History

George Washington in Winchester

George Washington during the French and Indian War

The first courthouse in Winchester was built around 1744 and was the first courthouse built west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. George Washington spent roughly half of his time in Winchester between the ages of 16 and 26. During that time he worked as a surveyor for Lord Fairfax and served as a colonel in the British army during the French and Indian War. On this site in 1758 his political career began when he was elected to his first public office — as the Frederick County representative to the colonial Virginia legislature known as the House of Burgesses.

The Brewing Conflict

The courtroom on the first floor is nearly all original construction from 1840. The judge that presided over this courtroom just prior to the Civil War was Winchester resident Richard Parker. In October of 1859, he traveled to Charles Town, West Virginia to preside over the trial of John Brown in a courtroom much like this one. Brown was the radical abolitionist who attempted to capture the Federal armory at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia with the intention of starting a massive slave revolt. Brown was convicted of inciting insurrection and treason against the State of Virginia, and Judge Parker sentenced him to be hanged. This courtroom was later the site of some of the earliest debates about the secession of Virginia which were held here in 1860-61.

During the war, this room was regularly witness to the horrors of a Civil War hospital and was also used at times to house prisoners and quarter soldiers.

The Frederick County Courthouse was a functioning courthouse until 1984 and today it is preserved in it’s original 1840 appearance which creates a very unique visitor experience and a makes for a great photo opportunity!

*Judge Richard Parker (left) and John Brown (right)*

Winchester at War

*Confederate soldiers retreating down the present-day walking mall during the Third Battle of Winchester*

Winchester was a hotbed of activity during the Civil War. Six battles were fought in and around town between March of 1862 and September of 1864 while the town itself changed hands as many as 72 times. By 1861, Winchester was the largest city in the Shenandoah Valley; a thriving market town with seven converging roadways, rich agriculture, and a strategic location between the North and South which made it such an oft-contested region. The Frederick County Courthouse was one of the most prominent buildings in Winchester and it was used by both sides as a hospital, a prison, and a barracks.

After the First Battle of Kernstown on March 23, 1862, local resident Cornelia Peake McDonald wrote in her diary about caring for the wounded here at the courthouse,

“Every available place was turned into a hospital…I went to the courthouse; the porch was strewed with dead men. Some had papers pinned to their coats telling who they were. All had the capes of their coats turned over to hide their still faces; but their poor hands, so pitiful they looked and so helpless...Soon men carried them away to make room for others who were dying inside.”

Click here to learn more about Winchester’s “Devil Diarists”

Prisoners of War

The courthouse also served as a prison for captured soldiers from both sides. Men were normally held here temporarily before being moved to permanent prisons in places such as Richmond, Virginia. The courthouse was a common stopping point for prisoners especially if they were sick or wounded. Union Sergeant Henry Peck of the 118th Pennsylvania was one of many prisoners of war held at the courthouse. Peck was captured in Shepherdstown, West Virginia on September 20, 1862, and later wrote about his experience as a prisoner,

“In Winchester we were consigned to the court-house and the [enclosure] between it and the street. There were already in those precincts a crowd of some 300 rebels, stragglers, conscripts, and the riff-raff a provost-guard can pick up — a miserable lot — who did not fraternize with our men, and who were so filthy in clothing and habits that our men remained of choice in the open yard without tents or blankets, even during the nights of hoarfrost, to avoid contact with those in the court-house, which we were otherwise free to occupy.”

The Gettysburg Officers

One graffiti section on the second floor contains the names of many Union officers that were held prisoner here after the Battle of Gettysburg. As Robert E. Lee’s army was retreating toward the Shenandoah Valley, Union cavalry pursued and engaged them in small skirmishes where these men were captured.

Major Charles Farnsworth (center portrait) was captured at a skirmish in Halltown, West Virginia. He was shot off his horse and fought hand-to-hand with his saber before he was captured. In this graffiti, you can see the drawing of a man falling from a horse. We believe this was left by Maj. Farnsworth and is one of numerous soldier drawings found on the museum walls.