Virginia Capitol Connections Summer 2019

The Capitol Calamity of 1870 By Cierra Parks March 1870, five years after the

Capitol Square Has Many Stories to Tell By Mark Greenough Historic Capitol Square in downtown Richmond is a civic centerpiece for the city and a political campus for the Commonwealth. Today’s square is a well landscaped and carefully maintained public park, providing a welcome setting for legislation, inauguration, commemoration, education and relaxation. Important government buildings and imposing monuments around the square are tangible reminders of power, leadership,

Civil War, the state had recently been re- admitted to the Union and Conservatives were attempting to free Virginia from the constricting policies of the Reconstruction- era Republicans. The Conservatives and Radicals went on to fight for control of the state’s capital for years. A fight that came to a head on March 16, 1870, when Richmond Conservatives tried to drive out the Reconstruction Republicans.

Virginia’s governorwasGilbertWalker, a conservativeRepublican who was reasonably favorable to the state’s Democrats. The mayor of Richmond was George Chahoon, a radical Republican. He had served as mayor for two years before a new council came together and elected Henry K. Ellyson, publisher of the Richmond Dispatch, former sheriff, and member of the Conservative party. Chahoon, however, refused to step down and there marks the beginning of one of Richmond’s most controversial elections. Both Chahoon and Ellyson began attacking each other and their supporters over the course of several weeks. Chahoon organized a special militia consisting of African Americans commanded by Colonel Ben Scott which occupied the First Market House while Ellyson, with the support of Chief of Police John Poe Jr. and his forces occupied City Hall. With their basecamps of operation established, each side began its torment on the other. The fighting remained relatively tame, despite Ellyson’s supporters cutting off the Chahoon Republican’s food, water, and gaslights at the Market House. That is until Daniel Moore, an African American spectator, was fatally wounded during an argument between Poe’s police and annoyed spectators. No one was charged in his death. The fighting continued and eventually ended up in court, where an even worse tragedy would take place. On April 27, 1870 citizens and government officials gathered together in the Capitol to bear witness to one of Virginia’s most controversial mayoralty elections. The Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals was about to deliver a verdict on a Richmond mayor contested election case when the third-floor balcony and courtroom of spectators collapsed into the old House of Delegates on the second floor. Over 60 people were killed, and 251 others were injured, including 15 members of the Virginia General Assembly in what became known as the Capitol Disaster. Funerals took place for three days. In the aftermath of the disaster, cities and businesses all over the country poured money into Richmond and a private committee was established to handle relief efforts. The Governor and House of Delegates reoccupied the Capitol in October 1870, however the Court was permanently relocated to another building. Many people viewed the disaster as an act of God, when really it was the result of the highly strained political environment in Reconstruction era Virginia. Information courtesy of Mark Greenough. Cierra Parks is a student editor for Virginia Capitol Connections Quarterly Magazine. She is a senior at Virginia Commonwealth University majoring in journalism and psychology.

activism and enduring principles. The approximately twelve acres of landscaped grounds are enclosed by an original and distinctive 1818 cast iron fence—one of the earliest of its kind in the country. However, Capitol Square as we know it today took many generations to create and there are many stories it can tell. When Virginia’s government moved to Richmond in 1780 during the Revolution, Capitol Square did not yet exist. An act of assembly authorized the acquisition of six city blocks for public buildings and a market. Condemnation proceedings began in 1781 with local juries assembled by the Henrico sheriff assigning fair market values for individual private lots desired for public purposes. However, for the next few years there was continued uncertainty about whether the new seat of government would be located on Shockoe Hill or on Church Hill. After the legislature reaffirmed its original preference for Shockoe Hill, the juries completed their real estate valuations in 1784. By 1798 this purchased land was generally known as the “Publick

Deep ravines sheltered free range goats and occasional cows. “ ”

Square” and by 1829 it was officially referred to as “Capitol Square.” For more than 30 years the public grounds were left largely unimproved in their natural state. Deep ravines sheltered free range goats and occasional cows, which seemed to regard the weed-strewn hilltop as a common pasture.

In 1816 Maximilian Godefroy made an effort to reduce chaos into order by introducing two fountains, a formal arrangement of terraced walkways and exotic trees planted in straight lines. In the 1850s John Notman re-landscaped the square in the English picturesque style, introducing winding paths, more entrance gates and benches, and random groupings of native variety shade trees. In time, goats and cows were eventually replaced by crowd pleasing curious squirrels, who remain a familiar presence on the square to this day. At last Richmond had a popular and accessible urban green space providing a worthy setting for the seat of government. The Capitol, designed by statesman-philosopher Thomas Jefferson, is the intended centerpiece on the square. It is the first public building in the NewWorld designed as a monumental classical temple. The oldest continuously elected representative assembly in the western hemisphere has been meeting here since 1788. Virginia’s Federal style 1813 Executive Mansion, located near the Capitol, remains an active residence for Virginia’s governors. It is the oldest governor’s mansion in the nation still being used for its original purposes. The Marquis de Lafayette and Sir Winston Churchill have visited here. The ongoing construction of local, state and federal public buildings in and around Capitol Square over time has created an

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