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Sarah Frances Andrews (1826-1911) was from Essex County, Virginia. She married John Newton Harper (1823-1907) of Alexandria. In 1879 Sarah Harper purchased in her own name Mt. Pleasant, a large tract of land on the north side of Aquia Creek on which large scale commercial freestone quarrying had long been conducted. The Harpers lived on…

James Leach (died c.1823) may have been the son of Benjamin Leitch (1754-1812) and Elizabeth Peyton (died after 1811). He owned part of the Richlands tract between U. S, Route 17 and the Rappahannock River near the present site of Richlands Baptist Church. James was deputy surveyor of Stafford from at least 1787 to 1821).…

John W. Leddon (1876-1945) seems to have been a waterman on Aquia Creek and the Potomac River. His mother was a Dickerson from Stafford. John lived in a little shack on the lower end of Coal Landing. He caught turtles in Aquia Creek and kept them in a pen next to his house. Water turtles…

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 get to Washington or elsewhere became successful. Fountain Peyton was one such man. Born enslaved in Stafford, he became a successful attorney in Washington, DC. This article…

The house at Gari Melchers Home and Studio possesses a rich history that predates Gari Melchers. Because the original deed of ownership is lost, the year in which the Georgian-style frame house was built and the identity of its first owner is not precisely known. But based on the existing physical evidence, the possibilities can…

George Washington grew up at Rappahannock Farm (currently known as Ferry Farm).  He lived in this area from age 6 through age 21.  He received a rudimentary education at home and in Fredericksburg. Unlike George Mason (IV), a man of ideas, Washington was inclined to learn from practical experience as a surveyor, militia officer, and…

John Mercer (1704-1768)—immigrated to America in 1720 from Dublin, Ireland, settling first in Maryland, then in Virginia. He soon became a prominent entrepreneur, attorney, and landowner. John arrived in Stafford around 1725 and almost single-handedly rebuilt the failed town of Marlborough. On the site he built houses, a racetrack, distillery, warehouses, and a windmill for…

The June 12, 1993, re-dedication of Stafford County Courthouse featured a rare appearance of Mason (IV)’s draft manuscript of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Because of its fragile condition and historical importance, the Declaration has seldom been removed from Virginia State Archives.  On display at the same time was the clerk’s copy of the first…

America’s “First Arsenal of Democracy”, the Rappahannock Forge, a subsidiary of Hunters Iron Works, was located on the banks of the Rappahannock River in Stafford County during the Revolutionary War.   Ironies abound as James Hunter relied on enslaved labor to produce armaments and equipment for our liberty and depended on pacifist Quakers for his skilled…

Pig iron were an important step in the manufacturing process. Iron ingots, or large rods, were a product of blast furnaces that could be refined into finished iron and steel products like swords and musket parts such as barrel and flint lock components.

Hunter, an undoubted patriot and major contributor to the success of the American Revolution, produced all types of weapons and equipment such as camp kettles, spades, shovels, and anchors.  His foundry created muskets, pistols, carbines, and wall guns.  Wall guns were large caliber, smooth bore muskets which were too heavy to be fired from the…

Horse pistols were usually issued in pairs.  The set would be carried in holsters draped across the pommel of a saddle.  They weighed several pounds each and were so long they could not comfortably be carried on the hip.  There are only 15 of these horse pistols made in Falmouth that still exist.  They are…