Falls Church is an incorporated town of about eleven hundred
inhabitants. Endowed by State law with the name of town when a mere
hamlet, it is still "the village" to its citizens. It is situated on the
Bluemont branch of the Southern Railway 9 miles from Alexandria, and 45
miles from Bluemont at the foot of the Blue Ridge. An electric railway
connects it with Georgetown, D. C., 6 miles distant, and it is 13 miles
over the Southern Railway to the business center of Washington. Located
originally in Fairfax County its growing area has overlapped into the
adjoining county of Alexandria, taking within its corporate limits the
extreme southwestern part of what was at one time the District of
Columbia.
It is essentially a village of homes, nearly all of which are set in
ample grounds adorned with rare trees, well-kept lawns, and tasteful
shrubbery and hedges. Its fourteen miles of streets are bordered with
beautiful maples, and in summer the principal avenues are bowers of
living green.
Like the National Capital in its inception, Falls Church is a town of
magnificent distances. Within its corporate limits is room for ten
thousand people without overcrowding.
At an altitude of 300 feet above Washington, summer days here are
pleasant and summer nights cool and sleep-inducing.
The social atmosphere is most refined, and the moral tone of its
citizens cannot be surpassed. No saloons have been allowed in Falls
Church since its incorporation as a town thirty years ago.
The town has an excellent graded public school with a high class of
instructors, besides a number of private schools. Eleven churches,
including three for colored people just outside the town limits, afford
ample accommodation for all church-goers within a radius of many miles.
All the leading religious denominations are represented. The church
edifices are most creditable for a town of its size, and two are fine
examples of church architecture.
Mr. E. T. Fenwick.
The history of Falls Church begins with the building of the old
Episcopal Church from which the place takes its name, but the town
itself is of modern growth. By a strange series of coincidences the old
church, as well as the town at a later period, has been in touch in
various ways with the National Government since Colonial days.
Washington was a vestryman and at times attended service here. It served
as a recruiting office for patriots of the Revolution. Dolly Madison
took the road for Leesburg leading past this church when fleeing from
the White House during the panic of the British invasion. Capt. Henry
Fairfax went forth with his company of Fairfax volunteers from the Falls
Church to the Mexican war and his body, borne home from far Saltillo,
found a resting place within its churchyard. Skirmishes between Union
and Confederate troops occurred all around its walls, and during the war
of '61 it served the purposes of a hospital for Union soldiers. To make
the chain of incidents complete, a farm near by was chosen at the
outbreak of the Spanish-American war as a training camp for United
States volunteer soldiers.
Presbyterian Church
Few events of moment in government affairs can occur without directly
affecting some resident of Falls Church, since this little town has its
quota among the officers of the army and navy, in the rank and file of
the army, and on the forecastle of the man-of-war, to say nothing of a
full representation on the rolls of the several executive departments.
When the battle ship Maine was blown up in Havana harbor two jackies
from Falls Church were on board, fortunately escaping with their lives.
After Aguinaldo's capture by General Funston, it was a Falls Church man
who commanded the gunboat which conveyed the captive around the Island
of Luzon to Manila. The brave General Lawton, killed on the firing line
in the Philippine war, had so recently been a citizen of the town that
his death was deplored as a personal loss by his former neighbors.
Mr. W. M. Ellison
About the middle of the last century there was a large influx of
settlers to Fairfax County from Northern New York and the New England
States, attracted by the milder climate and the cheaper lands then
offered for sale. Among the families who came about that period and
settled nearest the old Falls Church were the Baileys, Birches,
Barretts, Coes, Ellisons, Iveses, Lounsberrys, Munsons, Osbornes, Ryers
and Sherwoods—all familiar names, and many of them or their immediate
descendants now prominent residents of this village.
Mr. George G. Crossman
Early in the seventies two government clerks drove over the rough and
hilly road from Washington and looked around the little hamlet of a
dozen houses scattered along the Leesburg turnpike from the old brick
church to the railroad station at West End. They were impressed with its
inviting hills as the ideal situation for country residences. The
excellent water from unlimited springs, the cool breezes and pleasing
prospect from the hilltops overlooking hot and dusty Washington in the
distance, persuaded them to make their homes in this ideal place. At
that time the railroad facilities to Washington were most unpromising.
The coaches were little better than the present freight car caboose, the
schedule was unreliable, the trains slow, and a change of cars had to be
made at the Alexandria junction. Such drawbacks did not deter these men
from carrying out their purpose of locating here. They decided to ride
or drive back and forth to their work in the department at Washington.
Others soon followed these pioneers, and a settlement of government
employees was the result. Many of those who followed the first two
pioneers were from New England. They were families for the most part
endowed with all those sturdy qualities of integrity, frugality and
piety, characteristic of their section, and soon the church of their
fathers stood within a stone's throw of the church of the early
Virginians.
Since the day our townsmen, Mr. Charles H. Buxton and Prof. W. W.
Kinsley, the pioneers of modern Falls Church, first settled here, the
increase of population has been slow, but it has been of steady and
sterling growth. The conservatism of the land-owners has given less
rapid growth than were its tone purely speculative. The population as
reported by the United States census for 1890 was 792; the census of
1900 gives the population at 1007, an increase of over 27 per cent.
during the ten years. The tax roll for 1903 shows property of taxable
value of $420,125, an increase of $149,040 over 1890.
Virginia Training School. Miss M. Gundry, Principal.
Of all those who followed Messrs. Buxton and Kinsley to Falls Church,
who built homes and made the little straggling settlement at the
cross-roads the beautiful village it is to-day, space will not permit
even a brief mention. But there are a number of well-known citizens
still residing here who formed the nucleus of that "department colony"
of thirty years ago, and through whose influence in great measure this
village has become a settlement of government employees. Most prominent
among these settlers of the 70's who are connected with the executive
departments in Washington are Messrs. G. A. L. Merrifield and M. S.
Roberts of the Pension Bureau, Albert P. Eastman of the War Department
and George F. Rollins of the Treasury Department.
Dr. J. B. Gould
The rate of taxation levied by the town government is 60 cents on the
hundred dollars, 30 cents of which is for school purposes and 30 cents
for all expenses of the corporation. To this must be added the taxes
collected by the county of Fairfax, 75 cents on the hundred dollars,
making a total tax on property holders in the town of $1.35 on each one
hundred dollars of the assessed valuation. Property within the
corporation is exempt from county road tax and district school tax.
Property in that part of the village lying within Alexandria County is
assessed in like manner by the town and the authorities of the latter
county. The tax rate for Alexandria County for the year 1903 on the one
hundred dollars of assessed valuation of personal and real property was:
State tax, 35 cents; county levy, 40 cents, and for court-house
purposes, 10 cents—a total of 85 cents chargeable to the property
owners of East Falls Church, the section of the village in this county.
An additional tax of 50 cents for road purposes and 40 cents for the
district school is levied against taxable property in this county
outside of East Falls Church.
Mr. W. H. Nowlan
When scarcely entitled to be designated by the name of village, the
little settlement on the Leesburg turnpike known as Falls Church was, by
an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, incorporated as a town. The
act in question was approved March 30, 1875, and on April 13 following
the new town began its career with the following officials duly
installed: Mayor, Dr. J. J. Moran; Clerk, H. J. England; Town Sergeant,
E. F. Crocker; Councilmen, Dr. J. J. Moran, George B. Ives, J. E. Birch,
T. T. Fowler, Isaac Crossman, J. J. Carter, Dr. L. E. Gott.
The act of incorporation was successively amended by the State
Legislature in 1879, 1890 and 1894. Sections 1 and 2 of the act of
incorporation as amended, approved March 2, 1894, read as follows:
Section 1. So much of the territories in the counties of Fairfax and
Alexandria, together with all the improvements and appurtenances
thereunto belonging, as is contained in the following boundaries,
to-wit: Beginning at the corner of Alexandria and Fairfax counties, on
J. C. DePutron's farm; thence to the corner of J. C. Nicholson and W. S.
Patton, in Mistress Ellen Gordon's line; thence to the corner of Sewell
and L. S. Abbott on the new cut road; thence to the corner of A. A.
Freeman and Mrs. Henry J. England on the Falls Church and Fairfax Court
House road; thence along centre of said road to centre of bridge over
Holmes Run; thence easterly in a straight line to the northwest corner
of the colored Methodist church on the road leading to Annandale;
thence easterly to the crossing of the Alexandria and Georgetown roads
at Taylor's corner; thence along the north line of said Georgetown road
to the corner of T. M. Talbott and Emma Taylor's estate; thence to a pin
oak tree near Dr. L. E. Gott's spring; thence to a stone on the property
of J. A. and Mrs. J. H. C. Brown, formerly the northeast corner of John
Brown's barn; thence to the crossing of Isaac Grossman's and Bowen's
line on the chain bridge road; thence to the place of beginning, is and
shall continue forever to be a body politic and corporate under the name
and style of the town of Falls Church, and shall possess and exercise
the rights and powers conferred on towns by the general laws of this
State and shall be subject to the restrictions and limitations imposed
by said law in so far as the provisions thereof are not in conflict with
the provisions of this act.
Mr. G. W. Poole
Sec. 2. Be it further enacted. That the government of said town shall be
vested in a council of nine qualified voters, who shall be elected by
ballot on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety-four;
three of whom shall hold that office for one year, three for two years
and three for three years respectively, the same to be determined by
lot. The successors of the three whose terms expire each year shall be
elected annually on the fourth Thursday in May and shall hold their
offices for three years, or until their successors are duly elected and
qualified. The terms of office of all councilmen shall begin on the
first day of July of each year succeeding their election. Any person
entitled to vote in the magisterial districts of Falls Church or
Providence, in Fairfax County, or Washington magisterial district in
Alexandria County, and residing in said corporation and duly registered
by the town clerk, shall be entitled to vote at all elections for
councilmen. The town clerk and two members of the council whose terms of
office do not expire with that year, and who shall be designated by the
mayor, shall conduct such election between the hours of one and seven,
post meridian, and shall make return of the same to the mayor who shall
issue certificates, countersigned by the clerk, to those elected. Tie
votes shall be decided by lot, and contests shall be decided by the
council under the law governing contests for the county offices.
Mr. G. F. McInturff
Mr. M. E. Church
Section five provides that the council shall annually levy and collect
necessary taxes for roads, streets, school and corporation purposes,
which tax for all purposes shall not exceed sixty cents on one hundred
dollars without the consent of two-thirds of the resident freeholders of
the corporation. An amendment gives the council the privilege of levying
an additional tax of ten cents on the hundred dollars for the purpose of
establishing and maintaining a high school course in Jefferson
Institute, the public school, whenever requested by the town school
board.
Section eight provides that the "town sergeant shall be the executive
officer of the council, and shall have the authority, jurisdiction and
fees of a constable of Fairfax and Alexandria counties within and one
mile beyond the corporate limits. He shall, unless otherwise provided,
be the town treasurer and as such shall collect all taxes, fines and
licenses, and disburse the same upon the warrant of the council, signed
by the mayor and clerk."
Mr. J. W. Brown, Store and Residence
The same section makes the sergeant overseer of roads and streets,
giving him the same powers as overseers of roads under the special road
laws of Fairfax and Alexandria counties, his compensation to be fixed by
the council.
Section nine provides that no district school tax and no district road
tax shall be assessed and collected, except by the council, on any
property within the corporation limits.
The last important section of the act of incorporation, which assures
the peace and quiet of this village, is the restriction placed upon the
liquor traffic. It reads as follows:
Sec. 10. That any person applying to the county of Fairfax or the county
of Alexandria for a license to sell liquors of any kind, either as a
keeper of an ordinary or eating house, or as a merchant, within the
corporate limits of the town of Falls Church in the said counties, or
within one mile beyond the limits of the said corporation shall produce
before the courts or boards having control of the issuance of licenses
for the sale of liquor of said counties a certificate of said council of
said town to the effect that the applicant is a suitable person and that
no good reason is known to said council why said license should not be
granted. And the courts of said counties or boards having authority
shall not grant the said license to sell liquors within the limits above
prescribed until and unless such a certificate be given. And under no
circumstances and in no event whatever shall the sale of liquors be
licensed in any part of the corporation where license for the sale
thereof has been prohibited under the provisions of chapter twenty-five
of the Code of Virginia, known as the local option law.
Mr. Geo. L. Erwin
The town is divided into three wards and each ward is represented by
three councilmen.
The Board of Health, appointed annually by the council, looks after the
health of the town, with authority to carry out such sanitary
regulations as may be deemed wise and expedient. The Board of Health for
the present year consists of Dr. T. C. Quick, Chairman, and Councilmen
John H. Wells and Elmer I. Crump.
The Fire Department of the village was organized in 1898. The officers
are a chief engineer and three fire wardens, one from each ward, and a
captain of the fire company. The equipment for fighting fires consists
of one fifty-five and two twenty-five gallon chemical engines of the
most approved pattern and one fully equipped hook and ladder truck. The
larger engine is kept in the central part of the village while the two
smaller ones are stationed at East Falls Church and West End
respectively. The officers are Chief Engineer, Dr. J. B. Gould; Fire
Wardens—1st ward, Geo. T. Mankin; 2d ward, Edgar A. Kimball; 3d ward,
D. B. Patterson.
Mrs. Emma Garner.
The Village Improvement Society, an important factor in the growth and
development of the village, was organized about twenty years ago. The
chief object of the society has been the improvement and adornment of
the streets and the fine shade trees which emborder the village
thoroughfares everywhere attest the fidelity of its members to the
object in view. In addition to the work of this character the society
has aided in various other ways in the work of improving the village
besides furnishing social entertainments for its members and friends.
About fifteen hundred dollars have been raised by the society and
disbursed to excellent advantage in securing substantial benefits to the
public weal.
Mr. E. C. Hough
The Village Improvement Society was organized in the fall of 1885, the
first officers being Mr. W. H. Doolittle, President; Rev. D. H. Riddle,
Vice-President; Mr. S. V. Proudfit, Secretary and Mr. A. P. Eastman,
Treasurer.
This society was modeled after the famous Laurel Hill Society of
Stockbridge, Mass., and from a pamphlet published some years ago setting
forth its object we learn that its funds have been expended on roads,
sidewalks and street lamps, for a survey of the corporation, a piano for
the public school and other improvements at the school, for taking the
census and for Arbor Day expenses—a total expenditure up to that time
of about eight hundred dollars. The greater part of the money raised by
the society is from voluntary dues or the proceeds of lectures or other
entertainments. The funds raised in this manner are generally expended
through the town council or in conjunction with appropriations made by
that body.
The first observance of Arbor Day in the State was by the Falls Church
Village Improvement Society, when in 1892 this society instituted the
observance of the day by the public school. Since that date the society
has defrayed all Arbor Day expenses.
Major M. S. Hopkins
By an ordinance of the town adopted February 8, 1904, the third Friday
in April of each year is designated as Arbor Day, to be observed under
the auspices of the Village Improvement Society for the planting of such
trees, plants or shrubs as it may desire.
The officers of the Village Improvement Society for the present year are
as follows:
President, M. E. Church; Vice-President, Franklin Noble, D. D.;
Secretary, Miss Belle Merrifield; Treasurer, George W. Hawxhurst;
Assistant Secretary, Dr. George B. Fadeley.
The meetings are held on the first Monday of each month, except July and
August, at the homes of the different members.
On these occasions after the adjournment of the business meeting, a
literary and musical programme is provided by the hostess of the
evening. Aside from the matter of business, the social part of these
gatherings is a distinct feature of the society, which serves to keep
alive the interest of its members, bringing together congenial friends
and giving "new-comers" an opportunity to become acquainted with their
neighbors.
Mr. S. H. Thornburg
Pioneer Business Men. Among the most prominent business men of Falls
Church who located here about the time the place was incorporated as a
town, or soon thereafter, may be mentioned Mr. M. E. Church. Mr. Church
is a native of Vermont, and upon settling here engaged in the drug
business; he now conducts a successful real estate, loan and insurance
business. He is also connected with other important commercial
interests, and has been an indefatigable worker in promoting the welfare
of the village.
Mr. George W. Mankin, a native of this State, was one of the early
settlers in the village. He conducted a general merchandise business for
a long period of years, but at present is engaged in the drug business
with his son Mr. Geo. T. Mankin, under the firm name of George T. Mankin
& Co. Mr. Mankin has established as high reputation as a business man
and citizen as had his brother Mr. Charles Mankin, the well known dry
goods merchant, but recently deceased.
Mr. Nathan Banks
Mr. Wm. M. Ellison, whose father was one of the early northern settlers
in this community, is a successful lawyer and real estate broker. Mr.
Ellison stands high as a business man and citizen, having served his
town as a councilman for many years past and as mayor of the town for
several terms. He was recently re-elected councilman from the West End
ward.
Among other prominent merchants who early settled here are Mr. J. W.
Brown, dealer in hardware and general merchandise, and Mr. George
Gaither, dealer in groceries.
Mr. Isaac Crossman, who came here from Pennsylvania soon after the civil
war, purchased for farming purposes a large block of land which is now
situated almost in the center of the village. The price paid was about
forty dollars per acre. A large part of this land has been divided into
town lots and sold. To indicate the increase in real estate values since
the war, the land of this Crossman property lying nearest the northern
boundary of the village sells for one thousand dollars and upward per
acre.
James A. Dickinson, M. D.
Few Old Houses. Practically all the houses of the village are modern,
but there are a few old buildings of historic interest. Among these is
the Lawton house, at one time the residence of General Lawton. This
house was the headquarters of General Longstreet when the place was in
possession of the Confederates soon after the first battle of Manassas.
What was once known as the Star Tavern, now a grocery store, is a relic
of by-gone days. It flourished in the days before the railroad came, and
was a favorite stopping place for travelers over the road from the
mountains leading past its doors to the then important mart, Alexandria.
The place was kept during the civil war by W. H. Erwin, father of our
townsmen Messrs. Walter, George and Munson Erwin.
The old big chimney house situated in the field opposite the Odd
Fellows' Hall was built in Revolutionary times and is probably the
oldest dwelling in this vicinity. It is owned by the venerable John
Lynch, who was the sexton of the Episcopal Church for so many years
before and after the civil war. Mr. Lynch is now a resident of Maryland.
Dr. Geo. B. Fadeley
The Colored Settlement. The colored people have a settlement a short
distance south of the town limits, consisting of probably a hundred
cottages with a population of between four and five hundred. They have
a school building and three churches and many of the little cottages and
surroundings indicate industry and thrift in the occupants.
Hotels. The Falls Church Inn, where an old Virginia welcome awaits the
way-farer, accommodates transient and regular boarders. Besides there is
the "Evergreens," a large summer boarding place which has a high
reputation. There are numerous other homes, in or near the village,
where boarders are taken for the summer months.
Newspaper. Falls Church has one newspaper published weekly, called "The
Falls Church Monitor." This paper was first established by Mr. E. F.
Rorebeck, under the name of "The Falls Church News." Mr. M. E. Church is
Editor and Mr. R. C. L. Moncure, General Manager.
Mankin Pharmacy
Excellent Natural Drainage. Four Mile Run, traversing the northeastern
section of the corporation, separates the main part of the village from
all that portion lying in Alexandria County and known as East Falls
Church. This little stream empties into the Potomac four miles below
Washington, whence its name. Where it breaks through the hills at
Barcroft its water-power is used for milling purposes, as in the days
when General Washington's flour mills were situated at or near the same
point. The southern section of the village is drained by Holmes' Run,
which empties into the Potomac just south of Alexandria. The two rapid
little streams named take their rise a short distance to the west of the
village and afford ample drainage for all the territory embraced within
the corporation boundaries.
Railway Depots and Post-Offices. Indicating the wide extent of territory
covered by Falls Church, it possesses two railway depots and three
independent post-offices. The Southern Railway's East Falls Church and
West End stations are one mile apart. The electric railway also has
stations and ticket offices near those of the steam road. The Falls
Church post office is on Broad street in the center of the village. East
Falls Church post office is located at the electric railway station and
West End post office at the West End steam railway station, the former
being one-half mile and the latter about one mile distant from the main
office.
Mr. Charles Crossman
Street Lights. The village streets are now lighted by kerosene lamps,
but a movement is already on foot looking toward a better system of
street lighting and it is probable that an electric light plant will be
installed for that purpose within the near future.
A Bank is Needed. The organization of a bank is being considered by a
number of enterprising citizens. There is already a sufficient amount of
banking business transacted by the residents of the village, which is
now divided among the banks located at Leesburg, Fairfax, Alexandria and
Washington, to make such an institution a paying investment from the
start.
The Park. Crossman Park, the densely wooded hill over which the electric
road runs from East End to West End, is an attractive spot to nature
lovers. Hundreds of old chestnut trees make it a favorite resort for
picnic parties in summer and nut-hunters in the fall. It is altogether a
charming piece of woodland without undergrowth, and needs no gravelled
walks or other evidences of the hand of man to add to its present
charm.
Dr. J. B. Hodgkin
Near the park may be seen the stone which marks what was at one time the
western corner of the District of Columbia. It is situated on the land
of Mr. S. B. Shaw and is only a few yards from his residence. On the
west corner is chiseled "Virginia 1791," while on the opposite corner
the words "Jurisdiction of the United States" are still quite legible.
Falls Church Telephone and Telegraph Co. The Falls Church Telephone and
Telegraph Company, of which Mr. M. E. Church is President and General
Manager, is connected with the lines of the Chesapeake and Potomac
Telephone Company of Washington and with the lines of the Southern Bell
Telephone and Telegraph Company.
The stations on this line include Alexandria, Arlington, Ash Grove,
Bailey's Cross Roads, Ballston, Barcroft, Belaire, Bluemont,
Chesterbrook, Clarendon, Chain Bridge, Colvin Run, Dunn Loring,
Dranesville, East Falls Church, Fairfax, Fort Myer Heights, Glencarlyn,
Hall's Hill, Herndon, Hamilton, Kenmore, Lewinsville, Langley, Leesburg,
Merrifield, Oakton, Paeonian Springs, Purcellville, Round Hill,
Rosslyn, Vienna, Wiehle, and West Falls Church. All stations are
equipped with Long-Distance Metallic Circuit Telephones.
Mr. D. O. Munson
In addition to the telephone line Falls Church has two Western Union
Telegraph offices besides two express offices.
Camp Alger. Falls Church has gained a national reputation within recent
years by reason of the establishment near the village of the camp for
volunteer soldiers at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. This
camp was one of several of the kind established in the Southern States
for the purpose of organizing an army for the invasion of Spanish
territory.
The farm of Mr. C. L. Campbell, about one and a half miles southwest of
the village was selected by the War Department for the army corps to be
assembled nearest Washington, and as soon as the contract was signed for
the lease of the property, troops from fourteen States were hurried here
as fast as recruited.
Mr. Henry Crocker Mr. E. F. Crocker
The first troops on the ground were the District of Columbia Volunteers.
They were followed by those from Pennsylvania, and later came troops
from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey,
Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee and
Virginia, all forming the Second Army Corps of the Spanish-American War.
The Second Army Corps was made up of the troops assembled at Falls
Church, to which Major General William M. Graham, U. S. V., was assigned
by orders of May 16, 1898. General Graham assumed command May 23, 1898,
announcing the official designation of the camp as "Camp Russell A.
Alger."
Mr. G. W. Mankin
The strength of this army corps before the last of May consisted of 922
officers and 17,467 men. In June the number in camp was 1,103 officers
and 26,002 men; in July the strength of the corps was 1,183 officers and
29,747 men. In August the corps consisted of 1,347 officers and 33,755
men, the highest number in this corps before disbandment at the end of
the war.
By orders of May 24, the troops then on duty at this point were
organized into a First Division composed of three brigades of three
regiments each, and by orders of June 9, 1898, the Ninth Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry and 33rd and 34th Michigan Volunteer Infantry were
constituted a separate brigade.
On June 9th the separate brigade mentioned was assigned as the First
Brigade, 3rd Division. On August 2, 1898, a second brigade was organized
composed of the First Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and the Third
Virginia Volunteer Infantry.
The First Brigade, consisting of the Massachusetts and Michigan troops,
left Camp Alger for Santiago de Cuba on June 22 and 24, 1898. Troops of
the Second Brigade were returned to their States for muster out on
September 7 and 8, 1898.
The tents of the provost guard pitched at the electric railway terminus
at East End with pickets posted at various street corners made Falls
Church appear like a town under martial law. Under all the circumstances
the conduct of the troops was admirable. The homes of the citizens were
thrown open to the soldiers doing picket duty in the village, and the
ladies of the place vied with each other in contributing to the comfort
of sick soldiers at the camp.
Mr. C. H. Buxton
The summer of 1898 was a most eventful one in Falls Church. No such
stirring scenes had been witnessed here since the days of the civil war.
Troop trains arriving or departing, drills at camp and practice marches
through the town, martial music from many bands, reveille and taps, all
contributed to impress the town folk with the fact that the country was
at war.
Finances of the Town. The expenses of the town government for the year
ending August 31, 1904, was $2,188.47. The assessed valuation of the
town is $420,125, which is about 50 per cent of the real value. The tax
levy for all purposes is six mills. The levy is divided as follows: For
corporation purposes three mills; for school purposes three mills. The
total receipts for fiscal year 1904 were $2,289.20.
There is no bonded indebtedness. A number of times propositions to bond
the town for school or street purposes have been voted upon but each
time the citizens have decided against incurring any bonded debt.
Mr. Summerfield Taylor
The following are the officers of the town government:
Officers of the Town. George N. Lester, Mayor; Henry Crocker, Clerk;
John N. Gibson, Sergeant; R. C. L. Moncure, Corporation Attorney.
Members of Council: 1st ward, Elmer I. Crump, S. E. Thompson, G. A.
Brunner; 2nd ward, E. A. Kimball, Geo. N. Lester, Geo. W. Hawxhurst; 3rd
ward, Thomas Hillier; Wm. M. Ellison, H. C. Birge. Committees, Street
Lamp Lighting: E. A. Kimball, Thos. Hillier, S. E. Thompson. Finance:
Wm. M. Ellison, Chairman, H. C. Birge, Geo. W. Hawxhurst. Board of
School Trustees: J. W. Brown, Chairman, R. J. Yates, Clerk, J. S. Riley.
Health. In the matter of health Falls Church leads. Statistics obtained
by the U. S. Census Bureau relating to the mortality rate show that out
of 341 towns and cities from which returns were received the lowest
death rate for the year ending May 31, 1900, was in St. Joseph, Mo.,
with 9.1 for each 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Portland, Oregon, 9.5,
St. Paul, Minn., 9.7, and Minneapolis, Minn., 10.08. For the same period
there were only 5 deaths in Falls Church, its population then being
1,007. The average annual death rate in Falls Church is about 9.5 per
1,000, only 57 deaths having occurred here between August 17, 1898 and
September 2, 1904, a period of a little over six years.
Mr. A. P. Eastman
The death rate in the United States for 1900, according to census
returns was 17.8 per 1,000, the rate in cities where such statistics
were gathered being 18.6, and in rural districts 15.4.
For the purpose of comparison the death rate per 1,000 in the following
cities as reported by the U. S. Census Bureau for 1900 will be of
interest. Baltimore, Md., 21.0; New York, N. Y., 21.3; Washington, D.
C., 22.8; Alexandria, Va., 24.2; Norfolk, Va., 25.2; Lynchburg, Va.,
27.7; Richmond, Va., 29.7; Petersburg, Va., 31.1.
Ideal Country Homes. To the generosity of a nearby nurseryman the town
is indebted for its wealth of trees. When the first streets were laid
out Mr. D. O. Munson donated liberally from his nursery stock and to him
is chiefly due the credit for the present attractive appearance of the
tree-lined streets.
The conventional arrangement of the average suburban town has not been
followed in laying out the streets of this village, and even the sinuous
main avenue, lined on either side by a row of full grown maples, adds to
its charm. Beyond the town to the westward the view of rolling plain
and delightful wooded expanse greets the eye, and in the distance the
smoky Sugar Loaf looms up to beckon one to mountain scenes. In an
afternoon drive from the village to the south or west the lover of
nature may find pleasure at every turn.
The healthfulness of Falls Church is proverbial, while its charming
situation, accessibility to the city of Washington and the homelike tone
pervading every part of its area have surprised and attracted all whose
privilege it has been to visit here for the first time. The place to the
tired city man can afford all the enjoyment of retirement and
tranquillity. With an abundance of green lawns, well shaded walks and
drives, pure water, churches, good schools and the necessary stores;
what more could the seeker desire to complete his ideal of a country
home.
Mr. Geo. F. Rollins
Possessing advantages imperfectly pictured herein, Falls Church welcomes
the jaded fathers and mothers from the city to the place where children
may enjoy life with nature, where the climate, conducive to refreshing
sleep, soothes tired nerves and makes life to such again buoyant with
youthful hopes and joys.
The Old Colonial Church. — Truro Parish.
The original church at the Falls is said to have been built in 1709.
This is only tradition, as no satisfactory evidence has been obtained
relating to its exact location or the date when first erected.
Court records establish the fact that there was a church on the present
site of the Falls Church in 1746. On March 20th of that year John
Trammell, in consideration of the sum of fifty shillings sterling,
transferred, by deed of bargain and sale, to the Vestry of Truro Parish
in Fairfax County a certain parcel of land containing two acres "where
the Upper Church now is." John Trammell owned at that time the greater
part of the land upon which the town of Falls Church is now situated. In
June, 1745, he leased to Walter English his plantation of 244 acres
"near the head of the north of Holmes' Run extending to Four Mile Run,
excepting two acres for the use of the church."
Mrs. C. E. Mankin's Store
The vestry book of Truro Parish commences about 1732. This book is in
the possession of Mr. H. H. Dodge, of Mt. Vernon, a vestryman of old
Pohick Church. Through the courtesy of Mr. Dodge, the Editor was
permitted to make a careful examination of its pages, and to copy from
the minutes of the vestry meetings therein such entries as appeared to
throw any light upon the early history of the Falls Church.
Some apparently trivial entries have been copied, such as the payment of
a sexton's salary for a number of successive years, but the name of the
sexton in such cases has an important bearing upon the subject, when it
is not improbable that the churches indicated as the "Upper Church," the
"New Church," etc., may be the church later designated as "The Falls
Church."
Mr. Charles A. Stewart
In addition to religious matters, the duties of the church vestry in
these early times embraced many secular affairs. Under the direction of
the Parish Vestry tithes were collected from the land owners, and
"processioners" were appointed by them to survey and establish all land
boundaries within the parish. Such matters as related to the relief of
the poor, the medical care of the sick, charges for burial of the dead,
the maintenance of the blind, the lame, and the maimed, also of
foundlings and vagrants, now looked after by the county government, were
then a part of the duty of the vestry of each parish.
By a general law passed in the Colony in 1667, Act IV, 19th Charles II,
the right was vested in the county courts, when expedient, to set aside
and appropriate not more than two acres of land for church and burial
purposes; ministers' salaries had been fixed the year before at 16,000
pounds of tobacco, or about $650.
As early as October, 1734, John Trammell was paid by the Vestry of Truro
Parish 320 pounds of tobacco for grubbing a place for a new church, for
which Robert Blackburn had drawn plans.
Mrs. Charles A. Mankin
In November of the following year, Thomas or James Bennitt was paid 150
pounds of tobacco as sexton of the New Church. Record of the payment of
400 pounds of tobacco to James Bennitt, Sexton of the New Church,
appears under date of October 6, 1740, and again May 21, 1745. On the
latter date the Vestry decided to build a church "at or near the spring
nigh Mr. Hutchinson's on the mountain road ... with doors, windows &
seats after the manner of the Upper Church." The deed from Andrew
Hutchinson to the Vestry of Truro Parish for two acres of land upon
which this new church was to be erected, recorded in Liber A. No. 1,
page 464, Fairfax County Land Records, does not show this land to have
been in the vicinity of Falls Church.
On October 12, 1747, the vestry records indicate that Mary Bennitt was
sexton of the Upper Church, supposed to be the same which was called the
New Church before this date, and that Wm. Grove was sexton of the more
recently built church on the mountain road near Mr. Hutchinson's. Mary
Bennitt's salary as sexton of the Upper Church was 400 pounds of tobacco
until 1749, when it was increased to 460 pounds. Her salary was again
raised to 560 pounds in 1752, and so continued until 1755, when James
Palmer became sexton at "Falls Church," so designated in the records.
James Palmer appears to have been succeeded by Gerard Trammell, the
Vestry at a meeting held November 12, 1759, having allowed the latter
560 pounds of tobacco as sexton of Falls Church.
Mrs. Annie Eells
In February, 1749, the Vestry decided to build an addition to the "Upper
Church," and the contract for the improvement was given to Charles
Broadwater, Gent., who undertakes to complete the work by the laying of
the next parish levy for the sum of 12,000 pounds of tobacco. Mr.
Charles Broadwater was at that time one of the vestrymen, and among
those present at the meeting were George Mason and the Rev. Charles
Green. The vestry meeting held October 25, 1762, elected George
Washington a Vestryman in place of Wm. Peake, Gent., deceased, and at
the same meeting it was ordered that the sexton at Falls Church be
allowed 560 pounds of tobacco for his services.
The Vestry of Truro Parish met on March 28, 1763, at the Falls Church.
Those present were: Henry Gunnell, Wm. Payne, Jr., Church Wardens; John
West, Wm. Payne, Charles Broadwater, Thomas Wren, Abraham Barnes, Daniel
McCarty, Robert Boggers and George Washington.
"Eastover" Mr. Pickering Dodge
It appears that this meeting was called for the purpose of deciding
whether to repair the old church, then greatly in decay, or to erect a
new building. It would seem that the matter of abandonment of the site
of the old church was also to be acted upon, and the erection of a new
one in a more convenient place.
The Vestry decided that the old church was too dilapidated to repair,
and resolved that a new church be built at the same place. It was
ordered that the Clerk of the Vestry advertise in the Virginia and
Maryland Gazettes for workmen to meet at the church on the 29th of
August next following, to undertake the building of a brick church, to
contain 1,600 feet on the floor, with a suitable gallery. The record of
the vestry meeting of October 3, 1763, shows that 30,000 pounds of
tobacco had been levied toward building Falls Church, and was to be sold
by the Church Wardens for the best cash price obtainable. George
Washington was not present at this meeting; but as an evidence of his
interest in the contemplated improvements he copied in his diary under
date of 1764 the advertisement published in the Maryland Gazette for
"undertakers to build Falls Church."
Mr. W. A. Ball
The accounts of the Clerk of the Vestry at this date show Truro Parish
credited with 1,807 tithables at 37 pounds of tobacco each, or a total
of 66,859 pounds. The expenditures debited against this amount include
17,280 pounds of tobacco for salary of minister, 560 pounds each to the
sexton at Pohick Church and Falls Church, 500 pounds to the sexton at
Alexandria, 3,000 pounds to Clerk of Vestry, besides sundry payments
toward the support of the indigent of the parish.
The record of the vestry meeting for Truro Parish April 26, 1765, states
that Truro Parish has been divided from Colonel Washington's mill to
John Monroe's and thence to Difficult Run, the upper parish being called
Fairfax. The Parish of Fairfax in which was situated Falls Church or the
"Upper Church" and Alexandria or the "Lower Church" was created February
1, 1765, by virtue of an Act passed the previous year, being the 4th
George III. Falls Church was evidently the Parish Church, and Alexandria
"The Chapel of Ease" as indicated by the comparative emoluments of the
office of sexton.
Mr. T. B. Snoddy
Earnest efforts have been made to locate the Vestry Book of Fairfax
Parish containing information relating to Falls Church after the
division of Truro Parish in 1765. This book was in charge of the rector
of Christ Church, Alexandria, at the outbreak of the civil war and is
supposed to have been lost or destroyed.
A few facts relating to Falls Church have been gathered from an address
delivered by the rector of Christ Church in 1873 upon the occasion of
the 100th anniversary of the consecration of the latter church.
The Vestry elected for Fairfax Parish March 28, 1765, consisted of the
following: John West, Charles Alexander, William Payne, John Dalton,
George Washington, Charles Broadwater, George Johnston, Townsend Dade,
Richard Sanford, William Adams, John Posey, Daniel French.
Rev. Townsend Dade, ordained by the Bishop of London in 1765, was the
first minister of Christ Church, and it is presumed that as minister of
the Parish he also officiated at the Falls Church. His salary was 17,280
pounds of tobacco, and 2,500 pounds were added to this for the
deficiency of a glebe. He served as minister until 1778.
Dr. T. M. Talbott
In November, 1766, the Vestry ordered a levy to be made upon the
inhabitants of the parish of 31,185 pounds of tobacco, for the purpose
of building two new churches of brick; one at the Falls, the other at
Alexandria.
The new brick church which the Vestry decided to erect in place of the
old wooden structure was built, according to reliable information, by
Mr. James Wren, for about 600 pounds sterling. Bishop Meade states in
his book on old churches of Virginia, that a most particular contract
was made for him as also for James Parsons, the contractor for the
Alexandria church.
The mortar was to be two-thirds lime and one-third sand; the shingles
were to be of the best cypress or juniper and three-quarters of an inch
thick. The contract for building Falls Church called for a gallery, but
this was never put in.
The Alexandria church was begun in 1767 by James Parsons, 600 pounds
sterling being the contract price. Parsons failed to complete his
contract and the building was finished for an additional sum of 220
pounds sterling by Col. John Carlyle, and formally delivered February
27, 1773.
Mr. C. L. Blanton
In 1770 a tract of about 500 acres was purchased from Daniel Jennings at
15 shillings per acre, and upon this in 1773 the Fairfax Vestry caused
to be erected a glebe house, or rectory, with a dairy, meat house, barn,
stable and corn house for 653 pounds sterling.
During the Revolutionary War, Falls Church is said to have been the
recruiting headquarters of Col. Charles Broadwater, one of Fairfax's
first patriots.
In 1775 there were in Virginia 95 parishes, 164 churches and chapels,
and 91 clergymen. At the conclusion of the war for Independence only 72
parishes remained, and 34 of these had been deprived of ministerial
help. Churches and chapels had gone to ruin; soldiers having turned them
into barracks or stables.
In 1778 the Rev. Mr. Dade was succeeded as Parish minister by the Rev.
Mr. West, who served for a few months, and he in turn was succeeded by
Rev. David Griffith who it is recorded exercised his ministry with
fidelity in his Parish, preaching both at Alexandria and at Falls Church
from 1780 to 1789. He had been chaplain in the 3rd Virginia Regiment
during the revolution and was to the time of his death, in 1789, a close
personal friend of Washington.
Mr. Geo. W. Hawxhurst
From 1790 to 1792 Rev. Bryan Fairfax directed the affairs of Fairfax
Parish, selecting for his assistant Rev. Bernard Page. Before the
revolution, being an ardent royalist, he endeavored to dissuade from the
war with the mother country his friend George Washington whose
confidence and esteem he continued to enjoy to the last. Bryan Fairfax
was the son of William Fairfax of Belvoir. He was ordained to the
ministry in 1786 by Bishop Seabury. His title as Eighth Lord Fairfax was
confirmed to him by the English House of Lords in 1800.
The civil functions of the Vestry ceased in 1784. Thereafter, in the
struggle following the disestablishment, having to depend upon voluntary
contributions, many churches succumbed.
It was about this period, or not long after the death of Dr. Griffith in
1789, that Falls Church was abandoned as a place of worship, fell into a
state of dilapidation, and was not used for many years. Chiefly at the
expense of Henry Fairfax, grandson of Rev. Bryan Fairfax, formerly its
rector, the building was repaired and young Mr. Minor, as a lay reader,
organized a congregation of worshippers.
Mr. W. W. Biggs
In 1827 Bishop Meade visited this church and the description of it in
his book "Old Families and Churches of Virginia" will be of interest.
"The exercises of the Seminary being over, I next directed my steps to
the Falls Church, so called from its vicinity to one of the falls on the
Potomac River. It is about eight miles from Alexandria, and the same
from Georgetown. It is a large oblong building, and like that near Mount
Vernon, has two rows of windows, being doubtless designed for galleries
all around, though none were ever put there. It was deserted as a house
of worship by Episcopalians about forty years ago. About that period,
for the first, and it is believed for the last time, it was visited by
Bishop Madison. Since then it has been used by any who were disposed to
occupy it as a place of worship, and the doors and windows being open,
itself standing on the common highway, it has been entered at pleasure
by travellers on the road and animals of every kind. Some years since,
the attention of the professors of our Seminary, and of some of the
students was drawn towards it, and occasional services performed there.
This led to its partial repair."
Mr. C. C. Walters
Bishop Meade in this account of his visit to the old church states that
he visited the same day an interesting school for young ladies at Capt.
Henry Fairfax's where he delivered an address to the students. This
school was located near Fairfax Court House. Mrs. Chichester, widow of
the late Major John H. Chichester and a communicant at the present time
of Falls Church, was a pupil of this seminary before the death of Capt.
Fairfax, and recalls the incidents connected with his death in the
Mexican War and his burial near the old church door 57 years ago.
From the time Bishop Meade preached in the old church in 1827 to the
beginning of the war of 1861 much that might be of interest is lost with
the records of the Parish.
The damage to the church by soldiers during the civil war was later
repaired at the expense of the United States Government at a cost of
about $1,300. None of its ancient furniture has been preserved, the gray
stone urn-shaped baptismal font alone remaining.
Mr. J. W. Garner
The rectors of Falls Church since the civil war have been Bishop Horatio
Southgate, Rev. John McGill, Rev. Frank Page, Rev. J. Cleveland Hall,
Rev. R. A. Castleman, Rev. Dr. John McGill again, and the present rector
Rev. George S. Somerville.
The present vestry book begins November 27, 1873. The vestrymen for the
year 1904 are S. D. Tripp, S. W.; J. T. Unverzagt, J. W.; C. A.
Marshall, Wm. E. Parker, A. H. Barbor, E. A. Ballard.
In connection with the name, it may be of interest to state that,
previous to the Revolution, there being no bishop in Virginia, church
buildings were not consecrated, generally being called after the parish
in which situated, or from some other geographical name; hence the New
Church, the Upper Church, the Falls Church. The simple name suggesting
only its location as first bestowed upon the church near the Falls has
now, after the lapse of years, become irrevocably fixed. Around it
cluster so many memories of the early days that the name "Falls Church"
must continue unchanged to the last.
Town Sergeant John N. Gibson
Extracts from Records of Vestry Meetings.
June 10, 1733:
Capt. Francis Aubrey, towards building the chapel above Goose
Creek, 2,500 pounds of tobacco.
October 13, 1734:
To Mr. Robt. Blackburn, for his plans for building church, 16,750
pounds of tobacco.
To John Trammell, for grubbing a place for the church, 320 pounds
of tobacco.
To Jos. Johnson, to read at the chapels, 1,300 pounds of tobacco.
November 18, 1735:
Jos. Johnson, Clk. of the New Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco.
Thos. (?) Bennitt, sexton at the New Church, 150 pounds of tobacco.
Oliver Roe, sexton Pohick Church, 300 pounds of tobacco.
August 19, 1736:
At a Vestry held for Truro Parish this 19th day of August, 1736;
present Jeremiah Bronaugh, Ch. Warden; Denis McCarty, Augustine
Washington, Robt. Osborn, John Thurman, Wm. Godfrey, Jas. Baxter,
and Thos. Lewis, Vestrymen.
Mr J. C. Elliott's Store
Mr. Cha. Green being recommended to this vestry by Capt. Augustine
Washington as a person qualified to officiate as a minister in this
parish, as soon as he shall receive orders from His Grace, the
Bishop of London, to qualify himself for the same, it is,
therefore,
Ordered by this Vestry that as soon as the said Green has qualified
himself as aforesaid he be received and entertained as Minister of
the said parish, and the said Vestry do humbly recommend said Cha.
Green to the Right Honorable Thos. Lord Fairfax, for his letters of
recommendation and presentation to his Grace, the said Lord Bishop
of London, to qualify himself as aforesaid.
August 8,——:
At a vestry held for Truro Parish the 8th of August, for appointing
processioners.
Ordered, That John Trammell and John Harle procession all the
patented lands between Difficult Run and Broad Run, and that they
perform the same sometime in the month of October or November,
next, and report their proceedings according to law.
Ordered, That Anthony Hampton and Wm. Moore procession all the
patented lands between Broad Run and the South Side of Goose Creek,
as far as the fork of Little River, and that they perform the same
sometime in the month of October or November, next, and report
their proceedings according to law.
Miss Ada Rhodes
October 6, 1740:
Nicholas Carroll, sexton Pohick Church, 400 pounds of tobacco.
Jas. Bennitt, sexton at the New Church, 400 pounds of tobacco.
John Aubrey, sexton at Goose Creek, 400 pounds of tobacco.
May 21, 1745:
At a vestry held for Truro Parish, May 21, 1745, present Rev. Mr.
Cha. Green, minister, and church wardens and vestrymen.
Ordered, that a church be built at or near the spring nigh Mr.
Hutchinson's on the mountain road, of the following dimensions: 40
feet long, 32 feet wide and 13 feet pitch. To be weather boarded
with ¾-inch feather-edge plank, quartered and beaded; shingled
with 18-inch pine shingles; sawed frame, and frame work ceiled with
quartered plank, beaded, and floored with 1¼-inch plank, with
proper cornice under the eaves, with pulpit, desk, communion table,
etc. With doors, windows & seats, after the manner of the Upper
Church, and all the proper facings and mouldings; and window
shutters, to be shingled with single tiers, weather boarded with
eights, and filled with tens or brads; locks and hinges that are
necessary for the same.
Ordered, That the Clerk of the Vestry prepare deeds for Mr. Andrew
Hutchinson conveying two acres of land to this Parish for house of
the Church to be built thereon, and church yard.
Hugh Thomas undertakes to complete the aforesaid church and to
enclose it by the last day of October, next, and to finish and
complete it by the last day of October, then next following, for
24,500 pounds of tobacco, to be paid him at two payments, and the
clerk of the vestry is ordered to prepare articles of agreement and
bond for the performance of the same.
Cha. Green, }
John West, }
Ch. Wardens.
Teste: { Wm. Henry Terrett,
{ Clk. Vestry.
October 12, 1747:
Philip Howell, sexton, Pohick, 400 pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton, Upper Church, 400 pounds of tobacco.
Mary McDowell, sexton, Goose Creek, 400 pounds of tobacco.
Wm. Grove, sexton, New Church, 172 pounds of tobacco.
Mr. W. W. Kinsley
October 10, 1748:
Bennitt, clk., 1,200 pounds of tobacco.
Wm. Chautneys, clk. at the New Church, 1,200 pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton at Upper Church, 400 pounds of tobacco.
Alexander, sexton at Goose Creek, 400 pounds of tobacco.
Wm. Grove, sexton at New Church, 400 pounds of tobacco.
October 10, 1749:
Truro Parish divided.—Upper Parish called Cameron.
John Wiber Danty, clk. Upper Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton, Upper Church, 460 pounds of tobacco.
Mr. H. A. Fellows
February 19, 1749-50:
Present: Rev. Mr. Cha. Green, Minister, Mr. Hugh West, Mr. Geo.
Mason, Mr. Jas. Hamilton, Mr. Cha. Broadwater, Mr. Danl. McCarty,
Wm. Payne, Abra. Barnes, Thos. Wren, Robt. Boggers, and John
Turley;
Ordered: That an addition be built to the Upper Church according to
the plan produced to the Vestry; and Cha. Broadwater, gent.,
undertakes to do the same and finish and complete it by the laying
of the next parish levy, for the sum of 12,000 pounds of tobacco,
which is then to be levied for him.
October 9, 1749:
John Wiber Danty, clk. at Upper Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton, ditto, 460 pounds of tobacco.
Jacob Remy, for paling in the New Church, making horse blocks and
tarring church, etc., our proportionable part, 1,950 pounds of
tobacco.
Ordered: That the Vestry do meet the third Monday in February next,
at the Glebe house, in order to see what repairs are wanted to it
and the New Church, and the Church Wardens are ordered to give
notice to workmen to appear there to undertake the work and also to
repair the Pohick Church and the Vestry House.
October 8, 1750:
John Wiber Danty, clk. Upper Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton Upper Church, 460 pounds of tobacco.
Residence of Mr. G. A. L. Merrifield
October 14, 1751:
John Wiber Danty, clk. Upper Church for 7 months attendance, 581
pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton, Upper Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
October 2, 1752:
John Wiber Danty, clk. Upper Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton, Upper Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
Ordered: That the clerk of the Upper Church read prayers every
intervening Sunday, and that he be allowed 1,200 pounds of tobacco
per annum for his salary.
Mr. Cha. Broadwater and Mr. Abraham Barnes are appointed Church
Wardens for this parish for the ensuing year.
October 22, 1753:
Mary Bennitt, sexton at the Upper Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
John Wiber Danty, clerk at the Upper Church, 1,100 pounds of
tobacco.
November 22, 1754:
Wm. Donaldson, Clk. Upper Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco.
Mary Bennitt, sexton at the Upper Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
September 17, 1755:
Ordered: That the several tracts of land that have their
beginnings between Hunting Creek and the Potomac, the road that
leads from Aubrey's Ferry to the Upper Church, and the road that
leads from Cameron to the Upper Church, be processioned sometime in
the month of December, next, and that John Dalton, Thos. Harrison,
John Hunter and Nathan'l Smith attend to see the same performed,
and that they take an account of their proceedings therein and
return the same to the next Vestry after the same shall be
performed.
Cottage of Mr. G. A. L. Merrifield
November 27, 1755:
Wm. Donaldson, Clk. at Upper Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco. James
Palmer, sexton at Falls Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
November 29, 1756:
Mr. Lumley, Clk. at Upper Church, 1,000 pounds of tobacco. James
Palmer, sexton, Upper Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
November 28, 1757:
Jas. Palmer, sexton at Falls Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
November 27, 1758:
Jas. Palmer, sexton at Falls Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
November 12, 1759:
Thos. Lewis, Clk. at Falls Church, 1,050 pounds of tobacco. Gerard
Trammell, sexton, at Falls Church, 560 pounds of tobacco.
Mr. Frank M. Thompson
October 25, 1762:
Ordered that Geo. Washington, Esq., be chosen and appointed one of
the Vestrymen of this parish in the room of Wm. Peake, gent.,
deceased.
Ordered that the sexton at Falls Church be allowed 560 pounds of
tobacco.
October 3, 1763:
At a Vestry held for Truro Parish, October 3, 1763, present: Rev.
Mr. Green, minister; Wm. Payne, jun'r., and Henry Gunnell, Ch.
Wardens; Geo. Wm. Fairfax, Thos. Wren, Wm. Payne, Abra. Barnes,
Cha. Broadwater, John West, and Geo. Mason, Vestrymen.
Mr. Thomas Hillier
| |
|
|
| Dr., |
Lbs. Tobacco |
|
| To Revd. Mr. Green, minister |
17,280 |
|
| Sexton at Pohick Church (Eliz Parce) |
560 |
|
| Sexton at Falls Church (Gerard Trammell) |
560 |
|
| Sexton at Alexandria (John Rhoads) |
500 |
|
| John Barry, Clk. |
3,000 |
|
| John West, Junr. Clk. Vestry |
500 |
|
| John West, Junr. Amt. for providing-Elem'ts etc. |
1,200 |
|
| Matthew Bradley, for support of his son |
1,000 |
|
| Jos. Wilson, towards support of himself and wife |
500 |
|
| Robt. Mills, towards his support |
630 |
|
Elizabeth Palmer, for support of her idiot son,
(to be laid up for her use by Church Wrdns.) |
1,000 |
|
| John Posey, for 11 parish levies overchd. last year |
242 |
|
| Edwd. Bates, for his levies the two last years, (Tho' a Patroller) |
48 |
|
| Gerard Trammell, constable, one levy overchd. last year |
22 |
|
| Philip Trammell, patroller, one levy overchd. last year |
22 |
|
| Edwd. Bates, for his levies the two last years, (Tho' a Patroller) |
48 |
|
| Gerard Trammell, constable, one levy overchd. last year |
22 |
|
| Philip Trammell, patroller, one levy overchd. last year |
22 |
|
| Saml. Russell, towards his support until October, 1764 |
1,000 |
|
| Eliza. Young, for boarding Charlotte Lindsay 2 mo. |
|
1 £. 10 s. |
| Saml. Conner, for assistance to Saml. Russell |
500 |
|
| Hugh West, Deputy Atty. on acct. |
913 |
|
| Grafton Kirk, on acct. |
600 |
|
| Peter Waggner, Clk. Cur. on acct. |
837 |
|
| Peter Waggner, Clk. Cur. on acct. |
837 |
|
| Tobacco levied towards building Falls Church, to be sold for cash by the Church Wardens for the best price they can get |
30,000 |
|
| Dr. Jas. Lawrie for Mason and Jane Evans |
|
4 £ 7 s 6 d. |
| Dr. Jas. Lawrie for Eleanor Swallow |
700 |
5 £ 7 s 6 d. |
| Dr. Jas. Lawrie for Sparrow |
|
0 £ 7 s 5 d. |
| John Muir, on acct |
|
3 £ 17s 4½d. |
| |
———— |
———— |
| |
61,614 |
15 9 10½ |
| To Acct. of Collection of 61,614 lbs. tobc. |
3,696 |
|
| |
———— |
|
| Total |
65,310 |
|
| To the fraction in collectors' hands |
1,549 |
|
| |
———— |
|
| To the fraction in collectors' hands |
66,859 |
|
| |
———— |
|
| Truro Parish Cr. by 1807 tithables at 37 lbs. tobc. on acct. poll |
66,859 |
|
| |
———— |
|
Mr. J. S. Riley
Ordered: That the Clerk of the Vestry proportion the parish levy
when he shall receive the list of tithables.
Ordered: That Geo. Wm. Fairfax, & Geo. Washington, Esqs., be
appointed Church Wardens for the ensuing year.
Ordered: That the Vestry meet at Alexandria on the third Tuesday
in March, next, in order to agree with workmen to undertake the
building a church at or near the old Falls Church, and that the
Church Wardens advertise the same in the Virginia and Maryland
Gazettes, to be continued six weeks, and that it will be then
expected of each workman to produce a plan and estimate of the
expense.
Cha. Green,}
G. W. Fairfax.}C. W.
Truly Recorded:
Teste—John West, junr.,
Cl. Vestry.
Mr. O. H. Billingsley
March 28, 1763:
At a Vestry of Truro Parish held at the Falls Church March 28,
1763; present: Henry Gunnell, Wm. Payne, jr., Ch. Wardens; John
West, Wm. Payne, Chas. Broadwater, Thos. Wren, Abra. Barnes, Dan'l
McCarty, Robt. Boggers, and Geo. Washington; who being there met to
examine into the state of the said church, greatly in decay and
want of repair, and likewise whether the same shall be repaired or
a new one built, and whether at the same place or removed to a more
convenient one, and likewise to view the addition built by Mr.
Chas. Broadwater, and what he hath been deficient in the work.
Resolved: It is the opinion of this Vestry that the Old Church is
rotten and unfit for repair, but that a new church be built at the
same place.
Mr. A. O. Von Herbulis
Resolved: That Jas. Wren and Owen Williams do view the work to be
done by Mr. Broadwater on the new addition, that is, the price of
glazing three windows, plaistering the said house, together with
the materials necessary for the same, and make report to the next
Vestry.
Ordered: That the Clerk of the Vestry advertise in the Virginia and
Maryland Gazettes for workmen to meet at the church on the 29th day
of August, next, if fair, if not the next fair day, to undertake
the building of a brick church to contain 1,600 feet on the floor,
with a suitable gallery & bring plan of the church and price,
according to the same.
Ordered: That the Church Wardens employ workmen to repair the
windows of the north side & the east end of the old church & repair
the shutters of the new addition.
Henry Gunnell,
Wm. Payne.
(N. B.) This Vestry was held when I was sick and could not
attend—above orders were sent as above, signed by Messrs. Gunnell
and Payne, and I thought fit to record the same, tho in point of
time it should have been before the last one.
John West, junr.
Mr. Andrew M. Smith
April 26, 1765:
Vestry records of this date state that Truro Parish had been
divided from Col. Washington's mill to John Monroe's and thence to
Difficult Run, the upper parish called Fairfax.
February 3, 1766:
In the record of a Vestry meeting held for Truro Parish at Wm.
Gardner's the 3rd and 4th of February, 1766, is the following: It
appearing from an order of the Vestry bearing date the 25th day of
March, 1763, that there was a deficiency in the work which ought to
have been done on the Falls Church, by Mr. Chas. Broadwater, and
that persons were appointed to view the same and report and no
report appearing upon the records of this parish, it is ordered
that the Church Wardens do inquire into the same and report
accordingly. [Geo. Washington was present at this meeting. Ed.]
Major Jos. T. Hiett
July 10, 1766:
At a Vestry held for Truro Parish July 10, 1766, Mr. Edward Payne,
one of the Church Wardens, having reported to this Vestry that he
had applied to the persons formally appointed to view the work
which ought to have been done on the Falls Church by Mr. Chas.
Broadwater, and that they denied having any order to view the same
and refused to concern themselves;
Ordered: That Thos. Price do view the work done to the Falls Church
and report what deficiency appears in the same, and that Mr. Edward
Payne do apply to the Vestry of Fairfax Parish to appoint a workman
to view the same and that the said do report as aforesaid, and that
Mr. Edward Payne attend the viewing on behalf of this parish and to
apply to the said Vestry to appoint one of their members to attend
the same on behalf of their parish.
February 23, 1767:
At a Vestry held for Truro Parish at the Glebe the 23rd day of
February, 1767, at which Geo. Washington was present, it was
ordered: A report being made to this Vestry by Jas. Wren and Thos.
Price, two workmen empowered by a formal order of this Vestry to
view the work done to the Falls Church and to report what
deficiency appeared in the same, etc., by which report there
appears to be a deficiency of 9 £ 14 s. 6 p.
Ordered: That the Church Wardens of this parish apply to Maj. Chas.
Broadwater, the undertaker of said work, for the said sum, and
account with the Vestry of Fairfax Parish for their proportion of
the same when it is received.
Ordered: That a Vestry House be built at the New Church of the
dimensions and in manner following * * (Capt. Ed. Payne agreeing
with the Vestry to build said house).
Mr. George Stambaugh
September 9, 1768:
At a Vestry held for Truro Parish September 9, 1768, at which Geo.
Washington was present, the following entries appear:
That the Vestry being convened at the New Church in order to view
and examine the work, and having done so do find the same completed
and finished according to the articles of agreement between Capt.
Ed. Payne, the undertaker * * *
Ordered: That Col. Geo. Mason pay him the sum of 193 pounds out of
the money in his hands belonging to the parish the same being the
last payment due to the said Payne, for the said church. (This was
probably known as Payne's Church; the church near the Fairfax C.
H.)
November 28, 1768:
At a Vestry held for Truro Parish November 28, 1768, at which Geo.
Washington was present, it was ordered: That Geo. Washington, Esq.,
pay to Alex. Henderson the sum of £. 8, being the balance of £ 9 14
s., 6 p., received from Maj. Chas. Broadwater for a deficiency on
the Falls Church.
February 24, 1784:
At a Vestry held for Truro Parish at Colchester, the 22nd day of
February, 1784, John Gibson, gent., is elected for a member of this
Parish in the room of his Excellency General Washington, who has
signified his resignation in a letter to Dan'l McCarty, esq.
Falls Church in the Civil War. — Skirmish at Munson's Hill August 31, 1861.
The Old Church from a war-time Photograph
In May, 1861, the Union troops moved into Virginia and occupied
Arlington Heights and Alexandria. On June 1 an engagement at Fairfax
Court House between a company of Union cavalry and Confederate troops
resulted in the loss of six Union and twenty Confederate soldiers. The
Union forces under General McDowell occupied the town of Fairfax about
the middle of July, inaugurating the first Bull Run Campaign. The battle
of Bull Run was fought July 21, 1861.
After the first battle of Bull Run, a systematic plan for the defense of
the National Capital began to take shape. At that time the commanding
heights four miles west of Alexandria and six miles from Washington were
occupied by the Confederates, Falls Church being the headquarters of
General Longstreet.
In October, 1861, the hills were again taken possession of by the Union
troops. The system of works for the defense of Washington on the south
began with Fort Willard below Alexandria, and terminated with Fort Smith
opposite Georgetown, comprising in all twenty-nine forts and eleven
supporting batteries, besides Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy at the
Virginia end of Chain Bridge, with their five batteries of field guns.
Mr. Charles A. Marshall
Falls Church was the most advanced post of General McDowell's corps,
when on August 3, 1861, a correspondent of Harper's Weekly writing from
here to that paper described the old Church as it appeared at the
beginning of the Civil war as follows:
"On this page we illustrate Fall's Church, Fairfax County, Virginia,
from a sketch by our special artist with General McDowell's 'corps
d'armee.' This is the most advanced post of our army in Fairfax County,
and has been the scene of several picket skirmishes. Falls Church was
built in 1709, and rebuilt, as an inscription on the wall informs us, by
the late "Lord" Fairfax, whose son, the present "Lord" Fairfax, is
supposed to be serving in the rebel army. The title of "Lord," we may
observe, is still given to the representative of the family. The
inscription on the old church reads as follows:
'Henry Fairfax, an accomplished gentlemen, an upright magistrate, a
sincere Christian, died in command of the Fairfax Volunteers at
Saltillo, Mexico, 1847. But for his munificence this church might still
have been a ruin.'
Service was held in the old church two Sundays since, Rev. Dr. Mines,
Chaplain of Second Maine Regiment, officiating, and most of the troops
in the neighborhood being present."
Mr. John S. Garrison
Captain Henry Fairfax, to whose memory the tablet alluded to was placed
in the old church, was a graduate of West Point. At the outbreak of the
Mexican War, he organized a company called the Fairfax Volunteers
sailing to Mexico with the regiment of Virginia volunteers under command
of Colonel John F. Hamtramck. Upon arriving in Mexico, Captain Fairfax
fell a victim to the climate and died at Saltillo, August 16, 1847. His
body was brought home and buried near the church he loved so well, and
it is thought that the grave which may be seen in the foreground of the
war-time picture of the church on page 62 may be his. The tablet to his
memory has long since been destroyed, and every vestige of his
tombstone has disappeared, but nature, not forgetting his generous gifts
to the old church, has sent up a spire-shaped cedar to mark his grave.
Colonel Hamtramck died April 21, 1858, at Shepardstown, Va.
Mr. F. A. Niles
The damage to the old church, according to one of the oldest citizens of
the town, Mr. George B. Ives, was done by a company of Union cavalry on
picket duty under command of a captain of the regular army. He permitted
his men to tear out the floor of the church and use it for a stable. The
building might have been damaged beyond repair had it not been for Mr.
Ives and the late Mr. John Bartlett, who reported the matter to General
Augur, the Military Governor of this district, by whose orders the
captain was arrested and further desecration prevented.
About three miles from Falls Church, on the Alexandria turnpike, is
Bailey's Cross Roads, where in November, 1861, President Lincoln
reviewed the Union forces preparatory to the Peninsular Campaign.
The story of the most important events occurring during those stormy
times around the old Colonial church is best told by the "Official
Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," extracts from reports
therein following:
Dr. T. C. Quick
Report of Colonel Geo. W. Taylor, 3rd N. J. Infantry, dated September 2,
1861.
General: The pickets of the enemy having for some time been extremely
annoying to outposts on Little River Turnpike and on the road leading
from thence to Chestnut Hill, I decided on making a reconnaissance in
person with a small force with the view of cutting them off. Accordingly
I marched with 40 men, volunteers from 2 companies of my regiment, on
the morning of Aug. 31, at 3 a. m., and keeping to the woods arrived
soon after daylight at or near the point, a little beyond, at which I
desired to strike the road and cut them off.
Miss Ellen W. Green
Here we were obliged to cross a fence and a narrow corn field where the
enemy, who had doubtless dogged our approach through the woods, lay in
considerable force.
While in the corn we were suddenly opened upon by a rapid and sharp fire
which our men, whenever they got sight of the enemy, returned with much
spirit. Scarce two minutes elapsed when I found 3 men close to me had
been shot down. The enemy being mostly hid, I deemed it prudent to order
my men to fall back to the woods, distant about 30 yards, which I did.
At the same time I ordered enough to remain with me to carry off the
wounded, but they did not hear or heed my order except two. With these
we got all off, as I supposed, the corn being thick, but Corporal Hand,
Co. 1, who, when I turned him over, appeared to be dying. I took his
musket, also the musket of one of the wounded and returned to the woods
to rally the men. I regret to say that none of them could be found, nor
did I meet them until I reached the blacksmith shop, three-quarters of a
mile distant.
Here I found Capt. Regur, Company I, with his command. Re-enforcing him
with 25 men of the picket, then in charge of Capt. Vickers, 3rd regiment
N. J. volunteers, with the latter he immediately marched back to bring
in Corporal Hand, and any others still missing. He reports that on
reaching the ground, he found the enemy in increased force, and did not
re-enter the corn field, in which I think he was justified. I should
have stated that quite a number of the enemy were in full view in the
road when we jumped the fence and charged them, and that each man in the
charge, Capt. Regur leading by my side, seemed eager to be foremost; nor
did one to my knowledge flinch from the contest until my order to fall
back to the woods, which fortunately they misconstrued into a continuous
retreat to our pickets. The enemy seemed to have retreated very soon
after, as the firing had ceased before I left.
Mr. Jno. D. Payne
The 3 wounded men are doing well except one. As near as I can ascertain
there were 3 of the enemy shot down.
The whole affair did not last 10 minutes.
The officers with me were Capt. Regur, Co. I, 1st Lieut. Taylor and 2d
Lieut. Spencer, both of the same company.
All of which I have the honor, respectfully to report.
Geo. W. Taylor,
Colonel, 3rd Regiment N. J. Volunteers
Brig. Gen. P. Kearny,
Commanding Brigade.
The Rectory—Rev. George S. Somerville
Sept. 12, 1861: Longstreet states that Colonel Stuart has been at Munson
Hill since its occupation by the Confederate troops; that he had driven
the enemy from Mason's, Munson's and Upton's Hills.
Sept. 25, 1861: Reconnaissance at Lewinsville and skirmish near that
place with Stuart's cavalry. Union force 5,100 infantry, 16 pieces of
artillery and 150 cavalry, under Brig. Gen. Wm. F. Smith, commanding at
Chain Bridge.
Sept. 25, 1861: Report of General J. E. Johnston, Headquarters Army of
Potomac to Secretary of War, Richmond, states that an advance guard of
11 regiments of infantry and Colonel Stuart's calvary is stationed at
Falls Church, Munson's and Mason's Hills, at Padgett's and at
Springfield Station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in a strong
defensive position.
Dr. L. E. Gott
Sept. 28, 1861: Affair at Munson's Hill, near Vanderburg's House. Union
force attacked at night on march to Poolesville. Lieut. Col. Isaac J.
Wistar, Commanding California Regiment, reported 4 killed and 14
wounded.
Nov. 16, 1861: In General Orders No. 45, Headquarters Army of Potomac,
Major General McClellan gave Fort on Upton's Hill name of Fort Ramsay.
Nov. 18, 1861: Skirmish on road from Falls Church to Fairfax Court
House, about a mile south of Falls Church, between a detachment of 1st
Va. Cavalry under Lieut. Col. Fitz Lee, and 14th N. Y. S. M., under Lt.
Col. E. B. Fowler. Union loss 2 killed, 1 wounded, 10 missing.
Confederate loss, Private Tucker killed and John C. Chichester, Lee's
guide, mortally wounded; 2 slightly wounded. Col. Lee's horse killed
under him during action.
Sept. 2, 1862: Skirmish near Falls Church. F. J. Porter, Major General
Commanding, Headquarters Army Corps, Hall's Hill, in his report to
General Marcy states that a battery supported by cavalry suddenly
appeared on Barnett's Hill and opened fire upon Pleasanton at Falls
Church, while dismounted cavalry fired upon and killed 3 of his mounted
pickets, who, armed only with sabers and pistols, could not contend with
the enemy protected by timber. Pleasanton replied with his battery but
the shots fell very short. The enemy supposed to have come from
direction of Hunter's Mill returned toward Vienna. He states that the
country beyond his picket lines affords every facility for such attacks,
and that the commanding general must expect them to be frequent so long
as the enemy continues in large force in his front and wishes to divert
attention from other movements, that from the opposite hills his camp
and movements are open to view of the enemy.
Mr. R. J. Yates
Sept. 4, 1862: Brig. Gen'l A. Pleasanton from his camp near Fort Albany,
Va., in his report to Brig. Gen. R. B. Marcy, chief of staff, written at
5 a. m., states that he is about to be off with the sixth cavalry and
two other companies for Falls Church where he expects to make his
headquarters and from whence he will scout as directed. He suggests
that the telegraph be extended to Falls Church and asks that supplies
for his command be forwarded by railroad to a point opposite Falls
Church.
Mr. S. A. Copper
At 8:30 a. m., his message states that from reports received by him, the
impression is that the enemy is going to cross the Potomac at Walker's
Landing.
At 12: 45 p. m., he reports from Falls Church that the enemy's advanced
pickets, on the Leesburg and Georgetown turnpike are three-fourths of a
mile this side of Difficult Creek, and that a regiment of Mississippi
cavalry, the Jeff Davis Legion, is at the bridge over the creek.
At 1:30 p. m., from Falls Church his dispatch to the chief of staff
states that the squadron on the Vienna road reports the enemy to be
approaching from that direction in some force; that one of his men had
been badly wounded in a skirmish. Gives it as his opinion that the enemy
is only making a show of force to conceal his movements on the upper
Potomac.
Sept. 4, 1862: Major General F. J. Porter from Headquarters Fifth Army
Corps at Hall's Hill, sends a message at 4:30 p. m., to Major Gen'l
McClellan stating that Gen'l Morell from Minor's Hill reports that the
enemy has begun an attack on the Union pickets, with artillery, infantry
and cavalry.
Mrs. J. L. Auchmoody
Sept. 4, 1862: At 6:45 p. m., from Upton's Hill, Brig. Gen'l J. D. Cox,
commanding division, makes the following report to A. V. Colburn, Ass't
Adjutant General:
"The firing upon General Pleasanton's command was from, possibly, three
pieces of light artillery. The small-arm fighting was confined to the
head of the enemy's column, deployed as skirmishers, with some
dismounted men or infantry, it is not certain which. The pickets of
Pleasanton's command, Eight Illinois and Eight Pennsylvania Cavalry,
skirmished with them. We lost 2 men shot. The force of the enemy did not
come beyond the edge of the woods, one and a half or 2 miles above Falls
Church, and no large numbers were actually seen. The reports sent by
General Pleasanton were necessarily those brought in by his men. A
regiment of cavalry, with two light pieces, rapidly handled, would
account for all the demonstration I could see with my glass, but there
may have been more. General Pleasanton's cavalry being ordered away, we
shall not have cavalry to scout the country till General Buford arrives.
Scouts report all quiet toward Fairfax and Little River pike."
Mr. Samuel Luttrell
Aug. 16, 1863: Skirmish at Falls Church; no circumstantial reports on
file.
June 23-24, 1864: Skirmishes near Falls Church and Centreville, Va.
Extract from report of Col. Charles R. Lowell, Jr., 2nd Mass. Cavalry,
commanding cavalry brigade. Headquarters cavalry brigade near Falls
Church, Va., June 24, 1864.
A patrol from the camp of 16th N. Y. Cavalry consisting of 4 men was
fired upon last evening between the pike and the railroad by a party of
about 10 men and 2 of the patrol captured; the other two brought word to
Annandale, and Col. Lazelle sent out a party of 40 men under Lieut.
Tuck, 16th N. Y. Cavalry in search of attacking party. Party halted one
and a half miles beyond Centreville to feed. Party of about 60 of the
the enemy dashed in upon them. Men demoralized and panic stricken
scattered in all directions. Lieut. Tuck only one as yet, 6 p. m., who
has reached camp; remainder either wounded, prisoners, or straggling.
After Tuck had been sent out a citizen reported to Col. Lazelle that he
had been stopped by Mosby last evening near Centreville and detained
under guard till morning, and that he had seen small parties numbering
about 100 men. Col. Lazelle, upon receiving this information, sent out
150 men to support Tuck under Major Nicholson. This party started at 8
a. m. At 2 p. m., Tuck returned, reporting attack as above at 11 a. m.
He was started by Col. Lazelle with a party of 15 men to overtake party
of 150 and put them on trail. Major Forbes with 100 men and ambulances
has been sent out this evening to place of surprise to pick up
stragglers and any wounded, and support Major Nicholson if Mosby's force
is reported more than 60 men.
Mrs. C. Larner
June 25, 1864, 11 a. m.: Major Forbes just returned from Centreville and
a clearer account of affairs can be given. Mosby with 200 men came down
Thursday evening to near Union Mills and an iron gun drawn by 6 horses.
Squad of Kincheloe's men took 2 of Col. Lazelle's patrol. Mosby returned
to Union Mills Friday morning and marched his column back through
Centreville about 10:30 a. m. Tuck's men feeding horses on newly cut
hay, men in cherry trees, some asleep, one picket sitting on fence.
Mosby learned of Tuck and sent part of his men rapidly on. Shot man on
post, causing panic among the rest.
Mr. W. H. Barksdale
July 18-21, 1864: Scout from Falls Church, Va. Col. Henry M. Lazelle,
16th N. Y. Cavalry commanding brigade, writing under date of July 21,
1864, from headquarters cavalry brigade near Falls Church, Va., to
Lieut. Col. J. H. Taylor, Assistant Adjutant General and chief of staff,
reports return to camp of a portion of a party of 10 men sent under
charge of 2d Lieut. Gray, 13th N. Y. Cavalry on Monday evening last.
About 4 o'clock a. m. to-day, while between Sangsters and Fairfax
Station was ambuscaded by a party of from 50 to 60; loss 5 men taken
prisoners and 7 horses.
Mr. Wm. B. Wright
Churches and Societies. — "EVERYTHING IN THE MUSIC LINE" — Baltimore Store,
The Presbyterian Church. One of the most attractive church edifices in
the village of Falls Church is the Presbyterian Church, a picture of
which is shown on page 5.
It was built in 1884, being formally dedicated in October of that year.
The building now used by the Sunday School of the church, which was
built before the civil war by Dr. Simon J. Groot, as a hall for
religious and secular public meetings, was purchased and formally
dedicated as a church November 20, 1866.
Since that date the pastors have been Rev. H. P. Dechert, who resigned
in 1870, Rev. David H. Riddle, Rev. D. L. Rathbun and Rev. R. A.
Davison, D. D.
The Rev. Mr. Riddle's pastorate extended over a period of seventeen
years, and it was during his term that the present handsome stone church
was built.
The Rev. Mr. Rathbun was pastor from 1890 to 1900.
Mr. J. W. Seay
The church has a large membership and the congregation continues to
increase.
The Sunday School connected with the church, of which Mr. E. C. Hough is
Superintendent, is one of the largest in the village.
Dulin Chapel M. E. Church, South. After the close of the war of 1861-65
the Methodists of Falls Church found themselves without a house of
worship, the church in which they had formerly worshipped having been
destroyed by soldiers of the Union Army while encamped close by. For a
time they held services in the "Old Falls Church," the present Episcopal
Church of the town until some of the leading members, desirous of having
a house of worship of their own, took steps towards the erection of the
present building near the site of their old church, among them being the
late H. W. Febrey, John E. Febrey, B. F. Shreve, Jos. E. Birch and Wm.
Dulin.
Mr. Wm. Dulin gave the site and soon there was erected thereon a church
which was dedicated in the spring of 1869. The parsonage was built a few
years later. The church as first built was remodeled in 1893. The
church officers are as follows: W. H. Torreyson, W. H. Shreve, R. W.
Birch, W. S. Tucker, W. M. Ellison, Trustees; W. H. Shreve, F. L. Birch,
J. H. Brunner, E. J. Febrey, W. M. Ellison, Stewards.
Mr. J. H. Wells
Columbia Baptist Church. Columbia Baptist Church was organized in 1857
by Rev. Hiram Reed, and up to the beginning of the civil war had about
300 enrolled on the church books as active members.
Services were discontinued during the war and the church used as a
hospital by the Union troops. Later it was used as a public school for a
number of years prior to 1870. In that year the State Mission Board sent
the Rev. W. S. O. Thomas to reopen the church as a place of worship.
Rev. Mr. Thomas was succeeded by Rev. Hugh McCormick, now in Porto Rico.
The Mission Board assisted the church liberally in a financial way up to
the time Rev. Mr. McCormick assumed charge, since which time the
congregation has been self-supporting.
The following pastors have occupied the pulpit for various terms since
the church was first organized: Rev. Hiram Reed, Rev. Hugh McCormick,
Rev. George E. Truitt, Rev. G. W. T. Noland, Rev. J. B. Clayton, Rev. J.
T. Barbor, Rev. J. W. Kincheloe and Rev. A. W. Graves.
Mr. M. H. Brinkerhoff
The church at this time has a membership of 103 and is in a more
prosperous condition than at any time since the war.
The officers of the church are: Deacons: E. J. Galpin, Thomas Hillier,
Frank Williams. Clerk, Thomas Hillier; Treasurer, Mrs. Geo. W.
Hawxhurst; Trustees, E. J. Galpin, Geo. F. McInturff, Elijah Berry.
The Sunday School has about forty scholars on the rolls, the officers of
which are: Mr. R. S. Ilsley, Superintendent, Mr. Van Quick, Assistant
Superintendent, Miss Emma Seaman, Organist.
The First Congregational Church. The First Congregational Church of
Falls Church, Va., was organized and duly recognized by Council May 30,
1876, the Congregational Society having first been organized in October,
1875.
Services were held in the Baptist Church up to 1879 when the present
attractive church building was erected. It is of Gothic design, with
main audience room seating 300, and a Sunday School room in the rear. A
fine toned bell was purchased in 1881.
Mrs. A. V. Piggott
At its organization 25 members united in forming the church. At that
time it was thought by some that another church in such a small town
would result in dissension among the Christian people. Such was not the
intention of this church. At its first annual meeting a resolution was
unanimously adopted expressing "good wishes toward every church of
Christ in this place, and its readiness and desire to co-operate with
them in every good work." The other churches responded in a Christian
spirit, and the pastors and churches of this town have always cordially
worked together in the cause of the Master.
The first minister engaged by the Society was Rev. J. W. Chickering, Jr.
The first regular pastor of the church was Rev. L. B. Platt, who
supplied the pulpit from November, 1877 to July, 1880, followed by Rev.
A. L. Park, November, 1881 to December, 1882. Rev. Wm. W. Jordan, May,
1883 to October, 1885. Rev. F. W. Tuckerman, September, 1886 to May,
1890. Rev. R. E. Eels, acting pastor, February, 1891 to December, 1891.
Rev. J. H. Jenkins, January, 1893 to July, 1897. Rev. Arsene
Schmavonian, May, 1899 to May, 1901. Rev. Franklin Noble, the present
minister was called to the church December, 1901.
Mr. G. B. Ives
The following are the officers of the church: Trustees, Geo. F. Rollins,
M. H. Brinkerhoff, Geo. W. Poole; Treasurer, Dr. J. B. Gould; Clerk,
Frank H. Eastman; Superintendent Sunday School, Miss Gertrude Nourse.
Deacons: Geo. F. Rollins, G. A. L. Merrifield and Albert P. Eastman.
Deaconesses: Mrs. Albert P. Eastman and Mrs. Helen C. Raymond.
St. James Roman Catholic Church. St. James Roman Catholic Church, Falls
Church, of which Rev. Father Tierney is Pastor, was built in 1902 and is
one of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in Northern Virginia.
It is built of Virginia sand stone taken from a quarry near the village.
The old church, a wooden structure built about 26 years ago, had become
too small for the growing congregation, and through the munificence of
Mrs. Thomas Ryan of New York City, the present handsome and imposing
edifice was erected at a more convenient point.
Mr. Nathan Lynch
Father Tierney has been in charge of this parish for about ten years and
under his ministration the church has grown in numbers and influence,
the membership at present being about 325.
The church and parsonage was designed and built under the supervision of
Mr. A. O. Von Herbulis, an architect of wide reputation and a resident
of this village.
The Methodist Episcopal Church. The Methodist Episcopal Church, situated
on Washington Street, was built in 1875 chiefly through the aid of the
late Isaac Crossman. He donated the site for the building and later
contributed liberally to its support.
Rev. D. C. Hedrick is the present pastor, to whom the congregation has
become much attached during the brief time he has been stationed here.
The following are the officers of the church: Trustees, J. M. Thorne, M.
E. Church, W. Y. Swiggett, S. S. Luttrell, W. W. Biggs, V. E. Kerr,
Henry Crocker, and Geo. G. Crossman; Stewards, M. E. Church, J. M.
Thorne and W. Y. Swiggett.
Mrs. Mary G. Sims
Christian Endeavor Society. Meets every Sunday at 6:15 p. m., at the
Presbyterian Chapel. Officers: A. M. Smith, President; Miss Raydelle B.
Shaw, Vice President; Jesse Varcoe, Secretary; Miss Emma Seaman,
Corresponding Secretary; Milton Thorne, Treasurer.
Epworth League of the M. E. Church. President, W. W. Biggs; Vice
Presidents, Miss Ida N. Ball, Mrs. V. E. Kerr; Mrs. M. H. Luttrell, Dr.
S. S. Luttrell, Miss Pearl Luttrell; Secretary, Walter S. Kerr;
Treasurer, Mrs. J. M. Thorne; Organist, Miss Pearl Luttrell.
Jefferson Institute. Enrollment session 1904-5 147. Principal, Prof. E.
C. Sine; Teachers, Miss Fannie Weadon, Miss Ruth Dyer, Miss Ida N. Ball.
Oakwood Cemetery. Oakwood Cemetery is beautifully situated in the
Eastern part of the town on the site of the old Methodist Church. It
contains about 5 acres enclosed with a neatly trimmed evergreen hedge.
The officers of the cemetery association are Wm. N. Febrey, President;
E. J. Northrup, Secretary; G. A. L. Merrifield, Treasurer; M. E. Church,
Superintendent.
Mr. A. E. Rowell
Kemper Lodge No. 64, A. F. & A. M. Chartered December 3, 1896. Meets
second and fourth Fridays in each month. Membership about 60. Officers:
W. A. Ball, W. M.; A. H. Barbor, S. W.; J. R. Hagan, J. W. Past Masters:
John H. Fisher, M. E. Church, G. T. Mankin, Dr. Geo. B. Fadeley, Dr. T.
C. Quick, Geo. M. Newell.
The Independent Order of Good Templars. Pioneer Lodge No. 1 of Good
Templars was organized on April 27, 1887. This lodge meets every Tuesday
night at Odd Fellows Hall. The lodge has a membership of eighty-five in
good standing. The object of the order is prohibition of the liquor
traffic by the will of the people, and no saloons have been allowed here
for over thirty years, largely attributable to Pioneer Lodge which keeps
public sentiment alive on the subject. The present officers of the lodge
are: Henry Hawxhurst, Chief Templar; Jesse Varcoe, Past Chief Templar;
Miss Laura Summers, Secretary; George W. Hawxhurst, Financial Secretary;
Mrs. J. H. Garretson, Treasurer; J. H. Marr, Marshal; Miss Raydelle B.
Shaw, Chaplain; Miss Catharine Foley, Vice Templar; G. C. Kesterson,
Guard; Walter Kerr, Sentinel; Mrs. M. M. Erwin, Organist; J. H.
Garretson, Lodge Deputy; Geo. W. Hawxhurst, Superintendent of Juveniles.
Falls Church is also headquarters of the Grand Lodge of the State. Since
1887 the office of Grand Secretary has been located here, Mr. George W.
Hawxhurst, who has filled the office for the past thirty-two years,
being a resident of the town.
Dr. S. S. Luttrell
Virginia State Audubon Society. The Virginia State Audubon Society was
organized at Falls Church, September 29, 1903. The objects of the
society are to protect our native birds, to discourage the buying and
wearing for ornamental purposes of the feathers of all birds other than
the ostrich and domesticated fowls, and to promote a popular interest in
bird study. The present officers are: President, John B. Henderson; 1st
Vice President, Wm. C. Pennywitt; 2nd Vice President, Nathan Banks, and
Secretary-Treasurer, E. C. Hough. Regular members pay $1.00 a year as
dues. Children under 16 pay no dues but sign pledge cards agreeing not
to harm birds or their eggs. The society has had printed for free
distribution a digest of the recent game law.
Oakwood Cemetery
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Falls Church Lodge No. 11, I. O. O.
F., was organized October 24, 1890, and has a membership of
seventy-four. The lodge owns its hall, a large brick structure, located
near the corner of Broad and Little Falls streets, in the center of the
town. The building which was erected in 1891 contains a handsome lodge
room on the second floor and a spacious public room on the first floor.
The order makes a specialty of giving attention to its members during
sickness and pays funeral expenses on death. The lodge numbers among its
members some of the most influential citizens of the town. Its present
officers are as follows: John D. Payne, N. G.; T. O. Marr, V. G.; J. H.
Garretson, Sec'y; J. H. Brunner, F. S.; George W. Hawxhurst, Treasurer;
Rev. W. H. Wolffe, Chaplain; Dr. Geo. B. Fadeley, R. S. to N. G.; Thomas
Hillier, L. S. to N. G.; Geo. A. Brunner, S. P. G.; W. H. Nowlan, R. S.
to V. G.; C. F. Newman, L. S. to V. G.; Ray Marcey, O. G.; Walter
Marcey, I. G.; W. Maben, Warden; Webster Donaldson, R. S. S.; Chauncey
Seay, L. S. S.; T. S. Luckett, Conductor.
R. E. Lee Chapter Daughters of the Confederacy. This chapter was
organized in June, 1898. Its object is to assist needy widows and
orphans of Confederate soldiers. The chapter has 43 members, the
officers for the present term being as follows: President, Mrs. G. J.
Head; Vice President, Mrs. George G. Bolling; Secretary, Mrs. A. H.
Barbor; Treasurer, Miss Nellie Green; Historian, Mrs. Jonas Unverzagt;
Registrar, Miss Georgia Head.
Mr. H. N. Ryer
Falls Church Library. The Falls Church Library, organized 1899, is
conducted by the Library Association under the supervision of a Board of
Control. The library building is located on Columbia street near
Washington street.
Officers: Pickering Dodge, President; Wm. A. Ball, Secretary; Librarian,
Geo. W. Hawxhurst.
Patriotic Order Sons of America. Washington Camp No. 1, organized in
1902. Officers: C. C. Walters, Past President; H. H. Moreland,
President; Lester Brunner, Vice President; G. W. Moreland, M. of F.; M.
M. Erwin, R. S.; E. L. Payne, F. S.; B. F. Elliott, Conductor; Upton
Galisher, Inspector; W. H. Erwin, Guard; J. H. Brunner, Chaplain;
Trustees, A. H. Barbor, C. C. Walters and J. H. Brunner.
Dr. M. E. Church.
Mr. M. E. Church is a native of the State of Vermont, but has been a
resident of Virginia for nearly twenty-five years, and of Falls Church
for the past eighteen years, during which period he has been closely
identified with every public movement. He it was who first established
telephonic communication between Falls Church and Washington City over
sixteen years ago, and from a small beginning has built up an extensive
telephone system extending over Fairfax and Alexandria Counties and
reaching to Bluemont in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The company operating
this system is incorporated under the name of the Falls Church Telephone
and Telegraph Company, and Mr. Church is the chief stock-holder,
President and General Manager. Exchanges are operated at Falls Church
and Rosslyn.
Mr. Church has brought to his adopted home a large share of the energy
and sterling business qualities for which his native state is noted.
This has been manifest from the moment he set foot on the soil of his
adopted state. He first engaged in the drug business in Falls Church
which he successfully conducted for over twelve years, during which
period he trained several young men who have since been conducting a
successful business of their own. The esteem in which he was held by his
fellow-pharmacists in the state was evidenced by his unanimous election
to the office of President of the State Pharmaceutical Association, a
position which he filled with great credit, as well as many other
positions of trust and responsibility. He still remains an active and
esteemed member of that Association.
Miss B. C. Merrifield
About fifteen years ago he entered into the real estate, loan and
insurance business, and notwithstanding his lack of previous training or
experience, has been eminently successful along that line, and to him
more than any other one man, is due the growth and development of our
beautiful little village, as he has been untiring in his efforts to
locate here in homes of their own a desirable class of moral and
intellectual citizens. One of his first ventures along this line was
the organization of the Falls Church Improvement Company, of which he
was general manager and a large stock-holder. His associates in this
company were: Hon. Schyler Duryee, then Chief Clerk of the U. S. Patent
Office; Judge A. A. Freeman, now of New Mexico, and others. This company
successfully developed the "Sherwood Sub-Division," one of the first
sub-divisions put on the market in Fairfax County.
Mr. R. C. L. Moncure
In the loan business Mr. Church has been particularly successful, by his
conservative investments and faithful fidelity to the interests of his
clients, both investors and borrowers have learned to place implicit
confidence in his judgment and integrity and as a result, he has been
able to bring together those who wish to borrow money with which to buy
or build a home, and those who wish to invest funds, thereby enabling
the worthy home-seeker to own his own home, making of him not only a
prominent but more interested and desirable citizen.
While not an Attorney at Law Mr. Church's experience and familiarity
with the real estate law, titles and values of land in Fairfax and
Alexandria Counties have made his services and opinions much sought
after as an expert in such matters, both by the courts and private
parties. Persons seeking homes or investments in the suburbs of
Washington will do well to consult him, as his judgment can be relied
upon in real estate matters, and his integrity is unquestioned.
Mr. Geo. M. Newell
In the development of Falls Church Mr. Church has been indefatigable,
and has been personally identified with every progressive movement. In
addition to his drug-store, real estate and telephone business, he has
been largely interested in procuring better transportation facilities in
the way of electric railroads; he has built many houses in the town and
organized several companies for the purpose of developing the trade and
industries of this section. He is at present engaged in organizing an
electric light company for the purpose of furnishing light and power to
Falls Church and the country intervening between that and Washington; he
has great faith in the future of the town and is not afraid to invest
his money in home enterprises.
Academy of Music Building
PERCY S. FOSTER,
Manager Washington Warerooms
