Figure of the Week

William Waller (1740-1817) was the son of Edward Waller (1702-1753) and Ann Tandy (1721-1748) of Concord on Aquia Creek. During the American Revolution, he served as a Corporal in the 11th and 15th Continental Lines as well as in Capt. George Rice’s Company #9 in the Virginia Battalion.

In his civilian life, he served as a tobacco inspector at the Aquia Warehouse in 1778, 1780, and 1786 and, possibly, during the intervening years, as well.

The Concord tract included at least five quarry pits from which large quantities of Aquia freestone were raised and sold for the construction of the public buildings in Washington, DC. At least two of William’s sons were involved in the freestone business, including Withers Waller (1785-1827) who, with his cousin, shipped the massive monolithic column shafts from Brent’s/Government Island to Washington where they were placed on the east portico of the U. S. Capitol.

William married first Elizabeth Allen (1746-1768); secondly Margaret Waller (1744-1772) of nearby Spring Hill; and thirdly Ursula Withers (1750-1815). William and many of his family are buried at Concord.

On November 14, 2021, the Fielding Lewis Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution placed a bronze marker on William’s grave in recognition of his patriotic service. (Photograph courtesy of the Fielding Lewis Chapter of the SAR.)