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William Irvine (c.1806-1887) was the son of John Irvine (c.1766-after 1850) of Ireland and William himself was born in that country.    He married Sinah “Sarah” Davis Conyers (1802-1883), the daughter of his neighbor, John Conyers (1754-1819).  He was involved with the Lee Gold Mine in lower Stafford and resided in the fine brick home…

Abraham Howard (c.1800-1876), also known as Abram, was a highly skilled African American blacksmith who lived in Falmouth and repaired and fabricated machinery for the flour and textile mills there.  He seems to have been the son of John Howard and Elizabeth Dick of Stafford.  The blacksmith business, especially on the scale that Abraham was…

Cossom W. Horton (c.1735-1821) is believed to have been the son of Snodal Horton (c.1694-1755) of Stafford County.  Cossom lived on the ancient Hope plantation on Aquia Creek and seems to have been involved with quarrying and the shipping of freestone for construction of the new city of Washington, DC.  He married Lucy Brown of…

James Hore (died 1807) was the son of Elias Hore (1719-1782) and Mary Brown of Stafford.  The Hore family resided in Stafford for much of the nineteenth century and most of them lived in the upper part of the county.  James Hore married Frances Nelson.  Around 1806 he acquired part of Thomas Ludwell Lee’s Potomac…

John Holloway’s (1762-1834) ancestors were Quakers who seem to have come to Stafford to work at James Hunter’s Iron Works near Falmouth.  This facility was a major supplier of weapons and supplies to Continental troops during the American Revolution.  There were at least two waves of Quakers who came to Hunter’s from Pennsylvania and New Jersey…

Robert G. Hickerson (1829-1898) was the son of Ransom Hickerson (c.1794-1844) and Mary Mason Kendall (1799-c.1867) of Stafford.  In April 1863 Robert enlisted as a sergeant with the 9th Virginia Cavalry.  He was later appointed quartermaster sergeant.  Robert married Mary E. Combs (1832-1903), the widow of Bolivar C. Combs (1831-1862).  According to Robert’s obituary, the…

Horace B. Hewitt (1816-1882) was born in Connecticut, the son of Jonas Hewitt.  Horace resided in Falmouth and in 1841 married Jane Smith (1823-1871).  The 1871 land tax records list him as owner of 152 acres on Poplar Road (Route 616).  Other members of his family resided near Berea Church on Warrenton Road (U. S.…

Peter Hedgman (c.1700-1765) was the son of Nathaniel Hedgman (c.1665-1721) and his wife, Catherine (LNU) (before 1687-1708) who purchased George Mason’s (1629-1686) Accokeek Run property in 1707.  Robert “King” Carter (1663-1732) sent Nathaniel from Lancaster County to be overseer on Carter’s Stafford plantations.  He met with a violent death by which he earned the disdain…

Thomas Harwood (1769-1845) was the son of John Harwood (died c.1787) who had been a millwright at James Hunter’s Iron Works near Falmouth.  Thomas was also a millwright and repaired several of the local flour and textile mills.  He inherited the family farm, the house on which stood in the vicinity of the Wingate Inn on the…

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…

Evalina Green (c.1845-1926) was enslaved to the Moncure family of Somerset.  She was about 17 years of age when Burnside’s troops invaded Stafford.  Her family, who were also enslaved at Somerset, left with the soldiers, but Evalina made the difficult decision to remain.  Although advised to leave by her mistress, she stayed at the only…

Robert Hayman Gray (1873-1958) was the son of Robert Atchison Gray (1830-1915) and Adelaide Gettys Hayman (1830-1921).  For some 25 years he presided in Stafford’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and was a member of the county school board.  He never married and resided at Eastwood, the old Gray family home that was once part of…