Waterford Foundation

From the Local History Collection

Taverns in Waterford

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by John Souders

Waterford’s history with alcohol is long, complicated and often dreadful. In 1888 a village correspondent commented, “I hear the charge that there is a good deal of drinking in Waterford and I am afraid the town is not in position to bring suit for slander on this score.”

By the mid-1830s, according to Martin’s Gazetteer of Virginia towns and villages, Waterford boasted four taverns, outnumbering churches and schools. The tavern with the longest run operated at 40170 Main Street. It was known variously as Talbott’s Tavern, after lapsed Quaker Joseph Talbott, who bought the property in 1810; Manning’s Tavern; Matthews’ Tavern; and for long stretches the Waterford Hotel. Waterford Quaker Mary Dutton Steer probably had this establishment in mind in the early 20th century when she added the following stanza to her poem “Old Memories”:

A tavern stood upon the street

That some did much deplore,

For many a noble-minded man Went down to rise no more.

An early competitor was Klein’s Tavern, which owner Lewis B. Klein opened in 1825 as a “house of entertainment.” Its run as a tavern was relatively brief. The building today is known as the Pink House (40174 Main Street).

Around the middle of the 19th century, Oscar Fitzallen Reed operated a tavern in the center of town.

Thirsty Waterfordians also bought brandy and whiskey at any of several stores in town. And there were numerous instances of villagers, both Black and White, selling liquor without a license (see below). The results of all the drinking were predictable; they pepper the historical record. The press account below, from December 1865, is a vivid example.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week the County Court of Loudoun, sitting as an examining Court, was engaged in the trial of William H. Hardy and Charles Curry, for an assault on John P. Gregg, and robbery committed by them of one Gold Watch valued at one hundred and seventy-five dollars, one Gold Chain valued at twenty dollars, and thirty-five dollars in currency (commonly called Greenbacks,) consisting of three ten dollar and one five dollar notes . . .

Lieut. W.F. Keys,[1]  late of the United States army, lives in Waterford, Loudoun county, was there on the night of the 8th of December, 1865, [where he] saw Curry and Hardy and Gregg, all warm friends of his, on that night. [Keys] was in his store when Hardy came in with Charles Virts and Gregg treated [them?] to cigars. Hardy was pretty drunk and commenced bragging about his shotgun, said it was the best gun in Waterford, in fact, the best gun in the County, and could out shoot any other gun. Gregg objected to the statement, and a bet was proposed. [Keys] Asked Hardy to drop it, as it was impossible for him to know whether this was the best gun in Loudoun, it was too broad an assertion. They asked him [Keys] to draw up a bond and he commenced to do so, and they urged him to do so; he consenting as he would do anything to get rid of them. Gregg immediately said he could get rid of him very soon if he did not want him. Hardy wanted Gregg to take back what he had said, but G. insisted that he had said nothing wrong.

Hardy wanted to fight badly, and took off his coat, and flung his arms about a good deal. Gregg also took off his coat, but after a good deal of wrangling, at Keys’ suggestion, put it on again. [Keys] tried to pacify them.

Gregg said he could whip the best man in Waterford, when Keys said hold on, you must not say so, when Gregg said he would take that back. Hardy continued quarreling and flinging his arms about, and Gregg, when he had his coat on his shoulder, said I can whip you with my coat on.

Hardy went out saying to Gregg, I can find someone who will dispose of you pretty soon. Shortly after he came back with Curry and [a] soldier of the United States army. Was about 12 o’clock that the whole row took place. Door [to Keys’s store] was open, Gregg staid there. Hardy came up to the door; Curry came in near the side of Gregg. Hardy said, “now John Gregg you damned rebel son of a bitch, I will settle your hash for you.”  Gregg struck him and knocked him out of the door. Curry seized Gregg and they went down together. When I got out, Hardy was a little distance down the hill, with a stone in his hand, Gregg was on top of Curry, and the soldier on top of Gregg and struck at him twice. [Keys] Jerked the soldier violently off of Gregg, and then Gregg off of Curry. Young Howard Hardy came up and Wm. Hardy who had sidled round threw his stone, [supposedly] at Gregg, and it struck Howard, who threw his and struck William. This was done at his [Keys’s] door; he pushed Gregg in and locked the door. Hardy and Curry wanted [the] soldier to break the door, and [the] soldier wanted them to do it. [They] Called Gregg a damned rebel son of a bitch, and said he Keys, was harboring him. Looked into the store, saw back window open and concluded Gregg had gone, and let them into the store; they all searched for Gregg, but not finding him, commenced abusing Keys, and wanted to whip him. This witness [Keys] used a great deal of profane language and was ordered by the Court to cease using it.

W.T. McNully[1] testified that hearing a noise near Keys store, went up and found Hardy with a stone in his hand, in his shirt sleeves; soon after [he, McNulty] returned to Mr. Graham’s bar-room; which he keeps. Some fifteen minutes afterwards, Curry came with a soldier to borrow a pistol, which he refused to lend him; [he, Curry] was in the bar-room several times during the evening, and was pretty well intoxicated. This was about twelve o’clock at night.

John P. Gregg [was] examined [and] gave substantially the same statement that Keys did until he got outside of the door after knocking Hardy down, was in close contest with Curry and the soldier, one of them laid his hand on the hook of his watch chain, and he [Gregg] said that’s what you’re at is it? and knocked Curry down [and] from that time [he] became so excited, that he remembers nothing until he was again in the store, the door locked and violent attempts made to force it open. He escaped by the back door and retreated to the house of ——- two hundred yards distant; some time after returned to Dr. Fox’s office to have his wound dressed, and while there Curry and soldier came in threatening violently, demanding a [fight]. He being in fear of bodily harm and acting in defense of his life, knocked Curry down with a chair and thinks he bounded over him, and got out of Waterford; as he went out someone called halt, halt, several times, but he did not halt. Lost his watch, chain and money; watch and chain [were] recovered from the hands of a negro named Robinson by warrant from a Justice.

For [the] defense Henry Virts and Henry Hough testified that Hardy was pretty drunk, and Curry very effectually whipped. Submitted without argument. Both prisoners sent on to Circuit Court. Hardy bailed in $500, H.[enry] M. Hardy his father, [acted as] security. Bail was refused to Curry.

Whiskey seems to have been a very potent agent in producing this scene, as it is in almost all others.

[1] Pvt. [not Lieut.] William “S.” Keyes of the Loudoun Rangers lived after the war with wife Virginia at what became known as the Collins Cottage (no longer standing). William applied for a county liquor license in 1866, but in 1869 was fined a stiff $50 for selling without a license.

[2] William T. McNulty was about 17 at the time. He was living with his widowed mother at 40145 Main Street (Camelot School).

Loudoun County Liquor & Ordinary Licenses (Waterford)

Ordinary License 1852 Anderson, James S
Liquor License 1868 Berry, Newton
Liquor License 1847 Conrad, David
Liquor License 1867,1868 Hain[e]s, Joel
Liquor License 1866 Keys, William S.
Ordinary License 1824, 1827, 1828, 1831-1836 Klein, Lewis
Ordinary License 1837, 1838, 1851 Lee, Dodridge
Ordinary License 1848, 1849, 1854 Mathews, John
Liquor License 1852 Matthews, John
Liquor License 1901 Patton, M.H.
Ordinary License 1829-1833, 1835 Paxson, John
Liquor License 1849, 1850, 1854 Reed, Oscar F.
Ordinary License 1843-1849 Reed, Oscar
Liquor License 1867 Russell, James
Ordinary License 1840 Smith, George
Ordinary License 1856, 1858, 1859, 1860 Williams, Robert W.
Ordinary License 1851 Williams, J
Ordinary License 1861 Wine, George H.

Loudoun County Restaurant and Hotel Licenses 1856-1876 (Waterford)

Berry, Newton 1867 Taxed to Keep an Eating House
Haines, Joel 1867, 1868 To Keep an Eating House
Hough, Henry C. 1868 Eating House
Russell, James W. 1856 to keep an eating house
Russell, James W. 1866 to keep a hotel

Loudoun County Criminal Papers 1800-1899 (Waterford)

1790  McGavack, Patrick Selling liquor without a license. 2 counts
1800  Lacey, David Selling liquor without a license
1809  Patterson, Flemon Selling liquor without a license
1812  Lacey, David Selling liquor without a license Inn Keeper
1812  Sappington, John Keeping a Disorderly House Nov-1812 Listed as Inn Keeper
1815  Patterson, Fleming Selling liquor without a license

  • Conrad, David Selling liquor without a license
  • Bogges[s], Peter (Free Black) Selling liquor without a license
  • Talbot[t], Joseph Selling liquor without a license Guilty

1828  Lacey, Sarah White Female Selling liquor without a license
1828  Minor, Nathan (Free Black) Selling liquor without a license Guilty
1832  Hough, Joseph Selling liquor without a license
1859  Densmore, William Selling liquor without a license
1859  Roberts, Lorenzo D. Selling liquor without a license
1869  Keys, William, Selling Liquor without a license Guilty $50.00 Fine

 

Stories from the Attic: A. W. Phillips Meadow pastel, Interview Bronwen Souders

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“Stories in the Attic” is a series compiled and edited by Edith Crockett, Waterford Foundation Archives & Local History Collections Subcommittee. Individual stories are written by different authors.  This month’s “story” is the result of a collaboration between Bronwen C. Souders and Jane Williams.

Bronwen C. Souders grew up in the American West and in a recent interview said her younger self found history “boring”.  The past 50 years living near Waterford have changed her perspective. Now, as she used to say of her friend and mentor, historian John Divine, she is more familiar with the village of the 1820s than of the 2020s.  This month’s interview with Bronwen focuses on the A.W. Phillips Meadow pastel, created by

Mary “Molly” Dutton Steer, a Quaker, in 1900.  Think you have never seen this artwork? Think again.  It graces Waterford’s new signs on the entrances to our village.   Nearly lost to history, the pastel has recently been reframed for preservation by the Archives & Local History Collections Subcommittee.

Jane:  Bronwen, how did the Dutton Steer pastel come to the Waterford Historical Collections?

Bronwen:  More than 20 years ago, I was visiting with John Middleton (1925-2021) to discuss his early memories of Waterford.  John grew up in the village and was a member of the African American Collins family, long-time residents of the Waterford area.  He told me he had an old picture of Waterford that I might be interested in.  (His daughter only wanted the frame.) It was a charming view of the Phillips Farm from Second Street.

Jane:  Who was Molly Dutton Steer?

Sunnyside, circa 2007
Sunnyside, circa 1930

Molly Steer grew up at Sunnyside, a house that still stands on Second Street.  She was the artist of the four Dutton sisters.  Sisters Lida and Lizzie, along with Sarah Steer, created the Waterford News.  This pro-Union newspaper was one of the few women-run newspapers in the country during the Civil War.  Their father, John B. Dutton, was a strong Unionist who, with Sarah’s father Samuel Steer, sat out the war at Point of Rocks, Maryland, sneaking home periodically to see their families.

In the early 2000s, the owner of the Phillips Farm died, and 144 acres of the farm came on the market. The Waterford Foundation raised $2M to purchase the property, but a developer won the sales contract and announced plans to develop the property as a residential subdivision. The Foundation worked with the community, the Trust for Public Land, and other public and private supporters to buy the farm from the developer for just under $3.9M. Read more about this effort from the Washington Post. The Waterford Foundation embarked on an all-out fund-raising effort. To help raise money, the Foundation created T-shirts featuring the historic pastel.

Mary Frances “Molly” Dutton Steer with husband Frank Steer
Martha Parmes, pictured on Janney Street

During the war Molly married Franklin M. Steer, son of Second Street neighbor James M. Steer, a blacksmith. She lived into her 90s and eventually moved to a Quaker home in Baltimore, returning to Waterford for summertime visits.  During one such visit she gave the pastel to her friend Martha Parmes, a highly respected and much beloved member of the African American community.  Miss Parmes most likely passed it along to John Middleton.

Jane: Molly’s friendship with Martha Parmes suggests that the white community and the African American community were intertwined?

Bronwen: Waterford had always been integrated–even house-by-house.  There were enslaved African Americans living in White-owned homes, of course, but there were free African Americans who owned homes in Waterford alongside Whites well before the Civil War.  The African American community oversaw the Second Street School and built the John Wesley Church in the village.  Black and White children played together but never attended the same schools.  Black and White women would sometimes share a cup of tea, particularly in Quaker homes.

Jane:  Bronwen, thank you so much for your time and invaluable knowledge of Waterford!  This lovely pastel gives us an important portrait of how rural Waterford looked in the past.  And, as an artifact, provides insight into the close relationships among individuals despite racial segregation.  Thank you!

 

 

 

 

 

Samuel Gover’s Desk

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C. 1812 desk donated to the Waterford Foundation

c1812 Slant-top Desk made for Samuel Gover

The Waterford Foundation recently became the proud exhibitors of an American walnut slant-top desk, believed to have been made in Leesburg, Virginia, about 1812, for Samuel Gover (born before 1765 in Maryland, died between 1822-26 in Waterford). The donation was made by Gover descendant and Highland, Maryland residents Margaret Rose and her husband Gerald on October 21, 2016 at the Waterford Corner Store. Co-archivists Bronwen Souders and Edith Crockett accepted it on behalf of the Foundation.

A member of Fairfax Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Gover headed a household of seven individuals in 1810 in the village (although 14 children in all had been born to hi and his second wife Sarah Harris Janney between 1

785 and 1806). Their home, now called the Griffith-Gover House, is at 40139 Main Street. The desk was handed down through the family to Samuel’s great grandson Henry Taylor Gover (1875-1969), and through Henry’s niece Mary Armstrong Pierdon to her daughter Margaret Rose.

An appraisal report for the piece gives the following details:

The classic form, with few embellishments and no veneers, is in keeping with Quaker tastes, comprising a set of four graduated drawers with toe-molded overlapping edges; the shallowest drawer is on top, flanked by sliding supports for the writing surface; the desk compartment is symmetrically arranged around a central cabinet with crotch-grained prospect door, with a fluted-front document box to either side, then three small drawers show beneath valanced pigeon holes; decorative flued quarter columns are on the front corners. It is supported on bracket feet; overall measurements are 41 inches high; 41 3/4 inches wide, and 21 inches in depth.

The primary wood appears to be walnut; drawers and hidden surfaces in the case constructed of poplar; drawer guides are yellow pine or hemlock; drawers and hidden surfaces in the desk compartment, white pine. Escutcheons and locks appear to be original. Bale pulls are of the period but do not appear to be original with the desk.

Wear, cracks and repairs are consistent with age and use, most notably along the top edge of two drawers and the front left foot. Some pigeonhole valances are detached, but retained. The wood surface has been polished and refinished during years of domestic use.

Interior drawer and pigeonhole detail
“Notes Drawer”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have artifacts from Waterford’s history that you would like to share, please contact our office at oldschool@waterfordfoundation.org.

 

 

Stories from the Attic: Just Like Home c1862

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The following letter is in the Local History Collection of the Waterford Foundation. It was written by James Dickinson, a Union soldier of the 9th Division, bivouacked in Waterford, one of thousands of Yankee troops on their way south. James Dickinson’s home state was Michigan. His unit had only recently been mustered. For the most part, the original spelling and grammar of the letter have not been changed. Our thanks to John Souders for providing the history of the letter writer and identifying him..

Waterford Ver Mar the 1 1862

Dear Aunt,

I have a fine chance know[sic] to write you a few lines to let you know how we get along   We are all well know[sic] and in good spirits we are four miles in advance of our forces on picket Guard.   It is a splendid country and we have first rate times. The weather is very pleasant and warm. We are in a beautiful little grove where the walnuts are in abundance, aunt, perhaps that you would like it. Now what we had for Breakfast that perhaps that you know that while we are in the Enemys country that what we can get comes without money or without price. This morning there were twenty-eight very nice chickens came into our camp and only 20 of us to eat them so we fared first rate. We had chickens, pork, peas, sauce and coffee [illegible] hard bread for our breakfast and it relished first rate to [illegible] it is not very often that we are favored with such blessings as these here. We can crack nuts and apples, pears and chickens and thore [there] is a very nice spring of water not but a few feet from our tents. Aunt, this seems most like home of anything that I have had since we left home. You see we are left as a reserve so that if the rest of the pickets are driven(?) in we are to support them, so that we do not have to have but one man out of twenty to stand guard. Well Aunt you may think it strange that I do not write oftener but we are bothered most to. death to get postage stamps here and we have to divide them amongst our friends as equal as we can. Well, Aunt, I don’t know as I can think of anything more to write. At present I have just written home but have not received any letter from there in a long time. I must close. Give my love to all inquiring friends and don’t forget to accept a share for yourself. Good Buy [sic].

From  J D Dickinson

Image of unknown Union soldier courtesy of the Library of Congress.

 

Cheers for Women’s History Month: Anne E. Matthews’ Egg Nog Recipe

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Clifton circa 1860s, photo courtesy of Bruce Clendenin

A formidable Egg Nog Recipe by Anne E. Matthews, a Waterford resident at the turn of the 19th century, was recently discovered among documents donated to the Foundation’s Local History Collection by the Chamberlin family. It reveals that, despite the Quaker tradition into which she was born of not imbibing alcohol, festive occasions requiring remarkable amounts of spirits sometimes took place.

Known familiarly from an early age as Annie, she was a daughter of Sarah Gover Matthews and Edward Y. Matthews, born outside Baltimore about 1842, just before the family bought property in Waterford and moved to their new home, “Clifton”, on Clarke’s Gap Road, just south of Waterford. The house is still occupied by descendants of the Chamberlin family. As a member of a Quaker family, Annie attended Samuel Janney School in the village of Goose Creek (now the village of Lincoln) and later, during the Civil War, the Quaker school at Sandy Spring, MD. Raised on the Quaker tenet that all people are equals, Annie became a strong activist for social and political reform on behalf of women, Blacks and other marginalized groups. She was among the earliest Quaker women to educate Blacks, including former slaves, after the Civil War.

At a young age Annie became an active participant in the Suffragette Movement, which ultimately resulted in the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1919, guaranteeing women the right to vote. She never married and lived much of her early life at Clifton. In the 1870s she moved to Washington and was employed at the Treasury Dept. She held a position there until shortly before her death in the 1920s.

Mix up a batch of Annie’s Egg Nog for your own toast to Women’s History Month!

Anne E. Matthews’ Egg Nog Recipe

1 quart best whiskey                    1 qt milk

1 pint best brandy                        2 doz eggs

1 pint Jamaica rum                     1 ¼ lbs granulated

3 qts cream                                   sugar

 

Have all ingredients & utensils cold & make in a cool place.

Separate eggs & beat very lightly. Beat whites to stiff froth adding about 3 teaspoonsful of powdered sugar as you beat. Put half the sugar in half the milk and cream to soften. Stirring from the bottom of the bowl and beating lightly with egg whip while working in yolks of egg. Beat yolks very light and after they get light and after they get quite light add sugar gradually, beating until perfectly smooth. Then begin to add in small quantities the brandy and whiskey as you beat. Beat the milk and cream some, but not too stiff, as you want to keep the mixture in liquid state. When you get most of the brandy and whiskey in, begin with the milk and rum and a little of the whites of the eggs, leaving most of this to stir in lightly at the last.

 I do not use a spoon at all, but mix entirely with an egg beater as it keeps it lighter – I use best California brandy and whiskey and Jamaica rum. In serving put ladel [sic] to bottom of bowl and bring straight up which keeps it the same consistency and gets an equal portion of from on top of glass.