Franklin Stearns
Franklin Stearns | |
---|---|
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Henrico County | |
In office December 4, 1865 – March 3, 1866 | |
Preceded by | n/a |
Succeeded by | Z.S. McGruder |
Personal details | |
Born | Winhall, Vermont, U.S. | 3 March 1815
Died | 10 June 1888 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | (aged 73)
Resting place | Shockoe Hill Cemetery |
Spouse(s) | Emma F. Haley; Caroline Virginia Willey |
Children | Franklin Stearns Jr., Irene Louise Stearns Halsey |
Residence(s) | Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
Occupation | distiller, real estate investor |
Known for | Unionist during the American Civil War, post-war reconciliation |
Franklin Stearns (March 3, 1815 – June 10, 1888), was an American businessman who moved to Richmond, Virginia, and became one of the city's leading Unionists, for which he was imprisoned several times during the American Civil War. When Union forces captured the Confederate capital in April, 1865, Richmond's mayor delivered the city's note of surrender to Union forces at Stearns' farm, Tree Hill which may become a park after development is completed. After the war, Stearns worked to restore Richmond, and three of his properties remain today, and are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Early and family life
Born on March 3, 1815, to farmer and merchant Simeon Stearns and his wife Irene Newcomb in Winhall, Vermont. When Franklin was 13, Simeon Stearns moved his family to Madison County, New York.[1]
When he was 18, Franklin Stearns moved to Richmond, Virginia and worked on the
Career
Stearns worked as an overseer for a Georgia railroad in 1836 and the next year moved to
During the
On the night of April 1, 1865, as downtown Richmond burned due to fires set by evacuating Confederate troops, Richmond mayor Joseph Mayo traveled to Tree Hill farm to deliver a surrender note to two Union majors he found encamped there, with Union troops. They conveyed the note to Major General Godfrey Weitzel, who traveled to City Hall to accept the Confederate Capitol's formal surrender document at 8:15 a.m. Union troops also stopped the fires and restored order).[7]
After the war, the U.S. Marshall ordered Stearns' Richmond bank account frozen, which prompted a note from Virginia's Provisional Governor
Stearns acquired what had once been the Planter's Bank Building on Richmond's Main Street, and in 1868 erected rental housing and commercial office space, which was nicknamed the
In 1869, Stearns traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with General Grant, provisional governor Henry H. Wells, fellow Conservative Republican Gilbert C. Walker of Norfolk and the Committee of Nine to discuss the future political status of Confederate veterans.[12] Many with more Confederate involvement than Stearns had also received pardons and restoration of their civil rights after surrendering and signing loyalty oaths. However, Virginia needed to adopt a new state Constitution (without the slavery provisions of the 1851 constitution) in order to be readmitted to the Union. The Constitutional Convention of 1868-69 drafted a new constitution pending voter approval, which contained a highly controversial provision barring former Confederates from holding office. Upon General Grant's recommendation after the meetings, occupying General John Schofield permitted Virginia's voters (of all races) to vote separately on the constitution (which passed overwhelmingly) and the disenfranchisement provision (which failed). However, over the next decades, the former Confederates then enacted Jim Crow laws which disenfranchised the former slaves.
Death and legacy
Stearns died in Richmond on June 10, 1888, survived by his sons Zenus Stearns and Franklin Stearns Jr. (who had nine children) and three grandchildren by his daughter Irena Louisa Stearns Halsey. Franklin Stearns was buried in
His grandson Franklin Stearns III continued the family's business, and married the daughter of prominent lawyer James W. Green (also the niece of West Virginia Supreme Court justice
References
- ^ Confederate Applications for Presidential Pardons 1865-1867
- ^ Wagenen, Avis Stearns Van (7 September 2018). "Stearns Genealogy and Memoirs". Courier Press Company. Retrieved 7 September 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Franklin Stearns/Caroline Virginia Willey". Ronulrich.com. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ "Irene Louise Stearns, b: 1854 -". Thesorensens.net. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- )
- ^ Pardon application dated July 15, 1865, available at Ancestry.com
- ^ "The Henrico Citizen". The Henrico Citizen. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
- ^ U.S. Pardons under Amnesty Proclamations, Vol. 9
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The General Assembly of Virginia: July 30, 1619-January 11, 1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. 501 and n.1
- ^ Archivist, Nicole Kappatos, Newsroom Researcher and. "Country living with a city view—Historic Tree Hill Farm". Retrieved 7 September 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Van Wageren p. 461
- ^ Allen W. Moger, Virginia: Bourbonism to Byrd: 1870-1925 (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1968) p. 9
- ISBN 9780807845707. Retrieved 7 September 2018 – via Google Books.