Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-07-18

Well. Capt. Wheatley sailed the Rambler
over and as the Hard Times touched the shore
stones sinking and slipping into the river and
with the weeds and willows growing over it.
was Foxs ferry. long time before the war
rights from the Berry family. which came into
ownership Of q good sized part Of the lands OF
Col. John Addison. who had obtained a large
up there the hill. and which became the
Berrys' home. and which burned down in 1899.
ssed 0IoH Hs
ming back and forth. He called his steamboat
the Alice Fox. Alice being the name of his
wife. He also built house at the ferry and
District of Columbia and part in Prince
Georges county and have heard. though do
times in that tavern. Fox and the Alice Fox
went out of business. after a number of years
Of more or less prosperity. and then foot
lished by me and Capt. Griffin. Later. that is
in the 7Os. some of the moneyed men of Alex
easd e1 , and started sSs
Capt. Griffin ran her. The fats filled up so
that the Virginia often had hard time ge:-
burned up. That was a good many years ago,
and since that time have been running the
foot ferry. and it was not very long ago that
gave this boat the name Of Hard Times" =
This Fox's ferry is a place about
which the Rambler has collected a
good deal of Information, which at
another time he will bring before the
public. familiar name for the old
tavern, which was the customary adj
junct of any ferry. was Possum Hall.
The Rambler finds the first refer
ence to the ferry. which operated
where the Aqueduct bridge stands
now. in the statutes of Virginia, %
George II. 174S. 1t follows: From
the plantation of George Mason OPP
70 oly
land. Four pence for man and
four pence for a horse Other Poto-
mac ferries mentioned in the act of
174S are these: From Col William
Fitzhugh's land at Boyd's Hole over
to Maryland: from Triplett's land be-
low the mouth of Quantico creek
over to Brooke's land; from Robert
Lovelrs land in the county of West
moreland over to Maryland: from
Kerseys landing on Col Carter Bur-
wells land to the land of Col. Landon
Carter; from Gersham Keys land to
the land of the Hon. William, Fair
fax: at Williams' Gap from the land
OF, the Right Honorable the !. Lord
Fairfax. where John Melton now lives
to the land of Ralph WoKmley, esq;
from the plantation Of John Hereford
in Daig's Neck over the river to the
lower side of Pamunkey in Mary
land; from the land Of Ebenezer
+ iOyu ~ Wv Gil HUN EVAN wat
kins land opposite to ConnogocheEo
creek to Edmund Wade's land in
Maryland; from the land of VIM. Cliff
ton to the land Of Thomas Wallis
X X X X
Frequent mention in these ram
bles" has been made of the town of
Colchester, in Fairfax county. No
town stands there now, but the place
name persists. The farms that cover
the site and environs of. the old town
are said to be ''at Colchester" There
is a flag-stop on the Richmond. Fred
ericksburg and Potomac railroad
called Colchester. A walk has been
laid by the trackside paved with
Quantico gravel the same material
with which the railroad is ballasted,
and there is a shelter station at that
point Colchester is on Occoquan creek,
and was the first town established in
Fairfax county.
Colchester was established by act Of
the Virginia assembly in. November,
1883, and the full act may be read in