Barbara Barrett

CRHC Chairman

Mildred Barnum reported on a number of buildings in Spotsylvania County for the Works Progress Administration of Virginia in 1936. She interviewed local people to glean information on the properties and frequently had only "folklore" to report.

Mrs. Lillie Haney of Chancellor recalled stories of the Foster family who resided near Robertson Run. Among their many slaves were three sisters, Aunt Letty, Aunt Alby and Aunt Dilsie. They lived in a cabin with "a fireplace big enough to burn fence rails." When they were peeved with each other they would have their separate fires, one on each end and one in the middle, to bake their hoecakes. The first time Aunt Alby went to Fredericksburg she was asked how she liked the town, and she replied that she couldn't see the town for all the houses.

There were many stories of Jacob Herndon's family living at Hazel Hill in Finchville. His son, John P., was famous for his pranks. Jacob was a Baptist preacher, and one day he took John P. with him to a baptizing. Later that day, John P. gathered all the Negro children on the place and nearly frightened them to death baptizing them. For one of his exploits, he was shut up in the meat house at Hazel Hill. When someone noticed all the dogs hanging around the meat house, they discovered that John P. had smuggled in a knife and was slicing a ham and poking the slices through a crack to the dogs.

WPA reports give us an interesting look at life in the 1930's, including detailed descriptions of houses and the families that lived in them.

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