Figure of the Week

Col. William Garrard (c.1715-1787) owned Garrard’s Ordinary across U. S. Route 1 from the present Stafford Courthouse.  It was located about where the Valero convenience store now stands.  He was the son of Nathaniel Garrard of Westmoreland County, Virginia.  William’s first wife was Mary Lewis (c.1721-c.1748).  He married secondly Mary Naughty (c.1721-c.1762).  In the 1750s William Garrard operated a tavern or ordinary on the lawn of the Stafford courthouse, which was then located near Belle Plain on Potomac Creek.  When the courthouse was moved to its present site, Garrard also relocated and commenced operating another tavern close to the new courthouse.  The Stafford magistrates met at Garrard’s Ordinary from around 1778-1783 during the time that a new courthouse was under construction on the present site.  During the American Revolution, William Garrard was a colonel in the Stafford County militia.  His son, James Garrard (1749-1822), moved to Kentucky after the Revolution and became that state’s second governor.