American history ratcheer
Bensblurb #602 4/21/11
We’re brimful of American history, ratcheer
Today’s news sure is wacky, but wasn’t it ever so? Here in Virginia, a strongly pro-life state, we’ve seen President Obama in budget negotiations insist on saving Planned Parenthood, the abortion outfit supported by our tax dollars. He won. Some lost.
If you dislike my take on the subject, try this on for size: Virginia has long been a hotbed of pro-creation sentiments. It traces back to the Civil War, for sure. During that era, it’s no secret that Virginia was home to numerous slave-breeder farms.
We’ve come a long way, baby, even though California‘s Gov. Brown now says, “[The] country hasn‘t been this divided since the Civil War.”
Now that I have your attention, let me point out something about Stafford (Virginia of course): We’re brimful of our country’s fascinating history, right from the get-go. Pocahontas really started something there on the Potomac’s shore beside Aquia Creek. You can hardly find a spot that isn’t historical. Take for instance my favorite homeplace, Aquia Harbour.
Residents in our 2,500 homes are in the midst of our country’s history. And long before: A neighbor friend once found numerous Indian arrowheads in his backyard, claiming they were 3,000 years old. Another friend found remnants of a Union soldier’s rifle on a hill in the undeveloped tract once designated as a school site and still vacant. That was where some Union troops had encamped during the Civil War--and undoubtedly met their fate in the Battle of Fredericksburg, 20 miles south.
There also used to be a distinguished residence located somewhere along today's Washington Drive. It was an elegant English mansion that oversaw historic Stony Hill farm. John Peyton lived there before the Revolutionary War, and the Moncure family also had interests in the farm. The Yankees destroyed the place during the Civil War, like they did most everything else in Stafford County--except, thank goodness, Aquia Church, which once was part of the Church of England and now houses a sizable Episcopal congregation.
Then there was Woodstock, once perched on the hill where the Country Club now sits. It oversaw planted fields of tobacco below, in what we now know as the flats of Section 2. It was part of Giles and George Brent’s estate in revolutionary America. According to Jerrilynn Eby’s book, “They Called Stafford Home” (1997), the Brents, together with George Mason, William Fitzhugh and George Mercer, “formulated ideas...which became the foundation for the Bill of Rights,” and the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions.
Another historic place, just a stroll and a pedestrian bridge away, is the county’s fascinating Government Island. The sandstone quarries there and on the opposite side of Aquia Creek were one of Stafford’s major industries two centuries ago.
One of the earliest uses of the sandstone was for grave markers. According to Eby, one dating back to 1682 still sits in the Brent family cemetery near St. William of York Church.
Students who yawn over such ancient stuff will soon enough realize how young our country still is. I have lived over half the time since the start of the Civil War. A great-grandfather served in Mississippi’s Peach Creek Rangers for the Rebs.
Time quickly marches on.
Ben Blankenship, a long-time journalist, lives in Aquia Harbour. Reach him at Benblanken@aol.com
We’re brimful of American history, ratcheer
Today’s news sure is wacky, but wasn’t it ever so? Here in Virginia, a strongly pro-life state, we’ve seen President Obama in budget negotiations insist on saving Planned Parenthood, the abortion outfit supported by our tax dollars. He won. Some lost.
If you dislike my take on the subject, try this on for size: Virginia has long been a hotbed of pro-creation sentiments. It traces back to the Civil War, for sure. During that era, it’s no secret that Virginia was home to numerous slave-breeder farms.
We’ve come a long way, baby, even though California‘s Gov. Brown now says, “[The] country hasn‘t been this divided since the Civil War.”
Now that I have your attention, let me point out something about Stafford (Virginia of course): We’re brimful of our country’s fascinating history, right from the get-go. Pocahontas really started something there on the Potomac’s shore beside Aquia Creek. You can hardly find a spot that isn’t historical. Take for instance my favorite homeplace, Aquia Harbour.
Residents in our 2,500 homes are in the midst of our country’s history. And long before: A neighbor friend once found numerous Indian arrowheads in his backyard, claiming they were 3,000 years old. Another friend found remnants of a Union soldier’s rifle on a hill in the undeveloped tract once designated as a school site and still vacant. That was where some Union troops had encamped during the Civil War--and undoubtedly met their fate in the Battle of Fredericksburg, 20 miles south.
There also used to be a distinguished residence located somewhere along today's Washington Drive. It was an elegant English mansion that oversaw historic Stony Hill farm. John Peyton lived there before the Revolutionary War, and the Moncure family also had interests in the farm. The Yankees destroyed the place during the Civil War, like they did most everything else in Stafford County--except, thank goodness, Aquia Church, which once was part of the Church of England and now houses a sizable Episcopal congregation.
Then there was Woodstock, once perched on the hill where the Country Club now sits. It oversaw planted fields of tobacco below, in what we now know as the flats of Section 2. It was part of Giles and George Brent’s estate in revolutionary America. According to Jerrilynn Eby’s book, “They Called Stafford Home” (1997), the Brents, together with George Mason, William Fitzhugh and George Mercer, “formulated ideas...which became the foundation for the Bill of Rights,” and the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions.
Another historic place, just a stroll and a pedestrian bridge away, is the county’s fascinating Government Island. The sandstone quarries there and on the opposite side of Aquia Creek were one of Stafford’s major industries two centuries ago.
One of the earliest uses of the sandstone was for grave markers. According to Eby, one dating back to 1682 still sits in the Brent family cemetery near St. William of York Church.
Students who yawn over such ancient stuff will soon enough realize how young our country still is. I have lived over half the time since the start of the Civil War. A great-grandfather served in Mississippi’s Peach Creek Rangers for the Rebs.
Time quickly marches on.
Ben Blankenship, a long-time journalist, lives in Aquia Harbour. Reach him at Benblanken@aol.com
posted by Ben Blankenship at
10:52 AM
