Interrupted by War

Interrupted by War. The Rutherford and Carter Farmsteads. When John H. Rutherford purchased 275 acres at this location between 1843 and 1848, he undoubtedly hoped his farm would be associated with prosperous agriculture, and not with a bloody Civil War engagement. His handsome two-story brick home stood just to your right on the surviving foundation and was built in 1857. Prior to that, Rutherford and his wife, Camilla C. Baker, lived with widow Susan Pitman Carter. The Widow Carter's larger brock house and 173-acre farm stood just north of here., Both families grew grains and potatoes and raised cattle, hogs, and sheep for wool. While those crops are not typically associated with slavery, the Widow Carter enslaved at least seven people. Rutherford employed one free Black man, James Lownsan. He did not enslave anyone, but helped manage the Carter farm for time before the war, illustrating the complexities of enslavement in the Shenandoah Valley., The free and enslaved residents experienced waves of war washing over the properties. Two engagements were fought on the Rutherford and Carter land, and during the conflict thousands of soldiers marched by their homes on the Valley Turnpike., Both structures survived the war. Rutherford switched to sheep farming by the 1890s. He died in 1900, and his house stood until demolished about 1963., "The wounded men had been collected together at three houses in the filed and most of ours, and some of the Yankees were at the Rutherfords.... The Surgeons were waiting for chloroform to perform operations. There was a pile of arms and legs and feet...." , Mary Greenhow Lee, Winchester resident, describing the aftermath of the July 20, 1864 Battle of Rutherford's Farm., (captions) , The Widow Susan Carter's mansion stood on the west side of the Valley Pike. The Battle of Rutherford's Farm is also sometimes called the Battle of Carter's Farm., The residence of John H. Rutherford along the Valley Pike. In 1860, he and his wife, Camilla, and their children, Susan, William, John C., and Albert, who ranger in age from 10 to two, along with domestic workers Mary Spence and free Black James Lownsan, lived in the home. Images courtesy Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio