Salona, Fairfax County, Virginia Part 5

Hunter, the lawyer who had refused to serve as administrator, came to a sale on May 20, 1829. John Hill Carter (Ann's son by her first marriage), E. L. Carter (probably her youngest daughter, Elizabeth), Thomas B. Balch (husband of her daughter Susan), Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones (a close neighbor), and George L. Turberville (Harriotte's son by her first marriage) all bought some of the slaves and personal property. When the property evaluation was made, the estate was worth $1,822.87-1/2. The inventory of Maffitt's personal property, exclusive of his slaves, was $1,588.89-1/2. No total was given for the value of the slaves. The court-appointed appraisers were Nicholas Paine, William Swink, and Joseph Sewell. Although they prepared their inventory in 1828, it was not reviewed and accepted by the court until March, 1832.[89]

Margaret Maffitt had been born in Cecil County, Maryland, on April 7, 1780. According to Sarah Somervell Mackall, Margaret went to Georgetown to visit her eldest sister Jane, wife of William Whann.

While there, Margaret met William's brother, David Whann, and they were married on November 16, 1807. Until 1804, David had been a purser in the U. S. Navy on the _Ess.e.x_. Later he became a paymaster and traveled widely abroad. A captain in the D.C. Militia, he died of sunstroke in May, 1813, while reviewing his men on the parade ground.

His widow "never received any compensation from the government" and was left with two small children, a son and a daughter.[90]

Apparently Margaret permitted Ann Maffitt to remain at Salona until 1835 at least and possibly until 1842 when the property was sold to Chapman Lee. In any case, Ann Maffitt and the three Maffitt children did not sign a quitclaim to the property until 1835.[91] Margaret Whann probably hired a tenant to maintain Salona as a working farm.

There are no indications that Mrs. Whann ever lived at Salona; the deed to Lee refers to her as being "of Georgetown in the District of Columbia."

Chapman Lee, who was living in Alexandria at the time of the sale, bought the property in 1842.[92] He held the property for three years, then divided it and sold 208 acres to Elisha Sherman "late of Fairfield County, Connecticut."[93] The balance was conveyed to James McVean and Samuel M. Whann. Eight years later, Elisha Sherman and Anna, his wife, late of Fairfax County and "now of Washington County, D.C.," sold to Jacob G. Smoot of Georgetown the tract "heretofore called Langley but now called Salona"--208 acres.[94]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The Maffitt grave is located in the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church cemetery, McLean. Photo by the author, 1975._]

Chapter III Notes

Salona for Sale

[87] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Books V-2, page 85; Z-2, page 403.

[88] Letter from Ann B. Maffitt, dated July 22, 1828, to Col. George W. Hunter. Copy in _Salona_ working papers, Virginia Room, Fairfax County public library. Ma.n.u.scripts Division, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Col. Hunter later served as administrator of the estate of Francis Lightfoot Lee of Sully.

[89] Fairfax County, Virginia, Will Books Q-1, page 271; V-2, page 85; Z-2, page 403. See appendix for inventories.

[90] Handwritten family tree, source unknown, in possession of Henry Mackall; Sarah Somervell Mackall, _Early Days of Washington_ (Washington, D.C.: by the author, 1899).

[91] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book C-3, page 314.

[92] Ibid., G-3, page 378.

[93] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book J-3, page 262.

[94] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book T-3, page 186.

IV

SALONA AND THE SMOOTS

William s.m.u.te, originally of Dutch ancestry, came to Virginia from Scotland in 1633 and received a grant for 400 acres of land in 1642.

He removed to Maryland in 1646 and thereafter, the Smoot (Smout) family activities as reported in local records showed periodic involvement with public affairs of county, colony and nation.[95]

In a recent history of St. Mary's County, Maryland, William Barton Smoot was listed as captain of the Lower Battalion of the county's militia during the American Revolution[96] and a William Smoot was recorded as a recruit for service in the War of 1812 by James Jarboe of Great Mills.[97] Mentions were made throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries of Smoot activities having to do with railroads, roads and schools.[98] The Smoot family also appears in the public records of Charles County, Maryland. Some family members migrated to Kentucky, others to Washington, D.C.[99]

Although Jacob Gilliam Smoot of Georgetown, D.C., purchased 208 acres of property--Salona--in 1853, he also held property on High Street (now Wisconsin Avenue) in Georgetown from which he probably obtained income. His family spent winters in Georgetown. Smoot had attended Charlotte Hall Academy in Maryland and his son William was a graduate, in law, from Georgetown.[100] The Salona property was of a size and a.s.sessed valuation consistently greater than over half of the properties a.s.sessed in Fairfax County at the time. Smoot's personal property including several slaves, was also well above average in quant.i.ty and evaluation.[101]

Sometime following Smoot's purchase of Salona, he bought two prize hunting dogs for a total of $5,000. The dogs later died from rabies.

Smoot was interested in establishing a good herd of cattle so he purchased expensive registered Aberdeen Angus cattle prior to the Civil War. During the war, the cattle were appropriated and eaten by Union troops.[102] There were 50 cattle listed in the tax a.s.sessment in 1857, but the herd had dropped to 12 by 1860. In that year, Smoot was also a.s.sessed for 20 sheep and hogs. Gold, plate, silver, jewelry, kitchen and house furnishings were evaluated at $500, far above the average that year in Fairfax County.[103] The Smoots were a relatively well-to-do family.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The caption under this photograph reads: "The Battle Hymn of the Republic--'A Hundred Circling Camps.' The Fifth Vermont in 1861, with their Colonel L. A. Grant." From _The Photographic History of the Civil War In Ten Volumes_, pp. 154-155. The rock formation in the lower right hand corner can still be seen on Kurtz Road near Salona._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The McDowell map of northeastern Virginia, 1862, showing the section including Fort Marcy, Langley, Lewinsville and the Smoot's "Salona" property._]

From October, 1861, to April, 1862, according to a strong Smoot family tradition, Salona was used as the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac. Camp Griffin, in fact, was an installation partly on Salona and partly on adjoining farms and was part of the outer defenses of Washington. General George McClellan's dispatches, however, never used either Salona or Smoot's Hill as a source, although he did use datelines of Fairfax Court House and Camp Griffin. Military historians generally agree that McClellan was living in Washington, D.C., at the time, and, therefore, as commanding general, his residence would have been considered the headquarters.[104]

It is certain that troops were camped there and that there was skirmishing in the immediate vicinity of Salona. The following incident was recorded by E. M. Woodward, adjutant in the Second Pennsylvania Reserves:

Early on the morning of the 9th (October 1861) General Smith advanced his division from the neighborhood of Chain Bridge to Langley where deploying his skirmishers, he pushed forward a brigade on the Dranesville Pike, and took possession of Prospect Hill.

With his main body he diverged from the pike at Langley to the left, advancing toward Lewinsville, which village he entered and occupied without opposition, leaving the main portion of his troops at Smoot's Hill and pushing on a detachment to occupy Miner's Hill....

During the first ten days, the "long roll"

was beaten and the men got under arms five times. On the night of the 11th the pickets in the neighborhood of Lewinsville were driven in and the next day the enemy consisting of at least three regiments of infantry, some cavalry and a battery of six guns were discovered near Miner's Hill, concealed in the woods, which led to the supposition that an attack was meditated the next morning. At noon the drums beat and the men got into fighting order. General McClellan and staff including the Comte de Paris and the Duc de Chartres rode over and remained during the night at Smoot's House, and at midnight the drums beat again and every preparation was made for an attack.

It was a clear and beautiful night, the moon shone forth in its mild beauty, the stars twinkled with resplendant glory and not a cloud glided through the sky. The drums beat the long roll, the trumpets of cavalry and artillery sounded their shrill blasts and the bands of the infantry pealed forth their most soul-stirring strains. The camp-fires burned brightly, the glittering bayonets and sabres flashed in the light and every heart beat high with hope.... But alas, after remaining in position until daybreak, chilled with falling dews, the boys were doomed to disappointment. Beauregard had only been in a reconnaissance in force, to ascertain our position since the recent extension of our front.[105]

When the federal troops moved out of the encampment in March, 1862, Captain W. A. Hawley and Lt. Col. W. B. Hazmand of the 102^d New York Volunteer Battalion signed the following memorandum giving all army materials left behind to Jacob Smoot:[106]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Original memorandum in the possession of Clive and Susan DuVal, Salona._]

The Smoots spent most of the war in Georgetown, returning at the end in time to save some furniture and the main part of the house from being burned. Both wings of the house, the garden and many fine trees had been destroyed in their absence. They had filed pet.i.tions during the war asking the federal government for compensation for their losses. When federal troops had occupied Salona, Smoot had taken eight slaves to Georgetown where his brother John was in the drygoods business. During the investigation of his reparations claim it was discovered that J. G. Smoot had signed the Ordinance of Secession in the Lewinsville Precinct in Fairfax County on May 23, 1861. This act disqualified him from receiving compensation.[107]

Following the war, the Smoots set about the arduous task of restoring their farm to its former prosperity. By 1868, the aggregate value of personal property at Salona was $1,085, and in that year, only one in 15 taxpayers in the county had a personal property tax evaluation of over $1,000. A rosewood piano made its appearance, followed the next year by the addition of a "pleasure carriage" and a watch.[108] In 1870, books and pictures owned by Smoot were valued at $25.00--the vast majority of taxpayers had none a.s.sessed at all. By 1881, there were four conveyances, 10 horses, 10 cattle, 15 sheep, books valued at $50.00, two watches and two clocks. One of the clocks was probably the chiming grandfather's clock made in Newburyport, Ma.s.sachusetts, which was built about 1817 and is still in the family.[109] A sewing machine was also listed. It is interesting to note that by 1881, at least half of the households in Fairfax County had such a machine.[110]

Salona was a working farm with a large barn, smokehouse, ice pond, and cabinetshop. Hogs, sheep, cattle and fowl were raised as well as wheat and corn. The old stone house, thought by the family to have been the oldest structure on the place, was surrounded by a peach orchard. The Smoots grew scuppernong grapes, plums and apricots.

Italian grape vines adorned the arbor between the house and the brick privy. Descendants say that the farm had a consistently high yield per acre of corn and wheat, and that this information was faithfully recorded in account books which were destroyed when the attic was cleaned out or taken by vandals and lost.[111] But records in gazetteers listed J. G. and William Smoot as princ.i.p.al farmers in the Langley area for a period of more than 20 years.[112]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Smoot family photographs, late 1800s._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _This mahogany Sheraton writing cabinet was obtained from England by the Kurtz importing firm in Georgetown, and was used for many years by the Smoots at Salona._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _These wine gla.s.s coolers are of deep blue gla.s.s with lips on opposite sides. They were used to rinse wine gla.s.ses between courses as different wines were served at Salona._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _An unsigned charcoal portrait of Jacob Gilliam Smoot of Salona._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _The marble-topped washstand and the blue and gold Haviland china were used by the Smoots at Salona._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Side chair with original horsehair seat._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _These coin silver spoons, marked "M. W. Galt & Bro."

on the back, were hidden by Helen Calder Smoot, Jacob's wife, who, according to family tradition, tied them around her waist beneath her petticoat during the Civil War._]

_All photographs by Gene Lebherz._

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Map from G. M. Hopkins_, Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington, _1879._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Salona farm, about 1900._]