Site Search

The Virginia “gold belt” lies in a northwestern linear band from Great Falls of the Potomac River, southwest through Stafford, Fauquier, Chancellorsville, Mineral, Tabscott, and nearly to Appomattox. Stafford’s gold mines were concentrated along Rocky Pen and Horsepen Runs in the lower part of the county. Eugene C. Scheel’s excellent historical map portrays the large…

With the exception of the Eagle Mine, most gold removed from Stafford mines was dug from pits. Eagle was one of the few Stafford mines with tunnels or shafts, which were constantly plagued with water seepage. Gold was usually found as flecks in decomposing white or pink quartz. Once dug, laborers used mauls to break…

Many enslaved people lived in Stafford, but the names of most have been lost to history. A number of those who were able to leave the county and settle in Washington or elsewhere became successful. Fountain Peyton was one such man. Born enslaved in Stafford, he became a successful attorney in Washington, DC. Fountain Peyton,…

Fishing, farming, and hunting were the primary means by which people supported themselves in early Stafford. There were no grocery stores and people had to provide for their own needs and those of their families.  Nearly everyone who owned waterfront property set out nets to catch fish. These fishing operations might be small, i.e., they…

Just south of Stafford Courthouse and standing on the opposite side of U. S. Route 1 from Aquia Realty (formerly Hotel Virginia) was a brick building still known to locals as the Peoples Bank. Although it has been many a year since the Peoples Bank conducted business on this site, at the time of its…

Born Peyton Cole Hedgeman, in Widewater, Virginia in 1890, Hayden left the family at the age of 16 and went to Washington D.C. where he joined the circus. When not working, he sketched. Circus administrators turned his artwork into advertising posters. After a stint in the Army, Palmer Hayden moved to New York City working…

“The Ghost Fleet” at Mallows Bay was written by Stafford County Historical Society member, Beth Daly. In April 1917, Congress authorized funds (about a billion dollars, equivalent to $13 billion today) for the Emergency Fleet Corporation; it would be “a wooden bridge of ships” to Europe.   The keel of the first ship, the “Aberdeen,” was…

(1857-1925) Catherine Harwood Waller was the daughter of Withers Waller (1825-1900) and Anne Eliza Stribling (1832-1903) of Clifton in Wide Water (Widewater). Her parents operated one of the largest seine fisheries on the east coast and Kate was one of eight daughters who reached maturity. She married Robert South Barrett (1851-1896), an Episcopal minister at…

Lt. Charles E. Morton, 2nd New York (“Harris Light”) Cavalry, described his regiment’s arrival in Falmouth in a letter to his father. His letter (full text below) was published in the Newburgh Journal and pasted in a scrapbook by his brother, an officer in the 5th New York (“Ira Harris Guard”) Cavalry. Edward W. Whitaker,…

African American History Enslaved men, women, and children labored at Ferry Farm from the 1720s until 1862.  While the farm’s written record regarding the enslaved community is sparse, research that combines archaeology and surviving documents reveals aspects of the daily lives of those who involuntarily toiled and lived at Ferry Farm. Most of the written…

84th New York Infantry (14th “Brooklyn” N.Y.S.M.) The regiment was uniformed, organized and trained as chasseurs a pied – different from, but similar looking to  the more ubiquitous Zouaves. The 84th left Brooklyn for Washington, D. C., May 18, 1861, and was mustered into United States service there on May 25th. Initially in Mansfield’s Command,…

The winter of 1917-1918 was the coldest recorded in Virginia. Snow fell some three times its normal average and the Potomac River and its tributaries froze. Additionally, the entire length of the Chesapeake Bay was frozen, with Chincoteague Bay frozen to a depth of 10 inches at its mouth. When the ice began to thaw…