Figure of the Week

Anne Eliza Stribling (1832-1903) was the daughter of Robert Mackey Stribling (1793-1862) and Caroline Matilda Clarkson (1800-1887) of Fauquier County.  She married Withers Waller (1827-1900) of Clifton, Stafford County.  Prior to the War Between the States, Withers operated a fishery at Clifton on the Potomac River.   A commercial fishery had been in place here since at least the mid-1700s.  Because of the Union occupation during the war, no fishing was conducted here after about 1861.  When the Waller family returned to Clifton after the peace, they found themselves amongst the few fortunate Stafford residents to still have a house.  A few years after the war, Withers reopened his fishing business.  Men who had worked there while enslaved prior to the war returned after the peace and worked for wages.  When the R. F. & P. Railroad extended the tracks across Aquia Creek in 1872, the trains passed right through Waller’s fishery.  With easy access to rail transport, Clifton quickly grew into one of the largest seine fisheries on the East Coast.  After Withers died, Anne Eliza (Stribling) Waller and her daughters continued operating the fishery with the help of managers.  Withers and Anne Eliza had eight daughters.  One was the noted humanitarian, Dr. Kate Waller Barrett (1858-1925).  Another, Agnes (Waller) Moncure, was the mother of Miss Anne E. Moncure for whom the elementary school in Stafford was named.