Contributor

The Old Stone House is considered one of the oldest houses in the state of West Virginia. Richard Morgan, believed to be one of the earliest settlers in the county, received two grants for a total of 500 acres on October 7, 1734. He built the Old Stone House, a 1.5-story structure built from rubble fieldstone with dormers and end chimneys, that same year. Morgan sold a parcel of land to Thomas Shepherd, who eventually established Shepherdstown, but also continued to acquire land. By 1768 Richard Morgan and his sons owned more than four thousand acres.Morgan called the property Falling Springs after the many springs on and around the estate. The original house was constructed near one of these springs and just off a pre-Revolutionary wagon path. In 1745, Morgan built a second one-story house; this would become the first section of Poplar Grove/Rosebrake. Richard Morgan served as a captain during the French and Indian War recruiting troops, defending the area from Native raids, and marching with a company to Fort Cumberland to support General Braddock.Richard Morgan died in 1763 and willed about 2,500 acres to members of his family in his will.

Richard Morgan's 1734 Land Grant for 290 Acres 

More Info

Richard Morgan's 1734 Land Grant for 210 Acres

National Register of Historic Places: Falling Spring Complex

National Register of Historic Places: Morgan's Grove Historic District

Richard Morgan acquired a land grant of 500 acres in 1734 and built this stone house the same year. It is considered one of the oldest houses in the state and it was the beginning of the Morgan family's dominance over the area. Several nearby homes were built by his children and grandchildren, now an area known as Morgan's Grove. The Old Stone House was included with Falling Spring on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 and the entire Morgan's Grove was designated a Historic District in 1999.

Richard Morgan's Old Stone House

Morgan's Grove Historic District covers the land once owned by early settler Richard Morgan and his family. The structures and property within the Historic District include history related to the colonial period, Revolutionary War, Civil War, and later transportation, literary and artistic, and community developments. 

Morgan's Grove Historic District

The Old Stone House is considered one of the oldest houses in the state of West Virginia. Richard Morgan, believed to be one of the earliest settlers in the county, received two grants for a total of 500 acres on October 7, 1734. He built the Old Stone House, a 1.5-story structure built from rubble fieldstone with dormers and end chimneys, that same year. Morgan sold a parcel of land to Thomas Shepherd, who eventually established Shepherdstown, but also continued to acquire land. By 1768 Richard Morgan and his sons owned more than four thousand acres. Morgan called the property Falling Springs after the many springs on and around the estate. The original house was constructed near one of these springs and just off a pre-Revolutionary wagon path. In 1745, Morgan built a second one-story house; this would become the first section of Poplar Grove/Rosebrake. Richard Morgan served as a captain during the French and Indian War recruiting troops, defending the area from Native raids, and marching with a company to Fort Cumberland to support General Braddock. Richard Morgan died in 1763 and willed about 2,500 acres to members of his family in his will.

Richard Morgan’s grandson, Jacob Morgan, built Falling Spring by 1837. Before settling here, he was a merchant in Alexandria, VA and owned several trading vessels. Both of Morgan’s wives, Anne Harris Thompson who he married in 1812 (died 1816) and Mary Jaquelin Smith who he married in 1826, were from Alexandria and Jacob Morgan was listed on the 1820 census as living in that city. When Jacob Morgan returned to the Shepherdstown area he built the new house close to his grandfather’s original home, became involved in local politics, and was a farmer that owned seven slaves. Falling Spring is a 2.5-story brick and limestone structure covered in white stucco. The house has a total of four floors of rooms. On the north side, fourteen-foot-wide stairs lead to a large porch. Ionic pillars hold up a triangular pediment with a lunette and a second-floor balcony is also sheltered under the porch roof. A second porch on the south side also features Ionic columns. The main structure is constructed in the Federal style, but the two porches give Falling Spring a Neo-Classical Revival appearance. After Jacob Morgan died in 1855, his eldest son William inherited Falling Spring. William A. Morgan served in the Confederate cavalry for the duration of the Civil War. He enlisted in 1861 in Company F in the 1st Virginia Cavalry. Known as the “Shepherdstown Troop” the company had been in existence before the war and had responded to John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859. After the company was mustered in to Confederate service William Morgan was elected captain of the company and he was promoted through the ranks to Colonel by the end of the war. The 1st Virginia was engaged in every major campaign with the Army of Northern Virginia from First Manassas to Appomattox. At Appomattox Morgan and his men decided to break away and not surrender with the rest of Robert E. Lee’s army. Instead, the disbanded at Lynchburg and were paroled in Winchester on April 21, 1865. After the war, William Morgan served as a delegate to the constitutional convention for West Virginia and as deputy Sheriff for Jefferson County. He also started the Ashby Memorial Association after the war. After William Morgan died in 1899, Falling Spring was sold out of the family to Dr. M. H. Crawford. The Crawfords added the Japanese garden before they sold the house to Dr. G. Morrison in 1927. After this, the house went through several owners, some of the later owners making alterations to the structure. The individual Falling Springs National Register of Historic Places nomination includes the brick home, two springs, and the home’s dependences. Morgan’s Spring is covered by an old stone springhouse and the Bubbling Spring is within the remaining foundation of what used to be a springhouse. The dependencies include a meat house, Japanese Garden, garage, and cottage. The individual listing for Falling Spring also includes the original Richard Morgan Old Stone House nearby. The larger Historic District includes the area between Falling Spring and Route 480. Starting in the 1840s Route 480 was the Shepherdstown to Smithfield Turnpike and a toll house was built near the intersection of 480 and Morgan’s Grove Road. The toll road operated from the 1840s to the early 1900s and the building functioned as a toll house and residence for the toll keeper until the 1950s when the house became a private residence. The building no longer stands, but the foundations remain. In the 1870s the Shenandoah Valley Railroad built a route through West Virginia and it went through the Morgan property. A small rail station was constructed where Morgan’s Grove Road (built sometime between 1809 and 1852) and the train tracks intersected. These additions caused many of the original farm lanes to the Morgan houses to be rerouted off of Morgan’s Grove Road instead of 480 to avoid multiple private crossings over the tracks. Starting in 1885 a Shepherdstown organization wanted to hold an agricultural, mechanical, and livestock exhibition, a popular trend of entertainment in the period. Col. William Morgan offered his property as the location for the first fair in September 1885. The fair on Morgan’s property became an annual affair that thousands of people attended. The railroad built an additional switch to the fairgrounds and sold excursion tickets to fairgoers. In 1889 the Morgan’s Grove Agricultural Association bought the neighboring Fountain Rock property and moved the fair ground buildings there, although the fairs typically also used Derr Field still owned by Morgan. The fairs ran from 1885 to 1931, after which they were no longer community-run and started to fail (also due to the impact of the Depression). In 1932 the Pack Horse Ford Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution erected a monument to commemorate the Bee Line March. Originally the monument stood on Route 480 near the 1730s entrance to Falling Spring, the nearest access point to the spring where the men rendezvoused and marched from in 1775. The monument has since been moved and is located near the entrance of Elmwood Cemetery just a short distance down 480 from the original spot.

Falling Spring is one building in the complex known as Morgan's Grove, completed in 1837. Morgan's Grove was settled by Richard Morgan in 1730, with Richard's grandson Jacob Morgan constructing Falling Spring in 1837. His eldest son, William Morgan, inherited Falling Spring and served in the 1st Virginia Cavalry during the Civil War. The property was the site of several community changes after the Civil War, including a railroad station and community agricultural fair. The building remained in the Morgan family until 1904, when it was sold to Dr. M. H. Crawford. It was be added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Falling Spring (Morgan's Grove)

Rosebrake was known as Poplar Grove until 1877 and on the National Register of Historic Places it is named the “Morgan-Bedinger-Dandridge House.” The structure was constructed in three phases. The first section was built by Richard Morgan in 1745, the second home he constructed on his land grant. This was a one-story white lath and plaster building, later called the “back building” in the larger house. The next construction phase was under Richard Morgan’s grandson, Daniel Morgan. Daniel Morgan lived at Poplar Grove between 1803 and 1833 and added a two-story brick structure using the original cabin as a kitchen wing. This brick addition was called the “Great House” and had four main rooms plus an attic and cellar. The brick was painted a cream color and Daniel Morgan also had formal gardens and landscaping laid out for the grounds. Morgan was a member of the first County Court, was Sheriff of Jefferson County (1819-1821), and represented the county in the Virginia House of Delegates for seven terms. He also hosted the fifty-year reunion for the Bee Line March at Poplar Grove in 1825. Caroline Lawrence Bedinger purchased Poplar Grove in 1859. The Bedingers were another prominent settler family alongside the Morgans and the families had intermarried in previous generations. Henry Bedinger II and his brothers had marched in the Bee Line March in 1775 from Morgan’s Spring. Caroline Lawrence married Henry Bedinger III in 1847, a two-term U.S. Representative and Minister to Denmark (1853-1858). Henry Bedinger died soon after returning from Denmark and his widow settled at Poplar Grove with their children. She constructed the third and final section of the home, now considered the main section. This addition is a two-story masonry block construction with a Greek Revival style entrance which shifted the main entrance of Poplar Grove from the second building to the new western face. Originally a one-story veranda stretched the full length of the western side of the home. The current Classic two-story portico with Doric columns and triangular pediment was shipped from Long Island and added to the house in 1950. A two-tiered porch on the back of Rosebrake was also brought from New York at that time. Popular Grove was renamed Rosebrake by Henry and Caroline Bedinger’s daughter, Danske Bedinger Dandridge. Dandridge was born in Denmark in 1854 when her father was Minister and she married Adam Stephen Dandridge III in 1877. She wrote poetry and loved studying botany and nature. When she wrote to horticultural magazines, she usually used the heading “Letters from Rose Brake” and she added many trees and plants to the estate’s grounds. Her collected poems were published in “Joy and Other Poems” and “Rosebrake,” and she published many individual pieces in literary magazines. Danske Dandridge was also a local historian and wrote Historic Shepherdstown in 1910. Her husband, Adam S. Dandridge served in the WV House of Delegates for three terms (1891-1897). After Danske Dandridge’s death in 1914 two daughter, Serena Dandridge, and niece Nina Mitchell, lived in Rosebrake for several decades until the Snyder family acquired the property in 1970. Both S. Dandridge and Mitchell were prominent local artists.

Known as Poplar Grove until renamed in the 1870s to Rosebreak, the home was constructed in three phases between 1745 and 1859. Started by original settler Richard Morgan, it has been home to the notable Morgan and Bedinger families. In addition, local poet and historian Dandridge called Rosebrake home for much of her life. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It is part of Morgan's Grove, which was designated a Historic District in 1999.

Rosebrake/Poplar Grove

Richard Morgan’s son, William Morgan, built Springdale in 1760 while he was helping his father farm the property. The current property includes the original house and outbuildings as well as many of the original stone walls. William Morgan was the eldest son of Richard Morgan and he served in the Revolutionary War along with several other family members. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 local militias began drilling in preparation for coming action. The call for men to join the Continental Army came in June 1775 and the Continental Congress requested two companies of one hundred men from Virginia. Two companies were quickly organized by the following month, one by Captain Hugh Stephenson of Shepherdstown and the other by Captain Daniel Morgan of Winchester. Colonel William Morgan hosted a patriotic barbeque on the Morgan property before the men left for Boston with food and song. On July 17, 1775, the companies left for Boston and marched 600 miles in 24 days; this march was called the Bee Line March and the two Virginia companies were the first from the south to join Washington’s forces at Boston. Morgan’s Spring was the starting point for the Shepherdstown company, and they marched from the spring past Springdale to start their march. Part of the original route on the property is lined with trees and stone walls. In 1932, the Daughters of the Revolution erected a monument to commemorate the Bee Line March; this monument has been moved to the Elmwood Cemetery on Rt. 480.

Springdale was constructed by the eldest son of Richard Morgan, William Morgan. It was William Morgan that hosted a patriotic barbeque for Captain Hugh Stephenson's company of men before they set off on the Bee Line March to Boston in 1775. Springdale is part of Morgan's Grove, designated as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Springdale

Dr. Henry Boteler (related to the Morgan family through marriage) built Fountain Rock in 1831 near a spring known as Fountain Spring. The two-story limestone house had ten rooms, was covered in stucco, and had a two-story columned porch. When Boteler passed in 1836, his son Alexander Robinson Boteler inherited Fountain Rock and the 200-acre farm, plus a cement mill near Shepherdstown. A. R. Boteler was a progressive agriculturalist and experimented with several crops and orchards on the Fountain Rock property. In the 1850s he was in high demand as a speaker on agricultural topics and was president of the Jefferson County Agricultural Society. In a financial blow, Boteler lost half of the estate in 1852 and the same year he became involved in Whig Politics. He was elected to Congress representing Virginia in 1859 and then elected to the Virginia legislature in 1861. He did not take this later seat, however, due to the start of the Civil War. Initially he advocated for remaining with the Union and protecting slavery, but once Virginia seceded he joined the Confederacy. During the war Boteler served as an aid to both Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and J. E. B. Stuart, served in the Confederate Congress, helped design the Great Seal of the Confederacy, and served as a military judge on the staff of Robert E. Lee. Due to its location at the top of the Shenandoah Valley, Fountain Rock and the rest of Morgan’s Grove saw a lot of action during the Civil War. This included the travel of troops from both armies, several skirmishes, and encampments on the property. Boteler and his family suffered almost total property loss during the war, due to its location and his position within the Confederacy. In 1861, shortly after Union forces arrested Boteler at his home and held him temporarily at a Union headquarters across the Potomac, the Union burned his cement mill in Shepherdstown. It is possible that the house was used as a hospital after the 1862 Battle of Antietam. The farmlands at Fountain Rock were destroyed by troops marching and encamping, as well as neglect and lack of workers. Boteler’s slaves all fled to the Union lines for freedom by mid-1863. In 1864, Union General David Hunter gave orders in Harpers Ferry to burn several local estates in retaliation for Confederate General Jubal Early burning the Maryland governor’s mansion during his raid towards Washington, D.C. Under these orders Captain William Martindale and a detachment of the 1st New York Cavalry burned the home of Andrew Hunter in Charles Town, Fountain Rock, and Bedford, the estate of Henrietta Bedinger and Edmund Jennings Lee. When Union troops torched Fountain Rock it was occupied by Boteler’s two daughters and three grandchildren. One of the sisters sadly played her piano as the soldiers set the house on fire and then evacuated. Fountain Rock was never rebuilt and Boteler quickly sold the destroyed mill property. He turned his attention towards industrial projects, such as bringing the telegraph and railroad to Shepherdstown, and continued to travel as a speaker on agricultural and Confederate topics. In 1876 President Grant appointed Boteler to the U.S. Centennial Commission and later he worked for the U.S. Tariff Commission and as a Pardon Clerk in the U.S. Department of Justice. He was also a founder of Shepherd College. Between 1873 and 1877 Col. Boteler occupied nearby Poplar Grove (Rosebrake) owned by Caroline Bedinger. In 1889 the Morgan’s Grove Agricultural Association bought the Fountain Rock property to use as the grounds for an increasingly popular agricultural fair that had begun in 1885 on the neighboring Morgan/Falling Spring property. The annual fair was held between 1885 and the early 1930s. The ruins of Fountain Rock stood until around the turn of the century when parts of the stone walls were used as a foundation for a dance pavilion. During the Great Depression the fairs began to fail, and the property was purchased by P. P. Steptoe. In 1961 the Shepherdstown Men’s Club purchased twenty acres of the property for a community park, now Morgan’s Gove Park. A new pavilion was built on the site of Fountain Rock in 1982, although remains of the stone foundation do remain. Near the current pavilion is an original stonewall with original steps leading to the springhouse. The wall, steps, and stone springhouse are survivors from the Fountain Rock estate.

A two-story home known as Fountain Rock stood here between 1831 and 1864, home to the Boteler family and part of Morgan's Grove. The estate saw activity during the Civil War, with troops skirmishing and encamping on and around the grounds. In 1864 Fountain Rock was burned to the ground by Union forces and never rebuilt. After the war, the property was used as a fairgrounds and then purchased for the current community park. 

Fountain Rock/Morgan's Grove Park

During the last half of the eighteenth century, British actions relating to the frontier region of their North American Colonies fostered the development of a collective American identity within those colonies. At the outset of the French and Indian War, colonial assemblies were asked to supply troops for the defense of the Empire. An Empire that was in part represented by their sister colonies. British commanders rejected colonial advice regarding the development of Native allies and dismissed Native overtures toward assistance against the French. British officials came to dismiss colonial participation in the effort, concerning not only the global war but also the North American theater. For many colonists the war’s outcome was troubling. Colonists who, considered themselves Englishmen, assisted the Empire in acquiring great lands, lands to which the Crown restricted their access. The Proclamation Line of 1763 was not well received in the colonies. British leaders continued to provoke the anger of many colonists over the next twelve years. A serious of attempts failed to establish British tighter control of the colonies. To the colonies, British political reactions to the French and Indian War were an attempt to render them as subjects, not as citizens. Eventually these acts moved the various colonies to act together to resist British efforts.    In 1775, as the Continental Congress still tried to negotiate with Parliament and the King, the first military engagement of the Revolution occurred. The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 sparked a movement of colonial militia men towards Boston where the British forces were centered. Even though war was not yet officially declared, the news of armed conflict was passed rapidly through the colonies by resistance organizations and newspapers. According to local historian Danske Dandridge, news of Lexington and Concord reached Shepherdstown (then called Mecklenburg, VA) on May 10 and men began drilling in town in preparation. Even before the news of Lexington and Concord reached western Virginia, members of the local militia were mobilized within the state. On April 21, 1775 Virginia’s governor Lord Dunmore ordered fifteen barrels of gunpowder removed from the magazine at Williamsburg, the state’s capital. This was done by British sailors in the middle of the night and, like the events near Boston, enraged local citizens. News of this reached Shepherdstown before news of the events in Lexington and Concord, and Michael Bedinger wrote after the war that he and George Morgan marched to Fredericksburg to join militia forces there, but returned home after the gunpowder issue was resolved on May 3. On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress approved the establishment of the Continental Army and commissioned George Washington as Commander in Chief a few days later. Congress called for two companies of 100 men from Virginia for one year of service. Within a week two companies were recruited, one by Hugh Stephenson at Shepherdstown and one by Daniel Morgan in Winchester. Prior to the men’s departure, Colonel William Morgan hosted Stephenson’s men for a patriotic barbeque on his property. On July 17, 1775 Stephenson’s company met at Morgan’s Spring (at Falling Spring) and departed for the 600-mile march to Boston. Dressed in home-made frontier clothing, with buck tails tied to their hats, and moccasins on their feet these men were the symbols of the colonial frontier. Each man was outfitted with a new long-rifle made by Shepherdstown gunsmiths Henry and Philip Sheetz. The two Virginia companies were scheduled to meet at Frederick to march together the rest of the way; however, Morgan decided not to wait for Stephenson, creating a bit of a race to be the first to Boston. As Stephenson’s men attempted to catch and pass Morgan, their feat became known as the Bee-Line March to Cambridge. These men covered 600 miles in 24 days arriving at Cambridge on Friday August 11, 1775. According to the journal of Henry Bedinger, George Washington and General Gates reviewed the company upon its arrival. Hugh Stephenson was promoted to rank of Colonel and died of an illness in 1776. Command of the regiment was given to Colonel Rawlings. On November 16, 1776, the regiment was captured at Fort Washington. The unit, including Henry Bedinger, was imprisoned for nearly four years. Over the course of the Revolution Mecklenburg (now Shepherdstown) raised seven companies to fight in the war. In June 1825 Daniel Morgan (not related to the Daniel Morgan who mustered the 1775 Winchester company) hosted a fifty year reunion for Stephenson’s men at Poplar Grove. Only five of the original company were still living, and only two (Henry and Michael Bedinger) made it to the reunion. A few other veterans of the Revolution also attended the event. In 1932 the Pack Horse Ford Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument to commemorate the 1775 Beeline March and the 1825 Reunion. Originally the stone monument was erected on Route 480 besides the original entrance to Richard Morgan’s Falling Spring. In 2012, the monument was moved to a safer location just inside the entrance of Elmwood Cemetery and rededicated by the same chapter of the D.A.R. This marker is included as part of the Morgan’s Grove Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a second monument commemorating the Beeline March located in Morgan’s Grove Park less than a mile down Route 480. This was dedicated in 1988 by the Secretary of the Army.

In 1775, in response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Continental Congress established the Continental Army under George Washington and called for companies of militiamen. They called for two company from Virginia, which were quickly formed at Shepherdstown and Winchester. The Shepherdstown company was organized under Hugh Stephenson in June 1775. Before departing, Colonel William Morgan of Springdale held a patriotic barbeque for the men. On July 17, 1775 Stephenson's company met at Morgan's Spring and marched 600 miles in 24 days to join Washington's forces at Boston. This monument was erected in 1932 by the Daughters of the American Revolution to commemorate the "Beeline March."

Morgan's Grove Historic District

Richard Morgan's Old Stone House

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information