The Digges' Valley Farm Ruins
The People
Through land deeds and the help of some wonderful people at the Thomas Balch Library, I was able to trace the parcel of land the ruins are on from the original land grant in 1737 to George Atwood up to David Carr in 1854. With some additional research, I'm positive I can connect the mid-19th century landowners to Dr. Gable, the man who owned Valley View Farms in the 1990s before passing it on to the current landowner. Census records have connected the Grubbs family to the land starting in 1920, but .
Below is a timeline to give you a better visual of the transfer of the land from one owner to another, as well as putting it into context of other national events, leading up to the mid-19th century.
1737
Original Land Grant from Lord Fairfax
1854
"D. Carr" on Yardley-Taylor Map
1848
Mexican American War ends
1754
French and Indian War ends
1790
America's first national census is taken
1806
Lewis and Clark finish expedition
1775
American Revolution begins
1740
Land is back in possession of Fairfax estate
1767
Joseph sells portion to his son, Reese
1774
Reese sells land to George Dyke
1766
Fairfax sells land to Joseph Cadwallader
1779
George Dyke sells to neighbor, Isaac Vandeventer
1811
Isaac, Jr., sells to Frederick Stoneburner
1803
Vandeventer sells land to his son, Isaac, Jr.
1818
Stoneburner sells to Ms. Mary Mains
1831
Land passes to David Carr through brother's widow
1828
Trust for debt using yard goods & household items
1827
Endorsement of bank notes using "Carr's stable"
1823
Mary Mains' will gives money to 'Jane Carr'
1737 - Lord Fairfax sells the original tract of land to Mr. George Atwood, a wealthy landowner in Maryland. Mr. Atwood most likely didn't reside on the land and at some point the tract reverts back to the Fairfax estate. In another land deed it's mentioned that particular sale was taking place because Mr. Atwood was deceased.
1740 - Lord Fairfax dies and all his land holdings are passed to his brother, Bryant.
1766 - Bryant sells 260 acres that I believe the farm ruins to be on to Joseph Cadwallader, a Welsh stonemason. Cadwallader was the most prominent stonemason in the county at this time, and the Fairfax Monthly Meeting (Quaker place of worship) is attributed to his handiwork. The Fairfax Meeting house is still standing in Waterford, the next town over from Hamilton, where the ruins are located.
1767 - Cadwallader gives 100 acres of his land to his son, Reese. During this time I have reason to believe the house may have been built, and possibly other outbuildings, including the barn. However...
1774 - George Dyke purchases the 100 acres from Reese Cadwallader for 180 pounds. I would like to do more research on the colonial economy in Virginia at this time, so near to the Revolution.
1779 - George Dyke sells the tract to Isaac Vandevanter, who was most likely a neighbor at the time, for 860 pounds. It is pointed out by Robert Costantino that this amount was very high, even taking inflation into consideration during the Revolution. Costantino surmises that there must have been significant improvements made to the land. It is possible that George Dyke was a wealthy landowner who built the home intending to live there, but may have wanted to leave the area during the Revolution. This is pure conjecture on my part, and there is no corroboration I have found as of yet.
From what I have been able to see of the foundation, the house was most likely built in the common I-house style, instead of the more fashionable Georgian style of the era that you would have seen in nearby Leesburg homes.This style is known as the I-house because of its prevalence in states that begin with the letter 'I': Indiana, Illinois, Iowa. It's a very common vernacular structure found in rural communities.
I-House vernacular structure and base floor plan. Typically two stories and three bays.
1803 - Isaac Vandevanter, Jr., writes a promissory note to his father for the land the house resides on. It's stated that if the son chooses to sell the property instead of use it and pass it on to the family, he'll pay no less than two thousand pounds to his father. However, it seems Vandevanter may have sold the land soon after his father passed away.
1811 - Isaac Vandevanter, Jr., sells the land to Frederick Stoneburner.
1818 - Stoneburner sells the land to Ms. Jane Mains. It was not often that I saw a female name in land deeds unless it was referred to in relation to her husband. At this time I began to notice more deeds with the name Archibald Mains attached to them, and no more mention of Jane Mains. I thought perhaps the two were most likely related, and Archibald may have acted as an agent on Jane's behalf, or he may have inherited the land, but I could see no mention of Archibald selling the land. There was a note in the land deed from Stoneburner to Jane that in 1825 the land was delivered to David Carr. I was having difficulty making the connection and finding that particular land deed until I found Archibald Mains' name in an index of wills in Loudoun County.
1823 - Mary Mains, mother of 4 daughters and 2 sons, wills parts of her estate to her children. Three of her daughters had married into the Vandevanter family, and one was listed as "Jane Carr." One of her sons was listed as Archibald Mains. Finally, the connection was found. It seems that Jane's land went to her husband, John Carr, in 1825.
1827 - Samuel Carr (related to John, above) endorses banknotes to David Carr using his property, mentioning the "lot in Leesburg with Carr's stable."
1828 - Proof of land use other than the stables. A promissory note from Samuel Carr is written for debt to Samuel Sterrett using "numerous yard goods and household items" as collateral.
1831 - Upon Samuel's death, the land is transferred to David Carr.
1854 - "D. Carr" is listed next to "G. Vandevanter" on the Yardley-Taylor Map.
I believe that if the house had not already been built in the 1760s that it was most certainly built during the Carr's time on the property. However, the style and method of vernacular architecture suggests it was built at an earlier time. If there was not a second story originally built, it seems probable that a second story of brick was added at a later date, most likely during the Carr's time.
Unfortunately more in-depth research will need to be done in the future as there are no indices to the Loudoun County Deed Books after 1846. I will need to search through the deeds on microfilm without the aid of an index to guide my way. One can only hope the deeds have been transcribed!
Sources:
Index to Loudoun Co, VA Wills 1757-1850
Index to Loudoun County Virginia Land Deed Books (1757-1800)
Index to Loudoun County Virginia Land Deed Books (1800-1811)
Index to Loudoun County Virginia Land Deed Books (1811-1817)
Index to Loudoun County Virginia Land Deed Books (1817-1822)
Index of Loudoun County Virginia Deed Books (1822-1826)
Index to Loudoun County Virginia Land Deed Books (1826-1835)
Index to Loudoun County Virginia Land Deed Books (1835-1840)
Agricultural Census – VA (1850, 1860, 1870, 1880) (microfilm)
Colonial Catoctin: Colonial Developmental Dynamics on or about the Upper South Fork of Catoctin Creek; Loudoun County, Virginia 1731-1806, Volume 3 by Roberto Costantino
The Short Course on Historic Mortar by Ray Tschoepe
