Summary Description: Situated on a small hill at the western end of the town of Jonesville, the Dickinson-Milbourn House is the finest example of the Federal style in Lee County. One of only five early-to-mid nineteenth-century brick dwellings in Lee County, the house was built for Benjamin Dickinson sometime between 1844 and 1848. It is a two-story, central-passage-plan, brick dwelling that retains much of its original exterior and interior architectural character. A large brick smokehouse is the only surviving outbuilding historically associated with the house. Mid-twentieth-century, noncontributing, frame outbuildings include a coalhouse, chicken house, equipment shedlcorncrib, and a garage. A cemetery, which contains the graves of many of the former owners of the property, is located on a hill to the rear of the house.
ARCHITECTORAL ANALYSIS:
The Dickinson-Milbourn House sits atop a small grassy hill near the western limits of the town of Jonesville, the county seat of Lee County. Facing south and overlooking U.S. Route 58, the house and outbuildings are clustered near the road, and are generally surrounded by uncultivated fields and forests to the north and west, a small twentieth-century house to the east, and a modern middle school across U.S. Route 58 to the south. Although part of
a 62-acre parcel of land, only four acres are being nominated to the National Register--enough land to adequately complement the house and its setting and to include the nearby family cemetery.
The house is a two-story, central-passage-, double-pile-plan building with a Flemish-bond brick facade and four-course Americanbond brick side and rear elevations. Situated on a limestone block foundation, the gable-roofed house has a pair of semi-exterior end brick chimneys at each gable end. characteristic of many Federal-style dwellings of the period, the corbel-capped chimneys are connected by a simple brick parapet which rises above the apex of
each gable end. The five-bay facade features a central entrance with a double-leaf four-panel wooden door flanked by sidelights and topped by a triple-light transom with tracery arranged in a diamond pattern. Elaborate carved woodwork decorates the entrance. Bands of reeding in a horizontal, vertical, or herringbone pattern divide the three-part composition, while plain pilasters flank it. The most unusual features are the Roman Ionic capitals that are suspended from the top of the transom. Perhaps the carpenter intended to place engaged columns beneath the capitals; however, no architectural evidence suggests that they were ever placed there. The elaborate woodwork below the capitals seems to indicate that columns were
never a part of the design. No similar composition is known to exist elsewhere in Lee County.
A one-story, three-bay, flat-roofed porch on a stone foundation projects from the facade. It features square wooden columns, a wooden floor, and a balustraded deck above. A second-f loor
entrance topped by a four-light transom provides access to the deck. According to an undated photograph of the house, the current porch replaced an earlier five-bay porch that extended the length of the facade. A box cornice with dentils and returns extends along the front beneath a standing-seam metal gable roof. All windows are framed with architrave trim and topped by lintels flanked by bull's-eye endblocks. Original nine-over-nine double-sash windows are seen on
the first floor and original six-over-nine double-sash windows survive on the second floor of the rear elevation. Sometime during the late nineteenth century, second-floor front windows were
replaced by two-over-two double-sash windows. A one-and-one-half-story brick ell extends from the rear.
According to the present owner, the rear ell was built around 1913 and replaced an original ell. Interior woodwork from the original ell was reused in the 1913 addition. The ell features brick walls laid in six-course American bond and two-over-two double-sash windows capped by segmental brick arches. Lower in height than the main block of the dwelling, the rear ell has a central brick chimney and an unfinished half story with no exterior or interior access. Perhaps a staircase was planned later, but never built. An early-twentieth-century, frame and weatherboard, shed-roofed addition attached to the west side of the rear ell serves as a storage area and shelter to the original bulkhead entrance to the cellar beneath the original house.
The floorplan of the house is typical of the period; a central passage, double-pile configuration. The wide central passage extends the width of the main block. At its northern end is a double-run open-string stair with a balustrade consisting of round tapered balusters, a heavy round handrail, and a turned newel around which the balusters encircle.
The central passage features high molded baseboard, no ceiling cornice, and door frames with paneled reveals and reeded trim with bull's-eye corner blocks. Unusual wide doors with four or five horizontal panels and carpenter locks have survived throughout the house. Wood-grained examples found on the second floor suggest that perhaps all doors were originally grained.
The southeast room is typical of most of the first-floor rooms. It features random-width pine floor boards, a high molded baseboard, reeded door and window trim with bull's-eye corner blocks, paneled window aprons, and plastered ceilings. Original mantels in the southwest and northeast rooms have survived. Their designs consist of reeded pilasters, plain central tablet and end blocks, and a molded shelf. Early-twentieth-century wooden mantels with mirrored
overmantels and Doric or Ionic columns replaced original mantels in the southeast and northwest rooms.
The second-floor woodwork is simpler than that of the first floor. Baseboards are simpler and shorter in height and door frames have paneled reveals and plain flat trim with bull's-eye corner blocks. The ceilings are clad with narrow tongue-and-groove boards instead
of plastered and a beaded board with projecting round pegs for hanging hats and clothing extends along the walls of the central passage. The stair at the northern end of the passage ascends to the attic. All four second-floor mantels are similar with double architrave trim, plain central tablets and end blocks, and molded shelves. The rear-ell rooms include a dining room and kitchen. The dining room contains a mantel similar to those on the second floor, a molded chair rail, a six-panel door leading into the kitchen, and a tongue-and-groove boarded ceiling. The kitchen has been remodeled in recent years and little historical fabric remains. A large rectangular brick smokehouse is located northwest of the house. It has eleven-course American-bond brick walls, a batten door, and a new (1992) standing-seam metal gable roof. It appears
to date from the mid-19th century and is the only contributing outbuilding associated with the house. Near the smokehouse is a small, frame, gable-roofed coalhouse built during the 1950s. Northwest of the coalhouse is a frame shedroofed chicken house dating from the late 1940s and northeast of this complex is a 1930s frame gable-roofed garage in a deteriorated state. Northwest of the garage is a late 1940s, frame, shed-roofed corncrib on a stone foundation with an attached equipment shed. All of these outbuildings postdate the period of significance,
therefore, they are considered noncontributing elements of the property.
A small family cemetery is located on a hill to the rear of the house and outbuildings. It contains the graves of members of the Dickinson, Milbourn, and Joslyn families that once owned the farm. Although some headstones have toppled, several can still be read.
The cemetery, a contributing site, once was encircled by a castiron
fence.
ARCHITECTORAL ANALYSIS:
The Dickinson-Milbourn House sits atop a small grassy hill near the western limits of the town of Jonesville, the county seat of Lee County. Facing south and overlooking U.S. Route 58, the house and outbuildings are clustered near the road, and are generally surrounded by uncultivated fields and forests to the north and west, a small twentieth-century house to the east, and a modern middle school across U.S. Route 58 to the south. Although part of
a 62-acre parcel of land, only four acres are being nominated to the National Register--enough land to adequately complement the house and its setting and to include the nearby family cemetery.
The house is a two-story, central-passage-, double-pile-plan building with a Flemish-bond brick facade and four-course Americanbond brick side and rear elevations. Situated on a limestone block foundation, the gable-roofed house has a pair of semi-exterior end brick chimneys at each gable end. characteristic of many Federal-style dwellings of the period, the corbel-capped chimneys are connected by a simple brick parapet which rises above the apex of
each gable end. The five-bay facade features a central entrance with a double-leaf four-panel wooden door flanked by sidelights and topped by a triple-light transom with tracery arranged in a diamond pattern. Elaborate carved woodwork decorates the entrance. Bands of reeding in a horizontal, vertical, or herringbone pattern divide the three-part composition, while plain pilasters flank it. The most unusual features are the Roman Ionic capitals that are suspended from the top of the transom. Perhaps the carpenter intended to place engaged columns beneath the capitals; however, no architectural evidence suggests that they were ever placed there. The elaborate woodwork below the capitals seems to indicate that columns were
never a part of the design. No similar composition is known to exist elsewhere in Lee County.
A one-story, three-bay, flat-roofed porch on a stone foundation projects from the facade. It features square wooden columns, a wooden floor, and a balustraded deck above. A second-f loor
entrance topped by a four-light transom provides access to the deck. According to an undated photograph of the house, the current porch replaced an earlier five-bay porch that extended the length of the facade. A box cornice with dentils and returns extends along the front beneath a standing-seam metal gable roof. All windows are framed with architrave trim and topped by lintels flanked by bull's-eye endblocks. Original nine-over-nine double-sash windows are seen on
the first floor and original six-over-nine double-sash windows survive on the second floor of the rear elevation. Sometime during the late nineteenth century, second-floor front windows were
replaced by two-over-two double-sash windows. A one-and-one-half-story brick ell extends from the rear.
According to the present owner, the rear ell was built around 1913 and replaced an original ell. Interior woodwork from the original ell was reused in the 1913 addition. The ell features brick walls laid in six-course American bond and two-over-two double-sash windows capped by segmental brick arches. Lower in height than the main block of the dwelling, the rear ell has a central brick chimney and an unfinished half story with no exterior or interior access. Perhaps a staircase was planned later, but never built. An early-twentieth-century, frame and weatherboard, shed-roofed addition attached to the west side of the rear ell serves as a storage area and shelter to the original bulkhead entrance to the cellar beneath the original house.
The floorplan of the house is typical of the period; a central passage, double-pile configuration. The wide central passage extends the width of the main block. At its northern end is a double-run open-string stair with a balustrade consisting of round tapered balusters, a heavy round handrail, and a turned newel around which the balusters encircle.
The central passage features high molded baseboard, no ceiling cornice, and door frames with paneled reveals and reeded trim with bull's-eye corner blocks. Unusual wide doors with four or five horizontal panels and carpenter locks have survived throughout the house. Wood-grained examples found on the second floor suggest that perhaps all doors were originally grained.
The southeast room is typical of most of the first-floor rooms. It features random-width pine floor boards, a high molded baseboard, reeded door and window trim with bull's-eye corner blocks, paneled window aprons, and plastered ceilings. Original mantels in the southwest and northeast rooms have survived. Their designs consist of reeded pilasters, plain central tablet and end blocks, and a molded shelf. Early-twentieth-century wooden mantels with mirrored
overmantels and Doric or Ionic columns replaced original mantels in the southeast and northwest rooms.
The second-floor woodwork is simpler than that of the first floor. Baseboards are simpler and shorter in height and door frames have paneled reveals and plain flat trim with bull's-eye corner blocks. The ceilings are clad with narrow tongue-and-groove boards instead
of plastered and a beaded board with projecting round pegs for hanging hats and clothing extends along the walls of the central passage. The stair at the northern end of the passage ascends to the attic. All four second-floor mantels are similar with double architrave trim, plain central tablets and end blocks, and molded shelves. The rear-ell rooms include a dining room and kitchen. The dining room contains a mantel similar to those on the second floor, a molded chair rail, a six-panel door leading into the kitchen, and a tongue-and-groove boarded ceiling. The kitchen has been remodeled in recent years and little historical fabric remains. A large rectangular brick smokehouse is located northwest of the house. It has eleven-course American-bond brick walls, a batten door, and a new (1992) standing-seam metal gable roof. It appears
to date from the mid-19th century and is the only contributing outbuilding associated with the house. Near the smokehouse is a small, frame, gable-roofed coalhouse built during the 1950s. Northwest of the coalhouse is a frame shedroofed chicken house dating from the late 1940s and northeast of this complex is a 1930s frame gable-roofed garage in a deteriorated state. Northwest of the garage is a late 1940s, frame, shed-roofed corncrib on a stone foundation with an attached equipment shed. All of these outbuildings postdate the period of significance,
therefore, they are considered noncontributing elements of the property.
A small family cemetery is located on a hill to the rear of the house and outbuildings. It contains the graves of members of the Dickinson, Milbourn, and Joslyn families that once owned the farm. Although some headstones have toppled, several can still be read.
The cemetery, a contributing site, once was encircled by a castiron
fence.
The house is closely associated with the Battle of Jonesville, which occurred on 3 January 1864. During the battle, much of which took place on the property, Union troops used the house and its outbuildings for protection from Confederate attack. The battle was arguably the most significant armed conflict to occur in far Southwest Virginia.
JUSTIFICATION OF CRITERIA
The Dickinson-Milbourn House is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A because of its association with the Battle of Jonesville on
3 January 1864. It is eligible under Criterion C because it is one of the few surviving Federal dwellings in far Southwest Virginia and its architectural details exemplify the style.
The Dickinson-Milbourn House is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A because of its association with the Battle of Jonesville on
3 January 1864. It is eligible under Criterion C because it is one of the few surviving Federal dwellings in far Southwest Virginia and its architectural details exemplify the style.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Dickinson-Milbourn House was built about 1844-1848 by Benjamin Dickinson on a 862-acre tract of land he had purchased from his father, Daniel Dickinson, in 1831. The younger Dickinson became one of the largest landholders in the county, having some 1,500
acres under cultivation by 1850, with 2,000 acres of unimproved land. The house that Benjamin Dickinson built is one of the few surviving examples of the Federal style in Southwest Virginia. It retains many of the architectural features and details associated with that style. The farm complex constructed for Dickinson included several substantial outbuildings, many of which--except for the brick smokehouse--no longer stand.
The Dickinson-Milbourn House was built about 1844-1848 by Benjamin Dickinson on a 862-acre tract of land he had purchased from his father, Daniel Dickinson, in 1831. The younger Dickinson became one of the largest landholders in the county, having some 1,500
acres under cultivation by 1850, with 2,000 acres of unimproved land. The house that Benjamin Dickinson built is one of the few surviving examples of the Federal style in Southwest Virginia. It retains many of the architectural features and details associated with that style. The farm complex constructed for Dickinson included several substantial outbuildings, many of which--except for the brick smokehouse--no longer stand.
Benjamin Dickinson died on 28 November 1851 and his children inherited the house and farm.
Andrew Milbourn began acquiring shares in the property from the heirs, completing his purchase of the 360.25-acre tract on 6 April 1860. By 1860, Milbourn owned at least nine hundred acres in the county, three hundred of which (the Dickinson-Milbourn House tract) was
improved farmland. The agricultural census report for that year assessed Milbourn's farm at $14,000. He also owned $300 worth of machinery. His livestock, valued at $2,250, included
8 horses, 1 mule, 4 working oxen, 17 milk cows, 70 other cattle, 70 swine, and 18 sheep that produced 70 pounds of wool. He slaughtered $760 worth of animals during the year. Milbourn harvested 280 bushels of wheat, 3,000 of Indian corn, 700 of oats, 50 of Irish potatoes, 20 of sweet potatoes, 5 of peas and beans, and 20 tons of hay. His workers churned 1,000 pounds of butter and made 70 gallons of molasses. He also kept bees that produced 20 pounds of honey.
Although the troops of both armies passed through the area early in the Civil War, the first skirmish occurred at the town on 2 January 1863. Another took place nearby on 1 December 1863. Then, on 1 January 1864, Col. Wilson C. Lemert, 68th Ohio Infantry, ordered Major Charles H. Beeres and his command to occupy Jonesville. Beeresls force consisted of more than three hundred troopers of the 16th Illinois Cavalry, and the 22d Ohio Battery with three guns.
He posted about fifty men at the eastern end of the town and camped with the rest of his force on the south side of present-day Route 58 (on the school grounds), across from the Dickinson-Milbourn House.
Meanwhile, Confederate Brig. Gen. William E. Grumblell Jones, a of nearby Washington County, had started from Little War Gap on Clinch Mountain, intending to capture Cumberland Gap. Learning on 2 January that the Union force had occupied Jonesville, Jones decided to attack. His force consisted of the 27th and 37th Virginia cavalry battalions, and the 10th Kentucky Cavalry
Regiments. Crossing Powell Mountain and heading for Jonesville from the southwest, Jones sent orders to Lt. Col. Auburn L. Pridemore, commander of the 64th Virginia Cavalry, to assault the
Union position from the east. At dawn on 3 January, Jones and his men reached Jonesville.
Finding that the element of surprise was in his favor, Jones immediately attacked the Union encampment at the eastern end of the town. Although Jones caught Beeres and his men quite off guard, they responded quickly. The Confederates captured the Federal artillery in the initial assault but were compelled to abandon the guns. Fighting hard, the Federals withdrew northward to the relative safety of the Dickinson-Milbourn House and its outbuildings, which they occupied. Realizing that dislodging them would be difficult, due to the effective positions being taken by the Federal artillery, Jones decided to hold them in place until Pridemore arrived. As the sun began to set, Pridemore and his force made their appearance, coming from the east toward Jonesville. The regiment quickly overwhelmed the Union troops in town and swept westward on Route 58. Beere's men, aware that they were about to be surrounded, slipped out of the Dickinson-Milbourn House and its outbuildings and quickly took up a position on the hill just to the north of the dwelling, above the cornfield there. Once certain that the Federals were too far away from the farm buildings to return, Jones ordered a general assault on their new position. Overwhelmed and outnumbered, Beeres and his men surrendered.
Jones reported that his force captured "383 [Union] officers and men, 45 of whom were wounded, and we killed 10, took 3 pieces of artillery and 27 6-mule wagons and teams." Jones's own ammunition, however, was nearly exhausted, and he had to await the arrival of his own wagons, which did not come until two days later. This delay resulted in Jones's decision to call off the attack on Union forces at Cumberland Gap. He knew that they had been alerted to his presence, and that they would rapidly reinforce their position in the gap. The Confederates never again attempted to take the Cumberland Gap, and the Union army held it for the rest of
the war.
The Battle of Jonesville was the most significant engagement in the region. A large part of it was fought on the Milbourn farm, with the house and outbuildings being used by Beeres's men as defensive posts. No doubt the local stories of the house serving as a hospital after the battle are true. Fortunately for the dwelling, it was not seriously damaged and no other important actions
occurred there.
After the war Andrew Milbourn was elected to the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1867-1868, representing Lee, Scott, and Wise counties. He continued to own the house until his death
on 5 April 1886. His daughter, Sarah J. Milbourn, and her husband, Henry Clay Joslyn, inherited the property. According to local tradition, Joslyn had been a captain in the Union army and fought in the battle of Jonesville, where he was wounded and captured. Recuperating in the house, according to the story, he met and fell in love with Sarah. In reality, Joslyn was a native of Hardwick, Massachusetts, who enlisted in the 29th Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers as a private on 20 April 1861. During the war he was promoted to lieutenant. Joslyn's regiment did not fight at Jonesville; at the time of the battle it was in Tennessee, near Knoxville. During the siege of Petersburg, Virginia, Joslyn distinguished himself in the battle for Fort Stedman on 25 March 1865. Manning a picket post between the lines, Joslyn was captured at the beginning of the Confederate assault on the Union fort. He broke loose from his captors, however, and "escaped through the ranks of the enemy in an audacious dash, exposed to every danger; worked a gun in Fort Haskell during the latter part of the engagement, only leaving it
to charge back to Battery 11." The Confederates held Fort Stedman only briefly before the Union counterattack recaptured it. As a reward for his "gallant and meritorious services," Joslyn was promoted to the rank of captain. It is not clear, then, just how Joslyn did meet
Sarah J. Milbourn.
The couple was married in Lee County on 14 September 1869, however, so meet they did. In 1870 the Joslyns resided in Richmond, where he worked for a grocery wholesaler.
By 1880 Henry and Sarah Joslyn had returned to Lee County and the Milbourn house, where he was listed in the census as a farmer. The Joslyns sold the property to W. E. Wynn on 17 July 1901, and he sold it to Michael B. Wygal on 1 October 1919. It has remained in the family ever since. The current owner, Evelyn Gibson Mason, is a granddaughter of Wygal
The couple was married in Lee County on 14 September 1869, however, so meet they did. In 1870 the Joslyns resided in Richmond, where he worked for a grocery wholesaler.
By 1880 Henry and Sarah Joslyn had returned to Lee County and the Milbourn house, where he was listed in the census as a farmer. The Joslyns sold the property to W. E. Wynn on 17 July 1901, and he sold it to Michael B. Wygal on 1 October 1919. It has remained in the family ever since. The current owner, Evelyn Gibson Mason, is a granddaughter of Wygal
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