Newtown = Stephens City

Almost every online source lists Robert Gilkerson's place of birth as Newtown, Virginia, which is in King and Queen County.  This includes Seamheads, Baseball Reference and Wikipedia.  Unfortunately, this is not accurate.

I believe he was actually born in Stephens City or nearby Winchester, Virginia - both in Frederick County which is located near the northern tip of the state.   

How did so many other sources settle on Newtown, which is more than 100 miles away on the other side of the state?

The single source for this bit of misinformation, as far as I can tell, is Gilkerson's draft card from 1942 which clearly reads "Newtown" as place of birth.  

Gilkerson would have certainly filled out this form himself, therefore making it a reliable source normally.   

The issue however is that in the 19th century there were literally dozens of Newtowns in Virginia, including one in Frederick County.  Predictably, this caused a lot of confusion when it came to mail delivery and other services.  The result was all but one of the Newtowns had to change their name.  

Around the time of Gilkerson's birth, the Newtown in Frederick County went through a series of name changes but eventually settled on Stephens City.  To local residents at the time however, their town was likely still referred to as Newtown.  

This might explain why Gilkerson listed "Newtown" on that document all those years later, when in fact, he was born in what is now Stephens City.  Even today, Stephens City still celebrates their history with a Newtown Festival. 

To add to the confusion, in the Social Security Death Index, Gilkerson's birth place is listed as Winchester, VA.  In some ways this gives support to the idea that Gilkerson was born in or around Stephens City and not the Newtown across the state.  Winchester and Stephens City are only about five miles apart.  

Whether he was born there or not, it does seem that Robert Gilkerson lived in Winchester as a young man.   In 1897, the Winchester newspapers reported on two youths arrested for throwing rocks at and "otherwise annoying" an elderly woman.  One of them was named Robert Gilkeson.     

In the 1900 census record, Robert Gilkeson was shown to be residing in Winchester with his grandmother.  He is listed as being a 17-year-old errand boy with a birth date of February 1883 (three years older than what is commonly accepted as Robert Gilkerson's birthday of February 10, 1886).

Sometime within the next few years, Gilkerson made his way north to Pennsylvania to start his baseball career.  He would never again live in Virginia.