September 30, 2005
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History in the Backyard
Linda Spillers for the New York Times
September 30, 2005
History in the Backyard
As told to AMY GUNDERSON
WHO Dr. Irvin Hess, 67, a retired surgeon, shown with his wife, Nancy, 47, a retired medical office manager
WHAT 4-bedroom house
WHERE Port Republic, Va.
I was raised in Pennsylvania, so I’d been to Gettysburg on Boy Scout trips, but back then I wasn’t a student of the Civil War. It turns out that ancestors of mine had property at the Cross Keys battlefield. Cross Keys and the battle at Port Republic marked the end of Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 Shenandoah Campaign. In that battle, the Eighth New York Infantry Regiment was ambushed.
My house, the Widow Pence Farm, was built before 1840, and some of the action of the battle took place around it. I knew that it was going to be sold at auction; while in surgery, I heard two anesthesiologists talking about buying it and dividing it up. I ended up buying it with the Civil War Preservation Trust. We split the price. The trust holds a conservation easement, so while I own the land and have all the rights of private home ownership, I can’t develop the property.
My wife and I have restored the house back to a late-1800′s farmhouse with log beams exposed inside. We also built a replica of the original post-and-beam barn. The house is used to entertain friends but also by people working to record this part of history.
The farm is close to our primary residence, so I’m there every day, taking care of the lawn and the garden. It has 51 acres of rolling land. It produces a hay crop, and we have cattle. I have a modern home in town, but I like that I can go several miles away and be a farm boy. As told to Amy Gunderson
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