Franklin Stearns
| Franklin Stearns | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Henrico County | |
|
In office December 4, 1866 – March 3, 1866 |
|
| Preceded by | n/a |
| Succeeded by | Z.S. McGruder |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
3 March 1815 Winhall, Bennington County, Vermont |
| Died | 10 June 1888 (aged 73) Richmond, Virginia |
| Resting place | Shockoe Hill Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Emma F. Haley; Caroline Virginia Willey |
| Children | Franklin Stearns Jr., Irene Louise Stearns Halsey |
| Residence | Richmond, Virginia |
| Occupation | distiller, real estate investor |
| Known for | Unionist during the American Civil War, post-war reconciliation |
Franklin Stearns (March 3, 1815 - June 10, 1888), was an American businessman who moved to Richmond, Virginia, and became one of the city's leading Unionists, for which he was imprisoned several times during the American Civil War. When Union forces captured the Confederate capital in April, 1865, Richmond's mayor delivered the city's note of surrender to Union forces at Stearns' farm, Tree Hill which may become a park after development is completed. After the war, Stearns worked to restore Richmond, and three of his properties remain today, and are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Born in 1815 to farmer and merchant Simeon Stearns and his wife Irene Newcomb in Winhall, Vermont. When Franklin was 13, Simeon Stearns moved his family to Madison County, New York.
When he was 18, Franklin Stearns moved to Richmond, Virginia and worked on the James River Canal. He married Emmy F. Haley (1818-1845), and they had one child, who may have died with the mother. On September 2, 1847, Franklin Stearns remarried, to Caroline Virginia Willey Stearns (1820 - 1877), and they had six children, of whom only Franklin Stearns Jr. (1848 - 1898) survived both parents. When Franklin Jr. returned from Paris after the American Civil War discussed below ended, he married a well-born Boston daughter of a Union captain in 1870, they received Farley farm (which his father had purchased in Orange County, Virginia in 1862 or 1863) as a wedding present. Their son Erastus Willey Stearns (1852-1878), barely survived his mother, but did marry Caroline Poe of Orange County, and had a son Erastus Willey Stearns Jr. (1877-1929) who survived his grandparents. Their sons Daniel (b. 1850), Allen (b. 1855) and Luther (b. 1859) all died in childhood. Franklin Stearns' daughter Irene (1854-1886) also survived her mother, married and had six children, of whom three survived until adulthood.
Stearns worked as an overseer for a Georgia railroad in 1836 and the next year moved to Richmond, Virginia to work in a quarry for the James River and Kanawha Canal. By 1843 he was a contractor helping to build the canal, and switched to more mercantile pursuits. He operated a distillery and wine bottling plant, and became a leading member of the Chamber of Commerce and one of the state's largest land owners. The 1860 U.S. census listed Stearns as owning $155,000 in real estate and $200,000 in personal property. His distillery stood on 15th St. between Main and Cary streets in downtown Richmond. His country estate "Tree Hill Farm" in Henrico County outside the city limits overlooked both the city and the James River and stood near the intersection of the important Osborne turnpike and New Market road.
...
Wikipedia