Courtesy of Earth Design Assoc.

NEWS FROM WESTONSUMMER 2012

Note From The PresidentWe have had many activities at Weston this year. We appreciate the generous support of our Friends who play an important role in our success in preserving and sharing Weston’s history and farm experience. Your help assures that Weston will endure for future generations.

In October of 2011 we sponsored a sesquicentennial event at Weston with reenactors depicting members of the Nourse family during the Civil War era. Period food, music and games were part of the celebration, as were farm animals and a working blacksmith. More than 275 visitors attended this two-day event and we are planning to follow up with a similar program on Saturday, October 20 this year.

In the past several months we have had the roofs of the Dairy and Smokehouse replaced. The gardens, including the Memorial Garden and “Memory Garden” between the house and the Old Kitchen, have been cleaned up, thinned out, cut back, edged and mulched. Goals for the coming year include electrifying the Old Kitchen, which will help prevent cold and dampness. With funds contributed by you last year, we were able to shore up the stone hearth in the parlor of the main house; however, its chimney has never been cleaned or lined so that is also on our to-do list. The main house is in need of painting which we hope to have done soon.

We are so grateful to all of you who make our work possible and we look forward to welcoming you at our annual Friends of Weston Tea, to be held on Sunday, September 30.

— Sherry TwiningPresident, The Warrenton Antiquarian Society

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Caring For Local HistoryA Report from Weston’s Archives Team

Life At Weston 150 Years AgoTuesday, June 10th, 1862

More rain, I fear the corn will be ruined. Mr. Tompkins has been for his wagon & got it. Had a long talk this evening on politics when as usual with me it ended in tears, & I fear Charles was out of patience with me & thought me hard. I try not to think about it now, for I can do no good. I was so enthusiastically proud of my country, & I cannot think calmly of the destruction of it; I cannot contemplate such a state of things. I must turn away. Wicked as the Northern politicians were, they could not have caused this state of things had not the South been false to the country as a whole. God have mercy on us all.

– Margaret Kemble Nourse

This is an excerpt from Margaret’s diary which was published in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, October 1983, by the Virginia Historical Society under the title, “Strangers and Pilgrims: The Diary of Margaret Tilloston Kemble Nourse, 4 April-11, November 1862.”

When Weston came under the care of the Warrenton Antiquarian Society, the house contained a trove of letters and other documents related both to the Nourse family and local Fauquier history. Constance and Charlotte Nourse had arranged for many of their historically important documents to be housed at the University of Virginia Alderman Library.

Remaining, and carefully preserved for decades by the Society members, are the personal traces of local Casanova and Warrenton history. The current Weston Archives team has been diligently putting these documents into an order where they are more understandable and accessible. The Antiquarians now have a secure conservation space for these archives in a facility located in Old Town Warrenton. There are still years of work ahead of us and we welcome the

contributions of community members who are likewise studying and preserving their family histories.

Before the age of the Internet, and when not everyone had a telephone, daily notes passed among close neighbors. A stream of family letters passed through the Casanova post office. While we have many of these notes, letters and photos received at Weston, we would especially welcome photocopies of those sent by the Nourse family. In return we are willing to search our collection for traces of your family and to share copies. Let’s work together to preserve the rich history of our localities and families. We welcome working with you.

–– Anne Van RyzinChief Weston Archivist

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A Summer Camp For GirlsIn 1922 Mrs. Charles J. Nourse (Annie Carroll Simpson) and her family opened Weston as a Summer Camp for Girls. The camp, which offered riding, swimming, tennis, crafts, art and drama to girls from age eight to 16 years, ran from July 1 to the end of August. The tuition, or “membership,” including room and board, was $225.

The camp brochure, with photos copied nearby, touted “experienced counselors and a trained nurse.” The brochure emphasizes some interesting aspects of summering at Weston: “the days, except for meals, are spent entirely out of doors, weather permitting. Conditions for health are unusually good. The house is completely screened, and has Cornell model sanitation and plumbing. The milk is from tested cows, and vegetables are home-grown….The greatest attention is paid to sanitation and to the health of the girls. The measurements and weight of each girl will be taken at the opening and close of camp.”

Enrollment was limited, and each “member should be known to one of the counselors or must send satisfactory references…. As is suitable in a region which has long been known for horses, horsemanship and hunting, the principal outdoor sport is horseback riding….those who come knowing nothing of riding, at the end of the two months’ training are able to take rides of from three to ten miles.”

In addition to sports, each girl participated in gardening, tending her own plot, which also afforded an opportunity for “nature study.” They took courses in reading and crafts and participated in thespian activities, putting on plays such as “Alice

in Wonderland.” Strawrides and picnics alternated with plays as the Saturday evening “entertainments.” Sketching classes were also available at an additional fee of $15.

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World War II Veteran’s Family Finds WestonThe following are excerpts from recent correspondence between the daughter of a soldier who visited Weston during World War II and our members, Betty Gookin, her daughter Betsy Anderson, and president Sherry Twining.

"Dear Sherry: Betsy and I had the most delightful morning at Weston with the daughter of Gordon Nunnelly, a former Weston soldier boy. Apparently he was sent to Vint Hill at 18 (he had to be brilliant to be with all the PhDs there).

His mother in Missouri was tragically killed and he never forgot the kindness and comfort of the Nourse sisters in his grief. His daughter had heard about Weston all her life and he was sure it had gone, and then she found us on the website!

The garden was absolutely knockout beautiful. They were so thrilled with it all. Weston had NEVER looked more beautiful. The new roofs were splendid. After the tour Betsy led them by short-cut to Vint Hill to see the former camp.

All in all, a great day." Love, Betty

This was the note that BJ Adler, Mr. Nunelly’s daughter, sent to us following her visit to Weston:

"Delightful and Lovely Betsy and Betty:

I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your kindness, warmth and professionalism for a remarkable tour of Weston Farmstead this morning.

As I related to you, Weston was a lovely story that my father told with such tenderness and care that it always had seemed a bit like Brigadoon to me-- a faraway place in a distant land of kindness and care, but one that could not possibly exist in the world of 2012.

From my first contact until we pulled into the the peacefulness and calm of Weston I felt as if we had come home.

The story of the Nourse sisters and their hospitality to the soldiers of Vint Hill Farms Station is a remarkable American story. When I finally pieced together that

this was where my father came as an unsophisticated country boy of 18 who had just left home for the first time and who had tragically just lost his mother while the country was at war, I came to a new understanding

of human compassion and the power of kindness and service.

I so hope that I might be able to bring him to visit one day. I feel certain his life and future course as a beloved doctor was shaped by his experience of Charlotte and Contance Nourse and the Virginia landscape.

You were both remarkable and surely Charlotte and Constance smiled down on us all today. I will, of

course…stay in touch.

Thank you both so much!! And Dad says that, yes indeed, our family tradition of oatmeal with heavy cream and brown sugar came from Weston!!"

B.J. Adler

Betsy Anderson, Betty Gookin with B J. Adler.

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History Comes Alive For Children Who Visit WestonThe number of elementary school children who visit Weston each year is growing, largely because word has gotten out that the old farmstead is a super educational resource.

This spring Antiquarian docents welcomed 60 First-graders from H. M. Pearson Elementary School, 40 Second-grade students from P. B. Smith Elementary School, and 40 more children from P. B. Smith the next day.

In May and June, we were visited by Coventry Christian Academy, with students in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade and by 14 Fourth-Grade students from St. John’s Catholic School in Warrenton.

The children visit the very popular Blacksmith Shop, Timber Barn, Dairy, Smoke House and Old Kitchen, as well as tour the main house. They hear stories from

our members about the way families lived in earlier times, and learn about various blacksmithing tools, cooking utensils, and even ghost stories.

In some cases, the students spend the entire day at Weston, playing baseball or soccer, having lunch

and occasionally they’re treated to a demonstration of the Casanova Hounds by Hunstman Tommy Lee Jones.

Adult groups like to visit Weston as well. This spring we received the Col. James Wren Chapter of the Questers, from Falls Church, Virginia. Twenty-two ladies were most impressed by the sweeping nature of our history and the wide-ranging subjects

that our docents recount.

All—even the children—have written wonderfully thoughtful thank-you notes!

Students gather around the Casanova Hounds as Huntsman Tommy Lee Jones and Joyce Fendley, MFH, explain the training and duties of foxhounds.

Preservation And Restoration: What’s AheadIn the past few years, we have received several generous gifts for restoration at Weston and are happy to report that, with the exception of our Overseer’s Cabin, Weston House and its outbuildings are stable and with sound roofing. We are grateful to all our supporters.

That being said, there is still much to do at Weston in our short-range plan. The Old Kitchen, one of the three early structures, has no electricity of its own. This is causing buckling of the floors and it also prevents tours during cold months because of lack of heat. Only two of our five chimneys have been lined.

There are several early (Federal) pieces of furniture, which need restoration. And, always looming in the background, the Overseer’s Cabin remains in poor condition, continuing to deteriorate.

In our long-range plans, we would like to put new plumbing in Weston House and put in a new septic system, which would allow us to build a small structure for our archives and visitors. We also want

to explore the old Ice House site and perhaps rebuild the wonderful water tower in the side yard.

If anyone has or knows of wicker porch furniture in good condition, we are looking for some for our front porch. We continue to hope that appropriate kitchen pots and pans, etc. from the mid-1800s-on will be donated, as folks clean out their attics and barns.

The re-roofed Smokehouse and Dairy.

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This rare, classical mahogany Patent Desk Table was made by Stephen Hedges in New York in 1854. It is featured in an ad for Woldman & Woldman , an antiques dealer in Alexandria, Virginia, which the Antiquarians found in an antiques magazine that we can no longer identify.

The article in the ad reads, in part: “A wonderful example of practically designed multipurpose

patent furniture then popular in America. When this handsome table is opened and the top folded back, it becomes a desk with a writing surface above a small drawer on one side and an upholstered cushioned tub chair on the other….

“On April 4,1854, the U.S. Patent Office issued a Patent: ‘To whom it may concern, be it known that I, STEPHEN HEDGES, of the city, county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Piece of Furniture Intended to Serve as a Table Alone or a Table and Chair Combined.’….

“Other examples of the Hedges Desk/Table may be found at the Morris-Jumel Mansion and at the Museum of the City of New York, New York City, and at the Gallier House, New Orleans.”

Our Margaret Kemble Nourse, Charles’s first wife, was from New York. Most of the Federal furniture at Weston is believed to have descended to the Nourse sisters from her. (There is no connection between Margaret’s uncle, Anthony Morris, statesman and Revolutionary War financier, and the Morris-Jumel Mansion. Here, Morris refers to a British Colonel Morris who built the house in New York City prior to the Revolution.)

The Hedges Table/Chair now resides in Miss Charlotte’s log bedroom upstairs above the log living room. It would be lovely to see it restored!

On Our Restoration "Wish List"

Weston’s resident caretaker, David Dye, married Bethanny Ann Jenkins, on the front lawn Saturday, April 28. A number of Antiquarians joined family and friends as they celebrated on this cool, spring day. Pastor Bob Purdue presided over the ceremony while attendants Danielle Melchione, Hillary Fox, Riley Fox and Garrett Fox looked on.

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Books Available!The Warrenton Antiquarian Society, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation, is proud to offer three local-interest books as fundraisers for the preservation and restoration of Weston, a National and Virginia Historic Landmark

Nicholas by Betsy AndersonA boy named Nicholas, a girl named Molly, and a widow named Jane find themselves in danger in this exciting Young Adult ghost story set at Weston.

Weston: A Place Apart by Betsy AndersonWeston, an early-American treasure, is one of Fauquier County's most completely preserved nineteenth-century farmsteads. In this book are gathered the history of Weston and stories about the estate collected from neighbors whose families have lived in the area for generations.

Jericho Turnpike:The Storied Route of Foxhunting from New York to VirginiaCentered around a reprint of a 1930 Fortune magazine article, this wonderful new book chronicles the migration of foxhunters into Virginia during the early 20th century and described foxhunts along the fabled "Jericho Turnpike," Virginia's Route 17. Fully illustrated, it contains articles by authors Tommy Lee Jones and Alden Hatch, vintage photos and hunt rosters, and the history of Weston, Casanova's Landmark farmstead.

Yes! Enclosed is my check. Please send me the following: PRICE # of COPIES COSTNicholas $18 ________ $ __________Weston: A Place Apart $15 ________ $ __________Jericho Turnpike $20 ________ $ __________Shipping & Handling $5 per book $ __________Friends of Weston Membership $25 $ __________Donation $ __________ TOTAL $ __________Please send your name and address, this completed form, and your check (made payable to the Warrenton Antiquarian Society) to:Warrenton Antiquarian Society/books Name: _________________________________P.O. Box 239 Address: _______________________________Warrenton, VA 20188 ______________________________________

Weston Birthday Visit: Every year the daughters of Middleburg, Virginia, resident Mary Chatfield-Taylor (second from left), take her somewhere historic for her birthday. She had heard of Weston but had never been, so that was her choice this past May. In spite of a miserable cold she wanted to see every inch of the house and grounds. Pictured here with Antiquarian Blair Lawrence (second from right) are daughters Cassie Kingsley (left) and Mary Owen Chatfield-Taylor (right).

WESTON: “CIVIL WAR MEMORIES”A CELEBRATION OF WESTON DURING THE CIVIL WAR

Saturday, october 20 - 10 AM TO 4 PM

REENACTMENTSSTORY TELLING: MARGARET AND CHARLES NOURSEFUN, FOOD AND GAMES FOR CHILDREN OF ALL AGESLOCAL BLACKSMITH DEMONSTRATES THE BELLOWSCIVIL WAR “MOURNING” JEWELRY AND ACCESSORIES

WAR ARTIFACTSFARM ANIMALS

Admission: Adults $5; Students $3 and Children under 5 Free

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!

Post Office Box 239Warrenton, VA 20188

www.HistoricWeston.org

Published by theWarrenton Antiquarian Society

Sherry Twining, PresidentLinda Bell, Fund-Raising ChairJoan Semple, Education Chair

Newsletter Committee:Lauren Starke, EditorBetty GookinEllie Spencer