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Thank you so much for coming and allowing me to talk about one of my favorite subjects \u2013 Georges Mill, and some of the people who have lived here, past and present, and who have contributed so much to its survival!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may have heard that recently we have had additions to our family at George\u2019s Mill \u2013 3 of my great grand-children \u2013 a girl and 2 boys \u2013 making it nine generations of our family at George\u2019s Mill.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nWe recently counted how many people actually do live here at present, and it was exactly 17 \u2013 just what our sign says \u2013 Population 17!! \u2026. And we didn\u2019t need to count the goats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My subject is MEMORIES OF THE PAST \u2026 so I am going to take you back to the beginning of what is now George\u2019s Mill Farm and share with you some of the stories and facts that make our history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As far as we know, the first John George, originally from Germany, arrived here in the 1730s. At that time there was a large tract of land in this area called the Piedmont \u2013 over 17,000 acres \u2013 available for lease and later for sale. Earlier this land had been sold to Lord Fairfax of England for 2 shillings or twenty-five cents an acre. John George both leased and later bought large tracts of this available land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leasing had some interesting requirements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Two years after this date to plant upon the premises 100 good apple trees and 200 peach trees at least 30 feet distant from one another, and the same to be enclosed with a good efficient and lawful fence, and keep them all well pruned.<\/li>
- Erect and build a dwelling home 20 feet by 16 feet and a barn 20 feet square, after the manner of Virginia buildings.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
John George married a widow, Elizabeth Eberhart, and they had a son, John Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Court records show beginnings of the first George\u2019s Mill in March of 1774. It was a frame structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1800, just two miles north of the mill, there was a gold strike, Loudoun\u2019s only known gold strike. Unfortunately, the lessors had retained all mineral rights to the land so we don\u2019t know who actually got the gold or how much was actually found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John George seems to have consolidated his holdings in November of 1797 \u2013 purchasing an additional 240 acres from George Fairfax\u2019s son for $1,725.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John George died in 1808. His will was interesting as it left to his wife one third of his estate plus 2 sheep and a cow named Joyce. His will also specified that a horse should be found for her whenever she had need of one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Jr. inherited the mill and was to pay to his mother 600 pounds ($1500), find her a house and \u201cgarten\u201d and find her firewood and sow her one-fourth acre of flax and grind yearly and every year \u2013 and give her 15 bushels of wheat \u2013 5 bushels of Indian corn and 100 weight of pork yearly.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/a>Eugene Scheel\u2019s map of Geoge\u2019s Mill showing various historic features.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n John George Jr.\u2019s wife was Elizabeth Smith. Their son, Samuel Wilhelm George, was born December 6, 1819. John George Jr. died in 1856. John George Jr.\u2019s will indicated that he had 4 slaves \u2013 two boys (Simon Peter and Perry), one girl (Kitty), and a woman (Harriett). We understand from previous members of the family that at least two of them were buried in the wooded lot across from the stone house. Up to the present time we have not been able to locate the area as the markers were made of wood and are long gone. The grave was described as \u201cby the old oak tree.\u201d The lot is now a forest of old oak trees. We hope in the future we may be able to find the right location and replace the lost markers in honor those that are buried there. (John George Jr.\u2019s son Samuel George was not a slave owner.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John George Jr.\u2019s will also mentioned the old George school house which had been built at the entrance to his home (now the Riddlemoser home). It was a pay school where parents paid the schoolmaster directly.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/a>Ruins of George\u2019s Mill School, undated photo courtesy of Fran Wire.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n Later, during the Civil War, Samuel George\u2019s children attended this school. (Samuel George was married to Eliza Catherine Grubb) The school grounds were a favorite meeting place for the Union Troops (the 6th<\/sup> NY Calvary) who were camping on that part of the George property during the entire last winter of the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a favorite meeting place because the soldiers were able to enjoy the company of the young girls attending school there. These meetings resulted in winter sleigh rides, church festivities and especially dancing. Also, it was said, that certain officers were known to often have dinner with the George family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it wasn\u2019t long before Samuel George\u2019s daughter, Leah \u2013 better known as Lizzie \u2013 and Lt. Peter Haskins were raising eyebrows among family and friends! Especially since Haskins was known to have a fianc\u00e9 (chosen by his prominent father) back in New York, and Lizzie a local boyfriend \u2013 [Christopher Columbus] \u201cLum\u201d Wenner, who was a Confederate soldier! Lum was not a happy camper about Lizzie and Haskins, and he was known to spy on them. So, rather than tell you the outcome of that long story, which is recorded in letters written by Haskins to Lizzie, I would instead like to read you a poem, written by my sister, Jean \u2013 which says it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poem: \u201cLizzie\u2019s Romance\u201d\n\nWhen Virginia voted to secede, most Loudoun resident voted \u201cyes.\u201d\nJust Waterford and Lovettsville said, \u201cno, the North is best\u201d\nThe Georges, those at George\u2019s Mill, preferred the Union too.\nAnd when some Yanks camped on their land, they made friends with a few.\n\nLizzie George, who loves to dance, decided she would take a chance\nAnd ask some Yankee boys to come, to dance, and tell where they were from\nLieutenant Haskins caught her eye, she danced with him that night,\nNot long \u2018til they became a pair and planned a future bright.\n\nBut Haskins had one thing to solve \u2013 a New York girl named Emma,\nWho up to now was Haskin\u2019s girl and that was a dilemma.\nAnd Lizzie\u2019s beau, Columbus \u2013 Lum for short,\nThought he was Lizzie\u2019s number one, and often came to court.\n\nSo Haskins traveled to New York and apparently was freed,\nSince, as he wrote to Lizzie \u2013 he and Emma did \u201csecede\u201d\nThen back again to George\u2019s Mill, once more in Lizzie\u2019s favor\nOnce more to dances, sleigh bells, and winter fun to savor.\n\nAnd in between his wartime work, he came to Georges Mill\nTo dance and romance Lizzie, as sweethearts always will.\nHe sent her many letters, letters she saved all her life,\nMaking clear that he intended to have her as his wife.\n\nThen he fell sick and was released into his father\u2019s care.\nHis father was a congressman (must have helped to get him there)\nHis father had urged Emma\u2019s case, apparently with force.\nFor something changed for Haskins that made him change his course.\n\nThen Haskins wrote to Lizzie and this is what he said,\n\u201cI\u2019m back again with Emma and soon we will be wed.\u201d\nYet later still he wrote again, \u201cI\u2019m coming back to you,\nIt\u2019s you I still love after all\u2014Emma and I are through.\u201d\n\nBut when he came, it was too later and Haskins was forlorn.\nFor Lizzie was engaged to Lum, and he was left to mourn.\nHe then rejoined the Army, to fight the Indians in the West,\nAnd that\u2019s the last we know of him, no way to know the rest.\n\nLizzie, though, survived all this and soon she married Lum,\nLived all her life with Lum and kids on the farm that she came from.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
So Lizzie\u2019s romance brings us to the end of the Civil War. One of Peter Haskins\u2019 letters to Lizzie at this time mentions that he was present at Appomattox when peace was declared \u2026 the war was finally over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, before we leave war-time stories, there is one local character I want to mention, since I was told by older family members that this \u201crenegade\u201d worked at George\u2019s Mill when he was a teenager. I am referring to the well-known character John Mobberly. Before the war he worked from time to time at George\u2019s Mill Farm. He tended Samuel George\u2019s fine horses. My sister Jean wrote a poem depicting Mobberly\u2019s life. See what you think!<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/a>John Mobberly<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n Poem: John Mobberly\n\nHe came from out the Short Hills, from the rugged mountain land\nAnd he knew those Short Hill mountains like the back of his own hand\nYou may think that Grant\u2019s a genius, or praise Robert E. Lee\nBut folks don\u2019t know just what to think \u2018bout Private Mobberly.\n\nHe was big, and bad and brave and bold and he knew horses too\nHe rose astride with style and pride, they say he stole a few\nHe dashed right into Yankee camps with his small band of men\nHe stole a lot, some Yanks he shot, then galloped out again.\n\nHe fled into the Short Hills where he could not be found\nThey say he couldn\u2019t read or write but his shooting was renowned.\nAlthough his heart was with the Rebs (or that\u2019s what some folks think)\nHe double-crossed the Rebels too and didn\u2019t even blink.\n\nHe loved the girls, they loved him back, for all his dashing ways\nBut there were men who had a plot to end his outlaw days.\nThey lured him to a local farm with promise of a horse\nAnd planned to hide inside the barn, then shoot without remorse.\n\nThat\u2019s what they did, while they were hid and him a sitting duck.\n\u201cOh God, I\u2019m dead!\u201d is what he said as he ran out of luck.\nJust twenty when he breathed his last and though he is long gone,\nWas he hero or renegade? His legend lingers on.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n
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<\/a>The house that Samuel George and his sons built.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n After the war ended in 1865, the Samuel George family resumed building their new home \u2013 Millview<\/em>. It was located in the large area where Samuel\u2019s father, John George, Jr., had planted their garden. This is the house that still stands today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Samuel George\u2019s sons were expected to find and haul appropriate stone from the fields and mountains to the home site. It was reported that they got pretty tired of the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Roller brothers were the builders and J.W. Wright the carpenter and architect. During this time, they also built a stone barn, a frame corn crib, and a mill which had a stone foundation. Although the mill eventually fell in during the Depression, the stone foundation still exists. Their work was completed around 1869 and the family was finally able to move in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are features of the house that remind one of the abilities of those builders and planners. The layout of the house itself \u2013 not only to afford a beautiful view, but also to provide protection from the weather, and still have as much sunshine as possible (a feature that might be needed today as we turn to solar power!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Areas were left open for gardens and orchards, and they used native trees for building, for fence posts, and various other needs.<\/p>\n\n\n
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