Edgewood
a.k.a. John Boyd House
Address Unknown, Bunker Hill, WVEdgewood is significant for its architecture and Civil War history. Built in 1839 by General Elisha Boyd for his son John. An old letter that has come down through the Boyd family, which was written by Gen. Elisha Boyd's younger daughter to her married sister in 1839, discusses the completion of the house and that they will soon be moving in. The letter states the house has 4 rooms plus a kitchen and pantry on the first floor. About 20 years later a room 10' long was added to the kitchen.
Edgewood was the manor house to a 1,400-acre plantation that General Boyd amassed on Mill Creek. Brick for the house was made at his own brick plant which he had located on Mill Creek. Edgewood also is significant as a historic site. Near the present house stood the log cabin (so tradition says) of Revolutionary War Major Andrew Waggoner who rode with General George Washington. Wagonner's daughter married Gen. Poyd after Waggoner's death. Boyd bought the interest in Waggoner's plantation and acquired other land to form the plantation.
During the Civil War, (in 1863) General Pettigrew was shat at Falling. Wat ers. He was taken by wagon to Edgewood and died in the upstairs bedroom. A large monument to General Pettigrew was erected along U. S. 11 at the lane entrance to Edgewood. Another important incident that took place at Edgewood during the Civil War: John Boyd, Jr., who was with the South, had come home for a visit. One of the colored slaves who did not like him told the Union troops he was there. The soldiers came to the house in search of John Boyd, Jr. There was a trap door in the front parlor room which still remains today. He was not hiding there but in a big closet upstairs.
He was captured and taken to Winchester, Va.; tried and ordered to be hung. Through the efforts of Mrs. Dandridge, daughter of President Zacharia Taylor, John Boyd's life was saved within minutes of his scheduled execution.
A further significant fact: During the Civil War General Stonewall Jackson camped on the lawn. It is valuable both as a historic Civil War campsite and for Civil War artifacts. Reports have been made that there was a tunnel in the backyard running from the house to the barn. This has not been located. It could be a valuable archeology site.
The house went out of the Boyd family after the Civil War. The next owner kept the house in repair though it went through a couple of negligent owners. The house has been handsomely restored in the past few years by its present owner.
A small log slave cabin west of the house is included. The small log slave cabin is included in the nomination.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.