A Message from the Executive Director |
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It’s hard to believe that it is already August, but the steady heat lately has kept summer on my mind. Monarchs are visiting the milkweed on the Phillips Farm, bunnies dart quickly back into the hedgerows as you walk by, and the warm evenings are punctuated by the steady hum of insects. While so many things are uncertain these days due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is comforting to see and hear these common summer happenings carrying on as usual.
This month we are excited to be able to share with you the return of an information-packed educational resource to our website after some recent technological upgrades. This project was made possible by the generous support of our Give Choose donors and the Women For Waterford! We are also bringing you all the details about our virtual Historic Waterford Trail Run coming up this September. Read on to learn about volunteer opportunities for the Virtual Fair in October, and find out how two volunteers are supporting the Virtual Fair while working remotely. Don’t miss the recap of our recent in-person Waterford Craft School class and information about upcoming classes taking place this fall, both in person and online. And, as always, read to the end for a story from Waterford. This month, you’ll learn about three brothers from Waterford and their differing experiences of the Civil War. Despite drastically different choices, they all ended up in the same place. Can you guess where?
Enjoy!
Stephanie C. Thompson
Executive Director
p.s. It’s not too late to reserve your date for Feast With Friends At Home. Don’t miss this opportunity to support our preservation and education work while enjoying an elegant farm to table meal in the comfort of your own home. See below for more information on how to reserve your table.
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African American Experience Online Interactive Restored to our Website |
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Many years ago the Waterford Foundation received a grant to create interactive web content detailing the African-American experience in Waterford throughout its history. An easy-to-navigate map was created on which users could click on one of five sites in Waterford with significant connections to the African American community. Three of the sites featured a short video and interactive content, while all five sites featured a gallery of historic and modern photographs. This project was the culmination of countless hours of work by local historians, volunteers, and multimedia consultants.
Over the years, as technology marched forward, parts of the interactive map stopped working. Today, we are happy to announce that through the generosity of our Give Choose donors and the Women For Waterford, the African American Experience interactive has been restored to our website! Find it here: https://www.waterfordfoundation.org/African-American-Experience/title.html
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On the map, click on one of the five sites to learn more: the Second Street School, the John Wesley Church, Union Cemetery, the Claggett House and the Old Mill. Watch videos featuring former students and Waterford descendants discuss their experiences in Waterford in the 20th century, and learn about the Mill and its connection to Waterford’s African-American community. See historic photographs and meet members of the John Wesley church congregation. Take a short quiz at the Second Street School to see if you know what students in 1880 were expected to know. |
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Feast With Friends At Home |
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We are proud to announce, Feast With Friends At Home! We invite you to gather with a small group of family, friends, or neighbors to enjoy an elegant yet relaxed three-course meal and dessert within the comfort of your own yard or home.
Choose your date for a group of 10 and let us put together a luxury farm-to-table dinner experience for you and your guests with help from Market Table Bistro, Wheatland Spring Farm Brewery, Walsh Family Wine, the Corner Store Studio, Moutoux Orchard, and Georges Mill Farm.
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Meet Our Board:
Jonathan Daniel
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Jonathan Daniel joined the Waterford Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2017. Raised in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Jonathan acquired an early appreciation for local historic homes. His chance finally came in Pittsburgh where, with his husband, he managed the restoration of an abandoned 1848 Greek Revival followed by a 1915 Dutch Colonial Revival in the Schenley Farms Historic District. After moving to Washington, D.C., Jonathan soon discovered Waterford and its unique collection of charming homes and its vibrant, engaged citizens. He and his husband have fallen in love with village life as the newest custodians of the Griffith-Gover house which has been on the Waterford Fair Homes Tour as recently as 2017 and 2019. Initially participating in the Properties, Land Use, and Archives Subcommittees, he has now focused his efforts as Chair of the new Preservation Committee, Co-Chair of the Phillips Farm Subcommittee, and Vice-President of the Board. He is a Waterford furniture fanatic having amassed a collection of over 50 chairs and counting. |
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Historic Waterford 5K/10K VIRTUAL Run |
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Thank you for your patience as we sort out the details for our Historic Waterford 5K/10K Trail run/walk. Due to COVID-19 and for the safety of our community, we have decided to take our run VIRTUAL!
Celebrate 50 years of preserving the National Historic Landmark with us this September. Proceeds from the race benefit the preservation and education mission of the Waterford Foundation.
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~ New Date ~
September 11th- September 13th, 2020
Submit your race times by September 13th at Midnight
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Run/walk a 5K/10K from any location you choose. Road, trail, treadmill or a track. Be sure to track your time and submit it by midnight Sept 13th, 2020. You can run alone or with a small group.
Registration will close on Wednesday, September 9 at Midnight.
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What’s new with the Waterford Craft School |
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On a warm July day, 8 masked students met in the air conditioned Old School auditorium for Making a Floorcloth from Start to Finish with Waterford Landmark Artisan, Grace Rochford. With natural light flooding in from the doors onto the Old School patio, blank cotton canvases on well-spaced tables were soon covered with precise lines made with t-squares and tape. With durability in mind, multiple layers of paint were hastened with hair dryers. It was an intensive day (that even involved a blown fuse!), but each participant completed an original, useful work of domestic art.
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Upcoming Craft School Classes |
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Watercolor Portraits Gone Wild: Be an Animal for the Day
Saturday, August 15th, 2020
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Young people ages 8 - 12, have you ever wanted to paint your likeness with your own face and an animal body? Well, now you have the chance! Go on a wild portrait ride with Paula Kaufman; choose from 5 different animals in Watercolor Portraits Gone Wild: Be an Animal for the Day. A whimsical and fun, one-hour Zoom class on August 15th.. Optional kits will be made available for purchase, or use your own watercolor supplies.
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Stay tuned for a series of virtual mini classes taking place on Fair weekend, October 2-4. As always, if you have suggestions for classes, or have created something that was inspired by a Craft School workshop, we'd love to hear from you. Send your comments and images to lkovatch@waterfordfoundation.org.
Did you know Gift Certificates to our Craft School are also available for purchase? Click Here for more information!
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Mark your calendar and plan to join us, online and in spirit, October 2-4! Here’s a small sampling of what you will be able to do and participate in during the fair weekend, unmasked and from the safety of your own home: shop, tour, taste and be entertained!
We will offer craft sales through an online Old Mill Shop and Demonstrating Artisans will have “stores” set up for you to browse and shop. Take the virtual walking tour of the village and learn about homes and buildings that were once used for businesses (this is a new and fascinating focus for the Homes Tour). For the first time ever, we will be offering Craft School classes during Fair weekend! You will be able to sign up, get your supplies and join an instructor from home. Living history demos and interviews, as well as entertainment will round out the weekend’s virtual activities. For those who support the fair by buying a “page in the Fair booklet”, you have not been forgotten. We will be offering dedicated sponsorship space on the website and event page for your traditional family/friends’ messages usually placed in the booklet. We will also have a few Fair Experience packages available. Perhaps you would like the “Taste of the Fair” box with honey, apple butter from the Presbyterian Church, the Waterford Elementary School PTO’s cinnamon rolls and a video-peek at the hives on Phillips Farm with an educational talk with the beekeeper, or the Wine package that includes 3 bottles of local wine, Fair wine glasses, and a private video chat and tasting with the winemaker. We are excited to offer the packages and are still working out the details, but we will share them as soon as possible. We can’t think of a better way to get into Fair-mode (other than being here that is, and the pandemic has made that impossible). Plan your visit via computer, phone or tablet this year and support the Foundation, Fair community and artisans!.
If you are interested in helping with the Virtual Fair in anyway, please email fairadmin@waterfordfoundation.org. We will post details and the schedule for the Virtual Fair on the website, Facebook and Instagram, as we move closer to October. See you online soon!
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While the board and staff consider how to help people connect with Fair artists in the coming weeks, 2020 participating artisans will be featured on the Foundation’s online shop at https://www.waterfordfoundation.org/shop-our-artisans/. We encourage you to support the work of this year’s artisans through the online gallery and the Virtual Fair.
We are excited to bring you Virtual Fair content this October. Visit www.waterfordfairva.org for info as we develop our plans.
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Volunteers of the Month:
Joe White, Isaac Johnson, & Ed Lehmann
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Just because we are in the middle of a pandemic doesn’t mean our projects have been set aside. Committees have been meeting via video chat and by phone. One new team that has come together virtually is working on an interactive walking tour map that can be accessed by mobile phone or computer. Joe White, Isaac Johnson, and Ed Lehmann have come together to bring the map to life. This project has been an “idea” for many years and although we are sad it took COVID to bring it into reality, we are thankful to the team for doing the work to get it done! Johnson, who recently moved to the village, joined the Fair Committee after attending the Fair this past year and when this project was presented, he immediately volunteered. When asked about Waterford, Johnson said “I love the rich history and beautiful architecture and landscape of Waterford. The sense of community and care of this village is unlike any other I’ve been a part of.” White came to Waterford during quarantine, for a change of scenery, to walk the village and trails. He followed up his visit by contacting the Foundation to ask how he could get involved. A virtual project is a perfect fit for his work schedule and the two were introduced via a video call. As they started working on converting the walking tour booklet into data, we realized we needed updated images. Enter Lehmann. Normally this time of year he would be busy updating signage for the Fair, but now he is combing files, digital and real, for images we can use for the map. A big shout out to all three -- thank you for taking on this much anticipated project! The map will be released during our Virtual Fair, so stay tuned.
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Thank You to Our New & Renewing Members! |
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Memberships provide a vital portion of the Waterford Foundation's funds to pay for the upkeep and repair of thirteen properties protected by the Waterford Foundation, as well as programs like the Second Street School living history program, the Waterford Craft School, the Waterford Fair, and special programs throughout the year. We would like to thank the following new and renewing members who have joined or renewed in July 2020!
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New & Renewing Members: July 2020 |
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Mr. Robert W Chamberlin
Mr. and Mrs. Anthony M. Colucci
Ms Tracey Hosseinian
Mr. and Mrs. Jim & Linda Starmer
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Dr. & Mrs. Soechtig
Ms. Rachel Swann
Mr. Christopher White
Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Yourish
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Our Sustaining Members are: Mr. and Mrs. Goode (Joe and Annie), Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Hale (Bob and Susanne), Ms. Joan Kowalski, Mr. Ed Lehman and Ms. Edith Crockett, Robert and Stephanie Thompson, Mr. & Mrs. Mark Sutton, and Mr. & Mrs. Brandon & Clare Synge.
Next month, we will acknowledge our new and renewing August 2020 members!
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Jupiter Theater Company is proud to present Oliver Goldsmith's classic 18th century comedy "She Stoops to Conquer." Performances are Thursday-Sunday, September 3-6, 2020 with doors opening at 7:00 PM and the show will beginning at 7:30 PM. All shows will be following COVID guidelines to ensure audience safety. Click Here for more information
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Stories from Waterford:
Three Paths to the Same Destination
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Corbin, Daniel (headstone) |
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Corbin, James A.H. (headstone) |
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Corbin, Silas (headstone) |
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By John M. Souders
The tilted, moss-covered markers in Waterford’s Union of Churches Cemetery stand as a stone index to two centuries of stories and secrets. Near the south fence, a cluster of “Corbin” monuments hints at a family riven by war and reunited in death.
When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, three local brothers were forced to make a decision. For Silas Corbin, the oldest at 29, his choice was straightforward. He had married the daughter of Waterford miller John Schooley and had four young children. His wife was a Quaker, and he shared the Quakers’ strong opposition to disunion. So he tried to keep his head down and stick to his blacksmith shop near Goresville [now Lucketts]. “I carried on my business when I could but frequently went across the river to get away from the rebel soldiers.”
Brother James was, at 20, too young to vote against the Ordinance of Secession, but he shared Silas’s pro-Union sentiments, and a year later signed up with Sam Means’s fledgling Loudoun Rangers, a local cavalry company raised as a loyalist home guard.
Daniel, the youngest at 17, was evidently drawn to the secessionists’ fiery rhetoric and promises of glory. And his father owned slaves, after all. In June 1861 he joined the 8th Virginia Infantry Regiment. The unit would become “The Bloody 8th”; for Daniel, though, his first battle, the following winter, was with typhoid fever. He survived and soldiered on, at least until August 1864 when he was captured at Halltown, West Virginia. He sat out the rest of the war as a POW.
James fared worse. He lacked brother Silas’s maturity, and within a month of his enlistment he got into a dispute with a Hillsboro shopkeeper over a prewar transaction and killed the man. The following month rebels under Elijah White captured James and many of his fellow Rangers at the Baptist church in Waterford. They held him at Culpeper for the merchant’s death until a local Unionist helped him escape. His reprieve was short-lived. Six months later he was shot from ambush two miles north of Waterford and died at a nearby house.
Silas, meanwhile, had been arrested early in the war as “dangerous to the Confederacy.” Held at Leesburg and ailing, he was released only after taking an oath not to do any harm to the Commonwealth of Virginia. He also spent a brief stint in Union detention—it was a tough time, even for noncombatants. In his absence, his wife packed up the kids and left Goresville for the friendlier surroundings of her native Waterford. There Silas rejoined them and took over an old blacksmith shop at the southern end of town. He was finally reunited with brother James in Union Cemetery in 1905; Daniel followed in 1912—his headstone bears the insignia of the “Improved Order of Red Men,” a fraternal group (that, despite the tomahawk insignia, included no Native Americans). James’s stone marks his service with the Loudoun Rangers. As for Silas, perhaps his most lasting monument was his large family, one that continued to play a role in Waterford for much of the 20th century. Pay your respects sometime.
Editor’s notes: The Waterford Union of Churches cemetery is located on Fairfax Street in Waterford, near the Old School. If you come to visit the cemetery, feel free to park at the Old School and walk across the field to access the cemetery. More information about the cemetery can be found at https://waterfordcemetery.org/. You can read more about the Civil War experiences of Loudoun families like the Corbins in Between Reb and Yank: A Civil War History of Northern Loudoun County, Virginia, by Taylor M. Chamberlin and John M. Souders.
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Waterford Foundation Staff
Phase 3 Action Plan
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Due to safety precautions for COVID-19, the Waterford Foundation office is closed is closed to the public. The staff are teleworking and we are available via email, phone or on video calls and are happy to help with anything you need!
Our staff has updated all of our policies and procedures to make sure the Old School is clean, sanitized and ready for events and programs. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns! Check out our newest website page introducing our Waterford Staff.
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