Felix SEYMOUR

                   age 55


Source:   Descendants of John Seymour (http://www.joanrodenberger2000.com/seymour_john.html)

=========================================================

MILL ISLAND
CIVIL WAR ENCAMPMENT open saturday and sunday

Mill Island holds a cherished place in the history of the South Branch Valley, including Heritage Weekend, which began here in 1953. This year, Mill Island is the setting for the Civil War Encampment, demonstrations of camp life and a presentation of the Gettysburg Address by Abe Lincoln impersonator James Rubin.

The home is the union of a 1798 brick cottage at the rear and a grand Greek Revival mansion Felix Seymour added in 1840. The front porch has hand-carved Corinthian columns. Inside, the 15-foot ceilings top heavy cornices over every door and window. The bricks were made on the premises and laid in an American Bond. The Corinthian-style columns at the front were carved from single tree trunks. The first floor has 15-foot ceilings with windows 12-feet high.

An 18 x 40-foot ballroom trimmed with elaborate cornice and dentil work was the legendary setting of the South Branch ValleyÕs most elegant social gatherings. Seymour, although wealthy with good land holdings, was not among the social elite until he married well, hitching up with Sidney McNeill of the valleyÕs wealthiest family and owner of its most magnificent mansion, Willow Wall.

During the Civil War, the Confederate McNeillÕs Rangers, the storied Confederate Calvary, sometimes used the house for a hospital, and fittingly the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp 582, McNeill Rangers, are staging the encampment. The 1853 Restaurant will provide comfort food for visitors.

Heritage Week began here in 1953 when then-owners Mr. and Mrs. Donald Pryce Jones opened their home to raise money for the Hardy County Public Library.

Mill Island is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Open courtesy of Royce Saville
DIRECTIONS: From the Moorefield library, go east on Winchester
Avenue to railroad tracts. Turn right on South Fork Road 1.3 miles.
Turn right at green flag and go 0.7 miles across low bridge.