By Brad Dison
Wilmer McLean was a retired officer of the Virginia militia who became wealthy as a wholesale grocer based in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1850, he married Virginia Beverley Hooe. Three years later when Virginia was expecting their first child, Wilmer searched for a quiet, peaceful place for his growing family to live. On January 1, 1854, Wilmer’s son, John Wilmer, was born. Wilmer had his sights set on the 1200-acre rural Yorkshire Plantation north of Manassas along Bull Run, a 31-mile-long tributary of the Occoquan River. Shortly after baby John was born, Wilmer purchased the plantation. Three years later, they welcomed their second child, a daughter named Lucretia “Lula” Virginia. Theirs was a perfectly peaceful existence. They lived in a huge two-story house, some referred to it as a mansion, on one of the many rolling hills next to the lazy stream. It seemed as if they were living in a dream world which would last forever.
Their peaceful, dreamlike existence ended abruptly on July 21, 1861. Confederate Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard had commandeered Wilmer’s home and barn as his headquarters along the strategic Bull Run. Whether Wilmer and his family continued to live in their home with the soldiers or moved to a nearby home is unknown, but they remained in close proximity. On that hot July day, Union and Confederate soldiers fought an artillery duel on Wilmer’s plantation. General Beauregard later wrote, “A comical effect of this artillery fight was the destruction of the dinner of myself and staff by a Federal shell that fell into the fire-place of my headquarters at the McLean House.” What became known as The Battle of Bull Run was the first major campaign of the Civil War.
Following the battle, the soldiers moved to other battlefields. Wilmer and his family returned to the peaceful existence on Yorkshire Plantation that they had enjoyed before the war. Soon thereafter, Virginia became pregnant with their third child. Once again, their peace was broken when soldiers converged again near the same strategic location. For three days in 1862, August 28-30, Confederate and Union soldiers fought the Second Battle of Bull Run. Shortly after the battle, Wilmer and his pregnant wife and their two children abandoned Yorkshire Plantation for safer environs.
On January 28, 1863, Virginia gave birth to a daughter named Nannie. Shortly thereafter, Wilmer and his family purchased a large home about 140 miles to the southwest in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. For two years, Wilmer’s family lived far from the fields of battle. On April 9, 1865, Virginia was pregnant with their fourth child when Charles Marshall, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s aide, asked Wilmer to show him a suitable place for Lee to meet another general. Wanting to distance his family from any connection to the war, Wilmer showed the aide a dilapidated home which he quickly rejected. With no other contenders, Wilmer reluctantly offered the use of his family’s home. At about 1 o’clock that afternoon at the McLean home, General Lee met with Union General Ulysses S. Grant. The Civil War ended during that meeting when General Lee surrendered the Confederate Army to General Grant. The Civil War began in Wilmer McLean’s front yard and ended in his front parlor.
Through it all, Wilmer wanted a safe and peaceful existence for himself and his family. In June 1870, Wilmer dedicated himself to ensuring that the citizens of Manassas township in Virginia had the same safe and peaceful existence that he had wanted to provide for his family. In June 1870, Wilmer McLean, whose homes bookended the Civil War, became a Justice of the Peace.
Sources:
1. Jim Rogers, “Crumbling bar is all that’s left of Yorkshire Plantation,” Potomac News, July 23, 1990, accessed April 26, 2026, https://eservice.pwcgov.org/library/digitallibrary/hsdw/M_Folder/McLean76-274/pdfs/McLean76-274NewsArtA.pdf.
2. Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, Virginia), July 7, 1870, p.2.
3. Kristi Finefield, “A Tale of Two Houses and the U.S. Civil War,” Library of Congress, April 9, 2015, accessed April 26, 2026, https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/2015/04/a-tale-of-two-houses-and-the-u-s-civil-war/.
4. Hparkins, “The Peculiar Story of Wilmer McLean,” National Archives, November 10, 2010, accessed April 26, 2026, https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2010/11/10/the-peculiar-story-of-wilmer-mclean/.
5. “The McLean House – Site of the Surrender Meeting,” National Park Service, Accessed April 26, 2026, https://www.nps.gov/apco/mclean-house.htm.
6. “Wilmer McLean,” Findagrave.com, accessed April 26, 2026, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5824/wilmer-mclean.
