Withrow, James, House

About this property

The James Withrow House, also known as the John Montgomery House and Montwell, is a historic home located in Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. It is the oldest brick house still standing in the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Built around 1818, the James Withrow House is one of the oldest brick houses in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Built for James Withrow I on land surveyed by Thomas Edgar in 1782, the house overlooks the historical site of Fort Savannah and Withrow I's tannery. James Withrow I moved to Lewisburg sometime before 1812 and married Letitia Edgar Withrow, the daughter of Thomas Edgar, the original surveyor of the town, with whom he had nine children. One of his sons, James Withrow II, continued his father's tanning business. Upon James Withrow I's death in 1843, the house was willed to John Withrow, but instead passed to James Withrow II, a ruling elder of the nearby Old Stone Church. A trained lawyer, James Withrow II served as a court commissioner and a member of the state legislature. In August 1867, James Withrow II, a Colonel in the Virginia Militia, invited Robert E. Lee, visiting nearby White Sulfur Springs resort (now known as The Greenbrier), to a dinner at the house. Lee requested no public expressions of admiration, though many townspeople wished to speak with Lee. Lee spoke to them while visiting the house. Following James Withrow II's death in 1901, his wife, Mary Withrow, sold the property to Nancy A. Surbaugh in 1905. Nancy Surbaugh's half-brother, Edward Sydenstricker, moved his family into the house during the Great Depression. Nancy Surbaugh oversaw the first renovation (see Renovations) of the house, which added an inside kitchen and Victorian era conveniences, among other additions. Nancy Surbaugh died, succeeded by the death of her half-brother Mr. Sydenstricker, sometime before 1939. After their deaths, the house was unoccupied for two years until being listed at auction in 1941. John Fleshman Montgomery, principal of Lewisburg High School at the time, and his wife, Edith Rothwell Montgomery, bought the house at auction and subsequently renovated it (see Renovations), moving in on March 22, 1942. It was during this time that the house became known as the John Montgomery house, and as "Montwell", a joining of the names Montgomery and Rothwell. In 2002, the house was purchased by one of John Montgomery's daughters, Mary Montgomery Lindquist, and her husband Paul Lindquist in 2002. The James Withrow House is a two-story brick house with a two-story brick wing. It features a large double portico supported by massive plastered brick columns, reminiscent of classic revival innovations, reaching a high pediment. On the property is a two-story building housing the historical kitchen and servants quarters as well as a plastered brick building, built, sometime after 1843, as an office by James Withrow II. The office moved to its current location in 1915, after previously residing adjacent to the nearby road.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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