On To Richmond!

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

"On to Richmond" was the battlecry of the Union troops once Petersburg fell.  After our time at Petersburg National Battlefield, Tim and I, too, headed to Richmond, the erstwhile capitol of the Confederacy.

Instead of touring the Civil War battlefields spread around the city, a project that would take several days, we joined a walking tour of the city, but that experience was not one that I'd recommend.  Yet I guess you get what you pay for and since the tour was free with a donation, I have no reason to complain.  At least it was an orientation to Richmond's downtown--

most notably the Capitol of Virginia,

the Confederate White House,

and the home of John Marshall, the 4th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court--even if the tour guide's spiel was less than compelling.

What was spellbinding were our visits to two National Park Service properties, first to Tredegar Iron Works and later to the home of Maggie L. Walker.

At Tredegar Iron Works, we learned why Richmond was worth fighting for.  Tredegar Iron Works on the banks of the James River was the Confederacy's most important foundry, churning out more than half the munitions that fueled the Confederate States Army.  In addition, it made the iron plating for the CSS Virginia, the South's first steam-powered ironclad warship.  Today the Tredegar houses two museums, one supported by the National Park Service and the other the American Civil War Museum.  Due to time constraints, Tim and I chose to visit the one maintained by National Park Service.  After all, I had to get the stamp in my NPS Passport.  We found the visitors center a fascinating look at why Richmond with its manufacturing and transportation infrastructure was such a prize in the Civil War.

Later the same day, we stopped at a very different National Park property, the home of Maggie L. Walker.  Neither Tim nor I had ever heard of Mrs. Walker before and we were astonished by the incredible impact she had on the black neighborhood in Richmond's historic Jackson Ward.  In 1901 she boldly presented her community with an idea for economic empowerment:  "We need a savings bank, chartered, officered, and run by the men and women of the Order...Let us have a bank that will take the nickels and turn them into dollars."  In 1903 St. Luke Penny Savings Bank opened its doors--the first chartered bank in the United States founded by a black woman.

Of course, what caught Tim attention, former law enforcement officer that he is, was the suspicious death of Mrs. Walker's husband who was shot and killed by her son.  Allegedly, the son thought an intruder--not his father--was trying to break into the house.  But that's a little difficult to believe, given that the incident occurred in broad daylight and the fact that Mr. Walker's philandering ways were an embarrassment to the family.  The true story is buried by now but it does make one wonder what really happened.

Left: the hotel lobby
Right: the dome skylight

Friends told us that we ought to partake in a true Southern afternoon tea at the historic Jefferson Hotel.  Regretfully, when we arrived there, we discovered that the tea is only offered Fridays through Sundays--not on a Thursday, the day we were there.  So that's another reason, along with Richmond's battlefields, for us to return to this beautiful city at some future date.

With thoughts of what we'd missed at the hotel's Palm Court, we decided to pay a visit to Maymount, the grand Gilded Age estate that the wealthy owners James and Sallie Dooley willed to the city of Richmond.

There I could imagine Sallie Dooley presiding over her own afternoon tea with her invited guests of Richmond's elite.

I also found it interesting that the childless Dooleys never had to discourage children from crawling into their fanciful Swan bed with them.  Nor did they wrestle with the question of how parents with differing faiths should raise their progeny.

As it was, every Sunday James would have the carriage brought around to deliver Mrs. Dooley to the Episcopal worship service before he continued on to mass at the Catholic church.

Finally, and perhaps fittingly since it was our final stop on our Richmond itinerary, we made a pilgrimage to Hollywood Cemetery.  The cemetery situated on a bluff that overlooks the James River is the final resting place of two U. S. Presidents, James Madison and John Tyler, as well as the Confederate President Jefferson Davis.  Twenty-two Confederate generals including George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart are also buried there.  We didn't visit them all, preferring to focus on the three presidents.

I thought the gravesite of Jefferson Davis would be the most impressive but on the day we visited, it was surrounded by construction tape as workers repaired the circular drive around it.

Instead, we found Madison's grave nicknamed "The Birdcage" the most impressive with its ornate Gothic Revival style.  It makes my plans to be cremated upon my death with my ashes spread as fertilizer over the east 80-acres of my family's farm seem very stark.  Ah, well!  Hopefully my day is far away!  On to Washington and Philadelphia where we have plans to spend the coming weeks visiting our children.