The Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is a complex of three structures, built between the 1740s and 1780s, in Romney, West Virginia, United States. The clerk's office, dating from the 1780s, is the oldest surviving public office building in West Virginia. The kitchen building (c. 1750) is the oldest remaining component of the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House and the oldest building in Romney. Throughout its history, the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House has been known as the Andrew Wodrow House, the Mytinger Family Home, and the Mytinger House.
The earliest person recorded residing on Lot Number 48 in Romney was Hugh Murphy. In 1763, Colonel George William Wilson received a patent to Lot Number 48 from Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, to purchase the lot from Murphy. Wilson served in the Hampshire County militia as a major during the French and Indian War. He relocated to Pennsylvania, and in 1770, George Washington spent the night in a log cabin on the northeastern corner of Lot Number 48. Andrew Wodrow arrived in Hampshire County near or after the end of the American Revolutionary War. In 1782, Wodrow became clerk of court for Hampshire County. He completed the clerk's office building in the 1780s, and the complex assumed its current configuration by 1790.
Wodrow served as Clerk of Court for Hampshire County until his death in 1814, after which ownership passed to Wodrow's son-in-law, John McDowell; a Dr. McClinoch; and the Mytinger family, who retained the property for about 100 years. Manning H. Williams purchased the house and restored it in 1962. Dr. Herbert P. Stelling purchased the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House in 1973, and it opened as a museum and an arts and handicrafts shop known as Colonial Craftsmen. While under the Stelling family's ownership, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. Its current owners, Old Hampshire Ltd., purchased the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House in 1985.
Geography and setting The Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House property is at 51 West Gravel Lane in Romney, West Virginia, within the eastern section of town Lot Number 48 and the western section of Lot Number 58. Taggart Hall, a late 18th-century residence, is immediately east of the property, and serves as the headquarters for the Fort Mill Ridge Foundation, the Hampshire County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Hampshire County Chamber of Commerce. Across West Gravel Lane to the immediate south of the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is the parking lot of the Romney Volunteer Fire Department, which was formerly the location of the town's Old Presbyterian Church and Cemetery on Lots No. 59 and 60.
History Background
The land upon which the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is located was originally part of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a land grant that the exiled Charles II awarded to seven of his supporters in 1649 during the English Interregnum. Following the Restoration in 1660, CharlesII ascended to the English throne. He renewed the Northern Neck Proprietary grant in 1662, revised it in 1669, and renewed the original grant favoring original grantees Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, and Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, again in 1672. In 1681 Bennet sold his share to Lord Colepeper, who received a new charter for the entire land grant from James II in 1688. Following the deaths of Lord Colepeper, his wife Margaret, and his daughter Katherine, the Northern Neck Proprietary passed to Katherine's son Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, in 1719.
The area surrounding present-day Romney remained sparsely populated by European settlers until the middle of the 18th century, when tensions with Native Americans began to subside. Around this time, Lord Fairfax wanted to have the lands of his Northern Neck Proprietary used and enticed European settlers to move there. His initiative led to the establishment of population centers, such as Romney. After Lord Fairfax settled at Greenway Court, he oversaw the sale and settling of his proprietary lands. One of his surveyors, George Washington, stated that a sizable number of people were residing near present-day Romney by 1748. County records indicate that Lord Fairfax began selling land within present-day Hampshire County in 1749. However, the lot's first occupant or builder is unknown. By 1754, Hampshire County was formed from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties.
Gravel Lane, the present-day street where the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is located, follows an old trail used by Native Americans prior to the arrival of European settlers. Gravel Lane was Romney's original main street, and according to the Federal Writers' Project in its Historic Romney 1762–1937 (1937), Gravel Lane "is the most historic lane in the town—and perhaps in the Northern Neck".
Wilson family The earliest known person to own Lot Number 48, where the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is located, was Hugh Murphy. In 1763, Colonel George William Wilson received a patent to Lot Number 48 from Lord Fairfax and purchased it from Murphy. Wilson arrived in Romney between 1761 and 1763. According to George Washington's report to the House of Burgesses in 1764, Wilson served as a major in the Hampshire County militia during the French and Indian War, for which Washington praised him for his earnestness and courage. Wilson's residency in Romney was brief, and he relocated to Pennsylvania between 1764 and 1768.
On October 9, 1770, George Washington purportedly stayed the night in an old log house at the northeastern corner of Lot Number 48. This was his final visit to Romney. In his diary, Washington wrote:
Wilson became a justice of the peace for newly established Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1771. He was involved in the Pennsylvania–Virginia boundary dispute, and was also selected by the Pennsylvanian faction at Fort Pitt to supervise the election of delegates to the constitutional convention from Pennsylvania. Wilson encouraged support for the American Revolution and became the lieutenant colonel of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment during the American Revolutionary War. He died from an illness during the regiment's march to join Washington in New Jersey in January 1777. Wilson's daughter Mary Ann married Andrew Wodrow, and following Wilson's death, the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House passed to his son-in-law Wodrow.
Wodrow family
Andrew Wodrow was born in 1752 in Scotland. He immigrated to the Colony of Virginia in 1768, and during the 1770s, Wodrow established and expanded a thriving import business in Fredericksburg. Following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, he abandoned his business rather than import and sell goods from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Wodrow was then appointed to serve in the political post of clerk for the Revolutionary Committee for King George County on May 6, 1775. He arrived in Hampshire County near or after the end of the American Revolutionary War, and in 1782, he became clerk of court for Hampshire County. Although he was the third officeholder as clerk of court, Wodrow was the first clerk to reside in Hampshire County.
As a key official, Wodrow played a significant role in the conveyance and settlement of lands and was a prosperous landholder in his own right. He is credited with giving the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House complex its current form. He completed the arrangement of the three sections of the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House and his association with the property lent the complex significance for its listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In the 1780s, Wodrow built the frame structure (the last of the house's three structures) for use as a clerk's office. At that time, Gravel Lane was Romney's main street and the function and architectural beauty of the clerk's office made it a center of activity in the town. According to West Virginia Antiquities Commission research assistant Phillip R. Pitts and historian James E. Harding, the clerk's office symbolized the end of Romney's frontier existence and the beginning of a more established disposition. By the start of the 19th century, Romney and the surrounding county had become an established and settled area with a growing economy based on agriculture.
By 1790, the three structures constituting the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House probably assumed their present arrangement. The trustees of the Town of Romney commissioned John Mitchel to draft a cadastral survey map of Romney in 1790. Prior to this survey, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, had commissioned a similar cadastral survey of the town before its incorporation on December 23, 1762. On June 30, 1790, Mitchel submitted to the trustees a "Plan of the Town of Romney" that divided the town into 100 land lots of equal size, including the two lots upon which the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House was located (Lots Number 48 and 58).
Wodrow remained in his post as clerk of court for Hampshire County until his death in 1814. Successive owners included Wodrow's son-in-law, John McDowell; and Dr. McClinoch, who was one of the first physicians in Romney.
Mytinger family Tobias Mytinger acquired the property in 1861. Mytinger was active in the community affairs of Romney. He was elected a town councilman in 1874 and 1884; appointed to a committee in 1875 to assess repairs needed for the Hampshire County Courthouse; and elected to the Romney District Board of Education in 1879. Mytinger died in January 1908, and his wife Martha Virginia Mytinger continued to reside at the property until her death in January 1912. The house remained under the ownership of the Mytinger family until 1959. At the time of the property's 1959 sale, much of the complex structures' original building materials and architectural details remained extant, although in a state of deterioration. Modern conveniences, including electricity, plumbing, and a central heating system, had not been installed.
Williams family and restoration Manning H. Williams purchased the house from the Mytinger family in 1959. Efforts to restore the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House complex began in 1962 while it was under the ownership of Williams. The restoration project began with the clerk's office in June 1962. During its restoration, the structure's wooden floors, stairs, doors, woodwork, and most of its plaster were retained. Replicas of the second-story windows were fabricated, and old glass was collected from around the area and placed in their wooden sashes. Some of the structure's weatherboards were also replaced, and then the exterior of the clerk's office was painted white. Electric heating was installed, and insulation was added between the walls. During the renovation, contractors made a concerted effort to match the original or period paint colors when painting the structure's walls and woodwork.
The residential structure, also known as "the dwelling," required considerably more rehabilitation. The floor beams were rebuilt, the rafters were replaced, and a new red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) shingle roof was installed. The majority of the brickwork in its double chimneys was repaired. In the large room on the first floor, a small section of the interior eastern wall was removed to unmask the timber framing construction, and another small section was removed to reveal the hand-riven lath. Having been protected by the porch, some of the original siding on the structure's northern side was kept; replacement siding was duplicated for the remainder of the exterior and it was painted white.