A Virginian,

could say the Civil War began and ended at his house.

Wilmer McLean

Explanation:

Wilmer McLean lived near Manassas, Virgina where he found himself in the middle of the First Battle of Red Bull (1861). He allegedly moved to get away from the war but moved to Appomattox, Virginia

A Virginian, William McLean, could say the Civil War began and ended at his house.

Explanation:

Wilmer McLean was a small farmer who owned a small farm near Manassas, next to the Bull Run creek in the state of Virginia in 1861.

On July 21, 1861, the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War, was fought around his property. His home was occupied by the Southern Army as the headquarters of General P. G. T. Beauregard and shot at.

At the end of this first day, Wilmer was so fed up with the war that he gathered his family and things and left. In the end, the poor man settled in Appomattox Court House.

On April 9, 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant collected his house there as the headquarters where General Robert E. Lee signed his surrender. Therefore, the Civil War started in Wilmer McLean's front garden and ended in his living room.