#museumfromhome

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

In 1834, Ann Gallagher helped commit her brother, Bernard Gallagher, Jr., to the Western State Hospital after confirming his alleged insanity. If you have toured The Weems-Botts Museum, you may remember that the Merchant Family also sent Mary Merchant to Western State Hospital in Stanton, Virginia in 1901. While the focus of this blog is on Gallagher, Jr.’s admission and possible experiences, it is interesting to note that at least two residents of the Town of Dumfries traveled to Stanton.

In 01/1825, the Virginia General Assembly approved the construction of an asylum in the western part of the state, and the “Western Lunatic Asylum” became the second mental health facility in the state of Virginia. It opened in 1828 with patients admitted for everything from “religious excitement” to “debility of the nervous system.” Dr. Francis T. Stribling was the first appointed superintendent and was seen as a leader in the mental health community, one of the founders of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, later becoming the American Psychiatric Association. The hospital underwent name changes over its’ lifetime, becoming Western State Hospital in 1894. It operated until it officially closed in the mid-1970s as medics transferred patients from the “Old Site” to the new facility. Today, it is part of the grounds of The Blackburn Inn and Conference Center, as a Historic Hotel of America. It is also a listed and protected site on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Gallagher family’s claims were extensive as they owned land in the Town of Dumfries and Prince William County, along with other Virginia lands. Bernard Gallagher, Sr. potentially owned land in Pennsylvania as well as benefiting from his adventures at sea with captured prized vessels during the War of 1812. Although captured as a POW, Gallagher, Sr. returned to our area and owned thirteen enslaved persons by 1822, indicating the family’s prosperity and acceptance of forced servitude. Upon Gallagher, Sr.’s death, his will divided his property amongst his wife and children, and although he noted his son suffering from a “heavy affliction” at the time it was written, the Gallagher family did not commit Bernard Gallagher, Jr. until 1834.

"The depositions of Ann Gallagher touching the insanity of Bernard Gallagher.

Question by the Justices: How long has it been since Bernard Gallagher has been of insane mind.

Answer: About seventeen years.

Question by the Justices: Do you know the cause of his Insanity.

Answer: I do not, but heard him complain of his head from going into Creek when he was overheated and further this deponent saith not.

The deposition of John Carter touching the insanity of Bernard Gallagher.

Question by Justices: How long has it been since Bernard Gallagher has been of insane mind of your knowledge.

Answer: About fifteen years.

Question by Justices: Do you know the cause of his Insanity.

Answer: I do not and further this deponent saith not.

The deposition of Ann Wheeler touching the insanity of Bernard Gallagher.

Question by the Justices: How long has it been since Bernard Gallagher has been of Insane mind of your knowledge.

Answer: About fifteen years.

Question by Justices: Do you know the cause of his Insanity.

Answer: I do not and further this deponent saith not."

John W. William, George Mason, and J.E. Weems provided their seals and oaths on these depositions presented before them on 09/09/1834. That same day, they provided their judgment and direction in Gallagher, Jr.’s fate.

"Whereas, upon due examination before us, Bernard Gallagher, of this county, hath been adjudged a person of -- or disordered mind, and we have though it expedient that he should be [consigned] to the public hospital for the maintenance and are of persons of unsound mind, in the town of Stanton. You are, there, hereby authorized and required forthwith to impress two men to assist you to remove the said Bernard Gallager to the said hospital in the town of Stanton, and deliver [him] together with the warrant and order the depositions of the -, a certificate of the said Bernard Gallaghers estate, and the probable annual profits thereof, and -- to the keeper of the said hospital, and for so doing this shall be your warrant….”

The schedule of his estate was as follows:

“One negro woman aged about forty years hired out at time at the rate of twenty dollars per annum.

The Interest on Three Hundred & fifty dollars and one tenth of eight hundred acres of land and some houses and [lots] in the town of Dumfries his interest supposed to be worth from thirty to fifty dollars.”

It should be noted that a court case involving land causes stemming from Gallagher, Sr.’s properties landed in court in 03/1835. An impressive amount of people (the researcher noted that all the names of known descendants of Bernard Gallagher, Sr. were identified, ca. 1835), filed this Gallagher vs. Gallagher case, revolving around,

“…that the real Estate of which their Father Bernard Gallagher died seized and possessed of consists of a Tract of land in the County of Prince William County called Providence consisting of about [blank] acres, a small tract of land in Stafford, and some houses and lots in the Town of Dumfries, (and perhaps some vacant lats at the mouth of Quantico in Prince William County, and that division thereof could not be effected amongst those entitled to division without materially injuring the interest of all, and more over that the interest of each devisee or distribute in the same is of much less value than $300.”

Bernard Gallagher, Jr. appears in the document numerous times as a “lunatic,” and Ann Gallagher appeared in court as a defendant and “as committee of Lunacy of Bernard Gallagher (the younger) to answer this bill of complaint.” While John Gibson acted as attorney for both the plaintiff and the defendant, Ann Gallagher readily conceded, “…that she believes the allegations charged and set out in the Complaints bill are correct, and so far as she is concerned and interested individually she desire the Court should pronounce a decree in conformity with the prayer thereof…willing to abide by any decision the Court may think fit to pronounce,” essentially agreeing with the recommended sale of real estate.

(Virginia Map ca. 1839 with both Stanton and Dumfries noted. Burr, David H, and John Arrowsmith. The American atlas, exhibiting the post offices, post roads, rail roads, canals, and the physical & political divisions of the United States of North America. [London?: John Arrowsmith, 1839] Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/2009582191/.)

Gallagher, Jr. entered the facility during a period of renovation. Thomas R. Blackburn, protegee of President Thomas Jefferson, led the project to incorporate spacious room wings, gardens, and a cupola. Dr. Stribling emphasized and focused on treating patients with an eye towards their emotional well-being. He also advocated “moral treatment,” which challenged demonic explanations and focused on the importance of the external environment. This approach declined following the Civil War due to a variety of reasons including overexaggerated cure rates and the cost of facilities.

Gallagher, Jr.’s voice cannot be heard in current available records. In his will, Bernard Gallagher, Sr., only noted “…it has pleased Almighty God to visit my son Bernard Gallagher with a heavy affliction,” not providing much context. Gallagher, Jr. entered the facility at the age of 38 and remained for the next eighteen years. Researcher Judson Banks deduced from the above records that Gallagher, Jr. had suffered an infirmity from an accident at the age of twenty-one, such as a stroke, or head injury while diving into creek. Based on the available estate and money paid to the facility, it is possible he was buried there. Although other members of the family are in Dumfries Cemetery, there are no tombstones or records of Gallagher, Jr.

Thanks to these details reported and recorded, we also know that the enslaved woman Fanny, or Fannery, was sold on 09/15/1836 for $450. She appeared in Bernard Gallagher, Sr.,’s will along with the other listed enslaved persons: Lucy, Fanny, Jim, Harriet, Jane, and Emily. In his inventory, we also find: Daniel Bull, John, George Chapman, Henry, Carpenter John, James, and George Coote.

Note: Memorial Day weekend features two popular programs, The Weems-Botts Bibliophiles and Members First: Revolutionary War evening walk. You can find tickets along with June’s programs here.

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

Caesar Augustus Rodney undoubtedly cursed the roads around Dumfries in March 1807. Tasked with advising President Thomas Jefferson on the situation with Aaron Burr, Rodney struggled to find fast transport out of Dumfries to verify Burr’s capture and whereabouts. In a series of letters that lamented the lengths he took to obtain accurate news, we can both emphasize his complaints against the roads and find some familiarity with his need for social networking.

On 03/22/1807, President Thomas Jefferson asked Rodney to meet with him to discuss ways of taking Burr to Richmond as fast as possible. Unfortunately for Burr, this was not for a social engagement or political campaign. Instead, it stemmed from his suspected treason and looming treason trial court case. On 03/26/1807, Rodney wrote to Jefferson bemoaning the roads noting it would take him three days to travel from Dumfries to Richmond. While Rodney waited for more horses, he reported,

“This gentleman says that Burr arrived at Fredericksburg yesterday about three O Clock. Reports stated that some country men who knew him apprehended him not far from thence in the woods where he was travelling alone. They called out some of the militia to their aid under whose charge he was brought to Fredericksbg & who sat off with him this morning for Richmond before the gentleman who is my informant left Fredericksburg which was at half past nine O. Clock. I think the information so far as it relates to Burr’s having been actually taken to Fredericksburg yesterday, & from thence this morning to Richmond. I presume the messenger sent by Genl. Dearborn reached Fredericksburg last night in the stage & not before, & that he has ordered Burr to Richmond.”

Rodney dramatically finished his letter as he hastened to Fredericksburg to verify these statements and Burr’s whereabouts, noting he deemed it “a duty I owe to you & my country.”

(The Arrest of Aaron Burr, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "The arrest of Aaron Burr" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 10, 2023)

Rodney reported from Bowling Green the following day with more information regarding the particulars of Burr’s capture, including Burr’s disguise.

“On the subject of Burrs arrest &c. I received the following information from Mr. Farish the keeper of the Inn at Fredericksburg, to which they brought Burr. He had it from Perkins in whose charge he was. I send it to you lest no other more correct may have reached you yet, as we were without any intelligence on the subject when I left Washington.

Burr was discovered in disguise by the Sherif of —— within 15. or 20 miles of the Spanish lines. He was dressed in a pair of striped Virginia cloth trousers, a white country yarn jacket, an old drab surtout & an old white hat. The Sheriff rode on with him until he met a country man going to fort Stoddart by whom he sent for some soldiers. Burr knew not, that he was so near the fort. As soon as he saw the soldiers he was alarmed & asked where they were going. The Sheriff told him they were merely ordered to another station. The soldiers came up, presented arms at him, & told him to surrender. This he did without resistance. On his way, at some little village in South Carolina he got off from his horse & called on the people who had collected to protect him, told them he had been twice acquitted & was a persecuted man &c. They told the guard to take him on & he was compelled to mount once more.”

Rodney did not neglect to include a diatribe against the roads he deemed “so intolerably bad” as he lamented his harrowing journey to Fredericksburg followed by his carriage ride to Bowling Green. Rodney relied upon this news from Mr. Farish, proprietor of the Inn at Fredericksburg, who received the info from Mr. Perkins, the man in charge of the party leading Burr to Richmond. Supposedly, Burr was still in his disguise and wished to see or speak to no one on his forced travel.

Not having news media to rely upon, Rodney ceaselessly used his connections in Dumfries and Fredericksburg to receive updates and utilize his own scouts. He indicated waiting to see “Mr. Henderson of the Marine” to meet with his brother, but finding the brother had already departed Dumfries, Rodney turned to people arriving from Fredericksburg, reporting that “country men” apprehended Burr as he traveled the countryside alone near Fredericksburg. Once Rodney reached Fredericksburg, he confirmed that Burr had received habeas corpus, which he was unable to prevent. However,

“I wrote to Mr. Hay to employ two of the ablest counsel, lest Burr should then anticipate us. I shall in consultation add a third when I get there. I presume Wirt & Wickham will be employed by Mr. Hay, unless Burr has retained Wickham immediately on his arrival.”

The trial began on 05/22/1807 in Richmond. Rodney, George Hay, William Wirt, and Alexander McCrae served as the prosecution while Edmund Randolph, John Wickham, Benjamin Botts (woo!), Charles Lee, and Luther Martin served as the defense, along with Burr. While not discussing the actual trial (it deserves multiple blogs!), Burr’s alleged attempt to take over portions of the Louisiana Territory and declare himself Emperor always raises a few eyebrows. As our young country was still flexing its international muscles and trying to retain a place of dignity and strength as a global force while maintaining neutrality, the threat of war with Spain was a very real possibility, and Burr’s decision to step down as Jefferson’s Vice President was quickly followed by his communication with his friend General James Wilkinson, the new governor of the Louisiana Territory. A series of letters between the two highlight Burr’s planned military expedition as well as his attempts to garner support on his behalf, correspondents later claiming Burr attempted to incite the people in the territory against the U.S.

Much of the trial focused on Blennerhassett’s Island, where resources, supplies, and people had started amassing for the military campaign. Burr and his brilliant defense argued that he was one hundred miles away from the island at the time of the trial, and if the people on the island did not face treason, neither should Burr. Presiding Chief Justice John Marshall agreed in his incredible three-hour opinion read to the court. Marshall then excluded any evidence related to the island, pretty much ensuring the jury could not find Burr guilty on the Neutrality Act charge.

President Jefferson was unhappy. He considered a range of actions against Marshall, including possible impeachment, but most of his anger and rage vented through letters. On 09/20/1807, he wrote to General Wilkinson,

“…the scenes which have been acted at Richmond are such as have never before been exhibited in any country where all regard to public character has not yet been thrown off. they are equivalent to a proclamation of impunity to every traiterous combination which may be formed to destroy the Union: and they preserve a head for all such combinations as may be formed within, and a center for all the intrigues & machinations which foreign governments may nourish to disturb us.”

As Jefferson continued to fume at Marshall, really demonstrating the unique and tense relationship between the two, Burr made sure to absent himself from further trials. Notably, after hearing news regarding the state of unrest in Texas in the 1830s, he remarked, “There! You see? I was right! I was only thirty years too soon. What was treason in me thirty years ago, is patriotism now.” Even today, scholars still debate the treason charge. As for Botts? He did not receive a great review from Jefferson either,

“Burr preserves a firm Mind & his Talents & resources are on the stretch, He can instruct his Counsel, yet he is ably supported by Wickham & Martin, and Botts appears to be an indefatigable, act[ive,] scrutinizing drudge.”

Read all the court case documents here along with excellent historic contextual info!

Note: Did you read the latest May 2023 edition of The Town Crier? Instead of frowning and shaking your head no, click here to read about upcoming free programs with HDVI!

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

While Robert Henry Botts applied and received a patent from the U.S. Patent Office in 1880 for his “Washing Machine,” his more ambitious project of the “Botts Flying Machine” occupied his time in the early 1900s as he formed the World Aerial Navigation and Construction Company in Point Richmond Hills in California. Although he had enthusiasm, patents at the ready, and hype from the media, a windstorm ultimately dashed his dreams.

By 1880, we find him in Coloma, Carroll County, Missouri with his washing machine patent. By 1900, he was in San Francisco Bay region with the resources and patience to construct and then potentially begin experiments within the next few years. During that time, if not before, he began work on his dream. Botts published an article in the periodical The Aeronautical World in 1902 promoting and boasting his novel invention to make aerial navigation safer and reliable at a more affordable price. “It combines with flying machine with the parachute, this making it absolutely safe. It can be started from any place and under any conditions of weather. In short, it is near perfection as machinery can be made by man.”

(Patent for parts of The Botts Flying Machine, ca. 1901)

According to Botts, his bane was achieving enough power, which had him turning to steam, “…the result of my work is a steam boiler, more powerful, than any other now in use. I have also constructed an engine of a greatly improved type, to be used in connection with my boiler. The whole, both engine and boiler, weigh but ten pounds to the registered horse power.”

To achieve aerial navigation, he noted his machine consisted of “three sets of propellers, a rudder, and a stationary plane surface, a canvas covering the framework outside of the condensing coil acting as an aerial-plane in fight and a parachute in descent.”

He felt confident his product was safe. “Having an engine light and powerful that runs without a jar, a boiler which generates a great amount of steam with but little weight and a small amount of liquid fuel, and the strong framework of the general fabric and utilized also as a steam condenser, accidents are not at all likely to occur…Suppose the machine were to stop mid-air, by accident or otherwise, it would descend at a speed of about four miles an hour.”

For profit, Botts turned to selling his stock emphasizing his confidence and the fact they reached the experimental phase. Noting his entire machine was constructed on the plan of a bicycle wheel, the company challenged “the world to produce a lighter construction having equal strength with less wind resistance, sine our one-man-machine, including 8-horse-power engine, can be built, weight from 100 to 150lbs.” However, “We, as a company, propose to perfect a one-man-machine first, leaving the commercial possibilities to be determined in the future, thus making no extravagant claims.”

William L. Thompson, MD, shared that his father personally knew Botts. “Botts claimed that his boiler was strong enough to hold pressures up to 400 pounds per square inch.  My father disputed this and suggested a controlled test of the pressure in the boiler house of the local Standard Oil Company refinery.  This test was never done. It is said that the engine, itself, was tested at the local Santa Fe shops.  I do not know the results of this test if it was done. The engine, however, seems to have been an amazingly light and efficient little steam engine.  How the power was delivered to the propellers and what device was used to shift the power from the vertical to the horizontal propellers is unclear to me. Also the exact type of fuel and the facilities for carrying the fuel is unclear.”

While Dr. Thompson suspects the model described and advertised was strictly an experimental model with more powerful and refined versions to likely follow, Botts dreams died in 1903 when a heavy windstorm blew his aircraft and other structures off the summit of the hill, destroying everything. This ended his impractical and grandiose dream, at least in terms of construction and promotion. Although it was unlikely his machine would ever take flight, it could still fuel the literary genres of steampunk and historical fiction as his device had quite the eclectic and novel appearance one would expect from a combination of bike, parachute, and steam.

Note: The Prince William Resolves Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) will hold a Wreath Laying Ceremony honoring the 274th Anniversary of the Town of Dumfries and the 249th Anniversary of the signing of the Prince William County Resolves. The event will take place at the Weems-Botts Museum, Dumfries, VA at 11:00a.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2023.

The town of Dumfries, which received its charter on May 11, 1749, is the oldest continuously chartered town in Virginia. The town once was the second leading port in Colonial America, at the time rivaling New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. It was also near to the home of the first Prince William County Courthouse, the birthplace of the Prince William County Resolves, a key document in our nation’s history. The document, which was a series of “resolves" in support of Boston and against King George III and Parliament’s policies, “in the common cause of American liberty,” marked Virginia’s first coordinated dissension against Great Britain. The document successfully passed on June 6, 1774.

The Prince William Resolves Chapter, NSDAR, is located in Dale City, VA, and is one of 130 chapters in the state of Virginia. The chapter is composed of a diverse group of women who have traced their ancestral lineage back to Patriots of the American Revolutionary War, and who are dedicated to community service, preserving history, educating children, and honoring and supporting those who serve our nation. For more information or to become a member of the Prince William Resolves Chapter visit: (https://princewilliamresol.wixsite.com/dalecity).

Check out the Sennefer statue in our virtual museum!

Check out the Trajan bust in our virtual museum!

Check out the Agamemnon, Talthybios, and Epeios relief in our virtual museum!