NORTHERN VIRGINIA'S AGRICULTURE IN THE 1870'S. By 1870, Virginia
farmers were beginning to recover from the recent war which had
completely disrupted normal agricultural activity. The effects of
the war had been felt keenly in Northern Virginia where the
conflict had not been marked by many of the major battles but had
nevertheless afflicted the area with four years of constant
raiding and skirmishing. The resultant toll of horses, mules, cattle,
and livestock and the dearth of farm machinery were major handicaps
facing the farmer, as were his lack of capital with which to purchase
supplies and equipment from outside his area and the general
shortage of labor.[46] These shortages were overcome slowly. Some
materials for beginning to rebuild the war damage were readily
available from military supplies immediately after the close of
hostilities; and, in this respect, Northern Virginia was fortunate
to be within a few miles of the Union Army supply depots in
Alexandria and Washington, D.C. But, as the confused era of
reconstruction set in, the farmer was thrown mainly on his own
resources of land and labor to rebuild his fortunes.
Poor as his prospects might seem to be, the Northern Virginia farmer
had certain advantages that farmers in other parts of the state
lacked. The farmland was by no means barren or exhausted, although it
had been worked steadily during the previous decade when all efforts
turned to producing the maximum amount of food for subsistence and no
thought could be given to maintaining or enhancing the fertility of
the soil.[47] Also, Fairfax County farmers had relatively easy access
to the produce markets of Washington and Baltimore, both by water and
overland transportation.[48]
[Illustration: Figure 4. Hopkins' Atlas Map, 1879.]
Moreover, agriculture in Northern Virginia had not been dominated by
the plantation system since the mid-eighteenth century. By 1870, even
the great landholdings which had been carved out of the original
proprietary grants had given way to a third generation of farms, still
smaller in size and more diversified. While the owners of these
Northern Virginia farms had, in many instances, owned slaves before
the war, their dependence on this source of labor was not as critical
as in other parts of Virginia--notably, the regions where tobacco was
king. Thus, when the "great political convulsion which culminated in
the disruption of the labor system of the State"[49] compelled
Southern farmers generally to rebuild their system with different
forms of labor and land tenure, Fairfax County farmers found
themselves able to adjust to the new circumstances with relative ease
once they were able to acquire tools and livestock. At this time, as
before the war, they benefited greatly from the presence among them of
a group of thrifty and industrious farm families who migrated from New
York and New Jersey, bringing with them new energy, new capital, and
new methods of farming from the diversified agricultural regions of
the North.[50]
In addition, there was abroad in Virginia in 1870 a strong spirit for
revival of its agriculture, looking not only to securing the
advantages which scientific husbandry could bring through restored
fertility of the soil but also to realization of the Jeffersonian
dream of a strong, stable, and independent class of American yeomanry
owning and working its own land.[51] Soon after the commencement of
reconstruction, organizations patterned after the various scientific
farming societies of the 1830's began to appear and agricultural
newspapers, such as _The Southern Farmer_, resumed publication and
circulation in Northern Virginia. These two sources called strongly
for Virginia farmers to change their traditional ways of farming for
modern methods and modern farm implements.[52] As the 1870's
advanced, these sources were joined by the State Government, which
provided a certain amount of assistance for modernization of
Virginia agriculture.[53]
MOSBY'S LIEUTENANT. It was in this setting that Fountain Beattie
became the owner of Green Spring Farm in June 1878 when he purchased
the 339-acre tract through a commissioner's deed approved by the
County Court.[54]
Fountain Beattie was the son of Colonel Robert Beattie and Pauline
White Beattie of Chilhowie in Washington County, Virginia. In 1861, he
enlisted in the First Virginia Cavalry at Abingdon and there made the
acquaintance of John S. Mosby. They became good friends, and when
Mosby received his separate command, he took Beattie with him.[55]
During the next three years, Beattie rode with Mosby in campaigns that
crossed and recrossed Northern Virginia.[56]
[Illustration: Figure 5. c. 1885, Fountain Beattie and Annie Hathaway
Beattie.]
[Illustration: The Mosby and Beattie Families, c. 1890]
[Illustration: The Old Stone Spring House]
[Illustration: The Lane to Green Spring Farm]
Whether Fountain Beattie saw or visited Green Spring Farm during these
rides with Mosby's battalion is not certain. There is reason to think
he may have been in the neighborhood because of references to
engagements at such places as "Billy Gooding's tavern on the Little
River Turnpike, 10 miles from Alexandria."[57] Moreover, he may
have heard of the farm from one of the descendants of its owners,
since on one occasion he escaped imminent disaster only through the
intervention of one Thomas Moss of Alexandria.[58]
Be that as it may, the region must have made a strong impression on
him because, after moving several times in the years following the
war, it was in Fairfax County that Fountain Beattie and his family
finally settled. Money for the purchase of Green Spring Farm in 1878
came from Mrs. Beattie's inheritance following the sale of "Western
View," the homestead of her deceased parents, located in Fauquier
County.[59] At that time, Green Spring Farm was available for purchase
through the County Court, which had ordered it sold to satisfy the
judgment for debt against Matthew O'Brien.[60]
ORCHARD AND DAIRY. Fountain Beattie's selection of Green Spring Farm
appears to have been made with an eye to its proximity to the Little
River Turnpike and the old Columbia Turnpike (now Route 712).
Increasingly, the farmers of the Piedmont region of Virginia were
feeling the competition of farmers in the Shenandoah Valley and
outside the state in the production of wheat and corn. This
competition was made possible when railroads connected the Valley of
Virginia and the farmlands of the great midwestern prairie states with
the markets of the eastern cities. Farmers in the middle and Northern
Virginia no longer enjoyed the advantages they once had in shipping
wheat and corn to these markets.[61] More and more in the last quarter
of the nineteenth century, Northern Virginia farmers planted corn,
wheat, and other grains for use as livestock feed rather than sale in
the grain market.
[Illustration: Figure 6. John Singleton Mosby.]
Like many other Fairfax County farmers, Fountain Beattie found that he
was better off to abandon diversified farming in favor of crops with
respect to which he still enjoyed natural advantages. Thus, during the
last quarter of the nineteenth century, Green Spring Farm is
identified with dairy products and orchard and garden produce--all
commodities which had to be marketed the same day they were produced
or picked or which could be made into derivative products which could
be easily transported to market and sold at prices which reflected
value added by processing. Transportation, however, was a key factor.
Virginia's country roads were publicly acknowledged to be in a
"lamentable condition," and over even the best of them travel often
was impossible in wet seasons of the year.[62] In this respect, the
Little River Turnpike was one of the best of Virginia's rural roads,
having been laid out and constructed by professional engineers and
maintained by hired labor with even more care and regularity than the
public roads. In Beattie's day, as in Moss's time, the turnpike was
the main road between Alexandria and Fairfax, the county seat, and
thence to the Valley.
All these considerations led Fountain Beattie to direct his main
effort to expansion of the orchards and herd of dairy cattle as
rapidly as it was feasible. Year around, the farm was a busy place,
with work enough for all of the Beatties' 12 children--six boys and
six girls--as well as their parents and hired hands. Daily chores,
including milking and churning, went on all year, for the farm
generally had numerous cows, horses, and mules. There was also a
certain amount of grain to be raised each year for livestock feed, and
a large vegetable garden. Fruit trees included pears, cherries, and
apples in two 25-acre orchards--one located on each side of the
Turnpike--which provided the principal produce of the farm. Farm
produce was regularly marketed in Washington, Alexandria, and local
grocery stores, as well as at a roadside stand during the harvest
season.[63]
[Illustration: Reunion at Manassas: Colonel John S. Mosby visits Bull Run
for the first time since the war. Pictured are (left to right) Fountain
Beattie, Lycurgus Hutchison, John Mosby, and George Turberville.]
The markets of Washington were only about nine miles from Green Spring
Farm, but on market days it was customary for the farm wagons of the
neighborhood to be loaded and on the road well before dawn. The
Washington city wholesale market opened at 3 A.M. each weekday, and
farmers who came there sold directly from their wagons or from stalls
to a milling crowd of brokers, wholesalers, retail grocers, hotelmen,
and boardinghouse keepers. Most produce was sold by 7 A.M. and the
farmer who did not sell out by that time generally had to sell at a
sacrifice price or else remain in the market throughout the day,
selling at retail to customers who attended the market later in the
day.[64] With luck, therefore, the market produce farmer from Northern
Virginia might expect to be on his way home by noon.
Not all of Fountain Beattie's orchard produce, however, went to the
market in this way. The spring house on the farm contained presses,
storage facilities, and other equipment needed to make apple cider,
applejack, and apple and peach brandy. Apples picked in the ripening
season were stored in large barrels until the fall and winter months,
at which time they were made into fermented or distilled beverages.
According to his descendants, Beattie operated a licensed distillery
and made brandies at the farm.
Beattie's livestock operations at the farm ended in tragedy one day
when he returned home to find that his barn had caught fire and been
completely destroyed. The contents of the barn, which included all of
his livestock and much of the farm equipment, were also lost. Only the
horse he was riding at the time remained to start rebuilding the farm.
As matters turned out, too much had been lost; Fountain Beattie never
did more than acquire a few horses to perform the most necessary
tasks. The dairy herds and field crops were never developed to the
thriving level of activity which typified the 1880's and 1890's.[65]
POLITICS AND PUBLIC SERVICE. The close association of Fountain Beattie
and John S. Mosby during the war years (1861-65) lasted through the
years of peace that followed. The two men apparently thought alike in
political matters; and, in the election of 1872, they campaigned for
General Grant. Shortly afterward, Beattie was appointed Deputy
Collector of Internal Revenue for the Sixth District of Virginia.
Following Hayes' election as President, Mosby received an appointment
as Consul in Hong Kong where he served until 1885.[66]
Fountain Beattie's record with the Internal Revenue Service shows that
he served from 1875 to 1914 and suggests that he settled in or near
Alexandria several years before he purchased Green Spring Farm.[67]
He was reappointed in 1885 following the brief return of the
Democratic Party to power under Grover Cleveland's administration.
Beattie's official file in the Treasury Department's personnel records
is a resume of basic statistics--dates of appointments, promotions,
oaths of office, and salaries.
Although Northern Virginia seemed to be little affected by events on
the national and world stage at this time, it was on the move in its
own way. In Beattie's time this region became linked to other major
regions by the coming of the Southern Railway system; and the advent
of the high-speed electric commuter train and its network of tracks
commenced the inexorable process of creating the interdependent
economic unity of Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. These were
also the years of "Jackson City" in Arlington, and the crusade of law
enforcement aimed at cleaning up this center of gambling, drinking,
and general sinfulness.[68]
For Fountain Beattie, these years of Federal service must have brought
back memories of his war years with Mosby. Although he carried on his
duties as tax collector from an office in the Alexandria Post Office,
he continued to live at Green Spring Farm and he regularly traversed
roads and places he had visited as a soldier. When Mosby returned from
his tour as Consul in Hong Kong and became an attorney for the Justice
Department, he and Beattie apparently saw a great deal of each other
and their friendship extended to their families who also frequently
exchanged visits. Beattie named one of his sons after his friend, and
John Mosby Beattie recalls these times with feelings of fondness.
GREEN SPRING FARM AND ANNANDALE. When Beattie purchased Green Spring
Farm, the activity on the farm was oriented toward the markets of
Georgetown, Alexandria, Washington, and Baltimore. The community of
Annandale, a little over two miles up the Little River Turnpike to the
west, had not yet become a center of commerce. In 1879, the map showed
a post office, a toll gate, a store, a Methodist church, and a few
residences clustered at a crossroads.[69] This crossroads location
became increasingly important during the last quarter of the
nineteenth century; and, like other perceptive people of the area,
Fountain Beattie and his family began to swing the orientation of
their activities around from an exclusive focus on Alexandria and
Washington to take part in the growth of Fairfax County.
At the turn of the century, Annandale had a population of 50 people.
In addition to the toll house, church, post office, and store, the
community now could list a hardware store, lumberyard, blacksmith,
farm machinery store, and sawmill.[70] The sawmill was owned by
Beattie's son and namesake, Fountain Beattie, and presumably was
operated as a family enterprise in the same manner as the farm.