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Abram H. Van Doran was born in New York. In 1850 he married Rachel Schenck (1821-1866) and came to Stafford shortly thereafter. He purchased land on the Warrenton Road (U. S. Route 17) not far from its junction with Poplar Road (Route 616). He called his farm Peach Lawn and Peach Lawn Drive (Route 749)…

Thomas N. Towson was the son of Thomas Towson (1774-1861) and Eleanor Norman (1782-1848) of Stafford County, Virginia. In 1843, he married Mary Frances Smith (1824-1895) of Fauquier County, Virginia and they resided in William W. Robertson’s old stone house located between Garrisonville and Courthouse Roads in Stafford. Thomas inherited a freestone quarry from his…

Herbert Minor Tolson (1856-1936) was the son of James E. Tolson (c.1795-c.1867) and Anne E. Hickerson (c.1827-1897) of Stafford County, Virginia. He married Virginia Page Johnson (1855-1926) and lived at Stafford Store in the northern part of the county. In 1895 and 1896, Herbert M. Tolson taught school at Chappawamsic School. He served as the…

James B. Templeman was the son of Edward and Setha Templeman of Stafford County, Virginia. He married Louisa Holmes (1830-1900) and resided on a 100-acre farm called Hopewell. This tract adjoined modern Lake Arrowhead subdivision. James was a member of Rock Hill Baptist Church where he served as clerk. He died of consumption. His obituary…

James L. Taliaferro lived near Potomac Run in Stafford County, Virginia. He was a Confederate veteran and was shot in the leg “which made him a cripple the remainder of his life.” In 1868, James purchased from John Moncure a tract of land “near Potomac Run Bridge, for the purpose of establishing a vineyard on…

John O. Tackett was one of four known children of Charles Addison Tackett (1814-1896) of Stafford County, Virginia. The first of this interesting family to come to the New World was Lewis Tacquitt, a French Huguenot who settled on Cedar Run (now Fauquier County) just below Broad Run. Sometime prior to 1872, John O. Tackett…

Joseph F. Swetnam (1835-1892) was the son of John A. Swetnam (1792-1854) and Sarah Sanford (c.1811-after 1893) of Stafford County, Virginia. Joseph married Araminta Carneal (1846-1919) and lived for some years at Locust Grove near the junction of Sanford Drive (Route 670) and Greenbank Road (Route 656). Prior to the War Between the States, Joseph…

Broaddus Sullivan married Virginia Roberson of Stafford County, Virginia. In 1896, the Stafford Clerk of Court wrote, “Whereas the Bridge erected by the County over Potomac Run is in imminent danger of being destroyed by the back-water caused by the heavy driftwood &c, which has clogged the Run in the vicinity of said Bridge &…

Edward L. Sterne was the son of Charles Montgomery Sterne (1827-1901) and lived at Roseville, Stafford County, Virginia. A newspaper announced, “Mr. E. L. Sterne, of Stafford, raised a cucumber from some seed sent him from Bakersfield, California by his friend, L. H. Jones, which measured 3 1/2 feet in length and 9 inches in…

Richard Mason Shelton was the son of Gustavus Shelton and Lucinda Pates of Stafford County, Virginia. He ran a livery stable at Stafford Courthouse where people coming to court could leave their horses to be fed, watered, and cared for. He also pleaded cases in court and served as attorney for some Stafford residents who…

Wilson B. Shackelford was a Confederate veteran and lived his later years in Fredericksburg. In 1905, he advertised “One eight H. P. steam engine, one grist mill with two sets of runners, fifteen ares of land, known as the Long Branch Mill Tract. There are good indications of gold on this land. For information write…

Thompson H. Shackelford was the son of Wesley Shackelford and Jane Garrison of Stafford County, Virginia. He was a blacksmith and lived in Wide Water. Thompson married Emma Abel (born c.1874). In 1901, he was a constable for the Aquia District. The 1910 census denotes him as a “miner mineral mines,” possibly indicating that he…