gray Boulware Jr. in his later years.

By late winter 1870, Jack's health began to fail. In early March, he suffered a bout of jaundice and was ill for several days before he began to seemingly improve.

Believing that he was out of danger, Ann went to Rappahannock County to visit her mother, whom she had not seen for a year and a half.

Susan Motley of Caroline County and another woman came to La Vista to stay with Jack during Ann's absence.

For several days, he seemed to gain strength and was in good spirits. Then he suffered from paralysis and experienced dropsy in his chest.

Two days before Ann returned to La Vista, Jack suffered a violent hemorrhage from his nose and began to fail rapidly. Ann came home on March 18. Jack died on Sunday March 20, 1870.

He was buried with his children in the family cemetery near the driveway to the house.

When Jack died, the deed of trust he had signed in 1866 was still in force. Ann moved quickly to claim her dower rights in La Vista

Ann Trippe Slaughter Boulware

and to secure the legacy of their only surviving child, McCalla. 

To that end, she petitioned the court in May 1870 to obtain legal title to the house and one-third of the land at La Vista. Attorney Thomas N. Welch was appointed as guardian ad litem to represent McCalla's legal interests in the remaining two-thirds of the land at La Vista.

Spotsylvania County surveyor John M. Smith was hired to survey La Vista and make a plat of Ann's dower portion of the property.

At the time of his father's death, McCalla was away at boarding school. McCalla's education was of paramount importance to Ann, and she continued to pay for his education after her husband died.

During the course of 1873, the health of 45-year-old Ann Boulware began to decline. She was treated by at least four physicians--Dr. W. Washington, Dr. Andrew M. Glassell of Caroline County, Dr. Holloway and Dr. Adolphus W. Read of Rapphahannock County.

In the end, their efforts proved to be unavailing. Ann died on December 22, 1873.

W.M. Jones, a laborer at La Vista, built her coffin and case for $30, and she is presumed to have been buried with her husband and children in the family cemetery at La Vista.

Ann had made no will. Her brother, Francis Long Slaughter, was appointed administrator of her estate. Francis by this time was married to Susan Motley, who had cared for Jack Boulware during his final illness.

Ann's estate was appraised at $1,449 but only $718.19 was realized at her estate sale.

Among the many household items that had been appraised for the sale were a bird cage, a refrigerator, a bathing tub and a $150 piano.

At her death, Ann still owed the law firm of Elliott Muse Braxton and Charles Wistar Wallace $198.39 for an unpaid bond.

McCalla Boulware was still legally a minor when his mother died, so he was sent to Rappahannock County to live with his Slaughter relatives. He would stay with them until his marriage to Ada Johnston Miller on October 15,1879.

The young couple moved to La Vista, where they would live for the next 23 years. They had three children together - Darius Jackson (1880-1933), Gideon Brown (1884-1935) and Elizabeth Trippe (1890-1919).

The 1880 census, dated June 11-12, shows McCalla and Ada, who was eight months pregnant with Darius, already living at La Vista.

Also living there were the Green family - Adelaide, the cook; Benjamin, a laborer; and children J.E.B., Robert, Lucy Annie and Carey.

Soon after returning to Spotsylvania, McCalla sold his two-thirds of the acreage at La Vista, keeping the tract that included the house and 338 acres.

In addition to profitably farming at La Vista, McCalla - like his father and grandfather

before him - became involved in local politics.

In 1889, he was elected to as a delegate from the Courtland district to meetings of the Democratic party in Spotsylvania County. 

McCalla Boulware, about 12 years old.

In June 1902, McCalla sold La Vista to Charles Decatur. The Boulwares then moved to Fredericksburg, where McCalla hired A. Mason Garner to build a house on Washington Avenue across the street from Kenmore.

McCalla and his older son Darius started a feed and grain business on Commerce Street, now known as William Street, and they also partnered in several other businesses over the years.

J. McCalla Boulware & Son sold and serviced Overland and Studebaker motor cars, as well as tires and tubes, “blowout patches,” lamps, horns, sparkplugs, and many other items needed by motorists of the day.

McCalla's other son, Brown, was one of Fredericksburg's earliest owners of an automobile, and he had business plans for its use. The Daily Star reported on Sept.15, 1909, that, “Mr. G. Brown Boulware has purchased of County d’Adhemar his 50 horsepower Thomas automobile. Mr. B. will use it in carrying passengers over the battlefields, to the Courthouses, and general sightseeing.”

Like his father 55 years earlier, McCalla experienced the anguish of losing his only daughter. Elizabeth was among the many who lost their lives during the influenza epidemic. She succumbed to pneumonia in 1919 at the age of 27.

John McCalla Boulware died of heart disease on April 24, 1920, and his death was front page news.

According to his obituary in The Daily Star, Mr, Boulware was “one of Fredericksburg’s most substantial and esteemed citizens…Mr. Boulware was a lifelong member of the Baptist

Boulware home on Washington Avenue.

church and had for some years been a deacon in Fredericksburg Baptist Church. He was a man of many fine qualities, the strictest integrity, and stood high in the esteem of all who knew him.”

McCalla is buried in the Fredericksburg City Cemetery.

The Boulware years at La Vista ended when McCalla sold the property in 1902, and the farm changed hands many times in the years that followed.

During the 1930s and 1940s modern conveniences such as electricity, indoor plumbing and central heating were added to La Vista.

About that same time, the Boulware family cemetery disappeared during farming operations on the property. Eventually, only 10 acres out of the original 1,000 remained with the house.



La Vista was purchased by its current owners, Ed and Michele Schiesser, in 1983.

The long association of the Boulware family with the legacy of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson had its start in May 1863.

Two days after his left arm had been amputated due to his accidental wounding during the Battle of Chancellorsville, an ambulance carrying Jackson and a military escort slowly made its way to Fairfield, the farm of Thomas C. Chandler near Guinea Station.

As this sad entourage traveled on, it is likely it was seen by the Boulware family as it passed by La Vista.

In the summer of 1866, Jack’s old friend, John McCalla, arranged to come from Washington to La Vista to recuperate from a bout of illness. He took a steamboat from to Aquia Harbor, then boarded the train from Brooke's Station to Guinea Station. There he was met by Jack, who was driving a buggy, and 8-year-old McCalla, who was on horseback.

While convalescing, John McCalla accompanied Jack and Ann to Spotsylvania Court House to a meeting to organize the Spotsylvania Ladies' Memorial Association.

The association’s goal was to raise funds to create a cemetery near the courthouse for the reinterment of Confederate soldiers who had died in local battles. During the meeting, Ann was elected as first president of the association.

Two days after the meeting at the court house, John, Jack and Ann rode in an open wagon to Fairfield, the farm of Thomas Chandler, where General Jackson had died three years earlier.

Chandler had offered to give the association the bed in which Jackson had died, with the intention of making the bed available for sale to raise money for the cemetery.

John McCalla noted in his diary that an adult daughter of Chandler, most likely Mary Chandler, gave the bed to him. When John left for Washington the next day, he left the bed at La Vista and began to seek a buyer.

In one such early effort, John approached an agent of the museum of Phineas T. Barnum, but a sale was not made. As it turned out, money from the sale of the bed was not needed, so the bed stayed with the Boulwares.

Upon the death of his parents, McCalla Boulware inherited La Vista and the bed.

During the 1880s, Rufus B. Merchant, owner of the Virginia Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, started a fundraising effort to erect a monument to General Jackson at the Chancellorsville battlefield, and proposed selling the death bed to help cover the costs.

McCalla loaned the bed to Merchant for that purpose, and the disassembled bed remained at the Star's office for some time. Once again, sufficient funds were raised for the monument and it was not necessary to sell the bed.

Once the bed came back to La Vista, it remained in McCalla's possession until 1900, when he gave it to Dr. Hunter McGuire, the surgeon who had amputated General Jackson's arm in 1863.

McCalla wished for the bed to be given to the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Association, which Dr. McGuire helped to establish.

The association, in turn, gave the bed to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, and there it remained in storage until 1927, when it was turned over to the National Park Service.

Today the bed is on display in the building where Jackson died, renamed the Stonewall Jackson Death Site in 2019.

High Schools

James Monroe -

Monroe Doctrine 1941

James Monroe - Monroe Echo

1947 through 1953

1955 through 1962

1964

1966 and 1967

1969 and 1970

1977

1979 through 1981

1983 through 1986

1988

Spotsylvania High School - The Trail

1952

1954 through 1961

1964 and 1965

Stafford High School - Indian Legend

1956 through 1966

1968 through 1985

1987 through 1989

North Stafford High School

1987 through 2004

King George High School - King’s Gallery

1985 through 1989

Middle Schools

Gayle Junior High School

1968 

Walker-Grant Middle School

1973 through 1981

1983 through 1994

1997

Elementary Schools



Spotswood Elementary School

1967 through 1969

Hugh Mercer Elementary School

1982 through 1987

1989 through 1991

1994

Schools no longer in existence



Fredericksburg High School - Rapahanoc

1922

1924

1925

John J. Wright School

1967



Falmouth High School

1942

1943

1946

1948

Walker-Grant High School

1942

1956

1957



College



Mary Washington College/University, including State Normal School and State Teacher’s College

1915

1919 and 1920

1922

1924 through 1928

1930 and 1931

1933 through 1976

1978 through 1983

1986

1988 through 1995

1997 and 1998

2000 through 2004

2006 and 2007

2015 

Any yearbooks not listed

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Any private schools

Spotsylvania High Schools:

Riverbend

Massaponax

Chancellor

Courtland

Stafford High Schools:

Brooke Point

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Any elementary and middle schools not already represented