The Surrender Happened in the Kitchen

I have officially logged about 160 hours since May 17th at the park, and I feel as if the biggest and most important parts of those hours have been yesterday and last week.

Tuesday I worked the FV shift, which meant I opened at the fee booth and closed at the visitor center. This also means that it is my job to walk down the stage road at the end of the day and lock up the Kelly house and the jail, and to send any visitors who may be down looking at the Stacking of the Arms site, on their way to the car. The funny thing is, I have worked in retail since I was 17 years old and my favorite part of the day, especially when I worked at Subway, was closing the store and send people home. However, when I am at the park, I always feel awkward telling visitors we’re about to close. I love Appomattox so much, so it kind of sucks when people are there, wanting to know the story and you cannot share it with them, because it is time for them to leave!

The nice thing is, often times those same people are staying in the area for the evening, so they know to get to the park first thing the next morning.

Then, one of the more interesting things that happened was Tuesday morning. My fee booth shift was about to end and a lady pulled up and tells me, “I was just driving along, and I saw the signs for this place but I had no idea what it was so I stopped. Can you tell me what happened here?” Stuff like that always catches me off guard, and it very rarely happens. The reason for that being is Highway 24 is not a very common road for traveling, and certainly not the most used way to get to Richmond, that would be 460. 99.9% of the time, if people come to our park they are going out of their way, because they want to be there! I had a lot of fun though getting to tell the lady what happened there, because again, I very rarely tell anyone anything new when it comes to “Well the surrender happened here!” People know that part usually-I am normally having to tell them that no the surrender did not happen at the Appomattox Courthouse, it happened in the village of Appomattox Court House, both two very different. The lady was excited when I told her that the war ended there, she paid the admittance fee and headed on in. Stuff like that, while bizarre is also kind of exciting, because as a budding historian it is my job to share stories about our past with people, and this was not only sharing our past, but sharing brand new information! Rarely do you get to say 151 year old news is “new.”

Last Thursday, the day before I started my living history program, I caved and tried calling Dr. Sackett at his office. Dr. Sackett is the great, great, great, grandson of Charles Sackett, Jennie Peers’ little brother. The one whose mystery I am trying to solve about serving in the 63rd TN? Well, I think I had mentioned before that I tried emailing Dr. Sackett a few weeks ago and I received no response. After a few weeks of waiting and trying to reach out to other venues, I called his office where he works. I left a message with one of the nurses and she said he would call me back soon. Well a few days go by and I still have not heard from him, and finally Monday afternoon I got a phone call from him. He tells me “Well I don’t really have a lot of information on the family”and I felt my stomach drop. I was scared that I was about to go back to step one! However, he then continued on to say, “But one of my cousins, I think she has a family history…” So Dr. Sackett ended the phone call with promising me that he would have his cousin, Ms. Wood call me. I talked to Myna that afternoon and I may or may not have hit the jackpot with her. She informed me that Charles’ youngest daughter Alice, wrote a family history about living in Appomattox County and about their family! There may be new information on the Peers’ in that book!! PLUS she informed me…SHE HAS A PICTURE OF CHARLES AND HIS CHILDREN. It is not the same thing as having a picture of Jennie, which I would die if I ever found one, but I am SO excited because this family history may hold a huge piece of the Sackett family puzzle for me! Ms. Wood goes out of town this weekend, and when she gets back next week, I am going to call her and try to catch up with her. She has promised me a copy of the book and I am hoping I can get a copy of the photo she has of Charles and the children. I am overjoyed and literally counting down the days until Ms. Wood gets back into town so I can call her. The best part though, came in the form of our historian Patrick Schroeder and his reaction when I texted him and told him about it. His response was “That is great work, I can’t wait to see it.” Which was just a huge compliment to me, because Patrick is the man when it comes to Appomattox and the village’s history.

So yesterday was my second official day of doing living history. Yesterday was also a very unique and interesting day…because we had four people doing living history programs, myself included. As a result, I was only scheduled to give one talk and it wound up being my roughest talk to date. The reason for this started out in the form of the fact that there were only three people who wanted to hear my talk…so I went over when one of the rangers brought the group out and I met him in the stage road and then I noticed one of my friends, who was an intern at the park last summer, and I had not seen him since then, decided to pop in for a visit at the park unannounced. I realized very quickly if I have no warning, and if there is a small enough group where no one can hide, it is just not great if I know the people I am talking to. I was nervous, couldn’t remember the stories I wanted to tell, the ones I did remember I didn’t tell them in order, and the best part?! I didn’t introduce myself or talk about Jennie’s children or the fact that they had a former slave living with them who was their slave before the war and Millie stayed with them after the fact!

Thankfully, the people that did come on the talk, and a whole family wound up coming and sitting on the porch to listen, they seemed to enjoy it and the one man actually asked me a question (about something I am supposed to mention in my talk, but forgot!), but I was grateful that he asked me about Lafayette Meeks.

The other interesting aspect about yesterday was that one of the other living historians…was none other than Millie Craig, the Peers’ former slave. I had no idea how any of that was going to play out, and I was not sure if Ebony, who plays Millie, was going to want to have interactions with one another or not. However, it turned out to be one of the best things we could have done, because we played off one another when Millie took groups out, and when visitors would come up and ask questions. We both sat on the porch of the Meeks store together most of the day and chit chatted, then the fun part was when visitors would walk up and we had to turn off the modern day language, and try to continue our conversation in 1865 speak.

Of the visitors who came up to me or both of us, here are the most interesting ones I had:

This first one happened when Millie was upstairs or somewhere. A male visitor and his wife walked by me and said “Your slave gave a great talk” and I just stared at him, because yes I’m Jennie Peers but being told “my slave” just made me so wildly uncomfortable, but I simply replied, “Sir, she is not my slave anymore.”

We also had another couple come up and say “So which of these buildings are original?” I looked from Millie to the visitor and said “Well sir, I am not sure what you mean.” He goes on with “Well they said the McLean house was reconstructed and the Courthouse burned down” and at this point I just stare at Millie because I am struggling to think of what to say and she goes “Well sir, I don’t know nothing about the courthouse burning down but there are officials inside the courthouse who can answer any questions for you.” Then finally the visitor gets it and goes “Oh right, you’re supposed to be in 1865” and he teased us about being from the future so I asked him if he had drunk an entire cask of alcohol at the Clover Hill tavern.

Another visitor asked if there were any tours going on, to which I replied, “Sir, I am not sure what you mean” and he replies “Well there’s a man over there” and he pointed at another historian’s program happening at the tavern and continues, “I just was not sure if anything was going on.” And so I told him, “Well sir, I am not sure about all of that, but that over there is Mr. Hannah and he is talking to some curiosity seekers about fighting in the war. You’re more than welcome to go and listen to his stories if you like” and the gentleman just smiled at me and said, “Good job for not breaking character.”

My last favorite guest interaction was when a visitor asked me what house the surrender happened in. So I said, “Over there in the home of Wilmer and Virginia McLean” and the man goes “Which house? The red one or the white one?” So I stand up, utterly confused because the only house over there is McLean’s and I realize he is pointing to the summer kitchen and the actual house. So I stared at him and I said “Well the red house of course, it would be quite silly if General Lee and General Grant surrendered in a kitchen!”

It was cold yesterday, weirdly enough, so I wore a cloak most of the day to protect myself from the rain and the wind.

 

Thanks for checking in, see you next week!

Living History Begins

This week was my second week at the park since my internship officially started. With that came my first official day of living history, which I started yesterday. No amount of preparation could really get me to where I would have liked to of been, so it was simply a matter of going out and winging it.

I had started writing my program almost a month ago when I was first told I could portray Jennie. I have spent the last month trying to track down family members and descendants, searching for anything that would give me a great story to tell, and one that had not already been told by the other living historians who portray villagers. My soul point of that rode on finding out about Charles Sackett’s time in the war, and even after calling his great, great, great, great grandson at his doctors office, I still have unanswered questions about Jennie and her family. I am still in the process of trying to track down the direct descendants of Jennie and George….ie: their grandchildren.

The worst part for me was trying to remember stuff and needing water. My mouth would go dry, a problem I noticed I have when I am doing interpretation in the McLean house. If I am talking for awhile with a visitor I have to stop and get water..so I had no choice but to set up a ceramic pitcher of water and tea cups on the porch of the Clover Hill tavern, so that I could have water during my talk. I felt awkward when I would stop to get water, but I did what I had to do.

For the most part, during both talks I managed to get through about 90% of what I wanted to say. For my first talk I had prepared this funny anecdote about how McLean was boasting that he came down to Appomattox to get away from the war, but if that were true why did he wait two whole years to leave the area? I forgot about that story during my first talk….but I still managed to tell some jokes that got some laughter. Then my next talk I remembered the McLean joke but forgot this story about the McDearmon family and the history of a very pretty mansion that still stands in modern day Appomattox.

Of the visitors who came to my talks (I presented to about 55 to 60 people yesterday between two talks!!! WHAT?!) only one person asked me a question and that was “Where is your wedding ring?” and I cannot tell you why the next thing came out of my mouth or why I even thought of it but I had this image flash in my head of Melanie Wilkes at the Atlanta Bazaar scene in Gone with the Wind when the soldier is going around asking for jewelry donations for the cause. Scarlet snaps “We aren’t wearing any, we’re in mourning” and instead Melanie offers her wedding ring and says “It may do my husband more good off my finger than on” so me, having years of training for this moment by watching Gone with the Wind one too many times says, “I donated it for the cause.”

All of my coworkers were very impressed with my answer, even if it was total nonsense. The visitor didn’t question it either, which was the most important part to me. When our park historian texted me this morning asking how everything went, I told him the wedding ring story and he goes “Well wedding rings weren’t very common during the civil war, so it is okay that you aren’t wearing one.” I think even if I had known that before yesterday, I would not have known how to answer the question the man had without breaking character, so honestly that line from Gone with the Wind helped.

The other interesting part of yesterday was trying to not break character in front of visitors. There were a few times that we just gave up or had to, like when we had a German couple visiting who spoke very poor English, and they just did not get it.

Otherwise, keeping character was not very difficult, and I really enjoyed doing it.

I know that I promised a video of my talk, but I have decided until my talk gets better and more polished, I am going to wait to have someone film it. The only video I have of me in my dress from yesterday, is when my fellow living historian and I rapped an entire stanza from Hamilton the Musical….somehow I doubt that would be very appropriate to share here. So I leave you all for the weekend, with photos from yesterday.

A visitor took this one of us and posted it on her instagram. Evidently she has a plastic dinosaur named Trevor who she takes everywhere and shares photos of him in places….So she asked if we would pose for a photo with him.

Me as Jennie, with the Peers house in the distance behind me.

Fellow intern from Gettysburg college as Private Dowler, who was part of the 188th Pennsylvania, stationed at Appomattox Court House as Provost Guard. 

Before the park opened, early morning shot with the McLean house just behind those trees. 

Some of the last shots of the Civil War were fired in these spots. 

The Peers house when the sun was still rising.

 

What About the Peers?

So week two of training is over and Tuesday I am on my own when I go out to the park. I will start my day in the fee booth, go to the visitor center, then lunch, work the McLean house, and then back to the visitor center. My shifts are Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s from 8:45-5:30 and on Friday’s I will be doing my living history program, starting June 10th. I am a little bit petrified.

The bulk of my research work this summer has been, and will continue to go into researching the Peers family. I would like, if I may, to give you a bit of a background on this family now because it is incredibly fascinating.

George Peers was the clerk of the court in Appomattox Court House. He served for many years and was one of the most respected and liked men in the village, and his wife was equally adored and liked. At the time of the surrender in April of 1865, they lived down the Lynchburg-Richmond Stage Road behind the courthouse. George married Jennie in 1855 in Lynchburg, and until 1870 they rented their home from a Mr. Plunkett, and they finally bought the home in 1870.

Today if you were to visit their home, you would find a 12 pounder cannon in the front yard, marking some of the final fighting that happened as the Confederates tried to hold their position on the morning of April 9th, as the Federal’s approached the village from what is today George Peers Lane. The April 10th second meeting between Lee and Grant happened right outside of their home, Chamberlain camped in their front yard, he dined in the home on April 11th, and on the 12th the Peers could have very easily been watching from their yard during the salute between Chamberlain and Gordon as the Stacking of the Arms happened.

The source of my frustration and searching comes in the form of Jennie’s baby brother Charles. In 1862 Charles joined the Confederate Army and two months later was discharged under the Conscription Act. He does not show up again in military records until 1864 when he shows up in the 63rd TN Infantry. He would later be captured in April of 1865 and sent to a Prisoner of War Camp in Ohio, and released in June of 1865. So the best I can piece together at this juncture is the fact that Charles and Jennie’s mother was from TN, and perhaps he was visiting with family there when he joined up. I have contacted family members and I am in the process of trying to obtain further information.

My first talk as Jennie will be June 10th, as I mentioned before. I have a lot of information in my talk, and so I think I am more worried about having to memorize everything.

In my research for the Peers I also discovered their graves which are about ten minutes or less from my house. This was a discovery I made last Monday after an hour of searching in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Lynchburg on Grace Street. I was dismayed to find sometime in the last few months, George’s grave has fallen off the base and cracked. My next project is focusing on finding out who can get his grave repaired, because it not only means a lot to me, but George’s legacy also means a lot to us at Appomattox Court House. A lot of what we know about the village’s history is thanks to this man because he had the insight to write down his recollections in a little book that can be purchased to this day. When the court house burned in the 1890s all of the records were lost. There are so many mysteries that we will never be able to answer, because those files are gone.

Jennie and George’s graves today when I went to visit them for decoration day. I left the flowers at their grave and managed to pick up the bottom corner of the stone. 

“A loving and loved wife. A Devoted mother. A faith Friend. And a Christian woman.”

On a completely different topic, on Thursday night we had a party at the park which resulted in a scavenger hunt. The long term goal of which was to get us as employees and volunteers into buildings and spots we’ve never been in before. So I was able to climb into the second floor of the outdoor kitchen behind the McLean house, which is where their head cook would have lived. Upstairs there was not much, considering the space is not open to the public. However, there was a crib upstairs and a chair with a little tiny pillow inside the crib that said “Welcome Little Stranger” and it was both the creepiest thing I had seen (an empty chair at an empty crib) and also the most endearing thing.

The courthouse building at dusk. 

The Clover Hill Tavern where 30,000 Parole Passes were printed by the Federal Army for the Confederates in the span of 26 hours. The Tavern was owned by the Hix family and his daughter Emma would eventually marry one of the Provost Guards stationed at Appomattox Court House in the summer of 65. 

Lafayette Meeks’ grave behind the Meeks store. Lafayette was the first casualty of the war from Appomattox Court House. He enlisted in 1861 and died later that year of yellow fever. 

Where some of the last shots of the American Civil War were fired. In the far distance, that ridge is where the Federals advanced on the morning of April 9th.

I am grateful for a break, however I miss Appomattox when I am not there. I am definitely looking forward to Tuesday and hopefully my dress for my Jennie Peers talks will have arrived by then. I hope everyone has a safe Memorial day weekend and please take a moment to remember all that died in wars. Memorial Day was born out of Decoration Day which was born out of the Civil War. Honor both and remember both sides.

 

 

 

Appomattox Court House

 

In 1865 the village of Appomattox Court House only boasted about 100 people in a county of 4,414. The people of the small village never dreamed that the war would end in their very small town.

The Army of Northern Virginia arrived in Appomattox County on April 8th, after a long six day retreat from Petersburg, following the nine month stalemate between the Confederate and Federal Armies. Richmond had fallen, the Confederate government had fled, and it was only a matter of time. After a series of critical engagements at Five Forks, Saylers Creek, Appomattox Station, and Appomattox Court House, General Lee sent word to General Grant that he was ready to surrender.

The Civil War ended in the parlor of the McLean family and that was not the only peculiar or fascinating story that would come out of the surrender events of April 9th-12th. Appomattox Court House is possibly one of the most underrated parks in the National Park Service and yet the stories of the surrender, the people, and the history of the village itself are some of the most interesting I’ve ever heard. There is something so wonderful that even I took for granted growing up just twenty-five miles from the park.

For me, there is no place else I would rather be this summer than at Appomattox Court House. On this blog I will update about the work I am doing, the ins and outs of working for the National Park Service, and the stories that I learn about the end of the war and from visitors. I will also write about my foray into the world of living history, where I will be portraying Jennie Peers of Lynchburg City who lived in Appomattox Court House from 1855 until the time she died. The last shots of the war were fired in Jennie’s front yard and she was married to one of the most respected men in the entire county.

I hope you will enjoy what you see and read here, and hopefully if you have never been to the park, I will see you soon.