From History Buff to Author, Ancestry Guru, and Professional Historian

Alexandria, VA — Getting into the dusty details of history is more than a hobby for Madeline Feierstein — it’s a self-defined “passion” that has launched her into some very curious places.

To her own surprise, she said her dogged searches into the ancestry of individuals and places often lead her to critical connections, transcending family ties and lifetimes, and offering new trails to explore. Feierstein must share a bloodline with Sherlock Holmes — she’s that kind of sleuth, especially when it comes to prisons and wartime.

Occupied Alexandria, How The Civil War Transformed A Southern City — specifically Old Town Alexandria — was published by The History Press. Feierstein draws on true accounts of thousands of civilian and solider experiences to present the “overnight” changes forced upon Alexandria as “the first Confederate city in Virginia to be occupied during the Civil War.”

“For me it was important to take these stories on the road,” she said. “It was a full-on invasion and takeover by the Union Army” establishing five prisons within sight of Washington, D.C., and a longer gallop to Mount Vernon.

In her historically rich book, Feierstein, an Alexandria resident, weaves together people’s lives resulting in a new perspective on one of the oldest cities in America during what was likely its darkest days. Through obscure individual stories, the historical sleuth uncovered history unknown to even many national historians.

Feierstein, who specializes in prisons, military, and American wartime societies, plumbed the medical ledgers from Alexandria’s Civil War hospitals, many of which were private homes. She discovered Dr. Edwin Bentley, a major in the U.S. Army and the head surgeon of 30 military hospitals, who commanded one of the largest hospital networks of the war.

“A storied colonial settlement with a rich history that stretches back before the nation’s founding, Alexandria had a unique wartime encounter, as it was the first Confederate city to be captured by the Union. Transplanted figures like Edwin Bentley participated in the 19th century’s greatest experiment in constitutional rights, freedom, and personal liberties as Southern cities were seized by the federal government in a time of open rebellion and an entire population was emancipated. In fact, the occupation of this Potomac River metropolis was an exercise in how far the government could reach in the name of national security and defense…” — so reads Feierstein’s succinct introduction.

“As a military government, its priority was to support the Union army and navy rather than the citizenry. Private property was excessively confiscated for official use as offices, prisons, and hospitals,” she writes, adding the contextual observation that Alexandria could “not physically support an influx of people of this magnitude, as evidenced in the environmental and financial damage done to the landscape.”

Indeed, Feierstein’s explanations throughout the book draw the reader into the historical facts that unfold through the Civil War years and introduces the experiences of tens of thousands of sick and injured soldiers in hospitals during Alexandria’s occupation, not to mention those languishing in the city’s five military prisons.

The ambitious historical accounting in her research draws from records, artifacts, and sources from the Library of Congress and the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and the Library of Virginia and the Museum of History, both in Richmond. “I never take things on face value. I’m relentless with research—which is why this book is so thorough,” she said, adding that her graduate thesis completed just two years ago served as the basis for her new non-fiction.

The work took determination and patience with undigitized records and confirmed again her “passion” for history, research, and the joy of fresh connections.

In addition to her new book, historian Feierstein has two more in progress, including one about Dr. Bentley. She also runs Rooted in Place, LLC, a history-focused business whose name, she said, carries a double meaning. Through the business, she performs contract genealogy research for the American Battlefield Trust and offers a calendar of events and personalized guided tours in Alexandria and Washington, D.C., where she is a licensed tourism operator.

Feierstein also serves as education department manager for Emerging Civil War and writes for Emerging Revolutionary War Era and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminology from George Mason University and a master’s degree in history from Southern New Hampshire University.

“I specialize in military research,” she noted, adding that she extensively utilizes the Fold Three military records. “I have found some cool stuff for donors and they’re thrilled.” On occasion, she lectures and gives workshops about how to use popular ancestry websites and also lesser-known private and public resources. She has been interviewed by the History Channel about her research on the Civil War.

On Oct. 30, three days after the publication of her first book, Feierstein will be signing her books at the Visit Alexandria Visitor Center on 221 King Street, 2-5 p.m. To order, call 843-853-2070 or email [email protected].

As a history lecturer and teacher, Feierstein offers a beginner-friendly, online introduction on her Beyond Ancestry.com website that shares some of her best tips on using genealogical databases and other sources—including the popular ones like Ancestry.com database and Family Search.

In the meantime, she is contributing to the writing of history and working with historians—and occasionally being recognized as she was during the Society of Civil War Historian meetings as someone called out “Oh, you’re the prison girl!”