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The Middlesex Museum would like to thank everyone who was able to participate in our virtual lecture “The Great Awakening in Middlesex County.”  We express our sincere appreciation to the Reverend Dr. Robert W. Prichard for his enlightening presentation.  For those who missed the presentation or would like to view it again, we invite you to watch the recorded version below. We hope you will join us for future webinar events. Thank you!

The Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society, The Marine Corps League Middle Peninsula Detachment #1317, and Mr. John Sharpe and Ms. Amy Earley , owners of Chesty’s former home in Saluda, will honor the late Lt.Gen Lewis “Chesty” Burwell Puller, one of the most decorated men in the Marine Corps, with a flag raising ceremony at a Park named in his honor in Saluda, Va. The ceremony will begin at 8 am on Tuesday, November 10 th , at Puller Park which is located adjacent to the museum in Saluda. The official Puller Park dedication will take place next year in October as it will mark the 50 the anniversary of Chesty’s death. https://middlesexmuseum.com/puller-park-at-middlesex-county-museum-in-saluda-virginia/

The Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society, Inc. is pleased to announce that its 2020 Preservation Award will be given to Helen Chandler of Urbanna. Since 2016, the Preservation Award has been given annually to recognize individuals or entities who have made a significant contribution to the public understanding of Middlesex County history. The Award encompasses contributions made through teaching, writing, research, historic preservation, conservation, and service. This years’ award will be presented to Chandler as a part of the Museum’s October 25 virtual lecture on “The Great Awakening.” Helen Chandler became a volunteer at the Middlesex Museum in 2008. Holding the position of Registrar, she spent countless hours identifying, documenting, and storing the Museum’s holdings. Over time, she inventoried, renumbered, described, stored, and documented more than 1,200 accessions, including items that date back to the 1700s. Helen instituted a new numbering system to correlate with the widely used PastPerfect collections software. As a result of her efforts, the Middlesex County Museum can now electronically tract its holdings. A native of the San Francisco Bay area, Helen Chandler has lived in Middlesex County for a number of years. She has been active as a school and community volunteer, and retired from Johnson Controls. Prior recipients of the Middlesex County Museum Preservation Award include Dr. Richard and Pat Marshall (2016), Jessie Debusk (2017), Larry Chowning (2019), and the Reverend Fred Holmes and the Reverend Robert Brown as members of The Black Church Cultural Affairs Committee (2019). The presentation of the award to Helen Chandler will take place during the Museum’s October 25 (4:00 PM) lecture on “The Great Awakening” to be given by the Reverend Dr. Robert W, Prichard.  To request the link and dial-in number for this program, please email the Middlesex Museum at middlesexmuseum@va.metrocast.net or call 804-758-3663.

On Sunday, October 25 at 4 PM the MIddlesex County Museum and Historical Society will sponsor a zoom lecture on the Great Awakening and Middlesex County. The Great Awakening was a mid-18th century American religious revival that was a part of a broader revival in Protestant churches in Germany, the Netherlands, the British Isles, the thirteen American colonies, and South Africa. The Awakening had a lasting effect on the shape of American life. Historians have long argued, for example, that it led to religious pluralism, shaped the character of African-American religion, cemented the common identify of the thirteen colonies as distinct from British colonies in Canada and the Caribbean, and contributed to the American Revolution. The Rev. Dr. Robert W. Prichard will deliver a zoom lecture on the Awakening and its effects on Middlesex County on Sunday, October 25 at 4 PM. Bob is the Arthur Lee Kinsolving Professor Emeritus of Christianity in America at the Virginia Theological Seminary, the former president of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, and the author or editor of ten books . To access the lecture, sign up below for the Zoom webinar invitation.

Middlesex County Museum & Historical Society: A Reception At Locust Grove Farm Narration By: Bob Prichard The Middlesex County Museum will hold a reception at Locust Grove Farm in support of the organization once it is safe and healthy to do so.

“Riverdale Farm in Hardyville was the site of a World War ll “top secret” communication outpost. It was linked to others from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey to Fort Monroe and was used to relay confidential communications to the Pentagon.” Signatures in Time, A Living History of Middlesex County, Virginia pg 325. You can purchase a copy of the book, “Signatures In Time, A Living History of Middlesex County, Virginia” online or in person at the museum to learn more! Purchase A Book Plan A Visit To The Museum

With General Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller’s home just down the street, the Middlesex County Museum has collected a number of pieces that celebrate the decorated war hero over the years. Most recently added to this collection is General Puller’s Trench Coat, which was donated by his two daughters, Martha & Virginia. We invite you to visit the Middlesex County Museum to view the General Puller Collection! VISIT US! The Middlesex County Museum is also in the process of relocating Puller Park, and needs your support! To learn more, click here!

Infant christenings originate from the Jewish bris (circumcision) and zerved habat riuals, in which children are named and dedicated to God. The Christian church adopted a similar custom, baptizing babies and adult converts. All wear white clothing, symbolizing “newness of life” in Christ (Romans 6:4) and a symbol of purity and innocence. Up until the 17th Century, young babies were tightly wrapped in swaddling clothes and carried to the front in a “bearing cloth”. The first Christening robes were worn by both boys and girls with a very long flowing skirt which fell from a short bodice and a low neck and short sleeves. A number of exquisite Christening sets survived from the 17th and 18th Century that included bibs, caps, pincushion covers, head bands and handkerchiefs in embroidered linen. White silk and satin were the fabrics of choice until cotton became more accessible during the Victorian Era when Christening Gowns became very elaborate works of art. The Middlesex County Museum has a collection of several Christening Gowns on display. We invite you to learn more about the tradition of these Heirloom Christening gowns by visiting The Middlesex County Museum! Plan A Visit To The Museum!

Binghamton, New York native Willis Sharpe Kilmer made his fortune in advertising his uncle’s (Dr. S. Andral Kilmer’s) patent medicine business. Their main brand was a medicine called Dr. Kilmer’s Swamp Root, an herbal tonic that “Cured It All”. By 1909, Willis Kilmer was a millionaire who bought a 1,000-acre horse farm, here, in Middlesex County on LaGrange Creek in an area known as Streets. He name his farm Remlik Hall (His surname spelled backwards). The name of the local post office then was change also to Remlik. Learn more about the Kilmers and “Swamp Root” by visiting The Middlesex County Museum! Plan A Visit To The Museum!

“Lower United Methodist Church is steeped in history: It began its life in 1650 as the “Lower Chapel” for the Protestant Episcopal Church of England. The chapel was replaced by the present brick sanctuary in 1717. It still retains many of its colonial features such as its original hipped roof of which very few exist today. The church survived the Revolutionary War despite being abandoned by the parish. The Baptists and Methodists began to use it. Robert Healy helped the Methodists obtain it from the parish in 1857 and here we have remained.” From the Lower UMC Website. For many colonial parishes, there is an absence of knowledge of the history due to a loss of early records, but that’s not the case for those in Middlesex County like Lower United Methodist Church. Authentic dates and records give credence to the assumption that worship began at the site of Lower Church in 1650 when a wooden “chapel of ease” was built in the lower precinct of Christ Church parish. Learn More about the history of Lower United Methodist Church with the following documents below: Lower UMC Brochure Lower UMC Booklet

As America began to populate, there was a strong need for the children to be educated. Middlesex County was populated with a variety of school houses. The goal in a location was to be no more than two miles from the students who were to be educated, as they would walk to and from school each day. Church services, Christmas parties, community gatherings, lectures, and spelling bees were all held in the school house. The “school bell” was used not only to call everyone to gather for their lesson, but also to warn of dangers (such as a fires) and to ring in the holidays. On display at the Middlesex County Museum, you can find an old School Bell we have on loan from Ms. Becky Young, as well as an old School Desk. The summer school term ran from May until August and the winter term from November through April. By the 1900s, the nine-month term was established allowing the students to work in the fields during planting and harvesting seasons. School hours were from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Attendance was voluntary and subject to farm chores and weather. The subjects covered were known as the “Three ‘R’s”: Reading, Righting (Writing), and Rithmetric (Arithmetic). See more Early School House items at the Middlesex County Museum! PLAN YOUR VISIT TO THE MUSEUM!

August 26th is Women’s Equality Day! August 26, 1920 The following record of the first women to vote in Middlesex is comprised of women from the Saluda and Pinetop Districts. ‘Those from the Saluda District were: Lucy Blakey Royal, Gay Wright, Emma Lee Ball, Mary Wright Blackwell, Eleanor Ball Kipps, Blanche H. Saunders, Vir­ginia McCandlish Evans, Bessie Mae Brown, Susie D. Lawson, F. E. Bristow, Flossie B, Eastman, Annie H. Puller, Sarah 0. Tucker, Mrs.Nellie S. Smith, Sadie L. Segar,Hattie S. Segar, Bessie M. Brown, Emma L. Ball, Lucy E. Blakey, Lena Blakey, Lottie L. Davis, Winnie D. Dietz, Mary Grinels, Estelle Walker, Gay W. Wright, Lillian B. Wallace, Gladys B. Kerr, Ida M. Bristow, Fan­nie P. Woodward, Fannie B. Bristow, Julia P. Anderson, Mrs. Ray Callis, Florence E. Gray, Lillian P. Gray, Mrs. Temple B. Hoskins, Nannie M. McCandlish, Bernice E. Neale, Lucy W. Pitts, Ella M. Stubbs, Fannie R. Smither, Eugenia W. Shackelford, Annie C. Smith, Lucy G. Anderton, Virginia M. Walden, Blanche S. Webb, Cornelia E. Bristow, Margaret H. Barnhardt, lVlarv E. Davis, Irma Davis, Mamie A. Edwards, Louise Harwood, Sally Harwood, l’vlary P. Harwood, Lottie C. Jones, Maude S. Lee, Lucille Moore, Martha E. Owen, M.A. Pratt and Lena S.Segar. The first women voters of Pinetop District were: Mrs. Jessie R. Pitt, Mrs. Marion M. Barrick, Mrs. Mary Burnes Daniel, Mrs. Mary Margaret Daniel, Mrs. Eudora W. Daniel,Mrs.Annie G. Walton,Mrs. Ida B. Ferneyhough, Mrs. Mattie Major Hart, Mrs. Annie McNamara He;ily, Mrs. Susie Duvru Lawson, Mrs. Nannie H. W. Segar, Mrs.Grace Vaden Bennett, Mrs. Fannie R. Barrick, Mrs. Bettie W. French, Mrs. Lillian B. Mercer, Mrs. Nelson Howard McNamara, Mrs. Elizabeth Pitt, Mrs. Lucy Hall Revere, 1Vlrs. Mary W. Revere, Mrs. Nellie L. Stiff, Miss Alice Stiff, Mrs. Clinton W. Stiff, Mrs. Fannie A. Stiff and Mrs. Laura W. Woodland. (Signatures in Time; A Living History of Middlesex County, Virginia, pg. 379)

The newspaper article below shows how the African-American community in Middlesex County, Virginia organized to fight the poliomyelitis epidemic in the mid-twentieth century. We don’t have the exact date of the article nor the name of the publication; however, the article is believed to have been published between the fall of 1941 and the spring of 1942, and may have been in  The Southside Sentinel . Interestingly enough, the probable date of the article’s publication coincides with the launching of the March of Dimes-funded Tuskegee Infantile Paralysis Center. The article is from the papers of Gladys Cauthorne White (1912-2003), courtesy of Bessida Cauthorne White.

The Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society, with the help of Middlesex County, is currently in the process of registering Saluda as an Historic District. The last Public Informational Hearing regarding this process was held on August 10th, 2020. Below you can find the National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for the Town of Saluda. [download_after_email id=”1313″]

A foreword from Larry Chowning Middlesex County Heritage Tour Guide, Rivers and Roads was compiled in 1996 by the county’s Heritage Tour Guide committee chaired by the late Pat Royal Perkinson. This historical driving tour is designed to take you back in history to when Middlesex County was a part of the English colonization of America, through conflicts of an American Revolution, a Civil War fought over slavery, and of famous folk who came to live in the county. Middlesex County was founded in 1668 and with each century that passed citizens of the county traveled the historical pathway to their own American experience. Their homes, barns, smokehouses, old stores, dairies, slave quarters, etc. are all relics of the past that speak to the counties broad and extensive history. The compilation of these historical homes and buildings and maps in Rivers and Roads is an effort to bring history alive in a fun journey, to make history more accessible, and to broaden historical awareness in an organized and deliberate way. We hope you enjoy the tour and traveling in the historical footprints of American Indians, English colonies, African slaves, Union and Confederate soldiers, and Americans from each generation since our nation was founded. [download_after_email id=”1297″]

The Middlesex County Museum & Historical Society is pleased to have on display a collection of fossilized bones and shells on loan by a local resident. Along the shores of the Piankatank River, near the site of an 1800’s trash dump, is a Miocene layer of soil. Within this site, fossilized bone fragments emerge along with bottles and shells, and small whole scallop shells from the Rappahannock River along with a clam casement are found.  A natural  Gypsum Crystal  “Desert Rose,” fossilized horse teeth, a portion of a whale flipper  and other “finds” surface. Interested in learning more about these finds or seeing them for yourself?The museum welcomes your visit on Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm. Admission is free.

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources will conduct a public information hearing of the Saluda Historic District on August 10, 2020. The meeting begins at 7 pm and will be a virtual meeting. Details may be found on our website at  https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/boards/forthcoming-public-meetings/ .  Public comment regarding the proposal will be taken at the time of the hearing or can be sent to: Director Julie Langan, Dept of Historic Resources, 2801 Kensington Ave, Richmond,VA 23221. This proposal has been recommended eligible for the Virginia Landmarks and National Registers. This proposal will be presented to the State Review Board and the Board of Historic Resources on September 17, 2020, at a virtual meeting.  For a copy of the proposal and/or a boundary map contact Elizabeth Lipford at  elizabeth.lipford@dhr.virginia.gov  or 804.482.6454. Want to learn more about the designation of Saluda as an Historic Disctrict, see our previous article with the Saluda District Cultural and Historic Resource Survey Report.

On June 19, 2020 (Juneteenth), Governor Ralph Northam announced the approval of an Historic Highway Marker recognizing the Stingray Point Contraband, six enslaved black men who in July of 1861 self-emancipated by turning themselves in to the United States Navy at Stingray Point in Middlesex County. See  Southside Sentinel  article here. In April of 2012, Davaline Taliaferro hosted a tour of Stingray Point for members of Middle Peninsula African-American Genealogical and Historical Society (MPAAGHS). The group stood along the shore adjacent to the site of the original Stingray Point Lighthouse. Then the group explored the exact full-scale replica of the original lighthouse that is located at the Stingray Point Marina. VIEW THE SOUTHSIDE SENTINEL ARTICLE

In 2018, the family of Captain Newman gifted the Middlesex County Museum & Historical Society his gun accessories, a medical kit, hygiene kit, shovel, uniform, a tote bag, Army service mask and the map tote bag pictured below among other items and documents. The map tote bag contains the original maps, pens, a scrap of cloth and a note pad.  In addition to the Medal of Honor, Captain Beryl R. “Dick” Newman received the Purple Heart, Bronze Cross and the Silver Star in honor of his heroic actions during World War 11.  Middlesex County, the Woman’s Club and the Town of Urbanna have honored Captain Newman on various occasions and the bridge leading into Urbanna is named after him. Our museum is proud to be entrusted with his belongings, and they are on display for the public to view and remember our local “Heroes.”

Growing up in Urbanna, Virginia in the early 30s was a happening time with many things to do, including watching a film at the Rappanna Theatre located on the Main Street of the town (now known as Old Virginia Street). Looking at the street today, this building would have been nestled between the buildings that house the Virginia ABC Store & Something Different Restaurant. The Rappanna Theatre originally opened its doors in October of 1931, and had enough seating for over 200 people. When the original building burned down in 1949, it was replaced with a new building that could hold even more with balcony & orchestra seating. The Rappanna remained open up until the early 1980s. Three of the Rappana Theatre’s seats can be found at the museum. Do you remember watching a feature film in the old Rappanna Theatre? Send us your stories and the first film you remember seeing there!