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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of History and Comprehensive Description of
+Loudoun County, Virginia, by James W. Head
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia
+
+Author: James W. Head
+
+Release Date: January 9, 2006 [EBook #17485]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY AND COMPREHENSIVE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Sankar Viswanathan, and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                     [Illustration: James W. Head]
+
+                                HISTORY
+
+                                  AND
+
+                       COMPREHENSIVE DESCRIPTION
+
+                                  OF
+
+                            LOUDOUN COUNTY
+
+                               VIRGINIA
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                             JAMES W. HEAD
+
+
+
+                            PARK VIEW PRESS
+
+
+
+                           _Copyright 1908
+                           by JAMES W. HEAD_
+
+
+
+
+Dedication.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+TO MY MOTHER,
+
+
+WHOSE LOVE FOR LOUDOUN IS NOT LESS ARDENT
+  AND UNDYING THAN MY OWN, THIS VOLUME,
+     THE SINGLE AMBITION AND FONDEST
+         ACHIEVEMENT OF MY LIFE,
+            IS AFFECTIONATELY
+                DEDICATED.
+
+
+"Loudoun County exemplifies country life in about the purest and
+pleasantest form that I have yet found in the United States. Not that
+it is a rural Utopia by any means, but the chief ideals of the life
+there are practically identical with those that have made country life
+in the English counties world-famous. As a type, this is, in fact, the
+real thing. No sham, no artificiality, no suspicion of mushroom
+growth, no evidence of exotic forcing are to be found in Loudoun, but
+the culmination of a century's development."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"So much, then, to show briefly that Loudoun County life is a little
+out of the ordinary, here in America, and hence worth talking about.
+There are other communities in Virginia and elsewhere that are worthy
+of eulogy, but I know of none that surpasses Loudoun in the dignity,
+sincerity, naturalness, completeness and genuine success of its
+country life."--WALTER A. DYER, in _Country Life in America_.
+
+
+
+
+Table of Contents.
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Descriptive Department.
+
+SITUATION
+
+BOUNDARIES
+
+TOPOGRAPHY
+
+COMPARATIVE ALTITUDES
+
+DRAINAGE
+
+CLIMATE
+
+GEOLOGY
+
+  Summary
+
+  Granite
+
+  Loudoun Formation
+
+  Weverton Sandstone
+
+  Newark System
+
+  Newark Diabase
+
+  Catoctin Schist
+
+  Rocks of the Piedmont Plain
+
+  Lafayette Formation
+
+  Metamorphism
+
+MINERAL AND KINDRED DEPOSITS
+
+SOILS
+
+  Summary
+
+  Loudoun Sandy Loam
+  Penn Clay
+
+  Penn Stony Loam
+
+  Iredell Clay Loam
+
+  Penn Loam
+
+  Cecil Loam
+
+  Cecil Clay
+
+  Cecil Silt Loam
+
+  Cecil Mica Loam
+
+  De Kalb Stony Loam
+
+  Porters Clay
+
+  Meadow
+
+FLORA AND FAUNA
+
+  Flora
+
+  Fauna
+
+TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
+
+TOWNS AND VILLAGES
+
+  Leesburg
+
+  Round Hill
+
+  Waterford
+
+  Hamilton
+
+  Purcellville
+
+  Middleburg
+
+  Ashburn
+
+  Bluemont
+
+  Smaller Towns
+
+
+Statistical Department.
+
+AREA AND FARMING TABULATIONS
+
+POPULATION
+
+INDUSTRIES
+
+FARM VALUES
+
+LIVE STOCK
+
+  Values
+
+  Animals Sold and Slaughtered
+
+  Neat cattle
+
+  Dairy Products
+
+  Steers
+
+  Horses, Mules, etc.
+
+  Sheep, Goats, and Swine
+
+  Domestic Wool
+
+  Poultry and Bees
+
+SOIL PRODUCTS
+
+  Values
+
+  Corn and Wheat
+
+  Oats, Rye, and Buckwheat
+
+  Hay and Forage Crops
+
+  Miscellaneous Crops, etc.
+
+  Orchard Fruits, etc.
+
+  Small Fruits, etc.
+
+  Flowers, Ornamental Plants, etc.
+
+FARM LABOR AND FERTILIZERS
+
+  Labor
+
+  Fertilizers
+
+EDUCATION AND RELIGION
+
+  Education
+
+  Religion
+
+
+Historical Department.
+
+FORMATION
+
+DERIVATION OF NAME
+
+SETTLEMENT AND PERSONNEL
+
+EARLY HABITS, CUSTOMS, AND DRESS
+
+  Habits
+
+  Customs
+
+  Dress
+
+FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR
+
+REPRESENTATION
+
+  Colonial Assemblies
+
+  State Conventions
+
+THE REVOLUTION
+
+  Loudoun's Loyalty
+
+  Resolutions of Loudoun County
+
+  Revolutionary Committees
+
+  Soldiery
+
+  Quaker Non-Participation
+
+  Loudoun's Revolutionary Hero
+
+  Army Recommendations
+
+  Court Orders and Reimbursements
+
+  Close of the Struggle
+
+WAR OF 1812
+
+  The Compelling Cause
+
+  State Archives at Leesburg
+
+THE MASON-MCCARTY DUEL
+
+HOME OF PRESIDENT MONROE
+
+GENERAL LAFAYETTE'S VISIT
+
+MEXICAN WAR
+
+SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR
+
+  Loudoun County in the Secession Movement
+
+  Loudoun's Participation in the War
+
+  The Loudoun Rangers (Federal)
+
+  Mosby's Command in its Relationship to Loudoun County
+
+  Mosby at Hamilton (Poem)
+
+  Battle of Leesburg ("Ball's Bluff")
+
+  Munford's Fight at Leesburg
+
+  Battle at Aldie
+
+  Duffie at Middleburg
+
+  The Sacking of Loudoun
+
+  Home Life During the War
+
+  Pierpont's Pretentious Administration
+
+  Emancipation
+
+  Close of the War
+
+RECONSTRUCTION
+
+  After the Surrender
+
+  Conduct of the Freedmen
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+
+
+
+Introduction.
+
+
+I know not when I first planned this work, so inextricably is the idea
+interwoven with a fading recollection of my earliest aims and
+ambitions. However, had I not been resolutely determined to conclude
+it at any cost--mental, physical, or pecuniary--the difficulties that
+I have experienced at every stage might have led to its early
+abandonment.
+
+The greatest difficulty lay in procuring material which could not be
+supplied by individual research and investigation. For this and other
+valid reasons that will follow it may safely be said that more than
+one-half the contents of this volume are in the strictest sense
+original, the remarks and detail, for the most part, being the
+products of my own personal observation and reflection. Correspondence
+with individuals and the State and National authorities, though varied
+and extensive, elicited not a half dozen important facts. I would
+charge no one with discourtesy in this particular, and mention the
+circumstance only because it will serve to emphasize what I shall
+presently say _anent_ the scarcity of available material.
+
+Likewise, a painstaking perusal of more than two hundred volumes
+yielded only meagre results, and in most of these illusory references
+I found not a single fact worth recording. This comparatively
+prodigious number included gazeteers, encyclopedias, geographies,
+military histories, general histories, State and National reports,
+journals of legislative proceedings, biographies, genealogies,
+reminiscences, travels, romances--in short, any and all books that I
+had thought calculated to shed even the faintest glimmer of light on
+the County's history, topographical features, etc.
+
+But, contrary to my expectations, in many there appeared no manner of
+allusion to Loudoun County. By this it will be seen that much time
+that might have been more advantageously employed was necessarily
+given to this form of fruitless research.
+
+That works of history and geography can be prepared in no other way,
+no person at all acquainted with the nature of such writings need be
+told. "As well might a traveler presume to claim the fee-simple of all
+the country which he has surveyed, as a historian and geographer
+expect to preclude those who come after him from making a proper use
+of his labors. If the former writers have seen accurately and related
+faithfully, the latter ought to have the resemblance of declaring the
+same facts, with that variety only which nature has enstamped upon the
+distinct elaborations of every individual mind.... As works of this
+sort become multiplied, voluminous, and detailed, it becomes a duty to
+literature to abstract, abridge, and give, in synoptical views, the
+information that is spread through numerous volumes."
+
+Touching the matter gleaned from other books, I claim the sole merit
+of being a laborious and faithful compiler. In some instances, where
+the thoughts could not be better or more briefly expressed, the words
+of the original authors may have been used.
+
+Where this has been done I have, whenever possible, made, in my
+footnotes or text, frank and ample avowal of the sources from which I
+have obtained the particular information presented. This has not
+always been possible for the reason that I could not name, if
+disposed, all the sources from which I have sought and obtained
+information. Many of the references thus secured have undergone a
+process of sifting and, if I may coin the couplet, confirmatory
+handling which, at the last, rendered some unrecognizable and their
+origin untraceable.
+
+The only publication of a strictly local color unearthed during my
+research was Taylor's _Memoir of Loudoun_, a small book, or more
+properly a pamphlet, of only 29 pages, dealing principally with the
+County's geology, geography, and climate. It was written to accompany
+the map of Loudoun County, drawn by Yardley Taylor, surveyor; and was
+published by Thomas Reynolds, of Leesburg, in 1853.
+
+I wish to refer specially to the grateful acknowledgment that is due
+Arthur Keith's _Geology of the Catoctin Belt_ and Carter's and Lyman's
+_Soil Survey of the Leesburg Area_, two Government publications,
+published respectively by the United States Geological Survey and
+Department of Agriculture, and containing a fund of useful information
+relating to the geology, soils, and geography of about two-thirds of
+the area of Loudoun. Of course these works have been the sources to
+which I have chiefly repaired for information relating to the two
+first-named subjects. Without them the cost of this publication would
+have been considerably augmented. As it is I have been spared the
+expense and labor that would have attended an enforced personal
+investigation of the County's soils and geology.
+
+And now a tardy and, perhaps, needless word or two in revealment of
+the purpose of this volume.
+
+To rescue a valuable miscellany of facts and occurrences from an
+impending oblivion; to gather and fix certain ephemeral incidents
+before they had passed out of remembrance; to render some account of
+the County's vast resources and capabilities; to trace its geography
+and analyze its soils and geology; to follow the tortuous windings of
+its numerous streams; to chronicle the multitudinous deeds of
+sacrifice and daring performed by her citizens and soldiery--such has
+been the purpose of this work, such its object and design.
+
+But the idea as originally evolved contemplated only a chronology of
+events from the establishment of the County to the present day. Not
+until the work was well under way was the matter appearing under the
+several descriptive heads supplemented.
+
+From start to finish this self-appointed task has been prosecuted with
+conscientious zeal and persistency of purpose, although with frequent
+interruptions, and more often than not amid circumstances least
+favorable to literary composition. At the same time my hands have been
+filled with laborious avocations of another kind.
+
+What the philosopher Johnson said of his great _Dictionary_ and
+himself could as well be said of this humble volume and its author:
+
+"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not
+be forgotten that much likewise is performed; and though no book was
+ever spared out of tenderness to the author, and the world is little
+solicitous to know whence proceeded the faults of that which it
+condemns; yet it may gratify curiosity to inform it, that the _English
+Dictionary_ was written with little assistance of the learned, and
+without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of
+retirement, or under the shelter of academick bowers, but amidst
+inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow."
+
+If further digression be allowable I might say that in the preparation
+of this work I have observed few of the restrictive rules of literary
+sequence and have not infrequently gone beyond the prescribed limits
+of conventional diction. To these transgressions I make willing
+confession. I have striven to present these sketches in the most lucid
+and concise form compatible with readableness; to compress the
+greatest possible amount of useful information into the smallest
+compass. Indeed, had I been competent, I doubt that I would have
+attempted a more elaborate rendition, or drawn more freely upon the
+language and the coloring of poetry and the imagination. I have
+therefore to apprehend that the average reader will find them too
+statistical and laconic, too much abbreviated and void of detail.
+
+However, a disinterested historian I have not been, and should such a
+charge be preferred I shall look for speedy exculpation from the
+discerning mass of my readers.
+
+In this connection and before proceeding further I desire to say that
+my right to prosecute this work can not fairly be questioned; that a
+familiar treatment of the subject I have regarded as my inalienable
+prerogative. I was born in Loudoun County, of parents who in turn
+could boast the same distinction, and, if not all, certainly the
+happiest days of my life were passed within those sacred precincts. I
+have viewed her housetops from every crowning eminence, her acres of
+unmatched grain, her Arcadian pastures and browsing herds, her
+sun-kissed hills and silvery, serpentine streams. I have known the
+broad, ample playgrounds of her stately old Academy, and shared in the
+wholesome, health-giving sports their breadth permitted. I have known
+certain of her astute schoolmasters and felt the full rigor of their
+discipline. Stern tutors they were, at times seemingly cruel, but what
+retrospective mind will not now accord them unstinted praise and
+gratitude? Something more than the mere awakening and development of
+slumbering intellects was their province: raw, untamed spirits were
+given into their hands for a brief spell--brief when measured in after
+years--and were then sent forth to combat Life's problems with clean
+hearts, healthy minds, robust bodies, and characters that might remain
+unsullied though beset with every hellish device known to a sordid
+world. God bless the dominies of our boyhood--the veteran
+schoolmasters of old Loudoun!
+
+But to return to my theme. I have a distinct foresight of the views
+which some will entertain and express in reference to this work,
+though my least fears of criticism are from those whose experience and
+ability best qualify them to judge.
+
+However, to the end that criticism may be disarmed even before
+pronouncement, the reader, before condemning any statements made in
+these sketches that do not agree with his preconceived opinions, is
+requested to examine all the facts in connection therewith. In so
+doing it is thought he will find these statements correct in the main.
+
+In such a variety of subjects there must of course be many omissions,
+but I shall be greatly disappointed if actual errors are discovered.
+
+In substantiation of its accuracy and thoroughness I need only say
+that the compilation of this work cost me three years of nocturnal
+application--the three most ambitious and disquieting years of the
+average life. During this period the entire book has been at least
+three times rewritten.
+
+In the best form of which I am capable the fruits of these protracted
+labors are now committed to the candid and, it is hoped, kindly
+judgment of the people of Loudoun County.
+
+JAMES W. HEAD.
+"ARCADIA,"
+BARCROFT, VA., _Feb. 1, 1909_.
+
+
+
+
+Descriptive.
+
+SITUATION.
+
+
+Loudoun County lies at the northern extremity of "Piedmont
+Virginia,"[1] forming the apex of one of the most picturesquely
+diversified regions on the American continent. Broad plains, numerous
+groups and ranges of hills and forest-clad mountains, deep river
+gorges, and valleys of practically every conceivable form are strewn
+to the point of prodigality over this vast undulatory area.
+
+[Footnote 1: "Piedmont" means "foot of the mountain." "Piedmont
+Virginia," with a length of 250 miles and an average width of about 25
+miles, and varying in altitude from 300 to 1,200 feet, lies just east
+of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and comprises the counties of _Loudoun_,
+Fauquier, Culpeper, Rappahannock, Madison, Greene, Orange, Albemarle,
+Nelson, Amherst, Bedford, Franklin, Henry, and Patrick. It is a
+portion of the belt that begins in New England and stretches thence
+southward to Georgia and Alabama.]
+
+The particular geographic location of Loudoun has been most accurately
+reckoned by Yardley Taylor, who in 1853 made a governmental survey of
+the county. He placed it "between the latitudes of 38° 52-1/2" and 39°
+21" north latitude, making 28-1/2" of latitude, or 33 statute miles,
+and between 20" and 53-1/2" of longitude west from Washington, being
+33-1/2" of longitude, or very near 35 statute miles."
+
+Loudoun was originally a part of the six million acres which, in 1661,
+were granted by Charles II, King of England, to Lord Hopton, Earl of
+St. Albans, Lord Culpeper, Lord Berkeley, Sir William Morton, Sir
+Dudley Wyatt, and Thomas Culpeper. All the territory lying between the
+Rappahannock and Potomac rivers to their sources was included in this
+grant, afterwards known as the "Fairfax Patent," and still later as
+the "Northern Neck of Virginia."
+
+"The only conditions attached to the conveyance of this domain, the
+equivalent of a principality, were that one-fifth of all the gold and
+one-tenth of all the silver discovered within its limits should be
+reserved for the royal use, and that a nominal rent of a few pounds
+sterling should be paid into the treasury at Jamestown each year. In
+1669 the letters patent were surrendered by the existing holders and
+in their stead new ones were issued.... The terms of these letters
+required that the whole area included in this magnificent gift should
+be planted and inhabited by the end of twenty-one years, but in 1688
+this provision was revoked by the King as imposing an impracticable
+condition."[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: Bruce's _Economic History of Virginia_.]
+
+The patentees, some years afterward, sold the grant to the second Lord
+Culpeper, to whom it was confirmed by letters patent of King James II,
+in 1688. From Culpeper the rights and privileges conferred by the
+original grant descended through his daughter, Catherine, to her son,
+Lord Thomas Fairfax, Baron of Cameron--a princely heritage for a young
+man of 20 years.
+
+
+BOUNDARIES.
+
+The original boundaries of Loudoun County were changed by the
+following act of the General Assembly, passed January 3, 1798, and
+entitled "An Act for adding part of the county of Loudoun to the
+county of Fairfax, and altering the place of holding courts in Fairfax
+County."
+
+     1. _Be it enacted by the General Assembly_, That all that
+     part of the county of Loudoun lying between the lower
+     boundary thereof, and a line to be drawn from the mouth of
+     Sugar Land run, to Carter's mill, on Bull run, shall be, and
+     is hereby added to and made part of the county of Fairfax:
+     Provided always, That it shall be lawful for the sheriff of
+     the said county of Loudoun to collect and make distress for
+     any public dues or officers fees, which shall remain unpaid
+     by the inhabitants of that part of the said county hereby
+     added to the county of Fairfax, and shall be accountable for
+     the same in like manner as if this act had not been made.
+
+     2. _And be it further enacted_, That it shall be lawful for
+     a majority of the acting justices of the peace for the said
+     county of Fairfax, together with the justices of the county
+     of Loudoun included within the part thus added to the said
+     county of Fairfax, and they are hereby required at a court
+     to be held in the month of April or May next, to fix on a
+     place for holding courts therein at or as near the center
+     thereof (having regard to that part of the county of Loudoun
+     hereby added to the said county of Fairfax) as the situation
+     and convenience will admit of; and thenceforth proceed to
+     erect the necessary public buildings at such place, and
+     until such buildings be completed, to appoint any place for
+     holding courts as they shall think proper.
+
+     3. This act shall commence and be in force from and after
+     the passing thereof.
+
+As at present bounded, the old channel at the mouth of Sugar Land run,
+at Lowe's Island,[3] is "the commencement of the line that separates
+Loudoun from Fairfax County and runs directly across the country to a
+point on the Bull Run branch of Occoquan River, about three eighths of
+a mile above Sudley Springs, in Prince William County." The Bull Run
+then forms the boundary between Loudoun and Prince William to its
+highest spring head in the Bull Run mountain, just below the Cool
+Spring Gap. The line then extends to the summit of the mountain, where
+the counties of Fauquier and Prince William corner. From the summit of
+this mountain, a direct line to a point[4] on the Blue Ridge, at
+Ashby's Gap, marks the boundary between Loudoun and Fauquier counties.
+A devious line, which follows in part the crests of the Blue Ridge
+until reaching the Potomac below Harpers Ferry, separates Loudoun from
+Clarke County, Virginia, and Jefferson County, West Virginia, on her
+western border. The Potomac then becomes the dividing line between
+Loudoun County, and Frederick and Montgomery counties, Maryland; "and
+that State, claiming the whole of the river, exercises jurisdiction
+over the islands as well as the river."
+
+[Footnote 3: "What is called Lowe's Island, at the mouth of Sugarland
+Run, was formerly an island, and made so by that run separating and
+part of it passing into the river by the present channel, while a part
+of it entered the river by what is now called the old channel. This
+old channel is now partially filled up, and only receives the waters
+of Sugarland Run in times of freshets. Occasionally when there is high
+water in the river the waters pass up the present channel of the run
+to the old channel, and then follow that to the river again. This old
+channel enters the river immediately west of the primordial range of
+rocks, that impinge so closely upon the river from here to Georgetown,
+forming as they do that series of falls known as Seneca Falls, the
+Great, and the Little Falls, making altogether a fall of 188 feet in
+less than 20 miles."--_Memoir of Loudoun_.]
+
+[Footnote 4: Designated in an old record as a "double-bodied poplar
+tree standing in or near the middle of the thoroughfare of Ashby's Gap
+on the top of the Blue Ridge." It succumbed to the ravages of time and
+fire while this work was in course of preparation.]
+
+This completes an outline of 109 miles, viz: 19 miles in company with
+Fairfax, 10 with Prince William, 17 with Fauquier, 26 with Clarke and
+Jefferson, and 37 miles along the Potomac.
+
+
+TOPOGRAPHY.
+
+Loudoun County is preeminently a diversified region; its surface
+bearing many marked peculiarities, many grand distinctive features.
+The broken ranges of hills and mountains, abounding in Piedmont
+Virginia, here present themselves in softly rounded outline, gradually
+sinking down into the plains, giving great diversity and
+picturesqueness to the landscape. They are remarkable for their
+parallelism, regularity, rectilineal direction and evenness of
+outline, and constitute what is by far the most conspicuous feature in
+the topography of Loudoun. Neither snow-capped nor barren, they are
+clothed with vegetation from base to summit and afford fine range and
+pasturage for sheep and cattle.
+
+The main valleys are longitudinal and those running transversely few
+and comparatively unimportant.
+
+The far-famed Loudoun valley, reposing peacefully between the Blue
+Ridge and Catoctin mountains, presents all the many varied topographic
+aspects peculiar to a territory abounding in foothills.
+
+The Blue Ridge, the southeasternmost range of the Alleghanies or
+Appalachian System presents here that uniformity and general
+appearance which characterizes it throughout the State, having gaps
+or depressions every eight or ten miles, through which the public
+roads pass. The most important of these are the Potomac Gap at 500
+feet and Snickers and Ashby's Gap, both at 1,100 feet. The altitude of
+this range in Loudoun varies from 1,000 to 1,600 feet above
+tide-water, and from 300 to 900 feet above the adjacent country. It
+falls from 1,100 to 1,000 feet in 4 miles south of the river, and
+then, rising sharply to 1,600 feet, continues at the higher series of
+elevations. The Blue Ridge borders the county on the west, its course
+being about south southwest, or nearly parallel with the Atlantic
+Coast-line, and divides Loudoun from Clarke County, Virginia, and
+Jefferson County, West Virginia, the line running along the summit.
+
+Of nearly equal height and similar features are the Short Hills,
+another range commencing at the Potomac River about four miles below
+Harpers Ferry and extending parallel to the Blue Ridge, at a distance
+of nearly four miles from summit to summit, for about twelve miles
+into the County, where it is broken by a branch of Catoctin Creek.
+Beyond this stream it immediately rises again and extends about three
+miles further, at which point it abruptly terminates.
+
+A third range, called "Catoctin Mountain," has its inception in
+Pennsylvania, traverses Maryland, is interrupted by the Potomac,
+reappears in Virginia at the river margin, opposite Point of Rocks,
+and extends through Loudoun County for a distance of twenty or more
+miles, when it is again interrupted.
+
+Elevations on Catoctin Mountain progressively diminish southward from
+the Potomac River to Aldie, although the rocks remain the same, and
+the Tertiary drainage, which might be supposed to determine their
+elevations, becomes less effective in that direction.
+
+Probably this mountain does not exceed an average of more than 300
+feet above the surrounding country, though at some stages it may
+attain an altitude of 700 feet. Rising near the Potomac into one of
+its highest peaks, in the same range it becomes alternately depressed
+and elevated, until reaching the point of its divergence in the
+neighborhood of Waterford. There it assumes the appearance of an
+elevated and hilly region, deeply indented by the myriad streams that
+rise in its bosom.
+
+On reaching the Leesburg and Snicker's Gap Turnpike road, a distance
+of twelve miles, it expands to three miles in width and continues much
+the same until broken by Goose Creek and its tributary, the North
+Fork, when it gradually loses itself in the hills of Goose Creek and
+Little River, before reaching the Ashby's Gap Turnpike.
+
+The Catoctin range throughout Loudoun pursues a course parallel to the
+Blue Ridge, the two forming an intermediate valley or baselevel
+plain, ranging in width from 8 to 12 miles, and in altitude from 350
+to 730 feet above sea level. Allusion to the physiography of this
+valley--so called only by reason of its relation to the mountains on
+either side--has been made elsewhere in this department.
+
+Immediately south of Aldie, on Little River, near the point of
+interruption of Catoctin Mountain, another range commences and extends
+into Fauquier County. It is known as "Bull Run Mountain," but might
+rightly be considered an indirect continuation of the elevation of the
+Catoctin, its course and some of its features corresponding very
+nearly with that mountain save only that it is higher than any of the
+ranges of the latter, excepting the western.
+
+East of the Catoctin the tumultuous continuity of mountains subsides
+into gentle undulations, an almost unbroken succession of sloping
+elevations and depressions presenting an as yet unimpaired variety and
+charm of landscape. However, on the extreme eastern edge of this
+section, level stretches of considerable extent are a conspicuous
+feature of the topography.
+
+Three or four detached hills, rising to an elevation of 150 or 200
+feet above the adjacent country, are the only ones of consequence met
+with in this section.
+
+
+COMPARATIVE ALTITUDES.
+
+The hilly character of Loudoun is clearly shown by the following
+exhibit of the elevation of points and places above tide-water. The
+variations of altitude noted in this schedule are based upon
+conflicting estimates and distinct measurements made at two or more
+points within a given circumference and slightly removed one from the
+other.
+
+                                         Feet.
+Sterling                                  415
+Ashburn                                   320
+Leesburg                           321 to 337
+Clarke's Gap                       578 to 634
+Hamilton                           454 to 521
+Purcellville                       546 to 553
+Round Hill                                558
+Bluemont                           680 to 730
+Snicker's Gap                           1,085
+Neersville                                626
+Hillsborough                              550
+Waterford                                 360
+Mount Gilead                              600
+Oatlands                                  270
+Little River, near Aldie                  299
+Middleburg                                480
+Potomac River, near Seneca Dam            188
+Potomac River, at Point of Rocks          200
+Potomac River, at Harper's Ferry          246
+
+The whole of the county east of the Catoctin Mountain varies from 200
+to 350 feet. The eastern base of the Blue Ridge has an elevation of
+about 730 feet, and the highest peak of that range in Loudoun rises
+1,600 feet above tide-water.
+
+The Short Hills have an approximate altitude of 1,000 feet, while that
+of the Catoctin Mountain varies from 300 to 700 feet. The valley
+between the Blue Ridge and Catoctin Mountains varies from 350 to 730
+feet in elevation.
+
+From many vantage points along the Blue Ridge may be obtained
+magnificent views of both the Loudoun and Shenandoah valleys. The eye
+travels entirely across the fertile expanse of the latter to where, in
+the far distance, the Alleghany and North Mountains rear their wooded
+crests. A few of the summits offer even more extensive prospects. From
+some nearly all of Loudoun, with a considerable area of Fairfax and
+Fauquier, is in full view. Other more distant areas within visionary
+range are portions of Prince William, Rappahannock, and Culpeper
+counties, in Virginia, Frederick and Montgomery counties, in Maryland,
+and even some of Prince George County, east of Washington City.
+Westward, the view embraces Shenandoah, Frederick, Clarke and Warren
+counties, in Virginia, Berkeley and Jefferson counties, in West
+Virginia, Washington County, in Maryland, and some of the mountain
+summits of Pennsylvania.
+
+
+DRAINAGE.
+
+The drainage of Loudoun can be divided into two provinces. One is the
+Potomac province, which is drained by a system of small tributaries of
+that stream. Its elevations are quite uniform and are referable to
+that master stream, whose grade is largely determined by its great
+basin beyond the "Catoctin belt." The second province is the region
+drained by smaller streams, chief of which is Goose Creek. In this
+province the drainage lines head entirely within the "Catoctin belt,"
+and the elevations are variable according to the constitution of the
+rocks in the belt itself.
+
+The tributaries by which the drainage of the two provinces is effected
+are Catoctin Creek, North Fork Catoctin Creek, South Fork Catoctin
+Creek, Little River, North Fork Goose Creek, Beaver-dam Creek, Piney
+Run, Jeffries Branch, Cromwells Run, Hungry Run, Bull Run, Sycoline
+Creek, Tuscarora Creek, Horse Pen Run, Broad Run, Sugarland Run, Elk
+Lick, Limestone Branch, and as many lesser streams.
+
+The general slope of the county being to the northeast, the waters,
+for the most part, naturally follow the same course, as may be readily
+perceived by reference to maps of the section. The streams that rise
+in the Blue Ridge mostly flow to the eastward until they approach the
+Catoctin Mountain, where they are then deflected more toward either
+the north or south to pass that range by the Northwest Fork and Goose
+Creek, or by the Catoctin Creek which falls into the Potomac above
+Point of Rocks. East of Catoctin Mountain the streams pursue a more or
+less direct northern course.
+
+Goose Creek, a right-hand branch of the Potomac River, is a
+considerable stream, pursuing a course of about fifty miles from its
+source in Fauquier County to its junction with the Potomac four miles
+northeast of Leesburg. It once bore the Indian name _Gohongarestaw_,
+meaning "River of Swans." Flowing northeastward across Loudoun, it
+receives many smaller streams until passing the first range of
+Catoctin Mountain, when it claims a larger tributary, the North Fork.
+Goose Creek represents subsequent drainage dependent on the syncline
+of the Blue Ridge and dating back at least as far as Cretaceous time.
+Its length in Loudoun is about thirty miles, and it has a fall of one
+hundred feet in the last twenty-two miles of its course. It drains
+nearly one-half the county and is about sixty yards wide at its mouth.
+
+Catoctin Creek is very crooked; its basin does not exceed twelve miles
+as the crow flies, and includes the whole width of the valley between
+the mountains except a small portion in the northeastern angle of the
+County. Yet its entire course, measuring its meanders, would exceed
+thirty-five miles. It has a fall of one hundred and eighty feet in the
+last eighteen miles of its course, and is about twenty yards wide near
+its mouth.
+
+The Northwest Fork rises in the Blue Ridge and flows southeastward,
+mingling its waters with the Beaver Dam, coming from the southwest,
+immediately above Catoctin Mountain, where their united waters pass
+through a narrow valley to Goose Creek.
+
+Little River, a small affluent of Goose Creek, rises in Fauquier
+County west of Bull Run mountain and enters Loudon a few miles
+southwestward of Aldie. It pursues a northern and northeastern course
+until it has passed that town, turning then more to the northward and
+falling into Goose Creek. Before the Civil War it was rendered
+navigable from its mouth to Aldie by means of dams.
+
+Broad Run, the next stream of consequence east of Goose Creek, rises
+in Prince William County and pursues a northern course, with some
+meanderings through Loudoun. It flows into the Potomac about four
+miles below the mouth of Goose Creek.
+
+Sugarland Run, a still smaller stream, rises partly in Loudoun, though
+its course is chiefly through Fairfax County, and empties into the
+Potomac at the northeastern angle of the County.
+
+In its southeastern angle several streams rise and pursue a southern
+and southeastern course, and constitute some of the upper branches of
+Occoquan River.
+
+Perhaps no county in the State is better watered for all purposes,
+except manufacturing in times of drought. Many of the farms might be
+divided into fields of ten acres each and, in ordinary seasons, would
+have water in each of them.
+
+There are several mineral springs in the county of the class called
+chalybeate, some of which contain valuable medicinal properties, and
+other springs and wells that are affected with lime. Indeed, in almost
+every part of the County, there is an exhaustless supply of the purest
+spring water. This is due, in great part, to the porosity of the soil
+which allows the water to pass freely into the earth, and the slaty
+character of the rocks which favors its descent into the bowels of the
+hills, from whence it finds its way to the surface, at their base, in
+numberless small springs. The purity of these waters is borrowed from
+the silicious quality of the soil.
+
+The largest spring of any class in the county is Big Spring, a
+comparatively broad expanse of water of unsurpassed quality, bordering
+the Leesburg and Point of Rocks turnpike, about two miles north of
+Leesburg.
+
+The springs, as has been stated, are generally small and very
+numerous, and many of them are unfailing, though liable to be affected
+by drought. In such cases, by absorption and evaporation, the small
+streams are frequently exhausted before uniting and often render the
+larger ones too light for manufacturing purposes. Nevertheless, water
+power is abundant; the county's diversified elevation giving
+considerable fall to its water courses, and many sites are occupied.
+
+
+CLIMATE.
+
+Because responsible statistical data is usually accorded unqualified
+credence, it is without undue hesitation that the following bit of
+astonishing information, gleaned from a reliable source, is here set
+down as positive proof of the excellence of Loudoun's climate: "It
+(Leesburg) is located in a section the healthiest in the world, as
+proven by statistics which place the death rate at 8-1/2 per 1,000,
+the very lowest in the table of mortality gathered from all parts of
+the habitable globe."
+
+The climate of Loudoun, like that of most other localities, is
+governed mainly by the direction of the prevailing winds, and, to a
+limited extent, is influenced by the county's diversified physical
+features.
+
+Though the rainfall is abundant, amounting annually to forty or fifty
+inches, ordinarily the air is dry and salubrious. This ample
+precipitation is usually well distributed throughout the growing
+season and is rarely insufficient or excessive. The summer rainfall
+comes largely in the form of local showers, scarcely ever attended by
+hail. Loudoun streams for the most part are pure and rapid, and there
+appears to be no local cause to generate malaria.
+
+In common with the rest of Virginia the climate of Loudoun corresponds
+very nearly with that of Cashmere and the best parts of China. The
+mean annual temperature is 50° to 55°.
+
+Loudoun winters are not of long duration and are seldom marked by
+protracted severity. Snow does not cover the ground for any
+considerable period and the number of bright sunny days during these
+seasons is unusually large. In their extremes of cold they are less
+rigorous than the average winters of sections farther north or even of
+western localities of the same latitude. Consequently the growing
+season here is much more extended than in either of those sections.
+The prevailing winds in winter are from the north and west, and from
+these the mountains afford partial protection.
+
+The seasons are somewhat earlier even than in the Shenandoah Valley,
+just over the western border of Loudoun, and the farmers here plant
+and harvest their crops from one week to ten days earlier than the
+farmers of that region.
+
+Loudoun summers, as a rule, are long and agreeably cool, while
+occasional periods of extreme heat are not more oppressive than in
+many portions of the North. The mountains of Loudoun have a delightful
+summer climate coupled with inspiring scenery, and are well known as
+the resort of hundreds seeking rest, recreation, or the restoration of
+health. This region, owing to its low humidity, has little dew at
+night, and accordingly has been found especially beneficial for
+consumptives and those afflicted with pulmonary diseases. The genial
+southwest trade winds, blowing through the long parallel valleys,
+impart to them and the enclosing mountains moisture borne from the far
+away Gulf of Mexico.
+
+
+GEOLOGY.
+
+The geology of more than half the area of Loudoun County has received
+thorough and intelligent treatment at the hands of Arthur Keith in his
+most excellent work entitled "_Geology of the Catoctin Belt_,"
+authorized and published by the United States Geological Survey.[5]
+
+[Footnote 5: Credit for many important disclosures and much of the
+detail appearing in this department is unreservedly accorded Mr. Keith
+and his assistants.]
+
+Mr. Keith's analysis covered the whole of Bull Run Mountain, the
+Catoctin in its course through Virginia and Maryland to its
+termination in southern Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge and South
+Mountain for a corresponding distance, all intermediate ridges and
+valleys and contiguous territory lying outside this zone and
+paralleling the two flanking ranges.[6]
+
+[Footnote 6: The name "Catoctin Belt" is applied to this region
+because it is separated by Catoctin Mountain from the Piedmont plain
+as a geographic unit more distinctly than in any other area, and
+because its geological unity is completed by Catoctin more fully and
+compactly than elsewhere.]
+
+In this important work the Catoctin Belt is shown to be an epitome of
+the leading events of geologic history in the Appalachian region. It
+contains the earliest formations whose original character can be
+certified; it contains almost the latest known formations; and the
+record is unusually full, with the exception of the later Paleozoic
+rocks. Its structures embrace nearly every known type of deformation.
+It furnishes examples of every process of erosion, of topography
+derived from rocks of nearly every variety of composition, and of
+topography derived from all types of structure except the flat plateau
+type. In the recurrence of its main geographic features from
+pre-Cambrian time till the present day it furnishes a remarkable and
+unique example of the permanence of continental form.
+
+With certain qualifications, a summary of the leading events that have
+left their impress on the region is as follows:
+
+1. Surface eruption of diabase.
+
+2. Injection of granite.
+
+3. Erosion.
+
+4. Surface eruption of quartz-porphyry, rhyolite, and andesite.
+
+5. Surface eruption of diabase.
+
+6. Erosion.
+
+7. Submergence, deposition of Cambrian formations; slight oscillations
+during their deposition; reduction of land to baselevel.
+
+8. Eastward tilting and deposition of Martinsburg shale; oscillations
+during later Paleozoic time.
+
+9. Uplift, post-Carboniferous deformation and erosion.
+
+10. Depression and Newark deposition; diabase intrusion.
+
+11. Uplift, Newark deformation; and erosion to Catoctin baselevel.
+
+12. Depression and deposition of Potomac, Magothy, and Severn.
+
+13. Uplift southwestward and erosion to baselevel.
+
+14. Uplift, warping and degradation to Tertiary baselevel; deposition
+of Pamunkey and Chesapeake.
+
+15. Depression and deposition of Lafayette.
+
+16. Uplift and erosion to lower Tertiary baselevel.
+
+17. Uplift, warping and erosion to Pleistocene baselevel; deposition
+of high-level Columbia.
+
+18. Uplift and erosion to lower Pleistocene baselevel; deposition of
+low-level Columbia.
+
+19. Uplift and present erosion.
+
+Along the Coastal plain reduction to baselevel was followed by
+depression and deposition of Lafayette gravels; elevation followed and
+erosion of minor baselevels; second depression followed and deposition
+of Columbia gravels; again comes elevation and excavation of narrow
+valleys; then depression and deposition of low-level Columbia; last,
+elevation and channeling, which is proceeding at present. Along the
+Catoctin Belt denudation to baselevel was followed by depression and
+deposition of gravels; elevation followed and erosion of minor
+baselevels among the softer rocks; second depression followed, with
+possible gravel deposits; elevation came next with excavation of broad
+bottoms; last, elevation and channeling, at present in progress.
+
+The general structure of the Catoctin Belt is anticlinal. On its core
+appear the oldest rocks; on its borders, those of medium age; and in
+adjacent provinces the younger rocks. In the location of its system of
+faulting, also, it faithfully follows the Appalachian law that faults
+lie upon the steep side of anticlines.
+
+After the initial location of the folds along these lines, compression
+and deformation continued. Yielding took place in the different rocks
+according to their constitution.
+
+Into this system of folds the drainage lines carved their way. On the
+anticlines were developed the chief streams, and the synclines were
+left till the last. The initial tendency to synclinal ridges was
+obviated in places by the weakness of the rocks situated in the
+synclines, but even then the tendency to retain elevation is apt to
+cause low ridges. The drainage of the belt as a whole is anticlinal to
+a marked degree, for the three main synclinal lines are lines of great
+elevation, and the anticlines are invariably valleys.
+
+In order of solubility the rocks of the Catoctin Belt, within the
+limits of Loudoun County, to which section all subsequent geologic
+data will be confined, stand as follows:
+
+1. Newark limestone conglomerate; calcareous.
+
+2. Newark sandstone and shale; calcareous and feldspathic.
+
+3. Newark diabase; feldspathic.
+
+4. Granite; feldspathic.
+
+5. Loudoun formation; feldspathic.
+
+6. Granite and schist; feldspathic.
+
+7. Catoctin schist; epidotic and feldspathic.
+
+8. Weverton sandstone; siliceous.
+
+All of these formations are in places reduced to baselevel. The first
+three invariably are, unless protected by a harder rock; the next
+three usually are; the Catoctin schist only in small parts of its
+area; the Weverton only along a small part of Catoctin Mountain.
+
+The Catoctin Belt itself may be described as a broad area of igneous
+rocks bordered by two lines of Lower Cambrian sandstones and slates.
+Over the surface of the igneous rocks are scattered occasional
+outliers of the Lower Cambrian slate; but far the greater part of the
+surface of the belt is covered by the igneous rocks. The belt as a
+whole may be regarded as an anticline, the igneous rocks constituting
+the core, the Lower Cambrian the flanks, and the Silurian and Newark
+the adjoining zones. The outcrops of the Lower Cambrian rocks are in
+synclines, as a rule, and are complicated by many faults. The igneous
+rocks have also been much folded and crumpled, but on account of their
+lack of distinctive beds the details of folds can not well be traced
+among them.
+
+They are the oldest rocks in the Catoctin Belt and occupy most of its
+area. They are also prominent from their unusual character and rarity.
+
+An important class of rocks occurring in the Catoctin Belt is the
+sedimentary series. It is all included in the Cambrian period and
+consists of limestone, shale, sandstone and conglomerate. The two
+border zones of the Catoctin Belt, however, contain also rocks of the
+Silurian and Juratrias periods. In general, the sediments are sandy
+and calcareous in the Juratrias area, and sandy in the Catoctin Belt.
+They have been the theme of considerable literature, owing to their
+great extent and prominence in the topography.
+
+
+_Granite._
+
+The granite in the southern portion of the County is very important in
+point of extent, almost as much so as the diabase in the same section.
+
+The areas of granite are, as a rule, long narrow belts, and vary
+greatly in width.
+
+The mineralogical composition of the granite is quite constant over
+large areas. Six varieties can be distinguished, however, each with a
+considerable areal extent. The essential constituents are quartz,
+orthoclase and plagioclase, and by the addition to these of biotite,
+garnet, epidote, blue quartz, and hornblende, five types are formed.
+All these types are holocrystalline, and range in texture from coarse
+granite with augen an inch long down to a fine epidote granite with
+scarcely visible crystals.
+
+
+_Loudoun Formation._
+
+Among the various Cambrian formations of the Catoctin Belt there are
+wide differences in uniformity and composition. In none is it more
+manifest than in the first or Loudoun formation. This was
+theoretically to be expected, for first deposits upon a crystalline
+foundation represent great changes and transition periods of
+adjustment among new currents and sources of supply. The Loudoun
+formation, indeed, runs the whole gamut of sedimentary possibilities,
+and that within very short geographical limits. Five miles northwest
+of Aldie the Loudoun formation comprises limestone, slate, sandy
+slate, sandstone, and conglomerate with pebbles as large as hickory
+nuts. These amount in thickness to fully 800 feet, while less than
+three miles to the east the entire formation is represented by eight
+or ten feet of black slate.
+
+The name of the Loudoun formation is given on account of the frequent
+occurrence of all its variations in Loudoun County. Throughout the
+entire extent of the Catoctin Belt, and especially through its central
+portions, the Loudoun formation has frequent beds of sandstone,
+conglomerate, and limestone. The limestones occur as lenses along two
+lines; one immediately west of Catoctin Mountain, the other three or
+four miles east of the Blue Ridge. Along the western range the
+limestone lenses extend only to the Potomac. There they are shown on
+both sides of the river, and have been worked in either place for
+agricultural lime. Only the refuse of the limestone now remains, but
+the outcrops have been extant until recent years. Along the eastern
+line the limestone lenses extend across the Potomac and into Maryland
+for about one mile, and it is along this belt that they are the most
+persistent and valuable. As a rule they are altered from limestone
+into marble, and at one point they have been worked for commercial
+purposes. Nearly every outcrop has been opened, however, for
+agricultural lime. Where Goose Creek crosses this belt a quarry has
+been opened and good marble taken out, but want of transportation
+facilities has prevented any considerable development. The relation
+between marble and schist is very perfectly shown at an old quarry
+west of Leesburg. The marble occupies two beds in schist, and between
+the two rocks there is gradation of composition. In none of the
+western belts are the calcareous beds recrystallized into marbles,
+but all retain their original character of blue and dove-colored
+limestone. None of them, however, is of great thickness and none of
+great linear extent.
+
+The Loudoun formation, of course, followed a period of erosion of the
+Catoctin Belt, since it is the first subaqueous deposit. It is
+especially developed with respect to thickness and coarseness to the
+west of Catoctin Mountain. Elsewhere the outcrops are almost entirely
+black slate. This is true along the Blue Ridge, through almost its
+entire length, and also through the entire length of the Catoctin
+Mountain. On the latter range it is doubtful if this formation exceeds
+200 feet in thickness at any point. Along the Blue Ridge it may, and
+probably does, in places, reach 500 feet in thickness.
+
+The distribution of the coarse varieties coincides closely with the
+areas of greatest thickness and also with the synclines in which no
+Weverton sandstone appears. The conglomerates of the Loudoun formation
+are composed of epidotic schist, andesite, quartz, granite, epidote,
+and jasper pebbles embedded in a matrix of black slate and are very
+limited in extent.
+
+
+_Weverton Sandstone._
+
+The formation next succeeding the Loudoun formation is the Weverton
+sandstone. It is so named on account of its prominent outcrops in
+South Mountain, near Weverton, Maryland, and consists entirely of
+siliceous fragments, mainly quartz and feldspar. Its texture varies
+from a very fine, pure sandstone to a moderately coarse conglomerate,
+but, in general, it is a sandstone. As a whole, its color is white and
+varies but little; the coarse beds have a grayish color in most
+places. Frequent bands and streaks of bluish black and black are added
+to the white sandstones, especially along the southern portion of the
+Blue Ridge. The appearance of the rock is not modified by the amount
+of feldspar which it contains.
+
+From the distribution of these various fragments, inconspicuous as
+they are, considerable can be deduced in regard to the environment of
+the Weverton sandstone.
+
+The submergence of the Catoctin Belt was practically complete, because
+the Weverton sandstone nowhere touches the crystalline rocks. Perhaps
+it were better stated that submergence was complete in the basins in
+which Weverton sandstone now appears. Beyond these basins, however, it
+is questionable if the submergence was complete, because in the
+Weverton sandstone itself are numerous fragments which could have been
+derived only from the granite masses. These fragments consist of blue
+quartz, white quartz, and feldspar. The blue quartz fragments are
+confined almost exclusively to the outcrops of the Weverton sandstone
+in the Blue Ridge south of the Potomac, and are rarely found on
+Catoctin.
+
+The general grouping of the Loudoun formation into two classes of
+deposit (1), the fine slates associated with the Weverton sandstone,
+and (2), the course sandstones occurring in deep synclines with no
+Weverton, raises the question of the unity of that formation. The
+evidence on this point is manifold and apparently conclusive. The
+general composition of the two is the same--i. e., beds of
+feldspathic, siliceous material derived from crystalline rocks. They
+are similarly metamorphosed in different localities. The upper parts
+of the thicker series are slates identical in appearance with the
+slates under the Weverton, which presumably represent the upper
+Loudoun.
+
+A marked change in the thickness of the Weverton sandstone occurs
+along Catoctin Mountain, the formation diminishing from 1,000 to 200
+feet in a few miles. This plainly indicates shore conditions, and the
+nature of the accompanying change of constituent material locates the
+direction of the shore. This change is a decrease of the feldspar
+amounting to elimination at the Potomac. As the feldspar, which is
+granular at the shore, is soon reduced to fine clay and washed away,
+the direction of its disappearance is the direction of deep water.
+Thus the constitution and thickness of the Weverton sandstone unite in
+showing the existence of land not far northeast of Catoctin Mountain
+during Weverton deposition.
+
+Aside from this marked change in thickness, none of unusual extent
+appears in the Weverton sandstone over the remainder of the Catoctin
+Belt. While this is partly due to lack of complete sections, yet such
+as are complete show a substantial uniformity. The sections of the
+Blue Ridge outcrops range around 500 feet, and those of the Catoctin
+line are in the vicinity of 300. This permanent difference in
+thickness along the two lines can be attributed to an eastward
+thinning of the formation, thus, however, implying a shore to the west
+of the Blue Ridge line. It can also be attributed to the existence of
+a barrier between the two, and this agrees with the deductions from
+the constituent fragments.
+
+
+_Newark System._
+
+An epoch of which a sedimentary record remains in the region of the
+Catoctin Belt is one of submergence and deposition, the Newark or
+Juratrias. The formation, though developed in the Piedmont plain,
+bears upon the history of the Catoctin Belt by throwing light on the
+periods of degradation, deposition, igneous injection, and deformation
+that have involved them both.
+
+At the Potomac River it is about 4 miles in width, at the latitude of
+Leesburg about 10 miles in width, and thence it spreads towards the
+east until its maximum width is, perhaps, 15 miles. The area of the
+Newark formation is, of course, a feature of erosion, as far as its
+present form is concerned. In regard to its former extent little can
+be said, except what can be deduced from the materials of the
+formation itself. Three miles southeast of Aldie and the end of Bull
+Run Mountain a ridge of Newark sandstone rises to 500 feet. The same
+ridge at its northern end, near Goose Creek, attains 500 feet and
+carries a gravel cap. One mile south of the Potomac River a granite
+ridge rises from the soluble Newark rocks to the same elevation.
+
+As a whole the formation is a large body of red calcareous and
+argillaceous sandstone and shale. Into this, along the northern
+portion of the Catoctin Belt, are intercalated considerable wedges or
+lenses of limestone conglomerate. At many places also gray feldspathic
+sandstones and basal conglomerates appear.
+
+The limestone conglomerate is best developed from the Potomac to
+Leesburg, and from that region southward rapidly diminishes until it
+is barely represented at the south end of Catoctin Mountain.
+
+The conglomerate is made up of pebbles of limestone of varying sizes,
+reaching in some cases a foot in diameter, but, as a rule, averaging
+about 2 or 3 inches. The pebbles are usually well rounded, but
+sometimes show considerable angles. The pebbles of limestone range in
+color from gray to blue and dark blue, and occasionally pebbles of a
+fine white marble are seen; with rare exceptions also pebbles of
+Catoctin schist and quartz occur. They are embedded in a red
+calcareous matrix, sometimes with a slight admixture of sand. As a
+rule the entire mass is calcareous.
+
+The conglomerate occurs, as has been said, in lenses or wedges in the
+sandstone ranging from 1 foot to 500 feet in thickness, or possibly
+even greater. They disappear through complete replacement by sandstone
+at the same horizon. The wedge may thin out to a feather edge or may
+be bodily replaced upon its strike by sandstone; one method is perhaps
+as common as the other. The arrangement of the wedges is very
+instructive indeed. The general strike of the Newark rocks is a little
+to the west of north, while the strike of the Catoctin Belt is a
+little to the east of north. The two series, therefore, if extended,
+would cross each other at an angle of 20 to 30 degrees. The
+conglomerate wedges are collected along the west side of the Newark
+Belt and in contact usually with the Weverton sandstone. The thick
+ends of the wedges along the line of contact usually touch each other.
+Going south by east the proportion of the sandstone increases with
+rapid extermination of the conglomerate. The thin ends of the wedges,
+therefore, resemble a series of spines projecting outward from the
+Catoctin Belt.
+
+The result of weathering upon the conglomerate is a very uneven and
+rugged series of outcrops projecting above the rolling surface of the
+soil.
+
+The ledges show little definite stratification and very little dip.
+The topography of the conglomerate is inconspicuous and consists of a
+slightly rolling valley without particular features. It approaches
+nearer to the level of the present drainage than any other formation,
+and decay by solution has gone on to a very considerable extent. Where
+the draining streams have approached their baselevel, scarcely an
+outcrop of conglomerate is seen. Where the areas of conglomerate lie
+near faster falling streams, the irregular masses of unweathered rocks
+appear.
+
+When but slightly weathered the conglomerate forms an effective
+decorative stone and has been extensively used as a marble with the
+name "Potomac marble," from the quarries on the Potomac east of Point
+of Rocks, Maryland. While it is in no sense a marble, yet the
+different reds and browns produced by unequal weathering of the
+limestone pebbles have a very beautiful effect.
+
+The thickness of the Newark formation is most uncertain. The rocks dip
+at a light angle to the west with hardly an exception, and the
+sections all appear to be continuous. Even with liberal deductions for
+frequent faults, nothing less than 3,000 feet will account for the
+observed areas and dips.
+
+
+_Newark Diabase._
+
+Description of the lithified deposits would be far from complete
+without reference to the later diabase which is associated with the
+Newark rocks.
+
+These diabases, as they will be called generically, are usually
+composed of plagioclase feldspar, and diallage or augite; additional
+and rarer minerals are quartz, olivine, hypersthene, magnetite,
+ilmenite, and hornblende. Their structure is ophitic in the finer
+varieties, and to some extent in the coarser kinds as well. They are
+holocrystalline in form and true glassy bases are rare, rendering the
+term diabase more appropriate than basalt.
+
+There is greater variety in texture, from fine aphanitic traps up to
+coarse grained dolerites with feldspars one-third of an inch long. The
+coarser varieties are easily quarried and are often used for building
+stone under the name of granite.
+
+These forms are retained to the present day with no material change
+except that of immediate weathering, but to alterations of this kind
+they are an easy prey, and yield the most characteristic forms. The
+narrow dikes produce ridges between slight valleys of sandstone or
+shale, the wide bodies produce broad flat hills or uplands. The rock
+weathers into a fine gray and brown clay with numerous bowlders of
+unaltered rock of a marked concentric shape.
+
+While the diabase dikes are most prominent in the Newark rocks, they
+are also found occasionally in the other terraces. In the Catoctin
+Belt they appear irregularly in the granite and schist. Rare cases
+also occur in the rocks of the Piedmont plain. The diabase of the
+Newark areas is almost exclusively confined to the red sandstone, and
+the dike at Leesburg cutting the limestone conglomerate is almost the
+only occurrence of that combination.
+
+The diabase occurs only as an intrusive rock in the vicinity of the
+Catoctin Belt. Of this form of occurrence, however, there are two
+types, dikes and massive sheets or masses. The dikes are parallel to
+the strike of the inclosing sandstone as a rule, and appear to have
+their courses controlled by it on account of their small bulk. The
+large masses break at random across the sandstone in the most
+eccentric fashion. No dislocation can be detected in the sandstones,
+either in strike or dip, yet of course it must exist by at least the
+thickness of the intrusive mass. That this thickness is considerable
+is shown by the coarseness of the larger trap masses, which could
+occur only in bodies of considerable size, and also by the width of
+their outcrops in the westward dipping sandstones. The chief mass in
+point of size is three miles wide. This mass fast decreases in width
+as it goes north, without losing much of its coarseness, and ends in
+Leesburg in a hooked curve. The outline of the diabase is suggestive
+of the flexed trap sheets of more northern regions, but this
+appearance is deceptive, since the diabase breaks directly across both
+red sandstone and limestone conglomerate, which have a constant north
+and south strike. An eastern branch of this mass crosses the Potomac
+as a small dike and passes north into Pennsylvania. The diabase dikes
+in the Catoctin Belt are always narrow, and, while many outcrops occur
+along a given line, it is probable that they are not continuous.
+
+At Leesburg the limestone conglomerate next the diabase is indurated,
+its iron oxide is driven off, and the limestone partly crystallized
+into marble.
+
+
+_Catoctin Schist._
+
+The Catoctin schist is geographically the most important of the
+volcanic rocks of Loudoun.
+
+Throughout its entire area the schist is singularly uniform in
+appearance, so that only two divisions can be made with any certainty
+at all. These are dependent upon a secondary characteristic, viz, the
+presence of epidote in large or small quantities. The epidote occurs
+in the form of lenses arranged parallel to the planes of schistosity,
+reaching as high as five feet in thickness and grading from that down
+to the size of minute grains. Accompanying this lenticular epidote is
+a large development of quartz in lenses, which, however, do not attain
+quite such a size as those of epidote. Both the quartz and epidote are
+practically insoluble and lie scattered over the surface in blocks of
+all sizes. In places they form an almost complete carpet and protect
+the surface from removal. The resulting soil, where not too heavily
+encumbered with the epidote blocks, is rich and well adapted to
+farming, on account of the potash and calcium contained in the epidote
+and feldspar.
+
+Except along the narrow canyons in the Tertiary baselevel the rock is
+rarely seen unless badly weathered. The light bluish green color of
+the fresh rock changes on exposure to a dull gray or yellow, and the
+massive ledges and slabs split up into thin schistose layers. It is
+quite compact in appearance, and as a rule very few macroscopic
+crystals can be seen in it.
+
+A general separation can be made into an epidotic division
+characterized by an abundance of macroscopic epidote and a
+non-epidotic division with microscopic epidote. These divisions are
+accented by the general finer texture of the epidotic schist.
+
+The schists can be definitely called volcanic in many cases, from
+macroscopic characters, such as the component minerals and basaltic
+arrangement. In most cases, the services of the microscope are
+necessary to determine their nature. Many varieties have lost all of
+their original character in the secondary schistosity. None the less,
+its origin as diabase can definitely be asserted of the whole mass. In
+view of the fact, however, that most of the formation has a well
+defined schistosity destroying its diabasic characters, and now is not
+a diabase but a schist, it seems advisable to speak of it as a schist.
+
+Sections of the finer schist in polarized light show many small areas
+of quartz and plagioclase and numerous crystals of epidote, magnetite,
+and chlorite, the whole having a marked parallel arrangement. Only in
+the coarser varieties is the real nature of the rock apparent. In
+these the ophitic arrangement of the coarse feldspars is well defined,
+and in spite of their subsequent alteration the fragments retain the
+crystal outlines and polarize together. Additional minerals found in
+the coarse schists are calcite, ilmenite, skeleton oblivine, biotite,
+and hematite.
+
+
+_Rocks of the Piedmont Plain._
+
+The Piedmont plain, where it borders upon the Catoctin Belt, is
+composed in the main of the previously described Newark strata, red
+sandstone, and limestone conglomerate. East of the Newark areas lies a
+broad belt of old crystalline rocks, whose relations to the Catoctin
+Belt are unknown.
+
+The rocks, in a transverse line, beginning a little to the east of
+Dranesville, in Fairfax County, and extending to the Catoctin
+Mountain, near Leesburg, occur in the following order, viz: Red
+sandstone, red shale, greenstone, trap, reddish slate, and
+conglomerate limestone.
+
+Heavy dykes of trap rock extend across the lower end of the County,
+from near the mouth of Goose Creek to the Prince William line. "These,
+being intrusive rocks, have in some places displaced the shale and
+risen above it, while in other places a thin coat of shale remains
+above the trappean matter, but much altered and changed in
+character."[7] A large mass of trap rock presents itself boldly above
+the shale at the eastern abutment of the Broad Run bridge, on the
+Leesburg and Alexandria turnpike. Not far to the east the shale is
+changed to a black or blackish brown color, while at the foot of the
+next hill still farther eastward the red shale appears unchanged. The
+summits of many of these dykes are "covered with a whitish or
+yellowish compact shale, highly indurated and changed into a rock very
+difficult to decompose."[8]
+
+[Footnote 7: Taylor's _Memoir_.]
+
+[Footnote 8: Ibid.]
+
+
+_Lafayette Formation._
+
+A great class of variations due to rock character are those of surface
+form. The rocks have been exposed to the action of erosion during many
+epochs, and have yielded differently according to their natures.
+Different stages in the process of erosion can be distinguished and to
+some extent correlated with the time scale of the rocks in other
+regions. One such stage is particularly manifest in the Catoctin Belt
+and furnishes the datum by which to place other stages. It is also
+best adapted for study, because it is connected directly with the
+usual time scale by its associated deposits. This stage is the
+Tertiary baselevel, and the deposit is the Lafayette formation, a
+deposit of coarse gravel and sand lying horizontally upon the edges of
+the hard rocks. Over the Coastal plain and the eastern part of the
+Piedmont plain it is conspicuously developed, and composes a large
+proportion of their surfaces. As the formation is followed westward it
+is more and more dissected by erosion and finally removed. Near the
+area of the Catoctin Belt it occurs in several places, all of them
+being small in area. One is three miles northeast of Aldie. Here, a
+Newark sandstone hill is capped with gravel. This gravel is much
+disturbed by recent erosion and consists rather of scattered fragments
+than of a bedded deposit.
+
+The materials of the Lafayette gravel are chiefly pebbles and grains
+of quartz, with a considerable admixture of quartzite and sandstone.
+The large quartz pebbles were probably derived from the large lenses
+of quartz in the Catoctin schist, for no other formation above water
+at the time contained quartz in large enough masses to furnish such
+pebbles. On the hypothesis that they were of local origin and merely
+worked over during submergence, they might be connected with the
+quartz veins of the Piedmont plain. That theory, however, with
+difficulty accounts for their well-rounded condition, which shows
+either beach action or long carriage. The quartz sand may well have
+been derived from the granitic quartzes, but that is an uncertain
+matter. The sandstones and quartzites are usually massive and pure
+white, of the variety found along Catoctin and Bull Run mountains.
+Other varieties of sandstone--the blue-banded type, for instance--are
+derived from the Weverton sandstone on the Blue Ridge. The white
+sandstone pebbles in the terraces along Bull Run Mountain can be
+traced from the ledges to the deposits. In this region, therefore, an
+absolute shore can be seen. In other areas along Catoctin Mountain a
+shore can be inferred, because the mountain projects above the
+baselevel plane and contains no gravel deposits. In fact, only a few
+points at the stream gaps are cut down to the baselevel.
+
+
+_Metamorphism._
+
+Dynamic metamorphism has produced great rearrangement of the minerals
+along the eastern side of the Catoctin Belt, and results at times in
+complete obliteration of the characters of the granite. The first step
+in the change was the cracking of the quartz and feldspar crystals and
+development of muscovite and chlorite in the cracks. This was
+accompanied by a growth of muscovite and quartz in the unbroken
+feldspar. The aspect of the rock at this stage is that of a gneiss
+with rather indefinite banding. Further action reduced the rock to a
+collection of angular and rounded fragments of granite, quartz, and
+feldspar in a matrix of quartz and mica, the mica lapping around the
+fragments and rudely parallel to their surfaces. The last stage was
+complete pulverization of the fragments and elongation into lenses,
+the feldspathic material entirely recomposing into muscovite,
+chlorite, and quartz, and the whole mass receiving a strong
+schistosity, due to the arrangement of the mica plates parallel to the
+elongation. This final stage is macroscopically nothing more than a
+siliceous slate or schist, and is barely distinguishable from the end
+products of similar metamorphism in the more feldspathic schists and
+the Loudoun sandy slates. The different steps can readily be traced,
+however, both in the hand specimen and under the microscope.
+
+The Weverton sandstone has suffered less from metamorphism than any of
+the sediments. In the Blue Ridge it has undergone no greater change
+than a slight elongation of its particles and development of a little
+mica. Along Catoctin Mountain, from the Potomac River south, however,
+increased alteration appears together with the diminution in
+thickness. What little feldspar there was is reduced to quartz and
+mica, and the quartz pebbles are drawn out into lenses. Deposition of
+secondary quartz becomes prominent, amounting in the latitude of Goose
+Creek to almost entire recrystallization of the mass. A marked
+schistosity accompanies this alteration, and most of the schistose
+planes are coated with silvery muscovite. Almost without exception
+these planes are parallel to the dip of the formation.
+
+Metamorphism of the Loudoun formation is quite general. It commonly
+appears in the production of phyllites from the argillaceous members
+of the formation, but all of the fragmental varieties show some
+elongation and production of secondary mica. The limestone beds are
+often metamorphosed to marble, but only in the eastern belt. The
+recrystallization is not very extensive, and none of the marbles are
+coarse grained.
+
+The metamorphism of the igneous rocks is regional in nature and has
+the same increase from west to east as the sediments.
+
+In the granite it consists of various stages of change in form,
+attended by some chemical rearrangement. The process consisted of
+progressive fracture and reduction of the crystals of quartz and
+feldspar, and was facilitated by the frequent cleavage cracks of the
+large feldspars. It produced effects varying from granite with a rude
+gneissoid appearance, through a banded fine gneiss, into a fine quartz
+schist or slate. These slaty and gneissoid planes are seen to be
+parallel to the direction and attitude of the sediments, wherever they
+are near enough for comparison.
+
+Dynamic alteration of the Catoctin diabase is pronounced and
+wide-spread. Macroscopically it is evident in the strong schistosity,
+which is parallel to the structural planes of the sediments when the
+two are in contact. In most areas this alteration is mainly chemical
+and has not affected the original proportions of the rock to a marked
+extent. Its prevalence is due to the unstable composition of the
+original minerals of the rock, such as olivine, hypersthene, and
+pyroxene. Along Catoctin Mountain, however, both chemical and
+mechanical deformation have taken place, so that the original rock
+structure is completely merged into pronounced schistosity. This was
+materially assisted by the weak lath shapes of the feldspar and the
+mobility of the micas.
+
+The average dip of the schistose planes is about 60°; from this they
+vary up to 90° and down to 20°. In all cases they are closely parallel
+to the planes on which the sediments moved in adjustment to folding,
+namely, the bedding planes. In regions where no sediments occur, the
+relation of the schistose planes to the folds can not be discovered.
+
+Parallel with the micas that cause the schistosity, the growth of the
+quartz and epidote lenses took place. These, too, have been deformed
+by crushing and stretching along Bull Run Mountain and the south part
+of Catoctin Mountain. From this fact, taken in connection with the
+folding of the schistose planes at Point of Rocks, it would appear
+that the deformation was not a single continuous effort.
+
+The ratios of schistose deformation in the igneous rocks are as
+follows: diabase, with unstable mineral composition and small
+mechanical strength, has yielded to an extreme degree; granite, with
+stable composition and moderate mechanical strength, has yielded to
+the more pronounced compression.
+
+
+MINERAL AND KINDRED DEPOSITS.
+
+In point of mineral wealth Loudoun ranks with the foremost counties of
+the State. Iron, copper, silver, soapstone, asbestos, hydraulic
+limestone, barytes, and marble are some of the deposits that have been
+developed and worked with a greater or lesser degree of success.
+
+A large bed of compact red oxide of iron lies at the eastern base of
+the Catoctin Mountain, on the margin of the Potomac River. Long before
+the Civil War a furnace was erected here by Samuel Clapham, Sr., for
+the reduction of this ore, and considerable quantities of it were
+formerly transported moderate distances to supply other furnaces. The
+Clapham furnace continued in operation until all the fuel at hand was
+consumed and then went out of blast. Water power was supplied by the
+Catoctin Creek, which flows into the river immediately above the
+mountain. To obtain this a tunnel was cut through a spur of the
+mountain projecting into a bend of the creek. This tunnel, about five
+hundred feet long and sixty feet beneath the summit of the hill, was
+cut through almost a solid wall of rock, and, at that day, was
+considered a great work.
+
+Magnetic iron ore has been found in certain places, and this or a
+similar substance has a disturbing effect upon the needle of the
+surveyor's compass, rendering surveying extremely difficult where
+great accuracy is required. In some instances the needle has been
+drawn as much as seven degrees from its true course. This effect is
+more or less observable nearly throughout the Catoctin Mountain, and
+has been noted elsewhere in the County.
+
+Chromate of iron was long ago discovered along Broad Run, and, about
+the same time, a bed of micaceous iron ore on Goose Creek below the
+Leesburg turnpike. Copper ore is associated with the last-named
+mineral.
+
+In 1860, the output of pig iron in Loudoun was 2,250 tons, and its
+value $58,000. Rockbridge was the only Virginia County to exceed these
+figures.
+
+In several localities small angular lumps of a yellowish substance,
+supposed to contain sulphur, have been found, embedded in rocks. When
+subjected to an intense heat, it gives forth a pungent sulphurous
+odor.
+
+Small quantities of silver ore are discovered from time to time; but
+the leads have never been extensively worked and many of the richest
+veins are still untouched.
+
+Deposits of copper in the schists have long excited interest and led
+to mining operations. The amount of ore, however, appears not to have
+justified any considerable work.
+
+Near the base of the Catoctin Mountain, where it is first approached
+by Goose Creek, marble of an excellent quality is found but has been
+little worked. Among the varieties at the quarry are included pure
+white, white and pink, blue and white, white and green, serpentinized
+and chloritic serpentinized marble. These marbles are of great beauty
+and susceptible of a good polish. The calcareous bed here is about
+fifty feet thick and reaches southward for three miles with increasing
+thickness. At its southern end it is not entirely metamorphosed into
+marble, but retains its original character of fine blue limestone.
+Northward along this range the thickness of the marble constantly
+diminishes and rarely exceeds ten feet. Sometimes there are two beds,
+sometimes only one. At Taylorstown, just south of the Potomac, the bed
+is about three feet thick; on the north side of the Potomac about
+four or five feet. Here, as elsewhere, the beds of marble are inclosed
+in a bluish green micaceous schist, which has been thoroughly
+transformed by mechanical pressure.
+
+In the vicinity of Leesburg and north of that town, and between the
+Catoctin Mountain and the Potomac River, the conglomerate limestone or
+brecciated marble is found in abundance, associated with red shale. It
+is a calcareous rock, apparently formed in part of pebbles cemented
+together and, when burned, produces an inferior lime. It is commonly
+known as Potomac marble. Of this variegated marble were formed the
+beautiful columns in the old Representatives' chamber of the Capitol
+at Washington. The soil in which this rock occurs is extremely
+productive and valuable.
+
+The exhibition at the World's Fair, at New Orleans, of the following
+specimens of Loudoun minerals claimed much interest from visiting
+mineraloguists:
+
+1. _Specular Iron Ore_, from near Leesburg, said to be in quantity.
+From Professor Fontaine.
+
+2. _Chalcopyrite_, from near Leesburg, said to be a promising vein.
+From Professor Fontaine.
+
+The following were contributed by the "Eagle Mining Company," of
+Leesburg; F. A. Wise, general manager:
+
+1. _Carbonate of Copper_, from vein 3' wide, developed to 25' deep.
+Assays by Oxford Copper Company of New York give 51 per cent of copper
+and 27 ounces of silver per ton.
+
+2. _Sulphuret of Copper_, from vein 10" wide, developed to 50' deep.
+Assays by Oxford Copper Company of New York give 12-1/2 per cent of
+copper.
+
+3. _Iron Ore_, from vein 4' wide and 50' deep. Yields 55 per cent
+metallic iron by assay of W. P. Lawver, of U. S. Mint.
+
+4. _Sulphuret of Copper_, from vein developed 50'. Yields 11 per cent
+of copper and 1 ounce of silver per ton by assay of W. P. Lawver, U.
+S. Mint.
+
+5. _Carbonate of Copper_, red oxide and glance, from vein 3' wide,
+developed to 25' deep. Yields 50 per cent metallic copper and 27
+ounces silver per ton by assays.
+
+6. _Iron Ore_, from vein 2' to 4' wide, developed 50'. Yield 55 per
+cent metallic iron.
+
+7. _Oxide of Copper_, from Carbonate vein, developed 60' on 4' wide
+vein; 25' deep.
+
+8. _Sulphuret of Copper_, from vein 8" to 15" wide, developed 50'.
+
+9. _Iron Ore._
+
+10. _Barytes_, heavy spar, vein undeveloped.
+
+11. _Iron Ore_, from 50' level of Eagle Mining Company's shaft.
+
+12. _Marble_, from quarry of "Virginia Marble Company," three miles
+east from Middleburg. The deposit has been demonstrated to be of great
+extent; the marble has been pronounced of a very superior quality.
+Contributed by Major B. P. Noland.
+
+13. _Marble_, from same as above.
+
+14.   "        "    "    "   "
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+17. _Copper Ore_, James Pinkham, from Virginia Department of
+Agriculture.
+
+In the "_Handbook on the Minerals and Mineral Resources of Virginia_"
+prepared by the Virginia Commission to the St. Louis Exposition,
+Loudoun is credited with the three comparatively rare minerals given
+below. The two first-named occur nowhere else in the State.
+
+"ACTINQLITE: _Calcium-magnesium-iron, Amphibole_,
+
+Ca (Mg Fe)_{3}(Si O{4}){3}.
+
+Specific Gravity, 3-3.2. Hardness, 5-6. Streak, uncolored.... Fine
+radiated olive-green crystals are found ... at Taylorstown...."
+
+"TREMOLITE: _A variety of Amphibole. Calcium._
+
+_Magnesium Amphibole._ Ca Mg{2}(Si O{4}){3}.
+
+Specific Gravity, 2.9-3.1. Hardness, 5.6. Long bladed crystals; also
+columnar and fibrous. Color, white and grayish. Sometimes nearly
+transparent. Found in the greenish talcose rocks at Taylorstown."
+
+_Chromite_, of which no occurrence of economic importance has yet been
+discovered in the County or elsewhere in Virginia.
+
+"[9]On the eastern flank of the Catoctin rests a thin belt of mica
+slate. This rock is composed of quartz and mica in varying
+proportions, and this belt, on reaching the Bull Run Mountain, there
+expands itself, and forms the whole base of that mountain, and where
+the mica predominates, as it does there, it sometimes forms excellent
+flagging stones."
+
+[Footnote 9: Taylor's _Memoir_.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Immediately at the western base of the Catoctin Mountain, a range of
+magnesian or talcose slates occur traversing its whole length.... In
+this range a vein of magnesian limestone is met with, and is exposed
+in several places. It however is narrow, in some places only a few
+feet in thickness, and being difficult to obtain is not much sought
+after for burning."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Along the eastern side of the valley (Loudoun) gneiss is frequently
+met with on the surface, and where the larger streams have worn deep
+valleys, it is sometimes exposed in high and precipitous cliffs. This
+is more particularly the case along Goose Creek and Beaver Dam.
+Associated with it, however, is clay slate, not so much in rock as in
+soil, for it being more readily decomposed is seldom found on the
+surface, except as soil. These two varieties are often met with side
+by side in thin layers, and their combination at the surface forms a
+peculiarly favorable soil for agricultural purposes. The gneiss from
+the quartz it contains makes a sandy soil, while the clay slate gives
+it tenacity. This happy combination is a prevailing feature of this
+entire valley, and renders it one of the best farming sections in
+Virginia.
+
+"Another rock that is a valuable acquisition is hornblende. This kind
+when first taken from the ground, is always covered as with a coat of
+rust. This is doubtless the fact, for the oxydasion of the iron it
+contains gives it that appearance, and colors the soil a reddish hue
+in its immediate vicinity. Wherever this rock abounds, the soil is
+durable and the crops are usually heavy. It is sometimes met with
+having a fine grain, and so very hard as to be almost brittle, though
+generally very difficult to break, and when broken strongly resembling
+cast-iron, and will sometimes ring, on being struck, almost as
+clearly. It was used very much formerly for making journals to run
+mill-gudgeons upon. When found on the surface, it is usually of a
+rounded form...."
+
+However, much of the rock of the valley partakes of the nature of both
+hornblend and gneiss, and has been aptly termed a "hornblend gneiss
+rock."
+
+Beds of magnesian or talcose slate, sometimes containing crystals of
+sulphuret of iron, are frequently met with in this section, and at the
+base of Black Oak Ridge, which is composed chiefly of chlorite slate
+and epidote, another bed of magnesian limestone is found. Containing
+about 40 per cent of magnesia, it makes an excellent cement for walls,
+but is of little or no value as a fertilizer.
+
+
+SOILS.[10]
+
+The soils of Loudoun vary greatly in both geological character and
+productiveness, every variety from a rich alluvial to an unproductive
+clay occurring within her boundaries. In general the soils are deep
+and rich and profitably cultivated.
+
+The heavy clay soils of Loudoun are recognized as being the strongest
+wheat and grass soils. The more loamy soils are better for corn on
+account of the possibility of more thorough cultivation. However, the
+lands all have to be fertilized or limed to obtain the best results,
+and with this added expense the profit in wheat growing is extremely
+uncertain on any but the clay soils. The loamy soils are especially
+adapted to corn, stock raising, and dairying, and they are largely
+used for these purposes. The mountain sandstone soils, which are rough
+and stony, are not adapted to any form of agriculture; but for some
+lines of horticulture--as, for instance, the production of grapes,
+peaches, apples and chestnuts--or forestry they seem to offer
+excellent opportunities. The schist soil of the mountains, although
+rough and stony, is productive, easily worked, and especially adapted
+to apples, peaches, and potatoes. The shale and mica soils, although
+thin and leachy, are especially adapted to grapes, vegetables, and
+berries, and other small fruits. These soils should be managed very
+carefully to obtain the best results. They are easily worked and very
+quickly respond to fertilization and thorough cultivation. It is very
+probable that market gardening and fruit raising on these types would
+prove profitable. It seems, however, that peach trees are short lived
+on these soils. The meadow lands are low and subject to overflow,
+although otherwise well drained. They are best adapted to the
+production of corn, grass, and vegetables.
+
+[Footnote 10: For the bulk of the information appearing under this
+caption the author is indebted to Carter's and Lyman's _Soil Survey of
+the Leesburg Area_, published in 1904 by the United States Department
+of Agriculture.]
+
+That part of the County lying east of a line drawn from the Potomac
+River near Leesburg, by Aldie to the Fauquier line, is much more
+unproductive than the western portion, partly on account of an
+inferior soil, and partly in consequence of an exhausting system of
+cultivation, once so common in eastern Virginia, i. e., cropping with
+corn and tobacco without attempting to improve the quality of the
+soil. When impoverished, the lands were thrown out to the commons.
+
+Large tracts that formerly produced from thirty to forty bushels of
+corn to the acre, still remain out of cultivation, though many of the
+present proprietors are turning their attention to the improvement of
+these soils and are being richly rewarded.
+
+In this section, particularly along Goose Creek, trap-rock occurs,
+sometimes covering large surfaces, at other times partially covered
+with indurated shale, formed from the red shale of this region which
+has become hardened by the heat of the intruding trap. Where this rock
+occurs covering large surfaces, nearly level, "the soil is a dark
+brown colored clay, very retentive of moisture and better adapted to
+grass than grain.... A deficiency of lime probably occurs here, and
+there may be some obnoxious ingredient present. Minute grains of iron
+sand are generally interspersed through this rock, and as it is not
+acted upon by atmospheric influences, its combination may contain some
+acid prejudicial to vegetation. Where this rock is thrown into more
+irregular elevations, and is apparently more broken up, the soil is
+better."[11]
+
+Near the Broad Run Bridge the soil is deplorably sterile. "In many
+places it is but a few inches in thickness, and the rock below, being
+compact, prevents the water from penetrating much below the surface,
+thus causing an excess of water in rainy weather, and a scarcity of it
+in fair weather. The red shale does not appear to decompose readily,
+as it is found a short distance beneath the surface, and the strata
+dipping at a low angle, prevents the water from freely descending into
+this kind of soil."[12]
+
+[Footnote 11: Taylor's _Memoir_.]
+
+[Footnote 12: Ibid.]
+
+There is a huge belt of red land, known as "the red sandstone
+formation," extending from the Potomac through a part of each of the
+counties of _Loudoun_, Fairfax, Prince William, Fauquier, Culpeper,
+and Orange, which, with judicious cultivation, might be rendered
+liberally productive. Professor W. B. Rogers, in his report to the
+legislature of Virginia, in 1840, described it under the head of the
+"secondary formation in the northern district." "The general form of
+this area," he wrote, "is that of a prolonged triangle, extending in a
+direction from SSW. to NNE., having its apex at the southern
+extremity, and gradually expanding until it reaches the Potomac.
+Measured at a point on the Potomac between the mouths of Goose Creek
+and Broad Run, its length is about 80 miles. Its greatest breadth, as
+measured near the Potomac, and parallel to the road leading from
+Leesburg to Dranesville, is about 15 miles. This, in round numbers,
+gives 600 square miles for the area of this region."
+
+Bottom lands of inexhaustible fertility and rich upland loams are
+commonly met with north and south of Leesburg for a considerable
+distance on either side of the turnpike leading from Point of Rocks,
+Md., at one extremity of the County to Middleburg at the other.
+
+Limestone occurs in vast quantities throughout this zone, and there
+are present all the propitious elements that will be enumerated in the
+treatment of the soils of other areas.
+
+The land here is in a high state of cultivation and, according to its
+peculiarly varying and unalterable adaptability, produces enormous
+crops of all the staple grains of the County.
+
+The soil in the vicinity of Oatlands, included in this zone, is stiff
+and stony, except such as is adjacent to water courses, or the base of
+hills, where it is enriched by liberal supplies of decayed matter,
+which render it loamy and inexhaustible. In the main, it is of a
+generous quality, so pertinaciously retaining fertilizers as to
+withstand the washing of the heaviest rains. Still it is an anomaly
+that some of the richest areas in this region will not produce wheat;
+while, in the cultivation of rye, oats, and corn, satisfactory results
+are almost invariably obtained. Likewise there are but a few parcels
+whereon white clover does not grow spontaneously and in the greatest
+abundance. Than these, better pasture lands are found nowhere east of
+the Blue Ridge. Limestone occurs here in vast quantities.
+
+In the Valley of Loudoun, between the Catoctin and Blue Ridge
+mountains, the soil is formed from gneiss, clay-slate, hornblend,
+greenstone, and quartz. The happy combination of these materials
+produces a most excellent and durable soil, containing, in fair
+proportions, alumina, silex, potash, lime, and other fertilizing
+minerals. Certain fertilizers have been successfully employed in
+improving its natural fertility, and when it is partially exhausted by
+excessive tillage, rest alone will restore it.
+
+
+_Loudoun Sandy Loam._
+
+The Loudoun sandy loam consists of from 8 to 12 inches of a heavy
+brown or gray sandy loam, underlain by a heavy yellow or red loam or
+clay loam. Often the subsoil contains a considerable quantity of
+coarse sand, making the texture much the same as that of the soil. The
+sand of the soil and subsoil is composed of very coarse rounded and
+subangular quartz particles. The surface material is not a light sandy
+loam, but is more like a loam containing considerable quantities of
+very coarse quartz fragments. It is generally quite free from stones,
+but small areas are occasionally covered with from 5 to 20 per cent of
+angular quartz fragments several inches in diameter.
+
+The Loudoun sandy loam occurs in irregular areas of considerable size
+in the intermediate valley between the Blue Ridge, Short Hill, and
+Catoctin mountains. The largest area of the type is found in the
+vicinity of Round Hill.
+
+The topography of this soil in the valley varies from gently rolling
+to hilly, the slopes being long and gently undulating, while along the
+valley walls and in the uplands it is ridgy. Owing to the position
+which this type occupies, surface drainage is good. The light texture
+of the soil admits of the easy percolation of water through it, and,
+except where the subsoil contains considerable sand, the soil moisture
+is well retained. In dry weather, if the ground is cultivated, a mulch
+is formed, which prevents the evaporation of the soil moisture and
+greatly assists the crops to withstand drought.
+
+Nearly the whole of this type is in cultivation. Where the forest
+still stands the growth consists chiefly of oak. The soil is easy to
+handle, and can be worked without regard to moisture content. It is
+considered a good corn land, but is too light-textured for wheat,
+although a considerable acreage is devoted to this crop. Corn yields
+at the rate of 40 or 50 bushels per acre, wheat from 12 to 15 bushels
+and occasionally more, and grass and clover at the rate of 1 or 2 tons
+per acre. The productiveness of the soil depends greatly on the sand
+content of the subsoil. If the quantity be large, the soil is porous
+and requires considerable rain to produce good yields. If the clay
+content predominates, a moderate amount of rain suffices and good
+yields are obtained. Apples, pears, and small fruits do well on this
+soil.
+
+
+_Penn Clay._
+
+The Penn clay consists of from 6 to 12 inches of a red or
+reddish-brown loam, resting upon a subsoil of heavy red clay. The soil
+and subsoil generally have the Indian-red color characteristic of the
+Triassic red sandstone from which the soil is in part derived. From 1
+to 10 per cent of the soil mass is usually made up of small sandstone
+fragments, while throughout the greater part of the type numerous
+limestone conglomerate ledges, interbedded with Triassic red
+sandstone, come to the surface. In other areas of the type numerous
+limestone conglomerate bowlders, often of great size, cover from 10 to
+25 per cent of the surface.
+
+This latter phase occurs in the vicinity of the Potomac River near
+Point of Rocks, Md., and near the Potomac, 3 miles north of Leesburg,
+and in these places the heavier phase of the type occurs, the clay
+often being very near the surface. In other parts of the County, where
+the limestone conglomerate is not so preponderant, or where it lies
+deeper and is mostly unexposed, the surface soil is deeper, often
+consisting of 18 inches of loam. The land is locally termed "limestone
+land." Near Catoctin Mountain the rocks seem to have weathered to
+considerable depth, there being no exposures or outcrops. Here the
+soil has been washed away from some of the more elevated small areas,
+and the heavy red clay subsoil is exposed.
+
+In a great many places along the base of the mountain the formation of
+this type is somewhat complicated by the wash from the mountain, which
+consists principally of subangular quartz fragments, from 1 to 4
+inches in diameter. This rock sometimes forms as much as 30 or 40 per
+cent of the soil mass. This phase is called "gravelly land," and is
+hard to cultivate on account of its heavy texture and stony condition,
+although it is inherently productive.
+
+This type occurs in one irregular-shaped area, about 15 miles long,
+varying from less than 1 mile to 3 or 4 miles in width, being cut by
+the Potomac River just east of Point of Rocks, Md. It thus lies in the
+central part of the County, in the Piedmont Plateau, extending from
+immediately north of Leesburg, and skirting the eastern foot of
+Catoctin Mountain.
+
+The general surface drainage is good, there being many small streams
+flowing through the type and emptying into the Potomac River. The
+stream beds are but little lower than the surface of the surrounding
+land, while the slopes are long and gentle. Excessive erosion scarcely
+ever occurs. The heavier phase of the type would undoubtedly be
+improved by tile draining, as it is usually lower lying than the
+lighter phase. The heavier phase bakes and cracks in dry weather much
+the same as the heavy limestone soils of the Shenandoah Valley, but
+with the lighter phases, where the soil covering is deeper, good tilth
+is easily maintained throughout the growing season.
+
+Corn, wheat, clover, and grass are the crops grown, of which the
+yields are as follows: Corn, from 40 to 60 bushels per acre; wheat,
+from 15 to 25 bushels per acre, and clover and grass, from 1-1/2 to
+2-1/2 tons of hay per acre.
+
+The Penn clay is the most highly prized soil of the Piedmont region of
+Loudoun and brings the highest prices.
+
+
+_Penn Stony Loam._
+
+The Penn stony loam consists of from 8 to 12 inches of a red or
+grayish heavy loam, somewhat silty, underlain by a heavier red loam.
+From 10 to 60 per cent of gray and brown fragments of Triassic
+sandstone, ranging from 1 to 6 inches in thickness, cover the surface
+of the soil. The color is in general the dark Indian-red of the other
+soils derived from Triassic sandstone, being particularly marked in
+the subsoil.
+
+This type occurs in the southeastern part of Loudoun, on the Piedmont
+Plateau. It occupies three small areas whose total extent probably
+does not exceed two and one-half square miles. It is closely
+associated with the Penn loam and grades gradually into that type. The
+only great difference between the two is the presence of sandstone
+fragments in the Penn stony loam.
+
+The topography varies from gently rolling to hilly and ridgy, with
+slopes that are sometimes rather steep. However, the surface is not so
+broken as to interfere with cultivation, and the slopes are usually
+gentle.
+
+The type is well drained, the slopes allowing a rapid flow of water
+from the surface, while the soil water passes readily through the soil
+and subsoil. On the other hand, the texture is sufficiently heavy to
+prevent undue leaching and drought.
+
+Little of the land is in cultivation, on account of its stony
+character, which makes cultivation difficult. Where unimproved it is
+covered with a heavy growth of chestnut, oak, and pine. The land is
+locally called "chestnut land." In a few small areas the larger stones
+have been removed and the land is cultivated, corn and wheat being the
+principal crops. The yield of corn ranges from 20 to 35 bushels and of
+wheat from 8 to 15 bushels per acre. Apples and small fruits and
+vegetables do well.
+
+
+_Iredell Clay Loam._
+
+The soil of the Iredell clay loam consists of from 6 to 18 inches of
+light loam, usually brown or gray, although sometimes of a yellowish
+color, with an average depth of about twelve inches. The subsoil
+consists of a heavy yellow to yellowish-brown waxy clay. This clay is
+cold and sour, almost impervious to moisture and air, and protects the
+underlying rock from decay to a great extent. Often the clay grades
+into the rotten rock at from 24 to 36 inches. In the poorly drained
+areas a few iron concretions occur on the surface. Numerous rounded
+diabase bowlders, varying in size from a few inches to several feet in
+diameter, are also scattered over the surface of the soil. Occasional
+slopes of the type have had the soil covering entirely removed by
+erosion, and here, where the clay appears on the surface, the soil is
+very poor. In other places, where the soil covering is quite deep, as
+from 12 to 18 inches, the type is fairly productive, and its
+productiveness is generally proportional to the depth of the soil.
+
+The local name for the Iredell clay loam is "wax land," from the waxy
+nature of the subsoil, or "black-oak land," from the timber growth. A
+few small, isolated areas of this soil occur in the intermediate
+valley of the Catoctin Belt, and here the texture is much the same as
+that described above; but the soil usually consists of from 6 to 10
+inches of a drab or brown loam, underlain by a heavy mottled yellow
+and drab silty clay. This phase has few stones on the surface or in
+the soil. The local names for this phase are "cold, sour land" and
+"white clay."
+
+The greater part of the Iredell clay loam occurs in the southern or
+southeastern corner of the County and occupies one large,
+irregular-shaped but generally connected area, extending from
+Leesburg, in a southeasterly and southerly direction along Goose Creek
+to the southern boundary of the County, the most typical development
+of the soil being at Waxpool. The phase already described occurs in
+small, disconnected areas, usually quite far apart, the general
+relative direction of these areas being northeast and southwest. They
+all lie in the intermediate valley of the Catoctin Belt, and are
+usually near the foot of the Blue Ridge or Short Hills. The most
+typical development of this phase occurs just southeast of Bluemont.
+
+Where rolling and sloping the surface drainage is good, the water
+passing rapidly from the surface into the numerous small streams
+flowing into Goose Creek, which is the main drainage way of this type.
+In the low, flat lands the water stands or flows very slowly from the
+surface. Owing to the impervious nature of the clay subsoil,
+underdrainage is very slow, and the land is often cold and sour.
+
+Corn, wheat, and grass are the principal crops grown on this soil
+type, the average yields per acre being as follows: Corn, from 20 to
+40 bushels; wheat, from 8 to 15 bushels; and grass, from 1-1/2 to
+2-1/2 tons. Apples do fairly well.
+
+The greater part of the type is tilled, while the uncultivated areas
+are used for pasturage and wood lots, the forest growth being black
+oak. In dry seasons, where the soil covering is not deep, the land
+bakes and cracks, and in this condition it can not be cultivated. In
+wet seasons the soil becomes too wet and sticky to work.
+
+
+_Penn Loam._
+
+The Penn loam consists of from 8 to 12 inches of a dark, Indian-red
+loam, underlain by a heavier loam of the same color. This peculiar red
+color is distinctive of the formation wherever found, and,
+consequently, the type is one easily recognized. The texture of the
+type is very uniform, with the exception of a few small areas where
+the subsoil is a clay loam. The soil is locally termed "red-rock
+land," on account of the numerous small red sandstone fragments which
+occur in the soil and subsoil in quantities varying from 5 to 20 per
+cent of the soil mass. The soil is free from large stones or other
+obstructions to cultivation.
+
+This type occurs in several large, irregular areas on the Newark
+formation of the Piedmont Plateau in the eastern part of the County.
+The areas have a general northeast and southwest trend. A few small
+areas occur in close proximity to the larger ones. One of the larger
+areas is situated just south of Leesburg, while another occurs east of
+Lucketts.
+
+The topography consists of a gently rolling to nearly level plain, and
+there are no steep slopes or rough areas. Drainage in this type is
+excellent, the easy slopes allowing a gradual flow of water from the
+surface without undue erosion, except with very heavy rains on the
+steeper slopes. The loamy subsoil allows a ready but not too rapid
+percolation of surplus soil moisture, and never gets soggy or in a
+cold, sour condition. Numerous small streams extend throughout the
+area of this type, allowing a rapid removal of all surplus water into
+the Potomac River, the chief drainageway of the County. Along these
+streams, which in all cases have cut out beds some 10 to 30 feet below
+the surrounding plain, the slopes are gradual.
+
+The original growth on the Penn loam was a forest of oak, hickory, and
+walnut, but at the present time nearly all of the type is cleared and
+farmed. The soil is not naturally very productive, but is prized on
+account of its great susceptibility to improvement, its quick
+responsiveness to fertilization, and its easy cultivation and
+management. The surface is smooth and regular, and the absence of
+stones, together with the loamy texture of the soil, makes it easy to
+maintain good tilth. Any addition of fertilizers or lime is
+immediately effective, and by judicious management the type may be
+kept in a high state of productiveness. Many fine farms with good
+buildings are to be seen on this type. The crops grown are corn,
+wheat, grass, clover, apples, and small fruits. Grazing, stock
+raising, and dairying are practiced to some extent. The land yields
+from 40 to 60 bushels of corn, from 10 to 15 or more bushels of wheat,
+and from 1 to 2 tons of hay per acre.
+
+
+_Cecil Loam._
+
+The soil of the Cecil loam consists of from 8 to 12 inches of a brown
+or yellow loam. The subsoil consists of a heavy yellow or red loam, or
+occasionally clay loam. The soil and subsoil are usually free from
+stones, but occasional areas have from 5 to 30 per cent of angular
+quartz or schist fragments on the surface. Often a mica-schist enters
+into the composition of the subsoil, giving it a soft and greasy feel.
+
+The greater part of the intermediate valley or baselevel plain of the
+Catoctin Belt consists of the Cecil loam, and it occurs here as one
+large, connected area, inside of which are small areas of Cecil clay,
+Loudoun sandy loam, and Iredell clay loam. A considerable portion of
+the Catoctin Mountain also consists of the Cecil loam. In extent this
+is the most important soil type in Loudoun, covering about 33 per cent
+of the total area.
+
+The Cecil loam, owing to its rolling character, is well drained
+throughout. Many small streams traverse it, affording ample outlets
+for surface water. The gently rolling areas are not generally subject
+to excessive erosion, but the steeper slopes wash badly, deep gullies
+and ditches being formed on the hillsides. Especially subject to
+erosion are the areas in which the subsoil contains a relatively large
+proportion of mica fragments. The soil and subsoil, though quite
+loamy, retain enough moisture in seasons of moderate rainfall to
+supply all growing crops.
+
+The Cecil loam is devoted entirely to general farming. The crops grown
+are corn, wheat, grass, clover, vegetables, apples, and pears. The
+agricultural interests are further diversified by the practice of
+dairying and stock raising. The land is one of the best corn soils of
+Loudoun, being loamy and easily cultivated throughout the growing
+season. The average yield per acre ranges from 40 to 60 bushels. Wheat
+does very well, producing from 12 to 20 bushels per acre, and more in
+favorable seasons. Grass and clover yield at the rate of from 1 to 2
+tons of hay per acre and form good grazing during a considerable part
+of the year. Apples and pears are grown everywhere on the type,
+usually in small orchards, and good yields of these fruits are
+obtained. Oats were at one time grown, and can be produced at the rate
+of from 35 to 50 bushels per acre, but the present acreage is small,
+the farmers claiming that this crop rapidly reduces the productiveness
+of the soil.
+
+Nearly all of the type is in cultivated crops or pasture. The original
+timber growth was oak, hickory, and walnut; but little of this stands
+now, except on occasional woodlots. The Cecil loam is a soil which
+with careful treatment makes a fine farming land; but carelessly
+managed it very quickly deteriorates.
+
+
+_Cecil Clay._
+
+The soil of the Cecil clay consists of a heavy loam, red or brown in
+color, and having an average depth of 8 inches. The subsoil generally
+consists of a red clay, although it is sometimes a heavy clay loam.
+The surface is generally free from stones, though occasional small
+areas have a few quartz and granite or schist fragments. In the
+Piedmont areas small rounded diabase fragments occur on the surface.
+Occasionally on steep slopes or high knobs the soil covering has been
+washed away, leaving the heavy red clay exposed on the surface. These
+areas, however, are small.
+
+The type occurs principally in the intermediate valley of the Catoctin
+Belt, between the Blue Ridge and the Catoctin Mountain, and on the
+west slopes of the Catoctin Mountain. In the valley it occupies
+several small, disconnected areas scattered throughout this region,
+while on the west slope of the mountain it is found in one of two
+long, broad areas, extending in a northeast and southwest direction.
+Three small areas occur near the southeastern corner of the County,
+and the type is here closely related to the Iredell clay loam.
+
+The most typical areas of this soil occur in the Piedmont Plateau and
+on the gentle slopes at the foot of the Blue Ridge in the vicinity of
+Bluemont.
+
+This soil type has excellent surface drainage and is well watered and
+drained throughout by small streams. Few of the slopes are so steep as
+to wash badly. The heavy clay subsoil retains ample moisture for plant
+growth and the soil is rarely so wet as to necessitate tile draining,
+although this would undoubtedly be very beneficial in the case of the
+heavier phases.
+
+The whole of this soil is under cultivation and it is highly esteemed
+wherever found, being naturally a strong soil and susceptible of
+improvement. The original forest growth consisted of oak, hickory, and
+walnut. The land is easily improved, retentive of moisture and manure,
+and with careful management makes an excellent soil for general
+farming. Owing to its tendency to bake, crops are liable to suffer
+during drought.
+
+The land produces wheat, corn, grass, clover, apples, and pears. It is
+a strong wheat soil, and yields from 15 to 25 bushels per acre and
+occasionally more. Grass and clover hay yield at the rate of 1-1/2 to
+2-1/2 tons per acre, while from 40 to 60 bushels of corn per acre are
+usually produced in good seasons.
+
+All things considered, the Cecil clay is best adapted to the
+production of wheat and grass. The more loamy phases are adapted to
+corn, but the type as a whole is a much better wheat land than corn
+land. The soil is also well adapted to apples and pears. Bluegrass
+grows well and makes fine pasturage, and stock raising and dairy
+farming are other industries to which the Cecil clay is well suited.
+Care has to be used in the cultivation of this soil, for if worked
+when too wet it dries in large, hard clods that give trouble
+throughout the season and interfere with cultivation for a long time
+afterwards.
+
+
+_Cecil Silt Loam._
+
+The surface soil of the Cecil silt loam consists of 12 inches of a
+light gray or white silt loam. This material is underlain by a subsoil
+of yellow silt loam slightly heavier than the soil. The type is
+locally termed "white land," and is closely related to the Penn loam
+and the Iredell clay loam, these types surrounding and grading
+gradually into it. In some areas the soil is quite free from stones,
+while in others from 10 to 30 per cent of the soil mass is composed of
+small rock fragments.
+
+The type occupies several small areas in the Piedmont region, in the
+southeastern part of the County. The largest of these areas lies about
+2 miles east of Leesburg, and a considerable part of the type is
+adjacent to the Potomac River. It occupies high, rolling, ridgy, or
+hilly lands, and has some rather steep slopes, though in general the
+surface is only gently sloping.
+
+The drainage is good, but wherever the slopes are steep erosion
+proceeds rapidly, making gullies and washed-out places that hinder or
+entirely prevent cultivation. The type is well watered by small
+streams which flow the year round.
+
+Probably one-half of this type is cultivated. The remainder is
+covered with a growth of scrub oak, pine, and some cedar. The soil is
+thin and only fairly productive, and consequently is not greatly
+desired for agriculture. It is very easy to work, but has to be
+cultivated carefully to avoid washing. The crops raised are corn,
+wheat, grass, and some apples. Corn yields from 25 to 35 bushels,
+wheat from 12 to 15 bushels, and clover and timothy hay from 1 to 2
+tons per acre. Small fruits and vegetables do well.
+
+Although naturally a thin soil, the Cecil silt loam is fairly well
+adapted to the production of the crops just named. Of the small
+fruits, peaches, plums, and berries do best. On the whole the type is
+considered much better adapted to wheat than to corn. It is limed and
+fertilized to a considerable extent, and responds well to such
+applications.
+
+
+_Cecil Mica Loam._
+
+The Cecil mica loam consists of 12 inches of a friable, micaceous
+yellow or yellowish red loam, underlain by a yellow or yellowish-red
+loam, whose mica content increases with the depth until at 24 to 30
+inches the subsoil is little more than a mass of small mica flakes
+which gives it a loose texture. Occasionally the subsoil is a clay
+loam for several inches before grading into the unweathered mica
+particles.
+
+On the surface there is from 5 to 40 per cent of angular quartz
+fragments, ranging from 1 to 6 inches in diameter, some being much
+larger.
+
+The Cecil mica loam occurs as one long, narrow strip, occupying the
+lower, gentle eastern slopes of the Catoctin Mountain. The southern
+end of the strip begins a short distance north of Leesburg, and
+extends in a northeasterly direction to the Potomac River, opposite
+Point of Rocks, Md.
+
+The topographic features of the Cecil mica loam consist of gentle and
+occasionally steep rolling slopes. The surface is well drained and on
+the steeper slopes the soil washes badly and deep gullies are formed.
+In a season of moderate rainfall the soil and subsoil retain
+considerable moisture, but in dry weather crops suffer from drought.
+
+No farms are found entirely on the Cecil mica loam, but those farms of
+the Piedmont, extending up the mountain slopes, generally include some
+of this soil. Such areas are often farmed, but more generally used as
+woodlots. Where cultivated the yields are scant, except where the soil
+is heavily fertilized. Corn yields from 10 to 30 bushels per acre and
+sometimes more, and wheat from 6 to 12 bushels per acre. The type is
+best adapted to forestry, chestnut orcharding, and grape growing.
+
+
+_De Kalb Stony Loam._
+
+The soil of the De Kalb stony loam consists of a yellow or gray sandy
+loam of coarse texture, having an average depth of 12 inches. The
+subsoil consists of a heavy yellow sandy loam to a depth of 24 inches
+or more, where it rests upon a mass of sandstone fragments. These
+sandstone fragments and bowlders occur in varying quantities
+throughout the soil and subsoil. Where the fewer stones are found the
+soil is not so sandy, but a light loam, yellow or brown in color,
+underlain by a deep yellow loam subsoil.
+
+The De Kalb stony loam is a mountain soil, occurring in long, parallel
+bands of varying width, extending in a general northeast and southwest
+direction, and mainly occupies the crests and slopes of the Blue Ridge
+and Short Hill mountains. It also occurs in smaller areas on the crest
+and east slope of Catoctin Mountain.
+
+On the Blue Ridge and Short Hills the De Kalb stony loam covers the
+whole of the mountains, and here the physiography consists of long,
+sharp, rock-crested ridges, with steep, rugged slopes and occasional
+cliffs and huge ledges. There are occasional benches on the mountain
+sides, and here there is an accumulation of two or three inches of a
+black mold, resting on the broken sandstone fragments, and covered
+with a growth of locust, oak, and berry vines.
+
+Owing to the steep and rugged surface of this soil, together with its
+stony character, superficial drainage is rapid and thorough, the water
+rushing in torrents from the mountain slopes, while as a result of
+the loose texture and the large number of stone fragments in the soil
+the water passes rapidly through it, and there is never an excess of
+moisture in the soil or subsoil.
+
+On account of the steep and stony nature of the De Kalb stony loam
+little of the type can possibly be cultivated. The soil is naturally a
+very thin one, and is not capable of producing fair yields except in
+its less stony phases.
+
+The principal growth on the type is chestnut, oak, and some pine.
+Probably 95 per cent of the type is uncultivated, and is valuable only
+for the timber growth it supports. Where cultivated the average yields
+per acre are as follows: Corn, from 10 to 20 bushels; wheat, from 6 to
+10 bushels. Apples and especially peaches do fairly well on the
+mountain phase where not too stony.
+
+The greater part of the De Kalb stony loam is not adapted to
+agricultural purposes at all, and it is not likely that the land will
+ever be valuable except for forestry. It is locally termed "mountain
+land," and is the poorest agricultural soil of the County.
+
+
+_Porters Clay._
+
+The Porters clay consists of from 6 to 12 inches of a brown or
+reddish-brown loam, underlain by a heavy red loam or clay loam. The
+type consists of fairly rough mountain land, and is very stony, having
+from 15 to 60 percent of small and large schist fragments on the
+surface, some of which are several feet in diameter. The soil is light
+and easy to work wherever it is not so stony as to interfere with
+cultivation.
+
+This soil is a strictly mountain type and not of great extent. It
+follows the crest and part of the east slope of the Blue Ridge
+Mountains for several miles, extending in a northeasterly direction
+and ending at the areas of sandstone formation.
+
+The type is well drained throughout, while the texture of the subsoil
+is sufficiently heavy to retain considerable moisture through quite
+extended dry spells. The steeper slopes are uncultivated, and hence
+are not subject to erosion.
+
+A considerable proportion of this soil type is under cultivation,
+especially on the broad mountain top. Those areas not cultivated are
+covered with a heavy growth of oak, hickory, locust, and walnut. Corn
+and wheat can be grown on the type with fair yields, but little of the
+latter is grown on account of the stony nature of the land. Corn
+yields from 20 to 35 bushels, wheat from 8 to 15 bushels, and grass
+and clover from 1 to 2 tons per acre. Irish and sweet potatoes give
+good yields, and fine apples and peaches are produced. Peaches are
+liable to winterkill, and the crop is uncertain for this reason. This
+type is peculiarly adapted to fruit growing, and especially to the
+production of apples.
+
+
+_Meadow._
+
+The Meadow of Loudoun is usually a brown silty or sandy loam, with a
+depth of several feet. The type occurs in narrow bands along the
+larger streams, forming a bottom or low terrace a few feet above the
+mean water level. The nature of the soil depends greatly on the
+surrounding soils, as it is formed from sediment of the wash from
+these types and partakes of their textural characteristics to some
+extent.
+
+The type, while low and flat, is generally well enough drained for
+cultivation, although this is somewhat hindered by overflows;
+consequently the land is chiefly used for grazing. The soil is
+alluvial in origin, being built up by successive overflows of the
+streams. Little of the type is forested. Where cultivated it is
+generally used for corn, which yields from 50 to 75 bushels an acre.
+Little wheat is grown, although the soil is capable of producing fair
+yields of this crop. It also produces from 2 to 3 tons of hay per
+acre, and affords excellent pasturage. The crops are somewhat
+uncertain, however, on account of overflows which sometimes occur
+after the planting season, though in the case of the River the danger
+from flood is usually past before the time for corn planting. Where
+the areas are in grass the floods usually do little damage.
+Productiveness is in a great measure maintained by the addition of the
+sediments left by the overflow waters.
+
+
+FLORA AND FAUNA.
+
+FLORA.--Records of the days of early settlement point to a
+scarcity and an inferiority of large timber in Loudoun (then Prince
+William) and contiguous counties. The responsibility for this
+condition has been traced to the hunters who frequented this region
+prior to its settlement and wantonly set fire to the forests in order
+to destroy underbrush, the better to secure their quarries. A
+comparatively dense and vigorous new growth followed the
+discontinuance of this pernicious practice.
+
+At the present time, after the encroachment of field and pasture for
+nearly two centuries, a large portion of the county's area is still
+under forest cover. The stand, in the main, is somewhat above average
+size and quality.
+
+The total value of forest products cut or produced on farms in 1899
+was $51,351. This includes only the wood, lumber, railroad ties, etc.,
+which the farmers cut in connection with their ordinary farming
+operations. The reports of persons making lumbering or wood cutting
+their principal business are not included.
+
+The trees common to Loudoun are four varieties of the white oak, i.
+e., common, swamp, box, and chestnut-leaved, the latter, however,
+appearing only along the margin of the Potomac River; black, Spanish,
+and red oak, chestnut oak, peach or willow oak, pin oak; and in the
+eastern parts of the county, black jack, or barren oak, and dwarf oak,
+hickory, black and white walnut, white and yellow poplar, chestnut,
+locust, ash, sycamore, wild cherry, red flowering maple, gum,
+sassafras, persimmon, dogwood, red and slippery elm, black and white
+mulberry, aspin (rare), beech, birch, linn, honey-locust, sugar maple,
+sugar nut, yellow and white pine, hemlock, and red cedar.
+
+Among the smaller trees and shrubs are the white thorn, maple-leaved
+or Virginia thorn (suitable for hedging), hawthorn, wild May cherry,
+or service berry, water beech, fringe tree, red bud, black alder,
+common alder, sumach, elder, laurel, witch-hazel, hazel-nut, papaw,
+chinkapin, burnish bush, nine bark, button-bush, honeysuckle, several
+varieties of the whortleberry or huckleberry, and wild gooseberry.
+
+A few of the brambles met with are the greenbrier, high blackberry,
+dewberry, or low blackberry, and raspberry.
+
+A list of the vines and creepers would comprise the fox grape, three
+varieties; pigeon, or raccoon grape, chicken grape, a wild bitter
+grape, sarsaparilla, yellow parilla, poison-vine, or poison-oak,
+clematis, trumpet-flower, and wild potato vine.
+
+The medicinal herbs found in Loudoun are the rattlesnake root, Seneca
+snakeroot (also called Virginia snakeroot), many varieties of mint,
+liverwort, red-root, May apple, butterfly-weed, milk weed,
+thorough-stem, trumpet-weed, Indian-physic, _lobelia inflata_, and
+_lobelia cardinalis_, golden-rod, skunk-cabbage, frost-weed,
+hoar-hound, and catnip.
+
+The injurious plants with which the careful farmer must contend are
+the wild garlic, tribby weed, dog fennel, two varieties of the common
+daisy, oxeye daisy, St. John's wort, blue thistle, common thistle,
+pigeon-weed, burdock, broad and narrow-leaved dock, poke-weed,
+clot-bur, three-thorned bur, supposed to have been introduced from
+Spain by the Merino sheep, Jamestown or "jimson" weed, sorrel, and, in
+favorable seasons, a heavy growth of lambs quarter and rag-weed.
+
+Of introduced grasses, Loudoun has red clover, timothy, herd's-grass,
+orchard-grass, and Lucerne to which last little attention is now
+given. Native grasses are the white clover, spear grass, blue grass,
+fox-tail and crab grass, the two last-named being summer or annual
+grasses. Several varieties of swamp or marsh grass flourish under
+certain conditions, but soon disappear with proper drainage and
+tillage.
+
+Although some of the wild flowers of Loudoun merit the attention of
+the florist, as a whole they have no commercial value or significance
+and, for this reason, an enumeration of the many varieties has not
+been thought expedient.
+
+
+FAUNA.--Wild ducks, geese, and turkeys, pheasants (English
+and Mongolian), partridges and woodcock are among the game fowls of
+Loudoun, and eagles, crows, buzzards, owls, and hawks among the
+predatory. The usual list of songbirds frequent this region in great
+numbers and receive some protection under the stringent fish and game
+laws in force here.
+
+Red and gray foxes, raccoons, opossums, woodchucks, squirrels, hares
+and smaller animals are quite general.
+
+In pioneer days the county abounded in the larger species of game
+common to the forests of North America. Among these were the beaver
+and otter, buffalo, deer, wolf, wild-cat, panther, bear, fox, and elk
+or wapiti (_Cervus canadensis_), noble herds of which ranged the
+mountain sides and valleys of this section.
+
+
+TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.[13]
+
+Good roads, always of immeasurable importance to the farmer, were
+early made necessary by the tremendous crops of marketable products
+harvested from Loudoun lands. Though this need, in time, became
+imperative the roads were never hastily and imperfectly constructed;
+they were built with an eye single to permanence and with due
+allowance for generations of unintermittent and augmentative traffic.
+
+These roads yielded their promoters modest dividends, but with the
+completion in 1832 of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, bordering the
+county just across the Potomac, transportation to and from Washington
+(Georgetown) and Alexandria was materially cheapened and the earnings
+of the turnpike companies suffered a corresponding decrease, the
+income, in many cases, being barely sufficient to defray the expense
+of maintenance. Tolls are now collected at only two points, in the
+County.
+
+[Footnote 13: No apology is offered for the omission of vital
+statistics that might and would have been included in this department
+had earnest appeals addressed to State officers and the State
+Corporation Commission met with more courteous and, I might add,
+dutiful consideration. Not the least assistance was vouchsafed by any
+of them.--THE AUTHOR.]
+
+The turnpike craze spread to Loudoun not long after the War of
+Independence and culminated about forty years later. It wrought a
+revolution in public travel, relatively nearly as great as that
+brought about by the railway craze in more recent years. The corporate
+names of some of the roads constructed through Loudoun before its
+subsidence were, the Goose Creek and Little River Turnpike, Loudoun
+and Berlin (now Brunswick, Md.) Turnpike, Ashby's Gap Turnpike,
+Leesburg Turnpike, Leesburg and Snicker's Gap Turnpike, Little River
+Turnpike and Snicker's Gap Turnpike. Their combined authorized capital
+stock was $637,325, of which amount more than two-thirds was
+subscribed by individuals, the State assuming the balance.
+
+The system did not originate solely in a local want or demand along
+the lines contemplated. Other causes were also at the bottom of the
+movement. The settlement of the County was necessarily by progressive
+though, at times, apparently simultaneous steps. First came the
+settlement and location of one or two towns, and the opening of
+communication between them; then the advent of the trapper, hunter,
+and scout into the unsettled portion; then came the land grants and
+the settlement in isolated localities; then the blazed trail to the
+parent towns and to the cabin of the pioneer or the outposts; then the
+drift-ways, cart-ways, and the local roads winding from cabin to
+cabin; then the town-ways and county roads, with here and there the
+"provincial" highways.
+
+Today, the public roads and turnpikes of Loudoun are unquestionably
+better than those of most counties and, in obedience to a popular
+demand, are kept in a fair state of repair. One or two of the
+main-traveled thoroughfares would compare favorably with the best
+rural roads in the country.
+
+Long before the Civil War, Little River was rendered navigable from
+its mouth to Aldie by means of a lock and dam system, this and more
+far-reaching improvements having been undertaken by the "Goose Creek
+and Little River Navigation Company" capitalized at $100,000. The dams
+were destroyed by Federal invaders and never reconstructed.
+
+Loudoun is traversed by the Washington and Ohio Division of the
+Southern Railway, which penetrates the County centrally from east to
+west and furnishes an outlet for her immense shipments of cattle,
+grain and miscellaneous products. No less than twelve stopping points
+are recognized within her limits, at all but three of which commodious
+stations have been erected.
+
+The original purpose of the promoters was to extend this road to the
+coal-fields of Hampshire County, West Virginia (then in Virginia). The
+name under which it was incorporated was the "Alexandria, Loudoun and
+Hampshire Railroad." During the Civil War its bridges and tracks were
+destroyed by order of General Lee and for some years afterward Loudoun
+was without adequate railway communication with the outside world.
+
+The cost of construction between Alexandria and Leesburg, the first
+division of the work, was $1,538,744. The line, many years afterward,
+was extended to Round Hill and still later to Bluemont, at present the
+Westernmost terminal. Stages, affording communication with Winchester
+and intermediate towns of the Shenandoah Valley, are operated from
+this point and between Leesburg and Middleburg and Point of Rocks.
+Liveries are conducted in all the important towns.
+
+The northern edge of the County is in easy communication with the main
+line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio
+canal just across the Potomac.
+
+Large steel bridges, spanning the Potomac at Harpers Ferry, Brunswick
+and Point of Rocks, afford convenient ingress into West Virginia,
+Maryland and the not far-distant state of Pennsylvania.
+
+Further communication with the north is made possible by a ferry
+(White's) in constant operation between Loudoun and the Maryland
+shore.
+
+
+TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
+
+_Leesburg._
+
+Leesburg, a fine old town, the county-seat of Loudoun, lies at the
+eastern base of Catoctin Mountain, 2-1/2 miles from the Potomac River
+at Balls Bluff, and 3-7/8 miles west of Goose Creek. It is in the
+northern part of the County, 40 miles northwest of Washington, 153
+miles in a like direction from Richmond, the State capital, within a
+few miles of the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains and the celebrated
+Valley of Virginia, 12 miles from Point of Rocks, Md., and about 22
+miles from historic Harpers Ferry, W. Va. It occupies a high and
+healthy plain, the environs of which are waving and well cultivated
+and delightfully variegated by hill and dale.
+
+The town derives its name from the Lees, who were among the early
+settlers of the County, and was established by act of the General
+Assembly, in September, 1758, in the thirty-second year of the reign
+of George II. Nicholas Minor, who owned sixty acres of land about the
+court-house, had subdivided this tract and some of the lots had been
+built upon prior to the passage of the act. This instrument
+constituted "the Hon. Philip Ludwell Lee, Esq., Thomas Mason, Esq.,
+Francis Lightfoot Lee (father of 'Light Horse Harry' of subsequent
+Revolutionary fame), James Hamilton, Nicholas Minor, Josias Clapham,
+Æneas Campbell, John Hugh, Francis Hague, and William West,
+gentlemen," trustees for the newly established town. Prior to its
+establishment it had borne the name Georgetown, bestowed in honor of
+the then reigning English monarch.
+
+[14]"In its birth and infancy the town was destined to win renown, for
+it was first founded as a fort or outpost of the then struggling
+colony of Virginia, as its narrow streets and close, little red brick
+houses still testify, and for many years was the most westerly post of
+the colony. At one time the entire town was enclosed by stockades...."
+
+"Following its establishment the little fort became the principal
+outfitting post for the British and colonial forces in the French and
+Indian war. Tradition still fondly points to the stone house, famous
+as the headquarters of General Braddock, who, it is claimed, passed
+through the place on his last fatal march to the wilderness; but in
+the light of thorough investigation this claim is found to be
+unsubstantiated. While a division of his army, under command of the
+eccentric old Sir Peter Halkett, did undoubtedly spend the night at
+the plantation of Nicholas Minor, the principal founder of the town,
+General Braddock is found to have gone in another direction."
+
+[Footnote 14: Mrs. A. H. Throckmorton in the Richmond _Times_.]
+
+Leesburg is governed by a mayor and common council and had at the time
+of the last government census (1900) a population of 1,513. An unusual
+percentage of its people are well educated, and all proverbially
+hospitable.
+
+The houses, many of which are of brick and stone construction, are
+built in a compact and substantial manner. In the town and its
+environs are many of the most palatial residences to be seen in
+Virginia. There are several well-kept public roads leading from the
+town to the surrounding country seats and stock farms, nearly all of
+which are modernized reminders of the old plantation days.
+
+With an elevation less than most points in the County, Leesburg,
+nevertheless, shares with them the distinction of being unsurpassed
+for healthfulness and picturesqueness of surroundings.
+
+Crossing at right angles, its streets are regular and spacious and
+lighted by electricity. Many of its dwellings and business houses are
+also equipped with electric lighting facilities, power for which is
+generated at a plant located near Belmont, on Goose Creek, and
+controlled by Leesburg capitalists. In almost every quarter of the
+town are brick and granolithic sidewalks, fringed with the usual
+varieties of shade trees.
+
+Some of the municipal advantages not already enumerated are a sewerage
+system, a fire department, a public library, police protection and a
+thoroughly modern system of water-works of a capacity sufficient to
+supply the entire corporation with absolutely pure water from a noted
+spring issuing near the base of Catoctin Mountain.
+
+Some of the public buildings are a town hall, one of the largest brick
+edifices in Northern Virginia; a comparatively new court-house and a
+clerk's office,[15] both venerable structures with imposing façades
+lending them an exquisite air of Colonialism, the two liberally
+disposed over a fenced area with sloping lawns and umbrageous shade; a
+brick jail (County) containing eight steel cells, commodious
+residential quarters for the jailer and his family and having, as an
+humanitarian feature, a sunny court with towering walls; a remodelled
+brick academy and a colored school, both comprising primary,
+intermediate, and high school divisions, and provided with ample
+educational facilities and extensive playgrounds.
+
+[Footnote 15: Prior to 1873, the Leesburg Academy.]
+
+The town has 7 churches representing all the leading denominations, a
+Young Men's Christian Association branch, 5 fraternal orders and a
+weekly newspaper. Eight trains arrive at and depart from Leesburg
+daily.
+
+Among the local enterprises are two handsome banking houses (the
+"Loudoun National Bank" and "Peoples National Bank"), 2 large hotels
+affording accommodations for 130 guests, several boarding houses,
+stores handling every class and grade of merchandise, an artificial
+ice plant with a daily capacity of 5 tons, a large race course on the
+outskirts of the town where are held annually a horse show, races and
+other like events, a confectionery and bakery, an ice cream factory, a
+pop factory, two harness factories, a lumber and planing mill, 2
+private schools, 3 cobblers' establishments, 2 livery stables, 3
+blacksmith shops, 2 furniture houses, 2 undertaking establishments, 2
+grain elevators, a lime quarry, 3 wheelwright shops, 2 tinning
+establishments, a concrete construction plant, monument works, wood
+and coal yard, Standard Oil Company's branch and packing house.
+
+Leesburg probably has more than the usual number of resident
+physicians, lawyers, and mechanics to be found in towns of a
+corresponding size.
+
+
+_Round Hill._
+
+Round Hill, a thriving railway town in the western part of the County,
+lies 3 miles east of Bluemont, 3 miles west of Purcellville, and 53
+miles from the city of Washington. It is the second largest town in
+Loudoun, has an elevation of about 600 feet above mean tide and is in
+the midst of a rich farming region abounding with streams of pure
+water from mountain water-courses. The town's name is derived from a
+conical hill projecting from the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 2
+miles away. It has a population of 450, 20 of which number are
+merchants and mechanics, and a newly established bank.
+
+
+_Waterford._
+
+Waterford, a thriving Quaker settlement, is situated on Catoctin Creek
+in the northern part of the County, 6 miles south of Taylorstown, 7
+miles northwest of Leesburg, 47 miles in a like direction from
+Washington and 159 miles north of Richmond. It was named after the
+town of Waterford, in Ireland, where some of its founders had formerly
+resided. The first house within the town limits was built by one Asa
+Moore, and remains standing at the present day. In common with the
+other towns and villages of the famous Loudoun Valley, Waterford is
+noted for its numerous and inexhaustible wells of the purest and best
+water, bracing air and low mortality rate. It has 383 inhabitants, 14
+of whom are merchants and mechanics.
+
+
+_Hamilton._
+
+Hamilton, one of the prettiest towns in the County, is spread over a
+considerable area and occupies one of the highest points in the
+beautiful Loudoun Valley. It is about 46 miles by rail from
+Washington, 3 miles from Purcellville and only a few miles from both
+the Catoctin and Blue Ridge mountains, walling the valley to the east
+and west, and is the center of a group of seven towns and villages
+within a radius of 5 miles. It has 364 inhabitants, of which number 18
+are merchants and mechanics.
+
+
+_Purcellville._
+
+Purcellville, in the western part of the County with an approximate
+elevation of 500 feet, is about 50 miles from Washington, 3 miles
+from both Round Hill and Hamilton, and 2-1/2 miles from Lincoln. It is
+delightfully situated in the center of one of the finest agricultural
+districts in the Loudoun Valley and has a population of 300, 17
+merchants and mechanics and a national bank.
+
+
+_Middleburg._
+
+Middleburg, situated on Goose Creek in the southwestern part of
+Loudoun, is 12 miles from the summit of the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap,
+5 miles west of Aldie, 1/4 of a mile from the Fauquier line, and 16
+miles by stage from Leesburg, the seat of government. It is a growing
+and prosperous community, elevated and airy and overlooking a broad
+expanse of rich territory. Fourteen of its 296 inhabitants are
+merchants and mechanics.
+
+
+_Ashburn._
+
+Ashburn, a railway town in lower Loudoun, formerly known as
+_Farmwell_, is 34 miles from Washington, 31 miles from Alexandria, 4
+miles northwest of Sterling, and 6 miles from Leesburg. It is in the
+heart of one of the richest and most extensive dairying sections of
+the State, and has become somewhat famous as a resort for anglers, the
+bass fishing in Goose Creek, near by, being eminently satisfying and
+attracting many devotees of the sport from Washington and other more
+distant points.
+
+
+_Bluemont._
+
+Bluemont, formerly known as _Snickersville_, is an attractive village,
+snugly and advantageously situated at the southeastern base of the
+Blue Ridge Mountains, about 3 miles from Round Hill, 54 miles by rail
+from Washington, and 165 miles from Richmond. It is on the western
+edge of the most densely populated section of Loudoun, and boasts
+modern hotels and boarding houses, two liveries, a grain elevator, and
+many handsome dwellings. Two turnpikes, leading from Washington and
+Alexandria to Winchester, intersect at this point. Bluemont is a
+popular summer resort, and lies within a very short distance of both
+the "Bears' Den" and "Raven Rocks," jutting points on the western
+slope of the Blue Ridge, from which magnificent views may be had of
+the Shenandoah valley and river and the Alleghany and North mountains.
+The town has a population of 200, 14 of which number are merchants and
+mechanics.
+
+
+_Smaller Towns._
+
+Other towns, post villages and settlements in the County are:
+_Airmont_, 2-1/2 miles from Bluemont, population 25; _Aldie_, on
+Little River, 5 miles from both Middleburg and Oatlands and 12 miles
+from Leesburg, the County seat, population 155, 7 merchants and
+mechanics; _Arcola_, 6 miles from Sterling and 12 miles from Leesburg,
+population 100, 4 merchants and mechanics; _Belmont Park_, a small
+railway station on the east bank of Goose Creek about 4 miles east of
+Leesburg, formerly a picturesque resort and popular excursion point
+managed by the old Richmond and Danville Railroad Company, attracting,
+during the few years of its operation, many thousands of visitors;
+_Bloomfield_, 7 miles from Round Hill, population 50; _Britain_, 8
+miles from Purcellville, population 15; _Clarkes Gap_, one of the
+highest and healthiest points in the County and an important shipping
+point, draining a large extent of fertile country, 4 miles west of
+Leesburg, population 25; _Conklin_, 10 miles from Sterling, population
+10; _Daysville_, 2 miles from Sterling, population 20; _Elvan_, 1 mile
+from Lovettsville, population 18; _Evergreen Mills_, 7 miles from
+Leesburg, population 10; _Georges Mill_, in the extreme northwestern
+part of the County; _Hillsboro_, 5 miles by stage from Purcellville,
+population 131, 9 merchants and mechanics; _Hughesville_, 7 miles from
+Leesburg, population 12; _Irene_, on the Southern Railway one mile
+from Hamilton and the railroad station for that town, population 20;
+_Leithton_, 8 miles from Purcellville and Round Hill, population 25;
+_Lenah_, 3 miles west of Arcola, population 25; _Levy_, on Bull Run,
+3 miles south of Aldie; _Lincoln_, 2-1/2 miles southeast of
+Purcellville, in the heart of the "Quaker Settlement," population 200,
+3 merchants and mechanics; _Lovettsville_, 2-1/2 or 3 miles south of
+Brunswick, Md., and 7 miles from both Waterford and Harpers Ferry, W.
+Va., in an industrious and progressive German neighborhood, population
+97, 16 merchants and mechanics; _Luckets_, 5 miles from Point of
+Rocks, Maryland, and 7 miles from Leesburg, population 50, 8 merchants
+and mechanics; _Lunette_, 4 miles south of Arcola, population 10;
+_Mahala_, 2 miles from Ashburn, population 15; _Mechanicsville_;
+_Mountain Gap_, 4-1/2 miles by stage from Leesburg, population 25;
+_Mount Gilead_, a centrally and charmingly situated village on
+Catoctin Mountain about 8 miles respectively from the towns of
+Leesburg, Middleburg and Aldie, population 50; _Mountville_, a small
+settlement in a neighborhood abounding with best quality lime and
+other minerals, 2-1/2 miles southeast of Philomont and about 1-1/2
+miles from both the waters of Goose Creek and Beaver Dam, population
+25; _Morrisonville_, 6 miles by stage from Brunswick, Maryland, and 4
+miles from Lovettsville, population 20; _Neersville_, 5 miles by stage
+from Harpers Ferry, W. Va., population 25; _North Fork_, 6 miles from
+Purcellville, population 26; _Oatlands_, bordering on Catoctin
+Mountain 7 miles southwest of Leesburg and 5 miles north of Aldie,
+population 20; _Pæonian Springs_, 1 mile northwest of Clarke's Gap,
+population 112, 6 merchants and mechanics; _Paxson_, an exceptionally
+healthy community 2 miles east of Bluemont, population 15;
+_Philomont_, a Quaker settlement lying 3 miles southeast of Silcott
+Springs in a fertile and wealthy wheat-growing neighborhood,
+population 161; _Royville_, 2 miles north of Arcola; _Ryan_, 2 miles
+south of Ashburn, population 50; _Silcott Springs_, a one-time noted
+resort 3-1/2 miles southwest of Purcellville, population 25; Sycoline,
+between 4 and 5 miles south of Leesburg; _Stumptown_, 2 miles from
+Luckets, population 20; _Taylorstown_, 3 miles southwest of Point of
+Rocks, Md., population 50; _Trapp_, 5 miles from Bluemont, population
+36; _Unison_, 6 miles from Bluemont and 9 miles from Purcellville,
+population 100, 3 merchants and mechanics; _Watson_, 9 miles from
+Leesburg, population 10; _Waxpool_, 2-1/2 miles north of Royville and
+8 miles from Leesburg, population 25; _Welbourne_, about 5 miles
+northeast of Upperville, in Fauquier county; _Wheatland_, 5 miles from
+both Hamilton and Purcellville, population 25; _Willard_, 5 miles
+southwest of Herndon, in Fairfax county, and _Woodburn_, 3 miles from
+Leesburg, population 15. [Blank Page]
+
+
+
+
+Statistical.
+
+AREA AND FARMING TABULATIONS.
+
+
+The area of Loudoun County is variously reckoned at 460, 468, 495,
+504, 510, 519, 520, and 525 square miles. The approximate accuracy of
+any single estimate in this confused assortment can not easily be
+determined, none, so far as is known, having been officially
+confirmed. Yardley Taylor, who, in 1853, made a most careful survey of
+the County, fixed its area at 525 square miles. By far the most
+trustworthy authority in this and certain other connections, his
+findings have been adopted with little uncertainty or hesitation.
+
+Of this number, 207 square miles lie east of Catoctin Mountain and are
+of the upper secondary formation, while the remaining 318 square miles
+to the westward are of primitive formation.
+
+The longest line across the County is 35 miles, and extends from the
+lower end of Lowe's Island at the old mouth of Sugarland Run, to the
+summit of the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap; the second longest, 34 miles,
+extends from the corner of Jefferson County, West Virginia, at the
+margin of the Potomac River below Harpers Ferry, to the corner of
+Fairfax County on Bull Run, within half a mile of Sudley Springs in
+Prince William County.
+
+Within the limits of Loudoun are included 313,902[16] acres of the
+finest farm land to be found in any county of the State. The farms
+number 1,948, the average size being 162 acres. They are smallest in
+the northwestern portion of the county and of moderate size in the
+central portions, the largest occurring in the southern and eastern
+portions. In 1900, 1,754, or 90 per cent, were operated by white
+farmers, and 194, or 10 per cent, operated by colored farmers.
+
+[Footnote 16: It will be understood that the total land in farms by no
+means equals the total area of the County.]
+
+TABLE I.--_Summary by Decades of the Improved and Unimproved
+Land in Farms, with per cent of Increase and Decrease._
+
+-------+-----------------------------------+---------------------------------
+       |      Acres of Land in Farms.      |     Per cent of Increase.
+       |---------+-----------+-------------+---------+----------+------------
+Census |         |           |             |  Total  | Improved | Unimproved
+ Year. |  Total. | Improved. | Unimproved. |  Land.  |  Land.   |   Land.
+-------+---------+-----------+-------------+---------+----------+------------
+ 1900  | 313,902 |  251,874  |   62,028    |    6.4  |    6.9   |      4.8
+ 1890  | 294,896 |  235,703  |   59,193    | [*]1.3  |    1.4   |  [*]11.
+ 1880  | 298,869 |  232,391  |   66,478    |    8.2  |   15.1   |  [*]10.7
+ 1870  | 276,291 |  201,888  |   74,403    | [*]6.7  | [*]8.3   |  [*] 1.9
+ 1860  | 296,142 |  220,266  |   75,876    |     .5  |    5.7   |  [*] 1.2
+ 1850  | 294,675 |  208,454  |   86,221    |    -    |    -     |      -
+-------+---------+-----------+-------------+---------+----------+------------
+
+[* - Decrease.]
+
+The most striking fact to be noted concerning the reported farm areas
+is the comparatively great decrease in the decade 1860 to 1870. This
+was, of course, one of the disastrous effects of the Civil War, from
+which the South, in general, after more than forty-five years, has not
+yet fully recovered, as is shown by the fact that in some of the South
+Atlantic states the reported acreage of farm land in 1900 was less
+than it was in 1860.
+
+A continuous increase is shown in the area of improved farm land
+except in the decade 1860-1870. The decrease in the amount under
+cultivation, reported in the census of 1870, was due to conditions
+growing out of the change in the system of labor which prevented a
+complete rehabilitation of agricultural industry.
+
+Only three other of the 100 Virginia counties reported larger improved
+areas in 1900, viz: Fauquier, 291,734 acres; Pittsylvania, 280,456 and
+Augusta, 276,459.
+
+TABLE II.--_Number of Farms by Decades: Summary, 1850 to
+1900._
+
+1900     1,948
+1890     1,818
+1880     1,841
+1870     1,238
+1860     1,207
+1850     1,256
+
+Comparison of the number of farms reported in 1850 with the number at
+the last census shows an addition in fifty years of 692 farms.
+
+The great increase between 1870 and 1880 is seen at a glance. During
+this period the large plantations were steadily undergoing partition,
+in consequence of the social and industrial changes in progress after
+the Civil War.
+
+TABLE III.--_Farms Classified by Area--1900._
+
+Under 3 acres                 22
+3 and under 10 acres         155
+10 and under 20 acres        171
+20 and under 50 acres        246
+50 and under 100 acres       264
+100 and under 175 acres      396
+175 and under 260 acres      324
+260 and under 500 acres      274
+500 and under 1,000 acres     88
+1,000 acres and over           8
+
+TABLE IV.--_Number of Farms of Specified Tenures, June 1,
+1900._
+
+Owners                1,116
+Part owners             173
+Owners and tenants       18
+Managers                 48
+Cash tenants            232
+Share tenants           361
+                      -----
+  Total               1,948
+
+
+POPULATION.
+
+The persistent high price of Loudoun lands has discouraged increase of
+population by immigration. Indeed, in more than eighty-five years,
+except for the slight fluctuations of certain decades, there has been
+no increase through any medium.
+
+The last census (1900) fixed Loudoun's population at 21,948, of which
+number 16,079 were whites, 5,869 negroes, and the remaining 101
+foreign born. This aggregate is even less than that shown by the
+census of 1820, which gave the county a population of 22,702, or 754
+more than in 1900.
+
+The succeeding schedules, giving complete statistics of population for
+Loudoun County by the latest and highest authority, were taken from
+United States Census reports, collected in 1900 and published in 1902.
+
+
+_Population, Dwellings, and Families:_
+
+      _1900._                 _Private Families._
+Population    21,948        Number           4,195
+Dwellings      4,157        Population      21,690
+Families       4,231        Average size         5.2
+
+
+_Private Families Occupying Owned and Hired and Free and Encumbered
+Homes, 1900._
+
+Total private families       4,195
+
+_Farm Homes Owned._        _Other Homes Owned._
+  Free          959          Free          622
+  Encumbered    257          Encumbered    147
+  Unknown       120          Unknown        81
+Hired           648        Hired         1,169
+Unknown           7        Unknown         185
+              -----                      -----
+    Total     1,991            Total     2,204
+
+
+_Native and Foreign Born and White and Colored Population, Classified
+by Sex, 1900._
+
+        _Native born._              _Native White--Foreign Parents._
+Male                     10,634     Male                         114
+Female                   11,213     Female                       121
+
+        _Foreign born._                     _Foreign White._
+Male                         59     Male                          58
+Female                       42     Female                        42
+
+_Native White--Native Parents._             _Total Colored._
+Male                      7,583     Male                       2,938
+Female                    8,161     Female                     2,931
+
+In 1860, one year before the outbreak of the Civil War, the County
+held within its boundaries 21,774 souls: 15,021 white, 5,501 slave,
+and 1,252 free colored. In number of slaves at this period Loudoun
+ranked thirty-sixth in the list of Virginia counties which then also
+included the counties now in West Virginia. This number was
+distributed amongst 670 slave-holders in the following proportions:
+
+  1 slave                  124
+  2 slaves                  84
+  3 slaves                  61
+  4 slaves                  83
+  5 slaves                  46
+  6 slaves                  39
+  7 slaves                  35
+  8 slaves                  27
+  9 slaves                  22
+ 10 and under 15 slaves     80
+ 15 and under 20 slaves     36
+ 20 and under 30 slaves     23
+ 30 and under 40 slaves      4
+ 40 and under 50 slaves      4
+ 50 and under 70 slaves      1
+100 and under 200 slaves     1
+
+The following table gives the population of Loudoun County
+decennially, from and including the first official census of 1790:
+
+1900       21,948
+1890       23,274
+1880       23,634
+1870       20,929
+1860       21,774
+1850       22,079
+1840       20,431
+1830       21,939
+1820       22,702
+1810       21,338
+1800       20,523
+1790       18,952
+
+The reports of population by magisterial districts given below, with a
+single exception, show an appreciable decrease between the years 1890
+and 1900:
+
+----------------------+-------+-------
+                      | 1900. | 1890.
+----------------------+-------+-------
+Broad Run district    | 3,309 | 3,463
+Jefferson district    | 3,106 | 3,307
+Leesburg district     | 4,299 | 4,246
+Lovettsville district | 3,104 | 3,210
+Mercer district       | 4,010 | 4,570
+Mt. Gilead district   | 4,120 | 4,478
+----------------------+-------+-------
+
+The following incorporated towns for the same period are charged with
+a corresponding decrease in the number of their inhabitants:
+
+-------------+-------+-------
+             | 1900. | 1890.
+-------------+-------+-------
+Hamilton     |   364 |   407
+Hillsboro    |   131 |   156
+Leesburg     | 1,513 | 1,650
+Lovettsville |    97 |
+Middleburg   |   296 |   429
+Waterford    |   383 |   385
+-------------+-------+-------
+
+These circumstances of fluctuation and actual decrease might appear
+singular if it could not be shown that practically the same conditions
+obtain elsewhere in the State and Union, or wherever agriculture is
+the dominant industry. Especially is this true of the counties of
+Clarke, Fauquier, Prince William, and Fairfax, in Virginia, and
+Jefferson, in West Virginia. All these farming communities adjoin
+Loudoun and exhibit what might be called corresponding fluctuations of
+population between the above-named periods.
+
+A decrease then in the population of any of these districts is
+obviously due, in a large measure, to the partial or total failure of
+the crops which causes the migration of a portion of the population to
+large cities or other parts of the country. If the failure occurs
+immediately preceding a census, the decrease shown will, of course, be
+large.
+
+As another contributing cause, it can be positively stated that the
+disfavor in which agriculture is held by the young men of Loudoun, who
+seek less arduous and more lucrative employment in the great cities of
+the East, is, in part, responsible, if not for the depletion,
+certainly for the stagnation of the county's population.
+
+The white population of Loudoun County in 1880, 1890, and 1900 was as
+follows:
+
+_Census._   _Population._
+
+  1880         16,391
+  1890         16,696--305 increase.
+  1900         16,079--617 decrease.
+
+The negro population of Loudoun County for the same periods was:
+
+_Census._   _Population._
+
+  1880       7,243
+  1890       6,578--665 decrease.
+  1900       5,869--709 decrease.
+
+The figures show that the negro population has steadily decreased,
+while the white population increased from 1880 to 1890, and decreased
+from 1890 to 1900. The proportion of decrease for the negroes was much
+greater than for the whites. As the occupations of the negroes are
+almost entirely farming and domestic services, crop failures
+necessarily cause migration to other localities, and as Washington and
+Baltimore are not far distant and offer higher wages and sometimes
+more attractive occupations, there can be no doubt that the decrease
+is principally due to the migration to those cities.
+
+
+INDUSTRIES.
+
+Agriculture, in many of its important branches, is by far Loudoun's
+leading industry, and is being annually benefited by the application
+of new methods in cultivation and harvesting. The farmers are thrifty
+and happy and many of them prosperous.
+
+During the Civil War agriculture received a serious set-back, as the
+County was devastated by the contending armies, but by hard work and
+intelligent management of the people the section has again been put
+upon a prosperous footing.
+
+The agricultural methods in use throughout the County are very
+uniform, notwithstanding the fact that there are a comparatively large
+number of soil types in the area.
+
+A system of general farming, with few variations, is practiced,
+although some of the soils are much better adapted to the purpose than
+are other soils of the area. The system of rotation practiced consists
+of drilling in wheat and timothy seed together on the corn stubble in
+the fall, and sowing clover in the following spring. The wheat is
+harvested in the early summer, leaving the timothy and clover, which,
+after obtaining a good growth, is grazed or cut the next year for hay.
+This land is then plowed, and the following spring corn is planted, to
+be followed by wheat again the next fall, thus completing the
+rotation.
+
+Loudoun's gently sweeping hills and broad valleys support great herds
+of cattle and flocks of sheep, and yield immense crops of corn, wheat,
+oats, and other cereals. More corn is produced and probably more live
+stock marketed by Loudoun than by any other of the 100 counties of
+Virginia.
+
+The wheat is either sold for shipment or ground into flour by the many
+mills of the County, which mainly supply the home demand. The surplus
+is shipped chiefly to Washington and Baltimore. The major portion of
+the corn is used locally for feeding beef cattle, dairy stock, and
+work animals. Hay is shipped in large quantities and the rye, oats,
+and buckwheat are mostly consumed at home. Considerable pork is
+fattened in the County and many hundred head of cattle are annually
+grazed to supply the Washington and Baltimore markets.
+
+A Government statistician was responsible for the following statement,
+based, no doubt, on the creditable showing made by Loudoun in the
+census of 1880: "Taken as a whole, probably the best farming in the
+State is now done in this (Loudoun) County." Of Virginia counties, it
+stood, at that time, first in the production of corn, butter, eggs,
+and wool, and in numbers of milch cows and sheep, and second only to
+Fauquier in the number of its stock cattle.
+
+The breeding of superior stock and horses is an important branch of
+the County's agricultural activities. A contributor to _Country Life
+in America_, in an article entitled "Country Life in Loudoun County,"
+says of it: "And the raising of animals is here not the fad of men of
+wealth who would play at country life. It is a serious business,
+productive of actual profit and a deep-seated satisfaction as
+continuous and well grounded as I have ever seen taken by men in their
+vocation."
+
+The wealthier class of citizens of course specialize, each according
+to his personal choice. One, with 1,500 acres, all told, does a large
+dairying business and raises registered Dorset horn sheep, large white
+Yorkshire swine, registered Guernsey cattle, and Percheron horses.
+Another, with a like acreage, specializes in hackneys. A third, on his
+300 or more acres, raises thoroughbreds and Irish hunters. A fourth,
+with 1,000 acres, fattens cattle for market and breeds Percheron
+horses, thoroughbreds, hackneys, and cattle. A fifth, owning several
+thousand acres, fattens cattle for export. A half dozen others, on
+farms ranging from 200 to 1,000 acres, raise thoroughbreds or draft
+animals. These are the specialties; on all the farms mentioned the
+owners have their secondary interests.
+
+Some of the farmers whose capital will not permit the purchasing of
+high-priced breeding stock, have long been engaged in the business of
+finishing cattle for the market, animals being shipped from Tennessee,
+West Virginia, and elsewhere to be fattened on the wonderful grasses
+of Loudoun County. These steers are pastured from several months to
+two years, or according to their condition and the rapidity with which
+they fatten.
+
+Sheep are to be found on most every large farm and are kept for both
+wool and mutton. Buyers visit these farms early in the winter and
+contract to take the lambs at a certain time in the spring, paying a
+price based on their live weight. When far enough advanced they are
+collected and shipped to eastern markets.
+
+The rapid growth of near-by cities and the development of
+transportation facilities have exerted a great influence in the
+progress of the dairy industry in Loudoun County, increasing the
+demand for dairy produce, making possible the delivery of such
+produce in said cities at a profit to the farmer, and thereby inducing
+many to adopt dairy farming as a specialty instead of following it as
+incidental to general agriculture.
+
+The dairy cows in Loudoun, June 1, 1900, numbered 8,563, of which
+7,882, or 92 per cent were on farms, and 681, or 8 per cent, were in
+barns and enclosures elsewhere.
+
+If the number of dairy cows, June 1, 1900, be taken as a basis, the
+five most important Virginia counties arranged in order of rank are as
+follows: _Loudoun_, 8,563; Augusta, 7,898; Rockingham, 7,312; Bedford,
+6,951; and Washington, 6,792.
+
+If prime consideration be given to the gallons of milk produced on
+farms only in 1899, the counties rank in the following order:
+_Loudoun_, 3,736,382; Fairfax, 3,310,990; Bedford, 3,244,800;
+Rockingham, 3,141,906; and Augusta, 2,993,928.
+
+If greatest weight be given to the farm value of dairy produce, the
+order is as follows: Fairfax, $301,007; Henrico, $247,428; _Loudoun_,
+$242,221; Pittsylvania, $200,174, and Bedford, $194,560.
+
+From every point of view but the last, Loudoun ranked as the leading
+dairy county of Virginia. The relative rank of other near competitors
+varied according to the basis of arrangement. The value of dairy
+produce is materially influenced by nearness to markets and also by
+the average production per farm, and these factors assisted in
+modifying the rank of Loudoun with reference to farm values of dairy
+produce.
+
+The good prices obtained for apples during recent years have led some
+to plant this fruit on a larger scale than heretofore, and the result
+is so far quite gratifying. Apples do well on most of the soils of
+Loudoun. The best are sold to buyers who ship to large markets. The
+poorer qualities are kept for home consumption, used for cider and fed
+to hogs. Pears are grown in small quantities throughout the County.
+Peaches do well on most of the soils, but yield irregularly on account
+of frosts. All indigenous vegetables succeed well, but are mostly
+grown for home consumption, market gardens being conspicuously scarce.
+
+Hosts of summer boarders give to Loudoun a large transient population
+requiring for its accommodation numerous hotels and countless boarding
+houses. This trade brings considerable money into the County and is a
+factor in its prosperity not to be ignored.
+
+Scattered over Loudoun may be found great numbers of small industries,
+many of them employing steam, water, or motor power. These comprise
+grist mills, grain elevators, quarries, canneries, packing houses, saw
+mills, an artificial ice plant, and miscellaneous enterprises. Though
+comparatively insignificant taken singly, viewed collectively they
+show an aggregate of energy and thrift wholly commendable.
+
+Several of Loudoun's more important enterprises were launched
+subsequent to the last general census and this circumstance renders
+its reports of manufactures, at no time complete or entirely reliable,
+of uncertain value as a symposium of the County's manufacturing
+interests at the present time. However, they are the latest reports
+obtainable and constitute the only official statistical exhibit of
+this subordinate source of wealth. They afford at least a partial
+insight into the present status of the manufacturing interests of
+Loudoun and, to this end, are reprinted below:
+
+Number of establishments                   164
+Number of proprietors and firm members     197
+
+Capital:                           Expenses:
+  Land                   $25,957     Fuel and rent of power
+  Buildings               79,350       and heat                 $8,811
+  Machinery, etc         104,402     Miscellaneous              12,935
+  Cash and sundries      141,548     Cost of materials used    424,538
+                        --------                              --------
+    Total               $351,257       Total                  $446,284
+
+      Value of products                             $638,136
+
+
+FARM VALUES.
+
+The tables appearing under this and the two succeeding kindred
+headings were constructed from the latest general census reports, and
+are a most complete and trustworthy statistical exhibit of the
+agricultural resources and products of Loudoun County. TABLE
+I.--_Value of all farm property, including implements and
+machinery and live stock, with increase and decrease, and per cent of
+increase and decrease, by decades: Summary 1850 to 1900._
+
+--------+----------------+-----------------+------------+------------
+Census  |    Value of    |   Increase in   |  Per cent  |   Average
+year.   |    all farm    |     decade.     |     of     |  value per
+        |    property.   |                 |  increase. |    farm.
+--------+----------------+-----------------+------------+------------
+1900    | $11,056,109 00 |     $971,459 00 |      9.6   |  $5,675 62
+1890    |  10,084,650 00 |   [#]729,731 00 |   [#]6.7   |   5,547 11
+1880    |  10,814,381 00 | [#]1,437,636 00 |  [#]11.7   |   5,874 19
+1870[##]|  12,252,017 00 |      323,187 00 |      2.7   |   9,896 62
+1860    |  11,928,830 00 |    2,446,073 00 |     25.7   |   9,883 04
+1850    |   9,482,757 00 |                 |            |   7,549 97
+--------+----------------+-----------------+------------+------------
+
+[##: Values in gold.]
+
+[#: Decrease.]
+
+An especially great increase in the total value of farm property will
+be noted in the decade from 1850 to 1860. Then followed the Civil War
+with its great destruction of farm property, and from this disaster
+the County did not fully recover before 1890.
+
+The average value per acre of all farm property in Loudoun increased
+from $32.18 in 1850 to $35.22 in 1890.
+
+TABLE II.--_Value of farms with improvements, including
+buildings, with increase and per cent of increase, by decades: Summary
+1850 to 1900._
+
+--------+----------------+-----------------+------------+------------+---------
+Census  |    Value of    |   Increase in   |  Per cent  |   Average  | Average
+year.   |     farms.     |     decade.     |     of     |  value per |  value
+        |                |                 |  increase. |    farm.   |per Acre.
+--------+----------------+-----------------+------------+------------+---------
+1900    | $9,138,560 00  |     $518,830 00 |       6.0  | $4,691 25  | $29 11
+1890    |  8,619,730 00  |   [#]911,524 00 |    [#]9.6  |  4,741 33  |  29 23
+1880    |  9,531,254 00  | [#]1,345,752 00 |   [#]12.4  |  5,177 22  |  31 89
+1870[##]| 10,877,006 00  |      368,795 00 |       3.5  |  8,785 95  |  39 37
+1860    | 10,508,211 00  |    2,158,840 00 |      25.9  |  8,706 06  |  35 48
+1850    |  8,349,371 00  |                 |            |  6,647 59  |  28 33
+--------+----------------+-----------------+------------+------------+----------
+
+[##: Values in gold.]
+
+[#: Decrease.]
+
+In 1900 there were only two counties of Virginia with higher farm
+values than Loudoun. They were Rockingham, with $11,984,440, and
+Augusta, with $11,464,120.
+
+TABLE III.--_Value of land and buildings, with the per cent
+of the total represented by the value of buildings, June 1, 1900._
+
+Land and improvements (except buildings)    $6,649,690 00
+Buildings                                    2,488,870 00
+                                            -------------
+  Total                                     $9,138,560 00
+Per cent in buildings                               37.4
+
+TABLE IV.--_Number of farms and number and per cent of those
+with buildings, June 1, 1900, with average values of land and
+buildings._
+
+Number of farms:
+  Total                                      1,948
+  With buildings                             1,933
+  Per cent with buildings                       99.2
+Average value of--
+  Land, per farm                            $3,414 00
+  Land, per acre                                21 18
+  Buildings, per farm                        1,278 00
+  Buildings, per farm with buildings         1,288 00
+
+TABLE V.--_Total and average value per farm of farm
+implements and machinery, with increase and decrease and per cent of
+increase and decrease in the total value, by decades: Summary 1850 to
+1900._
+
+--------+---------------+--------------+-------------+-----------
+        | Value of farm |              |             |
+        |  implements   |   Increase   | Per cent    | Average
+ Census |      and      |     by       |    of       | value per
+ year.  |  machinery.   |    decade.   | increase.   | farm.
+--------+---------------+--------------+-------------+-----------
+1900    |  $295,910 00  |  $103,000 00 |     53.4    |  $151 90
+1890    |   192,910 00  |     9,683 00 |      5.3    |   106 11
+1880    |   183,227 00  | [#]23,473 00 |  [#]11.4    |    99 53
+1870[##]|   206,700 00  | [#]31,564 00 |  [#]13.2    |   166 96
+1860    |   238,264 00  |    42,470 00 |     21.7    |   197 40
+1850    |   195,794 00  |              |             |   155 89
+--------+---------------+--------------+-------------+-----------
+
+[##: Values in gold.]
+
+[#: Decrease.]
+
+The percentage of increase was least for the decade 1880 to 1890.
+After 1870 the farmers did not, until 1900, report as large
+investments in machinery as they did prior to the war.
+
+Only two other Virginia counties reported higher values of farming
+implements and machinery in 1900. They were Augusta, with $439,090,
+and Rockingham, with $436,340.
+
+
+LIVE STOCK.
+
+_Values_.
+
+The total value of the live stock _on farms_ only, June 1, 1900, was
+$1,621,639, or 14.7 per cent of $11,056,109, the reported value of all
+farm property. Of the live stock value, domestic animals, worth
+$1,556,935, constituted 96 per cent; poultry, worth $58,276, 3.6 per
+cent; and bees, worth $6,428, .4 per cent.
+
+TABLE I.--_Reported value of live stock on farms with
+increase and decrease and per cent of increase and decrease, by
+decades, and average values per farm and acre._
+
+--------+---------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------
+Census  |     Value.    | Increase of | Per cent  |  Average  |  Average
+year.   |               |   value.    |    of     | value per |   value
+        |               |             | increase. |   farm.   | per Acre.
+--------+---------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------
+1900    | $1,621,639 00 | $349,629 00 |     27.5  |  $832 46  |  $5 17
+1890    |  1,272,010 00 |  172,110 00 |     15.6  |   699 68  |   4 31
+1880    |  1,099,900 00 |[#]68,411 00 |  [#] 5.9  |   597 45  |   3 68
+1870[##]|  1,168,311 00 |[#]14,044 00 |  [#] 1.2  |   943 71  |   4 23
+1860    |  1,182,355 00 |  244,763 00 |     26.1  |   979 58  |   3 99
+1850    |    937,592 00 |     -       |      -    |   746 49  |   3.18
+--------+---------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------
+[##: Values in gold.]
+
+[#: Decrease.]
+
+
+_Animals Sold and Slaughtered._
+
+The census enumerators and special agents secured reports of the
+amounts received from the sale of live animals in 1899, and of the
+value of animals slaughtered on farms. With reference to reports of
+sales, they were instructed to deduct from the amount received from
+sales the amount paid for animals purchased.
+
+TABLE II.--_Receipts from sales of live animals and value of
+animals slaughtered on farms, in 1899, with averages and number of
+farms reporting._
+
+Farms reporting domestic animals                     1,911
+Amount of sales                                $392,852 00
+Average amount of sales per farm                    205 57
+Value of animals slaughtered                    109,618 00
+Average value of animals slaughtered per farm        57 36
+
+
+_Neat Cattle._
+
+The total number of neat cattle in Loudoun County reported June 1,
+1900, was 30,277, of which 29,432 or 97.2 per cent were on farms, and
+845 or 2.8 per cent in barns and inclosures elsewhere.
+
+Fauquier, with 34,098, led all counties in the number of neat cattle,
+Loudoun ranking second, with 30,277. In the number of dairy cows,
+Loudoun headed the list of Virginia counties with 8,563, or 665 more
+than its nearest competitor, Augusta county.
+
+Of calves, Augusta reported 5,476; Rockingham, 5,416; Washington,
+4,177, and _Loudoun_, 4,090.
+
+TABLE III.--_Number of Heifers and Cows on Farms, June 1,
+1900, with Percentages._
+
+Heifers 1 and under 2 years     1,917
+Dairy cows 2 years and over     7,882
+Other cows 2 years and over       588
+                               ------
+    Total                      10,387
+                               ======
+Per cent:
+  Heifers                          18.5
+  Dairy cows                       75.9
+  Other cows                        5.6
+
+
+_Dairy Products._
+
+TABLE IV.--_Gallons of milk produced on farms in 1899, and
+gallons sold and estimated gallons consumed on the farm for specified
+purposes._
+
+Produced                            3,736,382
+Sold                                  875,780
+Utilized in the production of--
+  Butter                            2,198,542
+  Cream sold                          181,566
+Consumed on farms:
+  Total                             2,380,108
+  Per farm reporting milk               1,321
+Uses not reported                     480,494
+
+The reported quantity of butter produced on farms in 1899 was 628,155
+pounds, an average of 349 pounds per farm reporting, and an increase
+of 12.4 per cent over the production in 1889. 330,785 pounds were sold
+during the year 1899.
+
+The four counties of Virginia which produced the greatest quantity of
+butter on farms were, in the order named, Bedford, 727,680 pounds;
+Rockingham, 658,063; Augusta, 633,360, and _Loudoun_, 628,155.
+
+
+_Steers._
+
+Of the 26,187 neat cattle 1 year old and over in Loudoun June 1, 1900,
+14,597, or 55.7 per cent, were steers. Of this number a few only were
+working oxen, as the great majority were kept exclusively for beef.
+
+
+_Horses, Mules, Etc._
+
+The number of horses reported on Loudoun farms in 1900 comprised 797
+colts under 1 year old; 1,048 horses 1 and under 2 years, and 7,722
+horses 2 years and over. The numbers not on farms were, for the three
+classes named, 22, 13, and 684, respectively. There was, therefore, a
+total for Loudoun County of 8,406 work horses, and 1,880 too young for
+work, making a grand total of 10,286 horses, of which 93 per cent were
+on farms and 7 per cent in barns and inclosures elsewhere.
+
+Only two counties of Virginia, _i. e._, Augusta and Rockingham,
+reported more horses than Loudoun, and the last-named County led all
+in number of colts.
+
+The total number of mules of all ages in the County in 1900 was 109.
+
+
+_Sheep, Goats, and Swine._
+
+There were reported in Loudoun June 1, 1900, 31,092 sheep, of which
+15,319 were lambs under one year, 15,040 ewes one year and over, and
+733 rams and wethers one year and over. All but 0.2 per cent of that
+number were on farms.
+
+Loudoun headed the list of Virginia counties in number of lambs under
+one year and ranked second in number of ewes one year and over.
+
+The total number of goats of all ages in Loudoun June 1, 1900, was
+20.
+
+The total number of swine of all ages June 1, 1900, was 17,351, of
+which 15,554, or 89.6 per cent, were on farms and 1,797, or 10.4
+per cent, in barns and inclosures elsewhere.
+
+
+_Domestic Wool._
+
+Tazewell headed the list of Virginia counties in 1900 in both number
+and weight of fleeces shorn, and was followed by Loudoun with a total
+of 15,893 fleeces, weighing, unwashed, 87,410 pounds. Almost double
+this amount in pounds was sheared in the fall of 1879 and spring of
+1880.
+
+
+_Poultry and Bees._
+
+The total value of all the poultry raised on Loudoun farms in 1899 was
+$114,313, an average value per farm of $58.68.
+
+The number of chickens three months old and over, including guinea
+fowls, on farms in Loudoun County June 1, 1900, was 132,627; turkeys,
+7,218; ducks, 2,171, and geese, 1,036.
+
+The total value of all poultry on hand, including the value of all
+young chicks unreported, as well as that of the older fowls, was
+$58,276, an average of $29.92 per farm reporting.
+
+Shenandoah was the banner county of Virginia in egg production,
+reporting 1,159,000 dozens; Rockingham ranked second, with 1,150,500
+dozens, and _Loudoun_ third, with 771,780 dozens, the fourth highest
+competitor, Augusta county, lacking 60,580 dozens of this last number.
+
+Of Virginia counties at the last census Loudoun ranked third in the
+number of chickens on farms, third in number of turkeys, third in
+value of poultry products in 1899, and second in value of poultry on
+hand June 1, 1900.
+
+There were in the County June 1, 1900, 2,225 swarms of bees, valued at
+$6,428. They produced the same year 24,970 pounds of honey and 1,110
+pounds of wax.
+
+
+SOIL PRODUCTS.
+
+The total and average values of Loudoun's farm products of 1899, with
+percentages, are set forth in the following table:
+
+Value of products:
+  Fed to live stock                           $1,018,434 00
+  Not fed to live stock                        1,817,414 00
+                                              --------------
+    Total                                     $2,835,848 00
+  Per cent not fed to value of farm property          16.4
+Average value per farm:
+  Fed to live stock                                 $523 00
+  Not fed to live stock                              933 00
+                                                  ---------
+    Total                                         $1,456 00
+Average value per acre:
+  Products fed                                        $3 24
+  Products not fed                                     5 79
+Average value per acre of improved land:
+  Products fed                                        $4 04
+  Products not fed                                     7 22
+
+
+_Corn and Wheat._
+
+Of the 100 counties in Virginia, Loudoun ranked third in corn acreage
+in 1899, reporting 46,248 acres, and, the same year, headed the list
+in the production of corn with 1,538,860 bushels, an excess of 350,830
+bushels over its nearest competitor, Fauquier county, which had
+planted in corn 981 more acres.
+
+Loudoun ranked third in wheat area in 1899, Augusta taking the lead in
+area as well as in production. The next three counties in the order of
+production were Rockingham, Shenandoah, and _Loudoun_, the product of
+the last-named being 447,660 bushels. The same order prevailed in
+1890.
+
+
+_Oats, Rye, and Buckwheat._
+
+The area reported under oats in 1900 was 765 acres and the product
+13,070 bushels. In 1890, 4,504 acres were planted in this crop and
+produced 69,380 bushels. No barley was reported in 1899.
+
+The reported area under rye in 1900 was 597 acres and the yield 5,560
+bushels. The preceding census reported 1,830 acres and a product of
+13,137 bushels.
+
+Loudoun reported but two acres of buckwheat under cultivation in 1899,
+as against 232 acres in 1879. The yield at the last census was only 12
+bushels, and in 1879, 2,338 bushels.
+
+
+_Hay and Forage Crops._
+
+The total area in clover in 1899 was 1,555 acres and the yield 1,598
+tons. Loudoun reported only 2 acres planted in alfalfa or Lucern and a
+corresponding number of tons. The total area sown in millet and
+Hungarian grasses was 70 acres and the product 86 tons. Twelve
+thousand four hundred and ninety-five acres were planted in other tame
+and cultivated grasses in 1899, and 11,364 tons cut therefrom. The
+principal grass included under this designation is timothy. In grains
+cut green for hay Loudoun reported 1,342 acres under cultivation in
+1899 and a product of 1,503 tons.
+
+The reported acreage in forage crops in 1899 was 867 and the product
+2,473 tons. The principal crops included under this head are corn and
+sorghum cane cut green for forage. The production of Loudoun exceeded
+the tonnage of every other county in the State. The report of the
+tonnage of the cornstalks cut where the crop had been allowed to
+mature for the grain was 21,614 tons.
+
+
+_Miscellaneous Crops, Etc._
+
+Four hundred and eighty-four acres planted in miscellaneous crops in
+1900 produced 33,312 bushels.
+
+Seven hundred and twenty-nine acres were devoted to miscellaneous
+vegetables (exclusive of Irish and sweet potatoes, and onions), and
+the product valued at $41,136.
+
+From the 11 acres devoted to sorghum cane, 7 tons were sold and 789
+gallons of syrup produced.
+
+The number of square feet of land under glass used for agricultural
+purposes June 1, 1900, was 48,310.
+
+
+_Orchard Fruits, Etc._
+
+The reported value of the orchard products of 1899 was $51,363.
+
+The following table shows the number of each class of orchard trees of
+bearing age, June 1, 1900, with products by bushels:
+
+----------------------------+-----------+----------------
+                            | Number of |   Number of
+          Trees.            |   trees.  | bushels grown.
+----------------------------+-----------+----------------
+Apple                       |   83,027  |    195,406
+Peach and Nectarine         |   22,446  |      3,900
+Pear                        |    4,983  |      2,828
+Cherry                      |    4,179  |      3,930
+Plum                        |    1,589  |        534
+Apricot                     |      117  |         30
+Unclassified orchard fruits |       42  |         20
+----------------------------+-----------+----------------
+
+The farms of Loudoun produced in 1899 2,304 barrels of cider, 388
+barrels of vinegar, and 13,530 pounds of dried and evaporated fruits.
+
+
+_Small Fruits, Etc._
+
+The total value of small fruits was $3,574, the number of acres under
+cultivation 40, and the product 62,280 quarts.
+
+There were in Loudoun June 1, 1900, 9,742 grapevines of bearing age.
+They produced in 1899, 171,921 pounds of grapes, from part of which
+yield were made 766 gallons of wine.
+
+The number of pecan, Persian or English walnut and other nut trees of
+bearing age reported was 35.
+
+
+_Flowers, Ornamental Plants, Etc._
+
+The total area devoted to flowers and ornamental plants for commercial
+purposes in 1899 was eight acres, the amount of sales therefrom
+$15,400, and the square feet of glass surface reported by florists'
+establishments 53,300. Of Virginia counties Loudoun ranked fourth in
+amount of sales and third in area of glass surface.
+
+The total area devoted to nursery products in 1899 was 10-1/4 acres
+and the amount of sales therefrom $2,225.
+
+
+FARM LABOR AND FERTILIZERS.
+
+LABOR.
+
+The scarcity of efficient labor is one of the most serious troubles
+with which the farmers of this County have to cope. In the northern
+portion the labor is principally white, while in the southern part
+there is a greater proportion of the negro race.
+
+Some farmers employ men by the month, paying from $15 to $18 and
+board, but at a distance from centers of population this transient
+labor is hard to secure, and even fancy wages sometimes fail to
+attract a sufficient supply. In other cases a laborer and his family
+are allowed to live on the farm, and he is paid by the day for such
+work as is required of him, the usual wage being 75 cents or $1, with
+the opportunity of working throughout a considerable part of the year.
+The laborer usually pays a small rent for his cottage, but is allowed
+a piece of ground free for a garden. Where the farms are small the
+greater part of the work is done by the farmer and his family, and the
+situation is less difficult; but with the large farms it is often
+impossible to secure sufficient labor, especially during harvesting.
+
+The total and average expenditures for labor on farms in 1899,
+including the value of the board furnished, was $292,150, an average
+of $149.97 per farm and 93 cents per acre.
+
+
+FERTILIZERS.
+
+Commercial fertilizers are used extensively throughout Loudoun. These
+consist chiefly of phosphatic fertilizers, although some nitrogenous
+mixtures are used. Barnyard and green manures are employed to a
+considerable extent. Lime is applied freely to many of the soils. It
+is brought into the area in cars, hauled from there to the farms by
+wagon, and thrown in small piles over the land, the usual application
+being twenty-five or thirty bushels to the acre. It is almost always
+put on the land in the fall, and after becoming thoroughly slaked by
+air and rain, is spread over the land as evenly as possible.
+Applications are made every fifth or sixth year. Where farms are
+situated at considerable distances from the railroads but little lime
+is used on account of the difficulty of transportation.
+
+The total amount expended for fertilizers in 1900 was $107,490, an
+average of $55.18 per farm and 34 cents per acre and amounted to 3.8
+per cent of the total value of the products. In 1879, only one other
+county in the State, i. e., Norfolk, spent as much for the enrichment
+of its soils. The amount expended for fertilizers in that year was
+$133,349.
+
+
+EDUCATION AND RELIGION.
+
+_Education_.
+
+Few of the early settlers of Loudoun enjoyed any other advantages of
+education than a few months' attendance at primary schools as they
+existed in Virginia previous to the Revolution. But these advantages
+had been so well improved that nearly all of them were able to read
+and write a legible hand, and had acquired sufficient knowledge of
+arithmetic for the transaction of ordinary business. They were, in
+general, men of strong and penetrating minds and, clearly perceiving
+the numerous advantages which education confers, they early directed
+their attention to the establishment of schools. But for many years
+there were obstacles in addition to those incident to all new
+settlements, which prevented much being done for the cause of
+education. The controversies in which they were involved and the war
+of the Revolution employed nearly all their thoughts and all their
+energies previous to the State's admission into the Federal Union.
+
+Of the real efficiency of the Colonial schools of Loudoun but little
+can be learned. Teachers, as a rule, were on a par with their
+surroundings. If they could read, write and cipher to the "single rule
+of three" their educational qualifications were deemed sufficient.
+They generally canvassed the neighborhood with a subscription paper,
+forming the schools themselves and furnishing the few necessary books.
+The rates were from $1 to $2.50 per scholar by the month, and lower
+when the schoolmaster "boarded around." But he was most likely to
+succeed in forming a school who contracted to take his pay in produce.
+
+Few schools were taught by women in Colonial times and female teachers
+were still rare until a comparatively recent period.
+
+The salaries of regularly appointed tutors varied according to the
+nature of the schools and the ability of the district to meet the
+expense.
+
+After the Revolution, with increasing prosperity, came a spirit of
+general improvement and a new interest in the cause of education.
+
+The present condition of education in Loudoun is hopeful, public
+instruction being now popular with all classes. Intelligence is more
+generally diffused than at any previous period of the County's
+history, and happily, the progress of moral education has, on the
+whole, fully kept pace with intellectual culture. Our boys and girls
+are reared in a home atmosphere of purity, of active thought, and
+intelligent cultivation; all their powers are keenly stimulated by
+local and national prosperity and unrestricted freedom in all honest
+endeavor.
+
+With the improvement in the school system has come a better style of
+school-houses. The "little red school-house on the hill" has given
+place to buildings of tasteful architecture, with modern improvements
+conducive to the comfort and health of the scholars, and the refining
+influences of neat surroundings is beginning to be understood.
+Separate schools are maintained for colored pupils and graded schools
+sustained at populous places.
+
+With free schools, able teachers consecrated to their calling, and
+fair courses of instruction; with a people generous in expenditures
+for educational purposes, and a cooperation of parents and teachers;
+with the many educational periodicals, the pedagogical books, and
+teachers' institutes to broaden and stimulate the teacher, the friends
+of education in Loudoun may labor on, assured that the new century
+will give abundant fruitage to the work which has so marvelously
+prospered in the old.
+
+_Total Receipts of School Funds for the Year Ending July 31, 1908._
+(From report of Division Superintendent of Schools.)
+
+From State funds                        $13,968 92
+ "   County school tax                   12,355 38
+ "   District school tax                 14,640 82
+ "   All other sources                      322 30
+ "   Balance on hand August 1, 1907       6,644 60
+                                        ----------
+       Total                            $47,931 97
+_Total expenditures_                     42,788 58
+                                        ----------
+_Balance on hand August 1, 1908_         $5,143 39
+
+_School population, Number of Schools, Enrollment and Attendance by
+Races and Districts, 1906-1907._ (From report of State Superintendent
+of Schools.)
+
+----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+------
+                |    School     |    No. of     | Whole number  |
+                |  Population.  |Schools opened.|  enrolled.    |
+   Districts.   +------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+Total.
+                |White.|Colored.|White.|Colored.|White.|Colored.|
+----------------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------
+Broad Run       |  748 |   228  |  19  |    4   |  538 |   131  |  669
+Jefferson       |  619 |   216  |  15  |    4   |  446 |   196  |  642
+Leesburg        |  381 |   143  |   9  |    3   |  358 |   107  |  465
+Lovettsville    |  614 |    34  |  13  |    1   |  498 |    24  |  522
+Mercer          |  628 |   482  |  15  |    7   |  467 |   277  |  744
+Mt. Gilead      |  695 |   457  |  16  |    6   |  493 |   231  |  724
+Town of Leesburg|  255 |   130  |   6  |    3   |  196 |   121  |  317
+                |------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------
+  Total         |3,940 | 1,690  |  93  |   28   |2,996 | 1,087  |4,083
+----------------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------
+
+
+_Religion._
+
+The Church, with her faiths, her sacraments, and a part of her
+ministry, was an integral part of the colonization of the County from
+the beginning and continuously. Everywhere, with the spreading
+population, substantial edifices for public worship were erected and
+competent provision made for the maintenance of all the decencies and
+proprieties of Christian religion. The influence of these
+institutions, and of the faith which they embodied, was most benign
+and salutary. They gave to the age of the Revolution its noble
+character and its deep-seated principles, the force and momentum of
+which have come down, with gradually decreasing power, to our own day.
+But with these institutions and with their proper effect and influence
+was mingled the fatal leaven of secularity.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+All the leading denominations are represented in Loudoun by churches
+and congregations to the extent shown by the following table of
+statistics, representing conditions as they existed at the close of
+the calendar year 1906, and based upon the returns of individual
+church organizations so far as received by the Census Office, through
+which Bureau they were obtained for initial publication in this work.
+
+=========================================+==============+============
+                                         |    Total     |Communicants
+                                         |  number of   | or members.
+              Denomination.              |organizations.|------------
+                                         |              |Total number
+                                         |              |reported.
+-----------------------------------------+--------------+------------
+All denominations                        |      97      |   7,606
+  _Baptist bodies_:                      |              |
+    Baptists--                           |              |
+      Southern Baptist Convention        |      11      |   1,199
+      National Baptist Convention        |              |
+        (colored)                        |      15      |   1,235
+    Free Baptists                        |       2      |      55
+    Primitive Baptists                   |       6      |     171
+  _Friends_:                             |              |
+    Society of Friends (Orthodox)        |       2      |     122
+    Religious Society of Friends         |              |
+      (Hicksite)                         |       3      |     278
+  _Lutheran bodies_:                     |              |
+    General Synod of the Evangelical     |              |
+      Lutheran Church in the United      |              |
+      States of America                  |       4      |     645
+  _Methodist bodies_:[17]                |              |
+    Methodist Episcopal Church           |      19      |   1,179
+    Methodist Episcopal Church (South)   |      21      |   1,716
+    Colored Methodist Episcopal Church   |       1      |      45
+  _Presbyterian bodies_:                 |              |
+    Presbyterian Church in the United    |              |
+      States (South)                     |       4      |     345
+  _Protestant Episcopal Church_          |       7      |     416
+  _Reformed bodies_:                     |              |
+    Reformed Church in the United States |       1      |     140
+  _Roman Catholic Church_                |       1      |      60
+-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------
+
+[Footnote 17: Leesburg had, until a year or so ago when it was razed,
+one of the oldest Methodist churches in America. The building, a large
+stone structure, long abandoned, with galleries around three sides,
+stood in the midst of an old Methodist graveyard in which are
+tombstones more than a century old. It was built, according to report,
+in 1780.
+
+Leesburg is the oldest Methodist territory in the bounds of the Baltimore
+Conference in Virginia, and it was here that the first Methodist
+Conference held in the State convened May 19, 1778.]
+
+
+
+
+Historical.
+
+FORMATION.
+
+
+In 1742, Prince William County, a part of the stupendous
+Culpeper grant, was divided and the county of Fairfax created
+and named in honor of its titled proprietor. Commencing at
+the confluence of the Potomac and Occoquan rivers, the line
+of demarcation followed the latter stream and its tributary,
+Bull Run, to its ultimate source in the mountain of that name,
+from which point it was continued to the summit of said
+mountain, pursuing thereafter a direct course to the thoroughfare
+in the Blue Ridge, known as "Ashby's Gap."
+
+In 1757, Fairfax was divided and the territory west of its altered
+boundary christened "Loudoun County." The new line followed the stream
+called Difficult Run, from its junction with the Potomac to its
+highest spring-head, and from that point was continued in a direct
+line to the northeast border of Prince William County. This boundary
+was afterwards changed and the present line between Loudoun and
+Fairfax substituted (see "Boundaries," page 17).
+
+The following are excerpts from the proceedings of the Virginia House
+of Burgesses that led to the creation of Loudoun County in May, 1757.
+The act authorizing the division of Fairfax and establishment of
+Loudoun is given intact:
+
+    On April 20, 1757, a "petition of sundry Inhabitants of
+    _Fairfax_ County, praying a Division of the said County, was
+    presented to the House and read, and referred to the
+    Consideration of the next Session of Assembly."
+
+    On Friday, April 22, 1757, "Mr. _Charles Carter_, from the
+    Committee on Propositions and Grievances, reported, that the
+    Committee had had under their Consideration divers
+    Propositions, from several Counties, to them referred, and
+    had come to several Resolutions thereupon, which he read in
+    in Place, and then delivered in at the Table, where the same
+    were again twice read, and agreed to by the House, as
+    follow:"
+
+    "_Resolved_, That the Petition of sundry Back-Inhabitants of
+    the said County of _Fairfax_, praying the same may be divided
+    into two distinct Counties, by a Line from the Mouth up the
+    main Branch of _Difficult_-Run to the Head thereof, and
+    thence by a streight Line to the Mouth of _Rocky_-Run, is
+    reasonable."
+
+The following Monday the bill was again presented to the
+House by Charles Carter, of the Committee of Propositions
+and Grievances, and Friday, April 29, 1757, was ordered
+engrossed and read a third time.
+
+Monday, May 2, 1757, the engrossed Bill, entitled, "An Act for
+dividing the county of Fairfax," was read a third time, passed by the
+House, and sent to the Council for their "concurrence." It received
+the assent of the governor Wednesday, June 8, 1757.
+
+    _An Act for Dividing the County of Fairfax._ (Passed May 2,
+    1757.)
+
+    I. WHEREAS, Many inconveniences attend the upper
+    inhabitants of the county of Fairfax, by reason of the large
+    extent of the said county, and their remote situation from
+    the court-house, and the said inhabitants have petitioned
+    this present general assembly that the said county may be
+    divided: Be it, therefore, enacted, by the
+    Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses of this present
+    General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority
+    of the same, That from and after the 1st day of July next
+    ensuing the said county of Fairfax be divided into two
+    counties, that is to say: All that part thereof, lying above
+    Difficult-run, which falls into Patowmack river, and by a
+    line to be run from the head of the same run, a straight
+    course, to the mouth of Rocky run, shall be one distinct
+    county, and called and known by the name of Loudoun: And all
+    that part thereof below the said run and course, shall be one
+    other distinct county, and retain the name of Fairfax.
+
+    II. And for the due administration of justice in the said
+    county of Loudoun, after the same shall take place: Be it
+    further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the
+    first day of July a court for the said county of Loudoun be
+    constantly held by the justices thereof, upon the second
+    Tuesday in every month, in such manner as by the laws of this
+    colony is provided, and shall be by their commission
+    directed.
+
+    III. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be
+    constructed to hinder the sheriff or collector of the said
+    county of Fairfax, as the same now stands entire and
+    undivided, from collecting and making distress for any public
+    dues, or officers fees, which shall remain unpaid by the
+    inhabitants of the said county of Loudoun at the time of its
+    taking place; but such sheriff or collector shall have the
+    same power to collect or distrain for such dues and fees, and
+    shall be answerable for them in the same manner as if this
+    act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom to the
+    contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
+
+    IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid,
+    That the court of the said county of Fairfax shall have
+    jurisdiction of all actions and suits, both in law and
+    equity, which shall be depending before them at the time the
+    said division shall take place; and shall and may try and
+    determine all such actions and suits, and issue process and
+    award execution in any such action or suit in the same manner
+    as if this act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom
+    to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.
+
+    V. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid,
+    That out of every hundred pounds of tobacco, paid in
+    discharge of quit rents, secretary's, clerk's, sheriff's,
+    surveyor's, or other officers fees, and so proportionably for
+    a greater or lesser quantity, there shall be made the
+    following abatements or allowances to the payer, that is to
+    say: For tobacco due in the county of Fairfax ten pounds of
+    tobacco, and for tobacco due in the county of Loudoun twenty
+    pounds of tobacco; and that so much of the act of the
+    assembly, intituled, An Act for amending the Staple of
+    Tobacco, and preventing frauds in his Majesty's customs, as
+    relates to anything within the purview of this act, shall be,
+    and is hereby repealed and made void.
+
+
+DERIVATION OF NAME.
+
+Loudoun County was named in honor of Lord Loudoun, a representative peer
+of Scotland, who, the year before its establishment, and during the
+French and Indian war, had been appointed captain-general and
+governor-in-chief of the province of Virginia, and commander-in-chief of
+the British military forces in the Colonies.
+
+His military avocations, however, prevented him from entering upon the
+duties of the gubernatorial office, and it is believed that he never
+visited the colony of Virginia. Dinwiddie continued in the control of
+its affairs, while Loudoun turned his attention to military matters,
+in which his indolence, indecision, and general inefficiency were most
+conspicuous and disastrous. Franklin said of him: "He is like little
+St. George on the sign-boards; always on horseback, but never goes
+forward."
+
+Until his early recall to England, contemporaneous writers and brother
+officers mercilessly criticised Loudoun "whom a child might outwit, or
+terrify with a pop-gun."
+
+Hardesty's Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia contains the
+following succinct account of the public services rendered by this
+noted Scotchman:
+
+    "John Campbell, son of Hugh, Earl of Loudoun, was born in
+    1705, and succeeded his father in the title in November,
+    1731. In July, 1756, he arrived in New York with the
+    appointment of governor-in-chief of Virginia, and also with
+    the commission of commander-in-chief of the British forces in
+    America, but, proving inefficient, returned to England in
+    1757. He was made Lieutenant-General in 1758, and General in
+    1770. He died April 27, 1782, and was succeeded by Norborne
+    Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, as governor of Virginia, in
+    1768."
+
+
+SETTLEMENT AND PERSONNEL.
+
+The permanent settlement of Loudoun began between the years 1725 and
+1730 while the County was yet a part of Prince William and the
+property of Lord Fairfax, the immigrants securing ninety-nine-year
+leases on the land at the rate of two shillings sterling per 100
+acres. The above-noted interim saw a steady influx of the fine old
+English Cavalier[18] stock, the settlers occupying large tracts of
+land in the eastern and southern portions of the County or most of the
+territory extending from the Potomac River southward to Middleburg and
+from the Catoctin and Bull Run mountains eastward to the eastern
+border of the County. It is more to this noble and chivalric strain
+than to any other that Loudoun owes her present unrivalled social
+eminence.
+
+[Footnote 18: This stock was the first to introduce and foster slavery
+in the County.--Goodhart's _History of the Loudoun Rangers_.]
+
+John Esten Cooke's faithful and eloquent delineation of Virginia
+character is peculiarly applicable to this Cavalier element of Loudoun
+society. Some conception of that author's grandiose style and intimate
+knowledge of his subject may be gained from the following passage:
+
+    "The Virginian of the present time has ingrained in his
+    character the cordial instincts and spirit of courtesy and
+    hospitality which marked his ancestors. He has the English
+    preference for the life of the country to the life of the
+    city; is more at home among green fields and rural scenes
+    than in streets; loves horses and dogs, breeds of cattle, the
+    sport of fox-hunting, wood-fires, Christmas festivities, the
+    society of old neighbors, political discussions, traditions
+    of this or that local celebrity, and to entertain everybody
+    to the extent of, and even beyond, his limited means. Many of
+    these proclivities have been laughed at, and the people have
+    been criticised as provincial and narrow-minded; but after
+    all it is good to love one's native soil, and to cherish the
+    home traditions which give character to a race. Of the
+    Virginians it may be said that they have objected in all
+    times to being rubbed down to a uniformity with all the rest
+    of the world, and that they have generally retained the
+    traits which characterized their ancestors."
+
+The northwestern part of the County, known as the "German Settlement,"
+a section of about 125 square miles, extending from Catoctin Mountain
+westward to the Short Hill Mountains and from the Potomac River
+southward to near Wheatland, was originally settled by a sturdy and
+vigorous race of Germans,[19] principally from Pennsylvania, but a few
+from New York, in which two colonies they had settled on their
+arrival, only a few years before, from the Palatine states of Germany.
+They came to Loudoun between the years 1730 and 1735,[20] about the
+time of the Cavalier settlements.
+
+These German settlers were a patient, God-fearing people, naturally
+rugged, and very tenacious in the preservation of their language,
+religion, customs and habits. Every stage in their development has
+been marked by a peaceable and orderly deportment--a perfect
+submission to the restraints of civil authority.
+
+[Footnote 19: The first sheep were brought to the County by these
+settlers.--_History of the Loudoun Rangers._]
+
+[Footnote 20: 1732 was most likely the year in which the earliest of
+these German settlers arrived in Loudoun.]
+
+The earliest of these German arrivals, with native foresight and a
+proper appreciation of the dangers incident to border settlement in
+that day of bloody Indian atrocities, came to Loudoun in an organized
+body, embracing sixty or more families.
+
+Many of the males were artisans of no mean ability, and plied
+their respective trades as conscientiously and assiduously as
+others, in the rude manner of the times, tilled their newly-acquired
+acres.
+
+In this way, a congenial, stable, and self-sustaining colony, founded
+on considerations of common safety and economic expediency, was
+established amongst these storied hills of frontier Virginia.
+
+Almost simultaneously with these settlements came other emigrants from
+Pennsylvania and the then neighboring colonies, among them many
+members of the Society of Friends or Quakers.[21] Not a few of this
+faith came direct from England and Ireland, attracted by the genial
+climate, fertile soils and bountiful harvests, accounts of which had
+early gained wide-spread circulation. They chose homes in the central
+portion of the County, southwest of Waterford and west of Lessburg,
+that section being generally known as the "Quaker Settlement."
+
+Each summer brought them new accessions of prosperity and devout
+brethren to swell their numbers; and soon they had caused the
+wilderness to blossom as the rose. Here they found freedom of
+religious and moral thought, a temperate climate, and the wholesome
+society of earnest compatriots.
+
+Then, as now, a plain, serious people, they have left the
+impress of their character--thrifty, industrious, and conspicuously
+honest--upon the whole of the surrounding district.
+
+[Footnote 21: The term Quaker, originally given in reproach, has been
+so often used, by friend as well as foe, that it is no longer a term
+of derision, but is the generally accepted designation of a member of
+the Society of Friends.--_Loudoun Rangers._]
+
+No concerted violence, it is believed, was offered these settlers by
+the Indians who seem to have accredited them with the same qualities
+of honesty, virtue, and benevolence, by the exercise of which William
+Penn, the founder of the faith in Pennsylvania, had won their lasting
+confidence and esteem.
+
+The Quaker is a type with which all the world is familiar and needs no
+particular portrayal in this work. The Quakers of Loudoun have at all
+times remained faithful adherents of the creed, their peculiar
+character, manners, and tenets differing to no considerable extent
+from those of other like colonies, wherever implanted.
+
+It is doubtful if any race has done more to stimulate and direct real
+progress, and to develop the vast resources of Loudoun, than that
+portion of our earlier population known as the Scotch-Irish. Their
+remarkable energy, thrift, staidness, and fixed religious views made
+their settlements the centers of civilization and improvement in
+Colonial times; that their descendants proved sturdy props of the
+great cause that culminated in the independence of the United States
+is a matter of history.
+
+
+EARLY HABITS, CUSTOMS, AND DRESS.
+
+HABITS.
+
+The earliest permanent settlements of Loudoun having been separately
+noted in the foregoing paragraphs a generalized description of the
+habits, customs, and dress of these settlers, as well as their
+unorganized pioneer predecessors and the steady promiscuous stream of
+home-seekers that poured into the County until long after the
+Revolution, will now be attempted.
+
+The early settlers, with but one class exception, had no costly tastes
+to gratify, no expensive habits to indulge, and neither possessed nor
+cared for luxuries. Their subsistence, such as they required, cost but
+little of either time or labor. The corn from which they made their
+bread came forth from the prolific soil almost at the touch of their
+rude plows. Their cattle and hogs found abundant sustenance in the
+broad pastures which, in the summer, yielded the richest grass, and in
+the woods where, in the fall, the ground was strewn with acorns and
+other like provender.
+
+The pioneer lived roughly; the German from the Palatinate kept house
+like the true peasant that he was; the planter lived somewhat more
+sumptuously and luxuriously; but, in nearly every case, the table was
+liberally supplied. Hominy, milk, corn-bread, and smoked or jerked
+meats seem to have been most popular with the humbler classes.
+
+Ice was not stored for summer use, fruits were few and not choice, and
+the vegetables limited; our ancestors, at that time, having no
+acquaintance with the tomato, cauliflower, egg-plant, red-pepper,
+okra, and certain other staple vegetables of today. The Indians had
+schooled them in the preparation of succotash with the beans grown
+among the corn, and they raised melons, squashes, and pumpkins in
+abundance.
+
+Corn for bread was broken in a mortar and ground in a grater or
+hand-mill. Mills, in the early days, were few and far apart, some of
+the back-settlers being compelled to travel many miles for their
+grist. This condition gave origin to the adage "first come first
+served," and frequently carried the late arrivals over night and, at
+times, prolonged the trip to procure a few bushels of meal three or
+four days. "Band-mills," run by horses, and small water mills, where
+the situation permitted, came into use to supply the demand of larger
+ones. The building of a good mill, it must be confessed, was hailed
+with greater satisfaction than the erection of a church.
+
+The more primitive of these peoples ate from wooden trenchers and
+platters; sat upon three-legged stools or wooden blocks; used bear's
+grease in lieu of lard and butter, and cut their foods with the same
+sheath-knives used in disembowelling and skinning the deer killed by
+their rifles. They had no money and their scant furniture was
+essentially crude, sometimes including a few pewter dishes and plates
+and spoons, but usually nothing beyond wooden bowls, trenchers, and
+noggins, with gourds and squashes daintily cut. The horse trough
+served as a wash-basin, and water buckets were seldom seen. The family
+owning an iron pot and a kitchen table were esteemed rich and
+extravagant, and china and crockery ware were at once practically
+unknown and uncraved. Feather-beds and bedsteads were equally
+eschewed, these hardy men who had conquered the wilderness not
+disdaining, when night came, to sleep upon a dirt floor with a
+bear-skin for covering.
+
+With muscles of iron and hearts of oak, they united a tenderness for
+the weak and a capability for self-sacrifice worthy of an ideal knight
+of chivalry; and their indomitable will, which recognized no obstacle
+as insuperable, was equalled only by their rugged integrity which
+regarded dishonesty as an offense as contemptible as cowardice. For
+many years they dwelt beyond the pale of governmental restraint, nor
+did they need the presence of either courts or constables. Crimes
+against person, property, or public order were of so infrequent
+occurrence as to be practically unheard of. In moral endowments--even
+if not in mental attainments--these sturdy pioneers of Loudoun were,
+it must be admitted, vastly superior to many of those who followed
+them when better facilities for transportation rendered the County
+more accessible.
+
+Society before and for many years after the Revolution was easy,
+agreeable, and somewhat refined. Traveling was slow, difficult, and
+expensive. For society, the inhabitants were mainly dependent upon
+themselves; the ties of social life were closely drawn. Books,
+newspapers, and magazines were rare; men and women read less, but
+talked more, and wrote longer and more elaborate letters than now.
+"Cheap postage has spoiled letter writing." Much time was spent in
+social visits; tea parties, and supper parties were common. The
+gentlemen had their clubs and exclusive social gatherings, sometimes
+too convivial in their character, and occasionally a youth of promise
+fell a victim to the temptations of a mistaken hospitality. "Gaming
+was more common among respectable people than at the present day."
+
+
+CUSTOMS.
+
+Of leisure, all classes at all times had a superabundance, and it was
+cheerfully devoted to mutual assistance without thought of recompense,
+except in kind. If anyone fell behind through sickness or other
+misfortune, his neighbors would cheerfully proffer their services,
+often making of the occasion a frolic and mingling labor with
+amusement.
+
+On days set apart for the pulling of flax and wheat-cutting, the
+neighbors and their children assembled in happy mood and as cheerfully
+applied themselves to their gratuitous tasks. While the men were
+pulling the flax or reaping and shocking the wheat, the women at the
+house were preparing the harvest-noon feast. The rough table, for
+which the side and bottom boards of a wagon were frequently used, was
+placed when practicable under the shade of a spreading tree in the
+yard. The visitors contributed from their meagre store such additional
+dishes, knives, forks, and spoons as were needed. Around the table,
+seated on benches, stools, or splint-bottom chairs, with such
+appetites as could only be gained from honest toil in the open field,
+the company partook of the bounties set before them. These consisted,
+in addition to the never-failing corn-bread and bacon, of bear and
+deer meat, turkey, or other game in season, and an abundance of
+vegetables which they called "roughness." The bread, styled
+"jonny-cake," was baked on journey or "jonny" boards, about two feet
+long and eight inches wide. The dough was spread over the boards which
+were then placed before the fire; after one side was browned, the cake
+was reversed and the unbaked side turned toward the flames.
+
+However strictly it might be abstained from at other times, a harvest
+without whisky was like a dance without a fiddle. It was partaken of
+by all--each one, male and female, drinking from the bottle and
+passing it to his or her nearest neighbor. Drinking vessels were
+dispensed with as mere idle superfluities.
+
+Dinner over, the company scattered, the elders withdrawing in a body
+and seating or stretching themselves upon the ground.
+
+After the filling and lighting of the inevitable pipe, conversation
+would become general. The news of the day--not always, as may be
+imagined, very recent--was commented upon, and then, as now, political
+questions were sagely and earnestly discussed. Stories, mainly of
+adventure, were told; hairbreadth escapes from Indian massacre
+recounted and the battles of late wars fought again beneath the
+spreading branches of the trees. Meanwhile, the boys and girls
+wandered off in separate and smaller groups, singing and playing and
+making love much in the manner of today.
+
+Another amusement of those days, and one that did not fall into
+disfavor for many years thereafter, was what was known as "shucking
+bees." To these gatherings were invited both old and young. Stacks of
+corn in the husk were piled upon the ground near the crib where the
+golden ears were finally to be stored. Upon the assemblage of the
+guests, those with proud records as corn-huskers were appointed
+leaders, they in turn filling the ranks of their respective parties by
+selection from the company present, the choice going to each in
+rotation. The corn was divided into approximately equal piles, one of
+which was assigned to each party. The contest was then begun with much
+gusto and the party first shucking its allotment declared the winner.
+The lucky finder of a red ear was entitled to a kiss from the girls.
+
+Supper always followed this exciting contest and after supper came the
+dance. Stripped of dishes, the tables were quickly drawn aside and the
+room swept by eager hands. Then came the struggle for partners and the
+strife to be "first on the floor." Usually the violin furnished the
+only music and the figures most in favor were the reel and the jig, in
+which all participated with a zest and abandon unknown to the modern
+ballroom. "They danced all night till broad daylight and went home
+with the girls in the morning," some on foot and some on horseback,
+practically the only means of getting there.
+
+"Dreadful prodigality" does not too extravagantly describe the
+drinking habits of the people of Virginia in the latter half of the
+eighteenth century. They consumed an enormous quantity of liquors in
+proportion to their numbers, and drank indiscriminately, at all hours
+of the day and night. West India rum was the favorite drink of the
+people, because the cheapest, and was bought by the puncheon. Most
+every cellar, especially in the Cavalier settlements, had its barrel
+of cider, Bordeaux and sherry and Madeira wines, French brandies,
+delicate Holland gins, cordials, syrups, and every sort of ale and
+beer. Drunkenness was so common as to excite no comment, and drinking
+after dinner and at parties was always hard, prolonged, and desperate,
+so that none but the most seasoned old topers--the judges, squires,
+and parsons of six-bottle capacity--ever escaped with their sea-legs
+in an insurable condition.
+
+While a large proportion of the home-seekers that had settled in the
+County immediately after the Revolution had received a rudimentary
+education, and had lived among communities which may be said to have
+been comparatively cultured, most of them were hardy, rough,
+uncultivated back-woodsmen, accustomed only to the ways of the
+frontier and camp. Many of them had served in the war of the
+Revolution and all of them in the border wars with the Indians. Though
+brave, hospitable and generous, they were more at ease beneath the
+forest bivouac than in the "living-room" of the log-cabin, and to
+swing a woodman's axe among the lofty trees of the primeval forest was
+a pursuit far more congenial to their rough nature and active
+temperament than to mingle with society in settled communities. Their
+habits and manners were plain, simple, and unostentatious. Their
+clothing was generally made of the dressed skins of the deer, wolf, or
+fox, while those of the buffalo and elk supplied them with covering
+for their feet and heads. Their log-cabins were destitute of glass,
+nails, hinges, or locks.
+
+Education during the early settlements received but little attention
+in Loudoun, and school-houses, always of logs, were scarcely to be
+seen. Schools were sometimes opened at private houses or at the
+residence of the teacher; but "book larnin" was considered too
+impracticable to be of much value.
+
+While the standard of morality, commercial as well as social, was of a
+high order, few of these settlers were members of any church. Many of
+them, however, had been reared in religious communities by Christian
+parents; had been taught to regard the Sabbath as a day of worship,
+and had been early impressed with a sense of the necessity of
+religious faith and practice. Some of the prominent citizens
+encouraged these views by occasionally holding meetings in their
+cabins, at which the scriptures and sometimes sermons were read and
+hymns sung, but no prayers were offered. The restraining and molding
+influence of these early Christian efforts upon the habits and morals
+of the people was in every respect wholesome and beneficial. The
+attention of the people was arrested and turned to the study and
+investigation of moral and religious questions, and direction was
+given to the contemplation of higher thoughts and the pursuit of a
+better life.
+
+In the meantime, other elements were introduced which effected a
+radical change in the habits of the people for both good and evil. The
+first settlers lived in the country, in the woods and wilds, whose
+"clearings" were far apart. Not one in ten of them had dwelt in any
+town, or even visited one having as many as a thousand inhabitants.
+And now there came the merchant, the lawyer, the doctor, and the
+mechanic, who resided in the towns which began to grow and to take on
+new life. Most of these had enjoyed superior advantages, so far as
+related to education and that worldly wisdom which comes from
+experience in older communities. Some of them had come from across the
+ocean and others from the large American cities, bringing with them
+manners, customs, furniture, and wares, of which the like had never
+been seen by the oldest inhabitant.
+
+And thus were gradually introduced the methods and appliances of a
+more advanced civilization. The pioneer and his wife, hearing of these
+things, would occasionally "go to town" to "see the sights," and would
+there discover that there were many useful and convenient articles for
+the farm and kitchen which might be procured in exchange for their
+corn, bacon, eggs, honey, and hides; and although the shrewd merchant
+was careful to exact his cent per cent, the prices asked were little
+heeded by the purchaser who was as ignorant of the value of the
+commodities offered as he was delighted with their novelty and
+apparent usefulness.
+
+
+DRESS.
+
+The subject of dress is approached with reluctance and its description
+diffidently essayed. But the task has seemed mandatory as the manners
+of a people can not otherwise be fully understood. The stately,
+ceremonious intercourse of the sexes, the stiff and elaborate walk of
+Loudoun men and women of Colonial and post-Revolutionary times is
+traceable almost solely to the costuming of that period. How could
+ladies dance anything but the stately minuet, when their heads were
+veritable pyramids of pasted hair surmounted by turbans, when their
+jeweled stomachers and tight-laced stays held their bodies as tightly
+as would a vise, when their high-heeled shoes were as unyielding as if
+made of wood, and their trails of taffeta, often as much as fifteen
+yards long, and great feathered head-dresses compelled them to turn
+round as slowly as strutting peacocks? How could the men, with their
+buckram-stiffened coat-shirts, execute any other dance, when their
+elaborate powdered wigs compelled them to carry their hats under their
+arms, and their swords concurrently required dexterous management for
+the avoidance of tripping and mortifying falls?
+
+Children were laced in stays and made to wear chin supports, gaps, and
+pads so as to give them the graceful carriage necessary to the wearing
+of all this weight of stiff and elaborate costume, which was all of a
+piece with the character of the assemblies and other evening
+entertainments, the games of cards--basset, loo, piquet, and
+whist--with the dancing, the ceremonious public life of nearly every
+class of society, with even the elaborate funeral ceremonies, and the
+sedulousness with which "persons of quality" thought it incumbent upon
+themselves to maintain the distinctions of rank as symbolized in
+costume.
+
+The tie-wig, bob-wig, bag-wig, night-cap-wig, and riding-wig were
+worn by the gentleman of quality as occasion required. At times he
+wore, also, a small three-cornered cocked hat, felt or beaver,
+elaborately laced with gold or silver galloon. If he walked, as to
+church or court, he carried, in addition to his sword, a gold or
+ivory-headed cane, at least five feet long, and wore square-toed,
+"low-quartered" shoes with paste or silver buckles. His stockings, no
+matter what the material, were tightly stretched over his calves and
+carefully gartered at the knee. If he rode, he wore boots instead of
+shoes and carried a stout riding whip. About his neck was a white
+cravat of great amplitude, with abundant hanging ends of lace. His
+waist-coat was made with great flaps extending nearly down to the knee
+and bound with gold or silver lace. His coat, of cloth or velvet,
+might be of any color, but was sure to be elaborately made, with
+flap-pockets, and great hanging cuffs, from beneath which appeared the
+gentleman's indispensable lace ruffles. His knee-breeches were of
+black satin, red plush, or blue cloth, according to his fancy. They
+were plainly made and fitted tightly, buckling at the knee. At home, a
+black velvet skull-cap sometimes usurped the place of the wig and a
+damask dressing-gown lined with silk supplanted the coat, the feet
+being made easy in fancy morocco slippers. Judges on the bench often
+wore robes of scarlet faced with black velvet in winter, and black
+silk gowns in summer.
+
+The substantial planter and burgher dressed well but were not so
+particular about their wigs, of which they probably owned no more than
+one, kept for visiting and for Sabbath use. They usually yielded to
+the custom of shaving their heads, however, and wore white linen caps
+under their hats. During the Revolutionary War wigs were scare and
+costly, linen was almost unobtainable and the practice of shaving
+heads accordingly fell rapidly into desuetude. Sometimes the burgher's
+hat was of wool or felt, with a low crown and broad brim, turned up
+and cocked. About his neck he wore a white linen stock, fastening with
+a buckle at the back. His coat was of cloth, broad-backed, with
+flap-pockets, and his waist-coat, of the same stuff, extended to his
+knees. He wore short breeches with brass or silver knee-buckles, red
+or blue garters, and rather stout, coarse leather shoes, strapped over
+the quarter. He wore no sword, but often carried a staff, and knew how
+to use it to advantage.
+
+Mechanics, laborers and servants wore leather-breeches and aprons,
+sagathy coats, osnaburg shirts and hair-shag jackets, coarse shoes,
+and worsted or jean stockings, knit at home.
+
+The dress of the women of these classes was shabbier still, their
+costumes, for the most part, comprising stamped cotton and white
+dimity gowns, coarse shift (osnaburg), country cloth, and black
+quilted petticoats. In the backwoods and the primitive German
+settlements the women all wore the short gowns and petticoats, also
+tight-fitting calico caps. In summer, when employed in the fields,
+they wore only a linen shift and a petticoat of home-made linsey. All
+their clothing, in fact, was home-made.
+
+The ladies of quality, however, as has been intimated, dressed
+extravagantly, frizzed, rouged, wore trains, and acted as fashionable
+women have done from the immemorial beginning of things.
+
+The pioneers dressed universally in the hunting shirt or blouse,
+sometimes fringed and decorated, and perhaps the most convenient frock
+ever conceived. It fit loosely, was open in front, reached almost to
+the knees, and had large sleeves, and a cape for the protection of the
+shoulders in bad weather. In the ample bosom of this shirt the hunter
+carried his bread and meat, the tow with which to wipe out the barrel
+of his rifle, and other small requisites. To his belt, tied or buckled
+behind, he suspended his mittens, bullet-pouch, tomahawk, and knife
+and sheath. His hunting-shirt was made of dressed deer-skin--very
+uncomfortable in wet weather--or of linsey, when it was to be had. The
+pioneer dressed his lower body in drawers and leathern cloth leggins,
+and his feet in moccasins; a coon-skin cap completing the attire.
+
+His wife wore a linsey petticoat, home-spun and home-made, and a short
+gown of linsey or "callimanco," when that material could be obtained.
+She wore no covering for the feet in ordinary weather, and moccasins,
+coarse, "country-made" shoes, or "shoe-packs" during more rigorous
+seasons. To complete the picture Kercheval, the historian of the
+Shenandoah Valley, is here quoted: "The coats and bed-gowns of the
+women, as well as the hunting-shirts of the men, were hung in full
+display on wooden pegs around the walls of their cabins, so that while
+they answered in some degree the purpose of paper-hangings or
+tapestry, they announced to the stranger as well as the neighbor the
+wealth or poverty of the family in the articles of clothing."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It is to be hoped that the desultory sketch furnished above will not
+be found uninteresting despite its imperfections. Many details have
+been omitted or neglected, but enough has been written to illustrate
+in a general way the qualities for which our ancestors were most
+distinguished, for which their characters have excited most comment
+and perhaps deserved most praise.
+
+As a whole, they were a generous, large-hearted, liberal-minded
+people, and their faults were far fewer than their virtues. The
+yeomanry, in their own rude, rough-and-ready manner, reflected the
+same sort of personal independence of character and proud sense of
+individuality as the social aristocracy.
+
+
+FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
+
+Little can be learned of Loudoun's participation in the last great
+French and Indian War (1754-1763). It had its beginning three years
+prior to her admission into the sisterhood of Virginia counties, and
+the services she must have rendered during that period are, of course,
+accredited to Fairfax, of which county she was then a part. The few
+existing or available records of the remaining six years of warfare,
+as of the entire period, are imperfect and unlocalized and would
+baffle the most experienced and persevering compiler.
+
+The only deductions that have seemed at all noteworthy are here
+presented:
+
+The General Assembly of Virginia, on April 14, 1757, passed an act
+providing for the appointment of a committee to direct the pay of the
+officers and soldiers then in the pay of the Colony, of "the rangers
+formerly employed, and for the expense of building a fort in the
+Cherokee country," for the pay of the militia that had "been drawn out
+into actual service, and also for provisions for the said soldiers,
+rangers, and militia...."
+
+In the following schedule are given the names of Loudoun payees and
+the amount received by each:
+
+                                                   £ s. d.
+To Captain Nicholas Minor                          1 00 00
+   Æneas Campbell, lieutenant                         7  6
+   Francis Wilks                                   1 17
+   James Willock                                   1 15
+   John Owsley and William Stephens, 15s. each     1 10
+   Robert Thomas                                     10
+   John Moss, Jr.                                     4
+   John Thomas, for provisions                        5
+   John Moss, for provisions                          2  8
+   William Ross, for provisions                       2
+                                                  __ __ __
+                                                   7 13  2
+
+By a later act of the same body commissioners were empowered "to
+examine, state, and settle the accounts of such pay, provisions, arms,
+etc.," of the six counties from which they were appointed, "and all
+arrears whatsoever relating to the militia."
+
+The following list of Loudoun beneficiaries, with the amounts
+opposite, is reproduced in the identical form in which it was then
+submitted:
+
+                                                                £ s. d.
+"1757. To Robert Adams, assignee of Stephen Thatcher, for
+         his pay,                                               5 12 6
+       Do. do of Thomas Bond, for do.,                          4 10
+       Thomas Gore, for a rifle gun impressed,                  4 10
+       Stephen Emorie, for dressing guns for militia,             13
+       James Clemons, for a gun impressed,                      4 10
+ 1763. Captain Moss, for 60 days' pay at 6s.,                  18
+       Lieutenant Gore, for do. at 3s., 6d.,                   10 10"
+
+
+REPRESENTATION.
+
+_Colonial Assemblies._--General Assembly of 1758-'61, Francis
+Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of 1761-'65,
+Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of October,
+1765, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly of
+1766-'68, Francis Lightfoot Lee and James Hamilton; General Assembly
+of May, 1769, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton; General Assembly of
+1769-'71, Francis Peyton and James Hamilton (the latter vacated his
+seat during the session of May 21, 1770, to accept the office of
+coroner. He was succeeded by Josiah Clapham); General Assembly of
+1772-'74, Thomas Mason and Francis Peyton; General Assembly of
+1775-'76, Josiah Clapham and Francis Peyton.
+
+
+_State Conventions._
+
+Below will be found a compendium of Virginia conventions, with the
+names of the delegates returned by Loudoun County. Few, if any,
+counties of Virginia have had an abler or more influential
+representation in the various State conventions. From the meeting of
+the first to the adjournment of the last Loudoun has been represented
+by fifteen of her wisest and most prominent citizens.
+
+_Convention of 1774._--Met August 1, 1774. Adjourned August 6, 1774.
+Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Thomas Mason.
+
+_Convention of March 20, 1775._--Met at Richmond, Monday, March 20,
+1775. Adjourned March 27, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and
+Josiah Clapham.
+
+_Convention of July 17, 1775._--Met at Richmond, July 17, 1775.
+Adjourned August 26, 1775. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and
+Josiah Clapham.
+
+_Convention of December 1, 1775._--Met at Richmond, December 1, 1775.
+Adjourned January 20, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and
+Josiah Clapham.
+
+_Convention of 1776._--This convention met in the city of
+Williamsburg, on Monday, May 6, 1776, and "framed the first written
+constitution of a free State in the annals of the world." Adjourned
+July 5, 1776. Loudoun delegates: Francis Peyton and Josiah Clapham.
+
+Previous conventions did not frame constitutions, but they directed
+the affairs of the colony, and, in a measure, controlled the destinies
+of her people. Like the convention of 1776, they were instead
+revolutionary bodies.
+
+_Convention of 1788._--This convention met in the State House in the
+city of Richmond, June 2, 1788, to ratify or reject the Constitution
+which had been recommended to the States by the Federal Convention on
+the 17th of September, 1787, at Philadelphia. Adjourned _sine die_
+June 27, 1788. Loudoun delegates: Stephen T. Mason and Levin Powell.
+
+_Convention of 1829-'30._--Assembled in Richmond on the 5th day of
+October, 1829. Tenth District (Loudoun and Fairfax) delegates: James
+Monroe, Charles Fenton Mercer, William H. Fitzhugh, and Richard H.
+Henderson.
+
+_Convention of 1850-51._--Met at the Capitol in the city of Richmond,
+on Monday, October 14, 1850. Adjourned _sine die_, August 1, 1851.
+District of Loudoun delegates: John Janney, John A. Carter, and Robert
+J.T. White.
+
+_Convention of 1861._--Met February 13, 1861. Adjourned _sine die_,
+December 6, 1861. Loudoun delegates: John Janney and John A. Carter.
+The former was elected President of the Convention. Both voted against
+the ordinance of secession, April 17, 1861. Mr. Janney's resignation
+as President of the Convention was tendered on November 14, 1861.
+
+_Convention of 1864._--(Restored Government of Virginia.) Met February
+13, 1864. Adjourned _sine die_, April 11, 1864. Loudoun delegates:
+John J. Henshaw, James M. Downey, and E.R. Gover.
+
+_Convention of 1867-'68._--Met at Richmond, Tuesday, December 3, 1867.
+Adjourned April 17, 1868. Loudoun delegates: Norborne Berkeley and
+George E. Plaster.
+
+_Convention of 1901-'02._--Met June 12, 1901. Adjourned _sine die_,
+June 26, 1902. Loudoun and Fauquier district delegates: Henry Fairfax
+and Albert Fletcher.
+
+
+THE REVOLUTION.
+
+_Loudoun's Loyalty._
+
+The story of the Revolution and the causes which led to that great
+event are properly treated in a more general history than this
+purports to be. If, in the few succeeding pages, it can be shown that
+Loudoun County was most forward in resisting the arbitrary aggressions
+of the British government and that the valor and patriotism she
+evinced during the Revolution was equal to that of her sister
+counties, who had suffered with her under the yoke of British
+oppression, then the primary object of this sketch will be
+accomplished. Her blood and treasure were freely dedicated to the
+cause of liberty, and, having once entered the Revolution, she
+determined to persevere in the struggle until every resource was
+exhausted.
+
+Armed with flint-lock muskets of small bore and with long-barreled
+rifles which they loaded from the muzzle by the use of the ramrod;
+equipped with powder horn, charges made of cane for loading, bullet
+molds and wadding, but bravely arrayed in home-spun of blue, and belted
+with cutlass and broadsword by the side, cockade on the hat and
+courage in the heart, her revolutionary soldiers marched to the music
+of fife and drum into battle for freedom against the power and might
+of the mother country.
+
+
+_Resolutions of Loudoun County._
+
+In 1877, the following article appeared in a Leesburg newspaper under
+the caption "Loudoun County a Hundred Years Ago:"
+
+     "Major B. P. Nolan, grandson of Burr Powell, has just put us
+     in possession of a verified copy of the proceedings of a
+     public meeting held at Leesburg, Loudoun County, on the
+     14th of June, 1774, nearly one hundred and five years ago.
+     It is interesting, not merely for its antiquity, but as
+     showing the spirit of independence that animated the breasts
+     of our liberty-loving countrymen two years before the
+     Declaration of American Independence in 1776. The original
+     document was found among the papers of Col. Leven Powell, at
+     one time member of Congress from this district, who died in
+     1810. His son, Burr Powell, forwarded a copy to R. H. Lee,
+     Esq., who in 1826 was about to publish a second edition of
+     his 'Memoirs of the Life of R. H. Lee,' of Revolutionary
+     fame."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The proceedings or resolutions follow:
+
+     "PUBLIC MEETING IN LOUDOUN IN 1774."
+
+     "At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of
+     the County of Loudoun, in the Colony of Virginia, held at
+     the Court-House in Leesburg the 14th of June, 1774, F.
+     Peyton, Esq., in the Chair, to consider the most effectual
+     method to preserve the rights and liberties of North
+     America, and relieve our brethren of Boston, suffering under
+     the most oppressive and tyrannical Act of the British
+     Parliament, made in the 14th year of his present Majesty's
+     reign, whereby their Harbor is blocked up, their commerce
+     totally obstructed, their property rendered useless--
+
+     "_Resolved_, That we will always cheerfully submit to such
+     prerogatives as his Majesty has a right, by law, to
+     exercise, as Sovereign of the British Dominions, and to no
+     others.
+
+     "_Resolved_, That it is beneath the dignity of freemen to
+     submit to any tax not imposed on them in the usual manner,
+     by representatives of their own choosing.
+
+     "_Resolved_, That the Act of the British Parliament, above
+     mentioned, is utterly repugnant to the fundamental laws of
+     justice, in punishing persons without even the form of a
+     trial; but a despotic exertion of unconstitutional power
+     designedly calculated to enslave a free and loyal people.
+
+     "_Resolved_, That the enforcing the execution of the said
+     Act of Parliament by a military power, must have a necessary
+     tendency to raise a civil war, and that we will, with our
+     lives and fortunes, assist and support our suffering
+     brethren, of Boston, and every part of North America that
+     may fall under the immediate hand of oppression, until a
+     redress of all our grievances shall be procured, and our
+     common liberties established on a permanent foundation.
+
+     "_Resolved_, That the East India Company, by exporting their
+     tea from England to America, whilst subject to a tax imposed
+     thereon by the British Parliament, have evidently designed
+     to fix on the Americans those chains forged for them by a
+     venal ministry, and have thereby rendered themselves odious
+     and detestable throughout all America. It is, therefore, the
+     unanimous opinion of this meeting not to purchase any tea or
+     other East India commodity whatever, imported after the
+     first of this Month.
+
+     "_Resolved_, That we will have no commercial intercourse
+     with Great Britain until the above mentioned act of
+     Parliament shall be totally repealed, and the right of
+     regulating the internal policy of North America by a British
+     Parliament shall be absolutely and positively given up.
+
+     "Resolved, That Thompson Mason and Francis Peyton, Esqs.,
+     be appointed to represent the County at a general meeting to
+     be held at Williamsburg on the 1st day of August next, to
+     take the sense of this Colony at large on the subject of the
+     preceding resolves, and that they, together with Leven
+     Powell, William Ellzey, John Thornton, George Johnston, and
+     Samuel Levi, or any three of them, be a committee to
+     correspond with the several committees appointed for this
+     purpose.
+
+     "Signed by--
+
+     "John Morton,
+     Thomas Ray,
+     Thomas Drake,
+     William Booram,
+     Benj. Isaac Humphrey,
+     Samuel Mills,
+     Joshua Singleton,
+     Jonathan Drake,
+     Matthew Rust,
+     Barney Sims,
+     John Sims,
+     Samuel Butler,
+     Thomas Chinn,
+     Appollos Cooper,
+     Lina Hanconk,
+     John McVicker,
+     Simon Triplett,
+     John Wildey,
+     Joseph Bayley,
+     Isaac Sanders,
+     Thos. Williams,
+     John Williams,
+     William Finnekin,
+     Richard Hanson,
+     John Dunker,
+     Thomas Williams,
+     James Nolan,
+     Samuel Peugh,
+     William Nornail,
+     Thomas Luttrell,
+     James Brair,
+     Poins Awsley,
+     John Kendrick,
+     Edward O'Neal,
+     Francis Triplett,
+     Joseph Combs,
+     John Peyton Harrison,
+     Robert Combs,
+     Stephen Combs,
+     Samuel Henderson,
+     Benjamin Overfield,
+     Adam Sangster,
+     Bazzell Roads,
+     James Graydey,
+     Thomas Awsley,
+     John Reardon,
+     Henry Awsley,
+     Edward Miller,
+     Richard Hirst,
+     James Davis,
+     Jasper Grant."
+
+
+_Revolutionary Committees._
+
+The County Committee of Loudoun for 1774-'75 was composed of the
+following members:
+
+Francis Peyton,
+Josias Clapham,
+Thomas Lewis,
+Anthony Russell,
+John Thomas,
+George Johnston,
+Thomas Shore,
+Jacob Reed,
+Leven Powell,
+William Smith,
+Robert Jamison,
+Hardage Lane,
+John Lewis,
+James Lane,
+George Johnston,
+  Clerk.
+
+The appended findings of this as well as a later committee exemplify
+the work of these Revolutionary bodies.
+
+     "At a meeting of the Committee of Loudoun County, held at
+     Leesburg on Friday, May 26, 1775....
+
+     "The Committee, taking into consideration the conduct of the
+     Governour relative to the powder which was, by his express
+     orders, taken secretly out of the publick Magazine belonging
+     to this Colony, in the night of the twentieth ult., and
+     carried on board the Magdaline schooner.
+
+     "_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That his Lordship, by
+     this and other parts of his conduct which have lately
+     transpired, has not only forfeited the confidence of the
+     good people of this Colony, but that he may be justly
+     esteemed an enemy to America; and that as well his excuse
+     published in his Proclamation of the fourth instant, as his
+     verbal answer to the address presented him on that occasion
+     by the city of Williamsburgh, are unsatisfactory and
+     evasive, and reflect, in our opinion, great dishonour on the
+     General Assembly and inhabitants of this Colony, as from the
+     latter a suspicion may be easily deduced, that the
+     Representatives of the people are not competent judges of
+     the place wherein arms and ammunition, intended for the
+     defense of the Colony, may be safely lodged, and that the
+     inhabitants (unlike other subjects) can not, in prudence, be
+     trusted with the means necessary for their protection from
+     insurrection, or even evasion; so in the former a very heavy
+     charge is exhibited against the best men among us, of
+     seducing their fellow-subjects from their duty and
+     allegiance; a charge, we are confident, not founded in
+     reality, and which, we believe, is construed out of the
+     discharge of that duty which every good man is under, to
+     point out to his weaker countrymen, in the day of publick
+     trial, the part they should act, and explain, on
+     constitutional principles, the nature of their allegiance,
+     the ground of which we fervently pray may never be removed,
+     whose force we desire may never with reason be relaxed, but
+     yet may be subservient to considerations of superior regard.
+
+     "The Committee being informed by some of the officers who
+     commanded the Troops of this County that marched on the
+     above occasion, that the reason of their marching no farther
+     than Fredericksburgh was, their having received repeated
+     requests from the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esq., to
+     return home, assuring them that the peaceable citizens of
+     Williamsburgh were under no apprehensions of danger, either
+     in their persons or properties; that the publick treasury
+     and records were perfectly safe, and that there was no
+     necessity for their proceeding any further; three of the
+     other Delegates appointed to the Continental Congress, the
+     only civil power we know of in this great struggle for
+     liberty, being of the same opinion.
+
+     "_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That under such
+     circumstances we approve the conduct of the said Officers
+     and Troops.
+
+     "_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That we cordially
+     approve the conduct of our countrymen, Captain Patrick
+     Henry, and the other volunteers of Hanover County, who
+     marched under him, in making reprisals on the King's
+     property for the trespass committed as aforesaid, and that
+     we are determined to hazard all the blessings of this life
+     rather than suffer the smallest injury offered to their
+     persons or estates, on this account, to pass unrewarded with
+     its equal punishment.
+
+     "_Resolved, nemine contra dicente_, That it be recommended
+     to the Representatives of this County, as the opinion of
+     this Committee, that they by no means agree to the
+     reprisals, taken as aforesaid, being returned.
+
+     "_Ordered_, That the clerk transmit immediately a copy of
+     the preceding resolves to the Printers of the Virginia and
+     Pennsylvania gazettes, to be published.
+
+"By order of the Committee.
+
+"GEORGE JOHNSTON, _Clerk._"
+
+In session in Loudoun, May 14, 1776:
+
+     "Richard Morlan being summoned to appear before this
+     Committee, for speaking words inimical to the liberties of
+     America, and tending to discourage a Minute-man from
+     returning to his duty; and also publickly declaring he would
+     not muster, and if fined would oppose the collection of the
+     fine with his gun: The charge being proved against him, and
+     he heard in his defense, the Committee think proper to hold
+     the said Morlan up to the publick as an enemy to their
+     rights and liberties; and have ordered that this resolution
+     be published in the Virginia _Gazette_.
+
+"CHRISTOPHER GREENUP, _Clerk._"
+
+
+_Soldiery._
+
+Loudoun, at the time of the Revolution, was one of the most densely
+populated counties in the State. Her militia, according to the returns
+of 1780 and 1781, numbered 1,746, which number was far in excess of
+that reported by any other Virginia county.
+
+It is probable that a few Loudoun patriots served in Captain Daniel
+Morgan's celebrated "Company of Virgina Riflemen," thus described by a
+line officer of the Continental Army: "They are remarkably stout and
+hardy men; many of them exceeding six feet in height. They are dressed
+in white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats. These men are
+remarkable for the accuracy of their aim; striking a mark with great
+certainty at two hundred yards distance. At a review, a company of
+them, while on a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of
+seven inches diameter at the distance of two hundred and fifty yards.
+They are now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently
+proved fatal to British officers and soldiers, who expose themselves
+to view even at more than double the distance of common musket shot."
+
+The Germans of Loudoun were intensely loyal to the cause of freedom,
+many serving in Armand's Legion, recruited by authority of Congress
+during the summer of 1777, and composed of men who could not speak
+English.
+
+
+_Quaker Non-Participation._
+
+During the period preceding the Revolution, important offices had been
+bestowed on the Friends or Quakers of Loudoun and they exercised a
+decided influence in the government of the County. They, however,
+withdrew participation in public affairs on the approach of war; and,
+to the determination of the American patriots to throw off the yoke of
+British tyranny, they opposed their principles of non-resistance, not
+only refusing to perform military duty, but also to pay the taxes
+levied on them, as on all other citizens, for the prosecution of the
+War of Independence.
+
+This non-conformity to the military laws of the State from
+conscientious motives, brought them into difficulty, as will be seen
+in the annexed extract from Kercheval's _History of the Shenandoah
+Valley_:
+
+     "At the beginning of the war, attempts were made to compel
+     them to bear arms and serve in the militia; but it was soon
+     found unavailing. They would not perform any military duty
+     required of them, not even the scourge would compel them to
+     submit to discipline. The practice of coercion was therefore
+     abandoned, and the legislature enacted a law to levy a tax
+     upon their property, to hire substitutes to perform militia
+     duty in their stead. This, with other taxes, bore peculiarly
+     heavy upon them. Their personal property was sold under the
+     hammer to raise the public demands; and before the war was
+     over, many of them were reduced to great distress in their
+     pecuniary circumstances.
+
+     "This selling of Quakers' property afforded great
+     opportunity for designing individuals to make profitable
+     speculations. They continued to refuse to pay taxes for
+     several years after the war, holding it unlawful to
+     contribute their money towards discharging the war debt.
+     This being at length adjusted, no part of our citizens pay
+     their public demands with more punctuality (except their
+     muster fines, which they still refuse to pay)."
+
+
+_Loudoun's Revolutionary Hero._
+
+John Champe, the tall and saturnine sergeant-major of Lee's celebrated
+partisan legion, was a resident of Loudoun County. Readers of Lee's
+"Memoirs of the War" will recall the account of Champe's pretended
+desertion from the Continental armies. This perilous adventure was
+undertaken for the threefold purpose of capturing the traitor Arnold,
+saving the life of the unfortunate André, and establishing the
+innocence of General Gates, who had been charged with complicity in
+Arnold's nefarious intrigue. His investigations secured the complete
+vindication of Gates; but, failing in his other attempts, he drifted
+with the Red Coats to North Carolina, where he deserted their ranks
+and rejoined the American forces under General Greene.
+
+That officer provided him with a good horse and money for his journey,
+and sent him to General Washington. The commander-in-chief
+"munificently anticipated every desire of the sergeant, and presented
+him with a discharge from further service, lest he might, in the
+vicissitudes of war, fall into the enemy's hands; when, if recognized,
+he was sure to die on a gibbet." His connection with the army thus
+abruptly, though honorably, severed, with no little regret we are to
+suppose, he straightway repaired to his home near Leesburg.
+
+In after years, when General Washington was called by President Adams
+to the command of the army organized to defend the country from French
+hostility, he inquired for Champe, with the avowed purpose of placing
+him at the head of a company of infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel Lee,
+through whom the inquiry had been made, dispatched a courier to
+Loudoun County in search of Champe. There he learned that the intrepid
+soldier and daring adventurer had removed to Kentucky, where he soon
+afterward died.
+
+Some interesting anecdotes concerning Champe are related in a portion
+of Captain Cameron's private journal, published in the British United
+Service Journal. Champe was assigned to his company, a part of
+Arnold's British legion, upon his arrival in New York.
+
+
+_Army Recommendations._
+
+The following list of militia officers were "recommended by the
+gentlemen justices of the county Court for Loudoun County, Virginia,
+to the Governor for appointments from March, 1778, to December, 1782:"
+
+     [22]"March, 1778: James Whaley, Jr., second lieutenant;
+     William Carnan, ensign; Daniel Lewis, second lieutenant;
+     Josias Miles and Thomas King, lieutenants; Hugh Douglass,
+     ensign; Isaac Vandevanter, lieutenant; John Dodd, ensign.
+     May, 1778: George Summers and Charles G. Eskridge, colonels;
+     William McClellan, Robert McClain and John Henry, captains;
+     Samuel Cox, major; Frans Russell, James Beavers, Scarlet
+     Burkley, Moses Thomas, Henry Farnsworth, John Russell,
+     Gustavus Elgin, John Miller, Samuel Butcher, Joshua Botts,
+     John Williams, George Tyler, Nathaniel Adams and George
+     Mason, lieutenants; Isaac Grant, John Thatcher, William
+     Elliott, Richard Shore and Peter Benham, ensigns. 1778,
+     August: Thomas Marks, William Robison, Joseph Butler and
+     John Linton, lieutenants; Joseph Wildman and George Asbury,
+     ensigns. 1778, September: Francis Russell, lieutenant, and
+     George Shrieve, ensign. 1779, May: Joseph Wildman,
+     lieutenant, and Francis Elgin, Jr., ensign. 1779, June 14:
+     George Kilgour, lieutenant, and Jacob Caton, ensign. 1779,
+     July 12: John Debell, lieutenant, and William Hutchison,
+     ensign. 1779, October 11: Francis Russell, captain. 1779,
+     November 8: James Cleveland, captain; Thomas Millan, ensign.
+     1780, February 14: Thomas Williams, ensign. 1780, March:
+     John Benham, ensign. 1780, June: Wethers Smith and William
+     Debell, second lieutenants; Francis Adams and Joel White,
+     ensigns. 1780, August: Robert Russell, ensign. 1780,
+     October: John Spitzfathem, first lieutenant; Thomas Thomas
+     and Matthew Rust, second lieutenants; Nicholas Minor, Jr.,
+     David Hopkins, William McGeath and Samuel Oliphant, ensigns;
+     Charles Bennett, captain. 1780, November: James Coleman,
+     Esq., colonel; George West, lieutenant-colonel; James
+     McLlhaney, major. 1781, February: Simon Triplett, colonel;
+     John Alexander, lieutenant-colonel; Jacob Reed, major; John
+     Linton, captain; William Debell and Joel White, lieutenants;
+     Thomas Minor, ensign; Thomas Shores, captain; John Tayler
+     and Thomas Beaty, lieutenants; John McClain, ensign. 1781,
+     March: John McGeath, captain; Ignatius Burnes, captain; Hugh
+     Douglass, first lieutenant; John Cornelison, second
+     lieutenant; Joseph Butler and Conn Oneale, lieutenants; John
+     Jones, Jr., ensign; William Taylor, major first battalion;
+     James Coleman, colonel; George West, lieutenant-colonel;
+     Josiah Maffett, captain; John Binns, first lieutenant;
+     Charles Binns, Jr., second lieutenant, and Joseph Hough,
+     ensign. 1781, April: Samson Trammell, captain; Spence
+     Wiggington and Smith King, lieutenants. 1781, May: Thomas
+     Respass, Esq., major; Hugh Douglass, Gent, captain; Thomas
+     King, lieutenant; William T. Mason, ensign; Samuel Noland,
+     captain; Abraham Dehaven and Enoch Thomas, lieutenants;
+     Isaac Dehaven and Thomas Vince, ensigns; James McLlhaney,
+     captain; Thomas Kennan, captain; John Bagley, first
+     lieutenant. 1781, June: Enoch Furr and George Rust,
+     lieutenants; Withers Berry and William Hutchison (son of
+     Benjamin), ensign. 1781, September: Gustavus Elgin, captain;
+     John Littleton, ensign. 1782, January: William McClellan,
+     captain. February, 1782: William George, Timothy Hixon, and
+     Joseph Butler, captains. 1782, March: James McLlhaney,
+     captain; George West, colonel; Thomas Respass,
+     lieutenant-colonel. 1782, July: Samuel Noland, major; James
+     Lewin Gibbs, second lieutenant, and Giles Turley, ensign.
+     1782, August: Enoch Thomas, captain; Samuel Smith,
+     lieutenant; Matthias Smitley, first lieutenant; Charles
+     Tyler and David Beaty, ensigns. 1782, December: Thomas King,
+     captain; William Mason, first lieutenant, and Silas Gilbert,
+     ensign."
+
+[Footnote 22: Abstract from Court Order Book G., pages 517-522.]
+
+
+_Court Orders and Reimbursements._
+
+Needy families of the Revolutionary soldiers of Loudoun were supplied
+with the necessaries of life as per the following orders:
+
+     "1778, November 9th: John Alexander to furnish Elizabeth
+     Welch, her husband being in the army.
+
+     "1778, Nov. 15th: George Emrey to furnish the child of Jacob
+     Rhodes, said Jacob being in the Continental army. William
+     Douglass to furnish Mary Rhodes, her husband being in the
+     army. George Summers to furnish William Gilmore, his son
+     being in the army.
+
+     "1778, Dec. 14: Leven Powell to furnish Andrew Laswell.
+
+     "1779, Feb. 8th: Samuel Triplett to furnish the wife of Hugh
+     Henderson. Josias Clapham to furnish Ann Philips.
+
+     "1779, March 8th: Farling Ball to furnish the widow of
+     Joseph Collens and the wife of William Eaton. William
+     Stanhope to furnish Ann Barton.
+
+     "1779, April: John Lewis, Gent, to furnish the wife of
+     Shadrack Reeder. Hardage Lane to furnish Sarah Gilmore, wife
+     of William, whose son is in the army. William Ellzey to
+     furnish wife of Shadrack Reeder. Josias Clapham appointed to
+     apply to the Treasurer for 500 pounds to be placed in the
+     hands of John Lewis, Gent, to supply the necessaries of life
+     for those who have husbands or children in the Continental
+     army.
+
+     "1779, May: Farling Ball to furnish Edward McGinnis and
+     William Means. John Alexander to furnish Ann Bartan.
+     (William Stanhope to furnish Ann Barton, July 1779.)
+
+     "1779, August: Robert Jamison to furnish Conard Shanks,
+     whose son is in the army. Jonathan Davis to furnish Mary
+     Stoker. Pierce Bayly do. wife of Joel Coleman.
+
+     "1780, March: John Tyler do. Jemima Coleman.
+
+     "1780, July: Simon Triplett to furnish Jemima Coleman, wife
+     of Joel, not exceeding two barrels of flour and 200 pounds
+     of Pork.
+
+     "1780, September: John Alexander to furnish Ann Barton one
+     barrel of corn and fifty pounds of Pork. Josias Clapham do.
+     Catherine Henderson, widow of Adam Henderson. William Cavans
+     to furnish Ann Richards, her husband being in the army, and
+     Isabella Collens, widow of Joseph.
+
+     "1780, November: Wm. Bronough do. Sarah Russell, wife of
+     Samuel.
+
+     "1781, April: William Owsley to supply Hannah Rice & two
+     children, the family of James Rice, who died in the
+     Continental army.
+
+     "1781, May: Adam Vincel to supply Mary Tritipoe, wife of
+     Conrad, her husband being in the army.
+
+     "1781, Sept.: Joseph Thomas to supply the widow of David
+     Hamilton (a soldier who was killed in the Continental army).
+
+     "1782, Jan.: John Tyler, Gent, to furnish the family of
+     Cornelius Slacht (he being an 18 months' draft).
+
+     "1782, Feb.: John Lewis, Gent, to furnish Eleanor Wilcox (a
+     soldier's wife).
+
+     "1782, March: William Douglass to furnish Eleanor Wilcox,
+     agreeable to an order of the last Court directed to John
+     Lewis, Gent, the said Lewis declining."
+
+     "Treasurer to pay sundry persons for furnishing supplies as
+     per their several accounts:
+
+     "1778, May 12: William Ellzey, Esq., £3 8s. 9d., on account
+     of wife of John Stoker and £2 10s. ditto for wife of
+     Shadrack Reeder. Wm. Douglass, £50 14s. 6d. as per acct.
+
+     "1778, June 9: Andrew Adam, £13 5d., for Margaret Hill
+     (service).
+
+     "1778, Aug. 10: Farling Ball. £4 16s. 9d. John Alexander,
+     £5.
+
+     "1778, Sept. 14: Leven Powell, Gent, £6 1s. William Douglass,
+     Gent, £47 7s. John Tyler, £3 19s. 6d.
+
+     "1778, Sept. 15: Farling Ball, Gent, £1 17s. 6d.
+
+     "1778, Nov. 9: Andrew Adam, £16 15s.
+
+     "1778, Nov. 15: Daniel Losh, £24 6s. 9d. Geo. West, Gent, £3
+     10s. Farling Ball, ditto, £2.
+
+     "1778, Dec. 14: Joshua Daniel, Gent, £9 15s. John Orr, £7,
+     16s.
+
+     "1779, Feb. 9, Farling Ball, £18 13s. 9d. Wm. Douglass, £53
+     9s. 1d. Chas. Binns, £3 on acct. of widow of Hamilton.
+
+     "1779, April: John Alexander, £68 15s. Daniel Losh, £10 37s.
+     William Douglass, Gent, £28 16s. Andrew Adam, £17 13s. Wm.
+     Ellzey, £24 2s.
+
+     "1779, May: Geo. West, Gent, £42 14s.
+
+     "1779, June: Andrew Adam, £12 3s. 6d. John Orr, £43 16s. Wm.
+     Douglass, £18 16s. Farling Ball, Gent, £175 5s.
+
+     "1779, July: John Alexander, £18.
+
+     "1779, August: Jacob Tracey, £20 for nursing and burying
+     Sophia Harris, the wife of a continental soldier.
+
+     "1779, Oct: Pierce Bayly, Gent, £10. Simon Triplett, £43,
+     9s. 10d. Robert Jamison, £30. Jonathan Davis, £32 10s.
+     Farling Ball, £61 10s. 6d. Wm. Douglass, Gent, £51 15s.
+
+     "1779, John Orr, Gent, £93 8s. 3d. Leven Powell, Gent, £69
+     10s. Wm. Stanhope, Gent, £4 4s.
+
+     "1780, Jan.: Jonathan Davis, Gent, £50. Wm. Stanhope, Gent,
+     £4 4s.
+
+     "1780, February: Thomas George, £206. Israel Thompson, £119
+     2s. George Emrey, £46 19s.
+
+     "1780, March: Hardage Lane, Gent, £83 8s.
+
+     "1780, April: Thomas George, £15. Farling Ball, Gent, £99
+     6s. Wm. Douglass, Gent, £69 10s.
+
+     "1780, June: John Tyler, Gent, £40. Pierce Bayly, Gent, £20.
+
+     "1780, August: John Orr, Gent, £500. Wm. Douglass, Gent,
+     £44.
+
+     "1780, November: Thomas George, £221. Farling Ball, £50.
+     George Tyler, Gent, £8. George Emrey, Gent, £163 12s.
+
+     "1781, March: John Orr, Gent, £431 16s. Wm. Cavans, £120.
+
+     "1782, Feb.: John Orr, as per acct., for furnishing Mary
+     Butler, a soldier's wife, with necessaries."
+
+
+_Close of the Struggle_.
+
+On the 25th of November, 1783, the British army evacuated New York.
+The independence of the United States had been acknowledged by the
+British Government and the war was ended. During the following month
+most of the Continental troops from Loudoun returned to their homes,
+many of them to spend the remainder of their days in hard-earned
+peace.
+
+
+WAR OF 1812.
+
+_The Compelling Cause._
+
+Following the Revolution, a number of new towns sprang into being,
+educational institutions multiplied, the population of the County
+steadily increased, and the people were industrious, enterprising, and
+happy.
+
+A second difficulty, however, soon interrupted this tranquillity, and
+the quarrel between the two governments was referred to the
+arbitrament of the War of 1812, fought by the United States against
+England for maritime independence.
+
+The honor of the new republic was assailed on the high seas by the
+insistence of Great Britain of a right to search American vessels for
+fugitive British subjects. A doctrine which America regarded as
+established by the Revolution, to wit, that a citizen of a foreign
+country could voluntarily surrender his native citizenship and swear
+allegiance to another government, was disputed by Great Britain, who
+held that "once an Englishman was to be an Englishman always." Upon
+this ground American vessels were held up on the ocean by English
+men-of-war and searched to such an extent that within the eight years
+of forbearance over 6,000 men were taken from the ships of the United
+States and forced into the British navy.
+
+This audacious conduct thoroughly aroused the indignation of the
+American people, in which resentment it is supposed the people of
+Loudoun warmly concurred. Seeing that bloodshed was necessary in
+order to maintain the national honor, and spurred by urgent
+petitions, President Madison recommended to Congress a declaration of
+war, which was accordingly promulgated June 18, 1812.
+
+
+_State Archives at Leesburg._[23]
+
+When the British were on their way from Bladensburg to Washington, in
+August, 1814, James Monroe, then Secretary of State, had been for
+several days with General Winder, reconnoitering the enemy, and
+watching the movements of both armies. Knowing the weakness of the
+American forces, he believed Washington to be in great peril. He
+dispatched a letter to President Madison, advising the removal of the
+official records. Stephen Pleasanton, then a clerk in the State
+Department, made immediate preparation for the removal of the books
+and papers in that department. He had linen bags hastily made and
+placed in them the State archives, which were then loaded in wagons
+and hauled across the chain bridge, over the Potomac, to the grist
+mill of Edgar Patterson, two miles above Georgetown. Not feeling sure
+of their safety there, he had them reloaded on wagons and conveyed to
+Leesburg, where they were placed in an unoccupied building,[24] the key
+of which was given to a recently ordained clergyman, named Littlejohn.
+There they remained until the last hostile Briton had reached
+Baltimore, when they were carefully hauled back to Washington.[25] Thus
+we saved the precious documents of the revolutionary war, as well as
+our state archives, and thus does Leesburg boast, with abstract
+truthfulness, that for a little more than two weeks it was the Capital
+of the United States.
+
+[Footnote 23: Anonymous.]
+
+[Footnote 24: Perhaps the most precious of these documents was the
+Declaration of Independence, which it has been asserted, was deposited
+here.]
+
+[Footnote 25: Mrs. A.H. Throckmorton, in an interesting narrative to
+which allusion is made elsewhere in this volume, differs with the
+authority here quoted as to the disposition of these important papers.
+She says: "For one night they remained in the court-house here
+(Leesburg) and were then carried several miles out in the country to
+the estate of "Rockeby," now owned by Mr. H.B. Nalle,... and securely
+locked within the old vault and remained out of reach of the enemy for
+two weeks."]
+
+
+THE MASON-McCARTY DUEL.
+
+The duel, February 6, 1819, between Armistead T. Mason and John M.
+McCarty, both residents of Loudoun County, was the second "affair of
+honor" to be settled on the now famous field of Bladensburg. They were
+cousins, who became enemies during Mason's brief term in the United
+States Senate. Mason, known as "The Chief of Selma," was a graduate of
+William and Mary College and the commander of a cavalry regiment[26] in
+the war of 1812. He later became brigadier general of the Virginia
+militia. He married and took up his residence at Selma plantation,
+four miles north of Leesburg. Wishing to make it possible for the
+Quakers of Loudoun to contribute their share toward the support of the
+army, Mason introduced in the Senate a bill to permit, in case of
+draft, the furnishing of substitutes on payment of $500 each. For this
+McCarty branded him a coward, and thence sprung a succession of bitter
+quarrels, the real basis of which was a difference of political
+opinions. The details of both sides of the feud were published weekly
+in the Leesburg "Genius of Liberty," and later were issued in pamphlet
+form as campaign material.
+
+[Footnote 26: Many of the Germans of Loudoun served in this regiment
+which participated in the Battle of Baltimore.]
+
+Mason's side was defeated. He earnestly wished to avoid a duel, but
+McCarty continued to provoke him, with the hope of compelling him to
+fight. This he finally decided to do. He left his home without
+revealing his intentions and on reaching Washington made his final
+preparations with great deliberation. "The Chief of Selma" fell
+February 6, 1819, his heart pierced by the ball of his antagonist. He
+was but 32 years of age. His body was borne to Leesburg, where it was
+buried in the Episcopal churchyard, with an imposing Masonic ritual.
+The grief of his slaves was painful to witness. His only child became
+an officer in the United States army, and was mortally wounded in the
+battle of Cerro Gordo.
+
+
+HOME OF PRESIDENT MONROE.
+
+"Oak Hill," the country seat of James Monroe, ex-President of the
+United States and author of the world-famed Monroe Doctrine, is
+situated near Aldie, in Loudoun County, on the turnpike running south
+from Leesburg to Aldie, about nine miles from the former and three
+from the latter place.
+
+The main building, with an imposing Grecian façade, was planned by
+Monroe while in the presidential chair, and its construction
+superintended by William Benton, an Englishman, who served him in the
+triple capacity of steward, counselor, and friend. The dimensions are
+about 50 by 90 feet; it is built of brick in a most substantial
+manner, and handsomely finished; has three stories (including
+basement), a wide portico fronting south, with massive Doric columns
+thirty feet in height, and is surrounded by a grove of magnificent
+oaks, locusts, and poplars, covering several acres. It has been said
+that prior to his inauguration he occupied a wooden dwelling of humble
+pretensions standing within a stone's throw of its palatial progeny.
+Monroe's term of office expired March 4, 1825, and soon after the
+inauguration of his successor he retired to "Oak Hill," which
+immediately became, like Monticello and Montpelier, although to a
+lesser degree, a center of social and political pilgrimages.
+
+The financial affairs of its owner were seriously embarrassed from the
+first, and he labored in vain to obtain justice from the country he
+had served so long and so well, at heavy pecuniary cost and loss. His
+old friend, Lafayette, now once more prosperous, sent an offer of
+assistance with a delicacy and generosity which did him honor. A
+little was done at last by Congress, but not enough, and the day came
+when "Oak Hill" was offered for sale.
+
+While residing here, the post of regent of the University of Virginia,
+which was instituted in 1826, was accepted by Mr. Monroe as not
+inconsistent with his view of the entire retirement from public life
+becoming an ex-President. Associated with him in the discharge of his
+duties as regent, as in so many long years of patriotic toil, were
+Jefferson and Madison.
+
+When the State of Virginia called a convention for the revision of her
+constitution, Mr. Monroe consented to become a member. He took an
+active interest in the affairs of his own neighborhood, discharging
+the duties of a local magistrate.
+
+Mrs. Monroe died at "Oak Hill" on September 23d, 1830, and after her
+departure the old man found his lonely farm life insupportable. He had
+previously visited much with his daughters, and he now went to live
+with Mrs. Gouverneur, in New York. He wrote to Mr. Madison, April 11,
+1831:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It is very distressing to me to sell my property in Loudoun, for
+besides parting with all I have in the State, I indulged a hope, if I
+could retain it, that I might be able occasionally to visit it, and
+meet my friends, or many of them, there. But ill health and advanced
+years prescribe a course which we must pursue...."
+
+
+GENERAL LAFAYETTE'S VISIT.[27]
+
+The greatest social event in the history of Leesburg was the visit of
+General Lafayette, August 9, 1825. The great Frenchman, accompanied by
+President John Quincy Adams, had visited ex-President Monroe at "Oak
+Hill," from which place the august procession, headed by two troops of
+cavalry, made the eleven mile journey to Leesburg. Lafayette, the
+President, the ex-President and the chairman of the Town Council, rode
+in the first carriage, drawn by four white horses. On reaching
+Leesburg, they were greeted by six companies of militia, among them a
+few old soldiers of the Revolution. At the firing of the national
+salute, Lafayette descended from his carriage and shook hands with
+those veterans and heroes.
+
+[Footnote 27: This account of General Lafayette's visit, save for a few
+minor alterations and one or two supplementary facts, is from the pen
+of Mrs. A. H. Throckmorton, of this County, having formed part of an
+historical sketch of Leesburg contributed by her to the old Richmond
+_Times_, July 19, 1902.]
+
+Standing on his front porch, Dr. McCabe, the town's Mayor, delivered
+an address of welcome to which Lafayette responded. Across the street
+at Osborne's Hotel[28] a reception was tendered him, after which the
+distinguished visitor was driven through the principal streets of the
+town. On reaching the court-house square, then, as now, a large
+inclosure shaded by giant trees, Lafayette, on alighting from the
+coach, kissed a tiny maiden upheld in the arms of her negro nurse. The
+little girl was Mrs. Wildman, who after reaching a venerable age
+departed this life in the summer of 1901.
+
+[Footnote 28: A fine stone mansion, still standing, and the residence
+of the late Colonel John H. Alexander, during his lifetime one of the
+foremost lawyers of the State.]
+
+Lafayette passed up an avenue formed on the right by boys and girls
+and the young ladies of Leesburg Female Academy, and on the left by
+the youths of the Leesburg Institute. The former wore white, with blue
+sashes, and their heads were tastefully adorned with evergreens. They
+held sprigs of laurel with which they strewed the great guest's
+pathway. The lads wore red sashes and white and black cockades.
+
+One of them pronounced an address of welcome, and was amply rewarded
+by a grasp of the hero's hand. As Lafayette ascended the portico of
+the court-house a little girl stepped forward, holding a wreath of
+laurel, and said:
+
+    Hail Patriot, Statesman, Hero, Sage!
+      Hail Freedom's friend, hail Gallia's son,
+    Whose laurels greener grow in age,
+      Plucked by the side of Washington.
+
+    Hail, champion in a holy cause,
+      When hostile bands our shores beset;
+    Whose valor made the oppressor pause,
+      Hail, holy warrior, Lafayette?
+
+She, too, was honored by a grasp of Lafayette's hand as well as a
+kiss. After an oration by Ludwell Lee, the distinguished party
+returned to the hotel where they were entertained by a delegation of
+the ladies of the village, while another delegation superintended the
+spreading of a banquet on court-house square. Two hundred persons
+participated in this banquet. The numerous toasts were remarkable for
+loftiness of thought and elegance of diction. President Adams launched
+the following sentiment:
+
+"The living records of the war of Independence like the prophetic
+books of the Sibyl, increasing in value as they diminish in numbers."
+
+Lafayette toasted General Bolivar, "who has felt true patriotism, and
+understood true glory." Another toast was "To the memory of
+Washington, fresh as the passing moment, lasting as eternity."
+
+It is estimated that 10,000 persons witnessed the festivities.
+Lafayette, after a brief sojourn at the plantation of Ludwell Lee,
+departed for a visit to Madison at "Montpelier," and Jefferson, at
+"Monticello."
+
+
+MEXICAN WAR.
+
+Scarcely a generation had passed, during which the whole country
+passed through several years of financial distress, when the United
+States became involved in a brief successful war with Mexico, caused
+chiefly by the resistance of that country to the "annexation of
+Texas." But it is not within the scope of this sketch to follow the
+history of that foreign struggle. It is sufficient to say that the
+people of Loudoun favored most heartily the annexation of Texas, and
+responded, indirectly of course, to the small quota of men and money
+required by the Government.
+
+The entire United States force employed in the invasion of Mexico was
+composed of 26,690 regulars and 56,926 volunteers, not including those
+serving in the navy. The losses of men by death from disease and
+wounds were about 11,000, and the number killed in battle, about
+1,500. The cost in money amounted to $150,000,000. The gain consisted
+of the cession of extensive territory stretching to the Pacific Ocean,
+several thousand miles of valuable sea coast and an immense bound of
+the United States into international power. In the accomplishment of
+this general result Loudoun sent many of her sturdiest sons, who
+served from the State in various bodies throughout the war.
+
+
+SECESSION AND CIVIL WAR.
+
+_Loudoun County in the Secession Movement._
+
+The election of Lincoln and attendant success of the Republican party
+revived the determination of the South to secede from the Union.
+
+Just at this juncture the prosperity of Loudoun was unprecedented, and
+the threatened dissolution was a serious menace to her progress.
+General trade had recently been greatly stimulated, and the resources
+of the County were being daily multiplied.
+
+Following the resolute lead of the other southern States, the
+legislature of Virginia, on January 14, 1861, authorized a State
+convention to consider the advisability of secession, and the members
+elected in pursuance thereof met in the capitol, at Richmond, at 12
+o'clock a.m., on Wednesday, the 13th day of the February following. They
+constituted what was perhaps the ablest body of men that ever
+assembled in the State, and the friends and foes of secession were
+alike represented. The delegates from Loudoun were John Janney and
+John A. Carter, both of whom had represented her in the constitutional
+convention of 1850,51.
+
+Roll call was followed by the election of a permanent chairman, Mr.
+Janney, of Loudoun, receiving a majority of the whole number of votes
+cast. Two of the members were then designated a committee to wait upon
+the president of the convention to inform him of his election and
+conduct him to his seat. Whereupon he addressed the convention as
+follows:[29]
+
+[Footnote 29: The unabridged publication in this work of Mr. Janney's
+speech of acceptance has seemed specially appropriate. It is the plea
+of a Loudoun man for conservative action boldly put forth at a time
+when men's passions were inflamed almost beyond human credulity, and
+while he himself was the presiding officer of a body which had met to
+decide the destiny of the Old Dominion and whose deliberations were to
+be watched with breathless interest by the people of both
+hemispheres.]
+
+     "_Gentlemen of the Convention_: I tender you my sincere and
+     cordial thanks for the honor you have bestowed upon me by
+     calling me to preside over the deliberations of the most
+     important convention that has assembled in this State since
+     the year 1776.
+
+     "I am without experience in the performance of the duties to
+     which you have assigned me, with but little knowledge of
+     parliamentary law and the rules which are to govern our
+     proceedings, and I have nothing to promise you but fidelity
+     and impartiality. Errors I know I shall commit, but these
+     will be excused by your kindness, and promptly corrected by
+     your wisdom.
+
+     "Gentlemen, it is now almost seventy-three years since a
+     convention of the people of Virginia was assembled in this
+     hall to ratify the Constitution of the United States, one of
+     the chief objects of which was to consolidate, not the
+     Government, but the Union of the States.
+
+     "Causes which have passed, and are daily passing, into
+     history, which will set its seal upon them, but which I do
+     not mean to review, have brought the Constitution and the
+     Union into imminent peril, and Virginia has come to the
+     rescue. It is what the whole country expected of her. Her
+     pride as well as her patriotism--her interest as well as her
+     honor, called upon her with an emphasis which she could not
+     disregard, to save the monuments of her own glory. Her
+     honored son who sleeps at Mount Vernon, the political mecca
+     of all future ages, presided over the body which framed the
+     Constitution; and another of her honored sons, whose brow
+     was adorned with a civic wreath which will never fade, and
+     who now reposes in Orange county, was its principal
+     architect, and one of its ablest expounders--and, in the
+     administration of the government, five of her citizens have
+     been elected to the chief magistracy of the Republic.
+
+     "It can not be that a Government thus founded and
+     administered can fail, without the hazard of bringing
+     reproach, either upon the wisdom of our fathers, or upon the
+     intelligence, patriotism, and virtue of their descendants.
+     It is not my purpose to indicate the course which this body
+     will probably pursue, or the measures it may be proper to
+     adopt. The opinions of today may all be changed to-morrow.
+     Events are thronging upon us, and we must deal with them as
+     they present themselves.
+
+     "Gentlemen, there is a flag which for nearly a century has
+     been borne in triumph through the battle and the breeze, and
+     which now floats over this capitol, on which there is a star
+     representing this ancient Commonwealth, and my earnest
+     prayer, in which I know every member of this body will
+     cordially unite, is that it may remain there forever,
+     provided always that its lustre is untarnished. We demand
+     for our own citizens perfect equality of rights with those
+     of the empire States of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio,
+     but we ask for nothing that we will not cheerfully concede
+     to those of Delaware and Rhode Island.
+
+     "The amount of responsibility which rests upon this body can
+     not be exaggerated. When my constituents asked me if I would
+     consent to serve them here if elected, I answered in the
+     affirmative, but I did so with fear and trembling. The
+     people of Virginia have, it is true, reserved to
+     themselves, in a certain contingency, the right to review
+     our action, but still the measures which we adopt may be
+     fraught with good or evil to the whole country.
+
+     "Is it too much to hope that we, and others who are engaged
+     in the work of peace and conciliation, may so solve the
+     problems which now perplex us, as to win back our sisters of
+     the South, who, for what they deem sufficient cause, have
+     wandered from their old orbits? May we not expect that our
+     old sister, Massachusetts, will retrace her steps? Will she
+     not follow the noble example of Rhode Island, the little
+     State with a heart large enough for a whole continent? Will
+     she not, when she remembers who it was who first drew his
+     sword from the scabbard on her own soil at Cambridge, and
+     never finally returned it, until her liberty and
+     independence were achieved, and whence he came, repeal her
+     obnoxious laws, which many of her wisest and best citizens
+     regard as a stain upon her legislative records?
+
+     "Gentlemen, this is no party convention. It is our duty on
+     an occasion like this to elevate ourselves into an
+     atmosphere, in which party passion and prejudice can not
+     exist--to conduct all our deliberations with calmness and
+     wisdom, and to maintain, with inflexible firmness, whatever
+     position we may find it necessary to assume."
+
+The proceedings were dignified, solemn, and, at times, even sad.
+During the entire session good feelings prevailed to a remarkable
+degree. For these harmonious relations credit is principally due the
+secessionists. Very often their actions were regarded with suspicion
+by their opponents who, at such times, pursued a policy of obstruction
+when nothing was to be gained thereby. But they were given every
+privilege and shown every consideration.
+
+On April 17, 1861, the convention, in secret session, passed the
+ordinance of secession by a vote of 88 to 55 on condition that it
+should be submitted to the people for their approval or rejection at
+an election to be held the 23d of May for that purpose. Loudoun's
+delegates voted solidly against the measure.
+
+In the convention opinions varied as to whether peace or war would
+follow secession. The great majority of the members, as of the people,
+believed that peaceful relations would continue. All truly wished for
+peace. A number expressed themselves as fearing war, but this was when
+opposing secession. Yet in nearly all the speeches made in the
+convention there seemed to be distinguishable a feeling of fear and
+dread lest war should follow. However, had war been a certainty
+secession would not have been delayed or defeated.
+
+There was warm discussion on the question of submitting the ordinance
+to the people for ratification or rejection. Many, both before and
+after the passage of the ordinance, favored its reference to the
+people in the vain hope that the measure would in this way be
+frustrated. They declared that, in a matter of such vital importance,
+involving the lives and liberties of a whole people, the ordinance
+should be submitted to them for their discussion, and that secession
+should be attempted only after ratification by a direct vote of the
+people on that single issue.
+
+Affecting and exciting scenes followed the passage of the ordinance.
+One by one the strong members of the minority arose and, for the sake
+of unity at home, surrendered the opinions of a lifetime and forgot
+the prejudices of years. This was done with no feeling of humiliation.
+To the last they were treated with distinguished consideration by
+their opponents.
+
+Shortly after the convention began its deliberations a mass meeting
+was held in Leesburg, where the secession sentiment was practically
+unanimous, for the purpose of adopting resolutions to be sent to that
+important body recommending the immediate passage of the ordinance of
+secession. The citizens were addressed by Col. J.M. Kilgore and
+others.
+
+The vote in Loudoun for the ratification or rejection of the ordinance
+of secession, while not close, was somewhat spirited and marked by
+slight disturbances at the polls. In practically every precinct
+outside the German and Quaker settlements a majority vote was cast in
+favor of secession.
+
+No county in the State eclipsed Loudoun in devotion to the principles
+on which Virginia's withdrawal from the Union was based, and the
+courage displayed by her in maintaining these principles made her the
+acknowledged equal of any community in the Southland.
+
+
+_Loudoun's Participation in the War._
+
+A discussion in this volume of the great Civil War and its causes has
+at no time been contemplated, and vain appeals addressed to surviving
+Confederate soldiers and Government record keepers long ago
+demonstrated the impracticability of a thorough account of the part
+borne by Loudoun soldiers in that grand, uneven struggle of 1861-'65.
+Their exact numbers even can not be ascertained as the original
+enlistment records were either lost or destroyed and duplicates never
+completed.
+
+It may with truth be said that the extent of the service rendered by
+Loudoun in this, as well as preceding wars, will never be fully known
+or adequately appreciated. However, certain it is that thousands of
+her sons espoused the cause of the Confederacy, hundreds died in its
+defense, and not a few, by their valor and devotion, won enduring fame
+and meritorious mention in the annals of their government.
+
+At home or in the ranks, throughout this trying period of civil
+strife, her people, with no notable exceptions, remained liberal and
+brave and constant, albeit they probably suffered more real hardships
+and deprivations than any other community of like size in the
+Southland. There were few Confederate troops for its defense, and the
+Federals held each neighborhood responsible for all attacks made in
+its vicinity, often destroying private property as a punishment.
+
+Both armies, prompted either by fancied military necessity or malice,
+burned or confiscated valuable forage crops and other stores, and
+nearly every locality, at one time or another, witnessed depredation,
+robbery, murder, arson, and rapine. Several towns were shelled,
+sacked, and burned, but the worst damage was done the country
+districts by raiding parties of Federals. Much of the destruction is
+now seen to have been unnecessary from a military point of view.
+
+Whole armies were subsisted on the products of Loudoun's fruitful
+acres. Opposing forces, sometimes only detachments and roving bands,
+but quite as often battalions, regiments, brigades, and even whole
+divisions were never absent from the County and the clash of swords
+and fire of musketry were an ever-present clamor and one to which
+Loudoun ears early became accustomed.
+
+Also, there were times when the main bodies of one or the other of
+both armies were encamped wholly or in part within her limits, as in
+September, 1862, when the triumphant army of Lee, on the eve of the
+first Maryland campaign, was halted at Leesburg and stripped of all
+superfluous transportation, broken-down horses, and wagons and
+batteries not supplied with good horses being left behind;[30] again,
+in June, 1863, when Hooker was being held in bounds with his great
+army stretched from Manassas, near Bull Run, to Leesburg, near the
+Potomac; and yet again, in July, 1863, when Lee's army, falling back
+from Maryland after the battle of Gettysburg, was followed by the
+Federal forces under General Meade, who crossed the Potomac and
+advanced through Loudoun.
+
+[Footnote 30: On the 5th day of September, to the martial strains of
+"Maryland, My Maryland" from every band in the army, and with his men
+cheering and shouting with delight, Jackson forded the Potomac at
+Edwards' Ferry (Loudoun County), where the river was broad but
+shallow, near the scene of Evan's victory over the Federals in the
+previous October, and where Wayne had crossed his Pennsylvania brigade
+in marching to the field of Yorktown, in 1781.]
+
+General Early, after the short and bloody battle of Monocacy, and
+following his invasion of Maryland and demonstration against
+Washington, recrossed the Potomac at White's Ford, July 14, 1864, and,
+resting near Leesburg, on the 16th marched to the Shenandoah valley by
+way of Leesburg and Purcellville, through Snicker's Gap of the Blue
+Ridge, with Jackson's Cavalry in advance.
+
+Pitched battles and lesser engagements were fought at Edwards' Ferry,
+Balls Bluff, Snickersville (now Bluemont), Leesburg, Middleburg,
+Aldie, Hamilton, Waterford, Union, Ashby's Gap, and other points in
+the County.
+
+During Stonewall Jackson's investment of Harper's Ferry in September,
+1862, guns were put in position on Loudoun Heights, supported by two
+regiments of infantry, and a portion of Jackson's own immediate
+command was placed with artillery on a bluffy shoulder of that
+mountain.
+
+The following military organizations were recruited wholly or in part
+in Loudoun County and mustered into the Confederate service: 8th
+Virginia Regiment (a part of Pickett's famous fighting division),
+Loudoun Guard (Company C, 17th Virginia Regiment), Loudoun Cavalry
+("Laurel Brigade"), and White's Battalion of Cavalry (the "Comanches,"
+25th Virginia Battalion). Mosby's command, the "Partisan Rangers,"
+also attracted several score of her patriotic citizenry.
+
+The sons of Loudoun, serving in these and other organizations, bore a
+distinguished part on every crimsoned field from Pennsylvania to the
+coast of Florida.
+
+Garnett's Brigade, to which the 8th Virginia regiment was attached,
+was led into action during the memorable charge on the third day of
+the battle of Gettysburg. The brigade moved forward in the front line,
+and gained the enemy's strongest position, where the fighting became
+hand to hand and of the most desperate character. It went into action
+with 1,287 men and 140 officers, and after the struggle, of this
+number, only about 300 came back slowly and sadly from the scene of
+carnage. General Garnett, himself, was shot from his horse while near
+the center of the advancing brigade, within about twenty-five paces of
+the "stone fence," from behind which the Federals poured forth their
+murderous fire.
+
+
+_The Loudoun Rangers_ (_Federal_).
+
+This volunteer organization consisted of two companies of disaffected
+Virginians, all of whom were recruited in the German settlements
+northwest of Leesburg. Company A, at the outset, was commanded by
+Captain Daniel M. Keyes, of Lovettsville, who later resigned on
+account of wounds received in action. He was succeeded by Captain
+Samuel C. Means, of Waterford. Company B's commander was Captain James
+W. Grubb. The total enlistment of each company was 120 and 67,
+respectively. All the officers and privates were of either German,
+Quaker, or Scotch-Irish lineage, the first-named class predominating.
+
+The command was mustered into the Federal service at Lovettsville, the
+20th day of June, 1862. Its historian, Briscoe Goodhart, a member of
+Company A, in his _History of the Loudoun_ (Virginia) _Rangers_, has
+said that it "was an independent command, organized in obedience to a
+special order of the Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, and
+was at first subject to his orders only, but subsequently merged into
+the Eighth Corps, commanded at that time by the venerable Major
+General John Ellis Wool...."
+
+The "Rangers," as the name implies, were scouts and, in this highly
+useful capacity, served the enemies of their State with shameless
+ardor. But, as a body, they fought few engagements and none of a
+decisive nature. Their first and, perhaps, sharpest encounter happened
+in and around the old Baptist Church at Waterford.
+
+The following absolution or justification is offered in the preface to
+the above-quoted work:
+
+     "As the name of their organization indicates, they came from
+     a State which was arrayed in arms against the authority of
+     the National Government. No Governor, or Senator, or Member
+     of Congress guarded their interests; nor was any State or
+     local bounty held forth to them as an allurement. Their
+     enlistment in the Union Army--their country's army--was the
+     spontaneous outgrowth of a spirit of lofty patriotism.
+
+     "As they saw their duty they were not lacking in moral
+     courage to perform that duty; and with no lapse of years
+     shall we ever fail to insist that the principles for which
+     the Rangers contended were eternally right, and that their
+     opponents were eternally wrong."
+
+Far from being a well-ordered command with a clearly defined _modus
+operandi_, the two companies were poorly drilled, imperfectly
+accoutred, only aimlessly and periodically active, and, moreover, were
+on the point of dissolution at the outset.
+
+Operating, for the most part, independently and in detached parties
+the command offered no serious menace to citizens or soldiery, though
+the latter were sometimes harassed and annoyed by them.
+
+Mosby, who had greatly desired and often essayed their capture, was
+finally given the opportunity for which he had eagerly waited.
+Learning that the Rangers were encamped near Millville, W. Va.
+(Keyes' Switch, as it was then called), he dispatched Captain Baylor
+with a detachment of horse to that point.
+
+Major Scott who, in 1867, wrote _Partisan Life With Mosby_, has this
+to say of the fight which followed: "He (Baylor) took the precaution
+to pass in between Halltown (where there was a brigade of infantry)
+and the camp. When within fifty yards of the Loudoun Rangers the order
+to charge was given. Two of them were killed, four wounded, and 65
+taken prisoners, together with 81 horses with their equipments. The
+rest of the command sought refuge in the bushes. The only loss which
+Baylor sustained was Frank Helm, of Warrenton, who was wounded as he
+charged among the foremost into the camp."
+
+The day of the capture General Stevenson, commanding at Harper's
+Ferry, and under whose orders the Rangers had been acting, sent the
+following message to General Hancock at Winchester:
+
+Harper's Ferry, _April 6, 1865._
+
+     Mosby surprised the camp of the Loudoun Rangers near Keyes'
+     Ford and cleaned them out. He made the attack about 10
+     a.m....
+
+John D. Stevenson,
+_Brigadier-General._
+
+When Major-General Hancock, so distinguished in the Federal Army,
+heard of Baylor's exploit he laughed heartily and exclaimed: "Well,
+that is the last of the Loudoun Rangers."
+
+As indeed it proved to be!
+
+
+_Mosby's Command in its Relationship to Loudoun County._
+
+From January, 1863, until the close of the war Colonel Mosby's
+partisan operations were mostly confined to the counties of Loudoun
+and Fauquier, this rich, pastoral country affording subsistence for
+his command and the Blue Ridge a haven to which to retreat when hard
+pressed by the superior numbers that, from time to time, were sent
+against him. Here he planned and executed most of the daring coups
+that were to win for him international fame.[31] Here also his men
+were dispersed and reassembled with marvelous facility--one of
+countless manifestations of his great original genius. "They would
+scatter for safety, and gather at my call like the Children of the
+Mist," was what he wrote in after years. Of all his methods this has
+been the least clearly understood. The explanation that he has offered
+in his _War Reminiscences_ can be only partially complete; for he
+could not, with propriety, point to his personal magnetism and daring
+as the dominant influences, though he must have known that to an
+extraordinary extent they were responsible for this almost
+unparalleled devotion. "The true secret," he says, "was that it was a
+fascinating life, and its attractions far more than counterbalanced
+its hardships and dangers. They had no camp duty to do, which, however
+necessary, is disgusting to soldiers of high spirit. To put them to
+such routine work is pretty much like hitching a race horse to a
+plow."
+
+[Footnote 31: In alluding to the famous "greenback raid" (October 14,
+1864), in which a party of Rangers entered a train of the Baltimore
+and Ohio Railroad, near Kearneysville, capturing, among other
+officers, Majors Moore and Ruggles, Federal paymasters, with their
+funds, Lieutenant Grogan, of the Rangers, has said that the command,
+the next day, "met at Bloomfield, in Loudoun County, and examined into
+the condition of our sub-U.S. Treasury, and finding there a net
+surplus of $168,000, the same was divided among our stockholders
+($2,000 each) and circulated so freely in Loudoun that never
+afterwards was there a pie or blooded horse sold in that section for
+Confederate money."]
+
+Many of his followers were recruited in Loudoun County. A few before
+the advent of Mosby had pursued peaceable vocations; but the command
+consisted in the main of men who had seen active service in the
+cavalry and infantry regiments, but tiring of the routine and
+discipline of the camp had returned to their homes in Loudoun and
+adjoining counties. At times he had with him dauntless spirits who had
+been incapacitated for infantry duty by reason of wounds received in
+action, some of these carrying crutches along with them tied to their
+saddle bows. At another time he enrolled several experienced fighters
+who had been absent from their regiments without leave ever since the
+first battle of Bull Run--a period of nearly two years.
+
+With this promiscuous following, which at no time exceeded one hundred
+men, he instituted a long unbroken series of successful strategems,
+surprises, and night attacks, harassing the communications of the
+Federal armies, confusing their plans by capturing dispatches,
+destroying supply trains, subjecting their outposts to the wear and
+tear of a perpetual skirmish, in short, inflicting all the mischief
+possible for a small body of cavalry moving rapidly from point to
+point on the communications of an army.
+
+He believed that by incessant attacks he could compel the enemy either
+greatly to contract his lines or to reinforce them, both of which
+would have been of great advantage to the Southern cause. By assuming
+the aggressive, a rule from which he not once departed, he could force
+the enemy to guard a hundred points, leaving himself free to select
+any one of them for attack.
+
+But the theories, purposes, and methods of this peer of partisan
+leaders is best explained by himself. Simply and unostentatiously, but
+withal convincingly, expressed, they give to the man and his deeds the
+unmistakable semblance of fairness and legitimacy. These, together
+with his masterly defense of partisan warfare, follow in modified and
+disconnected form:
+
+     "The military value of a partisan's work is not measured by
+     the amount of property destroyed, or the number of men
+     killed or captured, but by the number he keeps watching.
+     Every soldier withdrawn from the front to guard the rear of
+     an army is so much taken from its fighting strength.
+
+     "I endeavored, as far as I was able, to diminish this
+     aggressive power of the army of the Potomac, by compelling
+     it to keep a large force on the defensive. I assailed its
+     rear, for there was its most vulnerable point. My men had no
+     camps. If they had gone into camp, they would soon have all
+     been captured.... A blow would be struck at a weak or
+     unguarded point, and then a quick retreat. The alarm would
+     spread through the sleeping camp, the long roll would be
+     beaten or the bugles would sound to horse, there would be
+     mounting in hot haste and a rapid pursuit. But the partisans
+     generally got off with their prey. Their pursuers were
+     striking at an invisible foe. I often sent small squads at
+     night to attack and run in the pickets along a line of
+     several miles. Of course, these alarms were very annoying,
+     for no human being knows how sweet sleep is but a soldier. I
+     wanted to use and consume the Northern cavalry in hard work.
+     I have often thought that their fierce hostility to me was
+     more on account of the sleep I made them lose than the
+     number we killed and captured."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "My purpose was to weaken the armies invading Virginia, by
+     harassing their rear. As a line is only as strong as its
+     weakest point, it was necessary for it to be stronger than I
+     was at every point, in order to resist my attacks.... It is
+     just as legitimate to fight an enemy in the rear as in
+     front. The only difference is in the danger. Now, to prevent
+     all these things from being done, heavy detachments must be
+     made to guard against them."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "The line that connects an army with its base of supplies is
+     the heel of Achilles--its most vital and vulnerable point.
+     It is a great achievement in war to compel an enemy to make
+     heavy detachments to guard it...."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Having no fixed lines to guard or defined territory to
+     hold, it was always my policy to elude the enemy when they
+     came in search of me, and carry the war into their own
+     camps."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "These operations were erratic simply in not being in
+     accordance with the fixed rules taught by the academies; but
+     in all that I did there was a unity of purpose, and a plan
+     which my commanding general understood and approved."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     " ... while I conducted war on the theory that the end of it
+     is to secure peace by the destruction of the resources of
+     the enemy, with as small a loss as possible to my own side,
+     there is no authenticated act of mine which is not perfectly
+     in accordance with approved military usage. Grant, Sherman,
+     and Stonewall Jackson had about the same ideas that I had on
+     the subject of war."
+
+Though all his engagements were reported to Stuart till the death of
+that great cavalry leader, in May, 1864, and afterward to General
+Robert E. Lee, Mosby was allowed the freedom of untrammeled action in
+the sense that the operations of his command were left to his
+individual discretion.
+
+The following militant verses were published in a Southern magazine,
+soon after the war, and won immediate popularity:
+
+    _Mosby at Hamilton._
+
+    BY MADISON CAWEIN.
+
+    Down Loudoun lanes, with swinging reins
+      And clash of spur and sabre,
+    And bugling of battle horn,
+    Six score and eight we rode at morn
+    Six score and eight of Southern born,
+      All tried in love and labor.
+
+    Full in the sun at Hamilton,
+      We met the South's invaders;
+    Who, over fifteen hundred strong,
+    'Mid blazing homes had marched along
+    All night, with Northern shout and song,
+      To crush the rebel raiders.
+
+    Down Loudoun lanes with streaming manes
+      We spurred in wild March weather;
+    And all along our war-scarred way
+    The graves of Southern heroes lay,
+    Our guide posts to revenge that day,
+      As we rode grim together.
+
+    Old tales still tell some miracle
+      Of saints in holy writing--
+    But who shall say why hundreds fled
+    Before the few that Mosby led,
+    Unless the noblest of our dead
+      Charged with us then when fighting.
+
+    While Yankee cheers still stunned our ears,
+      Of troops at Harper's Ferry,
+    While Sheridan led on his Huns,
+    And Richmond rocked to roaring guns,
+    We felt the South still had some sons,
+      She would not scorn to bury.
+
+
+_Battle of Leesburg_[32] ("_Ball's Bluff_"[33]).
+
+"After the first battle of Manassas, Col. Eppa Hunton had been ordered
+to reoccupy Leesburg with his regiment, the Eighth Virginia. A little
+later Col. William Barksdale's Thirteenth Mississippi, Col. W.S.
+Featherstone's Seventeenth Mississippi, a battery, and four companies
+of cavalry under Col. W.H. Jenifer were sent to the same place, and
+these were organized into the Seventh Brigade of the Confederate Army
+of the Potomac, which, early in August, was put under command of
+Brig.-Gen. Nathan G. Evans, who had been promoted for his brave
+conduct July 21st. General Beauregard's object in locating this strong
+force at Leesburg was to guard his left flank from a Federal attack by
+way of several good roads that led from the fords of the upper
+Potomac, near that town, directly to his Bull Run encampment; to watch
+the large Federal force that McClellan had located on the opposite
+side of the Potomac; to keep up a connection with the Confederate
+force in the lower Shenandoah Valley by a good turnpike that led from
+Leesburg across the Blue Ridge, and to save for his army the abundant
+supplies of the fertile County of Loudoun.
+
+"On the 15th of October (1861) General Banks' division of the Federal
+army was located at Darnestown, Md., about fifteen miles due east from
+Leesburg, with detachments at Point of Rocks, Sandy Hook,
+Williamsport, etc.; while the division of Brig.-Gen. C.P. Stone,
+composed of six companies of cavalry, three of artillery, and the
+infantry brigades of Gens. W.A. Gorman and F.W. Lander and Col. E.D.
+Baker, was located at Poolesville, eight miles north of east from
+Leesburg. The object in this disposition of so large a force was, not
+only to guard the right of the big Federal army that General McClellan
+was gathering at Washington, but especially to cover the important
+approaches from the northwest to Baltimore and the Federal city,
+particularly those from the lower Shenandoah Valley and northeastern
+Piedmont, Virginia.
+
+[Footnote 32: Virginia Military History, by Jedediah Hotchkiss.]
+
+[Footnote 33: Also called "Battle of Harrison's Island" and "Battle of
+Conrad's Ferry."]
+
+"On October 19th, McCall's Federal division advanced to Dranesville,
+on the road to Leesburg and about 15 miles from that place, 'in order
+to cover the reconnoissance made in all directions the next day;' and
+later, Smith's Federal division advanced along a parallel road to the
+west, acting in concert with General McCall, and pushed forward strong
+parties in the same direction and for the same purpose. About 7 p.m.
+of the 19th, Stone's advance opened a heavy cannonade on the
+Confederate positions at Fort Evans, on the Leesburg pike, and at
+Edwards' Ferry, and at the same time General Evans heard heavy firing
+in the direction of Dranesville. At midnight General Evans ordered his
+whole brigade to the front, along the line of Goose Creek, 3 miles
+southeast of Leesburg, where he had a line of intrenchments, to there
+await an expected attack from General McCall, the next morning,
+Sunday, October 20th, as it had been reported that the Federal advance
+was moving in force from Dranesville toward Leesburg. Evans' scouts
+captured McCall's courier bearing dispatches to General Meade,
+directing him to examine the roads leading to Leesburg. The Federal
+batteries kept up a deliberate fire during the day, but no assault was
+made.
+
+"On the morning of the 20th the Federal signal officer on Sugar Loaf
+Mountain, in Maryland, reported 'the enemy have moved away from
+Leesburg.' This Banks wired to McClellan, whereupon the latter wired
+to Stone, at Poolesville, that a heavy reconnoissance would be sent
+out that day, in all directions, from Dranesville, concluding: 'You
+will keep a good lookout upon Leesburg, to see if this movement has
+the effect to drive them away. Perhaps a slight demonstration on your
+part would have the effect to move them.' McClellan desired Stone to
+make demonstrations from his picket line along the Potomac, but did
+not intend that he should cross the river, in force, for the purpose
+of fighting. Late in the day Stone reported that he had made a feint
+of crossing, and at the same time had started a reconnoissance from
+Harrison's Island toward Leesburg, when the enemy's pickets retired to
+intrenchments. That 'slight demonstration' brought on the battle of
+Ball's Bluff on Monday, October 21st. On the morning of the 21st,
+McCall retired from Evan's front to his camp at Prospect Hill, 4 miles
+up the river from the Chain bridge. From his point of observation, at
+the earthworks called 'Fort Evans,' to the eastward of Leesburg,
+overlooking the fords at Conrad's and Edwards' ferries and Ball's
+Bluff, Evans, at 6 a.m. on the 21st, found that the enemy of Stone's
+division had effected a crossing at Edwards' Ferry and at Ball's
+Bluff, 4 miles above. He promptly sent four companies from his
+Mississippi regiments and two companies of cavalry, under the command
+of Lieutenant-Colonel W.H. Jenifer to the assistance of Captain Duff,
+to hold the enemy in check until his plan of attack should be
+developed. Colonel Jenifer immediately engaged the Federal advance and
+drove it back toward Ball's Bluff.
+
+"The force that had crossed at Harrison's Island, about midnight of
+the 20th, was part of the command of Colonel Baker, some 300 men under
+Col. Charles Devens, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts. Its object was to
+capture a Confederate camp that had been reported to be about a mile
+from the river. This force advanced to an open field surrounded by
+woods, where it halted until it could be joined by a company from the
+Twentieth Massachusetts, which had been left on the bluff, on the
+Virginia side, to protect the Federal return. Devens, at daybreak,
+pushed forward with a few men to reconnoiter, and, in person, went to
+within sight of Leesburg. Thinking he had not been discovered Devens
+determined to remain and sent back to his brigade commander, Colonel
+Baker, for reinforcements. The latter consulted his division
+commander, General Stone, and obtained permission to either withdraw
+Devens or to send over reinforcements to him. He promptly directed
+Devens to hold his position and said that he would support him in
+person with the rest of his brigade. The boats and flats that had been
+provided for crossing the Potomac from the Maryland shore to
+Harrison's Island and from the latter to the Virginia shore were
+entirely inadequate, and it was nearly noon before Devens' regiment of
+625 men was closed up on the Virginia shore.
+
+"Convinced at about 10 a.m. that the main Federal attack would be at
+Ball's Bluff, four miles northeast of Leesburg, Evans ordered Colonel
+Hunton with the Eighth Virginia[34] to the support of Colonel Jenifer,
+directing him to form the line of battle immediately in the rear of
+Jenifer's command, and that the combined force should then drive the
+enemy to the river, while he, General Evans, supported the right of
+the movement with artillery. This movement was made soon after noon
+and the opposing forces at once became hotly engaged, the Confederates
+advancing on the Federals, who held a strong position in front of the
+woods. Learning, at about this time, that an opposing force was
+gathering on his left and that he would soon be vigorously attacked by
+a body of infantry that appeared in that direction and by a body of
+dismounted cavalry that had deployed in his front, and apprehensive of
+being flanked, Devens retired his regiment to an open space in the
+woods, in front of the bluff, and prepared to receive an attack. To
+ascertain about reinforcements Devens went back to the bluff about 2
+p.m., where he found Colonel Baker, who directed him to form his
+regiment on the right of the position that he proposed to occupy,
+while Baker placed 300 of the Twentieth Massachusetts on the left and
+advanced in front of these his California regiment, with two guns,
+supported by two companies of the Fifteenth Massachusetts. At about
+the same hour General Stone ferried a strong force across the river at
+Edwards' Ferry to make a demonstration on Evans' right, leaving
+Colonel Baker in command at Ball's Bluff. Stone then telegraphed to
+McClellan: 'There has been a sharp firing on the right of our line,
+and our troops appear to be advancing there under Baker. The left,
+under Gorman, has advanced its skirmishers nearly one mile, and, if
+the movement continues successful, will turn the enemy's right.'
+
+[Footnote 34: The regiment in which were several companies of Loudoun
+soldiers.]
+
+"At about 2.30 p.m., General Evans, having the advantage of a
+concealed, shorter, and inner line, seeing that the enemy was being
+constantly reinforced, ordered Colonel Burt, with the Eighteenth
+Mississippi, to attack the Federal left, while Hunton and Jenifer
+attacked his front, holding the attack at Edwards' Ferry in check by
+batteries from his intrenchments. As Colonel Burt reached his
+position, the enemy, concealed in a ravine, opened on him a furious
+fire, which compelled him to divide his regiment and stop the flank
+movement that had already begun. At about 3 p.m., Featherstone, with
+the Seventeenth Mississippi, was sent at a double-quick to support
+Burt's movement. Evans reports: 'He arrived in twenty minutes and the
+action became general along my whole line, and was very hot and brisk
+for more than two hours, the enemy keeping up a constant fire with his
+batteries on both sides of the river. At about 6 p.m. I saw that my
+command had driven the enemy to near the banks of the river. I ordered
+my entire force to charge and drive him into the river. The charge was
+immediately made by the whole command, and the forces of the enemy
+were completely routed, and cried out for quarter along his whole
+line. In this charge the enemy was driven back at the point of the
+bayonet, and many were killed and wounded by this formidable weapon.
+In the precipitate retreat of the enemy on the bluffs of the river,
+many of his troops rushed into the water and were drowned, while many
+others, in overloading the boats, sunk them and shared the same fate.
+The rout now, about 7 o'clock, became complete, and the enemy
+commenced throwing his arms into the river.... At 8 p.m. the enemy
+surrendered his forces at Ball's Bluff, and the prisoners were marched
+to Leesburg.'
+
+"During this action, Colonel Barksdale, with nine companies of the
+Thirteenth Mississippi and six pieces of artillery, was held to oppose
+Stone's movement from Edwards' Ferry and also as a reserve. After the
+engagement, Evans withdrew all his brigade to Leesburg, except
+Barksdale's regiment, which he left in front of Edwards' Ferry.
+
+"Each of the combatants had about 1,700 men engaged in this action.
+The Confederates had no artillery in the fight, while the Federals
+had three light guns. Shortly after the action became general, Colonel
+Baker, passing in front of his command, was killed by a sharpshooter,
+which so demoralized the Federals that the surviving officers
+conferred and decided to retreat. This was opposed by Colonel Milton
+Cogswell, of the Forty-second New York, who had succeeded Colonel
+Baker in command. He said a retreat down the bluff and across the
+river was now impossible, and that they must cut their way through the
+Confederate right to Edwards' Ferry. He promptly gave orders to that
+effect, and moved to the front, followed by the remnants of his own
+two companies and a portion of the California regiment, but not by the
+others. He was quickly driven back and the whole Federal command was
+forced to the river bluff in great disorder. Just then two companies
+of the Forty-second New York landed on the Virginia shore. These
+Colonel Cogswell ordered up the bluff and deployed as skirmishers to
+cover the Federal retreat, while he advanced to the left with a small
+party, and was almost immediately captured. Colonel Devens escaped by
+swimming the river.
+
+"On the morning of the 22nd, Colonel Barksdale informed General Evans
+that the enemy was still in force at Edwards' Ferry. He was ordered to
+carefully reconnoiter the Federal position, learn its strength and
+make attack. This he did, at about 2 p.m., and drove a superior force
+from an intrenched position to the bank of the river, killing and
+wounding quite a number of men. At about sundown, the Federals, having
+been reinforced and holding rifle-pits, Barksdale withdrew to Fort
+Evans, leaving two companies to watch his front. The enemy recrossed
+the Potomac during the night. Evans reported his loss, in the thirteen
+hours of fight, on the 21st, as 36 killed,[35] 117 wounded, and 2
+missing, from a force of 1,709. Among the killed was the brave Colonel
+Burt. The Federal losses were returned at 49 killed, 158 wounded, and
+694 missing. General Evans claimed the capture of 710 prisoners, 1,500
+stands of arms, 3 cannon and 1 flag.
+
+[Footnote 35: The Confederate soldiers who fell in the battle of Ball's
+Bluff are buried in Union Cemetery, on the northern border of
+Leesburg. Their resting place is marked by an imposing marble shaft,
+in honor of the comrades of "the lost cause," "wherever they lie."
+Many of the Union soldiers who perished at Ball's Bluff lie buried
+where they fell. Their mournful little cemetery was recently acquired
+by the Federal government and its approaches and environs greatly
+improved. The battlefield is still one of the chief points of interest
+to visitors to central Loudoun.]
+
+"Evans called on Longstreet for reinforcements when he reported his
+battle of the 21st, thinking that 20,000 Federals were in his front.
+Colonel Jenkins, with the Eighteenth South Carolina cavalry and
+artillery was dispatched from Centreville in the afternoon of the 22d,
+and marched toward Leesburg, through mud and a driving rain, until
+midnight, when the infantry went into bivouac; but Captain C.M.
+Blackford's cavalry and four guns of the Washington artillery hurried
+forward all night and came in sight of Leesburg about daylight of the
+23d. That morning, finding his men much exhausted, General Evans
+ordered three of his regiments to fall back to Carter's mill, a strong
+position on Goose Creek, about 7 miles southwest from Leesburg, and
+join Jenkins, who had been halted at that place, leaving Barksdale
+with his regiment, two pieces of artillery and some cavalry, as a rear
+guard near Leesburg, and Hunton, with his Eighth Virginia and two
+pieces of artillery, on the south bank of Sycoline Creek, 3 miles from
+Leesburg, and sending his cavalry well to the front toward
+Alexandria."
+
+
+_Munford's Fight at Leesburg._[36]
+
+"Having driven Pope's army to a secure position behind the defences of
+Washington, General Lee turned northward to the Potomac and began the
+first Maryland campaign.
+
+"While this movement was in progress Stuart covered the front toward
+Washington. He had learned that an irregular body of cavalry under a
+certain Captain Means was harassing the citizens in the vicinity of
+Leesburg, and on the 2d of September (1862) he sent Colonel Munford,
+with the Second Virginia Cavalry, to that point. On approaching
+Leesburg, Munford learned that it was occupied by Means' company and
+that he was supported by about two hundred men under Major Cole, of
+Maryland. Munford's regiment numbered only about one hundred and sixty
+men, but, approaching Leesburg by an unexpected direction, he effected
+a surprise, and after a heavy skirmish completely routed Means' party
+and pursued him to Waterford, a distance of seven miles. He captured
+forty-seven prisoners, and killed or wounded twenty."
+
+[Footnote 36: _Life and Campaigns of Maj.-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart._]
+
+
+_Battle at Aldie._[37]
+
+"Early on the morning of the 17th of June, 1863, Colonel Munford, with
+the 2d and 3rd Virginia Cavalry, moved from Upperville through
+Middleburg, and having established his picket posts east of Aldie,
+crossed over to Snicker's Gap road and proceeded with these two
+regiments to procure corn at the house of Franklin Carter, about a
+mile distant. He expected to encamp that night in the vicinity of
+Aldie.
+
+"Colonel Williams C. Wickham, with the 1st, 4th, and 5th Virginia
+Cavalry, the remaining regiments of the brigade, had moved from
+Piedmont through Middleburg, and was about to place his men in camp at
+Dover Mills, near Aldie.
+
+"The 5th regiment, Col. Thomas L. Rosser, which arrived some little
+time after the 1st and 4th, was directed by Colonel Wickham to pass
+beyond Dover Mills, and select a camp nearer Aldie. In so doing
+Colonel Rosser encountered the enemy, who was rapidly driving back the
+pickets established by Colonel Munford.
+
+"The force of the enemy making this attack was the 2d cavalry
+division, commanded by Gen. D.M. Gregg, and accompanied by
+Major-General Pleasonton. General Kilpatrick's brigade, consisting of
+the 2d New York, 1st Massachusetts, 6th Ohio, and 4th New York
+regiments, supported by the 1st Maine Cavalry from Col. J.J. Gregg's
+brigade, and by Randol's battery, appears to have done all the
+fighting. The two other brigades of General Gregg's division were
+closed up within supporting distance.
+
+[Footnote 37: _Life and Campaigns of Maj.-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart._]
+
+"The arrival of Rosser's regiment was most opportune. By an immediate
+sabre charge he drove back the enemy's advance upon their main body in
+the town of Aldie. Having relieved the pressure on the pickets, Rosser
+stationed his sharpshooters, under Capt. R.B. Boston, on the right
+of the Snickersville road, where a number of haystacks afforded some
+protection, and held the remainder of his small regiment ready for
+their support. Colonel Munford, in the meantime, arrived in person and
+stationed Lieut. William Walton, of the 2d Virginia Cavalry, with the
+reserve picket, fifteen men, behind a stone wall on the left of the
+Snickersville road with orders to hold his position against any odds
+until the 2d and 3d regiments could come to his assistance. In the
+meantime, and while Colonel Wickham was stationing the 1st and 4th
+regiments and Breathed's battery to dispute any advance on the
+Middleburg road, Rosser, single-handed, had met and repulsed two
+charges which were made upon Captain Boston's squadron; and believing
+that he could be maintained there with advantage, had ordered Boston
+to hold his position at all hazards. The result proved that this
+disposition was unfortunate, for during the subsequent heavy fighting
+Boston was so far advanced as to be beyond the reach of support and he
+and his squadron were captured.
+
+"During all this time there was no force on the left of the
+Snickersville road, except the picket posted by Munford behind the
+stone wall. Munford, therefore, moved Rosser's regiment and the 4th
+Virginia Cavalry, with one gun from Breathed's battery, so as to
+command this road, leaving Colonel Wickham with the rest of the guns
+and the 1st Virginia Cavalry on the Middleburg road.
+
+"In the meantime the enemy pressed heavily on Lieutenant Walton. He
+had repulsed two mounted charges, but being outflanked by dismounted
+men, had been withdrawn about fifty yards behind a house and orchard,
+in which position he commanded the only opening through which the
+enemy could attack. Here three distinct charges were met and repulsed
+in counter-charges by the 5th Virginia Cavalry, by the 3d squadron of
+the 4th regiment, led by Lieut. A.D. Payne, and by the 2d and 5th
+squadrons of the same regiment, led by Capt. W.B. Newton. These were
+the only squadrons of this regiment present at this battle, the 1st
+and 4th squadrons having been detailed early in the day to accompany
+General Stuart. In each of these charges the enemy had suffered
+severely at the hands of Lieutenant Walton's sharpshooters, who poured
+volleys into their flanks as they passed him in advancing and
+retiring.
+
+"As Walton's party was, however, evidently small, the enemy determined
+to dislodge him, and was preparing a considerable force for another
+attack, when the 2d and 3d Virginia Cavalry reached the field. Two
+squadrons of sharpshooters were at once dismounted and placed on the
+left of the road--the squadron from the 2d regiment under Captains
+Breckinridge and Graves, that from the 3d regiment under Capt. George
+D. White. Their line was advanced to the stone wall from which
+Lieutenant Walton had been withdrawn. Colonel Munford now felt that
+his position was secure against an attack of cavalry, and there was
+nothing he more desired than that the enemy should wear himself out
+against it. His flanks were secured by Little River and its
+tributaries. The enemy must necessarily attack his front. The road by
+which it was approached was worn, as it ascended the hill, into deep
+gullies, which compelled an attack in column of fours and prevented
+the enemy from spreading out his front. Munford's strong party of
+sharpshooters commanded the road. They were stationed in an enclosed
+field, with a stone wall in their front, a post and rail fence on
+their right, and another fence on their left. The fences to the rear
+were thrown down, so as to give the cavalry access to the field.
+Munford felt that unless his cavalry failed in their duty, his
+dismounted men were perfectly secure.
+
+"The 2d Virginia Cavalry, led by Lieut.-Col. J.W. Watts, now charged the
+advancing enemy, who had penetrated beyond the position of the
+sharpshooters. The heads of the columns met in the narrow road in a
+hand-to-hand sabre fight. While this was in progress, Capt. Jesse
+Irving threw down the fence on the right of the road, and, bringing his
+squadron to the front, opened fire on the enemy's left flank. Capt. W.W.
+Tebbs executed a similar movement on the left of the road, while the
+sharpshooters were all the time firing into the enemy's rear. Their
+attack was completely broken, and their leading squadron almost
+destroyed. Another support moved up during the confusion, but was met
+and repulsed by Colonel Rosser. In this fight Lieutenant-Colonel Watts
+was wounded and permanently disabled. The command of the 2d regiment
+devolved on Major Cary Breckinridge, who moved the regiment off to the
+right to reform, carrying with him Col. Louis P. De Cesnola and the
+colors of his regiment, the 4th New York Cavalry.
+
+"During all this time Captain Boston, of the 5th Virginia Cavalry, had
+been holding the haystacks far in advance of his friends, where
+Colonel Rosser had placed him with such stringent orders. He was
+beyond the reach even of a recall, but had been doing his utmost to
+aid in the fight. He was now charged by the 6th Ohio Cavalry, under
+Lieutenant-Colonel William Stedman; and after losing three of his
+officers, including his junior captain, and a third of his men killed
+and wounded, he surrendered to the odds brought against him.
+
+"The Federal cavalry were determined to carry the position if
+possible, and another charge was speedily organized. This was met by
+the 3d Virginia Cavalry, led by Col. T.H. Owens, who took the road,
+supported on his right by the 2d regiment and on his left by the 5th.
+The sabre was the weapon used, and the enemy was again driven back.
+Colonel Munford pronounced this the most spirited charge of the day.
+Colonel Owens, however, pressed his success too far. He drove the
+enemy almost to the village of Aldie, where he was charged by a fresh
+regiment and driven back, losing many of the prisoners he had taken
+and some of his own men. Major Henry Carrington, of the 3d regiment,
+was captured at this point. Colonel Munford says in his report:
+
+"'Captain Newton, having rallied his small command and a good many
+men from other commands, was again ready to relieve Colonel Owens as
+he fell back, and by a timely charge repelled another effort to flank
+him. As the enemy came up again the sharpshooters opened upon him with
+terrible effect from the stone wall, which they had regained, and
+checked him completely. I do not hesitate to say that I have never
+seen as many Yankees killed in the same space of ground in any fight I
+have ever seen or on any battlefield in Virginia that I have been
+over. We held our ground until ordered by the major-general commanding
+to retire, and the Yankees had been so severely punished that they did
+not follow. The sharpshooters of the 5th were mostly captured, this
+regiment suffering more than any other.'
+
+"Colonel Munford reported the capture of 138 prisoners. The number of
+killed and wounded is unknown. His own total loss was 119, of which
+the 5th Virginia Cavalry lost 58, mostly from Captain Boston's
+squadron."
+
+
+_Duffie at Middleburg._[38]
+
+"On this same afternoon (June 17, 1863) events of considerable
+importance occurred at Middleburg, where Stuart had established his
+headquarters for the day.
+
+"Early in the morning Col. A.N. Duffie, with the 1st Rhode Island
+Cavalry, had crossed the Bull Run Mountain at Thoroughfare Gap. His
+orders directed him to encamp at Middleburg on the night of the 17th
+and to proceed the next day toward Noland's Ferry, extending his march
+to the west as far as Snickersville. These orders seem to have
+contemplated a somewhat extended scout by this regiment on the left
+flank of General Gregg's division--a hazardous movement in the
+presence of an enterprising enemy. Colonel Duffie reached Thoroughfare
+Gap at 9.30 a.m. and was somewhat delayed in crossing the mountain by
+the picket from Chambliss' command. By 11 o'clock, however, he was
+fairly on his way to Middleburg. At 4 o'clock p.m. he struck the
+pickets which Stuart had established for his own safety outside the
+town and drove them in so quickly that Stuart and his staff were
+compelled to make a retreat more rapid than was consistent with
+dignity and comfort. Having with him no force adequate to contest the
+ground with Duffie's regiment, Stuart retired toward Rector's Cross
+Roads. Munford was notified of his danger, and directed to withdraw
+from Aldie and Robertson and Chambliss were ordered to move
+immediately upon Middleburg.
+
+[Footnote 38: _Life and Campaigns of Maj.-Gen. J. E. B. Stuart._]
+
+"The only hope for Duffie's regiment now lay in an immediate advance
+upon Aldie, where he might have created considerable commotion by
+attacking the rear of the 1st Virginia Cavalry on the Middleburg road.
+But he did not know this and his orders were positive, requiring him
+to encamp for the night at Middleburg. He therefore made the best of
+his situation by dismounting one-half of his regiment behind stone
+walls and barricades, hoping that he might be able to hold his
+position until reinforced from Aldie, whither he sent Capt. Frank
+Allen to make known his situation at brigade headquarters. Captain
+Allen reached Aldie, after encountering many difficulties, at 9
+o'clock p.m. He says in his report:
+
+"'General Kilpatrick informed me that his brigade was so worn out that
+he could not send any reinforcements to Middleburg, but that he would
+report the situation of our regiment to General Gregg. Returning, he
+said that General Gregg had gone to state the facts to General
+Pleasonton, and directed me to remain at Aldie until he heard from
+General Pleasonton. I remained, but received no further orders.'"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Thus Colonel Duffie was left to meet his fate. At 7 o'clock in the
+evening he was attacked by Robertson's brigade. His men fought bravely
+and repelled more than one charge before they were driven from the
+town, retiring by the same road upon which they had advanced.
+Unfortunately for Duffie this road was now closed by Chambliss'
+brigade, which surrounded him during the night and captured, early the
+next morning, the greater part of those who had escaped from
+Robertson on the previous evening. Colonel Duffie himself escaped
+capture and reached Centreville early in the afternoon with four of
+his officers and twenty-seven men. He reports the loss in his regiment
+at 20 officers and 248 men. This, however, was an exaggeration of the
+calamity, for other officers besides himself had taken to the woods
+and succeeded in making their way back to the Federal lines, on the
+18th and 19th."
+
+
+_The Sacking of Loudoun._
+
+FEDERAL OPERATIONS AGAINST MOSBY IN LOUDOUN COUNTY.
+
+Mosby's unrelenting aggressiveness caused the Northern generals much
+annoyance and perplexity. Consequently many ingenious traps were laid
+for him, but to no purpose. Into some he walked with unsuspecting
+boldness, though contriving to fight his way to safety again, and
+usually, in so doing, inflicting greater loss on the enemy than would
+be sustained by his own command.
+
+These reiterated and, at times, disastrous failures having
+demonstrated the futility of all covert attempts, General Grant, and
+later, General Sheridan, felt driven to the adoption of measures that
+were destined to entail much suffering and loss on the guiltless and
+non-combatant element of Loudoun's population. Under date of August
+16, 1864, Grant despatched the following arbitrary order to General
+Sheridan:
+
+     "If you can possibly spare a division of cavalry, send them
+     through Loudoun County to destroy and carry off the crops,
+     animals, negroes, and all men under fifty years of age
+     capable of bearing arms. In this way you will get many of
+     Mosby's men. All male citizens under fifty can fairly be
+     held as prisoners of war, and not as citizen prisoners. If
+     not already soldiers, they will be made so the moment the
+     rebel army gets hold of them."
+
+Sheridan straightway ordered all the cavalry of the Eighth Illinois,
+then the best regiment of its kind in the Army of the Potomac, to
+concentrate at Muddy Branch, preparatory to beginning operations
+against Mosby in Loudoun County. In his orders to General Auger he
+told that officer to exterminate as many as he could of "Mosby's
+gang."
+
+The command broke camp at Muddy Branch August 20, and crossed the
+Potomac with 650 men, the special object of the scout being, as stated
+in orders to Major Waite, "to break up and exterminate any bands or
+parties of Mosby's, White's, or other guerillas which may be met."
+
+Viewed in the light of a communication from Sheridan to Halleck, dated
+November 26, 1864, this expedition seems not to have been even
+moderately successful. In it he said: "I will soon commence work on
+Mosby. Heretofore I have made no attempt to break him up, as I would
+have employed ten men to his one, and for the reason that I have made
+a scape-goat of him for the destruction of private rights. Now there
+is going to be an intense hatred of him in that portion of this
+Valley, which is nearly a desert. I will soon commence on Loudoun
+County, and let them know there is a God in Israel...."
+
+In his determination to rid himself of his troublesome enemy,
+Sheridan, the next day, issued the following orders to Major-General
+Merritt, commanding the First Cavalry Division:
+
+     "You are hereby directed to proceed to-morrow morning at 7
+     o'clock with the two brigades of your division now in camp
+     to the east side of the Blue Ridge via Ashby's Gap, and
+     operate against the guerillas in the district of country
+     bounded on the south by the line of the Manassas Gap
+     Railroad as far east as White Plains, on the east by the
+     Bull Run range, on the west by the Shenandoah River, and on
+     the north by the Potomac. This section has been the hot-bed
+     of lawless bands, who have, from time to time, depredated
+     upon small parties on the line of army communications, on
+     safeguards left at houses, and on all small parties of our
+     troops. Their real object is plunder and highway robbery. To
+     clear the country of these parties that are bringing
+     destruction upon the innocent as well as their guilty
+     supporters by their cowardly acts, you will consume and
+     destroy all forage and subsistence, burn all barns and mills
+     and their contents, and drive off all stock in the region
+     the boundaries of which are above described. This order must
+     be literally executed, bearing in mind, however, that no
+     dwellings are to be burned and that no personal violence be
+     offered to the citizens. The ultimate results of the
+     guerilla system of warfare is the total destruction of all
+     private rights in the country occupied by such parties. This
+     destruction may as well commence at once, and the
+     responsibility of it must rest upon the authorities at
+     Richmond, who have acknowledged the legitimacy of guerilla
+     bands. The injury done this army by them is very slight. The
+     injury they have indirectly inflicted upon the people and
+     upon the rebel army may be counted by millions. The Reserve
+     Brigade of your division will move to Snickersville on the
+     29th. Snickersville should be your point of concentration,
+     and the point from which you should operate in destroying
+     toward the Potomac. Four days' subsistence will be taken by
+     the command. Forage can be gathered from the country through
+     which you pass. You will return to your present camp, via
+     Snicker's Gap, on the 5th day."
+
+In addition to Merritt's three brigades, Colonel Stagg was ordered to
+send out four regiments.
+
+[39]"The Federals separated into three parties, one of which went along
+the Bloomfield road and down Loudoun in the direction of the Potomac;
+another passed along the Piedmont pike to Rectortown, Salem, and
+around to Middleburg, while the main body kept along the turnpike to
+Aldie, where they struck the Snickersville pike. Thus they scoured the
+country completely from the Blue Ridge to the Bull Run Mountains.
+
+"From Monday afternoon, November 28th, until Friday morning, December
+2nd, they ranged through the beautiful Valley of Loudoun and a portion
+of Fauquier county, burning and laying waste. They robbed the people
+of everything they could destroy or carry off--horses, cows, cattle,
+sheep, hogs, etc.; killing poultry, insulting women, pillaging houses,
+and in many cases robbing even the poor negroes.
+
+"They burned all the mills and factories, as well as hay, wheat, corn,
+straw, and every description of forage. Barns and stables, whether
+full or empty, were burned.
+
+"At Mrs. Fletcher's (a widow), where the hogs had been killed for her
+winter's supply of meat, the soldiers made a pile of rails upon which
+the hogs were placed and burned. They even went to the Poor House and
+burned and destroyed the supplies provided for the helpless and
+dependent paupers. On various previous occasions, however, the Alms
+House had been visited by raiding parties, so that at this time there
+was but little left, but of that little the larger portion was taken.
+
+[Footnote 39: _Mosby's Rangers_, by James J. Williamson.]
+
+"Colonel Mosby did not call the command together, therefore there was
+no organized resistance, but Rangers managed to save a great deal of
+live stock for the farmers by driving it off to places of safety."
+
+
+_Home Life During the War._
+
+In Loudoun, as everywhere in every age, the seriousness of war was not
+fully realized until the volunteer soldiery, following a short season
+of feverish social gayety, interspersed with dress parades and
+exhibition drills, had departed for their respective posts.
+Immediately and with one accord those left behind settled themselves
+to watch and wait and work and pray for the absent ones and the cause
+they had so readily championed.
+
+When few slaves were owned by a family the white boys, too young for
+service in the army, worked with them in the fields, while the girls
+busied themselves with household duties, though, at times, they, too,
+labored in the open. In families owning no slaves the old men,
+cripples, women, and children were forced to shoulder the arduous
+labors of the farm.
+
+Stern necessity had leveled sexual and worldly distinctions, and
+manual labor was, at times, performed by all who were in the least
+physically fitted for it. All classes early became inured to
+makeshifts and privations, though they managed in some unselfish
+manner to send, from time to time, great quantities of clothing,
+meats, and other supplies to the soldiers in the field and their
+wounded comrades in the army hospitals.
+
+The intense devotion of Loudoun women to the Confederate cause was
+most irritating to a certain class of Federal officers in the armies
+that invaded Northern Virginia. They seemed to think that through
+their military prowess they had conquered entrance into Southern
+society, but the women repulsed them at every turn and quite
+effectually checked their presumptuous advances.
+
+The women of all classes played and sang Confederate airs on every
+occasion, and, though ordered by the military authorities to desist,
+with consummate daring they usually persisted until a guard of
+soldiers had been detailed to enforce the order. The Federal officers
+who acted in a gentlemanly manner toward the non-combatants were
+accused by their rude fellows and by ruder newspaper correspondents of
+being "wound round the fingers of the rebel women," who, they were
+sure, had some cherished object in view.
+
+The women, without question, had much the harder task. The men, in
+active service in the field, were reasonably sure that their families
+were safe at home and, in the feverish excitement of war, felt no
+concern for themselves, while, on the other hand, the women lived in
+hourly dread of direful news from the front, and, moreover, were
+burdened with labors and cares more irksome and harassing than had
+ever been borne by the absent males.
+
+The music and songs that were popular just before and during the war
+attest the vacillating temper of the people. Joyous airs were at first
+heard, these growing contemptuous and defiant as the struggle
+approached, then stirring war songs and hymns of encouragement. But as
+sorrow followed sorrow until all were stricken; as wounds, sickness,
+imprisonment, and death of friends and relatives cast an
+ever-lengthening shadow over the spirits of the people; as hopes were
+dashed by defeat, and the consciousness came that, perhaps, after all
+the cause was losing, the iron entered into the souls of the people.
+The songs became sadder, while in the churches, where the doctrines of
+faith and good works were earnestly propounded, little else was heard
+than the soul-comforting hymns and the militant songs of the older
+churchmen. The promises were, perhaps, more emphasized and a deeply
+religious feeling prevailed among the home-workers for the cause.
+
+
+_Pierpont's Pretentious Administration._
+
+On December 7, 1863, the legislature of the "Restored Government of
+Virginia" held its first meeting in the chambers of the city council
+at Alexandria, which municipality became the seat of a Union
+administration in the Old Dominion, after Governor Pierpont's removal
+from Wheeling, W. Va., where, by unqualified political trickery, he
+and his unauthorized following had effected the establishment of a new
+Union commonwealth out of the ruins of Confederate Virginia. Six
+senators were present, representing the counties of Norfolk, Accomac,
+Fairfax, Alexandria, and _Loudoun_, and the city of Norfolk. Prince
+William, Northampton, Alexandria, _Loudoun_, and Norfolk counties were
+represented by seven delegates. J. Madison Downey, of Loudoun, was
+elected speaker of the house of delegates.
+
+This tiny mouth-piece of Virginia Unionists had naturally few
+important, or even ordinary, questions of legislation to decide. The
+most important was a provision for the amendment of the State
+constitution with relation to its bearing on the slavery question.
+"Everybody," said Governor Pierpont in his message, "loyal or
+disloyal, concedes that slavery in the State is doomed. Then acting
+upon this concession, call a convention of loyal delegates, to alter
+the State constitution in this particular, and declare slavery and
+involuntary servitude, except for crime, to be forever abolished in
+the State."
+
+A new constitution which should supercede that of 1851 and express the
+Union sentiments of the Potomac legislators, was accordingly drafted.
+Nominations of delegates to the constitutional convention were made in
+January, 1864. By the terms of the act relative thereto, any voter in
+the State who had not adhered by word or act to the Confederacy since
+September 1, 1861, might be chosen a member of the convention; all
+"loyal" citizens, who had not given aid or comfort to the Confederacy
+since January 1, 1863, possessed the right to vote.
+
+Elections were held January 22, 1864. Very little interest was
+manifested by the people, as was evidenced by the ridiculously small
+vote everywhere polled. _Loudoun's_ nominees, Dr. J.J. Henshaw, J.
+Madison Downey, and E. R. Giver, were elected by a mere handful of
+voters.
+
+The convention met at Alexandria February 13, 1864, with fifteen[40]
+delegates present from twelve counties. Le Roy G. Edwards, of
+Portsmouth, was elected president and W.J. Cowing, secretary. A number
+of radical changes in the old constitution, framed by legitimate
+authority in ante-bellum days, were consummated during the two months'
+session of this convention.
+
+[Footnote 40: It should be noted that Loudoun County furnished three of
+this number.]
+
+The Alexandria government held sway very nearly two years. The
+legislature met for its second session December 5, 1864, and
+re-elected J. Madison Downey, of Loudoun County, speaker of the house
+of delegates.
+
+The Pierpont government was not in itself of great importance. Its
+influence extended to only a dozen counties and three cities and,
+"under the shadow of bayonets, it was the rule of a few aliens in the
+midst of a generally hostile population. Men at the time and since
+have laughed at its legitimist pretenses." It would have been
+summarily dismissed by the people but for the protection afforded it
+by the Federal armies. Thus it appears that the "Restored Government
+of Virginia" was not based upon the consent and approval of the
+governed. Yet, suited to a policy of expediency and aggression, it
+was, with quivering and unseemly eagerness, recognized as the legal
+government of the State by the Lincoln administration.
+
+
+_Emancipation._
+
+A significant event of the war was the issuance by President Lincoln
+of his celebrated emancipation proclamation. This highly important
+measure, promulgated on New Year's day, 1863, sounded the death-knell
+of slavery, an institution that, in the South, had seemed commercially
+indispensable.
+
+The tidings spread rapidly through Loudoun producing, however, no
+change in the amicable relations existing between the white and
+colored races. In all sections of the South some apprehension was at
+first felt lest the negroes be tempted by Federal rewards to
+insurrection and the state militias be required to suppress outbreaks.
+
+The people of Loudoun, of course, shared in these early misgivings,
+but here, as elsewhere, the negroes, as a whole, manifested no outward
+signs of disaffection. History must record to their credit and praise
+that while actual warfare was being waged on the soil of Loudoun they
+quietly awaited the final issue of the fiery struggle.
+
+Entire communities of women and children were left in their charge,
+while all able-bodied white men were away on the battlefield, and the
+trust was faithfully kept. Instances of criminal acts were so rare
+that at this period none are recalled, and while this fidelity is
+proof of the peaceable character of the negro, it is also evidence for
+their owners that slavery had produced no personal hostilities between
+the two races in Loudoun County, and that the treatment of the negro
+by his owner under the law had been such as to maintain between them
+personal attachment and mutual confidence. Many negroes accompanied
+their owners to the seat of war, not to take part in battle, but to
+serve in semi-military duties without exposure to danger. Some of them
+marched in Maryland and Pennsylvania with the armies of Lee,
+voluntarily returning, although they might have remained in the free
+States without hindrance. They are still proud of the conduct of their
+race in those days of anxiety and peril.
+
+The proclamation of President Lincoln was regarded in Virginia as a
+strictly political war measure, designed to place the cause of war
+distinctly upon the sole question of slavery for an effect to be
+produced upon foreign countries and with the purpose of making use of
+negroes as soldiers in the Federal army. The issue of negro freedom
+had not been distinctly made until this proclamation created it.
+Hitherto it had been understood that, at the furthest, the Federal
+authorities would insist only on restriction of slavery to the limits
+where it already existed and a gradual emancipation upon payment of
+the value of slaves held at the beginning of the war. But now it was
+settled that the United States proposed to enforce by arms an
+instantaneous emancipation without compensation.
+
+
+_Close of the War._
+
+The half-clad and impoverished southern armies, after four years of
+valiant fighting, were no longer able to withstand the superior
+numbers that had confronted them with merciless regularity in every
+important conflict of the war, and, in April, 1865, the struggle
+ceased with the complete subjugation of the Southland.
+
+All that the States-rights supporters had prophesied would be
+accomplished if unresisted; all that the Unionists had indignantly
+denied to be the objects of the war was accomplished: the South was
+conquered, State sovereignty repudiated, the slaves were freed, and
+the recognition of negro political equality forced upon the nation.
+
+Neighborhood strifes and animosities had been engendered in every
+village and hamlet, and in nearly every household mothers wept for the
+lost darlings asleep in their unmarked graves. The women and children,
+hearing with a shock of the surrender, experienced a terrible dread of
+the incoming armies. The women had been enthusiastic for the
+Confederate cause; their sacrifices had been incalculable, and to many
+the disappointment and sorrow following defeat were more bitter than
+death. The soldier had the satisfaction of having fought in the field
+for his opinions and it was easier for him to abide by the decision of
+arms.
+
+But the terms of peace had scarcely been signed when the great popular
+heart of the State swelled with generous and magnanimous rivalry in an
+effort to repair the past. The soldiers who had fought and striven
+under the successful banners of the Union came back with no bitterness
+in their hearts, with no taunts on their lips. The war-worn exiles of
+the Southern army, long before formal permission had been given by
+either the State or Federal Government, were summoned home and
+received with open arms and affectionate greetings by both the Union
+and States-rights men. The people of the entire State seemed to
+remember with sorrowful pride the noble men who had died gallantly in
+the ranks of either army. Over their faults was thrown the mantle of
+the sweet and soothing charities of the soldier's grave; and, on all
+sides, there was manifested unstinted admiration for the valor with
+which they had borne the dangers and privations of the war.
+
+
+RECONSTRUCTION.
+
+_After the Surrender._
+
+If the era of Reconstruction which followed the tragic drama of civil
+war lacked the fierce element of bloodshed, it was none the less
+painful and protracted. It was a gloomy period through which the
+people of Loudoun, in common with other communities of the Southland,
+were compelled to pass, and there was no appeal and no alternative
+save submission.
+
+The conditions in the South in this decade were radically different
+from those in the North. As a result of the war, the markets of the
+South were destroyed, investments in slaves were lost, and land
+improvements deteriorated. The close of the war found the planters
+bankrupt, their credit destroyed, and agriculture and all business
+paralyzed by lack of working capital. Vast areas of land went out of
+cultivation, the reported acreage of farm land in all the Southern
+States was less in 1870 than in 1860, and the total and average values
+of land everywhere decreased.
+
+The paroled Confederate soldier had returned to his ruined farm and
+set to work to save his family from extreme want. For him the war had
+decided two questions--the abolition of slavery, and destruction of
+State sovereignty. Further than this he did not expect the political
+effects of the war to extend. He knew that some delay would
+necessarily attend the restoration of former relations with the
+central government, but political proscription and humiliation were
+not anticipated.
+
+No one thought of further opposition to Federal authority; the results
+of the war were accepted in good faith, and the people meant to abide
+by the decision of arms. Naturally, there were no profuse expressions
+of love for the triumphant North, but the people in general manifested
+an earnest desire to leave the past behind them and to take their
+places and do their duty as citizens of the new Union. Many persons
+were disposed to attribute their defeat to the will of the Almighty.
+Others believed that fate, destiny, or Providence had frowned upon the
+South, and this state of mind made them the more ready to accept as
+final the results of the war.
+
+Such was the state of feeling in the first stage, before there was any
+general understanding of the nature of the questions to be solved or
+of the conflicting policies. News from the outside world filtered
+through slowly; while the whole County lay prostrate, breathless,
+exhausted, resting. Little interest was evinced in public questions;
+the long strain had been removed, and the future was a problem too
+bewildering even to be considered yet awhile. The people settled down
+into a lethargy, seemingly indifferent to the events that were
+crowding one upon another, and exhibiting little interest in
+government and politics.
+
+There was a woeful lack of good money in the County and industry was
+paralyzed. The gold and silver that remained was carefully hoarded,
+and for months none was in circulation except in the towns. The people
+had no faith in paper money of any description and thought that
+greenbacks would become worthless in the same way as had Confederate
+currency. All sense of values had been lost, which fact may account
+for the fabulous and fictitious prices obtaining in the South for
+several years after the war, and the liberality of appropriations of
+the first legislatures following the surrender.
+
+With many persons there was an almost maddening desire for the things
+to which they had once been accustomed, the traders and speculators
+now placing them in tempting array in the long-empty store window.
+
+People owning hundreds of acres of land often were as destitute as the
+poorest negro. The majority of those having money to invest had bought
+Confederate securities as a patriotic duty, and in this way much of
+the specie had been drawn from the County.
+
+Nearly all the grist-mills and manufacturing establishments had been
+destroyed, mill-dams cut, ponds drained, and railroad depots, bridges,
+and trestles burned. All farm animals near the track of the armies had
+been carried away or killed by the soldiers, or seized after the
+occupation by the troops. Horses, mules, cows, and other domestic
+animals had almost disappeared except in the secluded districts. Many
+farmers had to plough with oxen. Farm buildings had been dismantled or
+burned, houses ruined, fences destroyed, corn, meat, and other food
+products taken.
+
+In the larger towns, where something had been saved from the wreck of
+war, the looting by Federal soldiers was shameful. Pianos, curios,
+pictures, curtains, and other household effects were shipped North by
+the Federal officers during the early days of the occupation. Gold and
+silver plate and jewelry were confiscated by the "bummers" who were
+with every command. Abuses of this kind became so flagrant that the
+Northern papers condemned the conduct of the soldiers, and several
+ministers, among them Henry Ward Beecher, rebuked the practice from
+the pulpit.
+
+The best soldiers of the Federal army had demanded their discharge as
+soon as fighting was over, and had immediately left for their homes.
+Those who remained in the service in the State were, with few
+exceptions, very disorderly and kept the people in terror by their
+robberies and outrages.
+
+Land was almost worthless, many of the owners having no capital, farm
+animals, or implements. Labor was disorganized, and its scant product
+often stolen by roving negroes and other marauders. The planters often
+found themselves amid a wilderness of land without laborers.
+
+From this general gloom and despair the young people soon partially
+recovered, and among them there was much social gayety of a quiet
+sort. For four years the young men and young women had seen little of
+each other, and there had been comparatively few marriages. Now that
+they were together again, these nuptials soon became more common than
+conditions seem to have warranted.
+
+This revival of spirits did not extend to the older people, who were
+long recovering from the shock of grief, and strain of war, much that
+had made life worth living being lost to them forever.
+
+
+_Conduct of the Freedmen._
+
+Nearly every slaveholder, returning home after the fall of the
+Confederacy, assembled his remaining negroes and formally notified
+them of their freedom, and talked with them concerning its entailed
+privileges, responsibilities, and limitations. The news had, of
+course, reached them through other channels, but they had loyally
+awaited the home-coming of their masters, to whom they looked for a
+confirmation of the reports. Steady employment at a fixed wage was
+offered most of them, and, except in the vicinity of the towns and
+army posts, where they were exposed to alien influences, the negroes
+usually chose to remain at their work.
+
+Many were satisfied with the old slavery quarters while others, for
+the taste of freedom that was afforded, established homes of their own
+at near-by points. There were two things which the negroes of the
+South felt must be done before they could be entirely free: They must
+discard their masters' names and leave the old plantations if only for
+a few days or weeks.
+
+Among the most contented and industrious there was much restlessness
+and neglect of work. Hunting and fishing and frolics were the order of
+the day. Nearly every man acquired, in some way, a dog and gun as
+badges of freedom. It was quite natural that the negroes should want a
+prolonged holiday for the enjoyment of their new-found freedom; and it
+is really strange that any of them worked, for there obtained an
+almost universal impression--the result of the teachings of the negro
+soldiers and Freedmen's Bureau officials--that the Government would
+support them in idleness. But in the remote districts this impression
+was vague. The advice of the old plantation preachers held many to
+their work, and these did not suffer as did their brothers who flocked
+to the towns.
+
+Neither master nor freedman knew exactly how to begin anew and it was
+some time before affairs emerged from the chaotic state into which the
+war had plunged them. The average planter had little or no faith in
+free negro labor, yet all who were now able were willing to give it a
+trial. The more optimistic land-owners believed that the free negro
+could in time be made an efficient laborer, in which case they were
+willing to admit that the change might prove beneficial to both races.
+At first, however, no one knew just how to work the free negro;
+innumerable plans were devised, many tried, and few adopted.
+
+The new regime differed but little from the old until the fall of
+1865, when the Freedmen's Bureau, aided by the negro soldiers and
+white emissaries, had filled the minds of the credulous ex-slaves with
+false impressions of the new and glorious condition that lay before
+them. Then, with the extension of the Bureau and spread of the army
+posts, many of the negroes became idle, neglected the crops planted in
+the spring, and moved from their old homes to the towns or wandered
+aimlessly from place to place.
+
+Upon leaving their homes the blacks collected in gangs at the
+cross-roads, in the villages and towns, and especially near the
+military posts. To the negro these ordinary men in blue were beings
+from another sphere who had brought him freedom, a something he could
+not exactly comprehend, but which, he was assured, was a delightful
+state.
+
+Upon the negro women often fell the burden of supporting the children,
+to which hardship were traceable the then common crimes of foeticide
+and child murder. The small number of children during the decade of
+Reconstruction was generally remarked. Negro women began to flock to
+the towns; how they lived no one can tell; immorality was general
+among them. The conditions of Reconstruction were unfavorable to
+honesty and morality among the negroes, both male and female.
+
+Their marriage relations were hardly satisfactory, judged by white
+standards. The legislatures in 1865-1866 had declared slave marriages
+binding. The reconstructionists denounced this as a great cruelty and
+repealed the laws. Marriages were then made to date from the passage
+of the Reconstruction Acts. As many negro men had had several wives
+before that date they were relieved from the various penalties of
+desertion, bigamy, adultery, etc. Some seized the opportunity to
+desert their wives and children and acquire new help-meets. While much
+suffering resulted from the desertion, as a rule, the negro mother
+alone supported the children better than did the father who stayed.
+
+Negro women accepted freedom with even greater seriousness than did
+the men, and were not always, nor easily, induced to again take up the
+familiar drudgery of field labor and domestic service. To approximate
+the ease of their former mistresses, to wear fine clothes and go often
+to church were their chief ambitions. Negro women had never been as
+well-mannered, nor, on the whole, as good natured and cheerful as the
+negro men. Both sexes, during Reconstruction, lost much of their
+native cheerfulness; the men no longer went singing and shouting to
+their work in the fields; some of the blacks, especially the women,
+became impudent and insulting in their bearing toward the whites.
+
+As a result of certain pernicious alien influences there soon
+developed a tendency to insolent conduct on the part of the younger
+negro men, who seemed convinced that civil behavior and freedom were
+incompatible. With some there was a disposition not to submit to the
+direction of their employers, and the negro's advisers warned him
+against the "efforts of the white man to enslave" him. Consequently,
+he very often refused to enter into contracts that called for any
+assumption of responsibility on his part, and the few agreements to
+which he became a party had first to be ratified by the Bureau. As he
+had no knowledge of the obligation of contracts, he usually violated
+them at pleasure.
+
+The negroes, massed in the towns, lived in deserted and ruined houses
+or in huts built by themselves of refuse lumber. They were very
+scantily clothed and their food, often insufficient and badly cooked,
+if cooked at all, was obtained by begging, stealing, or upon
+application to the Bureau. Taking from the whites was not considered
+stealing, but was "Spilin' de Gypshuns."
+
+The health of the negroes was injured during the period 1865-1875. In
+the towns the standard of living was low, sanitary arrangements were
+bad, and disease killed large numbers and permanently injured the
+negro constitution.
+
+Following the military occupation of the State the negroes, young and
+old, were seized with an overmastering desire for book learning. This
+seeming thirst for education was not rightly understood at the North;
+it was, in fact, more a desire to imitate the white master and obtain
+formerly forbidden privileges than any real yearning due to an
+understanding of the value of education. The negro hardly knew the
+significance of the bare word, but the northern people gave him credit
+for an appreciation not yet altogether true even of whites.
+
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+No occurrences of extreme historic value mark the career of Loudoun
+since the days of Reconstruction, and the seemingly abrupt conclusion
+to which the reader has now arrived is not thought incompatible with
+the plan of this work, which in no single instance has contemplated
+the inclusion of any but the most momentous events. Besides, existing
+conditions have received protracted mention in the preceding
+descriptive and statistical departments where appear evidences of the
+County's present vast wealth and resources, numberless charms and
+recent marvelous development.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History and Comprehensive Description
+of Loudoun County, Virginia, by James W. Head
+
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