Barracks for Union Troops

— Carolinas Campaign —

Duncan McLeran constructed this two-story Federal-style dwelling in 1797. In 1820, the property was sold and remodeled to accommodate the Bank of the United States, the first federal bank in North Carolina. The house is named for John Sanford, a cashier there who purchased the property for a residence for his family in 1832 after the bank closed. According to local tradition, the residence was used as a barracks for Union troops during Gen. William T. Sherman's occupation of Fayetteville in March 1865. After the war, Capt. John E. P. Daingerfield bought the property.

Daingerfield, who had been clerk at the Harpers Ferry arsenal in 1859 during John Brown's Raid, came here when munitions and equipment were transferred to the Fayetteville Arsenal from Harpers Ferry in 1861. Maj. John C. Booth, commanding officer at the Fayetteville Arsenal, appointed him military storekeeper and paymaster. Daingerfield served in the 2nd Battalion Local Defense Troops, commonly referred to as the Arsenal Guard, and occupied the house with his wife Matilda and his four children. His son Elliott Daingerfield (1859-1932) was a well-known artist renowned for his landscapes and religious paintings. He left Fayetteville at age 21 to study in New York and Europe, later taught in Philadelphia, and summered for many years at Blowing Rock, N.C.

The Daingerfield family sold the Sandford House about 1897. Since 1945, the Fayetteville Woman's Club has owned and maintained the building, using it for meetings and social functions. The club also maintains the Baker-Haigh-Nimocks House (ca. 1804) and the Oval Ballroom (ca. 1830), with generous assistance from the National Society of Colonial Dames.

(captions)
(lower left) Fayetteville Arsenal during Capt. Daingerfield's tenure, conjectural plan by Jack Riggin

(center) Sanford House, 1948

(lower right) "Elliott Daingerfield," 1890 and "Carolina Sunlight," circa 1915 — Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia

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Show me all markers in:  Fayetteville, NC  |  Cumberland County  |  28301  |  North Carolina  |  United States of America

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Charles W. Chesnutt
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