Notes for Frances Henry Brockenbrough: In what "The Gazette and Banner" described as "a daring outrage," the judge's youngest son, Francis Henry Brockenbrough, was shot in a racial incident which occurred May 08, 1868. The local newspaper on May 13, 1868 report of the incident: "As Mrs. Judge Brockenbrough was returning home about 11 o'clock at night from a visit to her brother's family, accompanied by her youngest son, a youth of about 18 years of age, they found the sidewalk occupied by a number of Negroes, male and female. Young Brockenbrough requested them politely to let his mother pass, and, after some hesitation, all of them, but one, made may for her, but that one, a Negro man or boy, by the name of Caesar Griffin, swore he would not give way for any d----d rascal, and continued to use various offensive expressions. When Mrs. Brockenbrough entered her house, her son and his older brother returned to the gate, Frank having in his hand a small stick or switch, and jumping over the fence, approached the Negro, with the stick raised, who immediately fired a small pistol, sending a ball through the breastbone of Young B., into his body, inflicting a very dangerous, if not a fatal wound. The ball has not been found, and the result is very uncertain. Griffin was immediately arrested, but while the youth's life Hung in the balance a group of young men, apparently including Frank's older Brothers, threatened to lynch him. Hot-headed action on the part of his brothers would have been surprising, as three of them, John Bowyer Brockenbrough, Willoughby Newton Brockenbrough and Robert Lewis Brockenbrough, and served in the Confederate State Army." It was widely reported in newspapers that General Lee had to dissuade a mob from lynching the negro, but "The Gazette" stated that "no mob started for the jail" and the only foundation for the story was "the indiscreet utterances of a few excited young men" who were dissuaded from rash action by Capt. Harry Estill of the college faculty. Young Brockenbrough recovered, but the incident fanned bitter feelings in the community. "The Gazette" called it the first fruits of an incendiary address made to the freedom by Gen. Douglas Frazer, United States military commissioner in Lexington. An indication of the feeling was the fact that local people referred to Frazer as "Mr.," refusing to give him the courtesy of his military title. For a time after the shooting a company of federal soldiers patrolled the town.
Children of Frances Henry Brockenbrough and Sarah Agnes Paxton are:
Frances Henry Brockenbrough (b. September 22, 1850, d. date unknown)
Notes for Frances Henry Brockenbrough: