Upcoming Events:
Antique Appraisal Day
February 2
Cavaliers, Courage & Coffee
April 19
May 17
June 21
July 19
August 16
November 1
Civil War Conference
October 3-4
Exploring Olde Loudoun Bus Trips
April 6, 13, 20, 27
Fireside Mosby Program
January 12
February 9
March 8
Spring Lecture
May 15
Winter Lecture Series
January 20
February 3
February 17
March 2
More info here...

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The Mosby Heritage Area Association is a membership driven 501 (c) 3. organization focusing on education and preservation. Your tax-deductible membership supports our work and entitles you to advance notice of our upcoming programs, services and events, as well as our annual newsletter
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the Mosby Heritage Area
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Newsletter Archive:
September 2007

October 2007

The Mosby Heritage Area Association Newsletter - November 2007

Statement From The President
by Gayle DeLashmutt
Often with nonprofits and other organizations, the Board Members are well known and their efforts are certainly appreciated as they give freely of their time and talents. But now I’d like to introduce you all to our unsung heroes. These are the ladies that come and go at The Rector House in Atoka doing all those tasks that MHAA couldn’t get by without doing. Putting together hundreds of packets for our school programs, getting brochures ready for the visitor centers in Leesburg, Warrenton and Front Royal, updating our computer database and helping at various events such as The Winter Lecture Series, The Civil War Conference, The Aldie Triangle Program and our CCC evenings. Our thanks to Tria Dove, Linda Bekermeyer, Inge Braune, Susanne Moliere, Maria Nicklin, Ilona Croft, Marybell Peters, Linda Rozman, and Danny Braga. Judy Reynolds, MHAA executive director, and I had the opportunity to thank them in person earlier in the month at a luncheon at Oak Hill and now from the entire Board of Directors a huge Thank You.

Gayle DeLashmutt
President MHAA

Volunteers at Oak Hill.

New Brochure: Quaker Sites in Loudoun County
MHAA has published the 2007 edition of the popular information and tourism brochure, Quaker Sites in Loudoun County, VA. First published in 2003, the 36-page, 4”x9” booklet is designed to provide visitors to the area background information on Quaker sites of interest and includes five hand drawn maps.

The brochure is organized in sections, opening with The Quaker Meetings, next are Historic Quaker Sites and it finishes with Bed & Breakfasts, Restaurants, and Vineyards.

Although Quakers had established themselves on the eastern and western  shores of Maryland as early as 1656, the first Quakers in the Northern Neck (part of which is Loudoun County today) did not arrive until the 1730’s. Many of these early Quakers came from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware in search of more fertile and cheaper land for their large families.

In 1732, Hopewell Meeting, the first Quaker meeting to be organized in the region, was established near present-day Winchester, VA.  In 1733, Amos Janney, a Quaker from Bucks County, PA, along with some family and friends, settled near present-day Waterford and established Fairfax Meeting – the first meeting in what would later become Loudoun County.

Within a few years, Quakers had established several separate meetings for worship in the region. At the time of Loudoun County’s establishment in 1757, three Quaker Meetings were held within the newly established county: Fairfax Meeting (1733), South Fork Meeting (1745), and Goose Creek Meeting (1749). Several other meetings, though short-lived, were established at the Gap (1759) and Silcott Springs (1894). Goose Creek Meeting is still active.

New to the 2007 brochure are listings of B&Bs, restaurants and wineries. In addition to the street address, phone number and web site address, these points of interest have been included in the five maps to help enhance the visitor experience.

The new brochure was researched by Kimberly Williams, John Lewis, David Edwards, Judy Reynolds, Eugene Scheel, Arlene Janney, Sheila Kryston, Bronwen Souders and Linda Glidden. The following research facilities provided invaluable assistance: Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg and Winchester Regional Office of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources

Maria Nicklin designed the 2007 brochure and, she also redrew the five maps, and added the B&Bs, restaurants and wineries on maps.

Individual copies and quantities of Quaker Sites in Loudoun County, VA are available by calling MHAA at 540-687-6681, emailing info@mosbyheritagearea.org or writing MHAA, PO Box 1497, Middleburg, VA 20118.

Winter Lecture Series
The MHAA 2008 Winter Lecture Series will focus on African American history in the Mosby Heritage Area. Now in its 13th season, the WLS will feature a changed schedule in the New Year. The four lectures will be held every other week, beginning on January 20 and running into March. The old schedule was every week for four weeks. In addition, the starting time is changed to 4 p.m. from the old start time of 3 p.m.

The Schedule:
            1st lecture – January 20th
            2nd lecture – February 3rd
            3rd lecture – February 17th
            4th lecture – March 2nd

            New time on Sunday afternoons – 4pm

Light refreshments will be served. The Lectures are free but donations are welcome.

Locations, speakers and speaker topics will be announced in December.

Our Fourth Season
The Gray Ghost Interpretive Group (GGIG) is beginning its fourth year of offering historical interpretive programs for the Mosby Heritage Area Association. This year, our winter program--“A Fireside Mosby”—will be offered three Saturday evenings in the Rector House parlor, January 12th, February 9th, and March 8th.  Our evolving traditional program—“Cavaliers, Courage, and Coffee”-- will be offered at Atoka beginning in the back yard of the Rector House on May 17th, July 19th, and November 1st.  
We will be on the road April 19, June 21, and August 16, with programs at Front Royal, Millwood, and Aldie.  All programs are on Saturday nights beginning at 7:30 p.m. 
These lantern-lit strolling programs of vignettes from the Civil War history of the Mosby Heritage Area have been popular with people of all ages.   GGIG uses theinsatiable demand for Mosby stories to get out materials on a variety of aspects of local history to attendees, spark interest in our local historical resources, and make a passionate plea for historical stewardship in the region. 
“GGIG” has 23 volunteer members, an incoming crop of high school interns eager to work with us, and a waiting list of perspective members!  These volunteers are outfitted in period clothes by GGIG member Laurie Farnsworth.  Each volunteer does their own research and interpretation for their vignettes telling the stories that makes these programs entertaining and interesting.  The Gray Ghost Interpretive Group is supervised by our Director of Education, Rich Gillespie.
The admission to our programs is $5 for adults and $2 for students.  Students participating in our classroom programs will receive a coupon for their free entrance to the program.

Antiques Appraisal Day
The date is set for The Mosby Heritage Area Association’s (MHAA) Antiques Appraisal Day. MHAA will partner with The Potomack Company, appraisers and auctioneers, of Alexandria for our third annual Antiques Appraisal Day.

When: February 2, 2008
Where: The Highland School in Warrenton
Time:10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

The mysterious items in your attic or sitting on the sideboard need not remain mysteries any longer. Expert appraisers in Painting, decorative arts, silver, furniture, jewelry, rugs, etc will be on hand to help you.

Free admission, silent auction, $25.00 appraisal fee per item to benefit MHAA’s educational programs. For further information call 540-687-6681

2008 Calendar
The calendar of events sponsored by the Mosby Heritage Area Association is filled with activities for the whole family.  Some are old favorites with the addition of some exciting new events.  As details for these events become available, you will be able to get more information from our website and future e-newsletters.  Mark the dates for MHAA events on your calendars using the list on the left-hand side of this newsletter.

Did You Know?
Meeting with their open touring cars at Staunton, Virginia in June of 1913, former Mosby Rangers Willie Mosby (Colonel Mosby’s brother), William Chapman, and Dolly Richards caravanned down the Valley in Robert E. Lee’s footsteps to go to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Gettysburg.   This was, of course, a huge soldier’s reunion as well.  We wonder if they wore plumed hats as their automobiles crossed the Mason-Dixon line?   Mosby himself had only reluctantly taken his first automobile ride two years earlier, on August 18, 1911 at Norfolk.  His comment at the time had been, “I can’t ride in that thing . . .” The Colonel didn’t bother with the Gettysburg reunion.  After all, he hadn’t been there the first time.  He was too busy scouting back here!

Plan A Visit
Historic Morven Park near Leesburg was the home of Virginia Governor Westmoreland Davis from 1903 – 1942.  Baltimore Mayor and later Maryland Governor Thomas Swann, Jr. lived here in the 1800s.  During the Civil War, Confederate troops built log huts on the property and drilled on the front lawn of “Swann’s Castle.”  Many of the soldiers had fought at Ball’s Bluff. To learn more about activities at Morven Park or to plan your visit, go to: http://www.morvenpark.org/

Swann's Castle

The Store - A Great Christmas Gift!
The Mosby Heritage Area Map was created by Eugene Scheel for the Mosby Heritage Area Association. The map includes Civil War battle sites, Mosby sites, historic homes, churches, Native American sites, and early road ways. The area shown on the map extends to the Shenandoah River on the west and the Manassas National Battlefield and the Loudoun County line on the east. The map includes most of Loudoun County and Fauquier County south to Warrenton. The map is 3’x3’ in size on a cream background. $25 each (Includes Shipping) http://www.mosbyheritagearea.org/store.htm.