Moss Neck Manor
Moss Neck Manor | |
 Property entrance | |
   | |
| Location | VA 766, S side of Rappahannock R., Rappahannock Academy, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°12′30.528″N 77°19′32.772″W / 38.20848000°N 77.32577000°W |
| Area | 280 acres (110 ha) |
| Built | 1856 |
| Architectural style | Mid 19th Century Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 99000069[1] |
| VLR No. | 016-0018 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 27, 1999 |
| Designated VLR | December 10, 1998[2] |
Moss Neck Manor is a historic, antebellum plantation house located at Rappahannock Academy, Caroline County, Virginia, United States.
Construction
[edit]James Parke Corbin (1808-1868) inherited the plantation, which did not have a significant house, from his father, Richard Corbin (1771-1819).[3] After his and his father's main plantation house, Laneville in King and Queen county, burned in 1843, Corbin began construction of the manor in the then-popular Greek Revival style. Enslaved labor probably both helped construct the building, as well as provided the income for the building project. In the 1850 census, Corbin owned 33 enslaved people in King and Queen County,[4] and about 100 in Caroline County.[5]
The house was completed in 1856, shortly after the death of his first wife, the former Jane Katherine Wellford. She had already borne three sons, all of whom would fight for the Confederacy: Richard Corbin (1833-1863), Spottswood Wellford Corbin (1835-1897), and James Parke Corbin Jr.(1847-1909). Their younger daughter Katherine (1839-1920) would marry CSA staff officer Sandie Pendleton during the conflict described below.
The two-story central section features long hyphens, and pedimented terminal wings. The colonnaded verandahs have Doric order columns, a two-level portico, and octagonal cupola. The house measures 225 feet long.[6] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.[1]
Civil War
[edit]Moss Neck Manor, situated about 10 miles from the site of the Battle of Fredericksburg, was then owned by the Corbin family. The Corbins invited General Stonewall Jackson to stay at Moss Neck Manor during the winter of 1862–63. He declined to stay in the main house, but accepted the use of an office outbuilding. Moss Neck Plantation became the winter quarters of the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia.[7]
Jackson entertained Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart, and William N. Pendleton in the office on Christmas Day, 1862.[7] The event was depicted, somewhat inaccurately, in the film, Gods and Generals.
Mrs. Thomas Jackson (Anna) with infant daughter, Julia Jackson, arrived by train at Guiney's Station on April 20, 1863, for a visit with General Jackson. They stayed at nearby Belvoir. Julia Jackson was baptized by the Reverend Tucker Lacy three days later. The visit ended suddenly nine days later when a report came that Union forces had crossed the Rappahannock River near Chancellorsville, Virginia.[8]
Today
[edit]The 290-acre property is privately owned by Gilbert and Judy Shelton. The house has been renovated and updated and is occasionally open for tour.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ^ Ralph Emmett Fall, People, Postoffices and Communities in Caroline County, Virginia, 1727-1969 (WH Wolfe Associates, 1989) p. 198
- ^ 1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Stratton Major Parish, King and Queen County, Virginia p. 3 of 17
- ^ 1850 U.S. Federal Census Slave Schedule for Caroline County, Virginia pp. 100-101 of 123 (although metadata indicates 95 slaves, count appears 110
- ^ Calder Loth (September 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Moss Neck Manor" (PDF). and Accompanying two photos
- ^ a b Gwynne, S. C. (October 2015). Rebel Yell. New York: Scribner. pp. 508–12. ISBN 978-1-45167328-9.
- ^ Gwynne, S. C. (October 2015). Rebel Yell. New York: Scribner. pp. 517–8. ISBN 978-1-45167328-9.
- ^ "Moss Neck Manor is a hidden gem in Caroline County". 12 April 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- Plantation houses in Virginia
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
- Greek Revival houses in Virginia
- Houses completed in 1856
- Houses in Caroline County, Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places in Caroline County, Virginia
- Northern Virginia Registered Historic Place stubs
- Caroline County, Virginia geography stubs