Author: LHS_Admin
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March LHS Newsletter
Did you miss the last Newsletter? Do you want to see what interesting events are taking place nearby in March? Click here to review the March Newsletter Perhaps you want…
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Lovettsville’s Isaac Slater: From Hangman’s Noose to Capitol Hill
By Edward Spannaus Isaac Cooper Slater was born and raised in the Lovettsville area, but spent most of his adult life in Washington, D.C., as did his second cousin, Luther…
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In Memoriam: Isaac Cooper Slater (1907)
To access the original scanned pages or download the PDF, visit it at the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/27020298/
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Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s 2023 Lecture Series:
“Secrets of the C & O Canal” Presented by James Rada, Jr. Sunday, March 12, at 2:00 p.m. In person or Live-streamed via Zoom St. James United Church of Christ,10…
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Rascals and Scoundrels: The Henshaw letters, Part II
By Edward Spannaus In our December issue, we reported that a collection of the letters of Dr. James J. Henshaw was being lent to the Lovettsville Historical Society for scanning…
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Balch Library Presents Loudoun History Award to Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery
On November 6, the Thomas Balch Library Advisory Commissioners presented the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Annual Loudoun History Awards. This event honors individuals who have made significant contributions to preserving Loudoun’s past through…
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LHS Awarded Grant from Virts-Miller Foundation
On December 19, the Virts Miller Foundation announced that it has awarded $100,000 to thirteen local nonprofits as part of the Foundation’s first competitive grant program, including a $10,000 grant…
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Ray Anderson’s German Great-Grandson Responds to Newsletter Article
By Claudette Lewis Bard The power of the Internet never ceases to amaze me. Often in the news, we hear about someone’s research leading them to a discovery that would…
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December Newsletter
Our December 2022 Newsletter is now available, with a feature on the life and letters of Dr. James Henshaw LHS December 2022 Newsletter
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Letters from Lovettsville: The Life of Dr. John James Henshaw
By Doria R. Owen The shoe box marked “Letters” had been silently waiting atop a stack of forgotten boxes for over ten years. Once opened, the story they tell…
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LHS Lecture Series: Repudiation Day: Frederick County’s 1765 Protest Against the Stamp Act
Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s Lecture Series: Repudiation Day: Frederick County’s 1765 Protest against the Stamp Act Presented by Chris Haugh, Frederick County Historian Sunday, November 13, at 2:00 p.m. In-person at St.…
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Saving Mount Pleasant Baptist Church
By Lori Kimball A physical testament to the strength and resilience of Loudoun’s African American community can be found in the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery, located at the base of…
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LHS Lecture Series – Robert Harper and the Quakers of Hopewell Meeting: An Unlikely Story of the Founding of Harpers Ferry
Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series: Robert Harper and the Quakers of Hopewell Meeting: An Unlikely Story of the Founding of Harpers Ferry Presented by David T. Gilbert Sunday, October…
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Loudoun’s First Reading of the Declaration of Independence Celebrated
By Nancy Spannaus The first official reading of the Declaration of Independence in Loudoun County, which took place on the steps of the old County Courthouse on August 12, 1776,…
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LHS Lecture Series — Armies of Foreign Mercenaries: Dispelling the Hessian Myth
Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series: Armies of Foreign Mercenaries: Dispelling the Hessian Myth Presented by Ross Schwalm Sunday, September 11 at 2:00 p.m. In-person at St. James United Church of…
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Fall 2022 Mini-Course — Where We Live: The German Settlement
Press release What: Lovettsville Historical Society Fall 2022 Mini-Course— Where We Live: The German Settlement When: Monday nights October 3, 10, 17, and 24 from 6:30-9:00 p.m.. Where: Meeting at…
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George’s Mill Farm: Memories of the Past
Presented by Fran Wire to the Lovettsville Historical Society, May 20, 2018 Editor’s note: Following is the text of Fran Wire’s talk, presented as part of the Lovettsville Historical Society’s…
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Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series:
“Secrets of Catoctin Mountain: Little-Known Stories & Hidden History of Frederick & Loudoun Counties” Presented by author Jim Rada Sunday, August 21, at 2:00 p.m. In-person at Lovettsville Town Council…
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Our July Newsletter is now available!
Our July Newsletter can be accessed here. News of upcoming lectures and other news shorts, plus features on Anthony Wayne’s march through Virginia on his way to Yorktown, and Part…
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LHS Lecture Series: The Indian Mounds of Loudoun County and Northern Virginia Piedmont
Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series: “The Indian Mounds of Loudoun County and Northern Virginia Piedmont” Sunday, July 10, at 2:00 p.m. In-person at Lovettsville Town Council Chamber…
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Fifth grader Gwendolyn Hanger wins LHS History Award
Fifth grader Gwendolyn Hanger was the winner of the Lovettsville Historical Society’s annual History Award, conferred upon a deserving student as part of the Fifth Grade Farewell Ceremony. The ceremony…
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When Anthony Wayne Marched Through Loudoun
The 241st anniversary of General Anthony Wayne’s crossing of the Potomac with his Pennsylvania troops was commemorated on June 4 at the “Spirit of Loudoun” Revolutionary War Memorial. The event…
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Looking for our Palatine German ancestors — Part II: A Visit to New York’s Schoharie Valley
By: Edward Spannaus If you have visited the Lovettsville Museum, you may have seen a display called “How We Got Here: The Palatine Emigration to America, and to the German…
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LHS’s Lecture Series – Lafayette’s Farewell Tour – 6/26/2022
Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series: “Lafayette: Our Nation’s Adopted Son and His Farewell Tour of the America He Loved” Sunday, June 26, at 2:00 p.m. In-person at…
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Our June 2022 Newsletter is out!
The June newsletter is available here, with history features, a listing of our upcoming lectures, nearby events of interest, and more.
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The Schoolhouse on South Loudoun Street
The house at the point where South Loudoun and Locust Streets intersect, has recently undergone a renovation, as many have noticed. This building has a storied history. It was cited…
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Volunteer Updating Museum Inventory
Since early March, visitors to the Lovettsville Museum may have noticed a young woman quietly working with items from the Museum collection, entering descriptions in a laptop computer, and photographing each…
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Five More Revolutionary War Patriots Honored
Five more Revolutionary War Patriots were honored in an April 10 ceremony at the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery in Lovettsville. The grave-marking event was sponsored by three local chapters…
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Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery Address Board of Supervisors
Representatives of the Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery and the Lovettsville Historical Society addressed the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on April 19, urging the Board to take…
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Capt. Sam Means, Founder of Loudoun Rangers, Honored at Graveside Ceremony
Captain Samuel C. Means, who commanded the Independent Loudoun Rangers during the Civil War, has finally received a U.S. government-issued headstone for his burial site, 138 years after his death…
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Remembering Lafayette’s Visit to Loudoun
By: Nancy Spannaus* One year before the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the nation will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the visit by one of the leading figures…
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Next in…
Next in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s lecture series: Lovettsville’s Hidden History:Mount Sinai Church & Cemetery Sunday, April 3, at 2:00 p.m. In-person at Lovettsville Town Council Chamber (behind the Museum)…
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Our March newsletter, the “Doctors Issue,” is now available
Our March newsletter, featuring stories about Lovettsville’s doctors of the 19th and 20th centuries, is now available here.
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“Doctors’ House” on East Broad Way will be preserved
The “Doctors’ House,” used by three local physicians for their offices from the 1890s to the 1930s, was in danger of being demolished after it was put on the market…
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Lovettsville’s Doctors over the Years: Medical Ledgers Added to Museum Collection
Physician ledgers from the 1920s and 1930s were recently found during the renovation of the Rollins house at 30 East Broad Way, which is being carried out by Fred Lee…
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Dr. Willard’s Journals being digitized at Lovettsville Museum
The Lovettsville Historical Society is in the process of scanning three journals and medical ledgers of Dr. James Willard, who owned the stately brick Federalist Home at 14 East Pennsylvania…
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LHS Lecture Series to resume with “The Loudouners who Challenged Thomas Jefferson”
Presented by Nancy B. Spannaus Sunday, March 13, at 2:00 p.m. In-person at Lovettsville Town Council Chamber (behind the Museum) and Online via Zoom After almost two years of suspension…
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Our February 2022 Newsletter is Ready for You to Read!
Our February 2002 Newsletter is now available, and you can read it here. And if you missed the January newsletter, it is here.
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In Memoriam: Fran Wire
The Lovettsville Historical Society is saddened by the death of Fran Wire, the proprietor of George’s Mill, who was a leader of the Historical Society for many years. Fran served…
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Bicentennial Costumes Donated to the Museum
The costumes worn by Michael and Julia Kretsinger during the 1976 Bicentennial celebration in Lovettsville have been donated to the Lovettsville Museum by their family. Susan Kretsinger Geary, pictured above, presented the costumes to…
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Linden Hall Farm barn restoration continues
Those passing by Linden Hall Farm on the Berlin Turnpike north of Lovettsville over the past year, will have noticed a “new” barn being built…
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Charlotte and Emanuel
By Lori Hinterleiter Kimball There are times when doing historical research that something – a person, an event, a reference – grabs the researcher’s attention and beckons to be investigated. …
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John G. Lewis Memorial Bridge Rehabilitation
John G. Lewis Memorial Bridge Rehabilitation: Preserving a Loudoun County Historical Landmark By: Clare Matheny If you have driven on Milltown Road, Taylorstown Road, or Loyalty Road in the past…
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Looking for our Palatine German ancestors: A short trip to New York’s Mohawk Valley
Looking for our Palatine German ancestors: A short trip to New York’s Mohawk Valley By Edward Spannaus If you have visited the Lovettsville Museum, you may have seen a display…
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The Wright brothers’ roots in the German Settlement
On Dec. 21, the Town of Hillsboro unveiled a refurbished historical marker honoring Susan Koerner Wright, the month of the pioneers of flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright. You can read…
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Aircraft Part from 1940 Lovettsville Crash Donated to Museum
A piece of machined metal from the August 31, 1940 airplane crash near Lovettsville has been donated to the Lovettsville Museum by Robert Zirkle and Carol Sue Zirkle of Shenandoah,…
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Our December 2021 Newsletter is now available
The December Newsletter has been published, and is available by clicking here.
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The Luther Potterfield Stable, and The Block That Was Too Big for Itself
Some of you may have noticed the restoration work being done on the red barn at the corner of Locust Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. That structure was once a livery…
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Christmas at Mount Sinai — 1886
The following reports of activities at Mount Sinai Free Will Baptist Church, located at the intersection of Mountain Road and Britain Road southwest of Lovettsville, were published in the Loudoun…
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Our November 2021 Newsletter is now available!
The LHS Newsletter for November 2021 is now out. Click here to read it.
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And you think your log house is old?
While touring the Lake Garda area in northern Italy last month, my wife Nancy and I visited the Museo Rambotti, an archeological museum in Desenzano. This museum features the prehistoric “pile dwellings” (we…
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County Supervisors to take up preservation of Mount Sinai Cemetery
Over a year after the Lovettsville Historical Society began its drive to draw public attention to the plight of the abandoned African-American cemetery on Mountain Road known as the Mount…
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Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery ask for Board of Supervisors help in preserving abandoned burial ground
On Sept. 7, representatives of the Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery participated in a virtual meeting with Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall and with staff…
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Trees Made of Stone
By Lori Hinterleiter Kimball Many cemeteries contain unusually carved or shaped gravestones, but the markers that look like tree trunks are some of the most unusual. Called by various names…
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The family of W.S. Seitz, builder of the Ruse bank barn
Although the Seitzes were not one of the pre-Revolution German families in Lovettsville, the family’s roots were thoroughly grounded in Pennsylvania German and Swiss immigrants. They came from Pennsylvania…
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“A Most Excellent Barn:” A Pennsylvania German Barn in Lovettsville
Editor’s Introduction: In reviewing the research in Lori Kimball’s article on the Ruse-Seitz barn, and comparing the barn to the Ruse log house (built around 1876) which we covered in…
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Our August 2021 Newletter is now available!
Click here for our August issue, featuring the American Revolution — with coverage of the July 24 Patriot grave-marking and materials from our 2011 lecture on the German Settlement in…
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Over 100 attend Revolutionary War ceremony in Lovettsville
Five Revolutionary War Patriots were honored on Saturday, July 24, at an impressive and colorful ceremony held at the New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery in Lovettsville, sponsored by the Sons…
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Outline of the German role in the Revolutionary War
Outline of the German role in the Revolutionary War (The following are notes prepared by Edward Spannaus for his presentation in the September 11, 2011 lecture on “The German Settlement…
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Who were the five Patriots honored on July 24?
Following are the biographies of the five Revolutionary War Patriots who were recognized in the July 24 grave-marking ceremony at New Jerusalem Lutheran Church Cemetery. Johannes (John) Axline (presented by…
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Slide Show: German Settlement Veterans of the Revolutionary War
Almost ten years ago, on September 11, 2011, the Lovettsville Historical Society presented, as part of its monthly lecture series, a presentation on the German Settlement in the Revolution. Here…
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Video of July 24 Patriot Grave Marking at New Jerusalem Lutheran Church, Lovettsville
You can watch a YouTube video of the complete grave-marking ceremony here.
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Our July 2021 newsletter is here!
Our monthly newsletter for July 2021 has just been published. It features reports on the Museum reopening on August 3, and plans to resume our monthly lecture series, as well…
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LHS Team Brings Mount Sinai Cemetery Story to Juneteenth Celebration
The Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery, a project of the Lovettsville Historical Society, was at the Leesburg Juneteenth celebration on June 19 at Ida Lee Park. Pictured are…
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Ray and Sarah Edna Anderson: A Profile of Two of Lovettsville’s African-American Citizens
By Claudette Lewis Bard To talk about Ray Anderson is to talk about a Lovettsville legend, a highly-skilled and hard-working gentleman who was known, in the early to mid-20th century,…
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Our June Newsletter is out!
Our June 2021 newsletter is now available online, with stories about the Taylorstown Mill, the Short Hill’s largest known cave, and how we have discovered more Revolutionary War Patriots in…
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More Revolutionary War Patriots Identified in Lovettsville
We have located additional Lovettsville Revolutionary War Patriots, thanks to a database of burials compiled by the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (VASSAR). This includes three…
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Emory Franklin Timbers: A Fisher of Men
By Howard Gilbert Timbers An important landmark of the Timbers Family history is the small community near Lovettsville, Virginia called Little Britain. This small, rural close-knit African-American community was centered…
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Herbert Traxler: Pillar of Lovettsville Oktoberfest
Herbert Traxler 5 February 1945-24 April 2021 “The most beautiful memorial that a person can receive, stands in the hearts of his fellow men.” Lovettsville’s Oktoberfest lost one of its…
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Taylorstown Mill: The Historical Preservation of a Loudoun County Grist Mill (1800-present)
Clare Matheny, a graduate student and a resident of the Taylorstown area, has created a video about the Taylorstown Mill and the efforts over time to preserve it, which…
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The Creation of Mount Sinai Church and School, as reported by the Loudoun Telephone, 1883-1887
by Edward Spannaus (The Loudoun Telephone was a Republican Party-oriented newspaper published in Hamilton, Virginia, in the late 19th century. The following are news reports about the establishment of the Mount…
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“Know All Men by These Presents:” Taverns and Houses of Entertainment in Old Lovettsville
By Lori Hinterleiter Kimball We are fortunate to have access to many restaurants, B&Bs, and pubs in Loudoun County. Of course, they are not new things! Ordinaries, taverns, and…
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Loudoun County Heritage Commission endorses request for appointment of Mount Sinai Cemetery Trustees
On April 15, the Loudoun County Heritage Commission sent a letter to the Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery, a project of the Lovettsville Historical Society, supporting the group’s…
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Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery conduct clearing and cleaning of abandoned burial ground at Little Britain
Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery gathered at the cemetery site on April 10 to begin the process of clearing part of the property in anticipation of eventually clearing…
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Our April 2021 Newsletter is Now Available!
Our latest newsletter issue, for April 2021, is now available. One of the history features is about the Hawker log store, and how it made its way from Sunnyside, a…
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Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery seek assistance of Loudoun County Board of Supervisors
The Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery, consisting of families of those buried in the Mount Sinai Free Will Baptist Cemetery near Lovettsville, as well as neighbors and others,…
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Mount Sinai Church: A Forgotten Gem of Lovettsville History
By Edward Spannaus The 19th-century Mount Sinai Free Will Baptist Church, at “Little Britain” southwest of Lovettsville, has a history which is unique among the churches – black and…
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From Sunnyside to Lovettsville: The Hawker Log Store
By Sarah Searle When my husband and I purchased our small farmstead on Purcell Road, just outside the town limits of Lovettsville, it was through the eyes of two…
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Is this a cemetery?
Family and Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery are planning a Spring clean-up, as a first step toward a restoration of this historic cemetery which was active from at least 1887…
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Our March 2021 Newsletter is now available!
Our latest newsletter, for March 2021, is now available. It features articles on Robert Booth, an early Dutchman’s Creek Pioneer, and on Mount Sinai Cemetery — both announcing that family…
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Robert Booth’s Legacy: Early Dutchman’s Creek Pioneer
(Updated 3/14/21) By Harold Gladstone Introduction Five years before Thomas, 6th Lord Fairfax granted 17,296 acres of land Northwest of Lovettsville to his recently appointed land agent and cousin Colonel…
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Honoring Those Interred at the Mount Sinai Cemetery — Part IV
By Claudette Lewis Bard This month we are continuing our series about those interred at Mount Sinai Cemetery. Among those discussed will be a family who were among the several…
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Our February 2021 Newsletter is now available
Our feature-filled newsletter for February is now available here.
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The Ruse/Reed log farmhouse collapses during demolition
In our last issue, we reported on the history of the Ruse-Reed homestead on the Lovettsville Community Park site, and how the County was planning on demolishing the old farmhouse.…
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Honoring Those Interred at the Mount Sinai Cemetery — Part III
By Claudette Lewis Bard This month we are continuing our series about those interred at Mount Sinai Cemetery. Among those discussed are an early civil rights activist and registered voter…
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The Stories behind the Stained-glass Windows at Beans in the Belfry
By Edward Spannaus I was staffing the Museum about a year ago – when we were still open – when a somewhat familiar-looking gentleman walked in. He introduced himself as…
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Linden Hall establishes conservation easement
By Bart Hodgson Linden Hall Farm, LLC is pleased to announce the recording of a Conservation Easement in the land records of Loudoun County, Virginia. In doing so, Linden…
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Our January 2021 Newsletter is Here!
Our January 2021 Newsletter is now available — with news and updates about the Lovettsville Historical Society, history features on the Ruse/Reed farmstead on the Lovettsville Community Park property, more…
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The Ruse/Reed Homestead at the Lovettsville Park
By Lori Hinterleiter Kimball Anyone walking or driving recently by the intersection of East Broad Way/Milltown Road and Lovettsville Road would have noticed earth-moving equipment contouring the land in…
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The Ruse Family: A Typical Story of our German Settlers
By Edward Spannaus Christian Gottlieb Ruse (1746 – 1821) and Anna Catherine Ruse (1756? – 1802) came to our attention some years ago, because they were early owners of the…
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Honoring Those Interred at Mount Sinai Cemetery — Part II
by Claudette Lewis Bard In December’s newsletter, we remembered several Lovettsville residents who are interred at the Mount Sinai Cemetery. As we acknowledged, there could be as many as 100…
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Our December 2020 Newsletter is now out!
We have just published our December 2020 newsletter. You can get it here.
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The Georges, the Johnsons, and related families in Lovettsville
We asked Sam Kroiz, proprietor of the George’s Mill Farm Store, to tell us about Charles Johnson’s relation to George’s Mill and various Lovettsville families. Charles Johnson was Sam’s third…
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Charles W. Johnson: The Spy Who Walked a Crooked Line
By Edward Spannaus The Charles Johnson who featured in the fracas following a Republican event in Waterford in November 1888 was no stranger to conflict – be it of the…
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When Waterford’s (and Lovettsville’s) Politics Got Out of Hand
This story in the November issue of the Waterford Foundation newsletter caught our eye, especially the part at the end of the story about the 1888 brawl with a group…
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Honoring Those Interred at Mount Sinai Cemetery
by Claudette Lewis Bard In our October newsletter, we featured an article entitled “Hidden History: The Mount Sinai Church and Cemetery at ‘Little Britain.’” The article chronicled the once-thriving…
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The Mystery of the Re-appearing Gravestones
Here’s a story you may have missed, in the absence of the Brunswick Citizen and its news coverage of “Greater Lovettsville”. We learned about this incident from the Hagerstown news…