history

Early Fair Memories

From time to time we hear from former Waterford residents or Waterford descendants who have memories to share. Enjoy this memory from a very early Waterford Fair, then known as the Homes Tour and Crafts Exhibit.

I remember the first “Fair” quite well. I was nine years old, my parents were two of the original Board and was so excited to go to the school auditorium and see all the things our friends and neighbors had created.

There was a tiny elderly lady sitting in the auditorium and she was a lace maker. I was absolutely fascinated and asked my mother if she knew how and would teach me. She explained that one of the reasons we were having the “Fair” was to let people share their talents so others could learn from them.

Fast forward to when I was teaching fifth grade and brought my classes to Waterford on Fridays. I designed a treasure hunt listing all the demonstrations I felt fit with our curriculum. The class was divided into groups of five and with a parent volunteer who had maps of the town marked with the demos on it. The groups went off to hunt learning treasures. Parents and children had so much fun and I was able to move around, find the different groups and check on their progress. Good memories.

– Lois Myers Jennings Dodd, via email to Executive Director Stephanie Thompson, November 2021

students observing woodworker — Elementary school students watch as a Waterford Fair demonstrating artist shows off his woodworking skills

Mrs. Dodd’s parents were Douglas and Winifrede “Freda” Myers, two of the thirteen founding directors of the Waterford Foundation in 1943. The first exhibit was held in October 1944, entirely housed in the Fairfax Meetinghouse on Loyalty Road. Following the success of the first exhibit, in subsequent years the event expanded to other locations in the village to feature additional artisans and demonstrations, including the school auditorium and several private homes. Local artists participated as demonstrating artists, such as Anna Hutchison from nearby Hamilton, who demonstrated spinning for several years.

Featuring the work of talented artists has always been a central feature of the Waterford Fair, with the goal of inspiring others to learn traditional crafts and skills. And the tradition of Waterford Elementary students attending the Fair on Friday has continued, with over 200 Waterford students attending the 77th Waterford Fair on October 1, 2021. Similar to Mrs. Dodd’s fifth grade treasure hunt, many children who attended the Fair in 2021 participated in the Waterford Explorers scavenger hunt, leading them all over the village to find all six stops for a stamp in their Explorers passport.

Find more information on the next Waterford Fair at the Fair website: www.waterfordfairva.org. Read about the first Waterford Fair in 1944 here. And if you have Waterford memories to share, please reach out to us at oldschool@waterfordfoundation.org.

A Dixie Sleigh Ride

An excerpt from the Waterford News, Vol. I, No. 7, Seventh Day, 1st Month, 28th, 1865

I wonder if our friends in the United States have enjoyed their numerous sleigh-rides this winter more than we did our one, taken under the seraphic influence of a clouded moon. ‘Twas not one of your couplet rides, never to be spoken of save by you and he, but a real jolly, funny, enjoyable ride; there were five of us. We started after tea, and also after repeated injunctions from our several parents to be careful, not stay too long, don’t let any accident happen, remember Fanny stumbles sometimes, and Blindy can’t see. They were our horses. Fanny was not as young as she was twenty years ago, but we didn’t want any better horses, no indeed. We took the best road to the river, and some of our party seemed to have a strong notion of going on to Frederick. You know what most every body goes there for. Our driver thought it would be just the thing, and let his imagination run on to the time when they should be old, and he would have the honor of saying, when that distinguished gentleman’s name was mentioned as a candidate for the Presidency, why I took him to Frederick on his wedding trip; but it could not be accomplished. He said he could not choose-one without making the others feel badly, such vanity is man’s, but we knew She was not there. On we sped, meeting with no accident, save losing our whip lash, and which we concluded was providential, as it would afford an item for our next paper. We laughed and talked, and chatted on every subject, interspersing each interim with an exclamation, And isn’t this elegant! Did you ever enjoy any thing more? Then one of our party, of the genus homo, who flourished in the last generation–may his shadow never grow less for many generations to come–would tell us of the winter of 1857, when they had sleighing parties every night for four or five successive weeks. I believe he did except First-day night, but from the way he spoke, one would think they went thirty-five nights in one month. There was no war then, and consequently no rebels to be afraid of. He remembered the time very well when our big Brothers and Sisters used to wake us up out of our good sleeps, and tell us what a splendid time they had been having, how Lew’s sleigh ‘most upset, and Frank’s horses like to have run away, and what they had for supper, and the way we asked if they brought us any thing good, and how we went to sleep again, wishing we were big too, and now we were, but this cruel war came, and there were no such good times. But happy in the present, we envied not the enjoyments of the past, and when we reached our homes, we spoke in rapturous terms of the most delightful time ever was. Then those parents of ours said “Oh yes, the last time’s always the best,” to which we agreed, and went to bed dreaming of sleigh-bells, blind horses, warm bricks, and wishing for another sleigh-ride soon. -A

Copies of the full 8 issues of the Waterford News are available online here.

Ghosts at the Fairfax Meeting Cemetery

An excerpt from When Waterford and I Were Young, by John E. Divine, with Bronwen and John Souders

Of course every churchyard has its stories, and one of these involves Fairfax Meeting. During World War I, people reported seeing a spectral “woman in black”, wandering around the grounds, always in or near the shed used to shelter horses during services. Neighbors finally decided that the woman, whom they recognized as one living just beyond the village, was extremely anxious about the absence of her husband in the army and somehow felt reassured being in that place. But forever etched on my mind was the morning that I heard an old Civil War veteran say, “The woman in black was seen again last night.” It sure made a little boy stay in after dark.

In addition to the Meeting grounds, the Quakers owned several acres of pasture immediately behind their cemetery. At one period this pasture was rented to the man who carried the mail from Waterford to Point of Rocks. During the summer, this renter had a routine of taking his horse to the pasture each evening at dusk. To shorten his walk back to town, he would cut across the burying ground.

On one occasion there was an open grave, prepared for a burial the next day. Some of the boys from town thought it was a good idea to scare this man as he came through the cemetery. One of them got into the grave with a white sheet draped over him. As the man approached, the boy rose up from the ground, making a weird sound. The postman happened to be carrying the bridle, which had a heavy steel bit. When the apparition suddenly appeared before him, the postman instinctively swung his bridle and yelled, “Get back in your hole you s—b—-!!” The bit made contact with the would-be ghost’s head, opening a bloody laceration. Never again did anyone try to scare this man.

Find this and other stories in When Waterford and I Were Young by John E. Divine, with Bronwen and John Souders, available online here.

The First Waterford Fair

The Waterford Fair has come a long way since the first exhibit held in 1944. Nevertheless, the exhibition of handmade crafts has always been a central and driving feature of the event. The first Fair was simply an exhibit of the products of local crafts persons. Those who entered items in the exhibit were encouraged but not required to attend the exhibit. There was no entrance fee the first year, and the proceeds from sales of exhibit items went back to the craftspeople. In addition to the crafts, a handout was created on the history of Waterford, to be distributed to all attendees. Read below to learn the story of the first Waterford Fair, in excerpts from the minutes of the Waterford Foundation, April through November, 1944.

April 7, 1944, at the Meeting House, home of Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel:

“The promotion of crafts was then discussed and a motion made by Mrs. Stabler seconded by Mrs. Rogers that an exhibition of handicrafts be held to demonstrate the aim of the Foundation to foster and promote the practice and learning of these arts. The motion was passed. Mr. Stabler made a motion that [a] committee be appointed by the Chairman to examine the whole subject of local crafts, their learning and subsequent sale and to plan for the exhibit. The Chairman appointed Mrs. Stabler, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Myers and Mrs. McDaniel.”

May 12, 1944, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rogers:

“The Committee appointed at the April Board Meeting to examine the subject of crafts, their promotion exhibit of sale, reported that they felt it possible to hold a display in the fall which would be of interest to the community. Some contacts had been made with the persons w[h]o do handwork and many others were to be interviewed. The committee subjected that the first anniversary of the founding of the corporation be selected for this project. The date of September 15th was approved by the Board. Mr. Chamberlain spoke of his feeling that it was important to assemble all the historical data concerning Waterford and interesting fold lore and anecdotes about the early days of the village and the people who used to live there. The Directors heartily approved this suggestion as being one of our basic responsibilities and requested Mr. Chamberlain to serve as chairman of that project and to secure what help he needed.”

August 11, 1944, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stabler:

“A discussion of the Secretary’s seven-point recommendation pertinent to the holding of the Foundation’s proposed exhibit of handicraft resulted in the adoption of all seven items presented by her.

(The chairman of the committee of the Handicraft Exhibit submits the following suggestions,.)

The exhibit is to be held from Friday through Monday on October 13, 14, and 15th.
Announcement cards of the exhibit to be printed and mailed to a list of interested persons and a general invitation be printed in the county papers. Also a statement of the purpose of the Foundation.
A printed or mineographed [sic] short history of Waterford, and its past industries should be prepared for those attending the craft exhibit to take with them when leaving.
Insurance to be carried on the exhibits while in our custody.
Members of the Foundation to alternate as recepturistics [and] as tea servers during the display making it a social occasion.
All effort possible should be made to have those entering exhibits attend the display.
All displays must be listed and (if desired) priced and a record of who are interested in certain work kept.
Where is this to be held.

A motion to change the July meeting’s decision to hold the exhibit on September 15 was made and carried; the dates of October 13, 14, and 15 were definitely agreed upon as final dates.

Mr. and Mrs. A. B. McDaniel offered their home, The Meeting House, as a place for holding the exhibit. Their offer was gratefully accepted.”

September 16, 1944, at the home of Mrs. Ellen H. Fadeley and Mr. Fenton Fadeley:

‘Mrs. Stabler, chairman of the committee on exhibits reported that the committee had met twice and steps were being taken to maintain constant publicity in the county papers prior to the exhibit; that numerous cards had been sent to exhibitors; that Mrs. Myers was making noteworthy progress on the historical pamphlet[sic] and that further meetings of the committee are planned for the near future. After discussion of the frontispiece to be used on the pamphlet[sic] it was moved and seconded that all details of this matter be left to the committee. The motion carried.

Mr. Rogers moved that the treasurer be authorized to take out insurance with Mr. Armfield to cover the exhibits put in our charge, Mrs. Beans seconded the motion and the motion carried.

Mr. Fadeley made the motion that within two weeks after the exhibit a meeting of the directors of the foundation be called at which a comprehensive report of the attendance, interest, and all facts complied[sic] concerning the exhibit be reported. The motion was seconded and passed.”

November 4, 1944, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Chamberlin, Jr:

“Mr. McDaniel requested a report of the exhibit committee and after the report was made Mr. Rogers moved that said report be incorporated into the minutes. Mr. Chamberlin seconded the motion. The report in condensed form is as follows: Approximately 100 persons entered 300 exhibits of handwork. Great interest was shown by nearly 600 guests who attended and the fact that many returned again and again to further enjoy certain exhibits of particular interest to themselves.

All exhibits were listed by the committee and identifying tags were placed on the exhibits. All sales and orders were recorded and cash was received and turned over to the craftsmen in the amount of about $99.00 and orders for future delivery amounted to ___. The popular selling price range was from .75 to $15 and many more articles could have been sold on the spot if duplicates had been available.

Two questions were repeatedly asked by both exhibitors and guests “Will this be held annually.” “What is the purpose of this exhibit.” The committee was impressed with the number of persons attending from out of the county and state. The total amount of expense for printing and advertising as shown by bills presented and paid was ___.

The committee also suggested that in the future some entrance fee or a percentage on sales could easily be charged which would defray any expenses entailed. Another suggestion by the committee was that those who have exhibited this year be written to and urged to continue the development of their line of work in order to have new and interesting entries for another year.”

The success of the first exhibit at promoting handmade crafts was soon apparent. The May 18 minutes of the following year noted the following:

“It was called to the attention of the group that an art class has been started by Mrs. Pickens which is a direct result of the inspiration of the Waterford Foundation’s exhibit of last fall. Mrs. Marshal also started work in weaving by hand”

And the rest, as they say, is history!

Lampshaders

Excerpt from 1951 Waterford Homes Tour and Crafts Exhibit (aka Waterford Fair) booklet, pages 16,17

historic image of ladies creating lampshades — “Senior Lampshaders”, image by Marion Post Wolcott

In 1946 the Waterford Foundation launched an experimental class in lamp shade making, under the direction of Mrs. Paul V. Rogers. Membership in this class was open to anyone from Loudoun or adjacent counties who wished to join, and a small group of aspiring artists displayed and sold their lamp shades at the October Exhibit with great success.

Encouraged by the results of this first attempt, the class met once a week in work-rooms provided by the Mutual Fire Insurance Company until the building was sold in 1950. During these four years, the Lampshaders have grown from six to twenty-five members, varying in age from nine to sixty years. The 4-H Club last year took up the making of Lamp shades as one of their projects, and at the County-wide 4-H Fair their work won several ribbons. Janet Edwards won second prize in the senior state 4-H craft contest held in Blacksburg, Va. Stock and equipment has increased to such an extent that the group has outgrown its old shop, and the Foundation has recently reconditioned the second floor of the mill to accommodate this rapidly growing industry.

historic image of children building lampshades — “Junior Lampshaders”, image by Marion Post Wolcott

At the classes, members receive instruction, materials and suggestions in planning and design, which they may profitably develop at home, a system particularly appealing to mothers of young children. Materials are furnished at wholesale prices.

In the last three years the group has collected lamp bases to combine with its shades. The artists specialize in making bases from antique glassware, bottles, oil lamps pitchers, tea pots, candle moulds, tea kettles, children’s toys, coffee grinders, old sad irons and even decoy ducks. The bases and shades they make for children’s rooms are original and designed to appeal to youngsters. Many customers bring their own treasures to be converted into lamps.

The Lampshaders are always on the lookout for unusual materials. Dyed feed sacks, spun rubber papers, spun glass and the popular new plastics have all been adapted to lamp shades with interesting results. Tinted or antiqued parchments, chintz and watercolors distinguish some, while others are appliqued with hunting scenes, birds or floral prints.

The Lamp Shade Shop is open every Thursday afternoon at the mill from one-thirty to four o’clock.

Waterford Dog Days Diversions

by John M. Souders, July 2021

As we swelter through another hot summer, it’s hard to believe that a century or so ago Waterford successfully marketed itself as an idyllic refuge from the simmering cities. In the latter third of the 1800s, after the railroad pushed west into the Loudoun Valley, farms and villages competed eagerly for cash-paying customers fleeing the urban heat.

sketch of a house on a hill above the old Mill — Mill End, from 1882 sketch

Jake Walker, advertising his comfortable home [Mill End—40090 First Street] overlooking Waterford’s mill, promised guests in 1895 “an Ideal Summer Home—an abundance of fruit, flowers, ice and shade; high and dry; no mosquitoes; two hours’ ride from Washington.” The previous year he had attracted “quite a number of Baltimoreans” for the season.

In 1874, from the other end of town [Huntley Farm—15578 High Street], fellow Quaker Charles Hollingsworth touted a “high situation and view of the mountains fine.” In the wake of the Civil War, money remained scarce, even in productive Loudoun, and summer boarders could help keep homeowners solvent. Still there were sometimes limits to their hospitality. For the Hollingsworths, “only a few persons without children can be accommodated.” In their defense, Huntley in those days was much less spacious than it became after Robert Walker’s modifications in the 1890s. But maybe they just didn’t need the extra hassle. Sally Bond, widow of Waterford’s longtime tanner, was blunter in 1886: “Small children refused.” For the older set she offered “plenty of space, ice, fruit [and] good table” at her place on Bond Street [Janney-Phillips House—40132]. The last named inducement would have been especially important at a time when Waterford had about as many dining options as it does today.

At the northeast edge of town [Moxley Hall—40266 Water Street], Lewis Shuey, who had married Sally Bond’s niece, added a couple of extra attractions to the usual list: “shutters, mountain air [and] daily mail,” the indispensable equivalent of today’s wifi. In 1874 Sally’s sister-in-law Rachel (Mrs. Samuel) Means [40128 Bond Street] advertised her place’s convenient access to Washington: “two trains daily.” (A few years earlier, Albert Brown had inaugurated a stage line between Waterford and the train station at Clarke’s Gap. He promised to “meet the 11 o’clock A.M. train daily. Passengers conveyed comfortably and safely. Fare either way fifty cents.”) Rachel was in dire straits at the time. Husband Sam had formed and led the pro-Union Loudoun Rangers in the war, and his former rebel antagonists were intent on driving him to financial ruin. When they succeeded, the Meanses moved to Washington where Rachel ran a boardinghouse to support the family.

If fine food, “good water” and mountain air did not restore soul, as well as body, there were summer camp meetings. These could be major affairs. One of the first was held in August 1871, exactly 150 years ago.

The Waterford Methodist Episcopal Camp Meeting will commence on Thursday, the 10^th instant. Conveyances will be running daily to and from the depot. The railroad will pass all persons coming and going from the meeting at half fare.—The grounds are well shaded, and very conveniently located. The best accommodations will be provided for all who may come. Boarding and lodging of the best kind will be furnished for the entire meeting for $7, and boarding, exclusive of lodging, for $5. We are expecting a real, old-fashioned Methodist Camp Meeting, and most cordially invite all well-disposed persons to come.

Charles King, Pastor, Waterford, Loudoun co.

Three years later, unfortunately, attendees included persons not so much “well-disposed” as well-inebriated. A “Mr. Tavenner attacked a reverend, and the services were interrupted by a man under the influence of alcohol. The drunken man was quieted by the ‘brawny arm of a big father’ and then ‘subjected to painful effects produced by phrenological examination of the head by a fence rail.’” Quite a vivid image! and “but for the early stopping of the affray there would have been such a fight, as that there would not have been enough men on the ground to stop.”

“Jim Crow” was also in attendance. “At this same meeting a group of African-American women attempted to take advantage of their promised civil rights by seating themselves amongst a group of white women, but they were quickly removed from the meeting by a local officer . . . otherwise it is to be understood that good order was observed throughout and the meeting attended with many gratifying results.”

Not everyone emerged gratified from such gatherings, or even unscathed. Waterford historian John Divine recalled that “someone stuck a knife into” his grandfather Joe Divine—a staunch Methodist—at a camp meeting, though the injury was not serious.

The Baptists appear to have had better luck with their meetings. At a gathering in August 1881 held in Charlie Hollingsworth’s woods, the press reported “an immense crowd” in attendance each day, with “great numbers of vehicles” passing through Hamilton en route to the meeting.

For those seeking a tamer diversion from the summer heat, there were traveling entertainments like the medicine show that in June 1903 set up a tent for two weeks on the “colored school house lot” [Second Street School—15611 Second Street]. The operators had a sure-fire tactic to separate attendees from their hard-earned cash. “They offered a gold watch to the lady who would receive the most votes as being the most popular lady in town. The number of votes being regulated by the amount of medicine, &c. purchased, and when the final count was made on Monday night it was found that Miss Louise Fling, the accomplished daughter of our miller, Mr. W.H. Fling, had received a total of over 87,000 votes, and she was accordingly awarded the watch for being the most popular young lady in town. We congratulate Miss Louise (she was going on 14 at the time), and think she well deserves the compliment.” Political correctness had not been invented yet.

The Sins of Christopher Fiddes

Sometimes a query from a Waterford descendant will, as below, reopen a neglected chapter of the village’s rich history…

Of the hundreds of thousands who emigrated to North America from the British Isles before 1800, the great majority were not free. Most had bound themselves to a number of years’ servitude in exchange for their trans-Atlantic passage or had entered into contracts as apprentices, hoping to learn a trade. Many of the remainder were felons who accepted a period of bondage in the New World rather than face notoriously harsh punishment in the United Kingdom, even for minor transgressions. One of the latter unfortunates summed up
his plight:

Forc’d from your country for to go
Among the negroes to work at the hoe,
In different countries void of relief
Sold for a slave because you prov’d a thief . . .

Waterford’s settlers drew from such indentured arrivals to supplement their own labor. And not infrequently, problems arose. At some point in the 1760s, Quaker Francis Hague, brother-in-law of the town’s founder, Amos Janney, took on an Irish offender, Christopher Fiddes, probably “to work at the hoe” on his farm at the north edge of the village. Unfortunately for Hague, Mr. Fiddes’s contrarian inclinations had accompanied him to Virginia. In August 1769 the new hand was “detected” gambling in a local tavern. At the time he was described as a “servant” of Mahlon Janney, Amos’s son and Hague’s nephew. Perhaps Francis, who was nearing 70, thought that the younger Mahlon might better be able to deal with the refractory Irishman. After all Mahlon had hauled into court that same year would-be runaway Duncan McDonald, and had additional time added to his term of service. But Christopher proved a hard case. Within weeks Francis was obliged to post a notice in the Virginia Gazette:

Run away from the subscriber, living in Loudoun County, near the Quaker meeting house, about 12 miles below the Blue Ridge, an Irish convict servant man named Christopher Fiddes, about 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, and pretty well set. He had on when he went away a light coloured linsey jacket, a cotton ditto, a felt hat, two homespun shirts patched on the back with new linen, two pair of trowsers home made, a good pair of strong shoes, and a large flag handkerchief. He is very talkative, and of a very proud bold behavior, very near sighted, is a lover of strong drink, and very subject to take too much when opportunity offers, and is then very ill behaved; he walks briskly but heavy, taking long steps with a proud air, and is very subject to set his hands on his sides when speaking to any person; has a down look, and is marked with the small pox, tho’ not deep, but plainly seen. Any person taking up and securing the said servant, so that he may be had again, shall have a reward of THREE POUNDS, with all reasonable charges, paid by FRANCIS HAGUE.

No subsequent mention of Fiddes has been found, suggesting that he made good his escape. Despite the setback, both Hague and Janney continued to employ indentured laborers, as did many others in Loudoun at the time, as the system, when it worked, benefited all. In 1773 for example, Hague took on a new apprentice, an 18-year-old lad “bound to be a farmer.” But in this instance, at least, he was taking no chances. The new boy was a relative, Amos Hague.

Steer-Divine House

African-American James Lewis (born circa 1800) probably erected this house around 1850. In 1865 Quakers Frank and Mary “Mollie” Dutton Steer bought it, then sold it to Joseph Divine (1841-1933) in 1875. Divine ran a wheelwright shop across the street for many years; he apprenticed with Reuben Schooley before joining the Union Army and did not retire until he was 83. Early in the Civil War he interrupted his long career to join the Loudoun Rangers, a locally raised federal cavalry unit. The home has been substantially enlarged in recent years.

Excerpt from Walk With Us a walking tour of Waterford

history

A Dixie Sleigh Ride

Footer