Point of Honor

Point of Honor!

What an intriguing name. It makes one wonder how a house on a piece of land carved out of the Virginia wilderness would be named as such.

What’s the point and whose honor is at stake?

If we go up to 20,000 feet and look down, we see that there is in fact a point of land formed at the confluence of Blackwater Creek and the James River. I’ll bet that’s the “Point”.

The story has a romantic air about it but in reality there is no recorded history that any duel ever took place at Point of Honor.

Way Back When

Go back even further and imagine what it was like before the settlers came calling. The Monacan Indians ruled the roost. They were here long before the colonists landed in Jamestown in 1607. They were still here in 1786 when the town of Lynchburg was established. They most likely hunted deer and small game in the front yard of what would become Point of Honor.

A lot of history took place in the short 65 years between 1750 and 1815 when Dr. George Cabell built a home on the point of land between the creek and the river, adjacent to Lynchburg.

In 1757, John Lynch decided to start a ferry service across the James River so travelers and freight haulers wouldn’t have to ford the river. Just to keep our time line straight, the American Revolution was still 19 years away and the James River was the Fluvanna River then.

A small village grew up around the ferry crossing and Lynch started imagining a real town on the hill above his crossing. His idea germinated and in 1784, he petitioned the General Assembly of Virginia for a town charter, which was granted two years later. The town of Lynchburg was thus born.

The Cabell Years

Dr. George Cabell was born in 1776 when the American Revolution began. He picked up the Doctor degree when he completed his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania and Doctor George would come to rub elbows with some interesting people. He was Patrick Henry’s friend and doctor and was acquainted with Thomas Jefferson.

Seeing the town of Lynchburg take root, he decided to build Point of Honor in 1806 and finally completed it nine years later in 1815. It was a magnificent structure by any measure.

It followed the Federal style of architecture that was popular in the United States from about 1780 to 1830. All you have to do to see an example of Federal architecture is look at Point of Honor.

The property passed though a number of famous families in Lynchburg’s history.

The Daniels

Dr. Cabell’s son, William Lewis Cabell married Eliza Daniel and both lived on the property until their deaths in 1830.

With no other heirs, the property was inherited by Eliza’s father, Judge William Daniel Sr. who left it to his son, Judge William Jr.

The Daniels left their indelible mark on Lynchburg. The hill on which Point of Honor stands today is called “Daniel's Hill”, one of the seven hills of Lynchburg.

William Daniel Jr.’s son, John Warwick Daniel, was a U.S. Senator and known as the “Lame Lion” of Lynchburg. He was seriously wounded in 1864 during the Battle of the Wilderness, just a little west of Fredricksburg, while serving as a major in the Confederate Army.

John Warwick Daniel died in 1910 and is buried in Lynchburg’s Spring Hill cemetery.

The Langhornes

Point of Honor was the antebellum home of Col. John Scarsbrook Langhorne and his wife Sarah Dabney although it is unclear how the Langhornes came into possession of the property.

The Langhorne’s were fabulously wealthy from tobacco farming and became quite famous for their generous hospitality.

The War between the States in 1861 brought great tragedy to the Langhorne family, not the least of which was the death of their young cousin Flora Stuart.

Civil war buffs will certainly recognize the name “Stuart”, as in Confederate General J.E.B. (Jeb) Stuart. The Stuarts were cousins of the Langhornes and Jeb was a refugee at Edgemont, VA when his daughter succumbed to illness.

The bulk of the Langhorne wealth was lost in the civil war but through John’s connections in Lynchburg was soon reestablished. His son Chiswell Dabney (C.D.) Langhorne recovered his fortune by becoming one of Virginia's foremost railroad tycoons.

C.D. bought the fabulous, colonnaded country estate "Mirador", at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1892 and returned to the genteel lifestyle of mint juleps and horseback riding that his ancestors had enjoyed for generations.

At his death in 1919, Chiswell Dabney Langhorne, in addition to his numerous estates including Mirador and Greenfields, left a trust for his heirs of over 1,000,000 dollars.

The daughters that were born to Chiswell Dabney and Anne Keene Langhorne were among the most famous in the world of the wealthy.

Irene Langhorne (1873-1956) married Charles Dana Gibson and became his first "Gibson Girl", while Nancy Witcher Langhorne (1879-1964) first married Robert Gould Shaw of the proper Boston Shaws and then William Waldorf Astor Jr., an heir to one of Americas largest fortunes.

The Lynchburg Langhorne’s were powerful, aristocratic, world famous, and incredibly wealthy; hot stuff by any standards.

The Owens

During the Civil War the Owen family owned Point of Honor. Robert Latham Owen was president of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and his wife was Narcissa Chisholm, daughter of the Cherokee Chief, Thomas Chisholm.

An archived article from the Sunday magazine section of the New York Times of January 22, 1911 is headlined, “MOTHER OF U.S. SENATOR AN INDIAN QUEEN; Mrs. Narcissa Owen, Daughter of the Last Chief of the Seven Great Cherokee Clans, Is a Charming Old Lady of Distinction Whose Talent in Art Has Won Recognition.” Click here to read the full story of this amazing woman.

It is possible that Narcissa Owen saved the town of Lynchburg from a fiery destruction during the civil war. Union General David Hunter had marched south through the Shenandoah Valley, burning and looting homes, as well as burning VMI in Lexington.

His objective was to capture Lynchburg and destroy the railroads and canals supplying the Army of Northern Virginia. Because of Hunter’s “firebug” tendencies and disregard of civilian’s personal property, he was possibly one of the most hated of all the Union generals.

On the eve of the Battle of Lynchburg in 1864, Narcissa welcomed two apparent confederate stragglers onto the porch at Point of Honor, offering them food and conversation.

Attempting to reassure the pair that Lynchburg would be safe from the Union army, she described the Confederate reinforcements that were on the way to defend the city. The two stragglers were in fact Union spies who promptly reported Narcissa’s exaggerations back to General Hunter. He withdrew back to West Virginia thinking he was heavily outnumbered.

In 1873 Robert L. Owen died broke and deep in debt. Narcissa was forced to give up their home and deal with poverty, eventually moving to Oklahoma with her son where their fortunes took a dramatic turn for the better.

Their son, Robert L. Owen, Jr., was Oklahoma’s first United States senator and made history in his own right. He died in 1947 and is buried in Lynchburg’s Spring Hill Cemetery.

After the Owens

From 1873 to 1928 the home changed hands several times and little is recorded for those 55 years.

However in 1928, the property was purchased by Lynchburg banker, James Gilliam. James R. Gilliam, Sr., had the highest income in the city and was president of five coal companies, the Lynchburg Shoe Company and six banks, throughout the state.

A point of interest is that what used to be the Lynchburg Mansion Inn Bed and Breakfast at 405 Madison Street was originally built in 1914 for Mr. Gilliam. His home, built for $86,000, a huge sum of money at the time, exhibited a magnificent display of wealth.

In October 2001, it changed hands and became a private residence but if anyone is interested in reading about the property when it was a B&B, there is an excellent description at travelassist.com. Just remember, it is no longer a B&B so don't go knocking on the door looking for a bed.

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Forward to the Modern Day

Gilliam held Point of Honor for eleven years after which he donated it to the city in July of 1939. Being a donation, the sale price is listed in city records as $0. There is no evidence that Gilliam ever occupied Point of Honor as a residence.

Photo from 1934

In the years following 1939, Point of Honor fell into a serious state of disrepair. It was in danger of being consumed by decay unless someone stepped in to save the day.

That someone appeared in the person of retired Lynchburg school teacher Katherine Garland Diggs. A generous bequest from Ms. Diggs enabled restoration of Point of Honor to begin in 1970.

Today Point of Honor has been totally restored by the Lynchburg Historical Foundation, the Garden Club of Virginia, the Katharine Garland Diggs trust and the City of Lynchburg.

At long last, Point of Honor opened to the public in 1977 and is now operated as a museum and carried on the National Register of Historical Sites.

There are daily tours of the home on Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

There is limited parking immediately in front of the gift shop, although it is usually adequate.

Don’t try to get there over the D Street bridge. It’s closed for repairs and may (or may not) be finished in our lifetime; actually it’s scheduled to reopen sometime in 2010. From Lynchburg, drive northwest on Rivermont Avenue and turn right onto Cabell street and follow it through the neighborhood to A street; left on A street and a quick left on Norwood to the parking spots.

What the City Assessor Shows

Out of curiosity, I made a quick peek into the City of Lynchburg city assessors records for 112 Cabell Street to see what the records would reveal.

What they yielded was precious little information. What it does show is:Point of Honor, 112 Cabell Street; parcel ID no. 04505006.

The current owner is listed as “Point of Honor, Inc” c/o Mary Jo Tull at Wachovia Bank in Richmond.

It has a current assessment of $818,700 ($45,000 land; $773,700 Improvement value), covers 2.192 acres.

The finished square footage of the house is 7,938 sq. ft. including 1,936 sq. ft. of finished basement. In May of 1990, Point of Honor was transferred from the Lynchburg Historical Foundation, Inc. to Point of Honor, Inc. for $264,100.

In May of 1976, it was transferred from the City of Lynchburg to the Lynchburg Historical Foundation, Inc. for $20,000.

In 1939, acquired by the City of Lynchburg for zero dollars.

So, if your interests run to history or you like visiting old mansions of a certain period architecture, Point of Honor is a must see on your visit to Lynchburg.

If you take the time to get to know the former residents; the Cabells, the Langhornes, the Owens, an exciting story about the impact these remarkable people made, not only on Lynchburg, but the country is guaranteed to amaze you.

Lynchburg, VA; who would’ve thought!