Historic Footsteps

In Fredericksburg, the steps at the residential entrance of the Farmer's Bank were used in two strikingly different passages in the spring of 1862. Abraham Lincoln came to Fredericksburg on May 23, 1862, visited Union camps on Marye's Heights, and then stopped at the Farmer's Bank, which was serving as headquarters for occupying Federal troops; he probably entered through the George Street residential entrance, visited with the provost marshal for about half an hour, and departed through the bank's main entrance on Princess Anne Street. John Washington, born enslaved to the family who managed and lived in the Farmer's Bank and having spent much of his youth there, also used those steps. When the Union army arrived opposite Fredericksburg on April 18, 1862, his owner urged him to flee with her, but he instead walked down the steps for the last time, quietly left, and later that day crossed the Rappahannock River into Union lines and freedom.

Fredericksburg, Virginia · United States