By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

 Driving through Dumfries provides a curious mix of 18-20^th century buildings depending upon where you look. While you can visit The Weems-Botts Museum (face-to-face and virtually!), you may miss or overlook the rich and unique character of our charming small town in the early 1900s.

According to our oral history records, Myrtle Virginia Rainey met Elvan Fitzhugh Keys at Dumfries United Methodist Church in 1917. Mr. Keys bid two dollars on a boxed lunch prepared by Ms. Rainey, an auction that featured a homemade lunch with the chef! The lunch of fried chicken and cake made with fresh coconut led to a lifelong romance and companionship. Thanks to family records and the Dumfries community willingness to share their stories and letters with HDVI, we can read some of the letters they wrote to each other during the flu pandemic.

Dumfries, Virginia. 02/10/1918, Myrtle Rainey to Elvan Keys:

“Dearest Elvan,

Hope you got back to Quantico all OK last night. But I guessed you was tired and sleepy when you got there. All the school have gone to Quantico to see Billy Sunday they come after me but Mamma and Papa is both sick now and I have so much work to do. Don’t let that old Spanish Influenza keep you away. I am not a bit afraid of it. Hope you can come up Wednesday nite for preaching. I am going to preaching tonight but it is so lonesome without you. Please bring me your picture you come over next time. Mammie Sisson has just looked over my letter for mistakes. If there are any left consider them kisses.

I remain as ever your true friend. PS. Please answer real soon.”

Quantico, Virginia. 02/11/1918, Elvan Keys to Myrtle Rainey:

“Dearest Myrtle,

I went to the office at noon and got your lovely little letter. I think it was so sweet of you to write me and I was awful glad to get your letter. I was sorry to hear your father is now sick. How is your mother? I got back safely Sunday night but it was a lonely walk with nothing but my ugly shadow to keep me company. I am always lonesome when I leave you. The snow looked like diamonds glittering from the trees. I most know you are skipping all over this letter to see if I am coming up Wednesday night so I might as well tell you now as later on that I will be unable to come. But I would only be able to stay one hour. It takes me so long to walk there and back. I would come if I could stay longer. No I won’t forget the picture.

As ever yours”

By the fall of 1918, the Influenza pandemic noticeably hit Virginia and at least 16,000 Virginians died. Jumping from military bases to cities to small towns caused mass disorder, and health officials advised Americans to wear masks and remain socially distant. Highly contagious with severe symptoms ranging from high fever to aches, many people also caught pneumonia and subsequently died. The Virginia State Board of Health reported that in thirteen months, the virus infected 326,195 people, killing 15,679 of them. Keep in mind that some rural and isolated areas did not file death certificates and many people may have remained ill at home, further spreading the infection in the family. Thanks to the nurses, doctors, and volunteers, Virginia eventually reopened (when they lifted the ban on public gatherings in late October 1918, another surge occurred early in December 1918). Interestingly, people petitioned Governor Westmoreland Davis to allow the selling of more alcohol to pharmacies as officials hoped alcohol could aid in combating the illness. Sadly, this pandemic faded from American memory due to a combo of factors: avoidance from the government whether to directly respond or even acknowledge it, other historically significant events, such as the Depression, WWII, etc.

While we can empathize with the frustration and desire to see our friends and family, we can also open our tablets, phones, and other devices to stay connected with our communities. Instead, Mr. & Mrs. Keys relied on memories, mailed letters, and pictures to not feel so lonely and remind themselves of better times. Mr. & Mrs. Keys survived the pandemic and by all accounts led a very happy life. For their 25^th wedding anniversary, Mrs. Keys spared no expense to throw a party. “She was famous in the town for entertaining and she wanted this one to very special. She wanted to celebrate a quarter century of a happy marriage in a big way…One hundred invitations were sent, the cake ordered, the house cleaned from top to bottom, special clothes purchased, menu planned, the silver polished, tables and chairs borrowed, tablecloths bought. The house hummed with activity for two months before the party.” Mrs. Myrtle Keys died in 1969 at the age of 66 and Mr. Elvan Keys in 1977 at the age of 80.

Special thanks to the Keys family, Jeff McGlothlin, and Jeanne Martin for sharing their wonderful stories and reminiscences.

Note: You can help Historic Dumfries Virginia by joining our non-profit organization today! Thanks to all HDVI members that continue to support us and local history. Interested in a virtual presentation on Dumfries? Set your price with a donation ticket to our “An Artful Fellow: Slavery in Dumfries in the 18^th Century” presentation – tickets here).

(Sources: HDVI Archival Files; Encyclopedia Virginia: The Influenza Pandemic in Virginia (1918-1919)).

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

“So on March 5, 1904 he opened his office on Main Street in Dumfries. His first patient was a man with a fever of 106 [F] malaria and chills. Next was a delivery, a baby girl born to a family who had a general store in Dumfries. His first $10.” While today we face different challenges, Annie Keys Cline Shumate’s reminiscences demonstrated how the medical community in Northern Virginia worked tirelessly on the medical front lines.

Dumfries had numerous needs for medical services in the early 1900s. Besides for childbirth deliveries, illness, and accidents, doctors traveled to the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine, which operated from 1899-1920, encompassing the communities of Hickory Ridge, Joplin, and Batestown. By 1917, the military established Marine Corps Base Quantico drawing additional people to the area. Mrs. Shumate recalled a smallpox “siege” in 1912 along with the 1918 flu pandemic. As with COVID-19, there was “…no rest for the doctors any where.” She stated, “Dr. Cline worked with the Marine Corps but the young marines were dying because this was [a] new disease and no real remedy was then known…Activity brought on pneumonia and death. During the winters he had 14 cases in his home. Dr. Cline had little time for family or rest, for so many needed attention.” Although Dr. Cline died in 1931, Dr. B.F. Phillips and Dr. A.J. Ferlazzo continued to serve the community.

Midwives were crucial to the community. Annie Thomas Williams took over her mother’s practice and recalled assisting both Dr. Phillips and Dr. Ferlazzo, even noting how they filled and signed the birth certificates for her, necessary as she temporarily worked without a license. She recalled, “There were so few doctors, women about to deliver often had no one to help.” Mrs. Williams first worked as a housekeeper in Dumfries earning $1 a day. During the 1920s and 1930s, Mrs. Williams became essential to the local area, as she delivered children and worked for Major General Harry Lee, Commandant of Quantico Marine Base, as a nurse for his children and the children of other Marine families. Although the flooding and destruction of Hurricane Agnes wreaked havoc on her home leading to the loss of her medical records, former Dumfries Mayor Sam Bauckman estimated that she delivered well over 300 babies. In an interview with The Potomac News celebrating her 100^th birthday in 1993, she recalled how she rode out usually in the “dead of night” despite weather hazards. “One time I woke up and didn’t know where I was…Fredericksburg, Accotink, Manassas, Garrisonville – I just didn’t know, I was gone so much.” “Some nights were so bitter cold. They’d come knock at 12 or 1. I’d say no and I’d lay in bed. Then I’d get to thinking that they might suffer or die.”

(HDVI Archives: Annie Williams, Charter Day, 05/11/1990)

Mrs. William’s oral history did not record active opposition from local doctors, instead noting how they trained and supported her. Advancements in medical treatments, a growing reliance on hospitals for deliveries, and racism towards the black and immigrant communities all contributed to the decline and public opinion regarding midwifery. Some obstetricians deliberately led a campaign against midwives, ignoring data that supported the quality care received and instead focused on racist stereotypes. While this campaign focused on white families with the necessary income, black families often did not have a choice, especially if white physicians refused to deliver black children. The popularity of midwives trended longer in the South until expanding access to health care, a shortage of obstetricians, and an increasing demand for natural birth led to expansion in the nurse-midwifery practice in the 1940s.

Today our medical practitioners continue to put their lives on the frontline as those did in the early 1900s, whether Dr. Cline was treating infectious patients at his home or Mrs. William’s mother, Nancy Thomas, was entering homes to deliver children. According to these oral reports, the Dumfries and surrounding region were unique in that physicians and midwives, regardless of race, worked together for the health of the people.

Note: The Weems-Botts Bibliophiles will be meeting for the first time on Saturday, 01/23! Join us as we discuss three short sci-fi stories from Isaac Asimov, Allan C. Clarke and Clare Harris, focusing on the historical context, the authors, and surprising conclusions to these fantastic tales! Click here to purchase a ticket for the tea, stories, and link to actively participate or to enjoy later!

(HDVI Archives: View of Dumfries in the early 20th century)

(Sources: HDVI Archives: Abstract of an Interview with Annie Thomas Williams at her home, 07/18/1988; HDVI Archives: “Doctors” Oral history of Annie Cline Shumate submitted by her daughter Mrs. Hilda E. Brown Ammerman; Potomac News: Lifestyles, LaSonde, Chris, Marking a Century of Faith, Work, 07/07/1993; National Library of Medicine: National Center for Biotechnology Information. Dawley, Katy. Origins of nurse-midwifery in the United States and its expansion in the 1940s. Journal of Midwifery Womans Health, Vol. 48, No. 2, March/April 2003).

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

It is impossible to not come across Donald L. Wilson (1943-2023) in HDVI’s archives, collections, and Lee Lansing Research Library. Not only did he provide much of our resources and knowledge on Prince William County history, family history, and local history resources, he arranged for our historic society to receive books, transcriptions and extracts/abstracts of court records, and first-person accounts to help Dumfries history flourish.

(Map of Prince William County, Virginia: compiled from U.S. Geological Survey and other data and corrected with the assistance of reliable residents of the county, 1901, via Library of Congress Geography and Map Division)

“During a visit to the Archive Room, at the basement of the County Courthouse, on April 24, I had an opportunity to take stock of what old record books are currently on file there. Original deed, will, and minute books that survive from the 18^th and 19^th centuries are mostly there.

While leafing through Court Order Book [10], 1755-1757, I found a loose document tucked between pages 6 and 7. It turned out to be a contemporary copy, perhaps the original copy, of a deed dated 1747. Why it was left there is unknown but it should have been recorded in Deed Book K (1746-1748) which has been missing since the Civil War. Following is an abstract of the document:

Indenture, 24 July 1747, between John Frogg of Hamilton Parish, Prince William County, gentleman, and James Keith of the said same parish and county, clerk [minister]. Consideration: 5 shillings sterling paid by said James Keith. All that part of two parts or parcels of land in Hamilton Parish (formerly granted to said John Frogg by the Hon. Thomas Lord Fairfax by two deeds or grants, one dated 30 Dec. 1742, the other 29 Mar. 1744) containing 1509 acres according to a survey thereof lately made by George Byrne, surveyor of said county of Prince William. Beginning at two white oaks and a red oak standing on S side of a small branch called battle branch which is a small branch of Trap branch, the said trees being also beginning of Lamberts land and a corner of the land of Shumate and also a tract of land sold by said John Frogg to John Madison extending thence with the line of Lambert S 56½° W 218 poles to a chestnut corner of Lambert’s lines S 5½° E 83 poles to a white oak corner of Lamberts; thence with another of Lamberts lines S 16° W 242 poles to a red oak on the brown of an hill corner to the said Lamberts; thence with another of his lines S 15½° E 364 poles to a white oak and red oak Lamberts corner near a branch side; thence S 74° E 30 poles to 2 white oaks corner of Lambert and John Peyton  and the beginning of one of the said John Frogg’s deeds abovementioned; thence S 58° W 148 poles to a white oak, red oak and a hickory corners to Peyton on an hill side; thence N 72° W 91 poles to a white oak by a branch side; thence N 20° W 105 poles to a red oak; thence N 38° E 80 poles to a white oak; thence N 12° W 106 poles to 3 chestnut saplins in Bells line; thence with said line N 41° E 66 poles to a stake corner to Bell and Mr. James Scott; thence with said Scotts line N 19° E 100 poles to an hickory his corner; thence N 40° E 54 poles to a large chestnut another of his corners; thence N 40° E 54 poles to a large chesnut another of his corners; thence N 22° W 310 poles to a Spanish oak on a ridge another of his corners; thence N22½° E 140 poles to 2 white oaks on the W side of a branch; thence N 58½° W 46 poles to an hickory another of the said Scotts corners in or near the line of Skinker on the S side of a branch; thence with or near Skinkers line N 20° W 17 poles crossing a branch at the end of the said distance to a white oak corner of Skinker on the branch side; thence with said Skinkers line N 45° W 192 poles to a Spanish oak on the E side of a branch corner of Skinker; thence crossing the branch W 78 poles with the line of Gibsons land to a chesnut his corner; thence N 6½° W 98 poles to a red oak at the head of a valley then N 70° E 160 poles to a red oak marked SN the westmost corner of Nolin’s land and the beginning of said Gibson’s land; thence with the land of said Nolin’s land and the beginning of said Gibson’s land; thence with the land of said Nolins S 78° E 592 poles to the side of Trap branch; thence binding on said branch and extending up the same the several courses and meanders thereof to the mouth of Battle branch; thence up Battle branch S 53° E 26 poles to the beginning; with all the plantations, houses (etc.) to said James Keith his executors etc. from 1^st day of this instant July for 1 year. Paying 1 peppercorn upon the Feast of St. Michael if demanded.  [Wording indicates that a release is intended as well as the lease.] Signed: John Frogg. Wit: And’r Rose, Daniel Campbell, Robert Peter, William Grant. Acknowledged at court 27 July 1747. Test: P. Wagener, Clerk. A copy, teste J. Williams, Cl. Cur.

[My earlier statement that this might be the original copy is in error. This copy was made by clerk John Williams who served at Dumfries 1795-1813. Since the land now falls with Fauquier County it perhaps was involved in a land cause before the Dumfries District Superior Court. James Keith was minister of Hamilton Parish from 1736 to 1751. It may be of interest that he was also the maternal grandfather of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. This tract may represent the Hamilton Parish glebe granted to Keith after Dettingen Parish was cut off in 1745. The vestry book of Hamilton Parish is said to have been destroyed by vandals during the 19^th century. IT is not clear what became of the register of births, marriages and deaths for that time. Could it have been handed down among Keith’s family papers?]

–Don Wilson”

Beside for the recovery of previous lost information, Wilson’s transcription and analysis also provide wonderful insights into the financial and religious life of early Prince William County residents. The Feast of Michael and All Angels, Michaelmas, continues to be celebrated on the 29^th of September every year. Associated with the beginning of autumn, it was known as a “quarter day,” and these dates (along with 03/25, 06/24, 12/25) were designated as the “start” dates to hire servants, pay rent, or begin new leases. Michaelmas was seen as the start date of a new productive season of farming and business as people paid debts and elected new magistrates in Great Britain. Identified as an angelic warrior actively fighting evil, St. Michael served as protection against the darker and colder days with the eventual incoming winter season. Fun British folklore associated with the old calendar of Michaelmas, 10/10: supposedly the last day one should pick blackberries as Lucifer fell from the heavens this day and landed on a blackberry bush. After cursing, scorching, spitting, stamping, and well throwing a general tantrum, he made them unfit for consumption.

Wilson’s excitement, enthusiasm, commitment to historic accuracy, and persistence in sharing historic resources, and helping families trace their origins has made a monumental impact in Prince William County and Virginia. By providing a transcript of this one recovered document, we offer researchers, families, and folklorists a unique perspective of early Prince William County history.

Note: RELIC offers delightful accessible digital resources as well as educational programs. Click here to access their online historic records. Click here to see their upcoming programs.

(Sources: HDVI Archives: Prince William County. Wilson, Don. Early Prince William County Deed Found; Johnson, Ben. Michaelmas. Historic UK: The History & Heritage Accommodation Guide, https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Michaelmas/)

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

“…and it is said that she sang hymns all the way…”

While reading through the WPA’s report on the Town of Dumfries and Prince William County (PWC), I kept finding references to ghost stories – tales of sorrow, murder, and the ghosts of the enslaved. While ghost stories can be very ambiguous and hard to research (example: mentioning that voices are heard singing when no one is around…which leads to the question if no one is around, how do you hear – getting sidetracked, sorry!), the case of the Commonwealth vs. Agnes actually has court records, newspaper articles, and folklore. But they do not agree.

(Source: 1820 John Wood Map, Historic Prince William: Northern VA Maps)

In 1850, the Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Agnes found her guilty of murdering the person who enslaved her, Gerard Mason. While all sources agree the courts found her guilty of murdering Mason with an axe, the why changes depending upon your source. Ready?

• The Commonwealth argued that Mason ordered her to be whipped weeks prior to the murder. She allegedly stated she would kill anyone attempting to physically abuse her again. (Research conducted by Ron Turner based on court transcripts, pardon requests, and records from the Coroner’s inquest).
• Agnes stated Mason ordered her to bring an axe to him and got angry with her for not having “ground it”. He potentially tried to rape her (at the very least sexually harassed), and when that failed, threatened to shoot her with his gun. Agnes took the gun away from him and struck him with the axe and…didn’t stop. (Research conducted by Ron Turner based on court transcripts, pardon requests, and records from the Coroner’s inquest)
• The Baltimore Sun reported (10/21/1849), “…It appears Mr. M. had been from home, and returned under the influence of liquor. He became offended with something the woman had done, and threatened to kill her with an axe; she warded off the blow, and wresting the axe from him, struck the blow that killed him. The poor negro made no effort to escape”.
• The Alexandria Gazette reported (01/10/1850), “We learn from one who witnessed the trial that the evidence established, beyond a rational doubt, that Mr. Mason was killed in his bed, most probably whilst asleep, by blows inflicted with an axe by the accused.”
• The Works Progress Administration visited the Woodbridge site (former home of Gerard Mason) in 1937, and recorded, “On this particular evening, after heavy drinking, he became displeased at the delay in supper which Agnes, his cook, had explained by the illness of her small child. Becoming incensed he picked up the child and beat its head on the stone hearth until the child was dead, then ordered the mother to proceed with supper. The story is told (evidence which she gave in court) that after her master was asleep that night, she gathered up an axe and entered his room, determined to kill him. She lost her nerve, however, and returned to the woodpile where she sat for hours, brooding over her loss. Finally fortifying herself with some of the apple brandy of which there was always a plentiful supply in the cellar, she summoned courage to re-enter his room and kill him with the axe.” The agent based this story on oral interviews with local residents.

While all the stories of the why slightly vary from the enslaved seeking vengeance to self-defense, the Court of Oyer & Terminer charged her for “willfully, deliberately and with malice aforethought killed and murdered Gerard Mason” convicting and sentencing her to be hung. Upon learning she may have been five weeks pregnant, the court ordered physicians to examine her, but ultimately decided to execute her five months later as they “still in doubt as to the correctness of the allegation”. Officials arrested other enslaved persons suspected “of being implicated” but found them not guilty. The court deemed Agnes was worth $450.00. According to Turner’s research, the courts delayed her execution until examined again in July and determined not to be pregnant. The County executed her on 07/16/1850 in Brentsville.

The 1937 agent reported, “She was hung in the court yard and it is said that the story is told that after she was pronounced dead and her body removed, that she continued to move for a remarkably long time and that in the afternoon there came the most severe storm of wind and darkness that old residents had ever seen. These tales are all very common in this section, having been told from one generation to another.” The Slave Dwelling Project stayed at Brentsville Jail in 2016 and researchers Joseph McGill, Sharon Williams, and Lynda Davis wrote about their experiences and reflected on the reasons why so many ghost stories involve the enslaved community. Click here to read their blog. 

By 1822, officials completed the Brentsville Jail and Courthouse and moved the judicial process from the Town of Dumfries to Brentsville.

(Source: Brentsville Jail, PWC Historic Preservation)

Note: Our September programs feature local folklore and apples! To book a tour and/or enjoy our latest programs, click here!

(Sources: WPA Historic Survey: Town of Dumfries, 1937; Slave & Free Negro Records from the PWC Court Minute & Order Books: A Source Book for African-American Family History Research Part 1: PWC Court Order Book 1846-1850, pages 359-360; Turner, Ron. The Case of the Commonwealth vs. Agnes; PWC Genealogy: Friend of Friends Friday: Gerard Mason, Slave Owner, Posted on 10/18/2013, https://pwcogenealogy.blogspot.com/; The Slave Dwelling Project: McGill, Joseph. Sorry to Disappoint the Brentsville Jail, 05/28/2016)

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

On a cloudy Saturday morning, Ghost Guide Jeff and I met near the historic well in Merchant Park. Tourists often ask about the structure and our Ghost Tours usually start at the well – a seemingly mysterious gathering place. Did people toss coins into the well? Was there anything underneath the wooden planks covering it besides for a possible concrete slab? As Ghost Jeff began the process of carefully removing the planks, I looked for information.

(Merchant Park Archaeological Excavations, 1975)

To our early Americans, wells provided opportunities for social gatherings and fresh water. Assuming the Town people did not dump their chamber pots or discard any carcasses in or near the well, people could and did safely consume water. People also enjoyed cider, hot chocolate, tea, milk (living on or near a farm was key for dairy), and alcohol – watered down for the little ones. Dumfries residents relied on the Merchant Park Well into the early 20^th century as students at Dumfries Elementary School reportedly used it and Violet Merchant, the last person to live in the historic house, relied upon it until she left the house. Jeanne Martin remembered Violet’s inability to switch to public utilities when Dumfries connected in the mid-20^th century, noting the kindness of the Dumfries community in providing her well water, chopped wood, and groceries. However, unless you are consuming the water from the well, you may see it and start to daydream, thinking about wishes you may have. For example, I may cast a wish the squirrels stop hiding in the waste bins during the spring only to jump out at my approach.

The belief and practice in wishing wells is centered on the water. Early civilizations adapted and thrived around water sources, whether offering regular reliability or unpredictable flooding (the Nile vs. the Tigris & Euphrates). Celtic and Germanic folklore associate living spirits guarding this fundamental source and historical records indicate people made a wish with coins and other small offerings. When archaeologists excavated Coventina’s Well in Northumberland, they discovered thousands of coins from different eras of the Roman Empire. Archaeologists reclaimed almost 16,000 coins, mostly low denomination but ranging from the first to fifth centuries. Located within temple ruins, people may have used this well in their religious ceremonies, fitting with the idea people made offerings to the Celtic goddess Coventina. While that specific well centered on the goddess, other wells may have the same insignificant offerings (ex: buttons) with people hoping for superpowers – an offering in exchange for good health or a cure. Note that people did not toss items of significant value but still placed quite a hefty expectation on one coin or button.

The lore of Odin and Mimir’s Well (possibly the Well of Urd amongst the world tree Yggdrasil), indicates another fascinating association with wells and water. Mimir, an advanced being with almost unrivalled knowledge, maintained his high intellect by drawing water from the well – the water itself giving him power. Odin, seeking wisdom, arrived at the well hoping for a satisfying drink of cosmic knowledge but Mimir refused unless Odin offered his eye in return. Odin agreed, gouged, and dropped his eye in the well finally acquiring his cherished drink. Try not to think too much about this, like the flavor, possible eye bits… Hopefully, Odin found his sacrifice for this new level of perception and wisdom worth it! Scholars even note the eye itself was petty (a common organ that witnessed troublesome and petty conflicts and stress) in exchange for what Odin was gaining, divine and ancestral wisdom.

(Ghost Guide Jeff @ the Merchant Park Well, September 2020)

Checking back in at the Merchant Well, we find that the well contained no treasures (or organs). Concrete properly capped the historic water with some discarded trash on top, possibly from the early 1970s while HDVI was forming and restoring the property. Anthropologists still find people making wishes whether they can clearly explain the reason for their actions. Perhaps people toss coins for a specific reason, a vague but grand hope, or even for the hope of possibility…the hope that something different will happen, the wish will add a new random and fortuitous element to their lives. As you gather around the well this October, consider what conversations were had around the Dumfries well. What secrets have the well guardian spirits heard?

Note: We still have a few tickets remaining for both Ghost Walks: Return to the Shadows and Ghost Walks: Locked Inside! Claim your ticket before we are officially sold out! Click here for the evening walking tour and here for the investigation!

(Sources: HDVI Archival Records: Merchant Family Stories & Folklore; HDVI Archival Records: Hoagland, Ann. Transcript (Draft) of Interview with Cecil Garrison. Prince William County Historical Commission Oral History Project, 02/1988. Note on draft: Due to editing for clarification purposes, this document cannot be classified as a true verbatim transcription of the conversation with the aforementioned persons; Ancient Origins: Reconstructing The Story of Humanity’s Past: The Ritual Behind Wishing Wells: Buying Good Favors and Good Fortune, 03/24/2015; Tabila, Lauren, James Green, Jonathan Kwok, Kara Thurn, Meagan McLaughlin. “Wishing Wells: The Practice of Buying Good Fortune.” University of California Irvine, Department of Anthropology; Norse Mythology for Smart People: Why Odin is One Eyed, https://norse-mythology.org/tales/why-odin-is-one-eyed/)

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

“Black cats peeping from the dark;

             Scat! Meow!

Each eye gleaming like a spark;

             Biff! Wow!

Owl a-hooting in the lane,

Tick-tack on the window pane –

Is the universe insane?

S-a-h-h! S-a-h-h!

It’s Halloween!”

(Source: The Manassas Journal, Friday, 11/05/1920)

While children in Dumfries managed to stop traffic in Northern Virginia with their Halloween mischief, Manassas had its’ fair shares of woes. Notably in October 1910 and October 1911, “Halloween Imps” took it upon themselves to transform the actual town – from destroying property to decorating the streets with merchant’s wares, Manassas was the scene of some serious Halloween scandal.

Trick-or-treating blends different cultural traditions stemming from the Middle Ages when children and adults used Halloween as a chance to earn money and/or food in exchange for songs and prayers. People baked “soul cakes”, small little round sweet cakes with a cross on top representing a soul released from Purgatory once consumed. One popular song associated with souling goes as follows: “A soul! A soul! A soul-cake! Please good Misses, a soul-cake! An apple, a pear, a plum, or cherry, Any good thing to make us all merry. One for Peter, two for Paul. Three for him who made us all.” This evolved to “guising” in Britain in the 19^th century as children started to tell jokes, play an instrument, and offer performances for money and/or food. Scottish and Irish immigrants brought the various traditions with them, and by the end of the 19^th century, American towns experienced different levels of tricks – from tying opposite apartment doorknobs together to 200 boys attacking people with bags of flour in streetcars in Washington, D.C. 1894.

(Halloween Postcard, Published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Series 150. Postmarked 31 October 1908. Source: Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol)

While the Manassas and Prince William County newspapers do not report biological attacks with gluten, they do illustrate the damage determined children can do to property. “Down in the business district, doors of shops were barricaded with all manner of heavy commodities that were tributes to the muscular strength of the merrymakers.” Children allegedly coated businesses with paint and signs, and managed to move a bandstand. “The bandstand that has occupied a conspicuous position in the landscape at the corner of Center and Main streets is no more. It transferred its location to the middle of the street during the night, refused to be moved back, and was torn to pieces, after impeding traffic by its obstinacy.” The following year, the children once again “ruled with a reign of topsy-turvy in the old town”, the author noting, “Wraiths and witches, some of them angelic, were abroad when shades of night fell, vanishing on the stroke of midnight when imps of his Satanic majesty held sway.” This time, people found the antic more annoying than destructive, although they still removed and exchanges gates from different houses, and decorated storefronts with merchandise scattered in the street. The author ended the piece noting a little scrying, “Sentimental maidens gazing into mirrors saw visions of their future husbands.”

(Center Street, Manassas, Va, 1915-1916, Manassas Museum)

The holiday transformed as people moved from more rural landscapes to urban cities and WWI and WWII affected available foods and mindsets. While the early 1900 newspapers might have joked about the children soaping the windows (a practice reportedly done in Dumfries), editors lamented the waste of resources and time during WWII. Although President Harry Truman attempted to curtail and change the holiday by introducing “Youth Honor Day” in 1950 (you can see how successful that was), society cleverly started advertising “trick or treat” in magazines, newspapers, and even movies starting in the late 1930s building momentum into the 1950s.

So what would you have bribed children with the in the early 1900s? The Wunderle Candy Company created candy corn in 1880 and you could have also shopped for tootsie rolls, Juicy Fruit Chewing Gum, and Candy Floss. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars and kisses, NECCO wafers, and Chiclets all appeared in the very early 1900s.

Note: Ready to put away Halloween and turn your attention to holiday baking? Join us for a free virtual November Member cookie swap on Saturday, 11/07 @ 10am! Meet with us virtually to share and discover new recipes, along with recipes dating from the 18^th and 19^th century! Click here for free tickets.

(Sources: The Manassas Journal, Reign of Topsy-Turvy in the Old Town By Mischievous Imps of Halloween, 11/03/1910; The Manassas Democrat, Hallowe;en Imps in Merry Mischief: Wild Reign of Topsy-Turvey, 11/02/1911; Hiskey, Daven. Today I Found Out Feed Your Brain: How the Tradition of Trick or Treating Got Started, 10/17/2012; Bannatyne, Lesley. When Halloween was All Tricks and No Treats, Smithsonian Online Magazine, 10/27/2017; Candy Favorites: Retro Candy Timeline)

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

The phrase “trick-or-treat” usually does not strike fear into our hearts as children are not equipped to do us or our property harm if we refuse them treats (unless we offer them vegetables or toothbrushes, of course). While Halloween 2020 will certainly leave an impression, Halloween 1912 in Dumfries was perhaps more shocking and sensational. Sit back and enjoy this reminiscence.

“It was then that my Uncle Elvan told of the truly dreadful thing he had done on All Hallows Eve 1912. Old Mr. Quismond had died that morning and his body was in a casket in the Dumfries Methodist Church. Word of his death traveled fast in the little town. Later that morning one of Elvan’s mates, the most adventuresome in the group of scholars at the one room schoolhouse, purposed the friends meet that night and sneak into the church. “Let’s bring candles and tell ghost stories,” he suggested “…or are you just a bunch of ninnies?” No one wanted to be a scaredy-cat. It was decided they would meet at the church as soon as it was dark.

So, quite frightened at their daring, they met that night, opened the casket, lit the candles and told a ghost story. All would have been well if they had just left it at that, but boys, being boys, they did not. “Why not really scare someone?” the Tom Sawyer of the group suggested. “Things have worked out perfectly,” he argued, “We have a body and the best night of the year to pull a prank!” The other boys chimed in with suggestions: Let’s haul him down the hill on a hay wagon; let’s park him in the road with his body propped up; Yeah, people will think he wasn’t really dead or that he is a ghost; We can hide in the bushes and see what happens!

They put actions to works and took the body out of the casket and loaded it onto a wagon. The plan was to pull the wagon themselves, it was usually pulled by a horse, but they felt between the four of them they could manage the wagon. This was a bad miscalculation.

(Main Street in Dumfries, Virginia)

Their plan worked out much scarier and worse than they could have imagined. The four lads were not strong enough to hold the hay wagon on the steep him from the Church. It got away from them and careened wildly down the hill onto U.S. Route One wrecking when it hit the highway and spilling our poor old Mr. Quismond on the road! Hearing the commotion; screaming boys and crashing wagon, neighbors who lived beside the road, came out of their houses. Vehicles stopped because the wreck blocked the road. Confusion reigned, wasn’t this Mr. Quismond? Why wasn’t he in his coffin at the church? The mystery was never solved. The boys had disappeared as silently as cats. Elvan said he had never been so scared in his life. He ran the whole five miles to the Key’s farm on the Joplin Road. Some of the boys had been hurt when the wagon got away but somehow they all made it home. No one was ever caught but there were rumblings and grumblings in Dumfries for weeks to come, “If we ever lay holt of the boys that did this they should be tarred and feathered and then sent to the hoosegow!” She ended the story by noting Elvan never stole another body and “Can you see why I loved my Uncle Elvan so much?”

As you can imagine, Halloween was different in the early 1900s. In the 1920s and 1930s, children celebrated Halloween Eve aka “Mischief Night”, “Cabbage Night”, and “Devil’s Night”. Children reportedly overturned wagons, broke windows, and set fires. 

Although the narrative used the terms casket and coffin interchangeably, they are different. A coffin traditionally has six sides with no hinged lid, while a casket has four sides with hinged lid. By the 20^th century, Americans generally favored caskets, and the Coffin Works Museum offered several theories pointing to the substantial changes of funerary practices wrought by the Civil War.

Driving by Duke Street today on Route One, you are probably more worried about heavy traffic and animals running into the road than dead people. However, some local residents say they can almost hear horses and wagons driving up and down Route One at night…perhaps they can also hear the inevitable curses the children probably yelled as Mr. Quismond took a sudden interest in traffic congestion.

(Keys Collection: Leary Cato and Elvan Keys @ the Old Farm Barn in Joplin)

Special thanks to the Keys family and Jeanne Martin for sharing their wonderful stories and reminiscences.

Note: Our virtual Halloween Tea is this Sunday, 10/11 @ 1pm. This tea will feature the history of Halloween along with our traditions, ghost stories, great Halloween recipes, game recommendations and more – all focused to help you plan your safe Halloween! Click here for more info and tickets.

(HDVI Archival Records: Merchant Family Stories & Folklore; TIME: Fabry, Merrill. A Brief History of ‘Mischief Night’, 10/30/2015; Newman Brothers & Coffin Works Museum: Hayes, Sarah. From Coffins to Caskets: An American History. 07/26/2017).

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

Participating in any of our outside walking tours, day or night, includes a trip to Dumfries Elementary Public School and Dumfries Cemetery. One ghost story specifically refers to the appearance of “colonial girls” and in a town filled with Civil War folklore, it is intriguing this particular association attached itself to the school. But if Dumfries Graded School and later Dumfries Elementary Public School operated in the early 1900s, why colonial ghost children?

In 06/19/1795, Mrs. Simson advertised the opening of her Boarding School in the Republican Journal and Dumfries Advertiser. “Where she intends teaching all kinds of needle-work, in silk and worsted; she also teaches the tambour and embroidery, with the art and elegance of shading, and taste in the arrangement of patterns.” She wished to “cultivate their young minds, as well as form their manners” flattering herself “that she has given satisfaction to the parents of those whom she has already had the honour to instruct – and gained the love of her pupils.” Besides for needlework, she advertised “reading, spelling, and writing taught with propriety”.

Mrs. Simson’s indicated that the Boarding School was “at the House of Thomas Lee, Esquire, on the Hill”. The famed Lee family owned property throughout Virginia including the Town of Dumfries and while both Colonel and former Governor of Virginia Thomas Lee and Thomas Ludwell Lee, Sr. died before the 1780s, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Jr. presumably placed a newspaper ad in the Alexandria Gazette on 09/17/1787 for persons wishing to rent “a large Commodious Store house in Dumfries, as well situated being nearly in the centre of the main streets…” Charles Lee also advertised in the same paper and date “…to be leased forever at public auction…about 15 lots situated in the town of Dumfries on the main street opposite to McDaniels Tavern being part of the square now occupied by Henderson, Ferguson & Gibson”. While the Lees rented and sold property in Dumfries, some to the Merchant family, the house “on the hill” likely referred to the area around the current Dumfries Elementary Public School.

In 18^th century America, middle- and upper-class white families usually hired tutors to instruct their young daughters the basics of writing and arithmetic, with more advanced and skilled instruction in needlework, music, manners, and other forms of arts and crafts. If the parents could and were willing to send their daughters to a boarding school, they would hone their skills in needlework and come back with a “level up” – a finished needlework to display prominently in the home, discreetly (?) informing guests of the family’s wealth, sophistication, and refinement. These “female accomplishments” were important signals to a society focused on appearance and marriage. Virginia prohibited the gathering of enslaved children for the purpose of education extending from the constant white paranoia that educated enslaved persons were more likely to rebel. However, the Bray Schools in Virginia instructed enslaved persons in Christian education through biblical literacy. Both Williamsburg and Fredericksburg operated official Bray schools ranging from 1760-1774, although Fielding Lewis encountered low enrollment and white hostility forcing him to close the Fredericksburg location sooner.

Although siltation was an issue by 1795, the town of Dumfries still attracted people as the Henderson family resided in Dumfries and Mason Locke Weems had yet to purchase the lot for his book depository. However, we have so little information beyond the newspaper advertisement for the boarding school. Did anyone pay the fee to board their children? If so, which families took advantage of this offer and what were their experiences in Dumfries?

Interestingly, the Republican Journal and Dumfries Advertiser also included the following song in the same paper with Mrs. Simson’s advertisement, titled “Domestic Felicity”. Although not attributed to any person in the newspaper, this song appears in Isaiah Thomas, Jr.’s ed, “The Sky Lark: or Gentlemen and ladies’ complete songster. Being a collection of the most modern and celebrated American, English, and Scotch songs”.

“Though grandeur flies my humble roof,

Tho’ wealth is not my share,

Tho’ lowly is my little cot,

Yet happiness is there.

 *

A tender wife, with mild control,

By sympathy refin’d,

When rage the tumults of the breast,

Becalms my troubled mind.

 *

Three pledges of our mutual love,

Kind Providence has given,

And competence, to nurse their hopes,

Is all we ask of Heaven.

 *

Still, from the little we enjoy,

A little we dispense;

And watch the buddings of their mind

Just blossoming to sense.

 *

With arm entwin’d in arm we fit;

And join their hands to pray;

And teach the accents of their tongue,

To hail the rising day.

 *

At eve again they kneel and bless

The hours which are now past;

And hope their cherish’d virtues may

Prove happiness at last.

*

Accept, Great Father of us all;

Accept their little prayers,

And grant the nurslings of our youth

May crown our silver hairs.

*

Let those whose weak and infant limbs

With tenderness we guide,

Be props unto our age when down

The steep of life we glide.”

(Image: Instruction with Delight. Thomas, Isaiah. Little Robin Red Breast. A Little Pretty Pocket-book Intended for the Instruction and Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly. Massachusetts: Worcester, 1787. The Colonial Society of Massachusetts: 18th century Massachusetts Songsters, Volume 54, Music in Colonial Massachusetts, 1630-1820: Music in Homes and Churches)

While the “colonial girls” will not respond to repeated queries (naturally), they and all the ghosts, such as the enslaved persons, represent our quest to understand everyone living in Dumfries. While essays and books are continually written about the white male society, they are not the ghostly figures people claim to see in this town – instead, it is the ones whom society did not equate as equal.

Note: While our closed season begins on 11/01/2020, we will continue to offer online virtual tours! The online tour includes a meeting with the staff and a video of the house. Stay tuned for special virtual November Member programs along with news of possible holiday outside walking tours! Click here to access info regarding our latest & upcoming programs and tours!

(Sources: The Republican Journal and Dumfries Advertiser, No. VI, Vol 1, 06/19/1795; HDVI Archival Files: Dumfries – Town Lots, Newspaper Notices; University of Michigan Digital Text Collections: Evans Early American Imprint Collection Text Creation Partnership; MET: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Peck, Amelia. American Needlework in the 18^th Century, 10/2003; Library of Virginia & Virginia Humanities: Encyclopedia Virginia. Bly, Antonio. Slave Literacy and Education in Virginia)

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

In April 1809, Thomas Jefferson contacted John Graham with a slight problem. He could not remember the “gentleman of Dumfries” he spoke with concerning the procurement of domesticated wild geese. Assuming it was Graham’s brother, Robert, Jefferson instructed John to not send the geese by water as previously discussed, instead sending for them once the roads cleared. John happily relayed the message to his brother and the wild geese remained “about a mile below Dumfries on the south side of the creek”. Jefferson wrote to others for other animals as well, but notably, he had to procure new geese because, as he informed James W. Wallace in 08/1809, Jefferson “had the misfortune to lose the goose of the pair you were so kind as to give me.” By the end of the month, Jefferson instructed his driver to stop in Dumfries to bring them, sadly noting, “ I should have saved you this importunity had I succeeded with a pair I recieved from another quarter. but the goose of that pair unfortunately died.”

(Graham Park Plantation Landing and Warehouse, Quantico Creek South, ca. 1760, crafted & donated by Lee Lansing)

Why geese? Besides for their obvious place on the dinner table, people used goose feathers in a variety of ways from stuffing textiles to crafting writing utensils. Mesopotamian art from the early Dynastic Period (2900–2350 BCE) indicated people herded geese for both food and sacrifices. Both the Egyptians and Romans force-fed geese for size, and Romans prized their fatty livers and feathers for decorations. The domestication of geese is still mysterious (although archaeologists are analyzing geese DNA!), and while the classification of wild geese vs. domesticated geese is murky, people did keep them as pets as well – just ask Penelope and the twenty geese she kept for company while waiting for Odysseus’s return in The Odyssey.

For Thomas Jefferson and other early Americans, they saw geese valuable in terms of goose quills and not just any feather would suffice. Due to shape, people plucked the five feathers at the tip of the left and right wing (depending upon if you were left or right-handed), and then buried the feathers in hot and dry sand to harden the points. Some quick knife work would finish the writing tip. You could write up to about six words before re-dipping your quill into ink and, at best, these quills only lasted about a week! While people gathered dropped feathers for the quills, they also inhumanely plucked feathers from live geese. Quill pens stopped serving as the primary writing instrument with the mass production of dip pens in the early-mid 19^th century.

By 08/1809, Jefferson still had not procured his geese but noted a cart returning from Washington would “…return by Dumfries for a pair of Wild geese promised me there…” Presumedly, he retrieved his geese without issue although he later wrote to his granddaughter Ann C. Bankhead in 12/1809, “…that the wild geese are well after a flight of a mile & a half into the river…” While we do not know if these are our Dumfries geese, it certainly would have been interesting to see someone trying to herd wild and perhaps unamused geese.

Note: Do you enjoy folklore? Reserve a ticket for our virtual Appalachian Folklore program on Saturday, 09/25! Each ticket comes with a cup of Taylors of Harrogate Apple & Cinnamon (mailed to you) and delightful folktales found throughout the many states! Click here for more info, including discounts for members!

(Sources: “Thomas Jefferson to Joseph Dougherty, 25 August 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0370. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, p. 467.]; “Thomas Jefferson to Robert Graham, 25 August 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0372. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, p. 469.]; “Thomas Jefferson to John Graham, 25 April 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0132. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, p. 161.]; “Thomas Jefferson to James W. Wallace, 24 August 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-01-02-0368. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1809 to 15 November 1809, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004, p. 466.]; “Thomas Jefferson to Ann C. Bankhead, 29 December 1809,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-02-02-0074. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Retirement Series, vol. 2, 16 November 1809 to 11 August 1810, ed. J. Jefferson Looney. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005, pp. 103–104.]; Honka, Johanna et al. “Over a Thousand Years of Evolutionary History of Domestic Geese from Russian Archaeological Sites, Analysed Using Ancient DNA.” Genes vol. 9,7 367. 20 Jul. 2018, doi:10.3390/genes9070367; Kitchell, .Kenneth"Penelope’s Geese" Expedition Magazine 53.3 (2011): n. pag. Expedition Magazine. Penn Museum, 2011 Web. 02 Sep 2021 http://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/?p=13035; The Colonial Williamsburg Journal, The Quill Pen, Winter 2007, https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Foundation/journal/Winter07/lettersSide.cfm)

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

Works Project Administration (WPA) agent Susan Morton must have had a fascinating time exploring the Town of Dumfries and surrounding regional area for the WPA of Virginia Historical Inventory project. She traveled to each site, talked to people from the area, and consulted everything from court records to engravings on tombstones. Besides her poetic descriptions of the sites, her historical summaries, and her inclusion on everything from local folklore to knowledgeable town residents, she included documents and ledgers that caught her eye. She located and transcribed the “List of Slave Expenditures Kept by B. Grayson” from a book kept at “The Shelter,” home of Bailey Tyler, Haymarket, Virginia. It is possible the copies we have are missing an additional page as we were not able to locate a document containing the final sum & overall transaction.  

“List of Slave Expenditures Kept by B. Grayson” from a book kept at “The Shelter,” home of Bailey Tyler, Haymarket, Virginia.

This document most certainly was connected to the influential Grayson family. William Grayson (1742-1790) led many military & prominent political positions during his long service to the state of Virginia. While it might look like a simple list, there are many clues contained within it that could help someone locate one of the enslaved persons the Grayson family owned. For example, note the difference in fee between Davy and Peter, both working on holidays. This likely was from a perceived disorder or injury, although the recorder could have been vague and neglected time differentials. Everything from bees to clothes peppered the above expenditures detailing what the enslaved persons had access to and their possible priorities on the plantation.

Note: This blog will temporarily go on hiatus as HDVI interviews applicants for the position of Executive Director! I have thoroughly enjoyed writing these weekly articles and will miss the wonderful local history contained within our precious archives.

(Sources: WPA Historic Survey: Town of Dumfries, 1937)