Melisa Butler will share the history of her family’s 18th century Stafford farmhouse, Cedar Hill, and the people who have called it home.

We regret that our scheduled presentation on memories of Hartwood Winery by Connie Hilker will have to be postponed for a future date.

Instead, Jerrilynn Eby will be presenting about the land record challenges following the Civil War. During their fourteen-month occupation of Stafford County, Union soldiers made at least two destructive raids on the courthouse and clerk’s office. They stole or destroyed about two-thirds of the county’s court records along with Stafford’s colonial seal and courthouse Bible. The impact of the loss of these records continues to impact landowners, researchers, and genealogists today.

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With Anita Dodd

On May 19th, Stafford County Historical Society will host Dr. Lauren McMillan to present “Shell Masks and Anthropomorphic Objects among the Patawomecks”:

The word Patawomeck loosely translates as “trading center,” underscoring the importance of trade to the people and region. Through an examination of shell masks, which traveled from the Gulf Coast to eastern Tennessee, before arriving at the ancestral village of the Patawomeck people on Indian Point in Stafford County, Virginia, I will focus on the time period right before and during European contact to discuss the cultural importance of trade to the Patawomeck people.

Dr. Lauren McMillan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Historic Preservation at the University of Mary Washington where she teaches North American archaeology and general preservation courses. Her main research interest focuses on Native-Anglo interactions during the early 17th century and the interpretation of Native Virginian history in the present. She is an honorary member of the Patawomeck Tribe.

Special thanks to the Patawomeck Heritage Foundation for sponsoring this presentation!

With John Hennessy