Rockville in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
MISSING
SEE LOCATION SECTION
Higgins House
Arresting Civilians
— Gettysburg Campaign —
Photographed By Tom Fuchs, January 14, 2006
1. Higgins House - Arresting Civilians Marker
Inscription.
Higgins House. Arresting Civilians. , Early Sunday morning, June 28, 1863, Confederate cavalrymen arrived at merchant John Higgins' house to arrest him, but he had already left for Christ Episcopal Church. Instead they captured Eblen, a 17 year-old Union soldier recuperating here. When troopers told Dora Higgins to open the doors to their store, she refused, appealing to General J.E.B. Stuart for aid. Stuart replied that she was to stay in front of the store and "let one of them dare resist you." For the next six hours, Dora kept the Confederates at bay., George Peter, a secessionist and neighbor of the Higgins, demanded that arrested citizens receive fair treatment. Dora Higgins wrote "had it not been for their endeavors, every Union man would have been taken and every store laid open,... for they said to carry out such an order would be their (Secessionists') entire ruin." Stuart could not afford to antagonize Southern sympathizers, and a captured Union wagon train answered his men's needs., [Sidebar:] , Matthew Fields, secessionist owner, editor, and publisher of the Montgomery County Sentinel, was arrested twice without formal charges when many civil rights were suspended under martial law. Levin Hoskinson, his apprentice printer who joined the 7th Virginia Infantry, was killed at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. He was the first Rockville man lost in the war., [Captions:] , George Peter became a state senator after the war., Oldest photograph of Rockville's main thoroughfare, ca. 1870, with hay scale in the public triangle. The 1840 courthouse is out of the picture to the right. The Female Seminary and John Higgins' store are out of the picture to the lower left. Stuart's prisoners were taken from the courthouse down the road toward Brookeville.
Early Sunday morning, June 28, 1863, Confederate cavalrymen arrived at merchant John Higgins' house to arrest him, but he had already left for Christ Episcopal Church. Instead they captured Eblen, a 17 year-old Union soldier recuperating here. When troopers told Dora Higgins to open the doors to their store, she refused, appealing to General J.E.B. Stuart for aid. Stuart replied that she was to stay in front of the store and "let one of them dare resist you." For the next six hours, Dora kept the Confederates at bay.
George Peter, a secessionist and neighbor of the Higgins, demanded that arrested citizens receive fair treatment. Dora Higgins wrote "had it not been for their endeavors, every Union man would have been taken and every store laid open,... for they said to carry out such an order would be their (Secessionists') entire ruin." Stuart could not afford to antagonize Southern sympathizers, and a captured Union wagon train answered his men's needs.
[Sidebar:]
Matthew Fields, secessionist owner, editor, and publisher of the Montgomery County Sentinel, was arrested twice without formal charges when many civil rights were suspended under martial law. Levin Hoskinson, his apprentice printer who joined the 7th Virginia Infantry, was killed at the First Battle of Manassas on July
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21, 1861. He was the first Rockville man lost in the war.
[Captions:]
George Peter became a state senator after the war.
Oldest photograph of Rockville's main thoroughfare, ca. 1870, with hay scale in the public triangle. The 1840 courthouse is out of the picture to the right. The Female Seminary and John Higgins' store are out of the picture to the lower left. Stuart's prisoners were taken from the courthouse down the road toward Brookeville.
Erected by Maryland Civil War Trails.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Maryland Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 28, 1863.
Location. Marker is missing. It was located near 39° 5.105′ N, 77° 9.278′ W. Marker was in Rockville, Maryland, in Montgomery County. Marker was at the intersection of West Middle Lane and North Adams Street, on the right when traveling west on West Middle Lane. Touch for map. Marker was in this post office area: Rockville MD 20850, United States of America. Touch for directions.
More about this marker. One of the series of Maryland Civil War Trails markers. This one is on the Gettysburg Campaign.
Photographed By Tom Fuchs, January 17, 2006
3. Higgins Family Cemetery
This is located on Arundel Avenue near Washington Avenue in the Twinbrook neighborhood of Rockville. Buried here is James Higgins, a Revolutionary War soldier that was an ancestor of the man who built the Higgins House.
Photographed By Tom Fuchs, January 17, 2006
4. Headstone and Plaque
This is the actual grave of the Revolutionary War soldier James Higgins.
Photographed By Tom Fuchs, January 17, 2006
5. Plaque
The plaque reads:
Revolutionary Soldier
James Higgins
1732 - 1816
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, June 29, 2013
6. Merchant John Higgins
Close-up of photo on marker Montgomery County Historical Society
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, June 29, 2013
7. George Peters became a state senator after the war.
Close-up of photo on marker Montgomery County Historical Society
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, June 29, 2013
8. Rockville's main thoroughfare, ca. 1870
Oldest photograph of Rockville's main thoroughfare, ca. 1870, with hay scale in the public triangle. The 1840 courthouse is out of the picture to the right. The Female Seminary and John Higgins' store are out of the picture to the lower left. Stuart's prisoners were taken from the courthouse down this road toward Brookeville.
Close-up of photo on marker Peerless Rockville
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, June 29, 2013
9. Map -- You Are Here
Close-up of map on marker
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, June 29, 2013
10. 101 North Adams
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, June 29, 2013
11. Sign by the Front Door, 101 North Adams
Williams = Wilson House
circa 1780
Rockville's Oldest Building
In 1863, General J.E.B. Stuart captured the house's then owner, John H. Higgins, and several other known Union sympathizers, who were hiding in the Vestry of Christ Episcopal Church. Rockville Historic District Commission, Maryland Historial Trust
Credits. This page was last revised on May 20, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 21, 2006, by Tom Fuchs of Greenbelt, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,819 times since then and 20 times this year. Last updated on April 15, 2017, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. Photos:1. submitted on January 21, 2006, by Tom Fuchs of Greenbelt, Maryland. 2. submitted on June 6, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 7, 2007, by Tom Fuchs of Greenbelt, Maryland. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. submitted on July 4, 2013, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.