A Confederate Spy, at Home in Virginia

By Linda Wheeler
Sunday, April 15, 2007

The Herndon area home of Confederate spy Laura Ratcliffe, a dark-haired beauty who saved Col. John Mosby's life, is reminiscent of a fairy tale setting. The old frame house is protected by broad-branched oaks and graced with a nearby creek that sparkles in the sunlight.

Last month, this rare piece of Fairfax County history in Floris, cut off by expanding highways and spreading development, gained a bit of protection with its listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

When owners Winifred and David Meiselman bought Merrybrook 35 years ago, Centreville Road was two gravel lanes, and the surrounding property was farmland. The view from the living room window was of cattle, and the couple's three children had horses and chickens and a much-loved, blue-eyed pony named Billy. Hot summer nights were spent sitting in the yard enjoying the quiet of country life, probably just as Ratcliffe and her family had done when the property was known as Brookside.

In applying for the National Register, Win Meiselman turned to a "drawer full of stories" she had collected over the years about Ratcliffe. "I didn't know for sure which ones were right," she said.

Research proved some of the stories to be true and others not.

Ratcliffe did not grow up at the 1 1/2 -story farmhouse or live there during the war. It became her home shortly after the war ended and for the next 50 years. It was here that she married Union veteran and longtime admirer Milton Hanna. When he moved in, another addition was added to the circa 1820 house that already had been expanded several times.

It is the only surviving structure associated with Ratcliffe.

Her earlier home, where Mosby was a frequent visitor and Gen. J.E.B. Stuart wrote a romantic poem about her, titled "To Laura," has disappeared from the landscape but is generally believed to have been about a mile south of Merrybrook.

The story of how Ratcliffe saved Mosby's life was told by Maj. John Scott in his 1867 book, "Partisan Life With Colonel John S. Mosby," and was included in the National Register application.

Ratcliffe was known to have befriended Mosby, so a Union soldier, who had stopped by one day to buy supplies, couldn't resist bragging to her that he and his troops were going to catch the "Grey Ghost" that night in an ambush. He wasn't worried that she would warn Mosby because the weather was too cold and wet, and the mud too deep, for most women to travel.

When the Union soldier left, Ratcliffe and her sister set out on foot to warn Mosby of the danger. That night, Mosby did not appear where he was expected.

Besides keeping Mosby informed of Union troop movements in the neighborhood, she also allowed her house to be used as his headquarters. He often met his men at a large rock near her home, which later became known as Mosby's Rock. That was where she would leave money and information for him.

Stuart, who admired Ratcliffe for her beauty and bravery, gave her a gold-embossed leather album with this front-page inscription: "Presented to Miss Laura Ratcliffe by her soldier-friend as a token of his high appreciation of her patriotism, admiration for her virtues, and pledge of his lasting esteem."

The album and Stuart's gold watchband were found at Merrybrook after Ratcliffe died in 1923 at almost 90 years old.

Win, a retired social worker, and David, a retired professor of economics who taught for 50 years, have made the preservation of Merrybrook their life goal. To help the effort, a "Friends of Laura Ratcliffe" group was formed last year.

There is no formal membership nor regular meetings.

"The purpose of the group is to let the public know how interested people are to preserve this house," Win said. "The house needs friends."

Grave-Desecration Case

Three men from Hancock, Md., pleaded guilty in an illegal relic hunt last May in the C & O Canal National Historical Park that included digging up the Civil War-era grave of Mary Blackwell Ohr in a small historic cemetery, according to Leigh Zahm, district ranger supervisor. The grave desecration was reported last June in this column.

Jonathan Carroll, 29, and Christopher Pelchat, 24, admitted digging into the grave and pleaded guilty Jan. 15 to a violation of the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act, Zahm said. Carroll's father, James Carroll, 53, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disturbing the cultural and archaeological resources of the park, Zahm said.

The men will have to reimburse the park a total of about $3,600. Pelchat and the younger Carroll had to surrender their metal detectors and each agree to do 25 hours of community service in the park, Zahm said. They also will serve one-year probation and are banned for two years from any National Park Service site.

Linda Wheeler may be reached at 540-465-8934 orcwwheel@shentel.net.