THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 3, 1995 TAG: 9508010066
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 148 lines
NORFOLK HISTORY BUFFS and War of 1812 enthusiasts hit the mother lode of lost treasures this spring when they discovered part of a 180-year-old military logbook from Fort Norfolk in a Granby Street antique shop.
``This is a major find,'' author Amy Yarsinske gushed about the 44 faded pages. ``This fills in a gap of history that we knew very little about before.''
Another remnant of Norfolk's historical past, hidden away for decades in a darkened far corner of a downtown storefront and obscured by a three-story false ceiling, also was discovered in April.
When demolition specialists from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority started clearing out the top floors of the old Lerner Shops on Granby Street, a plaster figurine of a woman, dating to the 1920s, was revealed. NRHA officials figure the busty lady once graced the cap of a column in the Norva, an upscale downtown vaudeville and movie theater, built in 1923. In the '60s, part of the Norva was transformed into a retail storefront for Lerner Shops.
``When I saw it, I knew it was worth saving,'' said John Pickering, NRHA demolition superintendent. ``I had no idea it was under there. Some things just turn up and you're shocked. The fun is really in finding these things.''
Serendipity was certainly at work when Norfolk Historical Society member Robert Hitchings discovered the War of 1812 papers. He had stopped to check out the latest acquisitions at Country Boy Antiques on Granby Street when he spotted the faded collection of papers. Shop owner Alvin Jones said he recently purchased the papers from another dealer, who had acquired them some 10 years ago from the estate of a longtime Norfolk resident.
``They were not really significant to me,'' Jones said. ``But, being as it was local history, I thought someone would want them.''
Realizing their historical value, Hitchings contacted society president William C. Wooldridge and asked him to investigate.
After inspecting the document, Wooldridge decided it was, indeed, a significant historical find. He purchased the papers on behalf of the society for $300.
Now, Yarsinske, the author of ``Norfolk: The Sunrise City By the Sea'' and a board member of the society, is working to interpret the contents of the papers.
Originally part of a larger logbook kept by company officers under the command of Capt. Julian Magagnos in the 5th Regiment of the Virginia Militia, the papers document everything from daily living conditions to military orders from Nov. 24, 1813, to Feb. 24, 1814.
Yarsinske calls it a ``command log.''
``Everything that went on in the company was recorded in this log ... how they acted, what they felt, what they did,'' she explained.
Included are listings of food purchased in Norfolk markets, money spent on daily provisions and punishments imposed upon the soldiers. Military positions, daily commands and duty rosters also are chronicled. There's also a copy of the general orders of the adjutant general's office, dated Nov. 16, 1813.
Yarsinske said it will take time to interpret the log's contents.
``There's a lot of flowery language and doodlings in there,'' she explained. ``But we've found nothing like this before. This is a real treasure trove of information for War of 1812 historians as well as re-enactors who interpret the daily lives of soldiers.''
The newly discovered remnants of the wartime logbook will give historians a closer look into the daily lives of soldiers at Fort Norfolk, Yarsinske noted.
``These papers are going to be extremely enriching for researchers because they will significantly contribute to the knowledge of the period,'' she said. ``Historians have sometimes made generalizations about the way people lived during this period because we didn't have a lot of information. We may have misinterpreted things by making these generalizations. Now, we'll be able to better understand things with information directly from the people of the times.''
Often called the ``forgotten war,'' the War of 1812 pitted the Americans against the British between 1812 and 1815.
``There really hasn't been much research done about this war,'' Yarsinske said. ``Historians tend to just skip right from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. A lot of times, people forget the horror of the War of 1812. This was the only time the president of the United States was chased out of the White House because the British burned it down. It was a war unlike any other.''
Coupled with Fort Nelson across the Elizabeth River, Fort Norfolk was a major defense post for the port of Hampton Roads. The two strongholds, in fact, kept the British from entering the port at the Battle of Craney Island in 1813.
In Norfolk, some 6,000 soldiers were stationed in and around Fort Norfolk during the war, including those quartered in the surrounding peach orchards. At the time, only 8,000 civilians lived in the city. The large influx of soldiers into Norfolk created ``a fight on a daily basis for food and healthy living conditions'' for both residents and the soldiers, Yarsinske noted.
``It was a very colorful time in the history of Norfolk,'' she said.
As for the ``seaman's dream,'' as NRHA's Pickering calls the Norva bust, local history buffs hope the 70-year-old artifact can be restored to her former splendor, then displayed in a prominent location.
``The changes in temperature have really worked on her,'' noted Yarsinske, who acquired the figurine from Pickering on behalf of the historical society. ``There's some flaking and some damage to her hands. But she's really beautiful. You can tell by all the detail work that she was done by a real artisan.''
Yarsinske figures the 4-foot-tall figurine sat atop one of several interior columns of the old Granby Street theater. The Norva was used as both a movie house and vaudeville theater in its heyday, but in later years the theater suffered a decline in business, and management began showing porno films.
That's most likely when the column caps were painted red. Some of the red paint is still in evidence on the bust.
``It was a terrible way to end,'' Yarsinske said. ``But luckily, she wasn't damaged permanently.''
The column cap is just the latest in a long list of ``interesting'' finds for Pickering. Years ago, during extensive redevelopment in Ghent and downtown, he and his crew filled a warehouse with architectural pieces, building materials and other remnants of Norfolk's past. Among those treasures was a 4-foot-tall brass school bell from the old Patrick Henry School in a former section of Norfolk known as Atlantic City and a cornerstone box listing the names of some of Norfolk's earliest firefighters from a Main Street fire station. Pickering said the School Board got the bell, and the city's Fire Department now has the cornerstone.
Most of the building materials the NHRA salvaged were auctioned off to the public.
In recent years, however, few ``finds'' like the plaster figurine from the Norva have been recovered, he said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
This 180-year-old logbook from fort Norfolk was found recently in a
Granby Street Antique shop.[color cover photo]
This plaster figurine of a woman, dating to the 1920s, was uncovered
recently in what was the Norva theater on Granby Street.[color cover
photo]
Yarsinske has a number of Norfolk historical artifacts in a display
case at her home.
This piece of a pillar also was found during demolition of what was
the old Norva theater on Granby Street.
Amy Yarsinske of the Norfolk Historical Society holds up the plaster
figurine, dating to the 1920s, that was unearthed during demolition
work on what was the old Norva theater on Granby Street.
This 44-page, 180-year-old military logbook from Fort Norfolk was
found by Norfolk Historical Society member Robert Hitchings at
Country Boy Antiques on Granby Street.
by CNB