Category: Fluvanna County, Virginia

Fluvanna County, Virginia, Fork Union Military Academy

The Fork Union Military Academy In Fluvanna County, Virginia

Hamilton Historical Records

In 1898, fifty nine years after the establishment of the Virginia Military Insititute, the Fork Union Military Academy was established by Baptist minister Dr. William E. Hatcher in Fluvanna County, Virginia. The Fork Union Military Academy was not affiliated with the Army, the Coast Guard, the Navy, nor the Marines. Rather it was established as a boarding school for boys aged 14 to 17. Military curriculum was not added until 4 years after the school was founded.

In 1937, the American Legion Post 140, which was commanded by Hunter Bransford, dedicated a World War I era artillery gun to the Fork Union Military Academy. Next to the field gun are various plaques dedicated to the Fork Union Military Academy members who served during the “First Great War”.

Photograph of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Earle Davis Gregory.

One of the plaques is in honor of Earle Davis Gregory, who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor through his actions during the during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France.

In 1865, Confederate Veteran Charles Summerville Roller established the Augusta Male Academy, near the Old Stone Church, located within the Fort Defiance military installation in Virginia. In 1880, the male academy transitioned to a military academy. However, in 1984, the Augusta Military Academy closed due to financial issues rooted from a lack of enrollment during and after the Vietnam War. The former Augusta Military Academy exists as a museum honoring the alumni who attended there, whereas the Fork Union Military Academy still has its doors open, training teenage boys to become outstanding Virginian men.

Charlottesville General Hospital, Charlottesville Manufacturing Company, Charlottesville, Virginia, Fluvanna County, Virginia, General John Hartwell Cocke

The Charlottesville African Church Congregation Held Meetings In The Delevan Building That Was Constructed By War Of 1812 Veteran General John Hartwell Cocke

Hamilton Historical Records

In 1828, General John Hartfield Cocke, a War of 1812 Veteran who was a friend of then deceased United States President Thomas Jefferson, built the Delevan building, which was also known as “Mudwall”, in Charlottesville, Virginia. That same year General Cocke was also building a new Fluvanna County Courthouse and a stone jail, currently called the “Old Stone Jail” in Palmyra, Virginia.

Sketch of the University of Virginia’s anatomical theater in the foreground. In addition to General Cocke’s Delevan building, and various other local buildings, both the theatre and the Rotundra were part of the the Charlottesville General Hospital.

During the United States Civil War, also referred to as the “War Between the States”, the Delevan building became part of Charlottesville General Hospital, that the Confederate government established after the Battle of First Manassas. In addition, the Albemarle Courthouse, the Charlottesville Townhall, the anatomical theatre and the Rotundra at the University of Virginia, various homes and hotels were all part of the makeshift Charlottesville General Hospital. After the Battle of First Manassas, the Delevan Hospital, also called the Mudwall Hospital, received the first wounded troops from a nearby Virginia Center Railroad station. On March 3rd, 1865, Union General Philip Henry Sheridan, and his calvary, occupied the town of Charlottesville. At the time, the Charlottesville mayor, Charlottesville town council members and University of Virginia professors asked the Union for protection as the Charlottesville General Hospital fell under Union control. During the occupation, the Union accidently burnt down a textile mill, owned by the Charlottesville Manufacturing Company, while attempting to burn down a Virginia Center Railroad trestle in the Woolen Mills District. However, no other buildings were burnt down, during the occupation, and General George Armstrong Custer temporarily in a Charlottesville historic home called, “The Farm”.

In 1864, before the Union occupation of Charlottesville, the Charlottesville African Church Congregation was organized. In 1868, that congregation bought the property, where the Delevan Hospital had once stood, in order to erect a house of worship. In 1877 construction began on the Delevan Baptist Church, which was also known as the First Baptist Church. In 1883, construction of the baptist church was completed and it has been a place for Christians to worship ever since.

Author’s Note:

A historical marker for the Charlottesville General Hospital is posted on the grounds of the University of Virginia, in an area formerly known as Monument Square, next to where the George Roger’s Clark Monument used to be until the university relocated that historical statue to storage on July 11th, 2021.

Fluvanna County, Virginia, General John Hartwell Cocke

General John Hartwell Cocke – A Friend Of President Thomas Jefferson Who Designed The Palmyra Fluvanna County Courthouse

Hamilton Historical Records

General John Hartwell Cocke, who served for the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War, was a friend of Thomas Jefferson who designed the Palmyra Courthouse in Fluvanna County, Virginia.

The Old Stone Jail of Palmyra is located down the street form the courthouse that John Hartwell Cocke designed.