Franklin Stearns
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Franklin Stearns (March 3, 1815 – June 10, 1888), was an American businessman who moved to
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, and became one of the city's leading Unionists, for which he was imprisoned several times during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. When Union forces captured the Confederate capital in April 1865, Richmond's mayor delivered the city's note of surrender to Union forces at Stearns' farm, Tree Hill which may become a park after development is completed. After the war, Stearns worked to restore Richmond, and three of his properties remain today, and are on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.


Early and family life

Born on March 3, 1815, to farmer and merchant Simeon Stearns and his wife Irene Newcomb in
Winhall, Vermont Winhall is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,182 at the 2020 census. In the southeastern corner of the town is the unincorporated village of Bondville. Half of the community of Stratton Mountain, part of ...
. When Franklin was 13, Simeon Stearns moved his family to
Madison County, New York Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,016. Its county seat is Wampsville. The county is named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, and was ...
. When he was 18, Franklin Stearns moved to Richmond, Virginia and worked on the
James River Canal The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for ...
. He married Emmy F. Haley (1818-1845), and they had one child, Zenus "Zeny" Barnum Stearns (1845-1890). On September 2, 1847, Franklin Stearns remarried, to Caroline Virginia Willey Stearns (1820 - 1877), and they had six children, of whom only Franklin Stearns Jr. (1848 - 1898) survived both parents. When Franklin Jr. returned from Paris after the American Civil War, he married Emily Palmer of New York, they received Farley farm as a wedding present from his father. Franklin Stearns' son Erastus Willey Stearns (1852-1878), married Caroline Poe of Orange County, and had a son Erastus Willey Stearns Jr. (1877-1929). Their sons Daniel (b. 1850), Allen (b. 1855) and Luther (b. 1859) all died in childhood. Franklin Stearns' daughter Irene "Rena" Louisa Stearns (1854-1886) married Jeremiah Morton Halsey and had six children, of whom three survived into adulthood.


Career

Stearns worked as an overseer for a Georgia railroad in 1836 and the next year moved to
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, to work in a quarry for the
James River and Kanawha Canal The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for ...
. By 1843 he was a contractor helping to build the canal, and switched to more mercantile pursuits. He operated a distillery and wine bottling plant, and became a leading member of the
Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...
and one of the state's largest land owners. The 1860 U.S. census listed Stearns as owning $155,000 in real estate and $200,000 in personal property. His distillery stood on 15th St. between Main and Cary streets in downtown Richmond. His country estate " Tree Hill Farm" in Henrico County outside the city limits overlooked both the city and the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
and stood near the intersection of the important Osborne turnpike and New Market road. During the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, Confederate provost John H. Winder considered Stearns a traitor to the Confederacy, and placed him in jail with
John Minor Botts John Minor Botts (September 16, 1802 – January 8, 1869) was a nineteenth-century politician, planter and lawyer from Virginia. He was a prominent Unionist in Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Early and family life Botts ...
, or later house arrest in his Richmond warehouse (where his family could care for him). Evidence that Stearns was disloyal to the Confederate cause was collected after the arrest of the Universalist Church's Reverend Alden Bosserman who admitted to authorities that Stearns had advised him against opening his church on the day after the Manassas battle which was seen as not supportive of the cause. Stearns was also the largest donor to Bosserman's church. Stearns' younger brother William moved to
DuPage County, Illinois DuPage County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Illinois, and one of the collar counties of the Chicago metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 932,877, making it List of ...
(where their brother Daniel lived) to avoid the conflict, and Stearns sent his two older sons out of the country so they would not be conscripted into the Confederate army. However, Stearns let the Confederate Chimborazo Hospital use Tree Hill farm to graze its livestock. On the night of April 1, 1865, as downtown Richmond burned due to fires set by evacuating Confederate troops, Richmond mayor Joseph Mayo traveled to Tree Hill farm to deliver a surrender note to two Union majors he found encamped there, with Union troops. They conveyed the note to Major General
Godfrey Weitzel Godfrey (Gottfried) Weitzel (November 1, 1835 – March 19, 1884) was a German-American major general in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was the acting Mayor of New Orleans during the Union occupation of the city and also captur ...
, who traveled to City Hall to accept the Confederate Capitol's formal surrender document at 8:15 a.m. Union troops also stopped the fires and restored order). After the war, the U.S. Marshall ordered Stearns' Richmond bank account frozen, which prompted a note from Virginia's Provisional Governor Francis H. Pierpont to President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
, attached to a formal pardon application on Stearns' behalf. On July 18, 1865, Stearns received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson for his activities which aided the Confederacy, conditioned upon him never acquiring any slaves or using slave labor. He also was elected to the
Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...
to represent Henrico County, along with J.J. White. He served in the first session (December 4, 1865 – March 3, 1866) but was replaced by Z. S. McGruder for the session which began on December 3, 1866. Stearns acquired what had once been the Planter's Bank Building on Richmond's Main Street, and in 1868 erected rental housing and commercial office space, which was nicknamed the Stearns block. The city's circuit court was held there beginning in 1870. His grandchildren's estate sold the property in 1923; the remaining iron front was noted in the
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, and remains today. Stearns was also a director of several banks, and of the James River and Kanawha Canal Company, the
Richmond and York River Railroad The Richmond and York River Railroad Company was incorporated under an act of the Virginia General Assembly on January 31, 1853.Interstate Commerce Commission. ''Southern Ry. Co.'', Volume 37, Interstate Commerce Commission Valuation Reports, Nov ...
and the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...
.Van Wageren p. 461 According to family accounts, Stearns refused to become involved in politics, declining to run in 1867 to become a delegate to Virginia's constitutional convention, and later when offered a position as U.S. Senator and even Governor. In 1869, Stearns traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with General Grant, provisional governor
Henry H. Wells Henry Horatio Wells (September 17, 1823February 12, 1900), a Michigan lawyer and Union Army officer in the American Civil War, succeeded Francis Harrison Pierpont as the appointed provisional governor of Virginia from 1868 to 1869 during Recon ...
, fellow Conservative Republican Gilbert C. Walker of
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and the
Committee of Nine The Committee of Nine was a group of conservative political leaders in Virginia, led by Alexander H. H. Stuart, following the American Civil War, when Virginia was required to adopt a new Constitution acknowledging the abolition of slavery before ...
to discuss the future political status of Confederate veterans. Many with more Confederate involvement than Stearns had also received pardons and restoration of their civil rights after surrendering and signing loyalty oaths. However, Virginia needed to adopt a new state Constitution (without the slavery provisions of the 1851 constitution) in order to be readmitted to the Union. The Constitutional Convention of 1868-69 drafted a new constitution pending voter approval, which contained a highly controversial provision barring former Confederates from holding office. Upon General Grant's recommendation after the meetings, occupying General
John Schofield John McAllister Schofield (; September 29, 1831 – March 4, 1906) was an American soldier who held major commands during the American Civil War. He was appointed U.S. Secretary of War (1868–1869) under President Andrew Johnson and later serve ...
permitted Virginia's voters (of all races) to vote separately on the constitution (which passed overwhelmingly) and the disenfranchisement provision (which failed). However, over the next decades, the former Confederates then enacted
Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were U.S. state, state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, "Jim Crow (character), Ji ...
which disenfranchised the former slaves.


Death and legacy

Stearns died in Richmond on June 10, 1888, survived by his sons Zenus Stearns and Franklin Stearns Jr. (who had nine children) and three grandchildren by his daughter Irena Louisa Stearns Halsey. Franklin Stearns was buried in
Shockoe Hill Cemetery The Shockoe Hill Cemetery is a historic cemetery located on Shockoe Hill in Richmond, Virginia. History Shockoe Hill Cemetery, as it is presently called, was established in 1820, with the initial burial made in 1822. It was earlier known as th ...
, as had been mayor Mayo, his fellow Unionist
John Minor Botts John Minor Botts (September 16, 1802 – January 8, 1869) was a nineteenth-century politician, planter and lawyer from Virginia. He was a prominent Unionist in Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Early and family life Botts ...
, and later would be
Elizabeth Van Lew Elizabeth Van Lew (October 12, 1818 – September 25, 1900) was an American abolitionist, Southern Unionist, and philanthropist who recruited and acted as the primary handler of an extensive spy ring for the Union Army in the Confederate ca ...
, although his three of his sons and his only daughter would be buried at Hollywood cemetery. His grandson Franklin Stearns III continued the family's business, and married the daughter of prominent lawyer James W. Green (also the niece of West Virginia Supreme Court justice Thomas Claiborne Green as well as the head of the U.S. Fish Commission,
Marshall McDonald Marshall McDonald (October 18, 1835 – September 1, 1895) was an American engineer, geologist, mineralogist, Fish farming, pisciculturist, and Fisheries science, fisheries scientist. McDonald served as the commissioner of the United States Fish ...
) and had several children (including Franklin Stearns IV). His granddaughter Emily Palmer Stearns became a prominent suffragette with
Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragette, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the Unit ...
in Washington, D.C., and worked inspecting housing for war workers during World War II. She never married, and later retired to their Culpeper farm, Farley, where she cared for many dogs and cats (pursuant to her vegetarian, no-kill philosophy) but could not travel when elderly to continue the family's involvement in Episcopal Church activities. Tree Hill Farm, the Iron Front Building in Richmond, and Farley are on the
National Register for Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stearns, Franklin 1815 births 1888 deaths Politicians from Richmond, Virginia People from Winhall, Vermont Southern Unionists in the American Civil War Businesspeople from Richmond, Virginia 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly