Gunston Hall - Destruction and Colonel Edward D. Daniels
There is no greater symbol of the Mason Family than that of the Gunston Hall and the individuals owning it could be mistaken as nothing else but gentry. Gunston Hall was first owned by George Mason IV, founding father, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and the namesake of George Mason University. When George Mason IV died, Gunston Hall would be willed to his son, George Mason V, who then, in turn, would will the property to his son, George Mason VI. When the Civil War broke out, it was not spared from the damage that was a common result of the conflict. Edith Sales, an author, details the destruction of Gunston Hall in her book about colonial manors.
“The war-cloud of '61 hung low over this "Peninsula
principality," [Gunston Hall]… To the lawless soldier the
venerable manor house, enveloped in its film of historic
association, was no more than the lowliest cabin. The
beautiful gardens were sadly trampled, rare old trees
were felled by the axe, and in some of the rooms of the
mansion the paneling and wainscoting were torn from
the walls, and the historic structure was robbed of all
but its glorious memories”.[1]
It is not known who in particular was responsible for the destruction of Gunston Hall, however, an article from the Alexandria Gazette dated to 1871 reports that Confederate troops from Louisiana were staying at the property during the war and argues that they were likely responsible for the aforementioned act.[2]
When George Mason VI died, Gunston Hall would once again be willed. However, this time, it was willed to Eleanor Ann Patton Mason, the now widow of George Mason IV. According to an obituary posted in the Alexandria Gazette, Eleanor Patton Mason would pass away on July 10th, 1867.[3]. After passing through the ownership of a few different people and falling out the hands of the Mason family, in 1868, Gunston Hall was purchased by a veteran of Civil War from Ripon, Wisconsin named Edward Dwight Daniels who served in the Union and held the rank of colonel.[4] Colonel Daniels’ military career during the war was not marked with distinction, as an article from the Daily Northwestern of Oshkosh, Wisconsin reports that his careless actions in Arkansas led to several Union troops being killed by Confederate raiders and finally retiring before the war’s end in 1863 due to stress and poor health.[5] Daniels was not only a Union veteran from the north, but he was also a staunch abolitionist and a Republican and even supported the Readjuster Party at one point while living in Virginia.[6] While living at Gunston Hall with his wife, Daniels would attempt to create an agricultural utopia for freed blacks and poor whites paying them exceptionally well wages in the hopes they would learn to become self-sufficient and be able to buy their own land, which many did, while also setting up a school for freedmen.[7] His activities at Gunston Hall would leave him financially ruined and in 1891 sold all of Gunston Hall except for a small plot of land which he farmed until his death.[8] Daniels would die in 1916 at Gunston Hall due to heart and liver failure and is today buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[9] In the case of Gunston Hall, the symbol of the Mason family southern gentry had been bought by a “dreaded carpetbagger” and was transformed into something that was completely against the values of the ex-Confederacy.
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[1] Edith Dabney Tunis Sale, Manors of Virginia in Colonial Times (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1909), 102.
[2] “Down the River – Interesting Jottings” Alexandria Gazette, October 17, 1872, 1.
[3] “Obituary of Eleanor Ann Clifton Patton Mason.” Alexandria Gazette, July 10, 1867, 2.
[4] Jerald E. Podair, “Edward D. Daniels (1828–1916),” Encyclopedia Virginia (Library of Virginia, May 3, 2013), https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Daniels_Edward_Dwight_1828-1916.
[5] “A Wisconsin Civil War Soldier – An Interesting Biographical Sketch of a Former Man Recently Deceased.” Daily Northwestern. May 12, 1916, 14.
[6] “Edward D. Daniels (1828–1916).”
[7] “Edward D. Daniels (1828–1916).”
[8] “Edward D. Daniels (1828–1916).”
[9] “Edward D. Daniels (1828–1916).”