The Shadow
The Lawrence-Stephenson House in downtown Covington predates the Civil War.
Over its long and storied history, the property has housed a church manse and served as home to several prominent Alleghany Highlands attorneys.
In fact, Virginia Supreme Court Justice, the late Roscoe B. Stephenson Jr., was born in the house in 1922.
Paul Linkenhoker, the president of the Alleghany Historical Society, provided the following history of the property that was recently sold to the law firm of Updike, Nicely &?Crawford, PLC. The attorneys plan to relocate their practice in the house at the beginning of 2019.
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The property now listed at 251 W. Riverside Street in Covington was owned by James Burke and his wife, Jane, in 1856.
In the original layout of streets in the town, River-side was known as Water Street. On Feb. 13, 1856, the unimproved lot was purchased by William W. Lawrence and his wife, Mary. Lawrence built a four-room, two-story house on the lot with board and batten siding. At some point, a kitchen was added to the rear of the house.
On April 15, 1868, John Pitzer, et. al., Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the Baltimore Conference, purchased the property from Lawrence. It was to be held as a residence for such minister of said church as may from time to time be placed in charge of the circuit embracing the said town of Covington by the annual Baltimore Conference.
The denomination was meeting in the church on Main Street across from the courthouse. That building is now Sacred Heart Catholic Church.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was the forerunner of today’s United Methodist denomination which in downtown Covington is now Granbery Memorial United Methodist Church.
R.L. Parrish was appointed as a Special Commis-sioner to settle a suit involving Shriver and Swoope, et. al., vs. James Burke. The details of the case were not disclosed, but it appears that a sum of $649 was paid as a settlement on the lots involving the property.
On Jan. 6, 1880, the property was transferred to John W. Jennings. On May 14, 1895, Jennings and his wife, Mary, sold the house to Mallie S. Payne and Sallie W. Payne.
During the next 25 years, the property changed hands several times and was owned by each of the following for a period of time: Frank H. Hammond, F.A. Biggs, J.H. Rhinehart, and W.S. Friend. All were prominent men in the area at the turn of the 20th century.
On Jan. 17, 1920, the house was purchased by Roscoe B. Stephenson for a sum of $4,500. In a letter dated May 19, 1919, he wrote to his “Dearest Wife to be,” Elizabeth Dillard Jackson, about the house.
“I think our house-keeping plans will work out all right. We can board as long as we like and then take the Payne house… I think we’ll like the Payne place – there isn’t much room on the lot but the house is just our size. Did I tell you Dr. Woods (the minister) wanted us to go in the manse. I told him we had other arrangements. That wouldn’t do – He’s too “sot in his ways” to live with. His matrimonial aspirations don’t seem to be coming on just right. I think his prospective mother-in-law thinks his age is against him marrying her daughter. I wish the old fellow all the joy in the world and success as I have had.”
Stephenson married Miss Jackson on June 5, 1919.
Roscoe B. Stephenson, Jr. was born in the house in 1922. The elder Stephenson lost his first wife in 1943 but remarried and lived in the house until 1960.
It was rented for various purposes, even serving as a day care for a while.
In 1964, Roscoe, Jr. (Rocky) developed a partnership with George Kostel. George set up an office in Clifton Forge and Rocky converted the house on Riverside for a law office.
A year later, Fletcher Watson and Kit Carson combined their newly formed partnership with Kostel and Stephenson.
Stephenson became a circuit judge in 1973 and Dabney Pasco joined the firm. Roscoe B. Stephenson, III (Steve), joined the firm in 1981. In time, Carson became a judge and Pasco set up a private practice.
Eventually Jim Snyder joined the firm which became Kostel, Watson, Snyder and Stephenson in 1986. He and George formed their own partnership in Clifton Forge in 1990.
Fletcher Watson and Steve Stephenson practiced law out of the Riverside house until December 2014.
Upon their retirement, the house was sold to the Alleghany Historical Society with funding provided by a grant from The Alleghany Foundation and a loan from the Highlands Community Bank. The house has since been rehabilitated and many of the original historic features of the structure have been restored.
Those refurbishments include a new roof on both the house and the carriage house, a new kitchen, interior renovations and exterior painting.
The Alleghany Historical Society has named the house for the man who built it in 1857 and for the Stephenson family who possessed the property for 94 years.
The building is a contributing structure in the Covington Downtown Historic District which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It is also historically significant because it was the birthplace of the first jurist from the Alleghany Highlands to be appointed a Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
During restoration, the society has been fortunate to have rented portions of the property to cover utilities, insurance, taxes and expenses. Jared Jenkins, Esq., attorney at law, has rented the Carriage House. Olde Town Covington, Michelle Meneffee, speech pathologist, Michael Armstrong, independent insurance agent, and Gary Pillow, audiologist, have also rented space on the property.
The house was sold to the Law Firm of Updike, Nicely & Crawford in December 2018.
Funds realized from the sale will be utilized for future historic preservation projects through a Historic Preservation Trust Fund.
“The Alleghany Historical Society is excited that the historic character of the house will be maintained and that it will again function as a law office,”?Linkenhoker said.
