Travel Tuesday: Manassas Gap Railroad Stock

Alexandria Gazette
7 January 1851

MANASSAS GAP RAILROAD COMPANY -- 

The subscribers in the stock of this Company are hereby notified, that an installment of $3 upon each share of said stock, is required to be paid, on the 1st day of January next, and that a further installment of $1 upon each share is required to be paid on the 1st day of each succeeding month, for the next ensuing eleven months.

Payments will be made by the Stockholders residing in Alexandria, into either of the Banks of the town, and in the country, to the following agents, viz:

For the County of Fauquier -- To Messrs Samuel T. Ashby, Robert Beverley, Daniel Morgan, and Alfred Rector.

For the County of Prince William -- To Mr. Thomas B. Gaines.

For the Count of Warren -- to Messrs. Samuel Richardson, William Cook, and William Miller.

By order of the Board;

EDW'D GREEN, Clerk

dec 16--eotJan1&wtDec1'51

Newspaper Tidbit: Independence Day at Cannon Branch (1912)

Manassas Democrat

11 July 1912

INDEPENDENCE DAY AT CANNON BRANCH

Temperance the Chief Subject

Field Secretary, Anti-Saloon League, Chief Speaker -- Addresses by Messrs. Meetze, Blough, and Hutchison

The Cannon Branch and Bradley Sabbath Schools joined in celebrating the Fourth of July at Cannon Branch last Thursday, with a very interesting program consisting of recitations, declamations, dialogues, songs and special addresses.

Edward J. Richardson, Field Secretary of the Anti-Saloon League of Northern Virginia, delivered, both in the morning and afternoon, an interesting address, using a number of well-chosen cartoons to illustrate the baneful influence of intemperance and told in burning words the story of shattered homes and broken fortunes for which the liquor traffic is responsible.

Hon. C. J. Meetze, with his usual jeu de esprit and enthusiastic advocacy of the cause of temperance, delivered a forceful address declaring that if he had his way Virginia would be free from saloons and their influence.  

Rev. E. E. Blough, in well-chosen marks told of how the tobacco nuisance, which generally went hand in hand with the liquor habit, might be done away with or at least abated.

 Westwood Hutchison, in his accustomed good-humored way, spoke of how the masses might better their condition by self-denial along certain lines and through proper ambition.

Thus, independence day was pleasantly spent by friends and neighbors who partook of an appetizing dinner, from well-filled baskets contributed by those in attendance and which was greatly enjoyed.

If such meetings as this could be held on Independence Day in every county in the state for a few years, "the Old Dominion" -- mother of states and statesmen -- would free herself from the shackles which bind her to one of the chief causes of human depravity and of human misery.

Newspaper Tidbit: First Complete County History in Manassas by W.P.A.

Evening Star (Washington, DC)
25 March 1941

FIRST COMPLETE COUNTY HISTORY WRITTEN IN MANASSAS BY W.P.A.

Scattered Data Took Two Years to Assemble

Compiled as a Virginia Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration, a book claimed to be the first complete history of Prince William County (Va.) was published today, under the sponsorship of the Bethlehem Good Housekeeping Club of Manassas.

Edited by Mrs. Eudora Ramsey Richardson, supervisor of Virginia Writers' Projects, the book is called "Prince William, the Story of Its People and Its Places."  It gives a detailed account of the county's history and it is expected to prove valuable as a source of reference.

Research workers delved into old records, archives and rare documents to produce the book, which contains such things as a complete list of more than 700 taxpayers in the county for the year 1783, and the roster of about 600 Prince William troops in the Confederate Army.

The object of the project is to make available in one volume the valuable scattered data on the formation and development of this county. Over 2,000 names connected with the past and present history of Prince William are mentioned in the book.

The county was formed from King George and Stafford Counties in 1731, the book states. The name was given in honor of a 10-year-old son of King George II, then monarch of England.

The narrative discloses that Prince William citizens repeatedly figured in the conflicts that marked the early history of the country. Troops from the county participated in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. Gen. Braddock's army passed through the section en route to his final encounter. In Prince William the first company of minutemen in Virginia was formed. Later the county "was proud to give to the Continental Army one of its most brilliant officers -- Gen. Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee," father of Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The book recounts the well known history of the area around Manassas, county seat of Prince William, during the War Between the States.

It notes that in the 20th century the county still includes the important Marine base and training camp at Quantico.

The newly compiled history and guide book of Prince William offers information on leading educational institutes throughout the county and lists suggested tours, including trips to remote corners and back-country sections.t

Mrs. Richardson says she had a staff of eight persons at work two years to complete the book.

H. R. Eubank and Frank A. Browning, supervisors of the project, directed the research, while John S. Widdicombe, assistant State supervisor, plotted the tours and wrote all architectural descriptions. The story of education was compiled by Margaret Meagher and Everett Anderson, and tradition collected from tombstones and records by Mrs. Susan R. Morton of Haymarket, Va.

Mrs. Richardson served on the State Board of Public Welfare for 10 years prior to 1938. She is a former national field representative of the Federation of Business and Professional Women and organizing president of the Virginia branch of the American Association of University Women.

["Prince William, the Story of Its People and Its Places" remains one of the best research books on the county.  Research copies can be found at RELIC and other Virginia libraries.  ~cgl]

Wedding Wednesday: Abel/Leary

Evening Star (Washington, DC)
28 May 1889

MARRIAGE LICENSES -- Marriage licenses have been issued by the clerk of the court to

Wm. J. Kenney and Mary E. Hager;
W. H. Spriggs and Roberta Bryan;
George Dean and Johanna Taylor;
John Murray and Rebecca Thomas;
W. H. Johnson and Mary L. Moreland;
C. W. Richardson and Amy E. Small;
Moses F. Smallwood and Alice Pinkwood;
Chas. Watts, of Charles county, Md., and Anna Ross;
Chas. Duvall Decker and Effie Miranda Bennett;
Wallace W. Abel, of Prince William county, Va., and Edith G. Leary of Fredericksburg, Va.; 
Charles Bell and Fannie Carlton;
Charles A. Lasalle of Chicago, Ill., and Lizzie B. Litchfield;
Henry B. Chapman and Mary Alice Jones.