II. ORCHARD AND DAIRY: FOUNTAIN BEATTIE (1878-1917)
A. W. Moger, The Rebuilding of the Old Dominion (New York: Columbia University, 1940), p. 46. Citing census data, the thesis notes that “the value of farm implements and machinery on farms in Virginia and West Virginia combined was only two-thirds of what it was in Virginia in 1860, while the value of livestock in the two states was only four-fifths of that in Virginia in 1860. Not until 1880 did the number of cattle and not until after the turn of the century did the number of swine in Virginia and West Virginia equal the number in the Old Dominion before the war.”
“Status of Virginia Agriculture in 1870,” in Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1870 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1871), pp. 267-291, 273, 291.
Virginia Good Roads Convention, Programme (Richmond: Stone Printing Co., 1894). While railroad and water transportation were available from Alexandria to major metropolitan markets for farm products, the farmer faced the obstacles of traversing Virginia’s notoriously poor farm-to-market roads.
Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1870, p. 268.
R. H. Abbott, “Yankee Farmers in Northern Virginia: 1840-1860,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, v. 76, No. 1, pp. 56-66 (January 1968).
See also the Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, 1870, p. 291, which states “a striking mark of progress is the change of the policy of the planters toward the outside world. Formerly they were indisposed to encourage immigration from other States. There was, therefore, no accession to the population of the rural district from abroad. The same traditions and habits descended from father to son through successive generations. Now all this is altered. Strangers from every State and every country are cordially welcomed whenever they show any disposition to become permanent settlers and industrious citizens. The consequence is that in many counties a strong tide of immigration is setting in, bearing with it improved stock and better implements, which cannot fail to impart a healthy impulse to improvement.”
Moger, Rebuilding, p. 45. See remarks of Governor Henry Wise in 1867 and A. H. H. Stuart in 1866, cited therein.
W. Fullerton, Address to Piedmont Agricultural Society, October 18, 1876. Speaking to the Society in 1867, William Fullerton of New York chided Virginians by asserting that “there is no other calling in life in which there is manifested such an indifference to new discoveries, as is seen among the tillers of the soil. If a mechanic or manufacturer should in like manner fail to avail himself of improved implements or machinery, he would be compelled to relinquish his business. It is the farmer alone who resists anything new appertaining to his calling. This arises mainly from a deep-seated prejudice to what is called scientific or book farming.”
See also Moger, Rebuilding, p. 54, citing the fact that farmers in the area of diversified agriculture, such as Northern Virginia, had the highest number of agricultural clubs, farm newspaper subscriptions, etc., of all areas in Virginia.
Main steps to assist agriculture taken by the state in the 1870’s are summarized in Moger, Rebuilding, p. 54.
Fairfax County Deed Book W-4, p. 271.
J. S. Mosby, Mosby’s War Memoirs and Stuart’s Cavalry Campaigns (New York: Pageant Book Co., 1958), p. 10. Mosby records in his memoirs that in Richmond, before being sent to the Shenandoah Valley, the men were issued uniforms of very rough quality from the state penitentiary. There was almost a mutiny as the men piled them up in front of the captain’s tent and refused to wear them—all except Mosby and Beattie. Mosby then states, “I do not think any clothes I ever wore did me more service than these. When I became a commander, I made Beattie a lieutenant.”
This story is corroborated in Charles W. Russell (ed.), The Memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby (Boston: Little Brown, 1917), p. 30.
Beattie is mentioned frequently in histories of Mosby’s campaigns. In addition to the references noted above, see V. C. Jones, Ranger Mosby (Chapel Hill, 1944), and James Williamson (ed.), Mosby’s Rangers (New York: Sturgis & Walton, 1909).
From 1861 to July 1864, Beattie served as an enlisted man. In July 1864, a new company was organized, and Beattie was elected first lieutenant. Such regards as still exist regarding Beattie’s service with Mosby relate to this period. See Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from Virginia. Microcopy 324, Roll 207 (National Archives, Washington, D.C.).
Williamson, Mosby’s Rangers, p. 87.
Ibid., pp. 242-3. Reprints a letter from Thomas Moss to Captain Walter Frankland describing a fight near Front Royal as follows: “We charged and routed the guards, and I was fortunate in saving Beattie’s life by shooting a man who had a pistol within 12 inches of Beattie. I then caught a horse ... [and] Beattie and I ran down the road a short distance and went up into a piece of pine woods.”
John Mosby Beattie, August 22, 1968, interview. Fountain Beattie’s wife, Annie Elizabeth Hathaway, was the daughter of James Henry Hathaway of “Western View” in Zula, Virginia, between Rectortown and Middleburg in Fauquier County. Annie Hathaway was born and married at this home place. Her son, John Mosby Beattie, states that his father bought Green Spring Farm with money realized from the sale of “Western View” on the death of Mrs. Beattie’s parents.
Fairfax County Deed Book W-4, p. 271. Also see Hannah C. O’Brien v. John W. Green, Fairfax County Circuit Court, 1878, Suspended File No. 10.
Moger, Rebuilding, p. 51.
Virginia Good Roads Convention, Programme, p. 8.
John Mosby Beattie, August 22, 1968, interview. John Beattie recalls that his father, Fountain Beattie, sold garden produce to the local grocery store of one John Carter, located on the Little River Turnpike (Route 236) approximately where it now crosses Shirley Highway (I-95).
W. C. Funk, “An Economic History of Small Farms near Washington, D.C.”, U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin 848 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1920), pp. 16-17.
John Mosby Beattie, August 22, 1968, interview. Mr. Beattie does not recall the date of this fire, but remembers the event vividly from his boyhood days.
Mosby served as Consul in Hong Kong from 1878 to 1885. He was an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1904 to 1910.
Official Register of Officers and Employees of the Civil, Military and Navy Service, issued biennially, lists Fountain Beattie as an employee of the Internal Revenue Service in the registers issued during the years 1875 to 1913, inclusive. Beattie’s Service Record Card (Treasury Form 426) shows the first employment record date as 1872. His appointment was discontinued in 1914.
E. L. Templeman, Arlington Heritage (Arlington, 1959), p. 74.
Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington, 1879.
“Fairfax County as Portrayed by the Virginia Business Directory and Gazetteer—1906. Published by the Hill Directory Company, Richmond, Virginia,” Yearbook of the Historical Society of Fairfax County, Virginia, v. 10 (1969), pp. 92-104.
Front View
Side View (West)
Figure 7. Green Spring Farm, 1936. Photos by Delos Smith, HABS.
Figure 8. Berry Survey Map, 1941. Deed Book P-15, p. 147.