York County and Poquoson in World War IIToday I am going to talk to you about York County and Poquoson during the years 1941 to 1945. These were the World War II years.
To me this was a fascinating time in our history. We pulled together for a common cause. With the exception of a few months after September 11, this is something that we really have not seen since then.
The people of this era have been called the greatest generation. That is certainly justified. These people suffered through the depression and then were called upon to make further sacrifices to win in a war against a determined and evil enemy. In short these people saved the world.
When I started collecting material for this project over two years ago, I thought I was the first person to consider a history of York County in World War II. It was just recently that I found out that I had a predecessor in taking on this task. I found that author and historian Helen Jones Campbell had began to prepare a history of this time many years ago. The York County Board of Supervisors appointed her to write the history of World War II in York County. This was to be a part of overall project by the Virginia World War II History Commission to record the war history of various cities and counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is an example of the book written about Newport News during the war years. Mrs. Campbell did finish a manuscript and sent it in to the commission for reviewing. So far I as know it was never published. I have spoken with three of her grandchildren and they are not familiar with this work. However her papers are available in the Swem Library at the College of William and Mary. I have spent many hours looking through her notes and they have helped me greatly in preparation of this presentation. She will be kind of looking over my shoulder because of the fact I am going to often refer what she has written about a certain instance that she witnessed during the war years.
Without going into a great deal of detail, I am going to tell you a little about Helen Campbell. She was born in Iowa and educated at Iowa Normal School, which is now the University of Northern Iowa. She became a journalist and moved to Washington D.C. during World War I. It was shortly after the war when she met and married Robert Campbell. They moved to Hampton during the mid-1930s. She later moved to Williamsburg and worked as a hostess in Colonial Williamsburg. She wrote of this time in a biographical novel called "Diary of a Williamsburg Hostess." I have a copy and you are free to borrow it if you wish. Around 1940, she moved to Yorktown to a house near the Moore House that formerly belonged to the Rev. Goodwin. When I asked her grandchildren why she moved to this are, they told me it was because of the history here.
She wrote for the Daily Press, Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Williamsburg Gazette. She also wrote the William and Mary Quarterly.
During the war years Helen was involved with the Red Cross, the draft board and was in charge of the rationing board. She was also involved in helping servicemen adjust to returning home after the war ended.
While I have not seen her entire book on York County in the war years, I have seen the table of contents and for this presentation I am going to cover some of the things that she had wanted to cover and things that I thought you would find interesting. I want this presentation to be interactive. By that I mean that if I make a mistake or you want to bring up a point, let me know. I don't want you to wait until the end to talk about anything.
Pre- War York County
During the years before the war, York County was still a very rural place. Route 17 as we know of today did not exist until 1952. In 1941 the road winded and meandered through the county and included what are now Burt's Road, Grafton Drive and Old York Hampton Road. There were many small general stores that often doubled as post offices. There was Amory's and Wainwright's store on what is now Grafton Drive, Wornoms, Hunts and John Smith Charles at the Dare Cross roads and Jeff's, Moore's and Messick in Poquoson. In Grafton there was Amory Funeral Home and Amory bottling works.
The people still worked on family farms and harvesting the bay. Many people worked at local military bases and the Newport News Shipyard.
The local government was:
Trial Justice……………W.E. Hogge
Clerk of Court…………..Floyd Holloway
Treasurer………………..John F. Rollins
Commissioner of Revenue…. Alva Riggins
Deputy Treasurer…L.M. Callis and H.G.Kinde
Deputy Commissioner of Revenue..W.K. Hunt
Commonwealths Attorney…..Julian Cornick
Sheriff……………….A.S. White Sr.
Deputy Sheriff……….Harry Riley
Special Officer……….Richard Goode
Coroner………………Dr. L.O. Powell
Board of Supervisors:
John F. Smith…….Grafton
David Powers…….Bruton
Dr. E.B. White……Poquoson
A. J. Renforth……..Nelson
The biggest news of 1941 was the courthouse fire of New Years Eve, 1940. What remained of the building was torn down and the National Park Service conducted an excavation of the foundation and the courthouse grounds. The excavation was completed in September of 1941. Plans were starting to be made of the it's rebuilding. Congressman Otis Bland tried to get federal funds, but a congressman from New York shot down the bill. The courthouse was rebuilt in 1955. Court was held in the Masonic Lodge and the USO building.
Months before the first bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, the Second World War affected York County.
With the quick victory German victory in France in 1940, Virginia was very concerned about its own safety in the event of an attack. The state government was aware of the potential of Langley Air Force Base, Norfolk Naval Base, the Shipyards in Newport News and the other military installations as possible targets of a German attack. The state formed the Virginia Defense Council on May 30,1940. and named Douglas Southall Freeman as its chair. This was the first state formed civil defense organization in the country. Later a special defense council was formed for the Hampton Roads area.
The first draft was held on October 16, 1940. Men between born between the dates October 17, 1909 to October 16,1919 had reported to local schools to register for the draft. The first York County man to be drafted was Frank Ferguson of Messick. His draft number was 158. His was officially inducted in May of 1942 and served in the Pacific.
Housing shortages were beginning to be noticed. Many families rented out extra rooms to military men and war workers. Temporary housing in York County took the form of trailer camps and small cottages. Some of these cottages still survive in front of Harwood Trailer court on route 17.
The Naval Mine Depot expanded and more sailors and marines were stationed there. In July of 1941, plans were approved for the building of USO on the jail sight in Yorktown.


When the Virginia National Guard was federalized on February 3,1941 the Commonwealth created what was called the Virginia Protective Force. This was essentially a state run militia. The York County based unit in this organization was called the "York Rangers" after the York based Civil War group. The Virginia Protective Force was to do the work of the National Guard while they were away. In 1944 the group changed the their name to the Virginia State Guard.

Pearl Harbor

By most accounts, the afternoon of Sunday December 7^th 1941 was bright and sunny in York County.
Hunter Fletcher was taking a ride in his car. K.T. Smith and Wallace Smith were in the front yard of the house at the Railway.
Ada Moore and a friend were on a double date with J.T. Caldwell and another sailor from the Yorktown Naval Mine warfare school.
Margaret Penzold was in a psychiatric ward in hospital in Hawaii. She was recovering from surgery and the regular war had no beds available.
At about 2:30pm, those York County citizens who have radios began to receive the earliest words about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The local radio stations were WGH, WRVA and WTAR. For those listening to WRVA, a Strauss waltz was interrupted with the word:"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news flash. The Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor." There were special announcements for all servicemen to get back to their bases, ships or units as soon as possible. KT and Wallace ran over to tell Major Wilson, who renting from Mr. Whitehead. Major Wilson left and they never saw him again.
Hunter Fletcher pulled into the local drug store when and there he was told of the attack.
Soon a spirit of anger and confusion settled over the county. Many young men immediately went to "join up".
A few days later Germany declared war on the United States. There was a real and genuine fear of an attack in this area.
Soon York County began to react. The governor issued a black out order for the shore communities from Virginia Beach to Willoughby Spit as well as Chinoteauge, Cape Charles, Buckroe Beach and Yorktown.
Soon the rest of Virginia was to comply.
Soldiers were sent out from Ft. Eustis and Ft. Monroe to guard local bridges, reservoirs and creeks. Anti-aircraft batteries were set up in the area. There was a battery set up at Amory’s wharf that later moved to the end of North Lawson drive.
On December 11, 1941 a civil defense meeting was held at the Swan Tavern in Yorktown. 251 people showed up. Mrs. Campbell remembered that this was well beyond the capacity of the Swan Tavern and the meeting was moved to Seaford. Later some of these people attended a meeting of the Hampton Roads Defense council in Norfolk.
On December 17, Yorktown had its first blackout. There was 100 per cent compliance. At 7:00 pm a siren sounded several short blasts and the town began to shroud itself in darkness. At 9:00pm several long shrieks of the siren signaled the all clear. One story about this black out involves a Baltimore steamer that left Gloucester for Yorktown. Gloucester was not observing the blackout, so the steamer left their dock with its lights on. When they got to midstream of the York River, the steamer cut off its lights. They docked in Yorktown by flashlight light and it was by flashlight that they discharged passengers and unloaded freight.
At the December 18, board of supervisors meeting, Rev. C.A, Turner of Trinity Church in Poquoson was named the county’s civil defense co-ordinator and D.A. Powers were appointed York County civil defense director. A motion was made by A.J. Renforth and seconded by John F. Smith that $300 would be appropriated for the purchase of sirens and least four telephones to be installed in York County at the direction of Rev. Turner.
Rev. Turner was given extraordinary powers in his role as York County defense coordinator. The ordinance itself stated, "It shall be unlawful to refuse or neglect to obey any order of the coordinator." It was punishable by $50.00 fine and 30 days in jail.
December 30 was set up as registration day for local civil defense and everybody of the age of 16 was expected to register.

York County goes to war

As 1941 ended and 1942 was born the realization that there was a war on came to York County. Rationing began to take effect. Among the first items to be rationed were tires. Rubber was becoming extremely scarce due the fact the 90% of America’s rubber came from areas in South East Asia that were now under Japanese control. Just how desperate the tire situation came to light when it was revealed that Virginia would only be allotted 1,745 tires for the month of January 1942. That was for the entire state.
Each city, county or large town had to set up a tire board to determine who would get the ever valuable tires. York County’s tire board met at Clayton Rollins funeral home in Poquoson. The York County tire board consisted of Floyd Holloway from Yorktown, R.W. Mahone of Marauder and Rev. J.T. Mills of Seaford.
Gasoline was also rationed. At the beginning of the war there was a real shortage in the country, especially on the East coast. This was mainly due to u-boats sinking tankers at an alarming rate. U-boat crews called this the Happy time.
As the threat subsided somewhat and pipelines were built across the country, there was enough gasoline to go around. But gas was to remain rationed for the remainder of the war. This was preserve rubber that was used in tires. If did not have enough gas to drive, you would not be wearing out tires.
The amount of gas that you were allotted depended on your occupation or you importance to the community or the war effort. You would be given an A, B, or C sticker. Actually there were other stickers, but they were extremely rare. An A sticker would entitle you to 4 gallons a week. This was the most common sticker. A B sticker would get 4 gallons plus another four gallons. These mainly for war workers and such. A C sticker would get about the gas that you needed. This was for military, police, firefighters, mail carriers, clergy and other essential persons.
Mrs. Campbell was the head of the York County ration board and she was generous with gas for farmers and their tractors.
There was a healthy black market in York County. I have heard of one place that would give a few gallons of gas for a few extra dollars. Mrs. Campbell also noted this in her writings.
Sugar was also rationed. People used such substitutes as corn syrup, molasses or beet sugar. Amory’s bottling works was forced to close due to the sugar rationing.
Many different types of food were rationed. You would have a certain amount of ration points in addition to money to buy certain foods.
A lot of times the store simply would not have what you were looking for.
Rationing and shortages were made somewhat more tolerable in York County and Poquoson due to the fact that many people had their own farm animals and grew Victory gardens before the term became popular.
Many York and Poquoson families harvested the Chesapeake Bay for food.
Planes spotting stations were set up in York County and Poquoson. There was one in Yorktown, one in Seaford where Zion Church is at today and one at in Poquoson at Claytor Rollins Funeral Home. These were probably the places where the phones that Board of Supervisors approved on December 18 were placed.
Many local teens took their turn plane spotting. Delma and Joyce Ashton from our group were planes spotters.
The late Jesse Faye Forrest told me a plane-spotting story from Poquoson. One night Jesse and another were pulling late night plane watch duty at Claytor Rollins Funeral Home. The girl began to wander around the funeral home when she spotted some empty caskets. She became shaken and quickly gathered her things and left the funeral home. She never came back to do anymore plane spotting.
Yorktown also has a USO. It was located on Ballard Street behind the present York Hall and in front of where the jail used to be.
It was authorized by the Board of Supervisors in July of 1941 and completed in February of 1942. Its official name was the "Saltwater" USO. The total cost was 28,000 dollars. The people that I have talked to remember it as being very nice with large dance floor and a library at one end.
The USO was a one-story frame structure 72 by 94 feet. It had white asbestos shingles that were grained to resemble wood. It was a t-shaped building. It had a huge fire place in the center of the building. There was also a dance floor, reading room, refreshment bar, two restrooms, club room, office and heater room.
Mrs. Campbell believed that it might have been the first USO on the Peninsula. There is a very nice post card on the Yorktown USO in her papers. Phoebus had a USO that was identical to the Yorktown USO.
Ada Bright and Margaret Penzold were hostesses at the USO. The Yorktown USO was segregated. A separate USO for African-Americans was built in Lackey in June 1944.
The USO also operated a bathhouse on the Yorktown beach. The beach was a major attraction to the local sailors and marines. On one afternoon in the summer of 1942, it was estimated that nearly 7000 people were on the beach. Later in the war, wounded servicemen were taken to the beach as a part of their therapy.
Scrap drives began to become common. This consisted of basically four types of material: rubber rags metal and paper. Groups like Boy Scout troop #23 from Yorktown and the 4-H club of York County took part in these drives. There were times when people went from door to door to canvassing for usable scrap material.
One interesting story from York County (actually Poquoson) during the war was that of Carroll Rollins. Before the war, Carroll Rollins had joined the merchant marine. During the early war years, being a merchant mariner was a very perilous occupation. By early 1943, Rollins had had three ships already torpedoed from under him. It was not unusual for a merchant seaman to catch another available ship after his had been torpedoed.
In the middle of 1943, Carroll Rolling was in England recovering from a torpedoing when his draft number came up. The York County draft board publicized the fact that Rollins did not show up for induction. There was even talk of charging him with draft evasion. This action angered his parents who also went public. They wrote to the Daily Press telling the fact that Carroll was serving his county long before America entered the war. I was following this story in microfilmed copies of the Daily Press. I never could find the conclusion of the story. What happened to Carroll Rollins. Did the draft board actually charge him. I wanted to find this all out. I remembered seeing the name Carroll Rollins with my copy of the Smith family book by R. E. White. Through this book I was able find out that Carroll Rollins great nephew, Layne Forrest worked with me at the Sheriff’s office. He put me in touch with his grandmother, who was Carroll’s sister. She told me that the draft board ended up issuing an apology to Carroll and his family. Carroll ended up having a total of seven ships shot from under him during the war. He stayed in the merchant marine until his death in 1968.
Another story York County war story is that of Camp Peary. During one of our meetings our speaker was Les Dawson. He told of working for the Navy during the early part of the war. The Navy was looking for a place to build a base for their SeaBee battalions. He took a Navy officer to the Magruder area of the Bruton part of our county. The Navy liked what they saw and began acquiring land by eminent domain. David Powers of the Board of Supervisors was one the people who were to loose their land. They started with 4000 acres. Through a what could be best called a snafu, many families only had about two days to vacate their property before their homes were demolished. There were a few instances of demolition beginning on some of the houses while the occupants were still in them.
In an editorial in the December 25, 1942 the Virginia Gazette stated that Navy just came in ordered the citizens to vacate without any notice.
This caught the attention of Rev. Archibald Ward of the Williamsburg Baptist Church. Along with the Williamburg Ministerial Association, Rev. Ward began a letter writing campaign to officials in Washington and the Navy. This eventually did help make conditions more tolerable for the people of Magruder but it did not take away from the fact many people were left homeless. Many people were sent to the Williamsburg CCC camp. I have been in touch with Rev. Ward’s daughter and she has given me copies of her father’s correspondance.
Camp Peary was opened November 12,1942 as the Construction Battalion Center, Camp Peary Virginia. On April 12, 1944 it redesignated the U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Command. IT was at this time recruit training was taking place at Camp Peary. In January 1945, a POW Camp was opened there and housed 1700 German and Italian prisoners of war. From Ferbruary 1, 1942 to February 1 1946 339,458 enlisted and 9420 officers were trained at Camp Peary. In the book "Tidewater’s Navy" the author states that Camp Peary was the largest single military facility in Hampton Roads.
Another important part of wartime life in York County was the Red Cross. After the war began, the Red Cross was charged with making bandages for front line use. At fist this was done in private homes. The effort became so large that another place was needed. They moved to the Swan Tavern and worked there for a short time,. But the Park Service needed the building for tourism purposes. Mrs. Chenowith, the president of the Comte deGrasse Chapter of the DAR offered use of the second of floor to Mrs. Katherine Blow. Mrs. Blow was in charge of the York Red Cross’s Surgical Dressing unit. Mrs, Chenowith asked Mrs. Blow when she planned to move in, Mrs.Blow answered "instantly"
From 1940 to 1945, the York County Red Cross worked 48,771 volunteer hours.
They put together 1,739 garments, 576 kit bags and made 295,039 surgical dressings.
Towards the end of the war the Red Cross sent Mrs. Campbell to a school in Alexandria that specialized in taking care of returning servicemen and helping them adjust to being back home. The Red Cross also assisted soldiers who were coming home on emergency leave due to illness, death of some other catastrophe. A board of physicians were set to advise the them. These doctors were; Dr. E.B. White, Dr.L.O. Powell and Dr. N. F. McNorton.
Perhaps the most memorable event of the World War II years in York County happened just after Midnight on Novemeber 16, 1943. It was at this time that a tremendous explosion occurred at Plant #2. This plant was handling the explosive Torpex. Torpex was new to the United States and the Naval Mine Depot was the only place in the country handling this particular explosive.
The plant killed seven workers and injured twenty five others. It was felt as far away as Portsmouth and Princess Anne County. Mrs. Campbell noted that nearly all the glass on the Yorktown waterfront was shattered. The damage was worse at the plate glass at Oliver’s Garage, Hornsby Oil Company and DeNeuville’s mercantile establishment. The blast set off the Park Service siren leaving many people to believe that they were under an air raid.
York County residents reported seeing a reddish yellow flash and explosion that was nearly 200 feet high. The explosion was of such strength that it unlocked locked doors and rocked the Norfolk-Newport News ferry. Many people were knocked out of their beds. It caused severe damage to the Naval Mine Depot and Cheatham Annex. It broke windows as far away as Mathews County.
Mrs. A.V. Dillon of 26^th Street in Newport News reported that her house rocked, rattled and shook terribly. Then there was "awful cracking sounds as if it was going to tumble down or the roof being blown off.
On November 21,1943, at memorial service was held for those killed in the explosion. In inquiry was held find out what caused the explosion and in October 1944 it was determined that the loading ports of the torpedo warheads were left uncovered and as the warheads were cooling and bieng handled. This left them more exposed to impact than if they were covered. The loading holes should have been closed prior to handling. On January 12, 1946, a monument was dedicated to honor those that were killed.
On August 15, 1945, the Japanese surrendered, ending World War II. When the news of the surrender reached York County, Helen Campbell was at the Yorktown USO. She made the following observations: Five sirens blew for ¾ of an hour. 500 enlisted men crowded into the USO where a regularly scheduled dance was taking place. Some British sailors ran back and forth in the streets ringing cowbells. The town was very noisy, but not objectively so.
On August 20^th 1945, a war weary Helen Jones wrote the following:
" It won’t be long now. Comes the end of the war and the return to a peacetime basis. It won’t be long until the customers will always be right and welcome. The won’t be regarded as a necessary evil.
Restuarants will furnish a big piece of meat instead of a little one and the overworked statement" we can’t get any butter" will come to an end. Buying shorts, hankerchiefs and other little necessaties will no longer be a major project. Service be available without an act of Congress. Material for that extra room will be available along with electric irons and refrigerators and the like. Ration tickets will be something for your memory books. You won’t have wait for someone else who knows someone else to get what you need. There will be room for everybody to sit down on the bus. Housewives will remind those who used to say " Don’t you know there is a war on" by saying " Don’t you know its over" The speed limit will be back to 55 miles per hour instead of 35 miles per hour. Vacations will be taken without a since of guilt. We will settle down again to making a better living and enjoying life. It’s over"
York County was to get back to normal. The courthouse was eventually rebuilt, the statue was put back on top of the Victory Monument to replace the one knocked off by lightening in July of 1942 and the bridge crossing the York River was completed in 1952. It was supposed to have been started in the fall of 1942. The war years brought about the boom decade of the 1950s. but that is a different story and I will end there.


　

　

Ship Point in the Civil War

Frank Green

One of the most fascinating things about researching local history is finding out about historical events that occurred in your home community. In growing up in Dare, I was familiar with such Civil War related sights such as the five unidentified graves at Providence Church that are only marked with a Southern Cross and the earthworks at Ship Point. There were also many stories that were passed on from one generation to another.
One day many years ago I was going through some Hampton Monitor articles from May 1907 when I noticed one about a memorial celebration at Providence Church to honor the soldiers who were buried in the church yard. The article stated that they were from the "Louisiana Tigers" and were camped at Ship Point. I had remembered seeing a book in one of our local libraries about Louisiana troops in the Army of Northern Virginia called Lee's Tigers. I found the book and looked in the index for any mention of Ship Point. Ship Point was indeed mentioned. In fact the passage that I read gave a good account of Ship Point during the Confederate occupation. The passage was footnoted and these indicated that the Ship Point information was from some letters written home to family and friends by Lt. Robert Miller of the 14th Louisiana Infantry. I found the full letters in an old copy of Virginia History and Biography. The letters gave a detailed look at life at Ship Point during the Civil War. This began many years of doing off and on again research on Ship Point's role in the Civil War. The time has come to stop researching and start writing. This is what I have found out about Ship Point and Dare during the Civil War.
In the spring of 1862, Union General George B. McClellan put together a plan to end the war early by marching up the peninsula and taking Richmond. General John Bankhead Magruder and the Army of the Peninsula were charged with attempting to stop McClellan.
Magruder's plan was to have three lines of defense stretched across the Peninsula. The first line went from Ship Point to Young's Mill in Warwick County and was anchored in the center by earthworks in the Howard's Mill area. This line was not meant to completely stop the Union soldiers, but to stall them long enough for other fortifications to be built and further reinforcements to arrive. The second line went from Yorktown to Mulberry Island. The third consisted of a series of redoubts in the Williamsburg area.
Why was Ship Point important to the Confederates? The main reason was its location. It is located on the eastern end of the Fish Neck peninsula on the Chesapeake Bay. The Poquoson River and Chisman's Creek meet at Ship Point. Ship Point also had a landing where supplies could be brought in by water. The Confederates were also worried about the Union Army going around the first defense line and attacking from the rear or flank.
The name Ship Point is found in York County land records as far back as the middle 1700s. It was originally a part of the Chisman land grant in the mid1600s.
In the early 1840s Ship Point was purchased by Thomas Hudgins of Mathews County. The Hudgins were one of three Mathews families who would play a prominent role in Dare history. The others were the Davis family and the Smith family.
In 1861, Mr. Hudgins had had a farm at Ship Point and also did a business at the landing.
During the late summer of 1861 Confederate units began settling at Ship Point. For this writing I am going tell of three of these units: 32nd Virginia Infantry, 1st North Carolina Infantry and 14th Louisiana Infantry.
Probably the first military personnel were units from the 32nd Virginia Infantry. This was the local Peninsula unit. At the time they first reported to Ship Point they were still known at the 115th Virginia Militia. They would enter into the Confederate Army while at Ship Point. Most of the men from the 32nd at Ship Point were from the Lee Guards and the Washington Artillery from Hampton.
By the time the Washington Artillery had arrived at Ship Point, they had received three guns. However the guns had no carriages and they had to be "homemade'. It is also interesting to note that at this time the Washington Artillery was in blue uniforms. The Washington Artillery was later transferred to the new First Peninsula Artillery.
In August 1861, another Confederate unit arrived at Ship Point. This was the First North Carolina Infantry. They were known as the Bethel Regiment as they had participated in battle of Big Bethel.
The regiment had been camped in Yorktown and they found that the living conditions were terrible. Disease and other maladies were rampant and the regiment needed another "home." General D. H. Hill went to Richmond in order to obtain permission to move the unit.
Finally he received permission to move the 1st North Carolina to Ship Point. They were of the understanding that it would be a healthier location than Yorktown. They were soon disappointed. One soldier called the area "the sickliest place on top of the earth, the water was awful". Even today much of the Dare well water is not very good tasting. As cooler weather approached the Carolinians found Ship Point more to their liking. The fresh fish that they were able to pull from the river did much to supplement their diets.
The 14th Louisiana Infantry arrived in Ship Point after a long and perilous journey from that state. This regiment was commanded by Colonel Valery Sulakowski. Sulakowski was a Polish immigrant and had served in the Austrian Army. After arriving in Louisiana he was made engineer of the City of New Orleans. The 14th Louisiana was hastily put together and there was not enough time to instill military bearing on the raw troops. This probably forced Col. Sulakowski to rule with an iron hand. During the trip from Louisiana to Virginia he actually shot some soldiers who had attacked him or other soldiers.
Upon arrival in Ship Point, the Louisiana troops shared the Carolina troop's low opinion of the place. Lt. Miller wrote that he thought it was the "muddiest, most miserable place".
Sulakowski began to take control of conditions at the Ship Point. He was probably the ranking officer in the area. He created a small village of log huts and as Lt. Miller wrote "had all the convenience of civilized life. There was even an opera house". Miller describes the opera house at being built in the "simplest of architecture, of pine logs, and a shingle roof with no ceiling. It is large enough to accommodate all that wish to go and will suffice to amuse us very well. The regimental band compose the troop of performers. When we get under full head way I will give an account of one night's performance." Being as Sulakowski was an engineer; he probably supervised to construction of the earthworks at Ship Point. Many of these still exist today.
As conditions improved some of the soldiers began to have a better opinion of Ship Point. Lt. Miller actually grew to have a fondness for the area. He enjoyed the sea and wrote that he would set for hours on the front battery gazing at it. He often would go sailing in the bay. In one letter home he writes" The men, all afflicted with spring fever brought on by the genial rays of the sun of today are lounging about lazily in the parade ground in fatigue uniform. The soft sea breeze, unmilitary appearance of things (except when the sentry walks in front of my door) the altogether rural look of things makes it the loveliest scene that I have beheld in a long time." In a later letter he even said that he would like to return and live in the Ship Point area after the war. Lt. Robert Miller never was to return to Ship Point. In one of the ironies of war, he was killed at the Second Battle of Manassas.
The North Carolina troops suffered from boredom. This, combined with news from home of victories by General Burnside the Eastern part of the state and the Outer Banks, made life miserable for them. They had requested and were denied permission to return to North Carolina to fight. They were starting to get tired of sitting and waiting. One night a group of them commandeered some boats and went to destroy a lighthouse on the very tip of the peninsula about six miles from Ft. Monroe. Lewis Warlick volunteered for the raid and the following is his account of the expedition: "We started three hours before sundown (twenty three in all) in small boats and was gone the whole night and did not return until daylight. I was traveling all the time, had no way of lying down to rest, being exposed the whole while to the night air. After all our trouble and danger to which we were exposed, we only succeeded in part …..We arrested the lighthouse keeper and brought him prisoner to Ship Point. The lighthouse, we could not burn or blow it up as it was solid masonry from the base for forty feet. Therefore we had to leave that fine piece of property to benefit only the Yankees". I have found no record as to what happened to the lighthouse keeper.
On March 21, 1862 General Magruder gave the order for the troops on the Young's Mill-Harwood's Mill line to fall back to the Warwick Line. This would essentially leave Ship Point behind Union lines. Lt. Miller stated that his regiment was driven away from Ship Point and was ordered to fall back the line that went from Yorktown to the James River. This was the second of General Magruder's three lines of defense across the Peninsula.
It seems that the evacuation of Ship Point had taken place in great haste. In his book on the 32nd Virginia Infantry, Les Jensen writes that the Lee Guards barely got out of Ship Point without being captured. Enoch Cox, Samuel Lively and Burcher were among several men left behind and believed captured.
Thomas Hudgins' farm was free of soldiers, but not for long.
On April 4,1863 Colonel William Averill and his 3^rd PA Calvary were sent to reconnoiter Ship Point’s garrison and defenses. When he returned that evening and reported that the place was abandoned and there was enough barracks for 3000 soldiers.
General McClellan had particular interest on Ship Point. It is apparent from reading his reports that he was going to probably attempt to take Ship Point had it not been abandoned. In his April 5^th report he mentioned that Ship Point had been turned and was in control of his calvary.
He ordered General O.O. Howard’s brigade to Ship Point. The first Union soldiers to arrive were the 5^th New Hampshire, who came in at 10:00 in the morning of April 6^th. Other regiments in Howard’s brigade were 61^st New York Infantry, 64^th New York, and the 81^st Pennsylvania Infantry.
Ship Point was to serve the Union army in three ways. . They used it as a supply depot, a point of debarkation and as a hospital. It was to figure highly in the General McClellan's plan to seize Yorktown. Troops would go by ship from Alexandria to Ft. Monroe then on to Ship Point where they would be marched to the lines in Yorktown.
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One of the first things the Union Army did at Ship Point was to establish a supply depot. This was done by order of General McClellan through Quartermaster General Stuart Van Vliet. There was another supply depot on Chisman’s Creek about a mile from Ship Point and a smaller one on Back Creek. The depot at Ship Point was used exclusively for subsistence provisions such as food. The order was carried out by General Howard. He had made a personal reconnaissance of the Poquoson River and found that the Ship Point was the most practical place to receive supplies from the water.
A major problem for Van Vliet was the condition of the roads on the Peninsula in 1862. The winter and spring of 1862 was very wet and the primitive road system became extremely muddy and almost impassable. The first Union troops at the Ship Point were put to work building corduroy roads for there to Yorktown. This was done by cutting down trees and putting them across the roads and filling the spaces with dirt. It was estimated that the Union Army built twenty miles of corduroy roads in York County during the Civil War.
The Union occupation of Ship Point was a time of extreme hardship for the Hudgins family. The family was forced to give there own food and provisions for the troops.
Thomas Hudgins was taken prisoner by the Union soldiers in hopes that he would give information on the Confederate troops. Mr. Hudgins' wife, Lucina was sick the whole during the time of the Union occupation. General Howard ordered that " old lady not be disturbed".
The Union Army had put together a string of telegraph stations across the Peninsula. One of these was in the attic of the Hudgins house. Twelve year old Theophilus Hudgins ( son of Thomas) would throw sticks that the window of telegraph office. When the telegrapher found out who was making the noise, he came to the window and shouted" Get away from there you little rebel!"
The war had another tragedy for the Hudgins family. One of the brothers, Humphrey Hudgins, was killed.
General Howard made the Pumphrey house his headquarters. Mr. Pumphrey had married one of Mr. Hudgins' daughters. In his autobiography Howard wrote that Mr. Pumphrey was very happy that he chose his house as a headquarters. He stated that soldiers, camp followers and wagoneers
had came through constantly night and day shooting cows, killing chickens, stealing eggs and stealing nearly the entire "winter's supply. General Howard did not think well of that and wondered what his mother would have thought if this happened to her.
A few days later General Israel Richardson's First division of the Second Corps arrived in Ship Point. One of the brigades in the unit was General Meagher's Irish brigade. They were to become well known later in the war for their courage and tenacity under fire.
When they arrived had Ship Point, bad weather had prevent to ship from coming close in. Some of the soldiers came in small boats, while others waded ashore in chest deep water. General Meagher sent an officer to inquire as whose command was already ashore and if they could get any assistance. He made contact with General Howard, who ordered his men to share their huts, fires and rations with the Irishmen. Howard's men did this willingly.
They soon bivouacked and a headquarters hut was set up. The only thing that distinguished it as a headquarters was a sentry walking up and down and their famous green flag.
This story from the Irish Brigade's time in Ship Point is given is David Power Conyngham's history of the brigade.
"General Richardson was a plain, rather slovenly in dress, generally wearing the blue pants and overcoat of a private, without any insignia of his rank. On one occasion, he walking through camp when he met an Irish soldier staggering home.
"Who do you belong to?" he asked the soldier.
" What do belong to, is it? Arrah now, that's a good one comrade; faix and sure I belong to the Irish brigade: and what if a body may ask ax do you belong to?'
"Oh, I belong to General Richardson's command"
" You do? I don't know the ‘ould fellow; they say he is a rum one; Dirty Dick they call him."
" Indeed, how do ye like him?"
" Oh very well, I hear the boys saying he is a brave ould fellow, all the boys like Dirty Dick well enough but wouldn't you like to have a drink?"
" I thought there was no whisky to be go in camp now."
" Isn’t there indeed, come along ould chap" and Pat took the General by the arm.
It happened that a Mrs._____ , who accompanied the brigade in the confidential capacity of supernumerary quartermaster or commissary assistant or something of the kind, always kept on hand a generous supply of bottled commissary which she retailed on the sly for three dollars a bottle.
She was now doing a decent business on one of the shanties , when Paddy Doran staggered in with his friend.
" I say Mrs. Let me have another bottle of that fire water of yours"
" You have enough Paddy" said Mrs. _____ from the back part of the shanty, where she was putting in a little water to qualify the commissary, for fear it would be too strong and hurt the boys.
" No, I want a bottle; I have a friend wid me."
Mrs. ____ was in the act of handing the bottle to Paddy, when she seemed very much taken with the appearance of his friend who she recognized as General Richardson.
"Paddy Doran, you villain, may curse light on you. You have desaved me" and she aimed the bottle at Paddy's head. But he dodged it. And in doing so knocked against his friend, upsetting him.
"Oh, General Richardson dear" exclaimed she running to raise him up. " Don't mind that that villain, that_____"
Whatever she was going to say remained unsaid. For Paddy Doran hearing who his friend was made a dart for the door. It so happened that Mrs.____ was between him and the door, so Paddy in his fright knocked against her, completely rolling her over on the General . He do not wait to see the result, but made a bee-line straight to the camp.
Whether the General thought the affair too ludicrous to make any noise about it or that he enjoyed it, he let the matter drop and made no noise about it, much to Paddy Doran's relief"
The Civil War was General Israel Richardson's third war. He was respected by his men. He was killed September 17, 1862 at Sharpsburg. The Irish brigade served heroically for the remainder of the war. They were nearly destroyed during the Battle of Fredricksburg where made charge after charge against Confederate troops behind a stonewall at Maryre's Heights.
General Oliver Otis Howard lost an arm at one of the Seven Day's Battles. He later commanded a corps at Chancellorsville and was on the receiving end of Stonewall Jackson's famous flanking maneuver in that battle. After the war General Howard founded Howard University.
On April 9 1864, General McClellan came to Ship Point. He briefly visited General Howard's headquarters and had a longer visit with General Richardson. He have visited his brother, Dr. Robert McClellan who was working at the hospital at Ship Point.
The Ship Point hospital has been described as a large log building. It may have been the old Confederate Opera house that Lt. Miller described. One other letter tell of another smaller hospital there. Local tradition places the hospital near the intersection of Anchor Drive and Ship Point Road.
The Ship Point hospital was mainly used as a Civil War version of an evac hospital. Patients were taken from the field to the hospital and then embarked on a ship for Alexandria. The trip to Ship Point must have been agony for the wounded and sick men as they traversed the newly built corduroy roads. War records reveal that many men died while at the Ship Point hospital.
Steamers that had been converted to hospital ships were anchored in Chisman's Creek. They were outfitted and operated by the United States Sanitary Commission. This organization was founded in 1861 by Clara Barton and was a forerunner to the American Red Cross. The commission provided nurses, orderlies and medical supplies and provisions to the Army.
Two of the hospital ships anchored off Ship Point were the Daniel Webster I and Daniel Webster II. They had previously been used as troop transports and were later outfitted as hospital ships. The Wilson Small was a smaller ship that was used to transport patients from the rivers and creeks that the larger ships could not get through.
On May 4th Yorktown feel and Ship Point was no longer needed as a supply depot or embarkation sight. The hospital continued operation until late May.
Ship Point and York County were to remain behind Union lines for the remainder of the war. During the war, Fish Neck residents had heard of many churches being desecrated and torn down. This was the fate of Zion Church in Seaford and Bethel Church. The people approached General Eramus Keyes and requested the Providence Church be spared this fate. General Keyes issued an order that the church not be molested in any way.
During the 1990s an archaeological survey was done at Ship Point and the results showed very little artifacts in the area. Civil War relics have been found at Smith's Railway, the old Pumphrey house and in various fields in Dare. Smith Railway was opened by my g-g-g-grandfather John P. Smith in 1842 and is still operated by the Smith family. The only time that it was closed was during the Civil War.
There were at least two Fish Neck men killed in the war. Arthur B. White died at Sharpsburg and George Washington Smith was killed at Gettysburg.
After the Civil War, Ship Point was to become peaceful again. The Hudgins family eventually sold the farm. The area is now still heavily wooded but the there are small subdivisions popping up throughout the area. Some of the gun emplacements are still visible and are in a private yard and are well taken care of. Most of the trench line is still intact and appears in good shape. The Pumphrey house is still standing and has been remodeled several times I wish to thank its currently owner, Ross Jernigan, for letting me photograph it.
In August 1933 and September 2003, Ship Point was to back in the news again. The reason was not war, but hurricanes. The August Storm of 1933 caused a quick evacuation of Ship Point. Some had to flee the quickly rising tide in the middle of the storm. The homes of Dr. Blackwell and Doctor Hodges were washed from their foundations and they had retrieve many household article from up in trees. But that is another story. Hurricane Isabel also destroyed many homes in Ship Point. Hurricanes and nor'easters pose the biggest threat to the gun emplacements.. The gun emplacements are in danger of erosion and Hurricane Isabel washed away large chunks of it.







By

The Early Days of the Board of Supervisors

For as long as most people can remember, York County has been governed by an elected board of supervisors. No one really knew when this governing body actually began. I sometimes wondered about this myself. I often looked over old court records and found out that before the Civil War, York County was ruled by a court and a selected group of jurors. So, when was the board of supervisors born?
Here is how I found out. My grandfather served on the York County Board of Supervisors from 1952 when he took over John Smith’s unfinished term to his death in December 1963. He had just been defeated in the November 1963 election. I was curious about what issues he might have considered and voted on in his term on the board.
I was interested in what records of the Board of Supervisors were available and just how far back they went. I asked former supervisor Jim Funk who referred me to Ellen Simmons of the county administrator’s office.
Mrs. Simmons was very helpful and allowed me to view several volumes of the minutes of the Board of Supervisors. As of this writing, I have spent several hours reading these records and still have not gotten to what my Grandfather did.
Here is the story of the early days of the York County Board of Supervisors taken from their minutes.
First, I want to give a little background on why York County went to this particular form of government.
In 1870, Virginia adopted a new state constitution. This was the time of the end of reconstruction and Virginia was ready to re-enter the Union. The state basically had to start over from nothing.
After the end of the Civil War, Virginia’s governor was Francis Peirpont. He was the governor of the Western counties of Virginia that had remained loyal to the Union during the war. In reality, a Union general governed Virginia named John M. Schofield. Virginia was part of the First Military District. .
In 1868, it Virginia was allowed to vote on whether or not to adopt a new constitution. The voters overwhelmingly voted in the affirmative. The new constitution took affect in 1870. One of the things that the 1870 Constitution called for was a revamping of county governments. Instead of being ruled by a court of selected jurors, Virginia’s counties were to be governed by an elected board of supervisors.
The York County Board of Supervisors first met on October 3, 1870. The members were:
Samuel Wornom of Poquoson
William Ware of Grafton
Washington Fields of Nelson
H.M. Waller of Bruton
This was to be the organizational meeting of the new board. Mr. Wornom made a motion nominating Mr. Waller as the chairman and he was duly elected. One interesting note about this first board was that Washington Fields; the Nelson district supervisor was an African-American. He owned a great deal of property around the Yorktown area, including a large tract near the Moore House.
One of the first things that the board had to consider was the lack of boundaries in Yorktown. Many of the land boundary lines were wiped out by the erection of earthworks during the early days of the war. At that time, the Board of Trustees governed most of Yorktown. In 1870, only two Trustees remained. The others either moved away or died. The Board of Supervisors had to give a list of names for the state General Assembly to consider. One of these names was that of Washington Fields.
Another early consideration of this first board was the building of government buildings in Yorktown. The York County Courthouse was destroyed in an explosion on December 16, 1863. The county was fortunate that the records were stored in an icehouse in West Point during the war and did not suffer the fate of records of other counties that stored their records in Richmond. When Richmond burned during the Confederate evacuation, most county records burned with it.
It was decided to build three buildings. First was going to be County Court clerks office, next a courthouse and finally a jail.
The new clerks’ office was to be sturdy and "fireproof". Money was raised for this construction by selling timber from county owned property near the Poorhouse. The Poorhouse tract was located between what are now Ella Taylor Road and Showalter Road. The remaining buildings had to be financed by tax levy. The board was deadlocked two to two over whether or not to have this early tax hike. . It was agreed that the York County Circuit Court judge be given a " special" deciding vote. He voted in the affirmative and the tax issue passed. A courthouse was built on the same property that had the York County Courthouse since colonial times. This courthouse remained in use until New Years Eve, 1940 when it burned. A jail was built behind the courthouse that remained in use until the late 1930s, when it was razed and a USO building was built in its place.
The early Board of Supervisors also had many other accounts to consider. Some of these were:
Major Moore for work on roads 9.00
Thomas Amory –Constable… 1.60 for arresting a man for lunacy and summonsing a doctor and witness.
Edward Blair received 64.50 for "cutting down Fort McClelland"
J.W. Smith received 5.00 for acting as Justice of the Peace and acting coroner and holding an inquest on the body of William Scott.
These early Board of Supervisors records also give a window on the history of York County. One example of this was that on March 1, 1872 the board granted William Halstead the sum of 29.36 for the construction of a small pox hospital. William Carter received 26.93 for the construction of coffins for small pox victims who were paupers. This shows that during this time period there was a small pox epidemic among the poor people of York County. The area of part of what is now the Naval Weapons Station was known as Halstead’s Point. The disease also showed up further down the county as Dr. R.H. Power received a sum of money for treating victims in the Grafton area.
Another interesting point is that on June 8, 1871, they highly recommended that the special police were no longer needed as the court had already appointed a group of constables and they " were duly qualified for the discharge of their office". I have yet to find any information on these " special police. Until the late 1890s, constables handled law enforcement. During the early 1900s, the county sheriff began to take over law enforcement duties. Before that, the sheriff only handled court duties.
I have found that that these records are very interesting, especially during emergencies. Just after the 1933 hurricane, the Board of Supervisors held several special meetings to deal with the damage. I look forward to reading these records and looking through this particular window into York County history.
　

By

Frank Green

Captain Samuel Shield’s Company of Militia during the War of 1812

Frank Green

For most people there is a large void in local history between the victory in Yorktown in 1781 and the Battle of Big Bethel in 1861. Not many people know much about the War of 1812 and even less realize that York County and Poquoson had a role in this conflict.
In February 1813, Governor Barbour of Virginia ordered the companies of the Virginia State militia to be mobilized and sent to Norfolk and Hampton to propel a possible British invasion. Captain Samuel Shields Company of Militia was the one of the York County units sent to the Little England part of Hampton. Soon units from many other parts of the Commonwealth joined them. By June, there were nearly 500 men camped at Little England.
One of these men was Aaron Tennis. He was nearly 50 years old when the call to arms was given. He was a widower and his only two children died in infancy. He was very popular among his fellow militiamen and was soon elected Sergeant Major. He was an aide to the company adjutant Robert Anderson.
In May, Captain Shield was called to serve in the Virginia House of Delegates. This left Lt. Presson in charge of the company.
On the morning of June 25, several British barges began shelling American positions at Blackbeard’s Point. The artillerymen under Sgt.Pryor returned fire. It was not known at the time that this attack was only a feint. The main force of nearly 2000 British soldiers and Marines landed about two miles west near the sight of the present Riverside Rehab.
Still angry from their recent defeat at Craney Island, the British attacked the flank of the American position. At first the Americans held, but soon the superior numbers and training of the British began to overwhelm them. As the fighting neared a woods line, many of the Americans began to break and run from the field to the relative safety of the woods and many of them went on to their homes. It was at this time that Aaron Tennis was wounded.
The Hampton-Yorktown Halfway House in York County was the designated area for the 115^th to try to have the unit to re-form. It was at the Halfway House that the commanding officer of the 115^th had the unenviable task to notifying the governor of the results of the battle. In his letter, Crutchfield describes the action as a route.
Crutchfield also mentions the conduct of Captain Shield’s company during the battle. While most of the other militiamen broke and ran, Capt. Shield’s company acted in a brave and orderly manner. In Crutchfield’s words " I take pride in mentioning Capt. Sam’l Shield’s company, who executed the given orders in a very ready and spirited manner". Capt. Shield’s group also took the brunt of the American casualties with five killed and six wounded. This was about half of the total American casualties for the entire Battle of Hampton.
Aaron Tennis was wounded during this engagement. He was taken to the Halfway House then probably to his home which was nearby. He wrote his will on July 3^rd and passed away on July 14,1813. The will was officially probated until the early 1820s.
Yorktown served as an American headquarters and was garrisoned by the 68^th Virginia Militia. This unit seemed to be undermanned and overworked. The unit’s commander wrote the governor that he had noted many troops marching through Yorktown on their way to Hampton and Norfolk. He asked if some of these could be spared for Yorktown as his own troops were exhausted from extra work and additional guard duty.
Armigar Parsons was one who was killed in Hampton. In 1827 his wife petitioned the Commonwealth for a pension as he left her and several children after his death. Tyler also lost his life in this battle. He was a young man and a native of Tangier Island. Carter Longest was from King and Queen County and very little is currently now known about him. James Martin also died in the Battle of Hampton. I am hoping to learn more about him. Curtis Hunt was slightly wounded during the battle. It is very fortunate for this author that Hunt recovered from his wounds as he was my fives great grandfather twice over.
It is very unfortunate that the bicentennial of the War of 1812 falls at the same time as the sesquicentennial of the Civil War and the historical spotlight tends to fall on the latter event. But we should all remember York County’s forgotten heroes in the our nation’s forgotten war

The Charmed Life of York County’s Court Records

By

Frank Green

Among York County’s most treasured possessions are our court records. They are among the oldest in the nation; with the first entries being made in 1630. While they are virtually complete, they have lived a long and perilous life.
They first survived the famous battle of Yorktown in 1781. The town was occupied by the British and bombarded by French and American forces. The records survived because in 1777 they were moved to Richmond then to Dinwiddie County. After the war, they were ordered brought back to York County.
The records survived the "Great Fire of 1814", which destroyed the courthouse. How did they survive the fire? Again, they were not in Yorktown at the time, but at the home of the York County Clerk of Courts. They were hidden there in fear of Yorktown being raided or shelled by British ships who were in the Chesapeake Bay at the time. This was during the War of 1812. The records were ordered to returned to the clerk’s office on August 21,1815.
York County’s court records had their next brush with extinction during the Civil War. In the spring of 1862, Union general George McClellan planned to shorten the war by advancing up the Peninsula and take Richmond. Yorktown was directly in his path.
Most area localities felt that their court records were danger if they remained in the local courthouses and took them to Richmond for safe keeping. York County Clerk of Courts Boliver Shield had planned on doing the same thing with York County’s records. He leased a boat and had the records loaded aboard. As the boat was sailing up the York River towards Richmond, word had gotten out that there was a Union gunboat in the vicinity. The records were moved to an icehouse near West Point where they stayed for the remainder of the war.
This foresightedness saved York County’s Records. Most of the records from other counties that made it to Richmond were destroyed in fire during the 1865 evacuation of that city.
In fact most of these records might have be safe if they had of been kept at the local courthouses or hidden locally. This was not true of York County. On the night of December 16, 1863 the York County Courthouse exploded. The building and many surrounding buildings were totally destroyed. Needless to say the records would have perished.
In 1867 a group of York County citizens went to the West Point icehouse to find out the fate of the records. They found that the records had been scattered in the building and some had water damage but they were nearly complete.
When the county built a new courthouse in the 1870s, they ordered that a separate " fireproof" records office be built beside it. On the night of January 30, 1940, the York County Courthouse burned and was damaged so bad that the remainder had to be torn down. Because the records were kept in separate building, they were not damaged.
The records of Gloucester County, Mathews County, Warwick County, Elizabeth City County and James City County were among those destroyed, leaving York County with the most complete records in the area.

The Ash Wednesday Storm

　I was looking through an old secretary that my grandmother had and noticed a Times-Herald newspaper dated March 13, 1962. It was a souvenir edition commemorating the Ash Wednesday storm.
The Ash Wednesday Storm was a nor’easter that struck our area March 6-8, 1962. This storm was the earliest memory that I have. I distinctly remember the power being out and our whole family huddling around a fireplace in the living room of our house. The tide had gotten to the side of the sound but did not get in. Isabel was the only tide to enter my parent’s house in Dare.
Poquoson was particularly hard hit. The flooding was the worse since the August 23, 1933 hurricane. The Hurricane Isabel would eclipse the flooding 41 years later.
Army and Nation Guard trucks had to be used to evacuate families from the Messick area. Boats were used for transportation along flooded streets.
Yorktown also saw its worse flooding since the 1933 hurricane. Several businesses were flooded. The mailed had to be transported to and from the Yorktown Post office by a rowboat.
The Ash Wednesday Storm caused severe damage to the Eastern Shore, the Outer Banks and to the Buckroe/Grandview area. Flooding would not reach such proportions until Hurricane Isabel in September 2003.

Penniman

During the summer of 1915 rumors began to spread about the Dupont Company wanting to buy Jamestown and wanting to build a munitions plant there. In 1916, it was decided to build the munitions plant in the Bruton district of York County on some farmland next to the York River. In the spring of 1916 a railroad spur was built from the main C&O rail line to the plant sight. This spur is still there.
The first section of the plant opened in the fall of 1916. It was named Penniman after a DuPont executive. It was also known at "Plant #37". At first only about 200 people worked there. Soon the plant expanded to its high point in the summer of 1918 when it was estimated that 15,000 people worked there.
In many ways Penniman was its own town. It had a police department, fire department, post office, mess hall, canteen, hospital, YMCA and YWCA. The Chamber of Commerce for Williamsburg requested that passenger service be started between Penniman and Williamsburg. By 1918 there were three trains a day making the round trip from Williamsburg to Penniman and back again.
The York County Red Cross got its beginnings at Penniman. Its first members were workers at the plant.
As Penniman grew Williamsburg became a boomtown. Rents and food prices began to rise. Local farmers had trouble getting in their crops because the local men were working at the plant for much higher wages.
The 1918 influenza outbreak was particularly bad at Penniman. Deaths from the flu came at eight to ten at a time. Bucktrout funeral home had to requisition a truck to pick up the bodies from Penniman. The undertaker had run out of cemetery space and had to use some of his own land as a graveyard.
When World War I came to an end in November of 1918, workers were laid off several hundred at a time. By 1919 only about a hundred were scattered around the area. By 1923 the plant had been dismantled and returned to being farmland.
In World War II the old Penniman site was used again. A Naval installation was built there and named Cheatham Annex.
A panoramic photo of the Penniman munitions factory can be viewed at: www.zazzle.com/williamsburg+posters It will give you an idea of just how large this plant was.