2 North 5th Street
Richmond, VA, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House

Statement of Significant:

The Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House was built in 1808-09 by Michael L. Hancock who sold the property in 1814. In 1816 William Wirt (1772-1834) purchased the house and lived there until 1818 when he moved to Washington as Attorney General of the United States under James Monroe While living in the Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House, he completed his famous Life of Patrick Henry, one of the first great biographies in American literature: Wirt was a distinguished public figure of the times, being noted both for his legal prowess as well as his success as an author. Besides his success as the first biographer of Patrick Henry, Wirt wrote the Letters of the British Spy, as well as other articles for the newspapers. He also served in the House of Delegates and as Attorney General of Virginia before being appointed Attorney General of the United States.
Upon moving to Washington, Wirt rented his house for a few months and then sold it to Benjamin Tate, former Mayor of Richmond. At his death in 1821, Tate left the property to his son, Joseph Tate, who served as Mayor of Richmond from 1826 until his death in 1839. In 1846 the heirs of Joseph Tate sold the property which eventually passed into the hands of William Palmer who ran a successful agricultural implement store. The house later passed into the hands of his daughter, Emma Palmer Caskie (Mrs. James Caskie) who lived there until her death in 1941. The house now serves as the headquarters of the Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross.
The Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House is a sophisticated example of the Federalist style and exhibits the Latoria characteristics of low roof pitch, deep eaves with narrow brackets, and the use of geometric shapes in the facade plan, interior room arrangement, and detailing. It bears a strong relationship to Point of Honor in Lynchburg in these characteristics and, along with the Wickham-Valentine House, and to a lesser extent the Ann Carrington House on Church Hill, is one of the three remaining Richmond houses which clearly shows the breakup of the Georgian formality into the more personal Federalist refinement. Even more significant is the fact that the Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House is the only survivor in Richmond of the three-sectioned bay motif as a Federalist, theme, a motif, as described in 1850, that seems to have affected a large number of the homes of the city of any great age, giving them and it a singular experience."

Additional Statement
The original nomination checked the areas of art, literature, politics, and social humanitarianism with a level of statewide significance in 1969. This National Register nomination adds to the descriptive information on the house architecturally and to the history of William Wirt during his time at the house while maintaining the level of statewide significance under both Criteria B and C. The Period of Significance was originally listed as the 19th century, but has been clarified for this nomination from 1808, the year of construction, to 1817, the year that Wirt lived in the house whilst writing the Patrick Henry biography and before his move to Washington, DC to become Attorney General. The Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House is the only surviving residence of William Wirt and, as such, serves as an apt monument to William Wirt and his literary accomplishments.

Criterion B (William Wirt Justification)
From 1816-1817, the Hancock-Wirt-Caskie House was the home of William Wirt, an influential yet now- overlooked author, lawyer, historian, and Attorney General of the United States. As an attorney, Wirt first rose to fame in 1800 as the youngest member of the defense team (he had practiced law but eight years) in the trial of controversial newspaperman James Callender, prosecuted under the antagonistic Alien & Sedition Acts. His reputation expanded with his successful defense in the high-profile George Wythe murder case in 1806. In 1807, Wirt became the youngest of the prosecution team in the treason trial of former Vice-President Aaron Burr. The prosecution team included Wirt, U.S. Attorney for Virginia George Hay, Virginia Lt. Gov. Alexander MacRae, and much of the legal strategy came directly from Thomas Jefferson; the defense team included former U.S. Attorney General Edmund Randolph and influential Richmond lawyer John Wickham. The case was tried before Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Marshall in Circuit Court held in Richmond. While Burr was acquitted, Wirt's four-hour summation of the "Blennerhassett Affair" remains a notable example of courtroom oratory.