Transcription
gather in the same place to
celebrate what became great
impetus to the War of Independence.
CURIOSITY AND concern,
rather than discontent, better
describe the mood of
Dumfries citizens who will
be present. Some have
persistently probed the
town's rich and well-kept
secrets, many of them
[?]
meant tobacco, tobacco
meant wealth," and trans-
Atlantic vessel sailed up
Quantico Creek as far as the
Stage Coach Inn. Tobacco
farmers all over the county
knew of the town's export
monopoly and descended to
Dumfries with wagon loads of
their crop.
Hogsheads of tobacco
loaded on to the ships by
negro slaves were worth
[?] [?]
In 1740 John Graham, a
Scotsman from the burg of
Dumfries, came to Virginia
and began obtaining land
grants along Quantico Creek.
Other Scots merchants
moved in and in 1749 prompted
the General Assembly to
establish Dumfries as the
first of seven townships in the
county.
In 1759 the county was
transferred from Occoquan
[?]
Families of wealth and
distinction established homes
in the town that had to be
enlarged from its original 60
acres in 1759 and again in
1761. Laws were enforced
banning construction of
wooden chimneys and the
keeping of swine within city
limits.
Among town incorporators
were men of prominence like
Richard Lee; a signer of the
Declaration Independence,
[?]
justice of the U.S. Court of
Appeals; and Col. William
Grayson, first senator from
Virginia to the State
Congress.
Dumfries' rapid decline
that began before 1780 was as
dramatic as its short-lived
era of glory. Ironically,
tobacco spend the town's
decay.
Scots tobacco merchants at
home abandoned the town in
favor of West Indies sugar
[?]
American [Revolution?]
Dumfries, unlike [Alexandria?]
made no commercial [a?]
justment from tobacco [?]
flour or other crops.
Erosion from [uplan??]
clearing for tobacco [farms?] [?]
clogged Quantico Creek [with?]
silt, paralyzing trade. The [?]
was apparently no [effective] [?]
dredging method [available] [?]
Among other things, it [?]
recorded that ["warehouse"?] [?]
- See BUSTLING, Page [?]Transcriber
Adam Kitchen