History Press New Release: Unionists in Virginia

The History Press is pleased to announce the publication of Unionists in Virginia: Politics, Secession and Their Plan to Prevent Civil War by Larry Denton.

Whether the Civil War was preventable is a debate that began shortly after Appomattox and continues today. But even earlier, in 1861, a group of Union-loyal Virginians—led by George Summers, John Brown Baldwin, John Janney and Jubal Early—felt war was avoidable. In the statewide election for delegates to the Secession Convention that same spring, the Unionists defeated the Southern Rights Democrats with a huge majority of the votes across the state. These heroic men unsuccessfully negotiated with Secretary of State William Henry Seward to prevent the national tragedy that would ensue. Author and historian Lawrence M. Denton traces this remarkable story of Virginians working against all odds in a failed attempt to save a nation from war.

Larry Denton, an authority on the secession crisis, is the author of "A Southern Star for Maryland: Maryland and the Secession Crisis," and "William Henry Seward and the Secession Crisis: The Effort to Prevent Civil War." He held several academic administrative posts at the university level from 1968 to 1978. In 1978 he accepted an appointment to serve as special assistant to the associate administrator of NOAA, a presidential appointee. He ended his career representing the Weather Channel in Washington and resides in Easton, Maryland.

Civil War veteran to be laid to rest decades after death - KPTV - FOX 12

I have not done any further research on Peter Knapp other than to see that there are 14 listings on the Soldiers & Sailors database. If you see anything further or do any research on Mr. Knapp please feel free to add it to the comments section.


Civil War veteran to be laid to rest decades after death

By Laura Rillos

PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -

A Civil War veteran will be laid to rest with full military honors Friday, 88 years after he died.

The cremated remains of Peter Knapp and his wife, Georgianna, sat in storage at a crematorium in Portland until a distant relative tracked them down.

Alice Knapp didn't start out looking for the remains. Instead, she was trying to track down a diary Peter Knapp kept during the war.

"I'm just floored at the attention this is getting. I'm very, in a sense, very humbled by the whole experience," she said. "All I wanted to do was get information and find the diaries."

Peter Knapp is the "third great-uncle" of her late husband, she said. The soldier began fighting for the Union during the Civil War and even spent months in a Confederate prison in Andersonville, GA.

After the war, he settled in Kelso and began operating sawmills. Peter Knapp died in 1924. His wife died a few years later. For reasons no one knows, their remains were never interred.

Alice Knapp, of Nehalem, has been researching the family's genealogy since the 1980s, an endeavor that's gotten easier thanks to the internet.

After a distant cousin, found online, mentioned Peter Knapp's diary, Alice Knapp's research led her to a crematorium where the remains were being held.

She said, "I just felt that, you know, if it was a relative of yours, if you suddenly discovered your relative was forgotten about at a mortuary somewhere, and had never been buried or no final arrangements made for them, wouldn't you want to bury them?"

The ceremony will be held April 13 at 3 p.m. in the Willamette National Cemetery.

Copyright KPTV 2012 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

Adelbert Ames Follow Up

I recently posted an article about a home owned by Union general Adelbert Ames and the repair work that is needed. You can read that post here.

While looking through old posts at Gettysburg Daily I came across this article featuring Licensed Battlefield Guide Christina Moon discussing general Ames. This is well worth reading and the site is worth a daily visit. There's always something to learn.

Adelbert Ames House in Need of Repairs

This article is courtesy of the Daytona Beach News Journal. A house once owned by Union General Adelbert Ames is in desperate need of repairs. So far there's no real grass-roots effort that I am aware of. Of course with it being a government owned building I'm not sure how many private citizens will be willing to put money or effort into the cause.

Sorry for the weird formatting on the photos. They came out this way when I pasted the article and after messing it up a couple of times trying to move them and make more sense of it I gave up.


Ormond Beach debates historic house repairs

By AUDREY PARENTE, Staff Writer

June 20, 2011 12:05 AM

Posted in:       

• East Volusia

Tagged:

• Ames house

Ames House, used for the city attorney’s office, has problems, including leaking windows and mold. Repairs would cost the city more than $284,000. (N-J | Nigel Cook)

Gen. Adelbert Ames and his wife, Blanche, were the owners of Ames House in the early 1900s. The home and grounds stayed in the family until Ormond Beach acquired the property in 1973. The grounds are a public park. (Ormond Beach Historical Society)

Some of the repairs that need to be made at the Ames House deal with leaks around the windows. The first phase of the Ames House improvement program could begin later this year with replacement of 12 historic windows at $22,000. (N-J | David Tucker)

The gardens at Ames Park on the south side of the Ames House are “pretty well used,” including by students and photographers, according to City Attorney Randy Hayes. (N-J | David Tucker)

City Attorney Randy Hayes (N-J | David Tucker)

 

 

ORMOND BEACH -- In the early 1900s, Blanche Ames became a golf widow -- rocking her days away on the veranda of the Ormond Hotel while her husband, former Union Army General Adelbert Ames, strolled the fairways with John D. Rockefeller, the city's most famous winter resident.

She looked for something to occupy her time so she began buying real estate, including land on the mainland along the Halifax River, and a block house at 173 S. Beach St., according to historic material displayed in a gazebo there. The blocks are molded masonry designed to simulate rough-cut limestone, according to the records.

The house offers an expansive view of the water and riverfront homes on the opposite side from its location on a jut of land south of the Granada Bridge.

In 1973, the city acquired the land, now Ames Park, south of Granada Boulevard. The stone house was used for city services, and since 1999 as the city attorney's office.
But the building has problems, including leaking windows and mold. Repairs in a three-year proposed improvement plan to be considered by city commissioners would cost more than $284,000.

Commissioners will learn more about the costs at a capital improvement workshop at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the training room at City Hall, prior to a 7 p.m. commission meeting in commission chambers.

The first phase of the Ames House improvement program would begin later this year with replacement of 12 historic windows at $22,000. Masonry work, moisture protection, drywall replacement and other initial improvements would total more than $57,000, according to a report submitted by Acting City Engineer John Noble.
The second phase includes more masonry work, doors, windows and disinfecting for nearly $175,000. Phase three includes more of the same for an additional $52,000, the report said.

"It blows my mind," said Commissioner Troy Kent of the proposed cost at a recent commission meeting.

"I want to fix the Ames House, but not for $300,000," Kent said at the meeting.
Commissioner Rick Boehm said the government-required arrangement of having a single contractor for city projects has advantages but a drawback is there are no competitive bids to compare.

Mayor Ed Kelley has some different ideas for the building.

"I have been talking to an individual who would be possibly looking at a joint public/private partnership," Kelley said at the meeting. "We have more than enough vacant space at City Hall for the legal department to move into.

"It will cost us a half-a-million dollars by the time it's done, because this does not include the top floor," Kelley said.

A public/private partnership could also include restoring the MacDonald House at 38 E. Granada Blvd., home of the Ormond Beach Historical Trust, he said.
Commissioner Bill Partington said he understood repairs might be "costly because it's historic" but he would like to keep the Ames House as a city facility.

Commissioner James Stowers said at the meeting he was "inclined to keep the city attorney and his staff over there," and City Attorney Randy Hayes said he would like to "be involved in any decision to be anywhere other than where we currently are."

In a separate interview, Hayes said the park is "pretty well used," including by students and photographers. Visitors often stop by the building with questions, although it is not open to the public, he said.

"The Ames House was owned by my great uncle -- built by an artist in 1910," said T.P. Plimpton of Ormond Beach in a phone interview. Plimpton, brother of the New York aristocrat and famed writer George Plimpton, lives across from the Ames house and describes its condition as "poor."

Local attorney Greg Snell, award winner for restoration of a 1940s coquina structure at 160 E. Granada Blvd., believes promoting local history is important.

Ames House," he said. "Whether or not it remains property of the city, I would like to be involved (with Ames House). I have a lot I could contribute.

"If they are looking at a private/public partnership, there might be incentive for someone to invest," Snell said.

"It's a great building and aesthetically appealing as well," he said. "It would be great to have that restored and accessible to visitors."

Interesting Find Close By

I have finally been able to thumb through a brochure I picked up while out of town at a work conference. Seeing that the conference was very near Walt Disney World it would stand to reason that I could find a Kissimmee Area Guide.

My dad was born in the Kissimmee area and we used to go and visit my grandmother when I was a child. I figured I would take a look and see what there is to do in the area besides the normal theme parks, chain restaurants, and "outlet" malls. You know, what doesn't cost a fortune to do.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of Civil War related activities. Who knew that St. Cloud was originally built as a retirement city for G.A.R. members? The G.A.R. Memorial Hall still stands today and according to the brochure houses a museum and also serves as the meeting place for the Lucious L. Mitchell Camp No. 4 of the Sons of Union Veterans. Also, Mt. Peace Cemetery, contains the burial location of over 350 Union veterans. Unfortunately neither the Hall nor the Cemetery appear to have official websites.

Once the weather cools down a bit it looks like a trip over there is in order.