Showing posts with label allen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label allen. Show all posts

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Newspaper Tidbit: Fire at Dumfries (1847)

Baltimore Sun (Maryland)
3 May 1847

FIRE AT DUMFRIES, (Va) -- Eighteen Houses Burned

A correspondent of the Washington Union, writing from Dumfries, Va., states that on Wednesday last, a fire broke out in Mrs. Boyle's house, opposite the brick tavern, and destroyed nearly all the houses at the east end of the town; the house of Mr. Dunnington; the large three story, frame, containing about thirty rooms, belonging to the Colquhoun's and Dunnington's heirs; the old baking house; Mrs. Waters', Mr. Allen's, and several other houses, in all 18, were consumed.  About 40 persons were turned out of their homes.

Nearly all the men were absent, engaged in the fisheries on the Potomac. There was an awful silence -- no bells, no engines -- and the inmates of the houses, mostly females, looking on in mute despair.  Such was the dryness of the houses, and so rapid was the progress of the flames, that but few saved anything but their wearing apparel.


Sunday, September 8, 2019

Sunday's Obituary: Lydia Allen (1856)

Evening Star (Washington, DC)
18 February 1856

In this city, on the 18th instant, in the 65th year of her age, Mrs. LYDIA ALLEN, widow of the late Wm. Allen of Prince William county, Virginia.  The deceased was for near half a century an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Her funeral will take place from the residence of her son-in-law, C. W. C. Dunnington, 298 south B street, Capitol Hill, at 3 o'clock p.m., on Tuesday, February 19th.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Military Monday: Prisoners of War

Alexandria Gazette
01 November 1862

The following prisoners of war in Washington were discharged from the Old Capitol prison, on taking the oath of allegiance to the United States:

D. Allen, Fairfax county
J. Mansfield, Loudoun county
L. Love, Prince William county
J. Sanders, Fauquier county
L. Pettit, Prince William county
John Gillespie, Fauquier county
J. W. Monroe, do. (Fauquier county)
John Sweeney, do. (Fauquier County)
B. S. Minor, Loudoun county, and
J. May, Georgia.


Friday, May 8, 2015

Friday's Faces from the Past: Officers of County Club Council, 1933

Manassas Journal
9 February 1933

OFFICERS OF COUNTY CLUB COUNCIL, 1933

Officers for the year were elected at the meeting of the club council  held on January 28.  Plans were outlined by the group for county-wide club activities.  The council is working to have all clubs in the standard list by the end of the club year.


Front row, left to right - Wilda Bourne, Occoquan R-H Club, vice-president; Leslie Bourne, Occoquan, cheer leader; Mildred Roseberry, Manassas 4-H Club, vice-president; Hilda Lion, Manassas 4-H Club, secretary.

Back row - Elizabeth Allen, Nokesville 4-H Club, song leader; Mildred Wood, Nokesville 4-H Club, reporter; Joyce Garman, Nokesville 4-H Club, president of County 4-H Club Council

Friday, June 14, 2013

Friend of Friends Friday: Circuit Court Cases

Alexandria Gazette – October 17, 1837

CIRCUIT COURT. – The Circuit Court of the United States for this County terminated its October term on Saturday last, after a session of two weeks. The civil business of the docket was all gone through, and nothing is now to be done except entering up judgments on forthcoming bonds, for which purpose the Court will meet on the 31st of this month. There was less criminal matter before the Court than usual. Among the cases were the following:--

Dorcas Allen—slave--murder--acquitted on the ground of insanity. An account of this trial has before appeared.

Thomas Morris—free negro—Larceny, value six dollars—convicted and sentenced to Penitentiary of D.C. For two years.

Benjamin Morgan—white—Larceny, value seven dollars--(third conviction)--sentenced to Penitentiary two years.

James Davis—white—Larceny, value $3.50—convicted and sentenced to common jail of the county for one month and to pay a fine of one dollar.

Joseph Ferrall—free negro—This man was convicted at the last term of the Court of forging a certificate of freedom purporting to have been issued by the County Court of Prince William, with a certificate of the clerk under the Seal of the Court, to the signature of the presiding justice. The Seal (a pair of scales, with a tobacco leaf below them, and the words “Prince William County” in the margin) was tolerably well executed, but the name of the presiding judge, Mr. Ewell, was spelled “Uile.” The handwriting was stiff and labored, but perfectly distinct. Ferrall was convicted and sentenced to four years in the Penitentiary.

At the present term of the Court, the Grand Jury found another indictment against him for forging a similar instrument of the same purport. The seal was somewhat better executed than the last, but the name of Mr. Ewell was still spelled “Uile.” A writ of Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum directed to the Warden of the Penitentiary was prayed for by the District Attorney and awarded by the Court and by virtue of it, Ferrall was brought to the bar and tried for the offence charged upon him. The forgery was clearly proved by the testimony of a slave belonging to a gentleman of this place, to whom the prisoner had given the paper in question for the consideration of four dollars, to enable him to pass as a free man. The slave ran away and was apprehended during the recess of the Court. The previous conviction was in a case of similar circumstances, but the slave, belonging to the same gentleman, and who had also run away, was taken before the last term of the Court. Ferrall's handwriting was, moreover, in the present case proven by the oath of a gentleman residing in town who had seen him write and who swore that the writing of the forged instrument was in his belief the prisoner's.

Convicted and sentenced to the Penitentiary for three years, to commence running after the expiration of the four years for which he was sentenced at the last court. It may not be out of place to remark that the prisoner had been for many years acting as a preacher, and the keeper of a school in the town of Alexandria for the instruction of colored children.

The grand jury made a presentment of the Court House of this county as unsafe and unfit for the purposes intended for, and appointed a committee, under the approbation of the Court, to wait on the execution in relation to it.

The grand jury presented Joseph Johnson and other proprietors of the Steamboat Joseph Johnson, for not keeping in or attached to said boat one or more small boats for the purpose of saving the lives and property of passengers in said boat should any accident happen to her.


Among the civil cases decided, the only one of much general importance to the mercantile interest was “That a newspaper advertisement of prime bacon for sale, is not a warranty of the soundness of the article, where the purchaser had a full opportunity for inspecting and did actually inspect a part, and although he paid a full price for it.”

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Marriage Notices Outside PWCo


Providence Patriot (Providence, RI) – 18 December 1822
MARRIED, in Prince William county, Vir. On the 4th inst. by the Rev. Mr. Latham, Mr. Christopher C. Cushing, of Seekonk, Mass. To Miss Eleanor Newman, youngest daughter of the late Thomas Newman, Esq. of the former place.

Baltimore Patriot (Baltimore, MD) – 10 February 1824
MARRIED, at Snow Hill, Prince William county, Va., James M. Tyler, to Miss Ann Matilda, eldest daughter of Col. William Hebb.

Torch Light (Hagers-town, MD) – 14 September 1826
…On the same day [Thursday 7th], in Prince William county, Virginia, Mr. Jacob Snively, of Hancock, to Miss Harriet Blackwell, daughter of D. Blackwell, Esq.

Gloucester Telegraph (Gloucester, MA) – 9 October 1830
Another Revolutionary Soldier gone!!!  At Summerfield, Prince William County, Va., on the 5th ult. By the Rev. J. E. Weems, William Flatford, Esq. a soldier of the Revolution, aged 85 years, to Miss Chloe Allen, aged 45.

Richmond Whig (Richmond, VA) – 19 May 1840
MARRIED.  On Thursday 14th instant, by the Rev'd Wm. S. Plummer, Mr. Dan'l A. Ratcliffe of Prince William County, to Miss Mary Frances, daughter of James Bosher, Esqr. Of this city.

Massachusetts Spy (Worcester, MA) – 2 February 1848
In Petersham, Jan 10, Mr. N. Look, of Prince William County, Va., to Miss Sarah Ann Lincoln.

Critic-Record (Washington, DC) – 23 October 1875
MARRIAGE LICENSES.  Licenses to wed have been issued to Henry Washington and Jane Ware, George R. Atkinson, of Prince William co., Va., and Jennie B. Jones, of Fairfax county, Va.; Thomas C. Johnson and Elizabeth Tilghman, both of Baltimore; Thomas Shea and Mary Devine.

Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – 01 July 1899
COCKE-SMITH.  [Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.]  Roanoke, VA., June 30. – Miss Lillie May Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob D. Smith, was married tonight at St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church to Corey B. Cocke, of Prince William county.  Miss Marion Cocke, of Roanoke, was maid of honor and Dr. E. L. Downs best man.  The happy couple left on the midnight train for a Northern bridal tour.

Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – 28 September 1899
TAYLOR-SPINDLE.  [Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun].  Fredericksburg, VA., Sept. 27 – Mr. Robert B. Taylor, of Prince William county, and Mrs. Mary Alice Spindle, of Caroline county, were married heretoday at the Methodist parsonage, Rev. J. P. Stump officiating.

Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – 7 November 1903
HOTTLE-ROBINSON.  [Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun].  MANASSAS, VA., Nov. 6. – Miss Virginia Robinson, daughter of Mr. J. H. Robinson, and Mr. J. S. Hottle, of Shenandoah, Va., were married on Wednesday evening at 6 o'clock at the home of the bride, near Manassas, by Rev. R. Smith, of this place.  A wedding dinner was served immediately after the ceremony, after which Mr. and Mrs. Hottle left on a Northern tour.  On their return they will reside in Manassas.

Baltimore American (Baltimore, MD) – 22 June 1905
CLARKSON-THELIN. – A marriage of much interest which took place last evening was that of Miss Marie Bertin Thelin, daughter of Mrs. William T. Thelin, of Mount Washington, to Mr. Thomas B. Clarkson, of Prince William county, Va.  The bride, through her father, the late William T. Thelin, of this city, is of old French Huguenot descent, while through her mother, a daughter of the late Judge Griswold, she is a representative of one of the most important colonial lines of Maryland.  She is a very charming young girl, who only made her debut two seasons ago.  The groom is a son of Dr. Clarkson, of Prince William county, and comes of an old South Carolina family.

The ceremony was performed at 8 p. m. at St. John's Protestant Episcopal church, Mount Washington, by the rector, Rev. Wilbur F. Watkins, Jr.  The interior was beautifully decorated by the members of St. Mary's Guild with a profusion of sweet peas, roses, smilax and ferns.  Over the chancel was erected a canopy of red and white roses, beneath which the young couple stood for the marriage service.  Announcing the approach of the bridal party the hymn "Oh, Perfect Love" was sung by the choir of St. John's, the wedding chorus from "Lohengrin" being afterward rendered upon the organ by Miss Berth leary as the processional.  The bride entered with her brother, Mr. Griswold Tehlin, by whom she was given away.  She wore an exquisite gown of white liberty silk, trimmed with old lace, and a tulie veil, taught with orange blossoms.  Her ornaments were pearls, and instead of a bouquet she carried a white prayer book.  Two little girls – Misses Mary Kirk and Floy Van Den Burg – served as flower girls in dainty frocks of white embroidered mull, with pink ribbons, and carrying a basket of pink bridesmaid roses.

Mr. Walter Clarkson of Washington, brother of the groom, was best man.  The ushers were Mr. Robert H. B. Beverly, Mr. Alexander M. Breckenridge, and Mr. Hugh T. Clarkson, all of Virginia; Mr. Carl Clarkson, of Alabama, Mr. Thomas B. Headley, of Philadelphia, and Mr. William T. Thelin, Jr. of Lewiston, Pa.  After the ceremony the immediate members of the two families and the bridal party returned to the residence of Mrs. Thelin to drink the health of the bride and groom, who soon after left on their wedding trip.  Upon their return they will reside in Washington, D.C. 

On Tuesday afternoon the bridal party, with members of the two families, were entertained at luncheon at the Baltimore Country Club by Mrs. Charles E. Phelps, sister of the bride.  On Monday evening, a dinner in honor of the groom and his attendants was given by Charles. E. Phelps, also at the Country Club.

Baltimore American (Baltimore, MD) – 25 April 1906
Wedding in Manassas.  [Special to The American]  Manassas, Va., April 24 – Dr. W. U. Newman and Miss Florence Herrell were married at 12 o'clock today at the home of Capt. And Mrs. J. E. Herrell, on Battle street.  The ceremony was performed in the presence of the members of the bride's family and a few of her more intimate friends.  Dr. Newman is a prominent physician of this place.  The bride's father, Capt. J. E. Herrell, is a treasurer of Prince William county.

Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – 27 August 1907
CLINE-KEYS.  [Special Dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.]  Fredericksburg, Va., Aug. 26 – Miss Annie Gertrude Keys, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Keys, of Prince William county, and Dr. T. C. Cline, of Dumfries, were married at the home of the bride's parents, Rev. A. J. Cummings officiating.  The couple left on a bridal tour for the Jamestown Exposition.  They will reside at Dumfries.

Washington Bee (Washington, DC) – 29 June 1918
QUIETLY MARRIED.  Miss Dovie Peters and Mr. Norman B. Grigsby were married Wednesday, June 19, 1918.  Owing to the recent departure of the bride's brother for France, the couple were married quietly by the Rev. J. Strange, of Alexandria, Va.  Only the nearest relatives were present.  The bride wore a lovely gown of white georgette crepe trimmed most artistically with white and pink beads.  The hat was of white straw and georgette crepe touched here and there with forget-me-not, which corresponded most wonderfully with the bouquet she carried.  Her only attendant was her sister, Miss Nellie B. Peters, of Washington.  The bride and groom left immediately after the ceremony for a short stay with their parents in Virginia.  The bride is the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Peters of Manassas, Va.  The groom is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Grigsby of Marshall, Va.  The couple will later return to Washington, where Mr. Grigsby will take up his duties with the War Risk Insurance.







Wednesday, November 7, 2012

In Chancery: School Board of Brentsville, District No. 1

In Chancery
LVA Index No. 1910-004


To Honorable J. B. T. Thornton, Judge of the Circuit Court of Prince William, Virginia.

            Your petitioner, the SCHOOL BOARD OF BRENTSVILLE DISTRICT NUMBER ONE OF THE COUNTY OF PRINCE WILLIAM would respectfully ask leave of Your Honor to make sale of the Old Nokesville School property, lying at the Nokesville-Greenwich Road near Nokesville, and adjoining Herring, Flickinger and containing one half acre, having been conveyed certain Trustees for said District by Abraham Early by deed of July 2nd, 1883, recorded in D. B. 34 page 256, and also the Hazelwood School property, lying below Aden on the Harrison Ford Road, and containing one half acre, and having been conveyed to the said District by H. H. Love, by deed of June 3rd, 1889, and recorded in D. B. 38 page 604.
            Your said petitioners would state that neither of said Schools are now being used, by reason of their condition and owing to the fact that it became necessary to build new school houses and secure more land as required by the statutes in such cases made and provided.  Your petitioners, therefore, pray for leave to sell the two tracts of real estate aforesaid, and to expend the money towards paying for the new buildings erected in their stead, and that Your Honor will cause to be entered such orders as may be necessary and proper to effect the purpose aforesaid, and it will ever pray, etc.—

School Board of Brentsville District, Number One, of Prince William County
By R. N. Davis, Chairman

Teste, W. T. Allen, Clerk

April 1910


To Honorable J. B. T. Thornton, Judge of the Circuit Court of Prince William County, Virginia.

            The undersigned The School Board of Brentsville District, Number One, of the County of Prince William, begs leave to report that after advertising the property hereinafter described as required by law and in pursuance of the order heretofore entered in this cause, it offerred for sale after due legal advertisement at public auction to the highest bidder at Nokesville, Prince William County, Virginia, on the 25th day of March, 1910, the old Nokesville School lot, adjoining the lands of E. L. Herring, Flickinger and the Greenwich-Nokesville Road, and containing one-half acre and the Hazelwood School property, near Aden, on Harrison Ford Road and adjoining the land of M. C. Green, and containing one-half acre, at which sale G. G. Allen became the purchaser of the former tract at $196.50 and M. C. Green the purchaser of the latter tract at $26.00, both of which amounts were paid cash.  The undersigned Board thinks both of said prices good, and therefore recommends a confirmation of the same.

May 2, 1910

R. N. Davis, Chairman
W. T. Allen, Clerk