A beautiful original wall painting located in the dining room of La Grange cries out from behind very closely matched
wallpaper "I need to be preserved!" |
A Taste of La
Grange History
Our Historian and
newsletter Editor, Ray Olszewski, has continued his research into the ownership examination of the owners to document a history of
La Grange going back to 1640 when the property was obtained from King
Carter's Bull Run Tract.
He has obtained a copy
of the original Benoni E. Harrison's will which he found in the Prince William Circuit Courts archives. Ray is in the process of
transcribing the will for all to see.
A keen eye also found a
really neat stone carving at the Spring House which can be seen on the web site. If you look close at the picture you will see W*L and
underneath the date of April 2, 1800.
Neal Temple made an
amazing discovery of a 20' tall ornamental sign pole. Neal Temple and Ray are looking to use the find
to hold the new La Grange Winery sign which is in process of being developed.
One of
the Ghost Stories:
La
Grange Grand Piano Still Playing after 150 years and Nobody's at home?
In early 2006 as
La Grange was being renovated into a tasting room, one evening neighbors
walked over to see the changes at the 18th Century property. Unfortunately the house was locked. Mom and Dad walked around the back as the
two children tried the front door. As the parents shook the lock, they heard piano music. Being a musical family, they listened. "The children must
have opened the front door and found a piano" remarked one of the parents. Dad found an unlocked side
door and called to their children as they entered. No answer. No more music. They searched but no children and no piano. The front door was doubled
bolted inside with their children still outside, trying to open it. "We heard you playing the piano, where did you find one?" The four searched the three stories and the basement of the La Grange manor house or also known as the "Harrison House" originally built in 1790 by George Green. No
piano! Pat Summitt a direct descendant and historian of the Harrison - Foley family who were tenants
on the La Grange property has the piano legs which have been handed
down.
Note: In his
will dated January 21st, 1869, Ray Olszewski, found that Benoni E.
Harrison (B: Jan 7, 1786 D: Aug 17, 1869) willed to his nephew B.H. Jordan (B: Oct 8, 1820 D: Jan 7, 1891) a number of items one of which did
include "the Piano"... which was in "the parlor."
Thanks to Gail (Chris' Mom) for writing the story.
Special Visitors
to La Grange
Ms. Pat Summitt, a
Manassas resident, and a descendant of the Foley family who were tenants on the La Grange property visited the site and was delighted to see and was
pleased to see "La Grange was going to be a working farm again."
Mr. Doyle Culbertson, who
lived at La Grange in the Manor House up until a year and a half ago, visited
and offered considerable amount of technical information about the house and the property. He too was extremely pleased with what is going on a
La Grange and looks forward to supporting our efforts with background
information.
The Wall
Painting
One item which Doyle pointed out to us during that
visit was a wall in the manor house dining room. He indicated that in the 70's, wall paper was papered over a painting on the wall and
sure enough, today, one can see where it was partly uncovered by the refurbishing team when they removed some of the wall paper from that room.
Fletcher points out how similar are the wall paper to the water color painting and indicated he was going to steam off the remaining wallpaper in an
attempt to preserve the painting.
The
Brick
While Doyle was
reminiscing about the place, we (Neil, Fletcher, and Ray O.) brought up the subject of the brick originating in England. Doyle believes
it did not come from England, but was actually made on site based on what he had learned himself of colonial brick making while in Williamsburg, VA. He further added that in colonial times, brick makers went from one site to another, made enough brick to make a kiln, and then
produced the needed brick, tore down the kiln, and then used that brick on the structure. He believes that is what happened at La Grange in the building of the Manor House by George Green in 1790s.
The BBQ
Pit
One day, the Bar-B-Que pit became a labor of love for Ann and Kurt
Wilkerson and Ray Olszewski. They worked on that job all day long and is ready for use. The BBQ was actually built in
the 1930s according to Doyle Culbertson. Ray continues to sift through the
dirt and ashes which was removed and put aside during the clean up process so far the finding has resulted in finding some pieces of broken porcelain
and some additional artifacts. |
