Evening star., 1920-07-11

The "Mr. A. Grinder" referred to was
Adam Grinder, who, with his brother,
John Grinder, bought the Smallwood
farm and perhaps some other property
on Mattawoman creek. These Grinder
brothers were brickmakers in South
Washington and their brick plant was
at 1st and M streets southeast. Adam
lived at 701 <th street southeast and
John at the corner of 4th and l. streets
southeast. 1t was about ten years be-
fore the civil war that the Grinders
bought that property. In those days
brickmakers in Washington used wood
fires to burn bricks, and the Grinders
bought the estate on Mattawoman creek
for its wood supply. Thousands of cords
OF wood were shipped to Washington of
Gen. Smallwood's estate, and no doubt
millions of the bricks which that wood
helped to make are in the walls OF
Washington. There is on Mattawoman n
creek the site of a landing place which
is still called Gen. Smallwood's Land
ing About a half mile farther up the
creek is Grinders Wharf. The Rambler
was down there summer before last.
The wharf agent was John w. Carpen :
ter, whose wife was Mary Grinder.
daughter Of Edward Grinder. son Of
John Grinder. These interesting people
lived in a big old brick house a few hun
dred yards from the grave and the ruin
ed house house in which Gen. Small
wood lived. But the Rambler has drift
Under the date of August. 1876. the
Rambler came upon laws establishing
public ferries ION the River OccoQuan.
in the county of Prince William" and
also on Nomini and Mattox creeks, in
Westmoreland county. In the same year
of the establishment of these ferries.
1876, the Virginia legislature authorized
the creation of two Virginia towns
which became famous. One was
Fredericksburg and the other Fall
mouth. ~..-.- 80
In the act creating public ferries on
occoquan. Mattox and Nomini creeks
was this: "Also from the town of
Falmouth in King George county,
across the river to the land of Francis
TThornton in Spotsylvania county, a
ferry" the rate of ferriage being
three pence for a horse and three
pence for a man. Just before the
passage of the ferry law the legis-
iature enacted that fifty acres of land
belonging to John Royston and Rob-
ert Buckner of Gloucester county,
lying in Spotsylvania county, being
part of a tract known as Lease land,
should be laid off as a town, which
should be called Fredericksburg. The
management of and responsibility for
the enterprise were vested in the fol-
lowing commissioners: John Robin
son, Henry Willis, Augustine Smith,
John Taliaferro, Henry Beverly. John
Waller and jeremiah Clowder of the
county of Spotsylvania.
An act passed at the same session
Of the legislature set forth that fifty
acres of land belonging to William
Todd of the county of King and
Queen, lying along the north side of
the Rappahannock. in Stafford county,
two miles above the tract of Lease
land, should be laid off into a town
to be called Falmouth. The men named
as ommissioners for the new town
were Robert Carter and Mann Page,
esquires; Nicholas Smith, William
Thornton, John Fitzhugh. Charles
Carter and Henry Carter, the younger
gentlemen"
The earliest reference to be found
in the laws of Virginia to public
ferry within the District of Colum-
bia is under the date of 1740. In that