John Paul Jones

The John Paul Jones house at 501 Caroline Street in Fredericksburg.

Rodman the Keeper by Constance Fenimore Woolson

Once again I recommend to those who are interested in fiction of the American Civil War the short story by Constance Fenimore Woolson called "Rodman the Keeper". It is well worth reading.

Jane Beale house

Another Fredericksburg diarist was Jane Beale who lived at 307 Lewis Street. Here is her house as it appears today, in 2008. Jane's diary spans the years 1850 to 1862.

Maury home site in Fredericksburg

Matthew Fontaine Maury and his family lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia up to 1842 when they moved to the National Observatory in Washington, D.C. The Maury home was located on Charlotte Street. It is no longer there, but a stone marks the site. The stone is flush to the ground near the post office parking lot.

Betty and Will in Richmond

The Richmond Dispatch for January 9, 1903, in an obituary reporting the death of Betty Herndon Maury (available at the Library of Congress Chronicling America web site) relates the following information about Betty and her husband Will: “Mrs. Maury was born in Fredericksburg, Va. and went with her father and mother to Washington in 1842. She lived at the national observatory of which her father was superintendent until the breaking out of the war. . . . When the war commenced [Betty and Will] came to Virginia and lived in Richmond where her husband was a member of the law firm Page & Maury. In 1878 they moved to Washington, where she died.”