Salona and the Smoots
[95] Harry Wright Newman, _The Smoots of Maryland and Virginia_
(Washington, D.C.: by the author, 1936), pp. 1-2.
[96] Regina Combs Hammett, _History of St. Mary's County, Maryland_
(Ridge, Md.: by the author, 1977), pp. 73, 85, 87, 96, 100, 235-6,
246, 285, 437.
[97] James Jarboe Papers, Manuscript Collection, Maryland Historical
Society, Baltimore. Cited in Hammett, _St. Mary's County_, p. 100.
[98] Hammett, _St. Mary's County_, pp. 235-6, 246, 285.
[99] Margaret Brown Klapthor and Paul Dennis Brown, _History of
Charles County, Maryland_ (La Plata: Charles County Tercentennary
Committee, 1958), pp. 52, 192.
[100] Interview with John D. K. Smoot, Arlington, Virginia, January
18, 1979, by Nan Netherton.
[101] Fairfax County, Virginia, Real and Personal Property Tax
Assessments, 1854-1900. Virginia State Library, Archives Division.
[102] John Smoot interview, January 18, 1979.
[103] Fairfax County, Virginia, Personal Property Tax Book, 1860.
Virginia State Library.
[104] Letter from Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cooling, U. S. Army Military
History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, to Mrs. Ross D.
Netherton, Fairfax, Virginia, December 5, 1978. Working papers for
Salona, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Central Library.
[105] Evan Morrison Woodward, _Our Campaign_ (Philadelphia: J. E.
Potter Co., 1865); McLean _Providence Journal_, February 11, 1977.
Although a number of accounts place Julia Ward Howe, wife of Dr.
Samuel Gridley Howe, in the vicinity when she received the
inspiration to write the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic",
the account of Mr. A. J. Bloor, assistant secretary of the U. S.
Sanitary Commission gives a different version. He and Dr. Howe met
Mrs. Howe and her party at Upton's Hill, near Seven Corners, where
they observed preparations for General George McClellan's grand
review of 70,000 troops. Her poem followed, written that night at the
Willard Hotel in Washington. Florence Howe Hall, _The Story of the
Battle Hymn of the Republic_ (Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries
Press, reprint 1971), p. 62.
[106] Original memorandum in possession of Susan and Clive DuVal, II,
Salona.
[107] Interviews with Smoot family members by the author; Fairfax
County Ordinance of Secession, Lewinsville Precinct, #18, May 23,
1861. Fairfax County Courthouse, and copy, Virginia Room, Fairfax
County Central Library.
[108] Interview with John D. K. Smoot, January 18, 1979; personal
property tax assessments, 1868, 1869, Virginia State Library.
[109] Ibid.
[110] Personal Property Tax Book, 1881. Virginia State Library.
[111] Interviews with members of the Smoot family by the author.
[112] Fairfax County Office of Comprehensive Planning, _Fairfax
County in Virginia: Selections from Some Rare Sources_ (Fairfax, Va.:
Office of Comprehensive Planning, 1974), pp. 126-127.
[113] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book 635, p. 471; interviews
with the Smoot family by the author.
[114] "The Rambler," _The Sunday Star_, August 2, 1914.
[115] _Washington Star_, May 20, 1932.
[116] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book 635, p. 471.
[117] Interviews with Smoot family members by the author.
[118] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book 1041, p. 123; 1097, p. 32;
1322, p. 453.
V
SALONA AND THE DUVALS
Susan and Clive DuVal, II, arrived in northern Virginia in 1952,
hunting for an older house with interesting architectural features
and surrounding acreage. When they discovered Salona, it was occupied
by the Danish family who were in the east wing. They decided it was
just the house they wanted, unprepossessing though it appeared, full
of the musty odor of unoccupied houses, ill-treated by a succession
of temporary tenants and youthful vandals, and in poor repair inside
and out. Inspection of the house would have discouraged the average
home buyer but the DuVals had the desire and resources to do what was
necessary to rehabilitate the dwelling and to live in it.
The first of three tracts was purchased from the Smoot heirs in
January, 1953, and the DuVals spent about a year extensively
renovating the house and grounds before they moved in. Without
specific descriptions of the original house to use as guidelines,
they attempted to preserve as much as possible of the presumed
original dwelling while adapting it to modern living.[119]
Both of the DuVals are descendants of French Huguenots who immigrated
to New Amsterdam in the late eighteenth century. Both were born in
New York City. One of Mrs. DuVal's grandfathers was Jesse Metcalf, a
United States senator from Rhode Island, and her father was Frederic
H. Bontecow, a New York state senator. As other residents of Salona
had been before them, the DuVals were well educated, above the
average level of Fairfax County residents. Mrs. DuVal is a graduate
of Vassar, DuVal of Yale University Law School. And like some of
their predecessors, their income, cultural interests and extent of
community involvement are also well above the average for the time in
which they live.[120]
The DuVal family arrived in Fairfax County during a period when the
population growth was expanding rapidly, both from in-migration and
natural increase. With them the couple brought their three children,
Susan Lynde (Lyn), Clive, III, and David. Daniel, their fourth, was
born in 1953. Their experience was a reflection of the times--in the
1950 U. S. Census, Fairfax County's population was 98,557; in 1960,
it had increased to 248,897.[121]
[Illustration: _The DuVal family, about 1957. Left to right Daniel,
Susan Lynde, Clive II, Susan, David and Clive III. The English
setters, Christmas, Dusty and Belle, are also "members of the
family."_]
Also reflecting the Washington metropolitan area's typical experience
in the 1950s, DuVal came from elsewhere to accept employment with the
federal government, in his case, as Assistant General Counsel
(International Affairs) for the Department of Defense. He was,
typically, a World War II veteran, a former officer in the United
States Navy. From 1955 to 1959, he was general counsel for the United
States Information Agency. Since then, he has been in the private
practice of law. As did the majority of married women with children
in the decades 1950-1970, in Fairfax County, Mrs. DuVal stayed at
home with the children rather than taking a regular outside job,
except for her many volunteer projects in which she was regularly
involved in the McLean community.[122]
Salona became a place of hospitality, where social, political, arts
and educational events were held. The Woman's Club of McLean, the
McLean House Tour, the McLean Ballet Company, Children's Hospital,
the Fairfax YWCA, the McLean Boys Club, the Northern Virginia
Democratic Women's Club, Yale University students and the Historical
Society of Fairfax County, were among the many beneficiaries of the
DuVals' generosity in making Salona available for special
events.[123]
In 1965, DuVal ran for and was elected to the Virginia House of
Delegates, in which he served for three consecutive terms.[124] He
ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate seat against Harry F.
Byrd, Jr., in the democratic primary in 1970, but was subsequently
elected to the Virginia State Senate in 1971 and 1975.[125]
Because of his deep interest in conservation and environmental
protection, DuVal received both the Virginia state award and the
National Wildlife Federation award in 1970 for being the outstanding
conservation legislator in the United States.[126] Consistent with
this demonstrated interest, the DuVals decided to take a major step
in conservation themselves. They entered into a perpetual easement
agreement in 1971 with the Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County,
Virginia, for the historic preservation of Salona, its surrounding
outbuildings and eight acres of land. In the same legal instrument, a
temporary easement for the remaining 44.3 acres was arranged for a
period of at least ten years.[127] A later amendment, in 1974,
provided for termination of the temporary easement only after January
1, 1990.[128]
In 1975, a patriotic organization, the Society of the United States
Daughters of 1812, obtained the DuVals' permission to place an
historic plaque at Salona to commemorate James Madison's visit there
in 1814. The bronze plaque was mounted in a foundation stone from
what are thought to have been old slave quarters. They once stood in
the side yard below the house. The plaque reads as follows:
1784-1815
SALONA
"A place of great hospitality"
Shelter for President Madison
August, 1914
When British burned Washington
Plaque placed by Virginia State Society
National Society of United States
Daughters of 1812
1975