Two hundred and seventy-five years ago, more than a century before Green Spring Farm even acquired its name, the land was under British rule and formed part of the British colony of Virginia. In the fifth year of the reign of King George the Second, the Right Honorable Thomas Lord Fairfax granted 201 acres of land to John Summers for the annual fee rent of one shilling sterling for every 50 acres of land payable on the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel (September 29^th). At the time of the grant; i.e., September 4, 1731, the tract was within the jurisdictional boundary of Prince William County.[1]

The following year, John Summers and two of his slaves constructed a tobacco warehouse for Hugh West on the future site of Alexandria, Virginia.[2] John Summers may have cultivated tobacco to be packed into hogsheads and rolled down the Rowling Road conveniently located just east of his land grant. Hogsheads were large wooden barrels constructed by coopers that could hold between 1,000 and 1,500 pounds of cured tobacco. Once packed, the hogsheads were pulled, often by oxen, and rolled along dirt roads towards the tobacco warehouses. Rolling (Rowling) roads were named for this method of farm product transportation. Legislation requiring tobacco inspection was enacted 18 years before Summers’ grant, thus it’s possible that Summers had his tobacco rolled to the nearby tobacco inspection warehouse to be graded and shipped to England, as required by the Navigation Acts.[3]

It is also feasible that Mr. Summers may have cultivated wheat to be ground at a mill on Turkey Cock Branch. The mill was described as an old mill in a 1761 deed. [4]

In 1743, John Summers and George Harrison acquired an 843-acre grant adjacent to Summers’s 201 acre grant.

George Harrison and John Summers divided the 843-acre grant in 1748. John Summers received the northern portion that was contiguous to his 201 acre grant.[5] His tract was located on a principal roadway that extended from the west to Alexandria, Virginia. Summers was mentioned as a road overseer in several road orders. For example, the following road order was recorded in 1753.

Ordered that the Tithables which cleared the Church road do clear the road from Accotink to Cameron whereof John Summers is Surveyor [6]

On February 19, 1761, John Summers divided the land between his sons Francis and Daniel Summers. Daniel Summers acquired the western parcel. The approximate bounds of his tract are depicted below, overlaid on a 1937 USDA aerial photo.[7] Francis Summers received the eastern parcel on which the Summers’ established a cemetery. John Summers died in 1790 at the age of 102 years. His son, Francis, died in 1800. They are both buried in the Summers Cemetery nearby.

It is unknown what Daniel Summers did with the land. His name was never recorded in the road order books like his brother Francis. His ownership lasted sixteen years until he sold the tract on September 11, 1777 to a neighbor, John Moss, who had been living as a tenant farmer in the area as early as 1753.[8]

John Moss constructed the brick Green Spring house during the period 1784-86.[9] Moss, in addition to being a Commissioner of the Land Tax, also served as a justice of the county court. [John Moss was not the only man in the area to bear his name, hence caution should be taken in attributing occupations and events to one person.]

John Moss increased his farm acreage by acquiring 250 acres from Baldwin and Catherine Dade in 1788.[10] The land adjoined his 200 acres to the south expanding the size of the farm to 450 acres. Moss gave 150 acres of the southern portion of the two-parcel tract to his son Robert about 1802 and another one-third to his son William in 1809.[11] From the description provided in John Moss’s will of 1809, it appears that son Thomas Moss was bequeathed the northern one-third of the two-parcel tract to be owned by him following the death of his mother, Ann.[12] Based on the tax records, 138 acres of land were transferred to Thomas Moss in 1815. William Moss sold his portion of the two-parcel tract to his brother Thomas.[13] The deed was recorded in 1828, but tax records show that the transfer occurred by 1818.

It should be noted that William Moss purchased 310 acres from Colonel Smith in 1811 that had been part of the Ravensworth tract. The parcel, known as Aspen Hill, was located at the intersection of the Little River Turnpike and the City Road (now known as Old Columbia Pike) where he resided and also operated a brick tavern. William Moss’s estate inventories, sited in previous histories, would have reflected what he possessed at Aspen Hill.[14]

The Little River Turnpike was built passing through the Moss Farm sometime between 1802, when the turnpike company was chartered, and 1806. Thomas Moss served as a director of the company and arranged for repairs to the road in the lower district near his home.[15]

In 1828, Thomas Moss was a delegate to the Virginia State Assembly. He also served as Fairfax County clerk of the circuit court, replacing his brother William, who had died about 1835.[16]

Thomas Moss made improvements to the buildings on his property. In 1827, the building value noted in the land tax records increased from $2,000 to $2,160 due to unspecified improvements. The building values increased again in 1830 to $2,340, this time the cause was noted as new buildings added.

By the 1790s, farmers like Moss were no longer growing tobacco. Moss converted to grass cultivation.  Tobacco was no longer economically feasible for many farmers. Tobacco depleted soils and had limited markets, while grains became in high demand during the Napoleonic Wars. Tobacco was also a labor-intensive crop. In 1820, Moss had 22 slaves, 14 of them male, to work on his farm and other enterprises.

In an 1831 advertisement, Moss boasted of several new buildings on the road and noted that the land was suited for dairy farming.

Land for Sale

The subscriber, being desirous of removing to the

West, wishes to sell his

LAND, in Fairfax County,

containing upwards of 300 acres, lying im-

mediately on both sides of the Little River

Turnpike Road, five and a half miles from

Alexandria; one half of the same is in wood, part of

it heavily timbered. The cleared land lays well – well

watered – and great part in a good state of cultiva-

tion. The Dwelling is a

Two-story BRICK HOUSE,

with four rooms and a passage on each floor;

and brick kitchen; the out houses comforta-

ble; good orchard, &c. On the Road a wa-

gon stand, inferior to none on the Road, with good

frame buildings of six rooms and kitchen, four of the

rooms 16 feet square, & frame wheelwright shop and

blacksmith’s shop, and smith’s dwelling house of four

rooms and kitchen, all new. The neighborhood

healthy and agreeable.

To a person who would wish to establish a dairy

farm, there is none more suitable in the county, as it

is first rate grass land, and a spring affording as much

pure water as any in the county, within seventy yards

of the door, with a good stone spring house. Fifty

tons of hay may be cut annually, and a great deal more

with a little expense  Persons wishing to purchase

the abovementioned farm, will apply to the subscriber

on the premises.                               THO MOSS,

              jy 2 – colm               Fairfax County, Va:

            The National Intelligencer will publish the

above three times a week for one month. [17]

Moss advertised his property for sale because he wished to move to the West. From 1810 to 1830, the population of Fairfax County declined. Many Fairfax families were migrating to Kentucky and Ohio searching for greater opportunities.[18] Moss’s property was not sold, and he remained in Fairfax for the remainder of his life.

Following Moss’s death, the property was advertised for sale by court-appointed commissioners in 1839. Following is a excerpt from this advertisement.

COMMISSIONER’S SALE OF LAND.

Pursuant to a decree of the Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery for Fairfax County…

…will sell at Public Acution…the Tract of LAND …

containing about three hundred and twenty

Acres, more or less, lying on both sides of the

Little River Turnpike Road…

one half of which is in Timber, the residue in a

good state of cultivation, a considetable por-

tion in Grass to which it is admirable adapted.

The buildings consist of a Brick Dwelling

House, containing eight rooms, Brick Kitchen,

Meat House, Servants’ House, a new Barn and

Stables, with other convenient Out-houses.

   There is also an Apple Orchard of well se-

lected Fruit, and a Peach Orchard inferior to

none perhaps in the County. The Land is

well watered having numerous never failing

springs upon it, one of which is near the dwell-

ing, where there is a stone Spring house. There

is also a wagon house and Blacksmith shop,

on the said Turnpike, both in good repair. Con-

sidering the proximity of this land to the Dis-

trict markets, with its other advantages, few

situations in the county are more eligible. [19]

From 1838 – 1843, Fairfax County suffered, along with the nation, from an economic depression resulting in abandoned fields that reverted to pioneer forest.[20] Many Northern and European farmers purchased the inexpensive land in Fairfax and improved the farms. It was during this time that Thomas Sheriff, identified in a deed as being lately of Barbados,  purchased the property from the commissioners. Although the deed was not recorded until 1843, Sheriff began paying the land tax in 1840. A survey prepared by John H. Halley calculated the size of the parcel to be 336 ½ acres, exclusive of the Little River Turnpike containing 4 ½  acres and approximately one-quarter acre for a family cemetery.[21]

At the death of Thomas Sheriff, his son James acquired the property as a reversion after the death of his mother, Jane.[22] James Sheriff suffered financial difficulties causing him to enter into several trust agreements. In 1852, the land north of Turkey Cock Branch was placed in trust with Daniel Minor for the security of James’s brother, William.[23]

In July 1853, James placed the entire farm known as Green Springs in trust on behalf of Richard B. Lloyd of Lloyd & Co.[24] This is the first known use of the Green Spring(s) name. The following month James’s mother, Jane, paid James $6,500 for his reversion excepting the mortgage to Lloyd & Co. She paid $2,000 initially and agreed to pay the balance in three equal payments.[25]

In November 1853, Lloyd & Co. advertised the farm for sale.

We are authorized to offer a valuable Farm of 320 acres, beautifully located on the Little River turnpike, and one mile from the railroad leading to Alexandria, Virginia. The dwelling is of brick, and improvements generally good; fine orchard, shrubbery, & c. There is attached to this farm an excellent wagon stand…A most excellent dairy and market garden could be established…[26]

A dispute arose between James Sheriff and Lloyd & Co. regarding whether Lloyd & Co. had a right to sell the land. James Sheriff placed his own advertisement in the same issue of the Alexandria Gazette stating that Lloyd was not authorized to sell his land.

As a result of the dispute, James’s brother William purchased the tract from Jane and James Sheriff. William Sheriff resided in Alexandria.[27] William advertised the farm for sale in 1855.

…that valuable and well known FARM, called Green Springs, lately the residence of James Sheriff, (formerly Moss’s Farm,) …The Alexandria and Manassas Gap Rail Road will pass through a corner of the tract, and a depot within five minutes walk…The improvements consist of a TWO-STORY DWELLING HOUSE, kitchen, smoke, spring and other OUT-HOUSES – and Orchard of excellent fruit, Garden, &c. The soil is excellent and easily improved, and from the proximity to Alexandria, and the cities of the District, it is desirable as a market and dairy farm, or country seat, being well located and abounding with springs of the purest water… The tract, to suit purchasers, may be sold entire or divided into three lots of about 114 acres, having the BRICK HOUSE on one, a TAVERN with good custom on another, and a COTTAGE on the third…[28]

On September 10, 1855, Hannah O’Brien purchased Green Spring. The property was held in trust by James Benton, free of Hannah’s husband Matthew O’Brien.[29] James Benton was a near neighbor who operated a steam saw-mill in Annandale with John Garges for the exclusive purpose of constructing several sections of the Independent Line of the Manassas Gap Railroad.[30]

Hannah advertised the property for sale in 1859, but it was not sold. As a result, Hannah owned the property throughout the Civil War.

The very desirable FARM known as “GREEN SPRING”…contains 341 ACRES, 140 of which is in Wood, the remainder in a high state of improvement; 100 acres is well set in Clover and Timothy, and will produce a good crop of Hay another year. It is well supplied with the different kinds of Fruit, and a thrifty young ORCHARD that will soon bear. The improvements are good; Churches, &c., convenient, and for Farming, Gardening, or Dairy purposes, this Farm is not surpassed by any in this section of the country. The location is healthy and very desirable, and well supplied with a full supply of pure Spring water. George R. Padgett, on the premises, will show it to any one desiring to purchase…[31]

Hannah O’Brien ended her ownership of the property due to the court case H. C. O’Brien vs. John W. Green. The court appointed commissioners, H. O. Claughton and F. L. Smith, had the farm surveyed by R.R. Farr in 1874.[32] Sale of the farm was advertised in the Virginia Sentinel.

…improved by a TWO-STORY BRICK DWELLING, Frame Barn and other out-buildings, necessary and valuable to a farm. The farm is well located and finely watered. [33]

As the result of the court case, the land was sold to Fountain Beattie, a former Civil War lieutenant who rode as a guerilla-style raider with his friend, Captain John Singleton Mosby.[34]

Fountain Beattie’s son, John Mosby Beattie, recalled later in life that his father operated a combined dairy and apple orchard business utilizing day workers both on the farm and in the house. The farm products, including milk and butter, were delivered by wagon to the markets in Washington. The butter was churned in the spring house. Fruit from a few pear and cherry trees was consumed on the home farm. Fountain Beattie also operated a government licensed still, producing apple jack and apple brandy. He used a large concrete tank for the apple cider, jack, and brandy.[35]

After a fire about 1890 destroyed the stock barn and its contents (stock, hay, and feed), the financial strain resulted in the demise of the dairy business. Afterward, Beattie purchased only sufficient horses, mules, and cows for the farm and family needs.[36]

Fountain Beattie and his wife, Anne, lived in the house with their twelve children, six boys and six girls. To provide heat, there was a coal stove set in the living room fireplace. A pot-bellied stove provided the heat in the dining room. There was no heat upstairs except what rose from the lower floors or was supplied by fireplaces.[37] In order to accommodate their large family, Beattie converted the attic level to living space by finishing off the space for bedchambers. Dormer windows were installed that provided additional light and air sometime after 1878.[38] Perhaps it was at this time that a porch, seen in a c. 1885 photo, was added to extend along the southern façade of the house. The windows of the porch and the dormer windows are of a similar style.

From 1875-1914, Beattie worked for the Bureau of Internal Revenue as a Deputy Collector for the Sixth District of Virginia.[39] In 1899, Capt. Fountain Beattie, of the revenue office, discovered magnetic iron ore and copper while raiding moonshiners in the Blue Ridge Mountains.[40] Following the loss of this political position, he became a realtor. [41]

Field Captain F. Beattie, whose early activities helped to make John Mosby famous, said to have retired, has opened an office in Alexandria, and may be seen most any fine day with a load of real estate on his shoulders, hustling around town like a youngster. [42]

Towards the end of his ownership of Green Spring, Fountain Beattie lived in Annandale and leased the farm to others. A 1908 article in the Fairfax Herald stated that the Fountain Beattie residence in Annandale was nearing completion and was quite an improvement to the neighborhood.[43] Beattie may have been living on the site of the new house in an older house as early as 1900.[44]

From 1911 to 1913, Beattie leased Green Spring to George Daniel and Joesphina (Josie) McClanahan and their six children. Mrs. McClanahan used the enclosed porch, which she called a sunroom, as a sewing room. One of the children died in infancy and was reportedly buried in a rose garden at Green Spring.[45]

In 1917, George Sims and his wife Marjorie B. Sims purchased the farm from Fountain Beattie, a widower at the time. The Sims’ were living in Pasco County, Florida, when they purchased the farm, and five years later at the time of the sale to James M. Duncan. Walter Jahn and his wife Elsa, of Chicago, were co-owners of Green Spring Farm with the Sims’ in 1922 when the farm was sold.

James Duncan and his wife Mary owned the farm for 2 years before they entered into a trust agreement with Carroll Pierce to subdivide the property and sell small tracts. The land was advertised to be auctioned off on June 23, 1924, and was identified as THE OLD CAPTAIN BEATTIE FARM ON the FAIRFAX-ALEXANDRIA CONCRETE HIGHWAY. The advertisement provided a description of the farm.

The Beattie residence has 10 rooms. There is one 250 ton Silo, Large Barn, Chicken House, Spring House and a young orchard of 10 acres on the property. Also spring house with very large spring of excellent water…Alexandria and Washington suburbs are spreading rapidly toward the Beattie Farm [46]

Preserving Old Home

Owner of Former Beattie Home Will Prevent Vandalism

The old brick dwelling, on the north side of the Little River pike, about a half mile this side of Annandale, for many years the home of the late Capt. Fountain Beattie, is one of the oldest homes in Fairfax county, but since it has been without occupants, it is stated, it has been visited by vandals and the interior much damaged. Hand carved mantels were taken, but M. Segessenman of Burke, who is now the owner of the old structure, recovered them and has them in safe storage. Precautions have been taken to prevent further depredations and the old building is to be preserved, until some one comes along who wishes to purchase it for a home…[48]

Minnie Whitesell purchased Green Spring in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression, which had begun 2 years prior. Photographs taken near the time of her purchase of the property show the house in a dilapidated condition. By 1932 Ms. Whitesell was renovating the house, as noted in a 1932 article in the American Motorist magazine.

Old Moss house… now being prepared for occupancy after being in ruins for many years…It has three stories with dormer windows, and the many coats of whitewash on the front testify to where a columned porch once stood. For half a century it has been known as the Beattie farm, as about fifty years ago Captain Fontaine Beattie bought this old home with more than 300 fertile acres. For years those who traveled the Little River turnpike missed seeing this old home as it was hidden by an osage orange hedge, extending a quarter of a mile along the pike. Now that the present owner is pruning the old hedge, visitors have the privilege of peering at the landmark, which is being renovated for occupancy after being in ruins for many years. Yes, it is desolate when its windows were out and its porch had rotted and collapsed, but even then its center hall had a kind of hospitality. The many open fireplaces, and windows reaching to the floor…Green Spring farm became a mecca during the drought of 1930, when neighbors for miles around wore beaten paths to the old spring behind the homestead…As they carried barrels of water they were still impressed with the beautiful setting of willow trees around the spot…[49]

After architect Mr. Wiley told Mrs. Whitesell that the house could be salvaged a carpenter was hired. John Pence, who worked as Mrs. Whitesell’s handyman, traveled to Haymarket with a crew to tear down a house. Some of the 12” boards from this house were used in the Green Spring dwelling.

In addition to repairs, Mrs. Whitesell installed a bathroom on the second floor, relocated a log house to the property, and built a garage close to the house. The privy was located near the northwest corner of the house.

Mrs. Whitesell was a widow who lived at Green Spring Farm with her two children, Russell and Deana. The children lived with their mother during her ownership of Green Spring, since neither child married. Minnie Whitesell was discovered dead in an upstairs area of the house by her children, who subsequently sold Green Spring to Michael and Belinda Straight.[50]

Soon after the Straights acquired the property, they hired historical architect Walter Macomber to rehabilitate the brick dwelling. While construction was ongoing at the brick dwelling, the Straights lived in the springhouse cottage. They moved into the brick dwelling in late 1942, but only for a couple of months before Michael Straight was called up for Air Force duty in January 1943.

During World War II, from 1943 – 1948, the Straights rented out Green Spring until they returned in 1948. Later, the house was rented to Leonard Garment, President Nixon’s counsel, when the property was donated to the Fairfax County Park Authority in October 1970. Garment had been renting the house for about 5 years.[51]

Oral interviews with Macomber, the Straights, and Mrs. Quast, the caretaker’s wife, provide an understanding of some of the changes made to the structures.[52] The Straights lived at the springhouse cottage while construction was underway on the brick dwelling in 1942. The cottage was enlarged in 1960. The Straights converted the ice pond used by the Beattie’s into one of their two ornamental ponds. Michael Straight commented about the fermentation tank in his interview that when we got there the whole slope behind the house was dotted with very old and unproductive apple trees. And when we went down to the house by the river - which was not a house but just walls - we found within these walls we found very heavy and beautifully painted beams...It turned out to be a brandy press.

In an oral interview, John Mosby Beattie recollected a large concrete tank for apple cider, jack and brandy.

Brick Dwelling Construction

The original portion of the brick dwelling that stands today was likely built during the period of 1784-86 as a center-passage double-pile house; that is, the center hall was flanked by two rooms on each side. The wood framing members are pit sawn and connected with mortise and tenon joinery, while the collar ties are notched into the rafters with a lap joint and secured to the rafters with rosehead, chisel-point nails. The irregular sizes and texture of the brick used at Green Spring resulted in irregular mortar joints and a less than perfect alignment of the Flemish bond pattern.

Springhouse and Brick Kitchen Construction

The 1831 sale advertisement contains the earliest known references to a springhouse and kitchen. The springhouse is described as a good stone springhouse and the kitchen as constructed of brick. The date of construction of these structures is unknown. Perhaps the brick kitchen was added to the dwelling in 1827 when the value of Thomas Moss’s buildings, as recorded in the land tax records, increased from $2,000 to $2,160.[53]

Fermentation Tank

The fermentation tank is shown in c. 1900 photos. Further investigation of tax records and liquor licenses from this time period may yield a construction date.