VAFAUQUI-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Article in the Washington Post
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1999 19:44:31 EST

Today while reading the Washington Post there was an article in the Real
Estate Section on Lincoln, Virginia. Would like to share it with you. It
also had pictures of the gentleman Asa Moore Janney, cemetery.
June

A Village Anchored Solidly In History

There are three solid anchors in the tiny village of Lincoln, Va. --the
school, the Quaker Meeting House and 91 year old Asa Moore Janney. Each
quietly addresses the inevitable changes that are coming, while maintaining a
reverence for the past.

Less than one mile out of Purcellville, south on Route 722, lies what looks
like fast-changing Loudoun County's version of Brigadoon, the fictional
Scottish town that appeared from the midst just one day every 100 years.
Drive slowly past Lincoln Elementary School, past white colonial farmhouses,
past the tiny porch-front post office, past a 1765 stone house--there's no
need for a sign telling you to slow down, for you do so automatically.

The community, once known as Goose Creek, adopted its current name in 1860
when it wanted its own post office. The heavily abolitionist area was one of
only two precincts in Loudoun carried by Abraham Lincoln, so flaunting its
support of the new president seemed the thing to do.

There are no restaurants or stores in Lincoln, population 300. The
combination general store and post office, run by the Janney family since
1928, shut its doors in 1994. The storefront now bears faded signs---"A.M.
Janney Quacker Genealogy," "Local History Books" and "Yardley Taylor Maps."

Janney himself--called Asa Moore by everyone, to distinguish him from the
long line of Janneys who preceded him--keeps an office there where he holds
court daily. Whatever tidbit of information about the 250-year-old hamlet is
not on the tip of his tongue is probably in the disheveled piles of primary
sources enveloping his window-side desk--and he knows just where to look.

There is the mill ledger kept by great uncle Israel Janney, showing how he
carried over debts owed throughout the Revolutionary War, never charging
interest to those fighting for independence. There are small stacks of
booklets written by Asa Moore Janney and his brother Werner, detailing the
history of Lincoln's founders, Quacker from Bucks County, Pa., who came in
search of better farmland. There are enlarged copies of an 1853 Yardley
Taylor map showing the contrast between the Quacker properties--each small
enough to be tended by its owner--and the immense neighboring properties that
were tended by slaves.

Long before public schools, the Quackers sought to educate all of the
community's children. The one-room 1815 Oakdale Schoolhouse still stands,
now used as First Day School for Quacker children. Down narrow Cookville
Road sits a stone and frame house that once was the Lincoln Colored School,
established by the Quackers in June 1865 as one of the first schools in
Virginia for the children of freed slaves. The school, built on a slab of
rock, closed in 1940 and is now a private residence.

Today, the 130 pupil Lincoln Elementary School is described by parents as the
kind of school where children have respect for each other and the teachers,
and where there is often a waiting list to chaperon on field trips.
Principal Linda Robinson said: "No matter what the school asks, the community
gives."

Another old stone house, the former home of the Goose Creek Religious Society
of Friends--now serves as the home for the caretaker of the "new" meting
house, built in 1817. Whittled from two stories to one after a 1943
windstorm, that building is the only Friends Meeting in Loudoun County.

The caretaker, Bill Cochran, whose family traces back to 1737 in Lincoln,
thinks of the home he has lived in for the past 35 years as just that--home.
He is reminded of its historical significance only when the occasional
tourist traipse across his lawn on the way to the stone-walled cemetery. He
chuckles as he remembers one day when the front door opened, and in walked a
visitor, oblivious to the presence of others. She wandered around the front
room, gazing at furnishings, lost in her self-guided tour, before realizing
this was the Cochran family's home and she had interrupted their breakfast.

Documented history overflows in Lincoln, and so do the occasional
undocumented rumors. Legend has it that an active link to the underground
railroad operated out of the current Springdale Inn bed and breakfast, built
1839 by Samuel Janney as a Quacker boarding school for girls. A small sealed
door at the left of a fireplace continues to fuel the story, although Asa
Moore Janney pooh-poohs the idea.

Some young people are moving into the historic town, primarily for the
schools and the open space. They are being welcomed with open arms by
old-timers, say both new and longtime residents.

"Got young people with fever coming to this town," drawls Janney, a 1929
graduate of Washington & Lee. "Sometimes you think they are grasping at
straws, but they keep the town going with their energy."

But unlike the rest of Loudoun County, new people don't mean growth in
Lincoln proper. No new houses are being built within the village, which is
part of Goose Creek Historic District.

Phil Daley, former president of the Lincoln Community League, says that the
Loudoun County growth plan's aim is not to disturb local villages, but
Lincoln finds itself caught between the burgeoning growth of Purcellville and
Hamilton. How to best establish a buffer zone around the rural village is
still under debate.

Mike Alto, one of the newcomers, moved his family to Lincoln four years ago
thinking that if it didn't work out he could always move back to Arlington.

"There, we didn't know any of our neighbors because everyone was always on
the go." Altho said. "Here, there's not much to do without traveling a bit,
so neighbors really get to know each other."

Alto and other young parents said the frequent interaction between
generations is a particular plus. Grandparent types are always nearby, and
always have time to listen. "I'll never go back," Alto said.

Alto is president of the Lincoln Community League, the closest thing Lincoln
has to a government. With no political power, the league serves as the
communication and social arm of the community, keeping residents informed of
county actions and organizing traditional holiday events.

There's even more local communication at the contract post office that
occupies an enclosed porchfront at 18187 Lincoln Road. One hundred and forty
mailboxes share the pint-size lobby with a used-book nook--hardbacks $1,
paperbacks 50 cents--a community bulletin board and a rocking chair. At
times, half a dozen people will crowd in, swapping yarns or debating the
latest county action.

Said resident Maria Mudd Ruth, "Our post office, humble as it is, represents
our community's passion for keeping our small town alive and on the
map--especially as our county grows and absorbs or plows over its old towns
and crossroads."

Sarah Huntington, who operates a photography business out of her 1888
farmhouse, sees the country atmosphere as a draw for her clients. She said,
"People want a reminder of what made Loudoun County special, before it was a
bedroom community."

In this article I copied it shows a picture of the Goose Creek Cemetery, and
a picture of the old Quackers meeting house built 1765, it houses the
caretaker of the "new meeting house of 1817.

Hope you enjoyed the article.

This thread:

• Article in the Washington Post by <>