Wilton Hill House (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where this home once stood. No visible remains exist.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows a history of Wilton Woods as published on the Fairfax County Public Schools website:

What’s in a Name?
How did Wilton Woods Elementary School get its name? Find out in this video produced for FCPS cable television channel Red Apple 21:

Wilton Woods Center off Franconia road is a Fairfax County Public Schools administrative building. The building originally served as an elementary school. The name Wilton Woods is derived from the name of a historic home called Wilton Hill. John Frobel, a native of Holland, was a musician, piano teacher, and talented gardener. In 1804, he moved to Mount Vernon where he taught music to the nieces and nephews of Bushrod Washington, who inherited the estate from his uncle George Washington in 1799. John Frobel lived with the Washington's until his home, Wilton Hill, was completed in 1809. "The Civil War Diary of Anne Frobel," John's daughter is a compelling account of daily life at Wilton Hill during the war years. During that time, John's daughters Anne and Elizabeth lived alone at Wilton Hill.

"...Summer 1862. Lizzie had a beautiful little lemon tree the very apple of her eye she'd been sending two or three lemons at a time to a poor sick lady who was confined to her bed with a severely wounded arm she'd been shot while walking through the streets of Alexandria by a soldier who was heard to say that he intended to kill a rebel before night. Lizzie looked out the window and saw a soldier in the very act of snatching off the lemons she jumped up and flew out in such a hurry he turned and made a dash at her with his bayonet saying he would run her through she stopped short and looked at him and said run me through a few death I never was afraid of a coward and none but a coward would attack a lady in that way..."

Anne and Elizabeth eked out a living during the war years as soldiers raided their chicken coops, killed their cows, stole their horses, and wiped out their gardens. After Anne's death, Wilton Hill sat abandoned for many years until it was sold at auction in 1910. During the 1950's, Fairfax County experienced a wave of rapid population growth. New schools were desperately needed. Wilton Woods Elementary School was built near the site of the Frobel's home.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from Donald Hakenson's "This Forgotten Land" tour guide:

Approximately in this area was the location of Wilton Hill, the home of Anne and Elizabeth Frobel and their brother Lieutenant Colonel Bushrod W. Frobel. Before the war Bushrod participated in the Paraguay expedition in 1855. Initially, Bushrod served as Captain in the Fifth Alabama Artillery and commanded a battery at Cockpit Point near Dumfries between December 1861 to March 1862. He would eventually attain the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as a field artillery officer under Major General A.P. Hill's Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. Lieutenant Colonel Frobel also laid out fortifications around Atlanta, Georgia. Lieutenant-Colonel Frobel survived the war and lived in Georgia after the conflict.

ANNE FROBEL'S GIFT.
In the spring of 1864, in a nearby neighbor's house, Anne Frobel met with Captain James Kincheloe, and five or six of his men of the Chincapin Rangers. This was the first time Anne had met or even seen Confederate soldiers during the entire conflict because Wilton Hill had been under Union occupation since May 24, 1861 when the Union Army marched into Alexandria. To commemorate the occasion, Captain Kincheloe presented Anne Frobel a button from his Confederate uniform.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2019 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

A CONFEDERATE DIES AT WILTON
By Don Hakenson

On July 31, 1838, Henry Walper Kearney was born in Rocky Marsh, about three miles west of Shepherdstown, Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia) and grew to manhood in that neighborhood.

When the war broke out Kearney initially served with the Seventh Virginia Cavalry and was transferred to Knott’s Company, later Company D, Twelfth Virginia Cavalry, when the company was organized at Fisher’s Hill. He was commissioned a lieutenant on March 17, 1862 [Saint Patrick’s Day) at Shepherdstown in Company D. Sometime around July 1863 he was chosen as captain in the same company and remained with it until the close of the war.

On July 16, 1863, early in the morning, Captain Kearney took position in the timber in or near Engle’s Hill awaiting an expected enemy force. It was not long before a Union squad appeared. Captain Kearney divided his company and attacked the Union intruder from the front and rear. The fighting continued until thirty-three Union cavalrymen had been captured, including their horses and equipment. They also procured a Union general’s headquarters wagon of the Second Brigade of the Second United States Cavalry with the general’s extra clothing, camp fixtures, and bedding, and two fine horses and with harness. A servant was also apprehended. Several Union cavalrymen escaped to give the alarm.

Major John L. Knott rode up and took command of Kearney’s company and sent the Union prisoners back to safety. Major Knott moved the company to Moler’s Cross Roads, two and one-half miles towards Uvilla. When Major Knott and Company D neared Uvilla they saw an advance guard of Union troopers. Major Knott and Captain Kearney and the rest of Company D charged and ended up capturing one Union man in the engagement.

The rest of the Union cavalry retreated over the hill and could not be seen. Company D wheeled about, exchanged some shots and finally retired. There is a Confederate marker (listed as number seven) located at the Northeast corner of Longfield and Shepherdstown Pike adjacent to St. James Lutheran Church that commemorates the fight involving Captain Kearney’s company.

Captain Kearney was a brave and capable officer and greatly beloved by his men. Retaining to the last his affection for his comrades, Captain Kearney was a regular attendant at all reunions held by his company in the county. After the war Captain Kearney married Margaret Beavers Allen, of Shepherdstown and moved to Virginia. Living for a time in Rappahannock County, Captain Kearney lived the rest of his life on a farm named “Wilton” near the city of Alexandria, Virginia. Wilton farm was located where the former Wilton Woods Elementary Schools is situated today. Captain Kearney and his wife would raise four sons (Robert, Allen, Henry and Briscoe) and five daughters (Kate, Lizzie, Anna, Lella and Blanche).

On Friday, May 2, 1896, Captain Kearney showed up for a reunion for Company D, Twelfth Virginia Cavalry at Shepherdstown. Over forty of the remaining members of the company answered the roll call at the ceremony. Two young daughters of Captain Kearney delivered several stirring recitations that touched everyone in attendance and was a most pleasing part of the program. Both Kearney girls were vigorously applauded.

During the early part of September 1903 it was reported Captain Kearney was quite sick the past week or two at the home of his sister, Mrs. Kate McQuilkin, near Shepherdstown. He had a sharp attack of pneumonia. Finally, on the night of December 19, 1904 Captain Kearney died at his beloved home Wilton from a complication of Pulmonary troubles. He was well known in Fairfax County and in the City of Alexandria, and a large number of friends showed up for the funeral at his homestead to regret his death. Reverend J.P. Stump of the M.E. Church South officiated and the interment was made in Ivy Hill Cemetery, in Alexandria. His casket was covered in Confederate grey.

Only one member of his family is now left, his sister, Mrs. Kate McQuilkin of Shepherdstown. Two of Captain Kearney’s brothers died while serving in the army and his brother J. Thornburg Kearney, died some years ago. He was known as a gallant soldier and a Christian gentleman. The children of the family were particularly sad as Mrs. Kearney had been at the point of death for some time, finally succumbing on April 22, 1905. She is buried next to Captain Kearney.

A meeting of the surviving members of Company D, Twelfth Virginia Cavalry, was held at Shenandoah Junction on December 20, 1904, and the following resolutions were adopted:

Whereas: The Supreme Ruler of the Universe has removed from us by death our comrade and commander, Captain H.W. Kearney.

Resolved, That we humbly bow to the will of Him who doeth all things well, too wise to err, too good to be unkind; and that in the death of Comrade Kearney we have lost one of our most estimable citizens; a man of excellent character, upright in all his ways; a soldier tried and true and never known to shirk his duty or fail to face the foe. We extend to his family our sympathy in their sorrow. A kind husband and father has left them, and the members of Company D have sustained a loss that can never be filled.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family of our deceased comrade.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here follows an excerpt from "The Daily Gardener" website:

From Blooms to Battleground: Anne Frobel’s Civil War Garden
May 24, 1861

On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves transported to the tumultuous era of the American Civil War, peering into the life of 45-year-old Anne Frobel.

This remarkable woman, residing outside Alexandria, Virginia, not far from the hallowed grounds of Mount Vernon, began her Civil War diary with these poignant words:

I never saw 'Wilton' my dear old home looking more lovely and inviting.

The trees and plants had put on their loveliest spring attire, and the garden was resplendent with the bloom of rare and brilliant flowers, and the fields were all smiling with a bright prospect of an abundant harvest.

Oh, what a vivid tableau Anne paints with her words!

Can you not envision the verdant beauty of Wilton, its garden a riot of color, the fields promising a bountiful yield?

Yet, how swiftly this idyllic scene was to change.

The very next day, Anne's farmhouse, like many homes in Alexandria and along the Potomac, was seized by Union soldiers seeking quarters.

Picture, if you will, the shock and dismay as these uninvited guests invaded the tranquil sanctuary of Wilton.

Anne shared her home with her sister Lizzie, both women having never married. Their diary offers us a rare glimpse into the lives of Southern women during the Civil War, enduring four long years of occupation as troops and scavengers pillaged their land for firewood, food, and water.

One can only imagine the inner turmoil Anne must have felt as she was forced to play hostess to those she viewed as invaders.

In one particularly galling incident, Anne recounts how a Union officer, while dining at her table, regaled them with a tale of how he had destroyed the last turnips. Her response, penned in her diary, speaks volumes:

My very blood boiled!

In these four simple words, we feel the full force of Anne's anger and frustration.

The destruction of the turnips was not merely the loss of a crop, but a symbolic desecration of her beloved garden, her home, her way of life.

As we reflect on Anne's diary, let us consider the stark contrast between the beauty she described on that first day and the hardships that followed. Her garden, once "resplendent with the bloom of rare and brilliant flowers," became a battleground of sorts, a microcosm of the larger conflict tearing the nation apart.

For us modern gardeners, Anne's account serves as a poignant reminder of the resilience of both nature and the human spirit.

In times of conflict and hardship, gardens can become sanctuaries, sources of sustenance, and symbols of hope.

May we tend our own plots with the same devotion Anne showed to Wilton, appreciating the peace and beauty they offer, even in challenging times.