Tom Bullock, President,
Lovettsville Historical Society
Tom Bullock, the President of the Lovettsville
Historical Society, told the story of Lovettsville’s founding this past Sunday
at the St. James Church.
It was ironic that the stained glass windows in the
Church bore many of the family names of the early tenants and landowners in
Lovettsville.
But that’s not how it was founded.
Before George William Fairfax and John Colville
could lease or transfer any land that became Lovettsville, there was the
problem of hostile Indians.
It was clear there would be no settlements in
Virginia unless the hostile Indian tribes were pacified.
Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood made an
agreement with the Iroquois and the Virginia Tributary Indians in 1722 not to
cross the Potomac River or the Blue Ridge in the Treaty of Albany.
That cleared the way for settlement.
In 1740 George William Fairfax, a friend and mentor
to George Washington, and John Colville bought up most of the land grants in
the area.
Fairfax held 46,000 acres which included all the
territory on the Potomac River lying Between Catoctin Creek and the Shenandoah
River; Colville held 16,000 acres along the other side of the Catoctin Creek.
They subdivided these holdings into smaller tracts
that ranged in size from 150 to 300 Acres.
These tracts of land were run like manors in which
settlers could lease the land for a period of three lives within two
generations but were not permitted to purchase the lands or hold title to them.
Germans moved from Maryland across the Potomac River
and were squatting on these lands.
Tom circulated copies of an indenture, to lease
land, dated 1768, to those who came to hear his presentation.
Indenture lease, dated
1768, renting 150 Acres by George William Fairfax to Samuel Smith
It was a lease in what is now Lovettsville from
George William Fairfax to Samuel Smith, his wife and children.
It is written in the most marvelous calligraphic
hand, and provides that the person renting 150 acres of land, on the north side
of modern-day Broadway, may not take stone or lumber from the land, that they
must build a house and a barn and plant fruit trees, pear and apple, that
produce 9 pounds a year, but allowing them to substitute fruit with grain or
corn, and all produce had to be transported to Georgetown to market.
Like the biblical passages of begetting, Tom
explained, there then followed a series of lease transfers, from Fairfax’s
daughter, Sarah, who leased to Isaac Richey (in 1793), who then leased to
Michael Shaver (in 1804) and then to David Lovett (in 1812).
Lovett was soon able to buy the land, instead of
leasing it.
In 1820, David Lovett subdivided his property into
quarter-acre “city lots.” Because it was
a building boom, instead of Lovettsville, the town was called Newtown. In 1828, the town was renamed Lovettsville. In 1852 the Turnpike came
through town, two poles wide, about 40 feet wide. In town, there was a saddle shop, undertaker,
blacksmiths, dry goods, farm equipment store, leather works, bakery, cobbler,
doctors, a hotel, and ads for all these businesses. It was a bustling community.
There was parallel development on the other side of
Broad Street by land leased and sold by Fairfax’s counterpart, Colville.
Tom reviewed carefully the adjoining parcels on both
sides of Broadway and pictures when available, then and now.
There were questions from the audience asking where
one parcel or another in the present day fit into the Town’s history, and Tom
fielded all the questions.
At one point in his presentation, Tom admitted he
was concerned the evening before that he might not be able to project his
findings on a screen because his wife, Mary Beth, and he just couldn’t get the
projector to project any light. Then he
found the problem, a stink bug was blocking the light. By comparison, Tom was quite illuminating.
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