Sweeney-Conner Cabin
Encyclopedia
The Sweeney-Conner cabin is a structure within the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
. It was registered in the National Park Service
's database of Official Structures on June 26, 1989.
identifies it as structure number 55 and as the Sweeney-Conner cabin, while many references refer to it as the Conner-Sweeney cabin or Connor-Sweeney cabin. Sometimes Conner is spelled Connor in references.
Connor enlisted as a private in the 46th Virginia Infantry
on June 18, 1861. He was captured during the Appomattox Campaign at the Battle of Sailor's Creek
on April 6, 1865. Missouri was a younger sister to Joel Sweeney
, eighteen years his junior. Joel is the earliest documented white banjo player and is the one who popularized the five-string banjo. When Jennings Connor and Missouri Sweeney (last of the Sweeney musical siblings), took their marriage vows on October 3, 1860, she lied about her age. She was only thirteen years old. Jennings was born July 1839, while Missouri was born sometime in 1847 in St Louis, Missouri. There was almost a decade between their ages.
The Sweeney and the Conner clans were very poor people and their cabins were smaller than many of the slave cabins. They lived about two miles from the center of the village on the Richmond-Lynchburg stagecoach road. At the time Appomattox Station
was called Nebraska, Virginia, where they received their mail. United States Census records for Appomattox County and Clover Hill District for 1900 show that Jennings by this time had remarried in 1886 and they were living in this cabin with three of their children.
's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant
. It is also noteworthy because of its distinctive characteristics as an example of vernacular architecture
of a "hall" type cabin common in rural Virginia at the time of the Surrender. In Virginia small one room cabins were designed to be as a hall-and-parlor house
with chimneys at each end, not in the center as a New English style cabin.
The National Park Service says the Sweeney-Conner cabin is also distinctive because of its characteristics as an example of an original antebellum
single pen log cabin and representative of typical homesteading construction within southcentral Virginia prior to the American Civil War
. The National Park Service restored it in 1986 and 1987.
with a sleeping loft. Its foundation is a deeply-pointed fieldstone foundation.
There is a shake roof supported by a box cornice at the eaves. It is about sixteen feet wide and about eighteen feet deep with a gable roof. The logs are half-diamond notch interlocking ends with each log approximately six inches wide by nine inches high. The chinking material and composition is unknown.
The logs are shimmed and sheathed in six inch exposure weatherboard with two to four inch wide corner boards. There are plain boxed cornice overhangs on north and south elevations. There are flush tapered rake boards on the gable ends. The exposed end chimney on the east side is of stone with a gap between the stack and the gable end. Flanking the chimney are two small four-light casement sash windows. There are entries on the north and south sides. There are two windows on the east side with the loft space that are on both sides of the chimney. There is one window on the west side in the loft area.
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of original and reconstructed nineteenth century buildings. It was signed into law August 3, 1935. The village was made a national monument in 1940 and a national historical park in 1954...
. It was registered in the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
's database of Official Structures on June 26, 1989.
History
The Sweeney-Conner cabin or Conner-Sweeney cabin was originally built for Jennings W. Connor and his bride Missouri Sweeney in 1860 to 1865. The National Park ServiceNational Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
identifies it as structure number 55 and as the Sweeney-Conner cabin, while many references refer to it as the Conner-Sweeney cabin or Connor-Sweeney cabin. Sometimes Conner is spelled Connor in references.
Connor enlisted as a private in the 46th Virginia Infantry
46th Virginia Infantry
The 46th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
on June 18, 1861. He was captured during the Appomattox Campaign at the Battle of Sailor's Creek
Battle of Sayler's Creek
-External links:* * : Maps, histories, photos, and preservation news...
on April 6, 1865. Missouri was a younger sister to Joel Sweeney
Joel Sweeney
Joel Walker Sweeney , also known as Joe Sweeney, was a musician and early blackface minstrel performer. Born to a farming family in Buckingham County, Virginia, he claimed to have learned to play the banjo from local African-Americans and is the earliest documented white banjo player...
, eighteen years his junior. Joel is the earliest documented white banjo player and is the one who popularized the five-string banjo. When Jennings Connor and Missouri Sweeney (last of the Sweeney musical siblings), took their marriage vows on October 3, 1860, she lied about her age. She was only thirteen years old. Jennings was born July 1839, while Missouri was born sometime in 1847 in St Louis, Missouri. There was almost a decade between their ages.
The Sweeney and the Conner clans were very poor people and their cabins were smaller than many of the slave cabins. They lived about two miles from the center of the village on the Richmond-Lynchburg stagecoach road. At the time Appomattox Station
Appomattox Station
Appomattox Station is located in the town of Appomattox, Virginia. Before the Civil War, the railroad , bypassed Appomattox Court House village which was built southeast about three miles in 1850...
was called Nebraska, Virginia, where they received their mail. United States Census records for Appomattox County and Clover Hill District for 1900 show that Jennings by this time had remarried in 1886 and they were living in this cabin with three of their children.
Historical significance
The Sweeney-Conner cabin is a vital part of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park by virtue of its association with the site of General Robert E. LeeRobert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
. It is also noteworthy because of its distinctive characteristics as an example of vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
of a "hall" type cabin common in rural Virginia at the time of the Surrender. In Virginia small one room cabins were designed to be as a hall-and-parlor house
Hall and parlor house
A hall and parlor house is a type of vernacular house found in medieval to 19th century England, as well as colonial America. It is presumed to have been the model on which other North American house types have been developed such as the Cape Cod house and the Saltbox and influenced the somewhat...
with chimneys at each end, not in the center as a New English style cabin.
The National Park Service says the Sweeney-Conner cabin is also distinctive because of its characteristics as an example of an original antebellum
Antebellum architecture
Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...
single pen log cabin and representative of typical homesteading construction within southcentral Virginia prior to the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The National Park Service restored it in 1986 and 1987.
Description
The Connor-Sweeney cabin is a single story log plank cabin similar to the R. J. N. Williams cabinAppomattox Court House National Historical Park ruins
The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park ruins are part of the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.-Old county jail:...
with a sleeping loft. Its foundation is a deeply-pointed fieldstone foundation.
There is a shake roof supported by a box cornice at the eaves. It is about sixteen feet wide and about eighteen feet deep with a gable roof. The logs are half-diamond notch interlocking ends with each log approximately six inches wide by nine inches high. The chinking material and composition is unknown.
The logs are shimmed and sheathed in six inch exposure weatherboard with two to four inch wide corner boards. There are plain boxed cornice overhangs on north and south elevations. There are flush tapered rake boards on the gable ends. The exposed end chimney on the east side is of stone with a gap between the stack and the gable end. Flanking the chimney are two small four-light casement sash windows. There are entries on the north and south sides. There are two windows on the east side with the loft space that are on both sides of the chimney. There is one window on the west side in the loft area.
Footnotes
Sources
- Bradford, Ned, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Plume, 1989
- Catton, Bruce, A Stillness at Appomattox, Doubleday 1953, Library of Congress # 53-9982, ISBN 0-385-04451-8
- Catton, Bruce, This Hallowed Ground, Doubleday 1953, Library of Congress # 56-5960
- Davis, Burke, The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts, Wings Books, 1960 & 1982, ISBN 0-5173715-1-0
- Davis, Burke, To Appomattox - Nine April Days, 1865, Eastern Acorn Press, 1992, ISBN 0-9159921-7-5
- Farrar, Stuart McDearmon, Historical Notes of Appomattox County, Virginia, self published by Farrar, 1989, Original from the University of Virginia
- Featherston, Nathaniel Ragland, Appomattox County History and Genealogy, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1998, ISBN 0-8063476-0-0
- Glassie, Henry H., Vernacular Architecture, Indiana University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-2532139-5-9
- Gutek, Patricia, Plantations and Outdoor Museums in America's Historic South, University of South Carolina Press, 1996, ISBN 1-5700307-1-5
- Hosmer, Charles Bridgham, Preservation Comes of Age: From Williamsburg to the National Trust, 1926-1949, Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States by the University Press of Virginia, 1981
- Howard, Blair et al., The Virginia Handbook, Hunter Publishing, Inc, 2005, ISBN 1-5884351-2-1
- Kaiser, Harvey H., The National Park Architecture Sourcebook, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008, ISBN 1-5689874-2-0
- Kennedy, Frances H., The Civil War Battlefield Guide, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990, ISBN 0-395522-8-2X
- Korn, Jerry et al., The Civil War, Pursuit to Appomattox, The Last Battles, Time-Life Books, 1987, ISBN 0-8094478-8-6
- Marvel, William, A Place Called Appomattox, UNC Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8078256-8-9
- Marvel, William, Lee's Last Retreat, UNC Press, 2006, ISBN 0-8078570-3-3
- McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford University Press, 1988,
- National Park Service, Appomattox Court House: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Virginia, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 2002, ISBN 0-9126277-0-0
- Tidwell, William A., April '65: Confederate Covert Action in the American Civil War, Kent State University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-8733851-5-2
- Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine, 1952
- Weigley, Russel F., A Great Civil War: A Military and Political History, 1861-1865, Indiana University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-2533373-8-0