One of the things that fascinates me are places that hold some history, but are overlooked or seldom visited. One such tucked away place is located in Woodbridge, south of the Occoquan River and west of Route One. Railroad Avenue, Colchester Ferry Place and Potomac Path Drive of the Belmont Bay neighborhood hint at some of the forgotten history there.
Before we get rolling, a tip of the hat to two main sources —Prince William County (map) drawn by Eugene Scheel (1992) and “Along the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac RR” by William E. Griffin, Jr. Also, a big thank you to Steven B. Shwartzman and his book, “Fortunate Son, Thomas Mason of Woodbridge.”
The Potomac Path starts this story, the colonial road (later known as the King’s Highway) the Virginia planters and others took to get from the Northern Neck to points northward. Their seventeenth century forebears had not been interested in travel, and were annoyed when anyone crossed their plantation fields or wanted them to build a road.
But the dependency on tobacco continued to wear out the fields. Slowly, the gentry moved further and further away from Williamsburg and into the northern part of the colony. In the second half of the seventeenth century, speculators acquired thousands of acres on or near Mason Neck and Great Hunting Creek. One of the biggest purchase was made by Robert Howsing in 1669, 6,000 acres that would become land we now call Old Town Alexandria, Potomac Yard, Crystal City and Pentagon City.
This movement led to the founding of Prince William County in 1731. A marker at the corner of Route One and Annapolis Way tells us the first courthouse of the county stood 150 yards to the east. That would put its site near the end of Colchester Ferry Place, a quiet place away from the rush of cars on Route One.
Note: It appears this marker was removed for current construction.
We know very little about the courthouse, but the book “Prince William: A Past to Preserve” tells us a jail, pillory and stocks were also built beside the courthouse. In his book, “The Courthouses of Early Virginia,” Carl P. Lounsbury notes the Prince William justices did not always bother to travel the far away distance. Nevertheless, courthouses were critical to the needs of the people and were “symbolic manifestations of the authority” of the gentry and justices.
Putting a courthouse in a far corner of a new county might seem like an odd thing to do. But as Donald Swieg explains (“Fairfax County, Virginia, A History”), the location of the courthouse made it easier for those wanting to ride and examine the lands north of the Occoquan. A land boom led to the founding of Fairfax County in 1742, Alexandria in 1749 and Colchester in 1753.
Before it got to the Occoquan River, the Potomac Path skirted past many a shallowing creek that fed into the Potomac. But as the Indigenous peoples knew, the Fall Line had created a gorge at the Occoquan. Its waters did not thin out until a point well upstream. Or as Edith Moore Spouse put it, the “Occoquan was no gentle stream.” Given this lay of the land, there was no choice but to establish ferry service.
The Mason family had a presence in this part of the colony. Thomas Mason, the youngest son of George Mason of Gunston Hall, lived at a plantation south of the Occoquan. Very little is known about it, but Steven B. Shwartzman (“Fortunate Son: Thomas Mason of Woodbridge) shines some light. He tells us Thomas Mason would have built his home on the highest ground available. Its site could very well be where the Potomac Path approached the Occoquan. Richard R. Mason later placed an ad in the Alexandria Gazette. It described Woodbridge as the residence of the late Gerard Mason. “It lies on the Occoquan River immediately opposite the village of Colchester and contains 500 acres of land.”
Mason also operated a ferry. Nothing visible remains, but in 1929, "The Rambler," a reporter for the Evening Star, found remains of a stone house near what is now a sanitary sewer pump just to the north of the end of Colchester Ferry Way. Shwartzman hopes any future surveys there might identify the ferry house as well as the county courthouse. Old Colchester Road ends at the Occoquan and gives one the sense of the Potomac Path.
Ferry service began at this location in 1684. Thomas Mason was the fifth generation of Mason’s to operate the service. One of his customer’s was George Washington. In his book, “The Nine Lives of George Washington,” William Betts, Jr. writes about an incident there in 1791. Four of George Washington’s horses slipped off the deck, but the carriage managed to stay on.
A wooden toll bridge built in 1795 and replaced the ferry service. Shwartzman gives an informative account. He believes Timothy Palmer may have designed the span. It went up around the same time as a wooden bridge at Little Falls. A chain bridge replaced it, so we know the current span as Chain Bridge near Georgetown.
Mason’s bridge made it easier to cross the Occoquan, but heavy rains and flood waters wiped it out in 1807. In some ways, this opened the door for Occoquan, located about a mile upstream. John Ballendine had helped put the village on the map in the 1750s when he built two mills and a commodious stone home there. Already prosperous, Occoquan gained the passenger and mail business.
Woodbridge was never incorporated into a town like Occoquan. But some rail buffs there might have jumped for joy in 1872 when passengers on the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac could finally ride the rails all the way from Fredericksburg to Washington. Previously, they disembarked at Aquia (later Quantico) and boarded a steamer to Washington.
Part of that ride was the first rail bridge over the Occoquan just west of where Mason’s ferry had taken passengers over to Colchester. H.K. Bradshaw of Alexandria built the trestle structure. Griffin, quoting the Gazette, tells us a “goodly gathering of the citizens of Prince William County and a number of fair ladies” were on hand.
Newspaper accounts show some activities at Woodbridge in the 1880s. A horse race track was located at the station. Baseball games were played and political gatherings held. W.D. Clarke ran a store. Republicans, supported by African Americans, gathered in Occoquan, while Democrats (conservative) rallied in Woodbridge.
The torrents of rain waters returned in 1889 and damaged the bridge. The Southern Railway rebuilt it in 1892 with a metal Pratt truss.
The bridge one sees now was completed in 1915 by the RF&P. Nathaniel Lee tells us more about it in his book, “The Iron Road of Franconia.” Designed by the famed Gustav Lindenthal in the “Parker through truss” style, the 920-foot span was “the largest single feat of engineering undertaken by the railroad company in Fairfax County.” Other examples across the country are dwindling in number.
Lee reminds us such structures are works of public art and that the bridge is on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites. It is used by CSXT, Amtrak and VRE and a DC2RVA report points out it is eligible for listing in the NRHP.
Around the time the new bridge was built in 1915, a couple of homes (13221 built in 1913 and 13221 built in 1913) also sprung up near the station on Railroad Avenue. They joined 13215 (1901), 13209 (1910) and 13217 (1913). Historic aerials also show a row of structures on the west side of the tracks. The houses remain but the other structures slowly went away.
The site of the railroad station is just to the east of the tracks near the VRE station. As Griffin points out, the station was alternately known as both Woodbridge and Occoquan. The station to the south at Cherry Hill was Myron and to the north was the Long Branch Station at Newington.
More excitement came to this part of the county in 1927 when the Washington-Richmond highway (Route One) was completed. Instead of a new bridge being built, the metal bridge built in 1892 for the railroad was converted for vehicle traffic. Prior to the new highway, motorists used an out of the way course of Old Colchester Road, Furnace Road underneath the railroad tracks to Lorton Road and then to Ox Road where they crossed over the Occoquan at Occoquan. Another way used Lorton Road.
In 1941, the Route One highway bridge was widened. In 1957, a front page story for the Richmond Dispatch told readers about 9 injured in a head-on collision on the bridge. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes damaged some of the bridge. A temporary bridge was built and became the southbound span in 1981.
Automobiles made captains and conductors of every driver behind the steering wheel. Passenger numbers on the RF&P declined after World War II. The company announced plans to dismantle a half dozen stations in 1952, including Woodbridge. It’s no coincidence that Shirley Highway was completed that same year.
In the second half of the century, Woodbridge continued to grow as a bedroom community and census designated place. Visit Prince William notes: “Woodbridge is probably the most renowned area in Prince William, Virginia.”
A new VRE station and parking garage went up in October 1991. The Post reported it was expected to be the busiest in the VRE system. A new overpass over the RR tracks was also built. Woodbridge was the only station to have a new station house.
An elected official at the ceremony was quoted as saying, “Transportation affects every person who lives in our community.”
Perhaps when Prince William County celebrates and commemorates its 300th birthday in 2031, we will hear something like that again. Maybe even at this tucked away historic spot.
For more than sixty years, a Giant grocery story has stood on top of Beacon Hill in Groveton. Lest we forget what this anchor has meant for the community and surrounding areas, let’s take a brief look at its story.
The Giant in Groveton opened in 1960. It was located where the current one is, near the corner of Richmond Highway and Memorial Avenue (then known as W. Oak Street). The address, as it is today, was 6800 Richmond Highway. The new store was part of a wave of supermarkets from the growing chain. The first Giant had opened at Georgia Avenue and Park Road in NW DC in 1936. Five years later, Arlington got bragging rights as the first outside the District, followed by Silver Spring in 1946.
In the summer of 1955, the supermarket company, based in Landover, opened their 30th store and eighth in Virginia at the Bradlee Shopping Center at 3708 King Street. It must have seemed like the company could not build them fast enough. The great suburban boom was on in the Washington region. Fairfax County’s population would leap from 98,557 in 1950 to 275,002 in 1960. Giant was on its way to a total that has now reached more than 150 stores in the greater DMV region.
A long forgotten figure in Washington’s retail history is Nehemiah Myer Cohen (1893-1984), who founded the company. A native of Jerusalem, he owned three grocery stores in Lancaster, Pennsylvania before opening that first Giant in DC in 1936.
The story of the Groveton Giant began in 1956. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors held meetings to discuss two proposals in this growing part of the county two to three miles south of Alexandria. One developer wanted a shopping center in Hybla Valley. Tower Construction, Giant’s shopping center builder, wanted one in Groveton on top of Beacon Hill.
At that time, this crown of land was occupied by the Beacon Airport and City View II, a landmark home built in 1920. Beth Mitchell's Interpretive Map of Fairfax County in 1760 shows small tobacco plantations made up the county. To get to Alexandria, George Washington took the colonial road that Route One partly follows today. Groveton sprung up on both sides of the road in the 1870s. The completion of the Richmond-Washington Highway in the 1920s signaled the start of a new era that would forever change the once rural landscape.
Harry Lehman, grandson of W.F.P. Reid and son of Franklin Reid, was born and raised in City View II. Its all-weather top deck provided sweeping views of not only Alexandria, but also Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C.
“When you sat up there,” Lehman said, “you were high in the sky.”
Note: City View II replaced City View I, which was built in 1868 and burned down in 1918).
Groveton was an early suburban neighborhood in the county. By 1937, a number of homes had sprouted up near the airport and on both sides of the highway. Route One was on its way to becoming a busy artery for both local traffic and travelers. Interstate 95, the Beltway and the Wilson Bridge would not be built until the 1960s. This part of the county, especially Penn Daw, became a mecca for travelers. Almost all of the motels are gone, but a few remain to remind us of those earlier times.
Another busy place in Groveton was the Dixie Pig Restaurant, a culinary landmark that fed many a hungry tummy from 1947 to its closing in the early 1990s. In her book, “Groveton, Images of America,” author and local resident Charlotte Brown tells us Benjamin and Helen Bishop of North Carolina imported the Tar Heel state’s signature recipe for moist pork and beef barbecue to their location. Their restaurant was situated across the street from City View II and the airport.
In 1957, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors initially denied the application by Tower Construction for the City View tract. The Board was worried that a shopping center there would pull business away from the one approved for Hybla Valley, about a mile to the south.
The dispute went to court. That same year Judge Harry L. Carrico ruled the Board of Supervisors could not deny a request for a commercial zoning on the basis of “fear of competition.” The Virginia Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision.
City View II (site Famous Dave's) was demolished in 1959. That summer Giant Food announced record sales and the start of their new “Super Giant” stores, which combined foods and department store items.
Photo: Historic Aerials, 1949
One of those Super Giants was the new Giant in Groveton, built right where the one is located today near the corner of Richmond Highway and Memorial Avenue.
Historic aerials show that for a few years, parts of the two runways were still there. The store was located steps from where the two runways had crossed. Even today, the long fence behind the store between Memorial and Southgate marks the location of the north-south runway. The site of City View is between the Panera and Famous Dave’s.
Photo: Historic Aerials, 1962
How exciting it must have been on Monday, August 22nd, 1960 when the new store opened their doors. The Washington Evening Star (August 21) reported “the store will display some innovations in super market design.” An ad in the Star said, “Super Giant, a new dimension in retailing.” A photograph in the August 23rd edition shows Cohen admiring a “modernistic 90-foot agricultural mural decorating each of two Super Giants, which the firm opened yesterday.”
The manager was James L. Tartar, 30, of Alexandria. He previously ran the Giant on North St. Asaph Street in Alexandria.
A Super Giant also opened in Springfield. The stores were 30,000 square foot combination supermarket and self-service department stores and “the first examples of Giant’s new market designs.”
In addition to food, shoppers could purchase clothing, small electric appliances, glassware, china, toys, and kitchenware, and “Charge It” with the company’s credit plan. Bonus stamps was another popular program.
It’s hard to know the store’s sales figures, but the 1960s was certainly a good time for retail in the area. The population of the county lept from 275,000 in 1960 to 455,000 in 1970. The surrounding neighborhoods such as Bucknell Heights, Jefferson Manor and Virginia Hills were on board or coming soon.
The store also brought good attention to Groveton. For example, an ad in the Star (December 6,1967) showed the manager of the Giant in Groveton, presenting a scholarship award to the Thomas Edison High School faculty advisor Miss Elizabeth Cofer and three students. Giant sponsored the popular TV Quiz program on WRC, Channel 4.
It’s also hard to know all the places where folks in Groveton went for groceries before the Giant was built. Alexandria was certainly an option. Anne Marie Hicks told this writer about “Chauncey's Groveton Market,” a full service grocery directly across from the airport. Margaret W. “Peggy” Chauncey’s obituary in the Post tells us she (1906-1996) she helped run the King Street store in the 1940s and 1950s.
In “Snake Hill to Spring Bank,” Jason Hoffman recalled Chauncey’s Market being “up here on the hill.”
The Giant store was initially the only building on the footprint that is now the Beacon Center (renamed in the 2000s. In 1972, the Washington Post reported the start of construction for “Beacon Mall,” the “first enclosed shopping mall in southeastern Fairfax County.”
The Beacon Mall grew throughout the 1970s. A 1978 ad in the Post listed 33 stores. Among them were Baskin-Robbins, Beacon Florist, Beacon Mall 4 Theatre, Beacon Tailors, Eastern Palace, Giant, Goodyear Tire, Mr. Foto, People’s Drug Store, Record Rack, and Woolco.
The Beacon movie theaters must have been a big deal. The first movies, shown in March 1974, were Jesus Christ Superstar, M*A*S*H* and Westworld. Prior to that, residents could choose between the Alexandria theaters and the Mount Vernon Drive-In that was located where Costco is today on Route One at the corner of Ladson and Richmond Highway. In the late 1980s, the drive in was demolished and replaced by a set of theaters that were later demolished to make way for the Costco.
Like neighboring Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties, Fairfax County’s population continued to grow. It reached 596,000 in 1980 and 818,000 in 1990. Giant grew with it every step of the way. In 1989, the company controlled 48 percent of the local grocery market. Israel Cohen, son of Nehemiah Myer Cohen, had kept the helm steady. In 1998, Royal Ahold, a Dutch conglomerate, acquired Giant for about $2.7B. It ranked 19th in sales in the US. Israel Cohen, the founding CEO and Chairman, had passed three years earlier.
The turn of the century saw the population of the county reach 969,749. In the mid 1990s, the Beacon Mall had gained more restaurants, including the Outback. In the first part of the 2000s, the design of the mall was tweaked to its current configuration. A big and popular newcomer was Lowe’s, giving the shopping center a one-two punch.
Groveton’s identity, lacking in historical and “third places,” continues to be juxtaposed with the popularity and size of the shopping center. The neighborhood had also lacked historical markers. But several years ago, a county historical marker was erected to honor the Beacon airport. It stands just a few steps from the Giant.
Last year, the Giant store was revamped with a new look. Perhaps pleasing many long time shoppers, the seafood section was moved from the far corner spot to a more central location. The self-service area in front was also reconfigured.
With competition from Harris Teeter, Whole Foods and others, Giant’s share of the market in the region has dipped to about 20%. Nevertheless, it remains the region’s largest grocer.
What the future holds for this landmark store we do not know. County planners have big ideas that would transform the Beacon Center into an urbanesque footprint with residential and mixed-use. Metro has said it could extend the Yellow Line to Groveton, possibly by 2040. A new Bus Rapid Transit line is on tap for later this decade and one of its stops will be Groveton (Beacon Hill).
They say you can’t eat history, but you can sure appreciate buying food from a place that now has six decades under its belt. We salute all the workers who have brought us and sold us the food these past sixty plus years and related items. Their efforts were especially noteworthy during the Covid.
I’m a place south of Washington. Tall ships, hogsheads of tobacco, and Scottish merchants are part of my early history. I have an historic district and proud to know George Washington lived just a few miles away.
Too easy, right?
Well, yes, Alexandria is correct, but did you know that the above also applies to Piscataway?
Piscataway, both an unincorporated community and the smaller historic district within it, came across our radar screen when I was reading, “Along the Potomac Shore, in Prince George’s County.” The book was written by the Tanta-Cove Garden Club, a group of caring members whose community-minded organization began in 1966.
Note: Piscataway, which is located east of Fort Washington, is not to be confused with Piscataway Park, which lies south of Mount Vernon. They do share the history of being where the Piscataway peoples lived.
As an historic village, Piscataway is not exactly a one-of-a-kind place. Northern Virginia has the time capsules of Millwood, Buckland and Waterford. But from Alexandria, you have to invest some time to get there and back. This one is just a half dozen miles south of National Harbor.
Piscataway is part of four mile stretch south of National Harbor that is rich in historical assets. However, it’s a mixed bag. Although one can visit Oxon Hill Manor, St. John’s Church, Fort Washington, and the Colonial Farm at Accokeek, some of the others stand in limbo.
I have to confess I knew next to nothing about Piscataway until I read about it in this book. As they say, half the fun is getting there. Let’s take the plunge…
Almost a half-century before Alexandria was founded in 1749, signs of English life began to emerge on the Maryland side of the Potomac. Around the first part of the eighteenth century, both Broad Creek and Piscataway got their start as tobacco ports. Planter Thomas Addison built a brick mansion on top of Oxon Hill, long an early landmark in this part of Prince George’s County until fire took it down in the 1890s. The site is the MGM Resort, just north of Oxon Hill Manor, built 1920s, in the above map).
In terms of shipping activity and a place of some commerce, Broad Creek would not prosper like Piscataway. But some of the first stories of that part of Prince George’s County took place there. The parish vestrymen built the first of several churches, whose site is at or near the current St. John’s Church, about three miles north of Piscataway.
An older sign in Piscataway says, “Established 1640.” Perhaps that refers to “the Baptism of the Piscataway Chief Kittamaquund by Fr. Andrew White, S.J.” Of course, the history of the Piscataway peoples here goes way back. On this land they knew so well as their home, the new port town of Piscataway was founded. Unlike Broad Creek, it emerged as one of Maryland’s four major ports (Annapolis, Upper Marlboro and Port Tobacco). Like so many other ports, including Dumfries and Colchester, the ships would eventually stop coming to Piscataway. The American Revolution rang the death knell and silting finished them off.
Piscataway, however, had a hey day as a port and then held on as a hamlet with farming, some fishing, being a cross roads place, including the post office. The village had a tavern, stores, a church, a school, and the post office. The Maryland Gazette and Alexandria Gazette covered some of its shipping, steamer, and estate news, as well as obits. Sadly, the coverage included ads for the selling of enslaved humans and reward notices for their return.
Like Alexandria, Dumfries, Colchester and others, Piscataway provides windows into the area’s colonial past. As Alan Virta points out in “Prince George’s County: A Pictorial History,” Piscataway was a thriving little place.”
The Scottish shipping firm of John Glassford & Company had trading stores in a number of ports in Virginia and Maryland (One of the great losses in Alexandria was the (1915) demolition of the company’s commodious brick and stone store at the corner of Lee and N. Fairfax). The company was the Walmart of its day, with stores in Alexandria, Colchester, Dumfries, as well as Port Tobacco, Upper Marlboro, Piscataway and elsewhere. The triangle of trade involved mostly tobacco from the Chesapeake, sugar and rum from the Caribbean, and the household goods from England. Sadly, enslaved humans were part of the economic flows.
Bringing some of the Piscataway story back to life is Thomas W. Cuddy and his book, “Revolutionary Economies.” He first tells us about Ebenezer Cooke’s “infamous tale,” The Sot-Weed Factor, Or a Voyage to Maryland” (1708). The setting for the long, satirical poem was “Piscato-way.”
The port town seemed to get the last laugh. It prospered and became a “substantial community.” George Mason was a regular customer. James Marshall, Alexander Hamilton (no, not that one!) and Thomas Clagett ran the trading stores so vital to the life of the planter community.
Piscataway, closer to Mount Vernon than Alexandria, was in the orbit of George Washington. With a good number of entries, Washington’s diary reflects his interest in Piscataway. On May 13, 1762, he wrote: “Got a Cask of Leith Ale from Mr. Marshall Piscataway.”
That same month he wrote to the London-based Robert Cary & Company, another major shipper of tobacco.
The Tobacco’s of most of your friends upon Potomack (or that Ships from thence) lies within 15 Miles above & below this place, and as good, or the best harbour (Piscataway) is within sight of my Door. It has this great advantage besides good Anchorage & laying safe from the Winds that it is out of the way of the Worm which is very hurtful to Shipping a little lower down & lyes in a very plentiful part of the Country.
Another future President and Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, dined at Piscataway (August 4, 1775).
The town was connected with the Virginia side of the Potomac by a ferry ride to Clifton Landing, modern day River Farm. Martenet’s Map of the county in 1861 shows a road running northeast up to Upper Marlborough. The modern day equivalent is roughly Piscataway Road/223 past Clinton.
Horse racing was popular in Maryland and Piscataway held days for races and the accompanying festivities. The village did not make the cut for Eshelman’s “A Travel Guide to The War of 1812 in the Chesapeake,” but the townsfolk surely felt high anxiety during the British campaign and some may have heard the sound of gunfire during the Battle Of White House Landing at Belvoir.
At first thought, it’s tempting to say not much happened in Piscataway during the Civil War. That is relatively true, but then we came across the story of Thomas Harbin (1833-1885). He lived in Piscataway and was a Confederate agent. At the beginning of the Civil War, Harbin was the proprietor of the hotel Harbin House, which later became Piscataway Tavern.
Forgotten is the role he had in helping John Wilkes Booth and David Herold as they fled southward from Washington in April, 1865. The military commission decided not to prosecute Harbin. He later lived in Washington and worked as a hotel clerk. In 1884, George Alfred Townsend, the famed chronicler of the war, interviewed Harbin.
Townsend wrote:
On one occasion he concluded to go into Piscataway, where he had once kept a hotel, and about all persons in the town knew him, and all knew that he was the chief Confederate in that part of the country. The bar-room was full of Federal soldiers, and a whole regiment was stationed in the neighborhood. He walked to the counter and asked them all to drink - soldiers and citizens. The citizens stood trembling for fear he would be arrested or informed upon. Harbin himself reflected a moment that he had better be cautious, so he had his horse sent to the neighboring house of Dr. Dyer, from which he departed.
After the Civil War, the African-American community of Chapel Hill emerged just north of Piscataway. Like elsewhere, larger plats of land became smaller ones for farms.
GM Hopkins map of Washington 1879 shows Piscataway as one of 14 districts in Prince George’s County. The southern border of Oxen Hill was Broad Creek. Piscataway ran from there down to Mattawoman’s Creek, about a mile south of Accokeek. Names dotting the district included Dr. Hurttt, Dr. Edelen, Joseph Hostetter, and Joseph Hatton.
The short lived Baltimore and Potomac RR (1872-1892) ran about five miles to the east. That was too far away to make an impact for Piscataway. In the other direction, perhaps young boys popped a blade of grass in their mouth and wandered over to the Potomac to wave at the steamboats or skip stones across the waters of the creek. Maybe some climbed the step hill up to Fort Washington to get a better glimpse of Mount Vernon.
Memories can be sweet, but Piscataway was on a slow fade away from its former glories. In 1905, a visiting writer with the Evening Star described it as “a shabby hamlet.” Nevertheless, it still had its setting in “an amphitheater of splendid hills” and “a proud long past.” The writer pointed out the main feature of Piscatway was the St Mary’s Catholic Church. It was just one year old and had been erected on the site of a church in 1838.
In the 1920s, Prohibition gave a few in the village an opportunity. In his indispensable guide, "This Was Potomac River," Frederick Tilp recalled “Piscataway Corn,” was a big hit in the Alexandria speakeasies during Prohibition.
The post office in Piscataway closed in 1943 (became Clinton). In the 1950s, Highway 210 gave motorists the faster, divided highway option. For those hoping the highway would not portend the end of Piscataway's rural nature, they could be pleased that post war growth in Washington did not overtake this part of the region in the sometimes overwhelming way it did in other parts of the region.
In 1992, however, Wayne Hardin ("Uneasy Times for Nice Little Village," Baltimore Sun) wrote a story about Piscataway. Mary Forsht-Tucker, Piscataway Citizens Association president, said, “We’re tremendously threatened by development.”
Twenty years later, a new set of homes, Preserve at Piscataway, was built east of Piscataway Road. The archaeological investigations there near the Edelen House (2445 Bailey's Pond Road) enabled Cuddy to pair the artifacts (12,793) with the Glassford records. This helped further tell the story of the great reach of the Glassford company and also shined a light on the Edelen family.
For now, there’s been no further encroachment. The dozen contributing buildings along Floral Park Road provide a unique and special place.
Below are our photos. The final three are not part of this historic district but we include them for reasons noted.
St. Mary's Church
St. Mary’s Church is a striking landmark, rising tall in the Gothic style. Catholic congregations here go back to the 1770s. The convent and school were built in 1961.
The cemetery holds the passed souls and reveals names of the past.
Contributing Buildings on Floral Park Road
Miller House, 2312 Floral Park Road
Dr. Edgar Hurtt House, 2308 Floral Park Road
Gallahan-Davis House, 2306 Floral Park Road
Hardy Tavern, 2305 Floral Park Road
Bond Bungalow, 2209 Floral Park Road
Clagett Store/Harbin House, 2208 Floral Park Road
Stanton-Bladford House, 2207 Floral Park Road
Piscataway Tavern, 2204 Floral Park Road
Sarah Underwood House, 2004 Floral Park Road
Thomas C. Underwood House, 1908 Floral Park Road
Farmington Landing
Steamboats ferried passengers to and from here. By the 20th century the landing had fallen out of commercial use due to the rapid accumulation of silt, but the spot remains a favorite for local fishers and kayakers. Close your eyes and imagine George Washington sliding by.
St. James Hill
St James Hill lies on a small hill about a half mile south of the historic district. It is also known as the Hostetter House. The name of the dwelling might have come from a plantation of the same name. Reverend John Fraser, the first rector of Piscataway Parish, owned the 700-acre tract. This would have been around the 1710s and was where the Piscataway had lived south of the creek.
In “Along the Potomac Shore, in Prince George’s County,” Pauline Collins shows a long list of owners and neglect. Perhaps the most famous was Dr. Benedict Semmes (1789-1863), who married Emily Edelen. He served at the House level in the State and then the US.
The build date is uncertain. A Digital Maryland document shows the original frame part as mid eighteenth century. The two and a half story brick is early 19c. Collins tells us Lorena Boswell and her brother restored it in 1936. They added a hyphen that connects to the brick part. In 1976, Mr. and Mrs. Briesmaster acquired the home and restored it. They added a wing.
Piscataway House
This is a fascinating story, one touched on by the nomination form for the National Register of Historic Places for Piscataway. Charles Wallace Collins (1879-1964), a lawyer, writer and librarian with the Library of Congress, acquired Harmony Hall in 1929. He and his wife lived there.
Around the same time, he also purchased one of the homes in Piscataway. It was a Tidewater-style framed house that was going to be demolished. He had it moved brick by brick to a spot north of Harmony Hall. Collins also dredged part of the canal to help facilitate the move by water.
The most fascinating history of a neighborhood in Alexandria? Carlyle, believe it or not, is certainly in the conversation.
Note: The area for our coverage is, at least on planning maps, called Eisenhower East. Carlyle is a part of it and the more used name, and more developed, so we used it.
After being a backwater for many years, Rip Van Winkle woke up in the 1990s and began a mercurial rise. But even during those slow years, there were a variety of stories. The one older marker in the neighborhood touches on the village of Cameron, but as the timeline shows, there are other candidates.
From time to time in the past ten years or so, we have written about Carlyle. “Rising” is the word we used to describe it. Although the full buildout is still a distance away, the neighborhood is now a mature adult. For many who whizz past the city on I-95, Carlyle’s impressive building scape might be their main visual take away.
In a piece (1990) in The Washington Post, Roger Lewis, Washington’s longtime architectural critic, had great things to say about the plans for the Carlyle neighborhood in Alexandria:
“Carlyle represents a significant, positive step in the evolution of urban design theory and practice, public land use policy and entrepreneurial initiative… Alexandria has wisely sanctioned a durable, understandable, compelling urban design.”
We thought it a good idea to pay tribute to the neighborhood with some photos and the following timeline. The most remarkable thing about Carlyle is just how long it remained a backwater. Having said that, there was activity here.
For future hopes, we would like to see the construction of the “Old Cameron Run Trail,” a pedestrian and bicycle trail still on the planning boards. A mural or two three would be great. One idea we have is a transportation mural. Through the years, the land that is Carlyle has seen a number of transportation stories, including horses and carts on old paths, the tall ships coming in from the Potomac, railroad tracks and yards, metro, automobiles and its infrastructures.
Note: We give a big thank you to all the archaeologists who have conducted their studies and published their reports on this part of the city.
Timeline for Carlyle/Eisenhower East Neighborhood
1730s
The village of Cameron (site probably near I-95 and Telegraph Road) lies at the junction of the road to Colchester/Potomac Path (Telegraph Road) and Great Hunting Creek.
1749
Alexandria founded. A road runs northeastward from Cameron to the seaport.
1754
Hugh West (1705-1754) buried in West Family Cemetery (vault) near village of Cameron (site on western portion of Carlyle Crossing).
1760
John West, Jr. owns 25 enslaved humans near Cameron.
1786
Col. George West buried in West Family family cemetery.
1787
Sybil Harrison West (1705-1787) buried in family cemetery beside husband, Hugh West.
1790s
A pair of mills and a mill race built near West Family cemetery.
Early 1800s
West End rises up, teeming with the activity of “butchers, tanners, millers, carriage maker, tavern keepers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, soap and candle makers. Later came the selling of enslaved humans, glassmaking, brewing beer, selling dry goods and food, providing water, as well as growing flowers."
1810
Bridge built over Great Hunting Creek at modern day Route One. Gives quicker access to Alexandria than the Cameron path.
1848
Rueben and Robert Roberts, Quaker brothers from New Jersey, acquire land and mill.
1851
Roberts brothers sell eastern mill to the Alexandria Water Company. Continue to farm the land.
1850s
Mention is made of “Cameron Valley” in the Alexandria Gazette.
The Orange and Alexandria RR inaugurates its service. The line runs under a tunnel on Wilkes Street and eventually reaches Gordonsville.
1861-1865
Fort Lyon overlooks and protects Alexandria. Soldiers have bird’s eye view of the city. Any timber in the area would have been cut down for firewood.
1932
George Washington Masonic National Memorial opens. Not within the boundaries of the neighborhood, but the temple certainly serves as a landmark.
1940s
Southern RR continues to use their Cameron Yards facilities. Site is on and near USPTO).
1950s
Temple Trailer Village built for veterans and Federal Government workers. Dirt roads include Lee, Temple Terrace, Mason, and Washington Drive.
City annexes land from Fairfax County.
1958
Developer Hubert Hoffman Jr (1920-2002) purchases 80 acres. Land still mostly a back water.
1960s
Interstate 95/Capitol Beltway built, as well as Holiday Inn and Hoffman Building I.
1970s
Hoffman Building II and parking lots.
American Truckers Association built. Site near ParcMeridian.
1980s
Metro’s Yellow Line, Eisenhower Avenue Station and Eisenhower Avenue.
“Eisenhower Valley” and “Cameron Valley” begins to show up in The Washington Post.
1990s
Roger Lewis article in The Washington Post praises plans for Carlyle, mixed-use development on 76 acre site.
Hoffman Town Center Development
Discovery of West Family burials
2000s
Office Buildings, Residential, Hoffman 22 Theaters, US Patent and Trademark Office, Courthouse, slip ramp as part of part of new Wilson Bridge and thru/local.
2010
Lost Boy Cider
National Science Foundation
2020
Construction starts for Carlyle Crossing, which will include a Wegman’s.
Marker Erected for Hubert Hoffman at end of Hoffman Street on Foundry Apartments Building.
Inspired by a new book by Sue Kovach Shuman, I had a fun walk this morning through parts of Mantua, a neighborhood located between the Beltway and Fairfax. Accotink Creek, Crook Branch and Long Branch are saving graces which run through the green oasis. Like a lot of places in suburbia where the only thing left from the past are the water fingers, folks may not realize there is enough of a demolished past here to cover in a book.
Much is owed to Richard Chichester (1736-1796), who obtained the patent in 1776. His mother was Ellen Ball Chichester, a cousin to George Washington. His second wife was Sarah McCarty. They lived previously at Newington, which stood from 1760 to 1875 as the second Truro Parish Glebe House. Sarah’s father was Daniel McCarty of Mount Air. Their story is emblematic of a shifting economy away from tobacco to wheat. The Chichesters built their mill on Long Run near where it flowed into the Accotink. A good guess is they wanted to be closer to Alexandria but Beth Mitchell’s map of 1760 shows a number of mills already established west of Alexandria.
Images of America books are of a varying quality. Shuman gets an A plus for her full on research, knowledge and insight. She covers the large petroleum leak (1990) from the storage facility on Pickett Road. The company settled a lawsuit brought forth by the 110 homeowners. Shuman points out this was the first time a company did so with homeowners rather than the EPA. She also tells us Leroy Eakin’s donation of 15 acres in 1950 created the first park in the county system. We bet he would be proud to see Mantua today, a community protecting the natural beauty, and balancing its needs in a good way.
Alexandria is a city that has produced leaders, elected officials, captains of commerce and industry, clergy, veterans, educators, and others. When it comes to those who shined with their words and pens, the list sure looks tiny, at least those from the nineteenth century. The novelist Constance Cary Harrison of Vaucluse comes to mind, but she bought her ink in Richmond and up north.
Several months ago, when we were looking at lost homes on Washington Street, we came across Sarah Whittlesey (1824-1896). Quite frankly, I had never heard of her or any others from that family. From 1848 to 1896, she lived at the southeast corner of Duke and S. Washington (torn down in the 1960s). Whittlesey became a poetess and novelist of some note, but her story is long forgotten.
Here is a brief history of her life. We include her brother Oscar and a few other Whittleseys.
The searcher of information on the Whittlesey family can find the book, “Genealogy of the Whittlesey-Whittlesey family” by Charles Barney Whittlesey. The author tells us the name was taken by persons living in Cambridgeshire, England on the Whittlesea Fens from the tenth century.
“Memorial of the Whittlesey Family in the United States” tells the reader John Whittlesey was the immigrant, who became a farmer and shoemaker at Saybrook, Connecticut. For generations, a branch of the Whittleseys lived in the "Constitution State." Their names can be seen chiseled on a number of stone war memorials in public spaces. In Old Saybrook, the John Whittlesey Jr. House and the Ambrose Whittlesey House are both listed on the National Register for Historic Places. The oldest part of the former is from 1693. The NRHP form tells us the family played an important part in the development of the Ferry District in Saybrook. John Whittlesey and his son were ferryman there.
The latter tells the story of Ambrose Whittlesey. The Whittleseys were “wealthy landowners and farmers, but also involved in the merchant trade and shipbuilding.” Ambrose sailed on the high seas as a captain.
Through the years, the Whittlesey family produced a number of notable citizens. They must have been incredibly proud of Charles W. Whittlesey (1884-1921). In the story of the “Lost Battalion,” he led his infantry troops in the Argonne Forest in December 1918. Outnumbered and cut off for five long days, Major Whittlesey refused to surrender. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Like Sarah, Eliphalet Whittlesey (1821-1909) came from the Connecticut line. Born in New Britain and educated at Yale, his was a uniquely remarkable life. Eliphalet rose to become a pastor, a professor, and then a one-star general. He came to Washington after the war and helped found Howard University, as well as providing leadership to the Freedman's Bureau and the Board of Indian Commissioners. Whittlesey was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
Research by Donald Dahmann, historian at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House (“From the Close of the Civil War to the Closure of the Congregations at the Close of the Century), adds to our knowledge of Eliphalet Whittlesey. He was a Congregational Minister at the historic church on S. Fairfax Street, serving as a long-term supply minister during the late-1880s. Whittlesey had commanded an African American regiment in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Charles Whittlesey (1819-1874), born in Salisbury, Connecticut, made quite a name for himself in Alexandria. After the Civil War was over, he became active in Reconstruction efforts and practiced law. He lived on the 200 block of Prince Street, known today as "Gentry Row." This would have placed him in high circles in the seaport.
In May, 1866, the Unconditional Union Republican Party held a state-wide convention in Alexandria. Along with other members of the Presbyterian congregation such as Lewis McKenzie, Whittlesey served as a convention delegate. Whittlesey also served briefly as Attorney General of Virginia (Sep 1869 - Jan 1870).
In April, 1868, Charles Whittlesey, also a member of the congregation at Old Presbyterian Meeting House, attended a lecture on education at Liberty Hall. The Alexandria Gazette reported the place was “packed by the colored people of the city to listen to a lecture by John. M. Langston" (1829-1897), who became the first black man to represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives and a Civil Rights legend.
In 1869, Charles Whittlesey ran as the Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Virginia's Seventh District. The race received a lot of press coverage. The Gazette hammered Whittlesey repeatedly as a Radical Carpetbagger. Although Whittlesey won in Alexandria, Stafford, and Louisa County, McKenzie (Conservative) defeated him 15,878 to 11,073.
Sarah Whittlesey’s life began in Williamston, North Carolina. The small town lies in Halifax County in the eastern part of the state, about 80 miles east of the capital in Raleigh. Like Alexandria’s early years, Williamston's lifeblood owed something to being a port on the river and the cultivation of tobacco using enslaved humans.
Sarah’s parents were Luman Whittlesey (1795-1868) and Elizabeth G. Peale Whittlesey (1806-1868). Luman was born in Washington, Connecticut, where he married, in 1818, Sarah Johnson Cogswell (1797-1821). They had two sons, Edgar Augustus Whittlesey (b. 1819) and Joseph Adolphus (b. 1820). A newspaper article in the Litchfield Inquirer (Nov. 1831), indicates a David Whittlesey of Washington, Connecticut was their guardian. Not much is known about Edgar and Joseph. Edgar might have gone to Texas.
Sarah had two handfuls of aunts and uncles on the father’s side. Luman’s brother, Harvey (1788-1861), lived in Farmington, Connecticut. Ralph (1801-1850), also might have gone west.
After his first wife passed away in 1821, Luman moved to Williamston. In 1823, he married Elizabeth G. Peale, a native Tar Heel. Luman taught at the Williamston Academy. Sarah was born in 1824. Two years later came Oscar Columbus.
In 1839, Luman wrote a letter to his brother, Harvey, who was living in Farmington. Luman gave him, “a very condensed account of my movements since I left Connecticut.” He farmed, taught school, and worked as a blacksmith. The hot work of the latter was probably to supplement his income.
Understandably, there is a paucity of newspaper coverage on the Whittleseys during their time in North Carolina. Richard Walser ("Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 6") fills in gaps. He tells us Luman had a farm and store in Palmyra, a rural community near Williamston.
Luman and his family returned to Williamston in 1841, before moving to Edenton five years later. The town lies on the banks of Albermarle Sound and shares a look and feel with Old Town Alexandria. Edenton had its own newspaper. Luman taught there for two years.
The men of the Whittlesey family could choose from a number of traditional roles and occupations. For women like Sarah, it was slim pickings. Education was the main road out of the rut. Sarah graduated from La Vallee Female Seminary in 1841. The school was located about 20 miles west of Halifax. In addition to the basics, students were taught Latin and French, music and science. Some of Sarah’s stories contain conversations in French.
The UNC University Libraries tells us the Seminary:
... was run out of a small building behind what is now known as the Gray-Brownlow-Willcox House. The school building had two floors in which there would have been space for classes to be conducted and for students to eat meals and socialize, and an attic area which was likely the living quarters for the students. La Vallee Female Seminary was forced to close in 1850.
Image from Edenton Sentinel, June 2, 1860.
Perhaps Sarah visited Halifax, famous for the Halifax Resolves, which urged the state’s delegates to vote for independence from Great Britain in April, 1776. On his Southern tour, George Washington stayed overnight there on April 16, 1791.
In 1842, at age 18, Sarah married Harry A. Smith of Massachusetts. The North Carolina Digital Collections tells us their union was “brief and disastrous.” She left Smith in 1846 and the divorce was drawn up four years later.
Most likely looking for greener pastures, Luman moved his family to Alexandria in 1848. They lived in a house on the southeast corner of Duke and Washington. The brick dwelling, demolished in the 1960s, stood out with a two-story veranda facing Washington Street. The census of 1850 shows Luman and Oscar as tutors. Sarah is listed as S.J.C. Whittlesey.
Photo: Left to right: Lafayette House, Duke and S. St. Asaph; site of Whittlesey House (bank at Duke and Washington); and Janney House, across Washington Street.
It’s hard to know what the family thought of Alexandria when they arrived. It seems they would have been impressed and pleased by its cosmopolitan nature as a seaport and being close to the nation’s capital. There's no doubt they were pleased by less of a wait for mail from Connecticut.
The town had grown from the smaller one of three by seven blocks that George Washington had known in colonial days. After the turn of the century, Virginia’s population stagnated, as farmers and others sought opportunities to the west. Alexandria’s glory days as a bustling seaport with tall ships was fading.
Nevertheless, in the 1850s, the Whittleseys would witness what Harold Hurst (“Alexandria on the Potomac”) details as a remarkable change. Factories and railroads brought jobs and paychecks. Victorian style architecture added to the stock of Georgian and Federals and occasional "Flounder."
The Whittlesey family lived in Alexandria from 1848 to their passing, as follows: Lunan and wife Sarah (1868), Sarah (1896) and Oscar until 1901. This was a distinct period of growth in the second half of the nineteenth century. T. Michael Miller described some of it as (The Alexandria Chronicle, Spring/Summer 1996):
Fine dwellings, modest wooden or brick row houses, and noisome manufactures were intermingled in an unzoned welter.
The Alexandria world the Whittleseys first saw can be seen in a color lithograph, "View of Alexandria, Virginia in 1845." The classic image has been used in a number of prominent books about Alexandria. The E. Sasche & Company of Baltimore provides a north to south orientation of the town.
For a more detailed look, we provide this marked map.
The Whittlesey home at Duke and Washington stood on the northern edge of the "Bottoms" or "Dip" neighborhood, and the western edge of a core of mostly residential homes that to this day maintains that distinction. The large swale that begins its downhill run from Duke southward is the first hint at the Bottoms neighborhood.
This portion of, "Bird's Eye View of Alexandria, 1863" by Charles Magnus gives the reader an idea of the area where the family lived. Their home stood one block below where one sees the horse and buggy at Duke and S. Columbus.
The family had a bird's eye view themselves of both the attractive homes to their west and The Bottoms to their south. They stood in contrast to each other. The Bottoms had drainage problems and most of its residents were low on the income range.
This dichotomy still exists today in that the homes south of King, east of Washington and north of Wilkes can fetch more than a million dollars. Zoning there is almost all single family residential, while the Bottoms is a mix.
While many homes were razed during the “Dip Renewal” phase of Urban Renewal, a few markers provide a glimpse into its past. 601 Wilkes is the site of the Alexandria Pottery, which provided employment to African Americans. The home at 408 S. Royal was once the dwelling of George L. Seaton. This part of Alexandria was Hayti, a smaller community within the Bottoms.
The Bottoms does shine its historic landmark, Alfred Street Baptist Church. Residents and worshippers take great pride in its past, present and continued bright future. A state highway marker tells the reader the church is:
is home to the oldest African American congregation in Alexandria, dating to the early 19th century. It has served as a prominent religious, educational, and cultural institution. In 1818, the congregation, then known as the Colored Baptist Society, began worship services here in the midst of the Bottoms, a free black neighborhood. By 1820 the church created its educational branch, providing religious and secular opportunities for both black children and adults. In 1855, free black craftsmen probably designed and built the brick church. Alterations to the building occurred in the 1880s and in 1994 the church constructed a new sanctuary.
Another distinct feature of Sarah’s world was S. Washington Street. Like today, landmarks include the Lyceum, churches and Lloyd’s Row of brick homes (photo by author). One might still call it Sanctuary Row
The Whittlesey home stood one block to the west of the corner of Duke and S. St. Asaph. Commodious brick homes built there and nearby before and during the Whittlesey's arrived stand today as sentinels of Old Town's beauty. In particular are the Lafayette House and the Dulany House. Some of Alexandria’s most impressive home lie on the nearby blocks. There's no doubt Sarah and her family would have enjoyed this part of the city, and perhaps made friends there.
Politically, Alexandria had first given their hurrahs and humphs to the Federal Party. Conservative Democrats held sway until the 1850s when the town, always putting business needs and internal improvements first, became a “Whig citadel.” Two years before the Whittleseys arrived, Alexandrians had voted 763 to 222 to retrocede back to Virginia. Of course, by laws hammered out by the planter-legislators, enslaved African Americans held no civil rights.
As in North Carolina, the Whittleseys would have seen both enslaved humans and free blacks. Their house stood on the northern edge of the “Bottoms” or “Dip” neighborhood, one of a number of African American communities. There was no greater contrast in the United States than free African Americans in Alexandria becoming successful citizens and raising families, and the horrible institution of selling off slaves that took place five blocks to the west of the Whittlesey home at the slave pen on Duke Street. They probably saw the wretched site of enslaved humans tied in coffles being marched to the waterfront, nevermore to be seen.
Also in their immediate vicinity stood a tannery (site Wilkes and S. Washington), and a Lancastrian School (site near Wolfe and S. Washington), where Luman found employment as a teacher. Steamboats plied the waters of the Potomac, about a half a mile to the east. Sarah surely took in plays at the theaters, and observed life at the market square, during parades and elsewhere. King Street was an emporium, and offered a number of book stores, including ones that would sell her poems and novels.
Sarah and her family lived just two blocks north from the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which chugged through the Bottoms neighborhood on Wilkes Street. One block away towards King Street stood the Lyceum, a Greek Revival beauty finished in 1839 on S. Washington Street.
In April, 1852, at the Lyceum, her brother Oscar was selected as a member of a committee established to organize a Library Association. Also at the table were several distinguished citizens including Richard L. Carne, a father at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and brother of William, the city’s de facto historian.
Oscar tutored and also wrote some poetry. In August 1850, an ad appeared in the Gazette for:
“LaValle Seminary, just below the Exchange Bank, near the corner of Price and Water (Lee) streets. Messrs L. & O.C. Whittlesey respectfully announce to their patrons, and the public generally, that they will resume the exercises of their school, on the 2d day of September next.”
They also might have ran a school out of their home and Sarah might have taught the females.
One thing is for sure. Competition would have been keen. Alexandria had a stellar reputation for its academies and private schools, perhaps the reason Lunan moved the family to Alexandria. From 1828 to 1842, Benjamin Hallowell, the famed educator, set the bar high with his “Brimstone Castle” School for Boys on N. Washington Street. Also laudatory was the Alexandria Academy, just one block south of the Whittlesey home. Hurst also praises other such as the Alexandria Female Academy and the Belle Haven Institute.
Oscar got quite involved in the administration of Alexandria, becoming clerk of the Common (City) Council, serving on the Health Board, and a Trustee for the City School Board. After the war, he stepped into the fiery arena that was Reconstruction. He joined up with the Organization of the Union Republic Association, which the Gazette labeled the “Radical Caucus.” Lewis McKenzie served as President, Oscar as Secretary.
In 1871, the Alexandria Gazette showed Oscar as an examiner for annual inspection of the Snowden School. The “colored school house” was on S. Pitt between Gibbon and Franklin. Oscar was in high company that day with William F. Carne, the city’s de facto historian. The successful African American businessman George Seaton was also in attendance. Oscar and Carne “expressed themselves as greatly pleased with the examination.”
Readers of the Gazette had seen the Whittlesey name in the paper now and then. Elisha Whittlesey (1783-1863), was born in Washington, Connecticut and served as a member of the US House of Representatives (Ohio) from 1823 to 1833. In 1847, he was appointed General Collector for the Washington National Monument Society.
Readers of the Gazette first learned of Sarah Whittlesey in March, 1848 when the Gazette published her poem, “The Loved and Lost.” Seen in the upper left hand of page 4, the byline said, “Sarah J.C. Whittlesey Smith.” Her poem stood out in the seven-column page. (Note: Once Sarah got divorced, the Smith name was dropped. The most common use of her name was Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, with S.J.C. Whittlesey also used).
In April came “The Lily and the Rose.” followed by “Adolphus.” Oscar’s poem, “Analogical Musings,” was published in May 1848. More poems followed in 1849, 1850, including a few more by Oscar.
In June 1851, the Gazette published, “The Smile, From Mrs. Whittlesey’s Magazine.” Perhaps they thought Sarah was the author. In fact, Abigail Goodrich Whittlesey (1788-1858) penned the story. Born in Goodrich, Connecticut, she founded and edited Mother’s Magazine.
Sarah’s first book came out in 1852. “Heart Drops from Memory’s Urn,” was a collection of her poems. The Spirit of Age, a newspaper in Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, published it in their Poet’s Corner. The poem, written for “Sophie,” has this middle stanza.
Dearest, like the heaven’s seeming,
As life’s winding way;
Overcast, and brightly beaming,
Till the perfect day;
But when we are safely landed
Over Jordan’s tide,
When Time’s Army is disbanded,
On the other side.
G.E. French and Robert Bell on King Street sold the book with a price of $1.15, “handsomely bounded in muslin-gilt edges $1.50.” Ads were also seen in the Richmond newspapers and The Cecil Whig in Elkton, Maryland. The Gazette wrote:
“This lady’s poems, we trust, will meet with a favorable reception. Many of her productions have been highly complimented.”
Sarah had fans and readers in both North Carolina and Virginia. The Greensboro Times serialized some of her short stories, including “The Hidden Heart,” “Reginald’s Revenge,” “The Broken Vow,” and “Southern Field and Fireside.” The newspaper told its readers her first literary production had been published in the Edenton Sentinel in the summer of 1846. In that issue (June 2, 1860), they included a sketch of Sarah. Such images of her are rare.
Sarah developed a style that Walser describes as “genteel, false-feminine sentimentality.” The Living Writers of the South points out:
Miss Whittlesey is strongly Southern in her feelings, tastes, and style generally. In a lyric, she gives the following literal vent to that partiality.
And I long to go back to the beautiful ways
Of my beautiful South;
I’m weary of waiting, and wrathful days,
And woe’s wide mouth!
Other than the serialization of her poems in the papers, Sarah’s readers had to wait seven years for her next publication. “The Stranger’s Stratagem or The Double Deceit and other Stories” featured seven short stories, with an average of about 50 pages long. Sarah’s book was sold by three bookstores in town -- French’s, Robert Bell and George Siggers.
Also on the shelves were The Farmer’s Almanac; magazines by Harper and Frank Leslie; "Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington," by George Washington Parke Custis; "The Rivals, A Tale of Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton;" "Life of Andrew Jackson;" "History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion Virginia;" and "Heroines of History."
Readers of The Greensboro Times had gotten the first look at the book in the spring before. "Reginald’s Revenge" was promoted as, “A Prize Story written expressly for the Times.” The first five columns of the front page of April 17, 1858 issue was Chapter Five of the book.
W. Dodd of New York published the book. The stories were, The Stranger’s Stratagem, Reginald’s Revenge, Italia Alma, Lilia Rosely, The Drunkard’s Daughter, Eva Evylin, and The Gem.
The Gazette wrote:
We have received a handsome volume, published by Miss Sarah J C Whittlesey. A large number of our citizens have subscribed to the book in advance…. in one handsome volume, price $1.25 plain, with gilt edges and sides, 1.50 Robert Bell.
They also said:
“… a lady whose genius and accomplishments have been shown in various emanations of her mind, and her friends confidently anticipate that her present work will be most favorably received by the public. We trust it may not only be acceptable to readers, but add to the fame and increase the worldly prosperity of the fair author.”
Also that year, Southern Literary Messenger published a collection of poems, including Sarah’s “Summer is Over.”
Summer is over, and soon will close
The volume of Nature, fair.
Let us then read while the sunlight glows,
What they have written us there;
Emblem of life are the beautiful flowers,
Springing in Summer’s soft tread,
Blooming today in its sunlight and showers,
Tomorrow lie faded and dead.
Early in the morning on May 24, 1861, and less than 24 hours after Alexandria had voted to ratify the "Ordinance of Secession," Union troops marched into the city of 12,000. Colonel Elmer Ellsworth did his part by leading the 11th New York Zouave Regiment. Civil War buffs have discussed whether or not the appropriate words are an "invasion," an "occupation," or something else.
Image from historical marker at King and S. Pitt streets.
No matter. That morning, at King and Pitt streets, about five blocks from the Whittlesey House, hotel owner Jesse Jackson shot and killed Colonel Ellsworth. Seconds later, one of the Zouves killed Jackson. Blue uniforms would pepper the seaport for the next four years.
It’s hard to know what Sarah did during the Civil War. Like many white Alexandrians, she likely seethed behind the curtains at the site of Union soldiers, mourned when they heard of rebel losses, and cheered the victories of Robert E. Lee. The town was under full control of the Union army from May 1861 to the end of the war in 1865.
There’s no doubt Sarah would have been sad in 1865 at the sight of what Smith and Miller ("A Seaport Saga") described as the return of the "tattered remnants of the Seventeenth Virginia Regiment." In 1862 and 1863, she would have seen the influx of a large number of contraband, African Americans who had fled their owners and found an early form of freedom in Union-controlled Alexandria.
Almost directly across the Whittlesey home on S. Washington Street stood a two-part dwelling that was used during the war to assist contraband persons. In her book, "A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time, Julia Wilbur's Struggle for Purpose," Paula Whitacre tells us how Wilbur and Harriet Jacobs raised money and collected clothing for the needy new citizens. The brick building also served as living quarters at times. Still standing, it can be seen on the cover of "Alexandria, Images of America." It is thought that Wilbur and Harriet are part of the group that day. Perhaps Whittlesey witnessed the taking of the photo.
It's hard to know how much Sarah knew about Harriet Jacob and vice versa. On the surface, they did not have much in common. Both, however, had lived in Edenton and both escaped bad situations. Sarah was the victim of an arranged marriage to a man named Harry Smith of Massachusetts. As the NC Encyclopedia points out:
Four years later she abandoned Smith because of his "jealous tyranny," assisted in her escape by her friend D. William Bagley, who arranged to bring her and her trunk down a ladder from her locked room on the second floor of the house, and who transported her to a Roanoke River vessel making an instant departure.
The scar on Harriet’s psyche had cut much deeper. She endured enslavement and sexual harassment. After seven years of torturous hiding, Harriet also escaped by boat from Edenton.
Among the remarkable things she did in her life, Harriet penned “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, written by herself.” It was published in 1861. The following summer, Harriet traveled to Washington to help with the plight of the contraband. She wrote a letter to William Lloyd Garrison, vividly describing the terrible conditions for them in Alexandria. There were some caring people such as a Mrs. Dagans, but not enough.
Another place, the old school-house in Alexandria, is the Government headquarters fro the women. This is I thought, the most wretched of all the places. Anyone who can find an apology for slavery should visit this place and learn its curse. What but the love of freedom could bring these old people hither?
In October 1865, with the war over, Sarah picked up her pen and wrote, "The Three Bells."
The final stanza was:
Oh, soul, on ocean sailing
In Time’s storm-beaten barque,
Faith, Hope and Love — the Three Bells—
Will reach thee at the dawn,
And save thee from the sea-swells —
Hold out your light till morn!
That same month, Sarah wrote a letter to President Andrew Johnson. The reader today will shake their head at her prejudicial words and beliefs. Sarah slammed “negroes” as “a lazy people” and said that Northerners treated them cruelly. In line with what other conservative whites felt towards "carpetbaggers," she also said, “We should get along smoothly together, if Northern men would not interfere.”
Sarah’s next book was “The Bug Oracle,” a 96-page novelette. Irwin’s P. Beadles, a New York publisher, sold it in 1866. For some reason, Walser does not mention the book.
The Southland Writers tells us:
In 1866, the publishers in New York of a series of Dime Novels appropriated one of the Miss Whittlesey’s stories, The Bug Oracle, and published it without her knowledge or consent.
In January 5, 1867, Field and Fireside (Raleigh) published some of Sarah’s, “Bertha, The Beauty.” It appeared on pages 1, 2 and some of 3.
The “bug” makes an appearance in Chapter VII:
In solemn Indian file they marched down the long hall towards the pantry, where in obedience to Mr. Redmond’s directions, Aunt Cora, the cook, had placed the shell-bug on a blue plate, thinly sifted with flour, with another plate bottom up over to prevent its escape, and above all was smoothly spread a snowy napkin.
The Bug Oracle was a warm up for ”Herbert Hamilton, or the Bas Bleu" (1867). The setting is in Virginia. The Alexandria Gazette wrote:
The plot and story are interesting, and the whole production highly creditable to the talents of the fair writer.
The Living Writers of the South wrote:
She has written a great deal for the periodical press and has repeatedly carried off prizes for stories adapted to serial publication a la feuilleton.
After the war Oscar went to work for the Freedmen’s Bureau. In October, 1866, he was assigned to taking a census of the “negro inhabitants of this county.” Given that a significant number of “contraband” and Freedmen had poured into the city during the war, Oscar would have been quite busy this way. He joined up with the "Organization of the Union Republic Association," which the Gazette called the “Radical Caucus.” Lewis McKenzie, mayor (1861-1863) and powerful business magnate, served as President. Oscar was the Secretary. Charles Whittlesey, the lawyer, was assigned to preparing a constitution.
Sad news reached the Whittlesey family in January, 1868. Luman had passed away at the family home in Alexandria. His obituary in the Gazette included noting his graduating from Yale and living in Williamston as a teacher. Other sources note he taught at the Lancastrian School.
Elizabeth joined Luman in June. Her funeral took place at the family home on Duke Street. They were both laid to rest in the Trinity United Methodist Cemetery at the end of Wilkes Street. Their pair of tombstones lies just a few steps from the brick wall separating the cemetery with the Alexandria National Cemetery.
Perhaps because of her sadness and grief, Sarah did not write her next novel ("Bertha, the Beauty") until 1872. Walser (The North Carolina Encyclopedia) wrote the book is:
“Miss Whittlesey’s glory, This lengthy autobiographical novel has a detailed narrative of the struggles of the long-suffering heroine with her wicked husband.”
The Gazette wrote:
…”is a tale of truth, in the rose-hue of romance. The scene is laid in North Carolina, with glimpses of the five year’s war in Virginia, along with the moving panorama of historical facts.”
And:
“many of the scenes and incidents related, concerning the late war, occurred in this place and neighborhood, and will be recognized and remembered by our citizens.”
The New Orleans Republic wrote:
"The author has woven a rather entertaining, gossipy story of a North Carolina girl of half Yankee parentage and remarkable beauty."
In December 1866, Field and Fireside (Raleigh) had reported:
Our Great Serial, Bertha the Beauty, which has been written especially for us, by one of our most popular and accomplished Southern authors, Miss Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, will be commenced in our first issue in January. This is the most powerful and thrilling novel which it has ever been our honor to present to the readers of the journal.
The Philadelphia Inquirer advertised her book in September, 1871, noting the publisher was Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger of Philadelphia.
Sarah also made the news in February 1872. Reporting on George Washington’s annual Birthday celebration, still a big deal in Alexandria, the Gazette said:
Mayor Latham presented to the Chief Marshal, as the representative of the fire department, a beautiful wreath, as a tribute of gratitude from Miss Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, whose property was recently saved from destruction by the firemen, and read a very pretty and appropriate poetical address.
As Reconstruction continued to unfold, Charles Whittlesey continued his work to help African Americans in Alexandria. In April 1868, he attended a lecture on education at Liberty Hall. The Gazette reported the place was packed by the colored people of the city to listen to a lecture by John M. Langston, a "colored lawyer and employee of the Freedmen’s Bureau." Langston would go on to much fame. The US House of Representatives Archives writes:
One of the most prominent African Americans in the United States before and during the Civil War, John Mercer Langston was as famous as his political nemesis, Frederick Douglass. One of the first African Americans to hold elective office in the United States (he became Brownhelm, Ohio, township clerk in 1855), Langston topped off his long political career by becoming the first black man to represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1869, Charles Whittlesey ran as the Republican candidate for U.S. Congress from Virginia's Seventh District. The race received a lot of press coverage. The Gazette hammered him repeatedly as a "Radical Carpetbagger." Although Whittlesey won in Alexandria, the Stafford, and Louisa County, McKenzie defeated him 15,878 to 11,073.
Sarah dropped off the radar screen after "Bertha, the Beauty." In 1889, J.B. Lippincott published, "Spring Buds and Summer Blossoms.” It included Oscar’s “Idle Hours.”
Sarah and Oscar dedicate their book to: “Our Father and Mother, who have crossed over the river and rest in the shade of the Tree of Life.”
The book includes a photograph of the two, with the latin phrase, Sumus soli duo. Oscar has his left arm touching Sarah’s right arm, with her right hand laying softly in his.
Pages 9 to 216 are Sarah’s poems. Pages 219 to 250 are Oscar’s poems.
One of the poems is titled, "To S.J.C.W. of Alexandria" by Arthur W. H. of Washington, DC. The next poem is Sarah’s response to Arthur W. H. This to and from also occurs for R.G.S. of Portsmouth. Another title is "To: Katy, of North Carolina."
The Gazette wrote the book was handsomely printed and bound. "The writings are far-famed, and this volume will be highly appreciated by the muse."
Sarah’s fans in Edenton read in the Fisherman and Farmer —
A lady friend has placed in our hands for notice a book of poems by Sarah J.C. Whittlesey, and Idle Hours by O C Whittlesey. Its 250 pages contain many touching lines written upon subjects of living interest, for the most part and expressive of tender emotion as well as great and reverential regard for the memories of other days.
It’s hard to know what Sarah did in her sunset years. Perhaps she and Oscar acquired or used the modern convenience of the telephone. By 1891, about 100 homes subscribed to the services of Southern Bell. Maybe she was one of the many Alexandrians who cheered on the arrival of the first electric trolley which rolled down King Street in 1892. It seems likely she attended the unveiling in 1889 of John Elder’s Appomattox memorial at Washington and Prince, just one block north of her home.
Sarah took her final breath at the family home in 1896. Her obituary in the Gazette pointed out:
Her father will be remembered by many who have now arrived at the middle-age sign post of life as their pedagogue in the old Lancasterian school on the site of which the present Washington building stands.”
It acknowledged her as:
“an educated lady and was possessed of a literary taste. Some of her productions showed that the writer possessed the spark of genius.”
The funeral took place at her home. Rev. Mr Williams, pastor of the ME Church South, conducted the services, and the interment was in, "the old Methodist church cemetery."
Note: I was unable to find where Sarah was laid to rest. As mentioned, her father and mother’s tombstone lies in the Trinity United Methodist Church.
After trying so hard as a reformer in Alexandria, it seems very likely Oscar would have been saddened in his final years. In the landmark decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, the Chief Justices voted 7 to 1 against Plessy. This solidified Jim Crow laws across the south.
In Alexandria, Joseph McCoy and Benjamin Thomas had been hanged in 1897 and 1899. Both took place within steps of where Oscar had served as clerk of court.
One bright moment for Oscar might have been the appearance of Frederick Douglass, who spoke at Lannon's Opera House in September, 1894. This turned out to be one of the lion's last roar, as the great one passed away the following April.
Oscar drew his last breath in February, 1901. The Washington Post (Feb 23) wrote:
Oscar C. Whittlesey died at Alexandria Infirmary this morning at age 75. He was born in Connecticut and came here early in life with his father, who was a well-known educator. During the Civil War deceased was one of the collectors of taxes, later clerk of the common council. recent years he had been one of the magistrates of the Fourth Ward. Brother of Sarah, who attainted considerable literary fame. The deceased was also literary in his tastes.
After the turn of the century, Alexandria finally saw significant growth in its population. World War II brought jobs to Washington and fueled the massive wave of suburbia all around the city. Alexandria’s population of 18,000 in 1920, which was only 4,000 more than when Sarah and Oscar had passed away, leapt to 61,000 in 1950. As part of the Lost Cause, historical markers pointed out the stories of the Confederates. Jim Crow laws were not dismantled until the 1960s.
Marker-wise, the city is making an excellent effort to tell more and more of the stories of the past, with a notable push to include the struggles and successes of African Americans. The Appomattox memorial and historical marker that stood just one block from Sarah’s house was taken away in early 2021.
All these things are appropriate and needed. We must, however, be careful to not push aside the stories of Alexandrians such as Sarah Whittlesey.
Quite frankly, the chances for a marker for Sarah seem slim. Paired with her brother Oscar, however, a marker would give the reader insight into the world they lived in. And, as far as we know, there are no markers for any novelists in Alexandria, much less for a woman.
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