Sold 875,780
Utilized in the production of--
Butter 2,198,542
Cream sold 181,566
Consumed on farms:
Total 2,380,108
Per farm reporting milk 1,321
Uses not reported 480,494
The reported quantity of butter produced on farms in 1899 was 628,155
pounds, an average of 349 pounds per farm reporting, and an increase
of 12.4 per cent over the production in 1889. 330,785 pounds were sold
during the year 1899.
The four counties of Virginia which produced the greatest quantity of
butter on farms were, in the order named, Bedford, 727,680 pounds;
Rockingham, 658,063; Augusta, 633,360, and _Loudoun_, 628,155.
_Steers._
Of the 26,187 neat cattle 1 year old and over in Loudoun June 1, 1900,
14,597, or 55.7 per cent, were steers. Of this number a few only were
working oxen, as the great majority were kept exclusively for beef.
_Horses, Mules, Etc._
The number of horses reported on Loudoun farms in 1900 comprised 797
colts under 1 year old; 1,048 horses 1 and under 2 years, and 7,722
horses 2 years and over. The numbers not on farms were, for the three
classes named, 22, 13, and 684, respectively. There was, therefore, a
total for Loudoun County of 8,406 work horses, and 1,880 too young for
work, making a grand total of 10,286 horses, of which 93 per cent were
on farms and 7 per cent in barns and inclosures elsewhere.
Only two counties of Virginia, _i. e._, Augusta and Rockingham,
reported more horses than Loudoun, and the last-named County led all
in number of colts.
The total number of mules of all ages in the County in 1900 was 109.
_Sheep, Goats, and Swine._
There were reported in Loudoun June 1, 1900, 31,092 sheep, of which
15,319 were lambs under one year, 15,040 ewes one year and over, and
733 rams and wethers one year and over. All but 0.2 per cent of that
number were on farms.
Loudoun headed the list of Virginia counties in number of lambs under
one year and ranked second in number of ewes one year and over.
The total number of goats of all ages in Loudoun June 1, 1900, was
20.
The total number of swine of all ages June 1, 1900, was 17,351, of
which 15,554, or 89.6 per cent, were on farms and 1,797, or 10.4
per cent, in barns and inclosures elsewhere.
_Domestic Wool._
Tazewell headed the list of Virginia counties in 1900 in both number
and weight of fleeces shorn, and was followed by Loudoun with a total
of 15,893 fleeces, weighing, unwashed, 87,410 pounds. Almost double
this amount in pounds was sheared in the fall of 1879 and spring of
1880.
_Poultry and Bees._
The total value of all the poultry raised on Loudoun farms in 1899 was
$114,313, an average value per farm of $58.68.
The number of chickens three months old and over, including guinea
fowls, on farms in Loudoun County June 1, 1900, was 132,627; turkeys,
7,218; ducks, 2,171, and geese, 1,036.
The total value of all poultry on hand, including the value of all
young chicks unreported, as well as that of the older fowls, was
$58,276, an average of $29.92 per farm reporting.
Shenandoah was the banner county of Virginia in egg production,
reporting 1,159,000 dozens; Rockingham ranked second, with 1,150,500
dozens, and _Loudoun_ third, with 771,780 dozens, the fourth highest
competitor, Augusta county, lacking 60,580 dozens of this last number.
Of Virginia counties at the last census Loudoun ranked third in the
number of chickens on farms, third in number of turkeys, third in
value of poultry products in 1899, and second in value of poultry on
hand June 1, 1900.
There were in the County June 1, 1900, 2,225 swarms of bees, valued at
$6,428. They produced the same year 24,970 pounds of honey and 1,110
pounds of wax.
SOIL PRODUCTS.
The total and average values of Loudoun's farm products of 1899, with
percentages, are set forth in the following table:
Value of products:
Fed to live stock $1,018,434 00
Not fed to live stock 1,817,414 00
--------------
Total $2,835,848 00
Per cent not fed to value of farm property 16.4
Average value per farm:
Fed to live stock $523 00
Not fed to live stock 933 00
---------
Total $1,456 00
Average value per acre:
Products fed $3 24
Products not fed 5 79
Average value per acre of improved land:
Products fed $4 04
Products not fed 7 22
_Corn and Wheat._
Of the 100 counties in Virginia, Loudoun ranked third in corn acreage
in 1899, reporting 46,248 acres, and, the same year, headed the list
in the production of corn with 1,538,860 bushels, an excess of 350,830
bushels over its nearest competitor, Fauquier county, which had
planted in corn 981 more acres.
Loudoun ranked third in wheat area in 1899, Augusta taking the lead in
area as well as in production. The next three counties in the order of
production were Rockingham, Shenandoah, and _Loudoun_, the product of
the last-named being 447,660 bushels. The same order prevailed in
1890.
_Oats, Rye, and Buckwheat._
The area reported under oats in 1900 was 765 acres and the product
13,070 bushels. In 1890, 4,504 acres were planted in this crop and
produced 69,380 bushels. No barley was reported in 1899.
The reported area under rye in 1900 was 597 acres and the yield 5,560
bushels. The preceding census reported 1,830 acres and a product of
13,137 bushels.
Loudoun reported but two acres of buckwheat under cultivation in 1899,
as against 232 acres in 1879. The yield at the last census was only 12
bushels, and in 1879, 2,338 bushels.
_Hay and Forage Crops._
The total area in clover in 1899 was 1,555 acres and the yield 1,598
tons. Loudoun reported only 2 acres planted in alfalfa or Lucern and a
corresponding number of tons. The total area sown in millet and
Hungarian grasses was 70 acres and the product 86 tons. Twelve
thousand four hundred and ninety-five acres were planted in other tame
and cultivated grasses in 1899, and 11,364 tons cut therefrom. The
principal grass included under this designation is timothy. In grains
cut green for hay Loudoun reported 1,342 acres under cultivation in
1899 and a product of 1,503 tons.
The reported acreage in forage crops in 1899 was 867 and the product
2,473 tons. The principal crops included under this head are corn and
sorghum cane cut green for forage. The production of Loudoun exceeded
the tonnage of every other county in the State. The report of the
tonnage of the cornstalks cut where the crop had been allowed to
mature for the grain was 21,614 tons.
_Miscellaneous Crops, Etc._
Four hundred and eighty-four acres planted in miscellaneous crops in
1900 produced 33,312 bushels.
Seven hundred and twenty-nine acres were devoted to miscellaneous
vegetables (exclusive of Irish and sweet potatoes, and onions), and
the product valued at $41,136.
From the 11 acres devoted to sorghum cane, 7 tons were sold and 789
gallons of syrup produced.
The number of square feet of land under glass used for agricultural
purposes June 1, 1900, was 48,310.
_Orchard Fruits, Etc._
The reported value of the orchard products of 1899 was $51,363.
The following table shows the number of each class of orchard trees of
bearing age, June 1, 1900, with products by bushels:
----------------------------+-----------+----------------
| Number of | Number of
Trees. | trees. | bushels grown.
----------------------------+-----------+----------------
Apple | 83,027 | 195,406
Peach and Nectarine | 22,446 | 3,900
Pear | 4,983 | 2,828
Cherry | 4,179 | 3,930
Plum | 1,589 | 534
Apricot | 117 | 30
Unclassified orchard fruits | 42 | 20
----------------------------+-----------+----------------
The farms of Loudoun produced in 1899 2,304 barrels of cider, 388
barrels of vinegar, and 13,530 pounds of dried and evaporated fruits.
_Small Fruits, Etc._
The total value of small fruits was $3,574, the number of acres under
cultivation 40, and the product 62,280 quarts.
There were in Loudoun June 1, 1900, 9,742 grapevines of bearing age.
They produced in 1899, 171,921 pounds of grapes, from part of which
yield were made 766 gallons of wine.
The number of pecan, Persian or English walnut and other nut trees of
bearing age reported was 35.
_Flowers, Ornamental Plants, Etc._
The total area devoted to flowers and ornamental plants for commercial
purposes in 1899 was eight acres, the amount of sales therefrom
$15,400, and the square feet of glass surface reported by florists'
establishments 53,300. Of Virginia counties Loudoun ranked fourth in
amount of sales and third in area of glass surface.
The total area devoted to nursery products in 1899 was 10-1/4 acres
and the amount of sales therefrom $2,225.
FARM LABOR AND FERTILIZERS.
LABOR.
The scarcity of efficient labor is one of the most serious troubles
with which the farmers of this County have to cope. In the northern
portion the labor is principally white, while in the southern part
there is a greater proportion of the negro race.
Some farmers employ men by the month, paying from $15 to $18 and
board, but at a distance from centers of population this transient
labor is hard to secure, and even fancy wages sometimes fail to
attract a sufficient supply. In other cases a laborer and his family
are allowed to live on the farm, and he is paid by the day for such
work as is required of him, the usual wage being 75 cents or $1, with
the opportunity of working throughout a considerable part of the year.
The laborer usually pays a small rent for his cottage, but is allowed
a piece of ground free for a garden. Where the farms are small the
greater part of the work is done by the farmer and his family, and the
situation is less difficult; but with the large farms it is often
impossible to secure sufficient labor, especially during harvesting.
The total and average expenditures for labor on farms in 1899,
including the value of the board furnished, was $292,150, an average
of $149.97 per farm and 93 cents per acre.
FERTILIZERS.
Commercial fertilizers are used extensively throughout Loudoun. These
consist chiefly of phosphatic fertilizers, although some nitrogenous
mixtures are used. Barnyard and green manures are employed to a
considerable extent. Lime is applied freely to many of the soils. It
is brought into the area in cars, hauled from there to the farms by
wagon, and thrown in small piles over the land, the usual application
being twenty-five or thirty bushels to the acre. It is almost always
put on the land in the fall, and after becoming thoroughly slaked by
air and rain, is spread over the land as evenly as possible.
Applications are made every fifth or sixth year. Where farms are
situated at considerable distances from the railroads but little lime
is used on account of the difficulty of transportation.
The total amount expended for fertilizers in 1900 was $107,490, an
average of $55.18 per farm and 34 cents per acre and amounted to 3.8
per cent of the total value of the products. In 1879, only one other
county in the State, i. e., Norfolk, spent as much for the enrichment
of its soils. The amount expended for fertilizers in that year was
$133,349.
EDUCATION AND RELIGION.
_Education_.
Few of the early settlers of Loudoun enjoyed any other advantages of
education than a few months' attendance at primary schools as they
existed in Virginia previous to the Revolution. But these advantages
had been so well improved that nearly all of them were able to read
and write a legible hand, and had acquired sufficient knowledge of
arithmetic for the transaction of ordinary business. They were, in
general, men of strong and penetrating minds and, clearly perceiving
the numerous advantages which education confers, they early directed
their attention to the establishment of schools. But for many years
there were obstacles in addition to those incident to all new
settlements, which prevented much being done for the cause of
education. The controversies in which they were involved and the war
of the Revolution employed nearly all their thoughts and all their
energies previous to the State's admission into the Federal Union.
Of the real efficiency of the Colonial schools of Loudoun but little
can be learned. Teachers, as a rule, were on a par with their
surroundings. If they could read, write and cipher to the "single rule
of three" their educational qualifications were deemed sufficient.
They generally canvassed the neighborhood with a subscription paper,
forming the schools themselves and furnishing the few necessary books.
The rates were from $1 to $2.50 per scholar by the month, and lower
when the schoolmaster "boarded around." But he was most likely to
succeed in forming a school who contracted to take his pay in produce.
Few schools were taught by women in Colonial times and female teachers
were still rare until a comparatively recent period.
The salaries of regularly appointed tutors varied according to the
nature of the schools and the ability of the district to meet the
expense.
After the Revolution, with increasing prosperity, came a spirit of
general improvement and a new interest in the cause of education.
The present condition of education in Loudoun is hopeful, public
instruction being now popular with all classes. Intelligence is more
generally diffused than at any previous period of the County's
history, and happily, the progress of moral education has, on the
whole, fully kept pace with intellectual culture. Our boys and girls
are reared in a home atmosphere of purity, of active thought, and
intelligent cultivation; all their powers are keenly stimulated by
local and national prosperity and unrestricted freedom in all honest
endeavor.
With the improvement in the school system has come a better style of
school-houses. The "little red school-house on the hill" has given
place to buildings of tasteful architecture, with modern improvements
conducive to the comfort and health of the scholars, and the refining
influences of neat surroundings is beginning to be understood.
Separate schools are maintained for colored pupils and graded schools
sustained at populous places.
With free schools, able teachers consecrated to their calling, and
fair courses of instruction; with a people generous in expenditures
for educational purposes, and a cooperation of parents and teachers;
with the many educational periodicals, the pedagogical books, and
teachers' institutes to broaden and stimulate the teacher, the friends
of education in Loudoun may labor on, assured that the new century
will give abundant fruitage to the work which has so marvelously
prospered in the old.
_Total Receipts of School Funds for the Year Ending July 31, 1908._
(From report of Division Superintendent of Schools.)
From State funds $13,968 92
" County school tax 12,355 38
" District school tax 14,640 82
" All other sources 322 30
" Balance on hand August 1, 1907 6,644 60
----------
Total $47,931 97
_Total expenditures_ 42,788 58
----------
_Balance on hand August 1, 1908_ $5,143 39
_School population, Number of Schools, Enrollment and Attendance by
Races and Districts, 1906-1907._ (From report of State Superintendent
of Schools.)
----------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+------
| School | No. of | Whole number |
| Population. |Schools opened.| enrolled. |
Districts. +------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+Total.
|White.|Colored.|White.|Colored.|White.|Colored.|
----------------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------
Broad Run | 748 | 228 | 19 | 4 | 538 | 131 | 669
Jefferson | 619 | 216 | 15 | 4 | 446 | 196 | 642
Leesburg | 381 | 143 | 9 | 3 | 358 | 107 | 465
Lovettsville | 614 | 34 | 13 | 1 | 498 | 24 | 522
Mercer | 628 | 482 | 15 | 7 | 467 | 277 | 744
Mt. Gilead | 695 | 457 | 16 | 6 | 493 | 231 | 724
Town of Leesburg| 255 | 130 | 6 | 3 | 196 | 121 | 317
|------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------
Total |3,940 | 1,690 | 93 | 28 |2,996 | 1,087 |4,083
----------------+------+--------+------+--------+------+--------+------
_Religion._
The Church, with her faiths, her sacraments, and a part of her
ministry, was an integral part of the colonization of the County from
the beginning and continuously. Everywhere, with the spreading
population, substantial edifices for public worship were erected and
competent provision made for the maintenance of all the decencies and
proprieties of Christian religion. The influence of these
institutions, and of the faith which they embodied, was most benign
and salutary. They gave to the age of the Revolution its noble
character and its deep-seated principles, the force and momentum of
which have come down, with gradually decreasing power, to our own day.
But with these institutions and with their proper effect and influence
was mingled the fatal leaven of secularity.
* * * * *
All the leading denominations are represented in Loudoun by churches
and congregations to the extent shown by the following table of
statistics, representing conditions as they existed at the close of
the calendar year 1906, and based upon the returns of individual
church organizations so far as received by the Census Office, through
which Bureau they were obtained for initial publication in this work.
=========================================+==============+============
| Total |Communicants
| number of | or members.
Denomination. |organizations.|------------
| |Total number
| |reported.
-----------------------------------------+--------------+------------
All denominations | 97 | 7,606
_Baptist bodies_: | |
Baptists-- | |
Southern Baptist Convention | 11 | 1,199
National Baptist Convention | |
(colored) | 15 | 1,235
Free Baptists | 2 | 55
Primitive Baptists | 6 | 171
_Friends_: | |
Society of Friends (Orthodox) | 2 | 122
Religious Society of Friends | |
(Hicksite) | 3 | 278
_Lutheran bodies_: | |
General Synod of the Evangelical | |
Lutheran Church in the United | |
States of America | 4 | 645
_Methodist bodies_:[17] | |
Methodist Episcopal Church | 19 | 1,179
Methodist Episcopal Church (South) | 21 | 1,716
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church | 1 | 45
_Presbyterian bodies_: | |
Presbyterian Church in the United | |
States (South) | 4 | 345
_Protestant Episcopal Church_ | 7 | 416
_Reformed bodies_: | |
Reformed Church in the United States | 1 | 140
_Roman Catholic Church_ | 1 | 60
-----------------------------------------+--------------+-------------
[Footnote 17: Leesburg had, until a year or so ago when it was razed,
one of the oldest Methodist churches in America. The building, a large
stone structure, long abandoned, with galleries around three sides,
stood in the midst of an old Methodist graveyard in which are
tombstones more than a century old. It was built, according to report,
in 1780.
Leesburg is the oldest Methodist territory in the bounds of the Baltimore
Conference in Virginia, and it was here that the first Methodist
Conference held in the State convened May 19, 1778.]
Historical.
FORMATION.
In 1742, Prince William County, a part of the stupendous
Culpeper grant, was divided and the county of Fairfax created
and named in honor of its titled proprietor. Commencing at
the confluence of the Potomac and Occoquan rivers, the line
of demarcation followed the latter stream and its tributary,
Bull Run, to its ultimate source in the mountain of that name,
from which point it was continued to the summit of said
mountain, pursuing thereafter a direct course to the thoroughfare
in the Blue Ridge, known as "Ashby's Gap."
In 1757, Fairfax was divided and the territory west of its altered
boundary christened "Loudoun County." The new line followed the stream
called Difficult Run, from its junction with the Potomac to its
highest spring-head, and from that point was continued in a direct
line to the northeast border of Prince William County. This boundary
was afterwards changed and the present line between Loudoun and
Fairfax substituted (see "Boundaries," page 17).
The following are excerpts from the proceedings of the Virginia House
of Burgesses that led to the creation of Loudoun County in May, 1757.
The act authorizing the division of Fairfax and establishment of
Loudoun is given intact:
On April 20, 1757, a "petition of sundry Inhabitants of
_Fairfax_ County, praying a Division of the said County, was
presented to the House and read, and referred to the
Consideration of the next Session of Assembly."
On Friday, April 22, 1757, "Mr. _Charles Carter_, from the
Committee on Propositions and Grievances, reported, that the
Committee had had under their Consideration divers
Propositions, from several Counties, to them referred, and
had come to several Resolutions thereupon, which he read in
in Place, and then delivered in at the Table, where the same
were again twice read, and agreed to by the House, as
follow:"
"_Resolved_, That the Petition of sundry Back-Inhabitants of
the said County of _Fairfax_, praying the same may be divided
into two distinct Counties, by a Line from the Mouth up the
main Branch of _Difficult_-Run to the Head thereof, and
thence by a streight Line to the Mouth of _Rocky_-Run, is
reasonable."
The following Monday the bill was again presented to the
House by Charles Carter, of the Committee of Propositions
and Grievances, and Friday, April 29, 1757, was ordered
engrossed and read a third time.
Monday, May 2, 1757, the engrossed Bill, entitled, "An Act for
dividing the county of Fairfax," was read a third time, passed by the
House, and sent to the Council for their "concurrence." It received
the assent of the governor Wednesday, June 8, 1757.
_An Act for Dividing the County of Fairfax._ (Passed May 2,
1757.)
I. WHEREAS, Many inconveniences attend the upper
inhabitants of the county of Fairfax, by reason of the large
extent of the said county, and their remote situation from
the court-house, and the said inhabitants have petitioned
this present general assembly that the said county may be
divided: Be it, therefore, enacted, by the
Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Burgesses of this present
General Assembly, and it is hereby enacted, by the authority
of the same, That from and after the 1st day of July next
ensuing the said county of Fairfax be divided into two
counties, that is to say: All that part thereof, lying above
Difficult-run, which falls into Patowmack river, and by a
line to be run from the head of the same run, a straight
course, to the mouth of Rocky run, shall be one distinct
county, and called and known by the name of Loudoun: And all
that part thereof below the said run and course, shall be one
other distinct county, and retain the name of Fairfax.
II. And for the due administration of justice in the said
county of Loudoun, after the same shall take place: Be it
further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That after the
first day of July a court for the said county of Loudoun be
constantly held by the justices thereof, upon the second
Tuesday in every month, in such manner as by the laws of this
colony is provided, and shall be by their commission
directed.
III. Provided always, That nothing herein contained shall be
constructed to hinder the sheriff or collector of the said
county of Fairfax, as the same now stands entire and
undivided, from collecting and making distress for any public
dues, or officers fees, which shall remain unpaid by the
inhabitants of the said county of Loudoun at the time of its
taking place; but such sheriff or collector shall have the
same power to collect or distrain for such dues and fees, and
shall be answerable for them in the same manner as if this
act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom to the
contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding.
IV. And be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid,
That the court of the said county of Fairfax shall have
jurisdiction of all actions and suits, both in law and
equity, which shall be depending before them at the time the
said division shall take place; and shall and may try and
determine all such actions and suits, and issue process and
award execution in any such action or suit in the same manner
as if this act had never been made, any law, usage, or custom
to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding.