Re: Dr. A. B. Longshore (1812-1875)--Hazleton, PA
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In reply to:
Re: Dr. A. B. Longshore (1812-1875)--Hazleton, PA
John Longshore 1/16/09
Dear Mr. Longshore,
Thank you for responding to my query--you've been a tremendous help.I'm a historian in Stafford County, Virginia and work primarily with land tracts, mills, and industries here.Recently, I came across a deed for a farm called Woodlawn.This was a 183-acre tract located in the White Oak area of Stafford.Prior to the war, the property belonged to the Roy family of Stafford; the death of the owner and the subsequent shared ownership by multiple heirs resulted in a sale of the farm, though it took a court case before everything was finalized.On Apr. 2, 1869 Maria J. Longshore paid $4,000 for a part interest in the 183 acres (Stafford Deed Book 26A, p. 540).The court case continued until Sept. 28, 1869 when Maria was able to purchase the other interest in Woodlawn.For this she paid an additional $2,000 (Stafford Deed Book 26A, p. 606).Interestingly, she owned this in her own name, which was somewhat unusual for that period.Of course, her husband still held an interest in it and in April 1871 they sold Woodlawn to Edwin G. Booth of Philadelphia.He paid $8,000 for the 183 acres.Edwin had been born in Virginia and, although he was a resident of Philadelphia during the war, he used his influence to help Confederate prisoners of war held up north.I don't know what, if any, connection there might have been between the Longshores and Booth.I also don't know why Booth might have wanted the property unless he just wanted some physical tie to his native state.
The amount of money that was exchanged (Longshore to Roy and Booth to Longshore) was phenomenal.By the end of the war Stafford had nearly been erased from the map.Although there had been little actual fighting here, the county suffered more overall damage than any other county in the state.A letter written by a man returning to Stafford after the war reveals that he was unable to find a stick large enough to make a hen roost.Union soldiers had dismantled nearly every building and had cut down nearly every tree in Stafford, using the wood to build roads and for camp fires.By the end of their 14 month stay in Stafford, the soldiers were having to grub up roots in order to cook and keep warm.Because they had spent the winter here, the soldiers had dug pits for shelter--many thousands of them--each of which was large enough for two cots and which was covered with a tent.They built little fireplaces in the bottoms of the pits.The most severe damage occurred in White Oak, which was the primary staging ground for the Battle of Fredericksburg.The pits covered an area of about nine square miles, the tents being just far enough apart to walk between them.Woodlawn was in the heart of White Oak and I can't imagine there was much left by the time the Longshores purchased the land.I suspect the Roys were dizzy with the thrill of getting such a fortune for their property.
I have to wonder how the Longshores came to know about the availability of Woodlawn and if they visited the property before purchasing.The post-war land tax records contain many listings of northern owners of Stafford land and, perhaps, these folks hoped to earn a profit by investing in Stafford land.It certainly worked for the Longshores who realized a good profit on their investment.That was not the case with many northern purchasers.
I came across the Longshore deed by accident while looking for something else.I was unfamiliar with Woodlawn but the people associated with the tract are quite interesting and I want to do an article about it for my next book on Stafford land tracts.I always try and include a little biographical information about the people associated with the properties I research and Dr. and Mrs. Longshore are certainly interesting in their own rights.
Thank you again!
Jerrilynn Eby