Tintypes

The above photograph of a house is in the Goochland County Historical Society collection. It is undated and unidentified but the process used to create the photograph can at least be identified. It is a tintype, a very popular form of photography that was spanned from the 1850’s to the 1930’s. The peak of popularity was the 1860’s and 1870’s. Today, it is still used to create souvenir pictures at carnivals and theme parks.

Also known as melainotype and ferrotype, tintypes are thin sheets of metal that are coated with chemicals, exposed to light and could be ready in as little as 60 seconds. As with most types of early photography, toxic chemicals were used. The “fixer” for the image on tintypes was usually potassium cyanide, a highly dangerous chemical and deadly poison.

Due to the lack of exposure time, tintypes were the most widely used form of photography of its time. The tintype was very portable and could be housed in ornamental cases, made into jewelry or simply carried around in paper sleeves. They were durable and not prone to breakage like the main competitor process, ambrotype, which is fixed on a glass plate.

Tintypes are very collectible today and the Society has a few that are very beautiful. If anyone can identify the house or its location, please let us know.

March Meeting – Jefferson’s Poplar Forest

 

President Scott Johnson welcomes guests

On March 12, 2017, the society held its first meeting of the year at the Grace Church Parish House. President Scott Johnson welcomed the attendees after which Vice-President Bruce Venter introduced our guest speaker Jeffrey Nichols, CEO and President of Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. Poplar Forest, located south of Lynchburg, was the home Thomas Jefferson built to get away from everyday life at Monticello. Mr. Nichols explained to the group about the restoration efforts past, present and future for the site. A slide show and lively discussion kept everyone’s attention.

 

Jeffrey Nichols

The Hospitality Committee lead by Louise Thompson prepared a wonderful selection of snacks for all to sample after the discussion.

Thank you to Jeffrey Nichols for visiting with us and to all of the society members who helped bring this meeting to our members.

 

Drunken Swine

The following is an article that ran on March 31, 1922 in The Bee (Danville, Virginia). It gives a totally new meaning to March madness.

Pig And Hogs In Goochland Drunk On 9,000 Gallons.

Richmond, March 31, – Pouring of 9,000 gallons of mash into a spring branch in Goochland county, near Irwin Station, yesterday afternoon by federal prohibition agents provided a feasta [sic] for more than a score of hogs and pigs. But after partaking of the mash, which had practically completed fermentation, the hogs displayed all the symptoms of drunkenness and were unable to walk. They crawled off into the woods and lay on the ground groaning, federal agents said, in much the same manner as a man under the influence of liquor.

In the raid the officers destroyed a 500-gallon capacity wooden kettle, confiscated a four-horsepower steam engine, 30 fermenters, 1,500 pounds of sugar, one horse, one mule, a new two-horse wagon and other equipment.

The plant was not in actual operation at the time of the raid and no arrests were made. It was located on an excellent site adjacent to a spring branch and was one of the few captured in Virginia that used steam engines for distilling the mash.

Moonshine and Old Age

Mary Manley’s grave marker

Recently while looking for unrecorded cemeteries in the county, we came across on the grave of what appears to be one of the longest lived Goochland County residents. That person is Mary Lou Napier Manley. Her grave has just a funeral home marker, which is barely legible in early 2017, some 35 years after her death. She was buried in the Beasley Cemetery near Columbia.

Martha Napier and Mary Manley c. 1930

Mary Lou was born on September 12, 1870 and died March 1, 1982, making her 111 years old at death. We found her death certificate on the internet. Local legend has it that Mary Lou operated a moonshine still in the Goochland County woods just outside of Columbia. The archives of the Goochland County Historical Society contain a photograph of Mary and her mother, Mary Napier in jail after being convicted on December 8, 1930 for operating a still in Goochland. She died in Charlottesville in a nursing home. If she made moonshine, she must have drunk it as well which leads us to the conclusion of this short tale – Drinking moonshine must not be very hazardous to one’s longevity.

Contributed by Richard Toler of the Goochland County Historical Society.

To read more about The Moonshine Ladies pictured above, check out our post from August 31, 2014 here.

2017: A Year of Changes

Greetings and Happy New Year!

First, I want to recognize those who are leaving their positions with the Society. After 16 years as Executive Director, Phyllis Silber retired at the end of December. I wish to extend thanks and recognition to her for all her many accomplishments and years of dedicated service. She led the Society to unprecedented growth in both membership and scope of activities. In 2016 alone, the Old Stone Jail restoration was completed, with the ribbon cutting in the fall. However, the Courthouse Green Project continues with work on the Old Clerk’s Office. Also, 2016 saw the publication of Phyllis’s book UNDER

Phyllis Silber and Rossie Fisher

EVERY TREE: A Guide to Finding Your Roots in Virginia which has been well received by the genealogy community. While we will certainly miss Phyllis, we wish her the very best in her retirement.

Bonnie Stamm left her part-time position as Office Manager in November for a full-time position at another non-profit in the Richmond area. While we will miss Bonnie’s friendly attitude and excellent technology skills, we wish her the greatest success in her new employment.

A search for a new Executive Director and Office Manager will get underway shortly. In the meantime, Christina Dunn has agreed to serve as Interim Executive Director and Ginny Olsen as Office Manager; both are members of the Board and current volunteers. With extra hours of assistance by our dedicated volunteers, the Society’s office hours will remain the same and all services, publications, and member activities and events will continue as usual.

We welcome the two newest members of the Board of Directors: Alan Crouch, Assistant Dean of the School of Business at Reynold’s Community College and William Quarles, former Chairman of the Goochland County Board of Supervisors. Thank you to those who have agreed to continue to serve on the Board of Directors, on our various committees, and as volunteers.

As an organization, we have been highly dependent on member support for our successes over the years. As a result we have had an impressive record of accomplishing ambitious projects and doing so in a timely and professional manner. The Courthouse Green Project is the latest of these. Plans for 2017 include turning the Old Clerk’s Office into a small museum and visitor center; and installing another section of the commemorative pavers on the central walk, as well as interpretive signs in strategic locations on the Green. Bruce Venter, First Vice President, is arranging for speakers of the highest quality for our membership meetings, lectures and book signings; the Publications Committee is already working on the 2017 magazine and the 2018 calendar; and I am working with the YMCA to plan new History Walks.

These accomplishments are made possible through the collective efforts of the Society’s officers, Board of Directors, committee members, volunteers, and staff, but, most importantly, it is you, the members, who are the heart of the organization. I strongly encourage you to continue your interest, keep informed of and participate in the Society’s activities, and make your recommendations and suggestions known to the officers, Board, and staff. We want to hear from you and we need to hear from you. While we have a strong organization, there is always room for improvement and new direction. We believe 2017 will be an exciting year for the Society.

Warm regards,

C. Scott Johnson, President

Snowflake Sale 2016

Join us this coming Saturday for your holiday shopping! See the holiday gift giving catalog below. We have ornaments, calendars, books (some signed by local authors), beautiful throws, t-shirts and more. Come early and stay late!

christmas-catalog-2016

Lost Goochland – The Crawford Place

In the archives of the Goochland County Historical Society, there are many photographs of homes, some still standing and some that are not. The Crawford home falls into the latter category. The photo is from a yellowed news article that was published in the Goochland Gazette.

This ancient house is said to have been built by a member of the Crawford family, some of whom came from Scotland after the unsuccessful rising of the Clans against the House of Hanover in 1745. The date on the chimney is 1774.

We do know that the house was located near Broad Street Road (Rt. 250) in Centerville and was last owned by Mr. Crawford Davis. The home fell victim to fire sometime in the mid 1900’s. If you have any information on this house or have photographs of other long forgotten homes, please share them with the society so that we may add them to the story of Goochland for future generations. You can stop in anytime during business hours so that we may scan your photographs for preservation in our collection. We will only keep the original if you would like us to, otherwise, it is your to keep. Don’t let Goochland’s past be forgotten.