Mosby Heritage Area Association Newsletter - January 2012
President’s Comments
Everyone at the Mosby Heritage Area Association wants to wish you a Happy New Year. Members of the Board, staff, and volunteers have been working hard to prepare for an exciting and interesting 2012. Rich Gillespie, our Director of Education, has been scheduling classroom visits, developing programs for the Gray Ghost Interpretive Group, and planning new programs for MHAA.
As you have seen in our newsletters, we have a great line up of events, ranging from the War of 1812, to the Transit of Venus, to the Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War. There is something for everyone.
As you scroll down, you will read about a new feature we have put on our website. Now organizations throughout the heritage area can sign up on our Calendar Page to list their events on our new Community Events Calendar. We hope this service will help publicize the many high-quality events taking place in the Mosby Heritage Area.
Also note that several events are coming up in the next few months. The Gray Ghost Interpretive Group will present a program at the Goose Creek Meetinghouse in Lincoln on February 18. In March, MHAA will host two very informative “Conversation in History” talks at Mount Zion Church.
Our first fundraising event will be held on March 11. Marc Leepson will begin this program, which commemorates the Bicentennial of the War of 1812, with a talk on the Star-Spangled Banner, which Francis Scott Key created during the Battle of Baltimore. This talk will be followed by a tour of Rokeby where we will have the rare opportunity of seeing the vault in which treasured documents of the United States were stored for safe keeping when the British occupied Washington, D.C., in 1814. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event that you will not want to miss.
Looking back on 2011 for a moment, I am thrilled to report that MHAA finished the year in the black thanks to the many generous contributions of our members. This is an amazing accomplishment for a non-profit organization in these tough financial times.
We hope that you will continue to support MHAA in 2012 by renewing your membership or becoming a member and by attending the many fundraising events. We greatly appreciate your financial contributions that support MHAA’s historic preservation work.
Childs Burden, President
Historic Goose Creek Friends Meeting
Hosts Cavaliers, Courage & Coffee
On Saturday evening, February 18, the historic, 193-year-old Goose Creek Friends Meeting at Lincoln will host the Gray Ghost Interpretive Group’s opening program for its eighth season. Friends, Guerillas, and Heroes will be the first of the Cavaliers, Courage, and Coffee series of historic Civil War vignette storytelling programs sponsored by the Mosby Heritage Area Association in 2012.
Lincoln, known as Goose Creek during the Civil War, was largely a Quaker settlement. Quakers had divergent views on slavery and secession than the majority of their Confederate-minded neighbors. However, they tried to be unobtrusive, cooperative citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and as much as possible, avoided taking sides in the War.
When guerilla war broke out in earnest in Loudoun and Fauquier with John Singleton Mosby’s command taking up shop in January 1863, Quakers were often called upon to provide fodder for the ever-growing number of horses Mosby’s men captured from Uncle Sam. By 1864, as many as 1,600 horses in the Loudoun Valley used by the Rangers had somehow to be fed.
Friends, Guerillas, and Heroes will bring alive a moment in time during the Southern Rebellion when Quakers and Rangers interacted, sometimes heroically.
The Mosby Heritage Area Association’s Gray Ghost Interpretive Group is an all-volunteer group of citizen that work to make the stories and places of our local history remembered and preserved. Inside the meetinghouse and outside by lantern light, their first-person reminiscences as Rangers and civilians will make for a night touched by the past.
The program begins at 7:30 p.m. An admission fee of $5 for adults and $2 for students will be charged.Warm clothes and walking shoes are recommended.
Other programs for 2012 will be at Mount Bleak at Paris in partnership with Sky Meadows State Park on May 12; at Burwell-Morgan Mill at Millwood on August 4 in partnership with the Clarke County Historical Association; and at Aldie in partnership with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority and the Aldie Heritage Association on November 10.
Goose Creek Meetinghouse at Lincoln
The Star-Spangled Banner,
200th Anniversary of the War of 1812
March 11, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
Oatlands Plantation
Leesburg, Virginia
In the midst of the 150th anniversary commemorations of the Civil War, the nation this year will mark the Bicentennial of another war fought on U. S. soil, the War of 1812. The short but bloody war, sometimes called the Second American Revolution, pitted the young nation against its former colonial ruler in land battles in this country and in Canada and in sea battles along the Canadian-American border, in the Atlantic, and in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mosby Heritage Area Association begins its commemoration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 on Sunday, March 11. Historian, author and journalist Marc Leepson will give at talk at 2:00 p.m. at the Carriage House at Oatlands Plantation south of Leesburg on the little-known facts surrounding Francis Scott Key’s writing of The Star-Spangled Banner during the Battle of Baltimore and the how and why the song did not became the official National Anthem until 1931. Marc Leepson is author of seven books, including Flag: An American Biography, a history of the Stars and Stripes from beginnings to the early 21st century.
Following Mr. Leepson’s talk, attendees will make a short drive to Rokeby, a privately owned home in Loudoun County where treasured documents of the United States were taken and stored during the British occupation of Washington D.C., in 1814. The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution were stored in a vault at Rokeby.
Light refreshments will be offered at the Carriage House. Copies of Mr. Leepson’s book Flag, An American Biography, will be available in the Oatlands Gift Shop.
Tickets for the talk and tour are $65 for MHAA members and $75 for non-members. Reservations can be made by calling 540-687-6681 or by going to the Calendar Page of the MHAA website www.mosbyheritagearea.org.
Click here to make reservations for The Star-Spangled Banner event.
Conversations Series Programs at Mount Zion Church
During 2012 the Mosby Heritage Area Association will co-sponsor our second year of local history talks at historic Mount Zion Church with our partner, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Know as the Conversations in History Series, each talk ends with a question for attendees to ponder and discuss.
Wednesday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m.
Doug Batson—Rain, Sleet, Disease, and Gloom: D. H. Hill and the Confederate Withdrawal from Northern Virginia
With federal troops crossing the Potomac via Harpers Ferry in late February 1862, the Mosby Heritage Area soon found itself invaded. On the 150th anniversary of the evacuation of Northern Virginia by Confederate troops as the federal troops approached, Doug Batson will bring alive the evacuation and subsequent occupation by General John Geary’s men.
In keeping with our attempts to commemorate the Sesquicentennial, this program by Doug Batson doing a first-person as General D.H. Hill will be a wonderful way to recall that daunting moment in time. To fully enjoy the ambiance of the 161-year-old church, the site of this lecture, we recommend dressing warmly and bringing a small pillow. Admission: $5 for adults, $2 for students.
D.H. Hill
Sunday, March 25, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.
Rich Gillespie—The Potomac Frontier: 1862 in the Mosby Heritage Area
Rich Gillespie began tracing the Mosby Heritage Area’s experiences for the Civil War Sesquicentennial in 2009 with his John Brown’s Raid and the Panic of ’59 program. Since then, he haspresented a program on the Heritage Area on the eve of the Civil War in 2010 and offered the first Conversations talk last March at Mount Zion.
This year’s program examines the variety of experiences people in our region had during the fateful second year of the War, 1862. Lavishly illustrated, this program uses the stories from the heritage area’s historic sites to weave a tapestry of Virginia Civil War life. To fully enjoy the ambiance of the 161-year-old church, the site of the lecture, we recommend dressing warmly and bringing a small pillow. Admission: $5 for adults, $2 for students.
Mt. Zion Church
Community Events Calendar
MHAA has added a Community Calendar to its website, which list events sponsored by other organizations in the Mosby Heritage Area.
To view events, go to the Calendar Page of the MHAA website. MHAA events are listed on this page with detailed information and descriptions of our events.
To view events added by other organizations, click on “Click here for the Community Events Calendar”. This leads to a screen showing the current calendar month. Use the navigational arrows before and after the name of the month to move to other months.
To add events to our Community Calendar use the link “Click here to suggest an event” at the top just below the title, and fill out the form.
When an event is submitted, the information will go to MHAA where it will be reviewed before being added to the calendar. If there are any problems, call MHAA at 540-687-6681 or email us at info@mosbyheritagearea.org
Click Here to visit the new Community Calendar page
Travel Through History
In 2012, our Mosby Heritage Area travel journal will highlight the rich history and culture of northern Loudoun County west of Route 15 and north of Route 50. The geographic threads that have held this part of the county together are the Catoctin Mountains, the Catoctin Valley, and the depression known as Between the Hills. Among these geographic entities our earliest settlers landed, and their families and businesses grew and prospered.
Early Settlers
Indian presence in the Catoctin Valley ended with the Treaty of Albany in 1722, and white settlement began shortly thereafter. German “squatters” crossed the Potomac, clearing and farming land owned by Lord Fairfax. The area surrounding Lovettsville is still known as “the German Settlement.” Quakers began migrating into northern Virginia, first into Frederick County in 1732, then into Fairfax (now Loudoun) County to settle near Waterford, Lincoln, and Taylorstown.
Along with German squatters and migrating Quakers, Tidewater Virginia landowners leased large tracts of land from agents of Lord Fairfax and established their own forms of agriculture and human culture. They brought the plantation economy to northern Virginia and grew tobacco and grain.
This part of Loudoun County was a cultural mixing bowl from its beginning. By 1750, its inhabitants included Native Americans, Quakers, Germans, African Americans, Dutch, English, French, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh. This cultural mix led to many diverse architectural styles and a great diversity of religious, political, economic, and social lifestyles.
This month, we start our Travel Through History where it began around 1730, in and around the small hamlet of Taylorstown.
Taylorstown Historic DistrictTaylorstown has two of the oldest standing houses in Loudoun County, Hunting Hill and Foxton Cottage, directly across the Catoctin Creek from each other. The Taylorstown Historic District is listed on both the National Register for Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
The village always has been tightly linked with its old stone mill. It is a real treasure, as the majority of mills in Loudoun County have disappeared. And although many milling communities survive across the state, few possess a setting so scenic or a collection of historic sites of such interesting diversity as the tiny hamlet of Taylorstown.
Taylorstown sits on the banks of the Catoctin Creek about two miles south of the Potomac River. Devout Quaker Richard Brown from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was probably its first resident. He arrived in 1730 to find a site for a milling operation. Finding Catoctin Creek to be the ideal location, he acquired several hundred acres and established a milling operation along the banks of Catoctin Creek “where the water flow was sufficient.”
Between 1734 and 1737, Brown built a small house by the creek that would later be called Millford (which also was the name of the early settlement), and then Hunting Hill. Hunting Hill is the oldest standing building in Loudoun County.
Hunting Hill
In 1784, Richard Brown’s son, Mercer Brown, sold the old log mill and family farm to Thomas Taylor, a wealthy Quaker from Frederick County, Maryland. After establishing himself here, Taylor began selling off half-acre lots near the mill, and the resulting small community came to be called Taylors Town. Taylor’s son Henry built the present stone mill in 1796-1800, making it the oldest of five remaining mills in Virginia thought to have been built in the late 1700s.
Taylor's Mill
The family chronicles say that Thomas Taylor came to the colonies as an indentured servant in 1743. He was 13 at that time. When he turned 21 he received a grant from Lord Calvert in Maryland and began acquiring other tracts in the area. He and his wife raised seven children. The six girls required finishing school in Baltimore and the finest in clothing, which Quaker Taylor was able to provide at much expense. He left his son Henry the mill property and 200 acres in 1797.The community prospered, and in 1833 the first reference to “Taylor Town” was made in a deed of transfer.
By the mid-1800s, the Taylorstown area was one of the most densely populated areas of Loudoun County. The town had a post office, a blacksmith's shop, two mills, a U.S. government-operated still, general and supply stores, a movie theatre, and a school. In 1850, the mill was one of thirty water-powered mills that were processing a half-million bushels of wheat in Loudoun County, making Loudoun one of the state’s leading producers.
The year 1932 was disastrous for Taylorstown. The school closed. Spring’s Store burned. The post office closed and the mill stopped operating. A new store opened in 1938 that can be seen today. It remained as the Mann Store until its owner, Annie Elizabeth Mann, died in 1954.
Not much is known about the other colonial-era house in Taylorstown known as Foxton Cottage. The original structure, probably built around 1800, is thought to be a patent house designed by William Penn as a model frontier house. It was probably first acquired by Philip Souder as part of 126 acres he obtained from Charles Bennet, 3d Earl of Tankerville, who began selling off 100-acre tracts of his massive Catoctin Manor in 1789. The present-day patent house is completely preserved, quaintly situated alongside the west creek bed at the end of a winding lane, and is a private residence.
Foxton Cottage
Were it not for the deep interest in preserving historic structures in Loudoun County by residents of Taylorstown in the 1970s, the small hamlet and its historic sites would be under water today. Thanks to local lawyers Phil Erenkranz and Anna Hedrick, and many others, in 1978 Catoctin Creek was designated a State Scenic River and the town center of Taylorstown registered as a historical place, thus protecting the area from future threats.
Loyalty
Halfway between Taylorstown and Waterford rests what remains of the village of Loyalty, Virginia. On the way there, the open road presents a beautiful vista of rolling hills, ponds, and farmhouses; the valley contains Catoctin Creek. Traveling west on Featherbed Road leads to the creek and the Catoctin Creek Bridge. The bridge is a unique iron Pratt truss bridge, first erected about 1899, and one of the longest remaining metal nineteenth century truss bridges in Virginia. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Catoctin Bridge
Near the site of the Catoctin Bridge was Roach’s (or Cooper’s) Mill, once an important center of economic activity for the village of Loyalty. It is believed that Union forces burned the Mill and associated homestead in November 1864 during Merritt’s Burning Raids.
Other recommended drives in the area include Downey Mill Road along the west bank of the Creek starting in Taylorstown, Furnace Mountain Road from Taylorstown to the Potomac River, Bald Hill Road from Loyalty and over the crest of the Catoctin Mountain, and State Route 667 (Yakey Lane) north of Lovettsville. All of these are narrow dirt roads, so drive slowly and with care.
Next month we will visit Lovettsville and the German Settlement, extending westward to Short Hill.
Click here to see more photos of the Taylorstown area.
MHAA Store
Audio Driving Tours
Now is the time to plan a visit of American Civil War sites in the Mosby Heritage Area by using MHAA’s audio driving tours.
1. Prelude to Gettysburg, The Battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Uppervilleexplores the cavalry actions along the Little River and Ashby’s Gap Turnpikes from Aldie to Upperville in late June 1862 prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. The narrative relates the attempts by General J.E.B. Stuart to shield the northward movements of General Robert E. Lee from Federal troops lead by General Alfred Pleasonton. This CD is narrated by author and historian Robert O’Neill and is accompanied by a map.
2. In the Wake of Antietam, McClellan’s Advance into Virginia, October – November 1862 follows McClellan’s army south from Antietam beginning at Lovettsville in northern Loudoun County cutting across the county to Rectorstown in northern Fauquier County where he received word that he had been relieved of command by President Lincoln. This CD includes the engagements at Philomont, Unison and Upperville associated with this movement of McClellan’s army. Horace Mewborn, author and historian, has researched and written the text for this tour.
3. The Historical Events of Mosby’s 43rd Virginia Battalion, Part I begins at Truro Church at Fairfax Courthouse where Mosby conducted one of his most famous raids in March 1863. The tour then moves west, making stops at many historic sites associated with Mosby and his Rangers ending at the Rector House in the village of Atoka. Horace Mewborn, author and historian, has researched and written the text for this audio tour.
4. The Historical Events of Mosby’s 43rd Virginia Battalion, Part II picks up from the first tour at the Rector House and moves west into Clarke County and eventually ends at Snicker’s Gap. The tour highlights the fight at Mt. Carmel Church, the surrender negotiations at Millwood, and the Berryville Wagon Train Raid. As is the case with the first Mosby CD tour, this one has also been researched and written by author and historian Horace Mewborn.
Each of these tours is expertly narrated by Robert O’Neill and contains detailed driving directions. The tours tell the story of Civil War actions in the Mosby Heritage Area, and also lead you through some of the most beautiful landscapes of the Heritage Area’s scenic byways.
Purchase these CDs from our headquarters in the historic Rector House at Atoka weekdays from 10 am to 4 pm., or go online to the MHAA Store.
Click here to order audio tours online.
