A Brief History of Winchester and Frederick County, Virginia

Winchester and Frederick County, at the top of the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia, was once Shawnee Indian camping grounds to which Pennsylvania Quakers came to settle in 1732. The town was named Frederick Town after Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II of England. In 1752, the name was changed to Winchester, in honour of the ancient English capital. Today, the population of the city is approximately 21,000 and the county 35,000.

In the mid-1700s, Frederick County became the military and political training ground for George Washington, who came to the county at the age of sixteen to survey the lands of Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax (his tomb is located in the yard of Christ Episcopal Church). Washington built Fort Loudoun during the French and Indian War and, at the age of twenty-six, was elected to his first public office as the county’s representative to the House of Burgesses. During the Revolutionary War, Daniel Morgan’s Riflemen from Frederick County were among the first who came to Washington’s aid against the British.

Winchester was a strategic prize of great importance during the Civil War. In Confederate hands, with excellent roads to the north and east, it was a serious threat to the supply lines of the Union armies trying to reach Richmond – the heart of the Confederacy. In the hands of the Union army, Winchester made Confederate raids and invasion of the north risky, and opened a protected avenue for Union troop movements south through a valley from which they could attack on the flanks and rear of Lee’s main armies. Thus, Winchester and Frederick County became the scene of six battles during the Civil War, and the city itself changed flags around seventy times during the four-year conflict (it is said, thirteen times in one day!).

Visitors to Winchester and Frederick County today can view historical sites such as:

• The home and grave of General Daniel Morgan, hero of the Revolutionary War;
• George Washington’s headquarters;
• General Stonewall Jackson’s headquarters on North Braddock Street;
• The headquarters of the Union General Philip Sheridan, from which he started his 12-mile ride on October 19, 1864 to rally his retreating army at Cedar Creek -–the ride made famous by Thomas Buchanon Read’s poem “Sheridan’s Ride”;
• The Hollingsworth house, “Abram’s Delight”, built in 1754 and now completely furnished with relics of the 18th century;
• The National Cemetery and Stonewall Cemetery, which contains the graves of approximately 3,000 Confederate soldiers;
• The ruins of an old church used as barracks during the Revolutionary War; and,
• The Hopewell Meeting House, established in 1734.

Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester on September 8, 1932. At the encouragement of her first manager, Bill Peer, she changed her name to Patsy Hensley. She became Patsy Cline when she married Gerald Cline.

When Patsy was a little girl, she wanted to be a dancer, but her interest later turned to music - singing and playing the piano. She taught herself to play by ear, and never properly learned to read music.

On Spetember 15, 1957, not long after her first marriage ended in divorce, she married Charlie Dic. They had two children, Julie and Randy.

Patsy's first major recognition as a country singer took place on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" in 1957.

Patsy Cline's tragic death in 1963 was preceded by two other close calls. Her first brush with death was a serious case of rheumatic fever when she was thirteen years of age. Patsy recalled the ironic fortune this illness brought her - "The fever affected my throat and, when I recovered, I had this booming voice like Kate Smith's". Her second brush with death occurred when she and her brother Sam were involved in a head-on car collision. As a result of this accident, Patsy had a large scar on her forehead that prompted her to wear wigs during public appearances.

On March 5, 1963, Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and Randy Hughes (all Grand Ole Opry stars) were killed on a 'plane crash after attending a benefit concert in Kansas City. Just before her departure to Nashville, Ray Walker of the Jordonaires told Patsy to be careful. Her last words to him were prophetic, "Honey, I've been in two bad ones...the third one'll be a charm, or it will kill me".

In 1973, Patsy Cline was elected into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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