Green Spring Farm Part 4

[53] Main steps to a.s.sist agriculture taken by the state in the 1870's are summarized in Moger, _Rebuilding_, p. 54.

[54] Fairfax County Deed Book W-4, p. 271.

[55] J. S. Mosby, _Mosby's War Memoirs and Stuart's Cavalry Campaigns_ (New York: Pageant Book Co., 1958), p. 10. Mosby records in his memoirs that in Richmond, before being sent to the Shenandoah Valley, the men were issued uniforms of very rough quality from the state penitentiary. There was almost a mutiny as the men piled them up in front of the captain's tent and refused to wear them--all except Mosby and Beattie. Mosby then states, "I do not think any clothes I ever wore did me more service than these. When I became a commander, I made Beattie a lieutenant."

This story is corroborated in Charles W. Russell (ed.), _The Memoirs of Colonel John S. Mosby_ (Boston: Little Brown, 1917), p. 30.

[56] Beattie is mentioned frequently in histories of Mosby's campaigns. In addition to the references noted above, see V.

C. Jones, _Ranger Mosby_ (Chapel Hill, 1944), and James Williamson (ed.), _Mosby's Rangers_ (New York: Sturgis & Walton, 1909).

From 1861 to July 1864, Beattie served as an enlisted man. In July 1864, a new company was organized, and Beattie was elected first lieutenant. Such regards as still exist regarding Beattie's service with Mosby relate to this period.

See _Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from Virginia_. Microcopy 324, Roll 207 (National Archives, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.).

[57] Williamson, _Mosby's Rangers_, p. 87.

[58] _Ibid._, pp. 242-3. Reprints a letter from Thomas Moss to Captain Walter Frankland describing a fight near Front Royal as follows: "We charged and routed the guards, and I was fortunate in saving Beattie's life by shooting a man who had a pistol within 12 inches of Beattie. I then caught a horse ...

[and] Beattie and I ran down the road a short distance and went up into a piece of pine woods."

[59] John Mosby Beattie, August 22, 1968, interview. Fountain Beattie's wife, Annie Elizabeth Hathaway, was the daughter of James Henry Hathaway of "Western View" in Zula, Virginia, between Rectortown and Middleburg in Fauquier County. Annie Hathaway was born and married at this home place. Her son, John Mosby Beattie, states that his father bought Green Spring Farm with money realized from the sale of "Western View" on the death of Mrs. Beattie's parents.

[60] Fairfax County Deed Book W-4, p. 271. Also see Hannah C. O'Brien v. John W. Green, Fairfax County Circuit Court, 1878, Suspended File No. 10.

[61] Moger, _Rebuilding_, p. 51.

[62] Virginia Good Roads Convention, _Programme_, p. 8.

[63] John Mosby Beattie, August 22, 1968, interview. John Beattie recalls that his father, Fountain Beattie, sold garden produce to the local grocery store of one John Carter, located on the Little River Turnpike (Route 236) approximately where it now crosses s.h.i.+rley Highway (I-95).

[64] W. C. Funk, "An Economic History of Small Farms near Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.", U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin 848 (Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1920), pp. 16-17.

[65] John Mosby Beattie, August 22, 1968, interview. Mr. Beattie does not recall the date of this fire, but remembers the event vividly from his boyhood days.

[66] Mosby served as Consul in Hong Kong from 1878 to 1885. He was an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1904 to 1910.

[67] _Official Register of Officers and Employees of the Civil, Military and Navy Service_, issued biennially, lists Fountain Beattie as an employee of the Internal Revenue Service in the registers issued during the years 1875 to 1913, inclusive.

Beattie's Service Record Card (Treasury Form 426) shows the first employment record date as 1872. His appointment was discontinued in 1914.

[68] E. L. Templeman, _Arlington Heritage_ (Arlington, 1959), p. 74.

[69] _Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Was.h.i.+ngton_, 1879.

[70] "Fairfax County as Portrayed by the Virginia Business Directory and Gazetteer--1906. Published by the Hill Directory Company, Richmond, Virginia," _Yearbook of the Historical Society of Fairfax County, Virginia_, v. 10 (1969), pp. 92-104.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Front View]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Side View (West). Figure 7. Green Spring Farm, 1936.

Photos by Delos Smith, HABS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 8. Berry Survey Map, 1941. Deed Book P-15, p. 147.]

III. THE END OF THE FARMING ERA: MICHAEL STRAIGHT (1942-1969)

Fountain Beattie sold Green Spring Farm in 1917. Annie Hathaway Beattie had died the year before, after they had moved from the farm to a house in Alexandria.[71] Beattie's deed to George R. Sims of Florida is dated January 23, 1917, and conveyed the entire tract of 339 acres.[72] Owners.h.i.+p changed again in 1922, 1924, and 1931,[73]

and ultimately led to the subdivision of the tract into smaller parcels. In 1942, one of these parcels, containing the farmhouse and the princ.i.p.al related buildings, was purchased by Michael and Belinda Straight.[74]

The Straights did not occupy the main farmhouse immediately but set about having certain changes made in the interior design and structure. These were completed late in 1942, and the family moved from the cottage to the main house.[75] A few months later, in January 1943, their occupancy was interrupted as Michael Straight was called to service in the U.S. Army Air Force; and, during World War II, the house was occupied by tenants. The Straights returned to Northern Virginia in 1948 and took up residence at the farmhouse from that time until they moved to Georgetown in 1965.

Upon their return to the farm in 1948, they also began to restore and redesign the grounds surrounding the farmhouse. During the 1920's, when the farm was owned by Frederick Segesserman, a great many boxwoods had been planted. They had been raised for sale, and in 1948 the pattern of their location on the grounds was erratic.

Therefore, in 1948, a new landscape plan was worked out by Mrs. Max Farrand, a friend of the Straights and the designer of the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. Under her supervision, the boxwoods were transplanted into a great semicircle behind the house, the level of the lawn was raised, and retaining walls were placed at several points. This area comprised the farm's only formal garden; but, in addition, extensive plantings of white pine were placed as a screen between the house and the road, and the grounds surrounding the house were planted with a variety of trees and shrubs, including hemlocks, cherries, and crabapples, and later, lilacs, azaleas, and rhododendron.

During the years the Straights lived at the farm, farming operations consisted of the raising of Hereford cattle. Purchasing yearlings in the markets of the lower Shenandoah Valley near Winchester, they kept this stock at the farm for fattening and resale as two-year-old beef cattle.[76]

A variety of other animals were kept on the farm, but these were mainly pets of the children.[77] In addition to their horses and dogs, certain of the Straights' animals acquired reputations of extraordinary extent. In particular were a goat which was presented to the Straights by the author and journalist Eric Sevareid,[78] a mule acquired from the Alexandria SPCA, and a flock of Canada geese which eventually became the subject of a special bulletin by the Audubon Society to prevent local naturalists from erroneously reporting them as migrants.[79]

During these years of residence at Green Spring Farm, Michael Straight served as editor and publisher of _The New Republic_ magazine, wrote three books, and served on the governing boards of several organizations active in international affairs.[80] These activities brought to the farm many visitors whose accomplishments in politics, literature, science, and the arts were nationally and internationally recognized. Some of the distinguished visitors to Green Spring Farm during these years included scientists Julian Huxley and Leo Szilard, authors Aldous Huxley and Saul Bellow, poet Dylan Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, and political leader Hubert Humphrey. The farm also was a visiting place for distinguished journalists from all parts of the United States and many foreign countries, including Soviet Russia, when they came to Was.h.i.+ngton. An account of one of these visits, written by one of the foreign journalists, is set forth in appendix G.[81]

The farm became well known in the community of which it was a part as it was the scene of numerous festive community gatherings when the neighbors from the immediate area joined the Straights and their guests to celebrate such special events and holidays as the Fourth of July and to enjoy dinner, games, and discussions under the trees.

With the departure of the Straights, active farming operations ceased.

During their occupancy, fundamental changes in the character of Northern Virginia's development brought the era of farming to an end and ushered in an era in which this region became part of the social and economic system centered in Was.h.i.+ngton. Intensive subdivision and establishment of commercial service facilities became the highest and best uses of the land as population growth in the National Capital area rose at a rate which led other parts of the United States.

Outsiders moving into Northern Virginia and Was.h.i.+ngton residents seeking to move from the central city into the outskirts filled up the open s.p.a.ces of Fairfax County at a rate of over 1,000 new residents per month.[82]

Along with the temptation of high land prices, rising taxes added to the pressure on the farmer to "sell out" to the land developer. It was said, with much truth, that one could not afford to be a farmer in Fairfax County as the 1950's ended and the 1960's began. For the 33 acres and buildings on Green Spring Farm, as for many other residences, taxes rose sharply. In 1943, the farm was evaluated at $7,819, and the tax bill was $194.69; by 1960, the evaluation was $36,050, and the taxes $1,351.88.[83]

So, gradually, Green Spring Farm became an island of open s.p.a.ce in a sea of houses and highways. The Little River Turnpike (Route 236) was widened and modernized in 1959. In 1948, this road had been an 18-foot-wide, two lane black-top roadway. Twenty years later, it had been transformed into a 106-foot-wide, four-lane dual highway, much of which was lined with concrete curbs and gutters to accommodate roadside commercial or residential development. The old turnpike had been redesigned and, in the late 1960's, carried over 26,000 vehicles per day.[84] Its function as a major interregional artery of transportation had been taken over by others, leaving to it a new role as a major connector in the network of roads and streets serving primarily local traffic. In contrast to earlier times when proximity to the road was to be desired, the attractiveness of the farmhouse in the 1960's was enhanced by its surrounding s.p.a.ce which furnished a s.h.i.+eld from the highway and a setting for its activity.

III. THE END OF THE FARMING ERA: MICHAEL STRAIGHT (1942-1969)

[71] John Mosby Beattie, March 1969 interview. Annie Beattie, afflicted with arthritis, died in 1916, after she and family had moved into Alexandria to a house on Peyton Street owned by her husband, Fountain Beattie, and Walton Moore.

[72] Fairfax County Deed Book C-8, p. 446.

[73] Fairfax County Deed Book Y-8, p. 50; J-9, p. 23; X-10, p. 413; V-11, p. 586; C-12, p. 509.

[74] Fairfax County Deed Book P-15, p. 145.

[75] Michael and Belinda Straight, interview December 8, 1968. During the remodeling, the Straights lived in the spring house, which they called "The Cottage."

[76] _Ibid._ Aberdeens were also brought to the farm, but did not thrive as well as Herefords. The Straights' herd ranged from 15 to 25 at any one time. Bought at weights of about 500 pounds, these cattle were held until they weighed 1,100 to 1,200 pounds and then were sold for beef.

[77] _Ibid._ The fondness of the Straight children for animals drew pets from field and pond, including rabbits, birds, snakes, spiders, and the like. These were housed mainly in the enclosed side porch.

[78] _Ibid._ The gift goat was the subject of one of Mr. Sevareid's columns ent.i.tled "It is More Blessed to Give Than to Receive."

During his stay at Green Spring Farm, the goat established a reputation for eating various valuable articles (such as a canvas automobile top) and ringing a number of the fruit trees.