Appomattox courthouse village is famous because its where general lee surrendered the army of Northern Virginia to you lessees to Ulysses S Grant bringing about an end or the beginning of the end to the American Civil War. This little town has a lot of history for its size. Today, we would like to talk a little bit about why appomattox courthouse is so famous. Wed like to spend more time talking about some Untold Stories. ,he courthouse is a village complete with a tavern, stores, lawyers offices and homes. The town was not more than 140 people in 1865. Its an unlikely place for two large military forces to meet. Army of Northern Virginia and general grants multiple army forces with about 63,000 men, about 95,000 soldiers total within a six mile rate is of here. Unlikely because its not were either army wanted to be. Its where they ended up. As fate would have it for generally, his army was practically surrounded here by general grants forces and on the morning of palm sunday, april 9, 1865, generally, in the afternoon about 1 30 p. M. , generally would meet general grant at the mclean house, one of the nicer uppermiddleclass homes here in the village. They would meet in the parlor of that home to discuss and agree on terms of the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia, effectively bringing about the end of the war. That is certainly a crucial story, nationally significant and no doubt the reason this has been designated a National Historic site. However, there are plenty of Untold Stories about appomattox. Years, many people have referred to appomattox as the place where a nation reunited. For students of history, we struggle with that idea. If that were true, the 150 years that followed the American Civil War dont make a lot of sense. During the centennial, the 100 anniversary of the centennial of the ending of the civil war in 1965, a tremendous celebration took place here marking the occasion. Meanwhile, schools and appomattox county and many across the state are still not even integrated. Appomattox was still five years away from integration in 1970. Why isnt it the place where our nation reunited . Part of the story starts with the large field behind me. Something that a lot of people dont realize about appomattox courthouse is that there were two battles fought here. General lees decision was not arbitrary to surrender. He was brought to that decision because of the military realities literally that surround him. In the field behind me on the morning of april 9, the battle of appomattox courthouse was fought. It was roughly 9000 confederates engaging a large federal force that would eventually put over 20,000 federal soldiers on this field behind me. During this battle that raged on in the morning of april 9, there was one known civilian casualty of appomattox courthouse. It was a woman named Hannah Reynolds. Of all human beings that lived in appomattox county at that time, she was enslaved. She was enslaved by dr. Samuel coleman. She lived in a home about one mile to the west of where im standing in the epicenter of the battlefield of the morning of april 9. She was unfortunate to be hit by a confederate artillery shell that morning. She was attended to by surgeons from the eighth main interestfree infantry unit and she was able to survive another three days. She died on april 12, that wednesday. April 12 is a very important date, two in the history of appomattox because it was on this very road that im standing on on april 12 that confederate andntry stacked their arms their flags and ammunition along this road. In fact, you can say the individual confederate soldier actually surrendered on this road, not in the parlor of the mclean house the weight generally did. Hannah reynolds dying on april 12 meant that, in a way, she was morally wounded as an enslaved woman and, in a way, she died and emancipated woman three days later. Thats a powerful notion that really struck this parking is visitors in 2015 during the one true 50th anniversary and its given us pause to explore the story and others like it a little more deeply. Exactly what did happen in this village and throughout the south and the country in the weeks and months that followed the surrender . In history, it seems to almost always be a good idea to ask the question, so what . Generally surrendered to grant on april 9, each will 1865, so what . The army of Northern Virginia would fight no more. Thats a big so what. What about the enslaved populace should of appomattox and the rest of virginia . What was their future, what was the fourth future of former slaveholders and what about lower middleclass whites that didnt own slaves but still would be deeply affected by what was about to happen . We will go down to the other end of the village of appomattox courthouse and we will visit the kelly house that can also be known as the Robinson House and explore a story right here in the village that shed some light also on the National Significance of what happened after the surrender. Unlike the mclean house, the kelly house for more represents what most people around appomattox county would have lived in in the mid1860s. Its down here that we find an excellent example of an untold story. Totalked about what happened Hannah Reynolds immediately after the war and, unfortunately, she passed away from wounds received during the final battle. Down here at the kelly house on the eastern end of the village, we find an excellent example of what happens next after the surrender. The kelly house was completed in 1855. The kelly family was large. There were five sons and his family and all five fought in the war, in the army of Northern Virginia. At least one and maybe two were here for the surrender in their own hometown. In the years that followed the war, eventually, this house would be purchased by a man named john robinson. We dont know a great deal about him and his early light but this is a good example of what emancipation looks like in the weeks, months, and years that followed the surrender in appomattox. Perhaps two of the most tangible examples of emancipation that you would have seen on the landscape that summer of night the of 1865 would be the development of a school, the legalization of black education, very much a tangible evidence and the second would be the ability of black citizens of appomattox county to be able to form their own churches. In fact, in many of these cases, these were people that were members of, ironically, integrated churches, at least physically integrated. The congregations were separated within but it was the larger white churches where many of the black residents actually attended but as a result of the surrender, got permission to leave those churches and create their own church. The first such church to be created here in appomattox county was galilee baptist church. One of the founding members of that church was john robinson. He was the first treasurer, a trustee of the church. Initially, our understanding in the months that followed the surrender, the congregation was formed in what was known as an arbor church, simply meeting outside under the trees. Congregation had been able to form enough money and resources to actually build a log church that exists about a mile to the west of the courthouse. In 1916,years later, the new church would be built on the same grounds and thats the church that is still there today, more than 100 years later. The story of john robinson, he is not only a homeowner and cofounder of a church but he is also a businessman. He is a shoe cobbler. Apparently, pretty good one because he ran a business here for more than 50 years. John robinson did not pass away until 1933 but after raising a very large family, a successful business and some of the Robinson Family members are buried in the backyard of the kelly Robinson House. Right here in the Little Village of appomattox county, we can see the so what of the surrender. It unfolds right here before our very eyes. We have only had to look a little more deeply to see these Untold Stories. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. 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