Rockville in Montgomery County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Higgins House

Arresting Civilians

— Gettysburg Campaign —

Photographed By Tom Fuchs, January 14, 2006

1. Higgins House - Arresting Civilians Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

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

Higgins House Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Devry Becker Jones, June 4, 2021

2. Higgins House Marker

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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.

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. 39° 5.105′ N, 77° 9.278′ W. Marker is in Rockville, Maryland, in Montgomery County. Marker is 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 is in this post office area: Rockville MD 20850, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Williams-Wilson House (a few steps from this marker); Early Rockville Residential Area

Higgins Family Cemetery image. Click for full size.

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.

(a few steps from this marker); Beall-Dawson House and Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Beall Dawson House (within shouting distance of this marker); Lucy Simpson's Rockville Institute (within shouting distance of this marker); Beall-Dawson House (within shouting distance of this marker); Stonestreet Medical Museum (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Dr. Stonestreet's Office (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rockville.

More about this marker. One of the series of Maryland Civil War Trails markers. This one is on the Gettysburg Campaign.

Headstone and Plaque image. Click for full size.

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