President's Message

Ho! Ho! Ho! Twas the season to be jolly! The "Christmas in July" book drive for the Henrico Christmas Mother was a lot of fun and we enjoyed sharing the cheer! Many thanks to HCHS members Sharon and Peter Francisco for hosting the effort at the Lakeside Farmers Market. Many thanks also to HCHS Secretary, Tinky Keen and HCHS Director of the Fairfield District, Mary Ann Soldano for staffing the information booth. And a special thanks to all of you for your donations that help our children learn to read. Who knows what interests and opportunities the books you donated may spark!

We were visited by four past Henrico Christmas Mothers: Betty Lyon (2002), Harriet Long (2013), Angela Harper (2018) and I thought I caught a glimpse of Helen Wood (2023). Bless them for their service to the Christmas Mother program. We were also visited by Mrs. Clause with a Cause. In addition to a book signing by author Mary Burrus of an adorable book titled Hooray for Goats, "a heartwarming tale of friendship, fun, and the surprising power of goats."

How do we connect history with a book about goats? Our cemetery committee, under the direction of Chair, John Shuck, has been involved with goats brought in to clear out the overgrowth and restoration of historic cemeteries at risk of damage from the use of other mechanical means.

The Henrico Christmas Mother also provides for seniors and adults with disabilities. We have just learned there are special requests for bibles and they are in short supply. There is still time to donate if there is a church closing or otherwise available.

Contact: amcgee@henricochristmasmother.org, or by calling 804-236-9741 or 804-839-2407.

HCHS is still celebrating its anniversary year. We extend our gratitude to all of those who participated in the June 1, 2025 meeting (exactly 50 years to the date of our first meeting) especially to Executive Director Amanda Keller of Wilton House Museum for hosting this very special occasion; Chris Yohn and the Virginia Sons of the American Revolution for providing the "Presentation of Colors" and a special thanks to our dedicated volunteers for their assistance.

"A Certificate of Appreciation" was presented to the Varina Woman's Club and received by Cynthia Page for their assistance in establishing the Henrico County Historical Society and continuing support.

We later went on a field trip to the original location of Wilton in Henrico County along with staff of Henrico Rec and Parks and Wilton House Museum. Photos of both can be viewed on the HCHS Facebook page.

We hope you will join us to continue the 50th anniversary celebration at the Glen Allen Day parade and festival on October 4. Get the details at https://www.glenallenruritan.com/glen-allen-day.

(Also to make note: the America250 Store is now available at america250sar.org/mall offering "a collection built for everyone who believes in the promise of this country. From bold graphic tees to classic patriotic styles, everything we make celebrates the people, places, and spirit that define us.")

Much of early American history occurred along the banks of the James River. The most significant archaeological discovery in North America was that of the original Jamestown Fort site in 1994; long thought to be lost in the waters of the James. The site of Werowocomoco, seat of power for the Powhatan Confederation, was confirmed in 2002 along the York River. Some of us were fortunate to have been on one of the last public viewings. The original site of Henricus, the second successful English settlement after Jamestown from which Henrico County traces its origin, has never been found.

Nancy Kraus, speaker for the HCHS Sept. 7 quarterly meeting, will share with us her book written on recent discoveries that present new thoughts on history along the James. Her research, includes a compilation of historic surveys, plats, maps, photographs, etc. correlated with extant archaeological remains. We hope you will join us for her presentation.

Sarah Pace
President

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September Quarterly Meeting

Come join us for our third quarterly meeting of the year.

Date and Start Time:

• September 7, 2025
• 2:30 PM

Location:

• Hunton Community Center
• 11690 Old Washington Highway
• Glen Allen, VA 23059

Guest Speaker:

• Our speaker will be Nancy Kraus, an author and independent historian specializing in architectural history and historic preservation.

• Nancy will be speaking about Westham Foundry. Her books, including A History and Pictorial Survey of the Canals, Westham Foundry and Railroads Around Richmond, Virginia, will be for sale.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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In Memorium

The Henrico County Historical Society expresses its deepest sympathy to

• the family of Alice Baldwin

• Lurline and Allan Wagner on the passing of Lurline's mother

• Terri Trembeth and Michael Fawcett on the passing of Michael's father

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Inventive Henricoans

George McGovern of Henrico was already the holder of a patent for a key-hole guard, a device that would be attached to the inside of the hotel door to prevent a key from being able to completely enter the lock. To this security device he added a cigar cutter, apparently to appeal to the traveling cigar smoker. However, the smoker would have to do without security for a few seconds while he removed the device to clip his cigar.

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Memories of a Creek - Following the Flow of the Creek

During my childhood on Forest Avenue in the 1950s, I had four favorite haunts. There was the anything-but-secret "Secret Fort," a rickety platform thrown together in a large cedar tree about 50 yards from our house. And then there were three creeks: one just down the street between Forest Avenue and Emily Lane, one between Severn Road and Valley Drive, and one in the woods across Three Chopt Road at the back of the Franklin Farms property.

The first two are still there, but the area of the third where I wandered is unrecognizable today, having been transformed by the development of the Koger Center. However, downstream from that area is Henrico County's Cheswick Park through which the creek of my youth runs to eventually join Upham Brook, a brook that drains over 37 square miles of the county.

I still live near that creek but a bit farther upstream where in some places it now runs through culverts. Let's follow the creek and let the stops along the way illustrate some aspects and interests of day-to-day life in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

But we won't begin at the very start of the stream. Instead, we'll set out from the center of the compass rose superimposed on the detail from the 1853 Smith map of Henrico County at the left. That's the westernmost end of what used to be Franklin Farms, whose farmhouse was Cheswick (originally called Chiswick). Its 1853 location is marked by the small white circle at the base of the arrow. It was moved 500 yards east in 1973. That creek ran through the woods and through an earthen dam that had long been breached. But the effects of over six decades on memory and changing landscape make it hard to determine exactly where the dam was. The map indicates the location of Smith's S. S. Mill, seemingly a saw mill and steam mill. However, searching for references to that mill have not been fruitful, and it appears too distant from my remembered explorations.

At any rate, the creek wound through the woods eventually passing through what is now Cheswick Park just off Forest Avenue near Skipwith Road and down to what was a small pond off Alvarado Road called Shaaf Pond. I ice skated there in the 1960s, but the pond no longer exists. The dam that formed the pond failed, and the creek runs through its remaining walls.

The pictures below illustrate our journey down the creek to this point. At the top left is the culvert just off Michaels Road. The images to its right and below it show the creek's passage through Cheswick Park, and the bottom right photo shows the remnants of the dam at Shaaf Pond.

From there, the creek runs down to and under Interstate 64 and then bends to where Skipwith Road passes over the highway to meet Upham Brook.

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Memories of a Creek - Following the Flow of Staples Mill Pond

Upham Brook, pictured above, winds its way to Staple's Mill pond, formed by a stone dam. The mill that provided the name is, of course, gone; and the photograph below shows the condition of the pond years ago.

However, the pond has accumulated a great deal of silt, and now looks like the scene stone dam.

I fished the pond in my youth, even jumping in for an occasional dip; but in the past, the location had served not only as a commercial milling operation, but also as the site for social and political gatherings.

The American Party of Henrico, also known as the Know Nothing Party, announced one such gathering there in 1856 as described below.

Anticipating a sizable crowd, perhaps because of the enticement of a free barbecue, the RF&P Railroad ran the following announcement in the same issue for an "EXTRA TRAIN" to be run to the event.

From an account of an earlier political gathering held at the site, we learn of a part of the dam that it seems no longer exists - "a broad granite platform - a portion of the mill dam."

It's hard to imagine the speakers balancing themselves on the narrow cap of the dam in the picture and speaking for an hour, so something must be missing. And, it seems, barbecue was most often at least a part of meals at such gatherings. Such a meeting today would require the audience to sit in the middle of Staples Mill Road.

The Staples Mill site was extensive, and an advertisement offering it for rent after the death of the owner, Frances Staples, illustrates its size.

Aside from the potential heat provided by political meetings, the pond provided "nice pure ice" cut from the pond and stored in its ice house.

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Memories of a Creek - Following the Flow of Young's Pond

After flowing over the Staples Mill dam, Upham Brook continues its easterly path to be dammed up again at Young's Pond, named after original owner William Young, in today's Bryan Park. The pond today is essentially two ponds, an upper and a lower pond separated by a spillway. The upper pond is pictured below looking toward where Upham Brook enters.

Water from the upper pond runs over the spillway into the lower pond as seen below.

The photograph below shows the lower pond. The dam is at the far end of the pond.

When Young died in 1832, he left the western half the property including the pond, saw mill, grist mill and ice house to his daughter, Rosina Mordecai. The 1853 map on page 1 shows the large pale circle around Young's Pond also highlighting "Mrs. Mordecai's Corn & Saw Mills."

According to the will, Young's son, John Brook Young, retained the right to use the mills and get ice. He exercised that right, as the 1875 announcement below indicates.

The world was just coming out of the long period known as the Little Ice Age (about 1300 to 1850), and the winters were still quite cold, illustrated by the thickness and amount of ice harvested from the pond.

It appears things got even colder as indicated by the increase in harvest and thickness of the 1879 ice crop as illustrated by the article below.

In warmer weather, Young's Pond, like Staple's Mill Pond, was a popular place for celebration as indicated by the 1884 announcement placed by Rosina Mordecai's oldest son, William Young Mordecai.

Well before the announcement, however, the pond had been a popular spot for celebrations-like the 1859 reunion of the Light Infantry Blues.

There were picnics, like that of the Clay Street Methodist Church Sunday School in 1877.

Unlike the earlier political gathering described at Staples Mill in the previous section, twenty-five cents bought a wagon or omnibus ride instead of a train to this picnic.

The announcement of the 1891 "Reunion of the Howitzers" promised "frolicking, eating, drinking and having a good time generally."

An 1891 account of an Odd Fellows picnic notes the replacement of the standard barbecue at such affairs with clam chowder.

And it includes a description of the rather unusual "Ghost-Dance."

Carmencita was a Spanish dancer; and in 1984, she became the first woman to appear before Edison's movie camera.

Other affairs held at Young's Pond were a bit more sedate, like the picnic (or pic-nic) for Miss Tucker's Music class, an event for young ladies.

Often, a picnic or a barbecue, or in this case a "Fish Fry," was actually a gathering with a political purpose like the 1855 affair held at Young's Pond described in the article below. In the 1850s, the City of Richmond was apparently contemplating expanding its limits, and this fish fry was a venue for discussion thereof.

An 1877 gathering at Young's Pond was more overtly political, touting the values of the Conservative Party. Its list of distinguished speakers is interesting and includes the man for whom today's park is named, Joseph Bryan.

While the mill pond was not a site involved in an apparent attempt at a transatlantic balloon crossing, Young's Pond is mentioned in a bit of local nineteenth century journalism in a style not seen on front pages today. Satirizing the preparations for the flight and joking about its possible fate, the writer gives the balloonists absurd names, and includes what seems to be a dig at Richmond journalists.

While the article from an Alexandria paper is too long to include in its entirety, its conclusion is worth noting as it shows that Young's Pond's reputation was well known beyond Richmond.

The mill, of course, is gone; and eight-and-a-half-inch-thick ice is a real rarity. But picnics and barbecues are regularly held there, and water still leaves Young's Pond and flows over the rocks at the dam's base as Upham Brook winds its way to the Chickahominy River, to the James and on.

Joey Boehling

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Now You Know

Making the Show Fit:

Congratulations to Haywood Wigglesworth and Nancy Grubbs for correctly identifying the What Do You Know object from the last issue as a shoe stretcher for people with bunions. This iron object features "NEW BALL & RING" in raised letters along the curved open part of the iron implement and a patent date of October 30, 1917 on the other side of the horseshoe-shaped frame.

The user would raise the handle to open a gap between the ball and ring and insert the arm into the shoe, placing the ball where the shoe needed stretching for the affected foot. Then the handle was closed, forcing the ball into the loop and stretching the leather to make space for the bunion.

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What Do You Know?

This hinged oak box is 7.5" long, 5.5" wide and 4.5" tall. The handle and fixture on the top are stainless steel, and there is a clock in the round opening in the "front."

The open box reveals stainless steel mechanical works and a roll of paper that advances as the device turns.

Do you know what it is?

Email your answers to jboehling@verizon.net.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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