Henry Lockwood House

West Elevation of the Henry Lockwood House

Henry Lockwood House

Introduction

The Henry Lockwood House is a historic house located in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Built in 1848, the building was originally constructed to serve as the Paymaster’s Quarters of the U.S. Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry. The house was significantly renovated in 1858 shortly before the American Civil War and again in 1883 while a part of Storer College.   The house is located on the east side of Camp Hill at 360 Fillmore St. and has a commanding view of Harpers Ferry’s scenic landscape that has been at the center of the town story since its earliest beginnings. The town of Harper's Ferry sits at the confluence of the two rivers, the Shenandoah and the Potomac, and nestled within the Blue Ridge Mountains. The house has been the center of gravity for many historical events such as its role as the Paymaster's Quarters of the U.S. Federal Arsenal, John Brown's Raid, the use of the building as both Union and Confederate Headquarters, and finally as the first building of Storer College one of the first institutions of higher learning for African Americans. Given its location, method of construction, and its use throughout history the Lockwood House is considered to be historically, culturally, and architecturally significant. For three months in 1863, the house served as General Henry Lockwood's headquarters during the American Civil War which earned it its current namesake.

Background

The geographical and physical features of Harper's Ferry was the principle reason for its settlement and its eventual industrial progression. Beginning about 1733, Robert Harper established a grist and saw mill. Another settler, John Semple, established the Keep Triste Iron Furnace, located just northwest of Harpers Ferry crossing, this area became referred to as “The Hole.” This area would grow over the decades into center for industry. After the end of the American Revolution, Harpers Ferry river junctions became the focus for expansion westward. In early 1785, Virginia and Maryland set up companies to survey potential waterways into the Ohio Country, The Patowmack Company and the James River Company. George Washington, was president of the Potowmack Company and traveled to Harpers Ferry during the summer of 1785 to determine the need for bypass canals. Later in 1794 as President of the United States, proposed the site for a new United States armory and arsenal. Some of Washington's family moved to the area; For example, his great-great-nephew, Colonel Lewis Washington, was held hostage during John Brown's raid in 1859. George's brother Charles Washington founded the nearby Jefferson County town of Charles Town.

Establishing the Arsenal

In 1796, the federal government purchased a 125-acre (0.5 km²) parcel of land from the heirs of Robert Harper. Construction began on the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in 1798 with most of the buildings being completed by 1799. Harpers Ferry was one of only two armories in the U.S., the other being Springfield, Massachusetts. Together they produced most of the small arms for the U.S. Army. Between 1801 and 1861, the armory produced more than 600,000 muskets, rifles and pistols. Captain John H. Hall inventor of the breech loading rifle, signed a contract with the U.S. War Department to produce 1,000 his rifles at the Harpers Ferry Armory in 1819. Hall pioneered the use of interchangeable parts in firearms manufactured at his rifle works at the armory between 1820 and 1840; his M1819 Hall rifle was the first breech-loading weapon adopted by the U.S. Army. Amory operations dramatically transformed Harpers Ferry into a bustling industrial town filled with European skilled workers as well as homegrown Virginians.

Industrialization continued in 1833 when the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (which never reached the Ohio River) reached Harpers Ferry, linking it with Washington, D.C. A year later, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad began service through the town.

The Paymaster's Quarters

The Lockwood House was first constructed in 1848. Maj. Henry K. Craig, served at the Armory Superintendent from 1841 to 1844. Craig suggested significant improvements to both the Musket and Rifle factories, as well as repairs to the armory canal, and the “erection of Quarters for the Commanding Officer and Paymaster.” Maj. John Symington, appointed to replace Maj. Craig at the post of Superintendent of the Armory in 1844, repeated the request for improvements and provided “plans & estimates in detail for new structures and alterations and repairs to old buildings at this Armory."

The location of the armory and arsenal at the confluence of the rivers on the border of Virginia and Maryland played a pivotal role in the events leading up to the American Civil War in the form of John Brown’s raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal in 1859.

John Brown's Raid

By1859, the issue of slavery was plaguing the nation.  John Brown, an abolitionist from Kansas, sought to put an end to slavery by way of armed revolt. Brown chose Harpers Ferry to begin his war, his plan – to seize the weapons stored at the U.S. Arsenal.  On the evening of October 16, 1859, a Sunday, Brown and his men entered Harpers Ferry.  By mid-day on Monday, the incursion was ended, Brown was captured and several of his men killed when U.S. Marines stormed the guard house where they had barricaded themselves with their hostages

Civil War Period

With the outbreak of Civil War in 1861 and the destruction of the armory installation, Harpers Ferry, its people, industry, and their associated buildings, began many years of struggle to establish a new identity.  Poised on the border of North and South, and with the crucial B&O Railroad main line running through, Harpers Ferry began the war in the Confederate state of Virginia but ended the war within the newly created Union state of West Virginia.  Symbolic of this transition, both in politics and industry, the former armory Paymaster’s Quarters was used during the Civil War as Headquarters for Union Generals, including General Sheridan and General Henry H. Lockwood whose name remained permanently associated with the house, and to house prisoners of war, wounded soldiers, and medical supplies. Additionally, the loss of the armory at the beginning of the war eventually led to development of new industry, not the least of which was tourism associated both with the scenery and the association of the town with John Brown and the Civil War.

"In future years traveler and tourist will eagerly resort [here]...and history will point out [this] as the spot where many acts in the great tragedy, not yet closed, took place." ~ John D. Smith, 19th Main Infantry, September 1862

Storer College

Storer School

With the end of the Civil War and the Passage of the 13th Amendment, there was a national effort to educate former enslaved persons. The federal government established the Freedmen's Bureau, an agency dedicated to the assistance of integrating formers slaves into society. Freedmen’s Bureau activities included relocating, housing, feeding and clothing the destitute and homeless. In addition, education became an essential element of the bureau's mission. The Lockwood House in Harpers Ferry was the first building to house the newly established Storer School. Reverend Nathan Cook Brackett a member of New England's Freewill Baptist Home Mission Society, established a primary school in the war-torn building. He taught basic fundamentals including reading, writing, and arithmetic to the children of former slaves and their parents.

Nathan C. Brackett, a Freewill Baptist minister from Philips Maine, was educated at the Maine State Seminary and Dartmouth College.  The American Missionary Association, a group working with the Freedmen's Bureau, assigned the Shenandoah Valley to the Freewill Baptists. Nathan Brackett was familiar with the territory having served in the Shenandoah Valley, even headquartered in Harpers Ferry, in 1864 with the U.S. Christian Commission:

The agent upon whom the largest share of the work, in detail, was devolved, was Rev. N.C. Brackett, of Maine.  Being a strong man, and possessed of tireless energy, it was impossible to give him too much to do.  He was associated with me in all the operations in the Shenandoah Valley, and won for himself the kindest wishes of many hundreds of soldiers, as well as of officers and delegates.

Upon arriving at Harpers Ferry, Brackett found a desperate and tumultuous situation. He later commented that,

I found a colored population poor and helpless, surrounded by white people desperately hostile to their improvement.  The task of securing school rooms and boarding places for the teachers was by no means a light one.  The very few who would have been willing to furnish us were frequently prevented by the fear of their neighbors.  Through the kindness of Capt. Young, we were allowed to occupy an old government house, which answered for school room and a place to live in, at Harper’s Ferry.

Dedicated as they were, these few teachers could not begin to meet the educational needs of the freedmen in the area. Across the South, education of freedmen was an urgent priority within their community. By 1867, some 16 teachers struggled to educate 2,500 students. Reverend Brackett realized that he needed to train African American teachers.

The Lockwood House would serve as the main building for Storer School until 1867, when the school came to the attention of John Storer, a philanthropist from Maine. Storer offered a $10,000 grant to Reverend Brackett's school if several conditions could be met. First, the school must become a degree-granting college. Second, the school had to be open to all applicants, regardless of race or gender. And, finally, the Freewill Baptist Church had to match his $10,000 donation within the year. After a year-long effort, the money was raised, and Storer College opened its doors. By March 1868 it received its state charter. Through fundraisers and state funding, Storer College expanded its buildings but retained control of the Lockwood House for the purpose of dormitories. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. The Board of Education, declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. This decision overturned former case of Plessy vs. Ferguson to be unconstitutional, the college lost its charter.

Historic Preservation

In 1962, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park was established by congress an upgrade from its National Monument status of 1944. Given the historical significance of Harpers Ferry, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. A study of the Lockwood House was begun in 1959 by historian Philip R. Smith, Jr., was completed by historian William T. Ingersoll and architect Archie W. Franzen.  Historic American Building Survey (HABS) floor plans and photographs recorded Lockwood House as it appeared in 1958. The Lockwood House would undergo extensive exterior restoration between 1965 and 1969. The third story was removed and the hipped roof was restored back to its 1858 appearance.  The east portico and west double gallery porches were reconstructed and the exterior brick walls were sand blasted.

In the early 1970s two of the first floor rooms were refurnished to depict the first years of Brackett school based on historical reports by Anne Coxe Toogood and David

H. Wallace.  In the 30 years since, the building has remained relatively vacant with the basement in use currently to house part of the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park curatorial collection.

In 2020, the Historic Preservation Training Center awarded a contract to plaster conserveters to.......

References

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