york county and Poquoson's Forgotten History

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Early Twentieth Century Yorktown
Yorktown has had a long event filled history. From its founding in 1691 to the present there has been times when Yorktown has been on the world stage. We are all familiar with the 1781 Battle of Yorktown and most know about Yorktown’s role in the Civil War.
What about Yorktown in the twentieth century? While nothing as monumental as the Revolution or the Civil War occurred here at the time, there were many events that were of a great deal of interest.
Generally after the Civil War, Yorktown was mainly just the county seat of York County. There were some hotels and the roads and streets were dirt. These were reduced to sticky mud after rainstorms.
Yorktown was sparsely populated. It was a shadow of its pre-Revolutionary glory. Two wars and a major fire in 1814 had taken its toll on the town.
In 1881, there was a centennial celebration of the victory at Yorktown. It was during this celebration that the Yorktown Victory Monument was dedicated. This was the first public appearance by President Chester A. Arthur. He had just recently taken office after the assassination of President James Garfield.
Things began to change during World War I. The Navy bought the Halstead’s Point and built the Naval Mine Depot. This is now the Naval Weapons Station. During World War I, Yorktown was the headquarters and home of the United States Atlantic Fleet.
Many old time residents remember the brightly-lighted ships anchored in the York River.
Then came the 1920’s and people had big plans for Yorktown.
In 1922, Yorktown first got electrical power. In 1924, D.W.Griffith filmed part of his Revolutionary War epic "America" in Yorktown.
Because of its location and history, Yorktown had the prospect of becoming a major resort. The battlefield was turned into a golf course and construction began on a large hotel was being planned for the area that is now the Visitor’s Center.
The stock market crash came and soon the depression followed.
Plans for the resort and hotel went under.
This opened the door for the United States Park Service. During the early 1900’s, there was interest in buying parts of Yorktown and turning it into a national park. This finally came to past in the early 1930’s. By 1935, the park service had bought most of the Yorktown area. This included the hotel sight.
In 1931 there was a sesquicentennial celebration for the 150^th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown. This was the largest event of its kind to take place in the area to date.
On August 23, 1933, much of the Yorktown waterfront was destroyed in a major hurricane. The tide was five feet over Water Street. The waterfront was placed under a form of martial law after the storm subsided. The Park Service tried to get the local businessmen to rebuild their businesses in a colonial style.
The only business to rebuild in this way was the Old Bay Line steamship office. This building became the Yorktown post office and is still standing.
During the 1930’s the Park Service began the process of changing
Yorktown’s appearance to that of the 1781 time period. Excavations were done on the battlefield and various parts of Yorktown. These produced many interesting and unusual artifacts.
A skeleton was unearthed from the sight of the Swan Tavern with pipe clutched in its hands. The excavations were for items from the Revolutionary War and unfortunately many Civil War artifacts were discarded.
It was a very interesting time in Yorktown during the 1930’s. In 1932, the first plans for a bridge between Yorktown and Gloucester was being planned. The Park Service was originally against the bridge due to the fact it might have been an anachronism to its plans for Yorktown. In 1935, Yorktown was the sight of a high profile murder trial.
As the 1930’s came to a close and the 1940’s dawned, Yorktown was again affected by world events.
The first major story of the 1940’s was the courthouse fire of New Years Eve 1940. The interior of the courthouse was almost entirely gutted. Court was held in the USO building and the Masonic Lodge. A new courthouse was built in 1955.
Soon things in Yorktown were change on December 7,1941.

　From York County’s Historical Attic
This section of the newsletter some news stories from York County that occurred in various times during the twentieth century.
In March of 1929, restoration work began on the Yorktown Customs House. Comte de Grasse Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution hoped to have the restoration complete in time for the Yorktown Sesquicentennial in October of 1931
In March of 1939, the Dare-Grafton PTA held its monthly meeting at the school. Miss Neva Burcher’s first grade glass provided the program. The Twenty-Third was recited by Alberta Gibbs and Tommy Green. " Jesus Loves Me" was performed by a group of children. A final song was performed by David Amory after which the President, Mrs. Howard Burcher, called the meeting to order.In March of 1949, the York County Board of Supervisors voted to instruct the company of Williams, Colis and Blanchard of Newport News to complete plans and specifications to construct a new courthouse to replace the courthouse that was destroyed by fire on December 30, 1940. World War II caused plans to build the new courthouse on hold. In fact, just days before Pearl Harbor, Congressman Otis Bland was in Washington trying to procure funds for the

York County Civil War Stories

In her book " Yorktown as I knew it" Lucy Hudgins O’Hara tells of the Union occupation of her grandfather’s farm in Ship Point. The Union soldiers arrived shortly after the Confederates abandoned their works there. Her grandfather, Thomas Hudgins was taken prisoner in hopes of getting information from him on Confederate troop movements. He was released a short time later. John C. Wade’s father was also taken prisoner by the Federals. The Union troops established a telegraph post in the upstairs of the Hudgins home. Lucy’s father, Theopholus Trimyer Hudgins was nine years old at the time and would throw sticks at the window of the telegraph office. This created quite a racket. Finally the irritated telegrapher came to the window and shouted "Get away from here you little rebel.
During a recent visit, Thelma Hanford told these the following stories. The Union soldiers were not always hospitable guests. They would often help themselves to whatever they would find at local homes and farms. One day some Union troops wanted to help themselves to some chickens from Lizzie (Dawson) Slaight’s coop. She had warned them not to steal her chicken, but they continued on. As they entered the coop, she started swinging a hoe at them and they finally left. One story that Thelma passed on to me was about a young girl who was wearing a hat given to her by one of the :"Louisiana Cutthroats" and would walk around the Union troops saying how she wanted to "kill Yankees". This made the troops angry and an officer told her mother, that if she did not stop, they would burn down her house. Young Columbus Ironmonger found things more perilous when he tried to cross the pontoon bridge from Crab Neck to Fish Neck. As he started across the bridge, Union troops started firing at him. He jumped off the bridge and swam to the shore and ran home. When he got home, he promptly fainted.
One final story involves Elizabeth (Presson) Smith. Knowing that the Federal troops had a history of stealing anything not bolted down. This included personal possessions. She had had some gold coins and did not wish to contribute them to any Union soldier. She sewed the coin into her petty coat. The coins remained safe and are still in the family.
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
The people of York County had a front row seat for "recent unpleasantness" of 1861-1865. For most of this time, York County behind enemy lines, occupied by the Union Army. The interaction of the Union soldiers and the people of York County became the subject of stories that were passed from one generation to the next. Here are a few of the York County Civil War stories that I have come across over the years. Some are from my family and other York County families.

York County and Poquoson History-Decade by Decade
By
Frank Green
It’s been a while since I have written one of these articles. I have had a lot of people say that they enjoy reading them. They are fun and interesting to put together. So, here goes:
In March of 1905, candidate for Governor Claude Swanson and candidate for Senator A.J. Montague held a rally in Yorktown during the opening term of the Circuit Court in York County. The Hampton Telephone Company began a preliminary inspection in York County for the purpose of possibly beginning telephone service in the county. York County delivered on a pledge of $150. 00 towards a memorial at the Big Bethel battlefield.
In March of 1915, many friends and associates of Judge C.H. Teagle urged him to run for the House of Delegates. It had been many years since a York County native served in this body. Sheriff Thomas Phillips was in bad health and elderly and decided not run for re-election for sheriff. This began a heated contest for the nomination for the office.
In March of 1925, federal, state and local law-enforcement officers raided a still at the "Shady Bank farm’. They found a 100-gallon copper still, 300 gallons of mash and about five gallons of finished liquor. Officers conducting the raid were York County deputy sheriff J.H. Charles, federal agents O’Rourke, Magee and Burgess and state officers Sidney Smith and Paxton. The still was well hidden, but it was given away by a heavy "corn smell" The still tenders were charged with violation of prohibition and taken to the Warwick county jail.
In March of 1935, an agreement was signed by York County with the Eastern Construction Company of New York to rebuild the dock that was the destroyed in the August 1933 hurricane. The headquarters for the Colonial National Monument in Yorktown was moved the newly reconstructed Swan Tavern.
In March of 1945, the York County Red Cross began sending some of its workers to special classes to learn to deal with the needs of returning World War II veterans. York County servicemen were very pleased with the services that were provided them by the Red Cross. A large forest fire burned some 300 acres in the Seaford area. Fire fighters from the Naval Weapons station and Camp Peary were called to fight the fire.
In March of 1955, the M.W.Kellogg Co. of New York received a multi-million dollar contract to build the "core" of the new American Oil refinery. The entire facility was estimated to cost $35 million. Construction was due to begin on August 1, 1955. The State board of Education approved the separation of the York County and Poquoson School systems from that of Warwick County.
In March of 1965,the York County School Board filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to operate a FM radio station at York High School. The Poquoson Town Council rejected a call to abolish the town’s special school district. The final vote was 3-2. Had the motion passed it would have called for Poquoson schools to return to York County control. The York County post master announced that the Dare and Hornsbyville Post Offices were going to be closed. He said that Dare and Hornsbyville residents would be served by Rural Free Delivery.
In March of 1975, Poquoson City Council approved a resolution calling for the York County Circuit to declare the town a city. Bishop Sullivan of the Richmond Diocese dedicated the new parish center for St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church.
In March of 1985, final approval was made for tax-free revenue bonds that would have made the long planned 8.9 million-dollar Washington Square Shopping Shopping Center a reality by early 1986.
In March of 1995, Prentice Smiley was sworn in as Ninth Judicial Court Judge.
　

William "Bill" Watkins

I only met Bill Watkins once. I had put a request in the Yorktown Crier/Poquoson Post for World War II veterans to interview for a project that I was working on. He called and told me that he would like to get together with me and tell me of his experiences in the war. One afternoon a couple of months ago, I did get the privilege of spending two hours with him.
William Watkins was born and raised in Poquoson. He was twelve years old when the August 23, 1933 hurricane decimated the area. He lived in the Messick area and remembered having seventeen windows knocked out of his second story of his home by floating fence posts.
His best friend was John Forrest. John joined the Marine Corps and was later killed at Iwo Jima.
He graduated from Poquoson High School in 1940. He went to work in the shipyard and was married his wife Dot the week before Pearl Harbor.
On December 7, 1941 William Watkins was working and it was there that he received word of the Japanese attack. He remembered someone selling newspapers at the intersection of 38^th Street and Washington Ave. with the headlines of the attack.
He talked about the fear that the local people had after Pearl Harbor. There was a real fear of Germans landing in submarines. He watched for airplanes at the old Claytor Rollins funeral home.
He was joined the Army on June 17^th 1943. He met Major Krause at the post office at West Avenue in Newport News. He wanted to be an aviation cadet and passed the test for that position.
He reported to Camp Lee for induction and stayed there for about ten days. He then reported to Miami as an aviation cadet. He wanted the fly the P-52s "so bad, I could taste it" He was in a group of about 500 other cadets. Most could not swim, but Bill passed the test and was made a swimming instructor. He stayed in the water too long and got an ear infection. He woke one morning and noticed a discharge on his pillow and showed to the doctor and was "kicked out" of the aviation cadets.
Bill was then sent to a school in Illinois and then to school in Tampa Florida. He soon received word that he was placed on the replacement lists to go overseas. He then reported to the a replacement camp in North Carolina. From there he went of a troop train to Camp Miles Standish in Thornton Massachusetts.
Soon he was on a troop ship sailing for England. They landed at Liverpool. It was there that he got his first view of the war as he saw the damage from German bombs to the city.
He then to took a train to High Green in the southern part of England. It was there that he was assigned to the 834^th Engineers.
He boarded an LST in Southampton Harbor as part of the Normandy invasion fleet. He noted that many of those ships were built at Newport News shipyard.
He went ashore at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. It was D-Day. He that the scene was like the movie "Saving Private Ryan" but worse. He remembered seeing someone drag another person by the hand from the line of fire only to have the rest of his body stay behind.
William Watkins’ unit later became attached to General Patton’s 3^rd Army.
They went constantly moving forward in France. He was strafed by the German air force. He was at the famous bridge at Remagan.
He participated in the Battle of the Bulge. He remembers this time as being "cold, cold. cold." He saw people literally freezing to death.
William Watkins was there when Dachau was liberated and described the disturbing scenes of the death camps. " If someone says that the Holocaust did not happen, they don’t what there are talking about. I saw it"
He was in Czechoslovakia when the war ended. He remembered a sergeant coming by and announcing that the war was over.
He then returned to France and lived in a tent city with thousands of other soldiers. While they were still elated over the victory over the Germans, they knew that being transferred to the Pacific loomed in the future. Harry Truman dropped the atomic bomb, ending the war and saving thousands of American lives.
Bill Watkins did not have to go to the Pacific. Like millions of other American servicemen, who were lucky enough to survive the war, he came home and resumed his life and raised a family. He came back from overseas in 1945. He returned to the shipyard, but after a year of so, he became a bricklayer.

Some Notes about the Yorktown-Williamsburg Halfway House
With the Sesquicentennial Committee’s upcoming search for the Yorktown-Williamsburg Halfway, I thought it would be interesting to try to find out more about that place.
I was pleasantly surprised to find information from some local sources as well as the Internet.
The best information that I was able to find was a footnote to a letter from the " Custis Letterbook" written to Mark Catesby in 1730. The letter is the possession of the American Antiquarian Society. I contacted them and they quickly sent me a copy. I also used the Swem Index and Google book search as well Revolutionary War and Civil War records.
Charles Hansford first built the Halfway House around 1670. Charles was the brother of Major John Hansford, who was hanged as result of his participation in Bacon’s Rebellion. It remained in the Hansford family until 1838.
It was originally called the "French Ordinary" No one is quite sure how it got that name. It served as the Courthouse of York County from 1681 to 1697.
The Antiquarian Society’s footnotes indicate that it was built at a point on a ridge between the head of King’s Creek and the head of the western branch of Felgate’s creek, this branch was also known as the "Black Swamp" Union Civil War records state it was on the " Telegraph Road" which is more commonly called "Old York Road" between Williamsburg and Yorktown. The Union records also state that is was about 5 miles from Yorktown and about 4 miles from the Whittaker House.
The Halfway House was the point where the Washington’s Army and the French Army separated in route to Yorktown. It is shown on the French Army’s 1781 campaign map. It is mentioned several times in Civil War records as a reference point for troop movements towards the Williamsburg area from Yorktown.
In 1838, Charles Hansford sold the " Halfway House Tract" to Lucius Cary. Cary died in 1840, I have not been able to tract to property any further.
In a 2002 reply to the Hansford family Gedcom Sight, Dr. William Hansford states the house was used as an officers club on the Naval Mine Depot until 1929, when it was burned down. He further stated that the sight is now known as " the Hole" as nothing remains but the basement. He also noted that there were some old tombstones near the house that were overgrown. He received special permission to visit the area and was given a brick from the house. He also said he had an etching of the old house.
This is about all that I have found out about the Yorktown-Williamsburg Halfway so far. I hope to find out more soon.