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The Ballad of Barkentine Bear: The Wooden Ship with a Stout Broken Heart

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

In 1975, Rear Admiral Richard Blackburn Black presented HDVI with a ballad he wrote for the USS Bear, a feisty Coast Guard ship with an amazing history! According to beautifully printed sheet, Black watched “as the barkentine BEAR backs away into the sea smoke” in 1934. So why is this treasure in our Archives?

Alexander Stephen & Son constructed the United States Revenue Cutter Bear in Dundee, Scotland, completed in 1874 and commissioned on 03/02/1885. The USS Bear began its incredible career shortly afterwards by heading to the Artic to rescue the stranded Greely expedition, an expedition that experienced serious misfortunes leaving then First Lieutenant Adolphus Washington Greely and his command with inadequate amounts of food and clothing. The ship saved the remaining survivors many already deceased from the poor conditions and even suicide. In 1885, the Treasury Department commanded the ship to patrol the Alaskan waters and the Artic Ocean. Commanded for a time by “Hell Roaring” Mike Healy, the ship: delivered mail, government agents and supplies; transported Federal prisoners; served as a court; assisted in investigations and criminal prevention and law enforcement; provided much needed medical services; and imported Siberian reindeer for the indigenous peoples in need of food (sorry Santa). In 1897, the USS Bear once again rescued stranded crews although the ship itself could not get as close as possible. The “Overland Expedition for the Relief of the Whalers in the Artic Ocean” translated into a 1,600-mile journey with dog teams, sleds, guides, and tasty reindeer. After serving in WWI, the Bear was decommissioned and used as a museum (woo!) until the early 1930s when Admiral Richard E. Byrd purchased her use ($1,050) for his Second Antarctic Expedition and later used the Bear again in 1939-1941. While the Bear entered WWII, the Navy took the ship off the list of active vessels and in 1948 a Canadian steamship company purchased the ship with plans for a sealing vessel but changing economics led to Alfred M. Johnston’s purchase with designs for a commercial museum (woo!) and restaurant near Philadelphia. However, the Bear sank during its final journey by tow to Philadelphia.

The ship’s amazing history can only come alive with the help of those who actively served on her or benefitted from her service. What was it like to see the mighty USS Bear after eating moss? Receiving court justice on the decks? The smells of the herd of rein – wait, never mind on that one. Black was an Antarctic explorer and part of Byrd’s second Antarctic expedition. He eventually purchased Rippon Lodge and came to know the William and Anne Flory, sending them this ballad “with high regard and best wishes”. Take a deep breath (if you are alone) and let Black help bring this ship back to life:                                                                     

If wooden ships have hearts of oak

            And I believe they do

I know of one whose stout heart broke!

The BEAR, an ancient barkentine

             Whose years topped eighty-nine,

Was limping southward, old and green,

             Upon a tow-tug’s line

Her destination? “Shame!”, she cried,

             I’m going to be a pub,

A rest’rant – (Chicken? Stewed or fried?)

             A gin-mill! That’s the rub!”

She lay back on the cable then

             And dreamed of all her past –

Of gales and ice and shouting men,

             Taut canvas in the blast,

The shriek of wind, the sting of sleet,

             The green seas sweeping back,

The clinging seamen with their feet

             Braced on the foot-rope track,

With bellies pressed against the yard,

             Chilled fingers clutching sail,

And elbow movement slowed and hard

             By wind on raincoat’s tail.

She thought of evenings still and bright,

             Locked in Antartic pack, -

Ice-blink ahead, and blue-black night

             Behind her in her track,

When Byrd and English paced her deck

             With anxious eyes ahead,

While Ben Johansen said, “By heck,

             Ve’ll push trow or ve’re dead!”

Then Crusen – (now it’s forty-one) –

             Fought through to Biscoe Isles,

To free the men on Stonington.

             One hundred forty miles

Of ice-locked sea BEAR could not break,

             So in a patched up plane

The East Base men – a chance to take –

             All reached the ship again.

Her thoughts then flew back sixty years

             To Bering Sea Patrol,

Her fights with poachers, British jeers,

             And heavy whale-ship toll,

Her years of aid to Barrow town

             And starving Aleuts,

And murderers at her yard-arm

             A-hanging in their boots.

Now, back to present, and the gale

             Off Nova Scotia’s shore:

The seas run high, the tug men pale,

             “OLD BEAR can’t take much more!”

Old ships have souls, some sailors say,

             And some have died of shame, -

I’ll not contend this, either way,

             And I will place no blame

But tell you just what seamen saw

             Aboard that towing ship;

The BEAR heaved back, began to yaw, -

             Her bow commanded to dip.

Then with a muffled, mighty sigh

             Her seams all opened wide,

And with her colors gaff-tip high

             She plunged beneath the tide!

“West Over Sea,” the Vikings said

             When funeral was planned,

With chieftain lying midships, dead,

             Full armored, sword in hand.

I’ll always feel, as some with voice

             Who worked that ship with me,

That she went down by her own choice –

             The BEAR – West Over Sea!”

Note: Winter lore featuring monsters, the history of holiday traditions, and new ideas for your Holiday 2020 will abound in our “Gingerbread Tales” virtual program held on Saturday, 12/05 @ 10am and Tuesday, 12/08 @ 1pm! Click here for our “you decide” price tickets. Teachers, want us to present this to your class with featured activities? Email for details: [email protected]

(Sources: HDVI Archival Files: Blackburn, Barkentine Bear; United States Coast Guard Historian’s Office: US Coast Guard Cutter Fact Sheets: Bear, 1885)

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All That Glitters is Not Gold: Stories from the Mine

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

In 1889, the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine opened and operated, eventually changing ownership from the Cabin Branch Mining Company to the American Agricultural Chemical Company before its closure in 1920. After the devastation of the Civil War, the discovery of “fool’s gold”, aka iron sulfide, was a boon to the local economy as sulfur was an ingredient in items such as soap, glass, rubber, fertilizer, and the production of gunpowder for World War I. While companies and businessmen profited from this venture, the 200-300 laborers, including children, risked their lives for small wages and often unsafe working conditions.

In 11/1899, the Fredericksburg Free Lance described the operations with predictions for its future, “Three shafts have been sunk about 140 feet deep, and tons of ore are gotten out daily by a force of 60 men. The ore is shipped by the company’s own 7 miles of well built narrow gauge road to a point in the Potomac River. The sum of $500 to $600 is paid by this firm [Dedrick & Co.] weekly for labor. The whole surrounding country seems a bed of pyrites ore and a bright future is before Dumfries.” The mine became a major industry to the area with 70 buildings (company store, blacksmith shop, hen house, icehouse) and employed both black and white persons but housed them separately. Crews worked the mine in 10-12 hour shifts as the mine operated 24 hours a day, pay ranging from 50 cents (children’s daily pay) to potentially $4.25 a day/shift. Crews consisted of blasters, persons who ignited the dynamite and supervised others, powdermen responsible for carrying and placing blasting powder, muckers who loaded ore into wagons, cart pushers who transported the ore to the surface, and timberman who provided stability to the shafts with wooden. The mine employed children to sort the ore into piles based on size. The Mine generally assigned black persons to lower positions and the wages did not reflect the reality of supporting a family; instead, the Cabin Branch Community (Hickory Ridge, Joplin and Batestown) supported each other and relied upon being self-sufficient by growing crops, hunting, and taking multiple jobs. One unidentified black woman in her 50s noted, “…His father was one of those that worked in the mines and of course it was hard work. They would go in there and stay for…he couldn’t recall whether it was days or months because he was so young. He remembered his dad going away, staying for a long time, and finally coming. And then, he could see him coming from the distance and he would see him covered with the soot and grime and all. And it just seemed like he was gone forever…” Another person remembered, “Everybody was really blessed an not really deprived…They were a self-contained community. They were pretty proud of…the fact that they pulled together and they could make it together.”

(Cabin Branch Mine Coupon Book, Coupons worth 10 cents)

Accidents certainly happened with reports appearing in local newspapers. On 06/13/1903, the Alexandria Gazette reported “A colored man, named Smith, about 40 years old, was taken to Washington from Dumfries, early last night. Smith was suffering from numerous injuries…In the mine there is an incline railway on which cars weighing 1,200lbs when empty are need to carry the ore to the opening of the mine. Smith was struck by one of these cars, by so severely injured that Dr. William P. Canton surgeon for the company, deemed it necessary to have him taken to Washington.” Mr. Smith suffered from a broken right leg, both shoulder blades dislocated, and a splintered upper jaw. Turning to a transcribed partial list of laborers compiled by Ronald Turner, we find two potential Smith’s – Bord Smith and Robert Smith, both noted as laborers further identified by their race. While the prognosis for recovery was good, deaths also occurred in the mine, and the resulting court cases provide an enormous wealth of information about mine operations.

In the case Quinton L. Hutchinson’s Administrator vs. Cabin Branch Mining Company, Climenia Hutchinson, the widow and mother of their infant child, sued the mine for 10,000 in 1909, “…a large and ponderous mass of stone, slate, mineral and earth fell from the side of the said mine and in and upon said plaintiff’s intestate, without any negligence or fault on the part of said plaintiff’s intestate, and by such falling in of said stone, slate, mineral and earth so negligently permitted to hang loosely in and about said mine and the sides thereof, the said Quinton L. Hutchinson, plaintiff’s intestate, was injured and crushed about the body, back and hips and so injured that he died shortly thereafter, to-wit…” Physicians examining the body noted he had bruising over his entire abdomen along with displaced segments of his spinal column, with ruptured internal blood vessels caused by pressure of the material. The plaintiff called upon many laborers in the mine to testify regarding the day of the accident and the conditions of the mine, including Mr. J. Clarence Williams, born “Well, Dumfries is as close as I could get at it”, as Mr. Williams was present at the time of Mr. Hutchinson’s death and personally knew him. The mine employed Mr. Williams as a mucker, receiving a 1.50 a day/shift, he testified to the condition of the mine and the chain of command – the defense questioning his experience and specifically asking about the race of the men working near where Mr. Hutchinson died. Frank G. Williams, race not identified, worked the machine, and received $2.00 a day/shift – he was with Mr. Hutchinson at the time of his death. “Well, of course, I know he was killed, that’s all. A piece came over on him and he hollered, and for a second or two, I didn’t know hardly what had happed for a second or two.” An estimated two-ton piece of ore or slate fell and pinned Mr. Hutchinson. Based on witness testimonies and mine policies, the court instructed the jury to determine eleven issues, ranging from workplace safety to the possible negligence of Mr. Hutchinson – however, the jury needed to determine if the mine could have averted the accident after discovery of any supposed worker negligence. The jury awarded Mrs. Hutchinson assessing her damage at $1750.00. Cabin Branch Mining Company quickly appealed and won when the Prince William County Court reversed the decision, stating the judgment was erroneous, and ordered Mrs. Hutchinson to pay the costs “…expended in the prosecution of its writ of error”, a total of $357.55. According to our records, the family buried Mr. Hutchinson in Dumfries Cemetery, born in 1882 and died in 1909.

(Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine, 1907, National Park Service)

Many of the men interviewed lived in or near Dumfries and worked in the mine for over ten years – some even continued working for the company but not in the section where Mr. Hutchinson died. White miners lived in Dumfries, some rented from the Merchant family (now the Weems-Botts Museum), while the black laborers in the records noted they lived as close as they could to Dumfries and identified it as home although the town remained segregated. By 1920, the mine no longer operated due to a variety of factors, ranging from a marked decrease in demand of gunpowder after WWI and the discovery of cheaper sulfur elsewhere.

National Park Services owns the property today and you can even walk the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine Trail leading you to Quantico Creek and other foundations of the Park’s past life as a mining industry. While there are scattered traces of the Mine operations and even a burial of one of the miners, we rely upon oral histories, court records, letters, folklore, and other sources to help tell the stories from the mines. 

Note: April is rushing in and The Weems-Botts Museum is ready with three virtual opportunities! From preparing for the cicadas with your family & friends to having a tea basket arranged for you, we are here to provide interesting, varied, and delicious programming! Click here to find links to all of our seasonal programs! 

(Sources: HDVI Archives: Cabin Branch Mine Newspapers transcribed and compiled by William Schneck, 04/29/2010 ; Payne-Jackson, Arvilla and Sue Ann Taylor, Prince William Forest Park: The African American Experience, National Park Service National Capital Area, 06/2000; Turner, Ronald R. American Agricultural Chemical Company & Cabin Branch Mining Company Workers Dumfries, VA 1910-1920, accessed on 03/24/2021 via http://pwcvirginia.com/sites-structures.htm; National Park Services: Prince William Forest: Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine (1889-1920), https://www.nps.gov/prwi/learn/historyculture/cabin-branch-mine.htm; )

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When Dumfries Declared War on Swine

By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

Our state has the delightful campaign “Virginia is for Lovers”, which can highlight our love for history (woo!) or…ham! Grab a slice of ham, horseradish mustard, and a biscuit, and visit Dumfries in the 1700s when officials clarified the rules for swine in the streets.

Pigs were both a boon and bane to early Virginia inhabitants. Quick to reproduce, these hardy survivors had a great ability to adapt and thrive and this success led to delicious, labor-efficient source of meat. Their ability to wreak havoc would be a major source of contention as well. The Town of Dumfries recognized the potential consequences of letting pigs roam freely in the streets.

“And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the first day of March next ensuing it shall not be lawful for any person or persons inhabiting within the said Town to raise or keep any Swine within the limits thereof…and if any Swine so raised and kept shall be found going or running at large within the Limits of the said Town it shall and may be lawful for any Person whatsoever to kill and destroy the same; Provided nevertheless that such person shall not convert any Swine so killed to his or her own use, but shall leave the same in the place where it shall be so killed, and give immediate notice, to the Owner thereof if known, and if not then to the next Justice of the Peace, who may order the same to the use of any poor person he shall think fit; provided also that nothing in this act contained shall be construed to hinder any person from driving Swine to or through the said Town or the Limits thereof, in order to sell or kill the same, or in their removal from one plantation to another”.

The Town permitted people to drive their herds through the Town but killing and claiming the pig for your own reason was clearly unacceptable. Notably, the corpse could only be claimed by the owner or Justice of the Peace – he would then be responsible for giving it “to the use of any poor person he shall think fit”.

(In the 1920s, F.R. Saunders proudly advertised “Nice Crisp Bacon For Snappy Mornings” at his Manassas Sanitary Meat Market, offering deliveries on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The Prince William News, vol. XII, No. 50, 11/24/1921)

By the time the Town organized and formally chartered, people were already thoroughly enjoying ham as part of their menus. Virginia ham became a staple and early Virginians fed their pigs peaches and Virginia peanuts before slaughtering them, curing the meats with salt and saltpeter, smoking it hanging over a fire, and then letting it set for six months – hopefully making sure to scrape the layer of mold off before consumption. Questioning what happens if you never consume it? The Isle of Wight County Museum hosts the world’s oldest ham (and world’s oldest peanut)! If you are unable to visit Smithfield, Virginia, you can check out the museum’s website featuring a “ham cam” along with their active social media.

Craving ham now? In 1866, Malinda Russell published A Domestic Cook Book, noted as the oldest cookbook written by an African-American woman. She introduced the cookbook with an autobiography of her incredible life, writing about her life in Virginia, “At the age of nineteen, I set out for Liberia; but being robbed by some member of the party with whom I was traveling, I was obliged to stop in Lynchburg, Virginia, where I commenced cooking…” She later wrote, “I have made Cooking my employment for the last twenty years, in the first families of Tennessee (my native place,), Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky”, southern cuisine heavily influencing her recipes. She styled her book after Mrs. Mary Randolph’s “The Virginia Housewife” (1824), and Mrs. Russell credited Fanny Steward for teaching her “many new things in the art of Cooking”. Side-note: Although we are looking for ham recipes, her Sweet Potato Baked Pudding sounds extraordinary! Perhaps Mrs. Russell’s recipe for a Ham Omelet will satiate your craving, “Fry the ham about two minutes into a little hot fat, beat the eggs, season with salt and pepper; mix a little flour and water into a batter, and stir into eggs; turn this over the ham, and turn quickly.”

Whether you are crafting Virginia ham biscuits or planning a trip to one of Dumfries many BBQ stands and restaurants, Dumfries has consistently recognized the important role of swine in town maintenance and culture.

Note: Our “Help Us Tell Your Story” campaign is in full gear! You can help us in so many ways by purchasing a gift membership (recipients will receive a special card and greeting), donating directly, or purchasing a donation ticket to our “Gingerbread Tales” program. Each donation will include a free link to this holiday and winter folklore themed virtual presentation!

(Sources: HDVI Archival Files: Henings Statutes – Enlargement of the Town of Dumfries, Dumfries Town Charter citing  Harrison, Fairfax. Landmarks of Old Prince William: A Study of Origins in Northern Virginia in Two Volumes. Richmond: The Old Dominion Press, 1924; NPR WAMU: Lefrak, Mikaela. Virginia is for (Ham) Lovers: How Ham Became a Symbol of the Commonwealth, November 2019; Turner, Ronald. Manassas Virginia 1805-1955: Businesses; Isle of Wight County Museum; Smithsonian Magazine: Smart News. Eschner, Kat. These were the First Cookbooks Published by Black People in America” 10/2017; Russell, Malinda. A Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Recipes for the Kitchen. Paw Paw: 1866, accessed online via the HathiTrust Digital Library)

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All Tricks and No Treats: Mischievous Imps on the Prowl in Manassas

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 19th 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 19th 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 18th and 19th 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)

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Traveling to Brentsville to Solve a Crime

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)

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The Day the Bridge Fell

 By: Lisa Timmerman, Executive Director

On 06/19/1972, Hurricane Agnes (Category 1) made landfall near Panama City, Florida losing strength considerably as it approached Georgia and the Carolinas. However, Agnes intensified into a tropical storm when it encountered an approaching trough over the Atlantic, making final landfall near New York City on 06/22/1972. Due to the widespread flooding, Agnes was, at the time, the most destructive hurricane with approximately 130 casualties and an estimated $2.1 billion in twelve states.

(Extra Edition of The Potomac News, 06/26/1972)

The intensification dealt a major blow to Virginia, especially Prince William County and Washington, D.C. Chantilly reported about 16 inches of rain with 8.16 inches measured at Reagan National Airport. The downpours and subsequent flooding prompted evacuation orders and dramatic rescues. Flooding devasted transportation networks as the following roads closed: Route 1 near Storybook Land, Route 123 as the Occoquan bridge literally washed away, Route 20-211 at Bull Run Bridge and Route 28 at Yorkshire. Damage ranged from washed out roads to actual barges smashing against piers and support structures. The residents of Occoquan were especially puzzled over the location of the 94-year-old Occoquan Bridge. Originally constructed in 1878, the one-lane iron bridge spanning across the Occoquan River had recently battle against condemnation as the Highway Department considered replacing the bridge but temporarily decided against the change as residents protested, one person recalling that “he looked forward to the momentary respite of reaching the bridge, waiting for his turn, and then rattling leisurely through its spiderweb funnel of iron bars and beams, the day’s worries forgotten.” As worried residents and officials watched, the bridge endured hours of the force of the river until “in one brief moment, she caved in” and disappeared, people speculating it wrapped around the I-95 supports while others believed it broke into hundreds of small fragments.

County officials and Marines surveyed the damage from Marine Corps helicopters noting extensive damage to Manassas Airport, the Greater Manassas Sanitary District plant, Manassas Park Plant, boats tied in the Occoquan, and over a hundred homes. Marines were able to make successful rescues throughout Manassas and surrounding regions. Following the immediate flooding, officials soon turned to other possible crises and PWC Health Department offered immunization clinics for free tetanus and typhoid vaccines as rescuers desperately needed protection to continue working in the dangerous waters. 3,000 people took advantage of this offer. Questions about structural integrity, water quality and safety, and utilities all quickly became top priority as thousands of evacuees looked to return to their homes to survey the damage and start the process of restoring their communities.

(Source: NOAA: Natural Disaster Survey Report 73-1: Final Report of the Disaster Survey Team on the Events of Agnes)

An amazing network of support poured forth into Occoquan as businesses vowed “to show the world that Occoquan lives” as the Scouts, residents of Lake Ridge, the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton (OWL) Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad, and the Veterans of Foreign War Post 7916 all contributed to the recovery and relief, through medical aid, food, and emotional support. ACTS, and soldiers from Quantico Marine Corps Base, Fort Belvoir and Vint Hill Farm immediately assisted as people sought shelter, medical aid, and looked for those reported missing. By the end of July, Agnes had contributed more headaches and turmoil, as a 700-foot section of the U.S. Route 1 northbound bridge over the Occoquan River fell when the pre-Civil War piers failed.

(Road Closed in Occoquan: Bridge on Rt. 123, Photo No. 72-1252, Virginia Governor's Negative Collection, Library of Virginia)

The World Meteorological Organization officially retired the name “Agnes” in 1973 due to this Category 1’s destructive impacts. Naming tropical cyclones and hurricanes have obvious advantages – easier to remember, a way to distinguish between two or more storms, and overall, less confusion. In 1953, the United States switched to naming storms by the phonetic alphabet, but solely used women’s names until 1978. Prince William County continues to remain strong and united even as we continue to face surreal emergencies and disasters.

Special Note: Are you enjoying our weekly blogs? We have many new digital and socially distant programs planned for July and August! To check out our three tours, including a restoration tour, click here. For memberships, which range from $10-30, click here. 

(Sources: National Weather Service: Flood of June 1972 – Hurricane Agnes; Hurricanes: Science and Society: Storms in the 1970s via University of Rhode Island, National Science Foundation; WTOP News: 45 Years Ago, Hurricane Agnes, 06/19/2017; National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names; “Four Major Roadways are still Closed This Morning” The Journal Messenger, Manassas, Va, 06/23/1972;“Occoquan Begins Tremendous Task of Restoration” by Ann Holiday and Kevin Murphy, The Journal Messenger, Manassas, Va, 06/26/1972; “About 3,000 Received Weekend Tetanus Shots” The Journal Messenger, Manassas, Va, 06/26/1972; “Opinion Page: Thanks All Around”, “Flood Havoc”, Extra Edition of The Potomac News, 06/26/1972; “U.S. Route 1 Bridge Completely Collapses” The Journal Messenger, Manassas,  07/21/1972)