Transcription
[?] [?g] man of this [generation]
[?] [?ing] through family [cor?]
[?] [?ice], found an [interesting]
[?] written in the 18th
Addressed to his great -
great - grandfather by a
[?e] expert of that day,
[?red] an inquiry as to
[?] the family funds should
[?ed] in the port of New
[?] the port of Dumfries,
[?ver] was Dumfries.
[?lized] for the first time
[?for] the letter, he might
[?n] one with the Astors,
[?ets] and the Rhineland-
[?s] very much on the
[?the] old days.
Virginia meant tobacco
[?tobacco?] meant wealth, when
[?antic] sailing vessels
[?small] that the ascent of
[?s] meant no great diffi-
[?] Dumfries, Alexandria and
[?wn] on the Potomac, and
[?] and Tappahannock on
[?] [?Tappahannock?], all seemed
[?a] future.
[?] [?great?] hogsheads of to-
[?aded] on the ships were
[approximately] $1,000 each
[?vered] in England, meant
[?h] added to the planter's
[?] bank account. It was to-
[?at] made Westmoreland
[?] the early Athens of
[?] that gratified the de-
[?] the finer things of the
[?ntry], gentle manners,
[?dress], music books and
The Passing Of The Ports
By GEORGE KENNEDY in Washington Evening Star
English education for the planters'
sons.
Every planter had his factor,
or agent, in London, usually a
younger son of one of the great
Virginia families, and the factor's
success in shopping for the
articles wanted by the planter's
family was almost as important
as getting a good price for tobacco.
Occasionally the factor
would receive a boy 11 or 12
sent over with a tobacco cargo,
a son of one of his planters,
with instructions to put him in
a good school, pay the expenses
and supply him with spending
money from the planter's
account.
The first big plantations were
on the water and had their own
landings. Water from dripping
oars would flash in the sunlight
out on the river as the
planter families, in heavy boats
rowed by four Negroes, visited
one another or went to church
of a Sunday. As the seemingly
insatiable demand and high
prices for tobacco continued it
was planted far inland and the
ports came into being.
The landings and the ports
were reached by "rolling roads"
- the great hogsheads were rolled
to the water behind a team
of oxen. Until then the rivers
were the only "roads" in Maryland
and Virginia.
The tobacco habit spread
through the cities of Europe -
taking snuff became an indication
of elegance, the pipe became
the companion of the bowl.
Virginia tobacco continued as
a high-priced specialty for almost
200 years. But finally, in
1825, the price broke for all
time, and tobacco became a commodity
competitively priced in
a world market. The economy
that produced the Virginia dynasty
was gone. There was no
restoration of either. The Civil
War was but a second blow.
So intent were the Virginians
on their wonderful land that
they did not turn to the sea, as
did the New Englanders. Virginia
tobacco was carried abroad in
British bottoms. By the early
19th century there were some
Virginia mariners, and houses
of these ship captains still
stand on Prince, Duke and Lee
streets, Alexandria. Joseph J.
Moore, 84, who spent most
of his life on the Alexandria water
front, remembers when bowspirits
of sailing vessels extended
across Union street for blocks
and a forest of masts met the
eye glancing riverward.
Until 1912 Tappahannock was
the only port of entry for Virginia
- that is, it had the only
customs house, and all imports
received at Norfolk, Newport
News and other ports had to be
entered on the books there. It
was the largest shipper of the
tobacco port today. Falmouth is
now a mile above the head of
navigation.
As for Dumfries - one would
never know it had been a port.
Ships used to unload right at
the front door of the old stagecoach
inn - and now there is
no deep water within miles.
DUMFRIES' THREE
OLDEST NATIVES
TOTAL 282 YEARS
Mrs. Maria Nash Wheat
Age 97
Living in Washington
Mrs. Annie Speake Merchant
Age 95
Living in Dumfries
Mr. Clay Speake
Age 90
Living in Dumfries
Congratulations
TO
DUMFRIES
-On Its-
BI-CENTENNIAL
MAY YOUR
NEW INDUSTRY
BRING YOU
RENEWED WEALTH
Peerless Tailors
And Cleaners
Quantico, Va.
Phone Triangle 117 W
THE TOWN OF QUANTICO
SALUTE THE TOWN OF DUMFRIES
On It's 200th Anniversary
"In the General Assembly, May 2, 1749"
Joseph H. Wall
Insurance, Bonds, Real Estate
Inez Schrider
Gifts For Every Occasion
1749
Sanitary Barber Shop
1749
'the Inhabitants of the County of Prince William
have made humble application to this General Assembly
that a Town may be laid out upon the Land of
John Graham, Gentleman, near the Public Warehouses
on the upper side of Quantico Creek in the said County
for the Cohabitation of such as are minded to settle
there, Whereby Trade and Navigation may be greatly
increased to the Advantage of the Inhabitants of that
part of the County; and it was enacted that "sixty
acres of Land belonging to the said John Graham,
situate, lying and being upon the Head of Quantico
Creek might be vested in John Graham, Peter Hedgman,
William Fitzhugh, George Mason, Joseph Blackwell,
Richard Blackburn and Thomas Harrison, Gentlemen
. . . as Directors and Trustees for designing,
Building and carrying on and maintaining a town . . .
to be called by the name of Dumfries.
1949
Vote For _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Horace Edwards
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _For Governor
- Paid Political Advt.
The Wheel
Mike Sclavoginnis
1949
Paris Auto Service
Studebaker - Pontiac
The Stork Shop
Infants and Childrens Wear
Burke's Flower Shop
Flowers For Mothers' Day
200
Years
Liming's Dept. Store
Ready-to-wear-shoes
kitchenware
A. M. Bologenese & Sons
Tailor and Haberdasher
Since 1918Transcriber
Adam KitchenLanguage
English