Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1896-06-23
A HISTORICAL LETTER.

Mr.. George G. Round in Zion's Her
aid of May 20 has the following COM
munication Some years since the New
England Methodist Historical Society
honored me with an election as one OF
their vice presidents. have tried to
evince my appreciation by small con-
tributions to the valuable possessions
of that organization, and l have long
been tempted to write you a Historical
Letter." which l had reason to believe
would be the most feasible method OF
laying before my fellow-members OF
that society some interesting data.
Your readers all know of Manassas.
We have manufactured history here il
the past at rapid rate. The triangu-
lar plateau of northern Virginia lying
between the Potomac, the Rappahan-
mock and the mountains, of which Ma
nassas is the centre geographically, and
the summit geographically, has been
the theatre where great events have
been enacted by great actors. From
our brownstone quarries we read some
interesting bits of geological history.
The region abound in the implements
made by ancient tribes OF the age of
stone. The greatest "fDd" of relics of
this class ever made was made near the
Clifton soapstone quarries, six miles to
the east of us. About the same dis.
tance northward lies the road that
Braddock hewed through the wilder
ness when he marched to defeat
and to death. l need not men,
tion the Virginia major who
surveyed our fields about 1850 and
later on led the armies of our
young republic to victory, and whose
monument-almost in sight of us-is
the Hottest ever erected to man.
need not remind your readers of the
days of '61 to '65 when New England
boys helped up to make history on
these bsttle-scarred plains and when
gigantic armies surged back and forth
across our soil until hardly vestige OF
civilization was left ext except the
lines of earthworks and the railroad
embankments.
| took up my pen, however, not to
tell my New England friends of yore
what they can read from better his
torians than /, but to refer to three
things that they might not so readily
ascertain.
First, for your Methodist readers, l
will mention that one of the circuits
travelled by the first American Metho-
dist preacher lies in Prince William
county, in which i live. The recent
monument to William Waters stands
in the adjoining county of Fairfax, and
his autobiography was published a lit
tie farther on in 1906 by Snowden, the
veteran editor of the ALEXANDRIA GA
zETTE. l have roamed through the
groves where he preached, and occa.
sionally / find his modest little book :,
which is invariably gobbled up by the
first Methodist historical crank" that
comes along. l am glad to say that L
number several of that genus among
my friends and visitors.
This Mr.. Zebulon Asbury Kankey
was in many ways very interesting
character. l frequently met him on
court days and at other places. He al
ways had some original remarks to
make. He spoke OF himself as "a
Methodist by Inheritance" and he evi-
IDENTIFY took pride in his relations to AS
bury and his early preachers, but he
was not member of that church. On
Che contrary, he was one OF the strong,
est Calvinists have ever met. He said