Belvale House

Country home of George Johnston (1700-1766), prominent lawyer, a Trustee of the town of Alexandria and member of the Virginia Assembly. He was the author of certain resolutions presented by Patrick Henry in 1775 opposing the Stamp Act. The house remained in the family until 1925.

Belvale, located at 7101 Telegraph Road, was built by George Johnston in 1763. Johnston was a friend and legal adviser to George Washington and was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses along with George Mason. Upon Johnston's death in 1766, Washington succeeded him in the House of Burgesses. Johnston's son, George Jr., later served as Washington's Aide de Camp during the Revolutionary War. A lawyer, Johnston had offices in Winchester and Alexandria. The house remained in the Johnston family until 1925 and remains a private residence. Ghost stories and tall tales about the house and grounds date back to Revolutionary times.


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Here follows an excerpt from the 1970 Fairfax County Master Inventory of Historic Sites which contained entries from the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory:

Belvale:
The Belvale property dates from a 1698 grant to Richard Carpenter. In 1763 George Johnston purchased 167 acres of this land and the house was probably built between that year and the year of Johnston's death, 1766. The house remained in the Johnston family until 1925. Johnston was a member of the Virginia Assembly (1758-66) and was closely associated with Patrick Henry in Henry's 1765 resolution opposing the Stamp Act. He was legal advisor and close friend to George Washington, and at least one of his sons served as an aide-de-camp to General Washington during the Revolutionary War.

According to Mrs. T. W. Robinson, whose husband was a Johnston descendant, the house was once much more elaborate than it is now. The main body of the house is two stories high but originally a one-story wing extended from the drawing room. The wing is no longer there, perhaps because of fire damage. The original mantels were marble-black in the drawing room and Italian pink in the library. The bedrooms had either coral or white marble mantels. There was walnut paneling in much of the house. The Johnston family says that two grandsons of George Johnston quarreled and in the absence of one, the other removed the marble mantels and walnut paneling. The replacements for both were plain and undistinguished. The structure was apparently damaged, perhaps by the removal of the paneling. The rear of the house, a back dining room and bedroom above, subsequently collapsed.

According to the present owner, Dalbert Richard, the old library is now the kitchen and dining room. The fireplaces have been bricked up and the beams in the basement have been covered. The original white frame and clapboard wall construction has been covered with aluminum siding. The outbuildings are not of the same age as the house. They include a barn, a workshop, and a chicken house now used for storage. On the property there is a cemetery which may have been a slave burial ground.


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Here follows an excerpt about the house from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Belvale is an historic house in present-day Fairfax County, Virginia built between 1763 and 1766 by George Johnston (1700–1766), member of the Virginia Assembly 1758–1766, friend of Patrick Henry, and legal advisor to George Washington, who was a frequent visitor to the home. The home's original lands, described as lying on "Doeg's Run", were first granted on July 6, 1698 to Richard Carpenter, who bequeathed them in 1750 to his wife Mary and daughter Ann, who sold the property to Johnston in 1763. Belvale is sometimes called "Belle Vale Manor" in historical records. Belvale was Johnston's country seat; his town home was in the city of Alexandria.

The grounds of Belvale are reputed to harbor a ghost of a young man killed in a duel who was buried under a cedar tree, reputedly with Washington's assistance in digging the grave and planting the cedar tree. The Historic American Buildings Survey documentation of the house, which is a private residence, states that a cemetery which may have been a slave burial ground is on the property, though it is no longer extant.


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Here follows an excerpt from Donald Hakenson's "This Forgotten Land" tour guide:

George Johnston, an attorney for George Washington and Truro Parish and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, purchased Belvale in 1746 from Richard Carpenter who had bought the tract in 1698. It is believed that the house was built between 1763 and 1766, or sometime during Johnston's tenure in the House of Burgesses. However, this is disputed by other historians. Johnston taught George Washington how to survey and was present when Patrick Henry offered resolutions declaring that only the House of Burgesses had the right to levy taxes, and that any attempt to take this power from the House of Burgesses was unconstitutional. Henry urged the adoption of these spirited resolutions with an ardor that alarmed the more conservative members of the House. Suddenly, while speaking against the Stamp Act, Henry exclaimed, "Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third" -- cries of "Treason!" "Treason!" here interrupted him. But fixing his eye upon the Speaker of the House, Henry added, "and George the Third may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it." George Johnston seconded the resolution. Also, family legend has it that there are ghosts on the premises.


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Here follows an article about the house published in the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter and written by Carl Sell, Jr. in the year 2013:

Two hundred and fifty years ago, George Johnston purchased 167 acres along Dogue Run and, according to historic records, began constructing a country estate known as Belvale. It was finished by the time Johnston died three years later in 1766. The house, although somewhat altered, still stands on private property at 7701 Telegraph Road.

The Franconia Museum is involved in a second effort to get Belvale listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. In January 1992, Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources turned down an application for Belvale. Upon recent further review, the Museum Board thinks the house under Johnston‘s ownership did not receive an adequate rating as to its level of local/regional/state or national significance. In fact, Belvale received the lowest points available on the scale.

The Museum Board has reviewed the application and determined to reapply on Belvale’s behalf. The Museum also questions the fact that although the rating for rarity of property and resource type was high, the rating for quality and/or rarity of design and workmanship was extremely low. The Museum notes that the house contains the original wood floors and staircases as well as the support beams for the entire structure.

Also, the Museum will argue that Johnston was an extremely important figure in the formation of the United
States of America, and was an advisor to George Washington, a friend and neighbor. Johnston served as Washington’s legal advisor and was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, as one of two representatives from Fairfax County. The other was George Mason, author of the Virginia Resolves that formed the basis for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution known as the Bill of Rights.

And if that wasn’t enough, Johnston was the mentor for Patrick Henry, clearing the way for the fiery orator to present his Stamp Act Resolutions of 1765. Noting the absence of the House’s conservative leadership, Johnston quickly moved that the body resolve itself into a committee of the whole. Henry, who had only been a member nine days, seconded the motion. It carried, allowing Henry to introduce and have adopted the resolutions that became the opening salvo in our battle for independence. Although the Stamp Act later was voided by the King of England, the die had been cast in the American colonies for the Revolutionary War, victory and the formation of a new nation. Johnston’s son, George, Jr., was an aide-de-camp to Washington during the Revolutionary War for a short time before dying of camp fever in May of 1777. Upon Johnston’s death, Washington himself succeeded him in the House of Burgesses.

George Johnston of Belvale was a leader in the formation of the ideals that produced the United States. He was mentioned numerous times in Washington’s memoires, including instances of Johnston representing him in a court case involving the purchase of two parcels of land contiguous to Mount Vernon. He also served as a trustee of Alexandria and had a house there that still stands at 224 South Lee Street. Previously, he had practiced law in Winchester, where Washington used his law office when plotting surveys in the area.
Johnston also was a judge in Fairfax County.


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Here follows an article from the Connection Newspaper about the house:

Colonial Era House on Telegraph Road Is Going Up for Sale
It dates back to 1766, and has seen a slice of American history.
By Mike Salmon
Thursday, June 17, 2021

The River Farm is not the only historic place in the Mount Vernon area with ties to George Washington. A few miles east lies the Belvale House in Fairfax County, and its current owners are ready to sell.

After years of living amongst the historic lore of the Belvale House on Telegraph Road, the residents are downsizing and putting this historic house on the market, saying goodbye to the wooden, two-story farmhouse that was built in the 1763-1767 timeframe.

According to documents in the Virginia Room at the Fairfax County Library, the property dates to a 1698 land grant to Richard Carpenter, and then George Johnston, who built the house before he died in 1766. Johnston was a friend of Patrick Henry, and affiliated with the Stamp Act of colonial fame, and both worked with George Washington. “George Johnston succeeded George Washington’s brother Lawrence as Trustee of Alexandria in 1752,” it said in an old 1965 newsletter story from Franconia. Several of George Johnston’s sons fought in the Revolutionary War.

In a property description on the “Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory,” dated January 1971, there was a one-story wing to the house that was destroyed in a fire, it said, and a black marble mantel in the drawing room, and an Italian pink mantel in the library. “According to the present owners, the old library is now the kitchen and dining room,” it said.

In addition to a connection with colonial history, the house saw many activities that were common in those times, including a possible duel, bodies buried in the yard, and spirits lurking. According to one story about the house, there was a duel where one of the guests was killed and buried under a cedar tree. “On the second night of each month the ghost appeared in the grove south of the house. Under a tall cedar tree lies his body, that of a young man killed in a duel,” the story said.

The other version of the ghost origins said it was a guest at Mount Vernon, who was at a ball in the Belvale house, and was killed somehow. Whatever the origin of the spirits in the house, “everyone in the neighborhood knew of the ghost,” said the writer of this Franconia newsletter, dated September 1964.

The house at Belvale, stayed in the Johnston family until 1925 when it was sold to Dr. A. B. Weldeford, and when their family lived in the house, that’s when the first stories of the ghost were recited.

On Halloween around that time, the Weldeford’s had a costume party, and Dr. Weldeford dressed up like a ghost, as did one other party-goer, and they entertained the guests until looking over to the cedar tree in the side yard. “Just as the guests discovered these two, a misty apparition was seen in the woods near the cedar tree, and all were convinced the real ghost had come to the party,” the story read.

In 1947, the present owners moved in on the second day of the month and “at midnight they climbed the attic stairs to catch a glimpse of the ghost from the south window, whereupon they clicked the light switch and all the lights in the house blew out,” the story said. This was the Richards family, and there were bumps in the night, an invisible rocking chair creaking, and young Diane, a seven-year-old that saw “none other than George Washington sitting on the living room sofa reading a book.”

According to this newsletter, and a Fairfax County Historic Landmark Survey document, dated January 1971, the graves did exist on the property. “On the property is a cemetery which may have been a slave burial ground,” the survey document stated.

Dolbert Richard owned the house at that time.

It is being listed by the owners’ son Sean Vermillion, an agent with PropLocate Realty.

Vermillion is familiar with the stories, and has seen the original wooden walls underneath the siding. “Some of the windows have that wavy look,” he said.

Historic houses are hot on the market to some, said Sharon Hinson of HistoricProperties.com. “They have lovely woodwork, beautiful floors, gracious rooms, fireplaces with mantels, moldings, ceiling medallions, wainscoting, and wide baseboard. Most of these things cannot be found in new houses, even if you are shopping with unlimited funds,” she said in an email.

According to the county, just because the house is historic and on the National Register, it still isn’t safe from developers. Historic designation does not “prevent an owner from renovating or demolishing buildings,” the Virginia Department of Historic Resources said on their website. Vermillion doesn’t want to see the house demolished and tried for years, hoping the county would buy the home, but he’s been unsuccessful.

As to the ghosts, the historic figures that came through the front door, and the discussion of the Stamp Act in 1765, there aren’t any signs to the naked eye. But, “You never know what’s behind the plaster,” Vermillion said.


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Here follows an excerpt about the neighborhood and home from "The Washington Post" newspaper:

Defined by Nature, Shaped by History
By Mike Salmon
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, April 28, 2007

... Lake d'Evereux is the focus of a neighborhood of the same name, 281 townhouses and single-family houses along Telegraph Road in Fairfax County that were built from 1979 to 1985. It has two entrances off Telegraph Road and backs to the 1,425-acre Huntley Meadows Park, so it's isolated to some extent. The original farmhouse, known as the Belvale house, still stands at the end of a long driveway that feeds into Telegraph Road... Everybody seems to love the lake, which consists of a main section and a covelike arm where the Nichols family was fishing. What started out as a pond on a pony farm was altered slightly in size and shape when the neighborhood was constructed... In 1979, when construction began to convert the farm into the neighborhood of Lake d'Evereux, the first developer built a couple of houses and then went out of business. Another followed suit, and the third builder finished the job, said Marklin Mandt, who lives in one of the few houses the first builder finished... The big white Belvale house dates to 1764. It has a steep roof, a parlor-type room to the side and pillars supporting a porch overhang at the front door. A Historic American Buildings Survey listing from 1970 says there was a "cemetery which may have been a slave burial ground" on the property, but there's no sign of that now... The mansion was built for George Johnston, a friend of Patrick Henry and George Washington. Johnston was closely associated with the 1765 resolution opposing the Stamp Act. He died in 1766, possibly in the gun room of the house, according to documents in the Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Public Library... In 1977, when the new community was being discussed, the Fairfax County History Commission pushed to keep the name Belvale for the neighborhood. The developer wanted to raze the house, but Edith Sprouse, then chairman of the commission, suggested that "the retention of old structures adds a perspective and flavor that is often lacking in a new development," according to county records... Legend among residents in the area tells of a ghost that haunts Belvale's grounds, particularly a cedar grove that once stood at the south end of the house. An article in the September 1964 Hollin Hills Bulletin, a newsletter from another Fairfax County community, said that the Johnston family sold the house to A.B. Weldeford in 1925 and that stories of the ghost emerged then. "On the second night of each month the ghost appeared in the grove south of the house. Under a tall cedar tree lies his body, that of a young man killed in a duel," the article said. Details of the duel are sketchy, but one version states that the man was a guest at Mount Vernon and was not happy with his place at the dinner table, so he "fought and died in a duel." Another version has the young man as a guest at Mount Vernon but attending a ball at Belvale and getting into a duel there, with "George Washington's assistance digging the grave" and planting the cedar tree. The tree was still on the property at the time of the article, which recounts both versions. The D.J. Richard family, which owned the house in 1964, claimed to have seen the ghost from the attic window. "At midnight, they climbed the attic stairs to catch a glimpse of the ghost from the south window, whereupon they clicked on the light switch and all the lights in the house blew out," the article said...


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Here follows a biography of George Johnston from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

George Johnston (September 3, 1702 – August 29, 1766) was a lawyer in Fairfax County, Virginia, while it was a British colony. He was twice elected to the House of Burgesses, in the assemblies of 1758-61 and 1761–65. On May 30, 1765, Johnston seconded Patrick Henry's speech advocating for resolutions against the Stamp Act. Johnston was elected to a third term, but died before the assembly reconvened. His portrait hangs to this day in the Fairfax County Courthouse. The Fairfax Co. manager of historical records believes that he is one of the "lost Founding Fathers" due to his early death. His death was reported in the Virginia Gazette on September 19, 1766.

He was first married to Margaret Thompson and had 3 children by her: Mary (married Rev. Lee Massey), Sarah (married Robert Harrison), and Peggy (married a Mr. Chattin). Johnston then married Sarah McCarty (c. 1724 - c. 1785), daughter of Major Dennis McCarty from Westmoreland County, Virginia. He had nine children by Sarah: George, William, Archibald, Hanaugh, Sarah Anne, Betty, Wilfred and Dennis McCarty J.. His son, Lt. Col George Johnston Jr. was Aide-de-camp and confidential military secretary to General George Washington from December 1776 until his death at Morristown, New Jersey, in May 1777.

As a burgess, Johnston made a motion to resolve the House into a committee of the whole, seconded by Patrick Henry, at which time their coalition brought forth a shocking series of resolutions now known as the Stamp Act Resolutions. The House of Burgesses was an aristocratic company of wealthy plantation owners and gentlemen, having long operated under a relaxed rule of 24 percent constituting a quorum. With only 39 members in attendance, Johnston's motion passed, and in the absence of the House's regular leadership, all five of the offered resolutions were adopted. The first four were adopted more quickly than the fifth, which required several hours of heated debate, and even after that, passed by only one vote. There is a tribute about him given by R. Walton Moore, that was published in the William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 2 (2), pp. 75-80 (April 1922). and the Alexandria Gazette.

George Johnston served as George Washington's attorney, and a trustee of the town of Alexandria, Virginia. At the time of his death, Washington succeeded Johnston to both positions. His son, George Johnston, served as a captain in the 5th Company, 15th Regiment of Virginia.

His Last Will & Testament was entered into Fairfax County, Virginia, records (Book B-1, pp. 432–4) on March 23, 1766, and has been transcribed. An inventory of his estate was also entered in Fairfax Co. records and is also transcribed.


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Here follows a biography of George Johnston, Jr. (son of the Belvale founder) as written by Samuel Fore at the Harlan Crow Library:

George Johnston was the eldest son of Sarah (née McCarty) and George Johnston, Sr. The senior Johnston was a prominent attorney who had represented George Washington in legal matters, as well as serving together in the Virginia House of Burgesses. The younger Johnston received a good education, read law and, on March 12, 1770, established himself as an attorney in Loudoun County, Virginia. As the rift widened between Great Britain and her North American colonies, Johnston sided firmly with the rebellion. A loyalist observer once remarked of Johnston that “Independence seems to be his favorite Scheme…” He was appointed to the Loudoun County Committee of Correspondence on June 14, 1774, often serving as the body’s clerk. With the outbreak of armed conflict the following year, however, Johnston took up arms and was appointed a Captain in the 2nd Virginia Regiment on September 21, 1775. The unit spent the following year screening and skirmishing with crown military forces in the southern Tidewater region of Virginia and Johnston fought with his company at the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9, 1775.

Due to his seniority and good standing, George Johnston was promoted to the rank of Major of the 5th Virginia Regiment on August 13, 1776, as the Virginia Line of the Continental Army grew. He joined his regiment in Pennsylvania several weeks later and, early in the morning of December 26, 1776, crossed the Delaware River with the Commander-in-Chief to rout the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. With the departure of an aide in early January 1777, George Washington queried his military secretary, Robert Hanson Harrison, if “Majr Johnston would not, in your opinion, make a good Aid de Camp to me?.. If you think Mr Johnston will suit me…I should prefer him; & therefore beg that he may be sent hither immediately.” George Johnston accepted and was “appointed Aide-De-Camp to the Commander in Chief” in General Orders on January 20, 1777. His time as a member of the Commander- in-Chief’s military family was short-lived. After a brief illness, George Johnston passed away on May 29, 1777 at Morris Town, New Jersey, “much regretted” by his Countrymen.


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Here follows another biography of George Johnston, Jr., as published in the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter by Carl Sell, Jr.:

(This is a story about a young man who grew up at Belvale on Telegraph Road in the mid 1760s, and joined the Revolutionary War effort in a leadership position that created the United States of America. He served as an aide-de-camp to his neighbor from Mount Vernon, General George Washington, for a short time before succumbing to an infectious illness at age 28 in May 1777. His gravesite remains a mystery.)

George Johnston, Jr., was fourteen years old in 1763 when his father bought 167 acres on Dogue Creek (Belvale) in Fairfax County from Ann Carpenter, who had inherited the land from her father, Richard Carpenter. The junior Johnston was the first child born to the union between George Johnston and Sarah McCarty of nearby Mount Air. The elder Johnston had been previously married to Margaret Thomson, who died at an early age. They had three children. Sarah would be pregnant with her eighth child when Johnston, Sr., died on August 31, 1766.

George Johnston, Sr., was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Fairfax County, when he died. He would be succeeded by George Washington of neighboring Mount Vernon. Johnston had served as Washington’s lawyer. The two first met when Johnston rented to a young Washington temporary space in his Winchester law office while Washington was surveying property on the “western frontier” of Virginia in the 1740s.

Belvale, located at 7701 Telegraph Road, was built in the mid 1760s by George Johnston, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Fairfax County. He died in 1766 and was succeeded by George Washington. The house remains standing today and is the home of Steve and Donna Vermillion. Johnston handled legal affairs for Washington, and Washington's diary mentions that fact as well as Johnston's having visited Mount Vernon. Johnston's son, George, Jr., grew up at Belvale and later served as Washington's aide in the Revolutionary War. He was with Washington when the General and his troops crossed the Delaware on December 26, 1775, to surprise and defeat a British garrison in Trenton, NJ. Johnston, Jr., became Washington's aide the following January, but died of camp fever five months later.

Although the copy of the deed for the land purchased by the elder Johnston mentioned buildings, the house known as Belvale probably was built shortly after the sale. And, no doubt young George was pressed into service as a laborer on the job. He was being schooled in law at the same time and opened a practice in Loudoun County on March 12, 1770.

As trouble brewed between Great Britain and her American colonies, young Johnston was firmly on the side of the rebellion. When war broke out in 1775, Johnston joined the Second Virginia Regiment as a captain in charge of the First Company on September 21. The First was composed of men from the counties of Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun. In all, the Second Virginia included seven companies that included 476 privates. Johnston fought in numerous skirmishes in Tidewater, Virginia, and the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9. The Americans were victorious in the battle for the narrow footbridge that crossed a branch of the Elizabeth River on the Great Dismal Swamp and opened the way to Norfolk and North Carolina. The British had built a fort protecting the crossing, but decided to attack a fortified force on the other side. The narrow bridge allowed only six men to march abreast, and they were easy marks for the American sharpshooters. As a result, the British retreated to ships anchored off Norfolk and conducted inland raids for the rest of the war until the British surrendered at Yorktown in 1781.

The following August after the success at Great Bridge, the Second Virginia joined the Continental Army under General George Washington, young Johnston’s neighbor back in Fairfax County. In the early morning of December 26, 1776, Johnston, by then a major, crossed the icy Delaware River in a cold wind with Washington’s column in longboats and routed a Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. The event remains one of the most memorable accomplishments of the Revolutionary War. In January 1777, there was a vacancy for an aide position on Washington’s staff, so he asked his military secretary, Robert Hanson Harrison, about Johnston. Washington asked Harrison: “I have heard Major Johnston is a Man of Education. I believe him to be a Man of Sense—these two are very necessary qualifications, but how is his temper? If Major Johnston would not, in your opinion, make a good Aid (sic) de Camp to me? If you think Mr. Johnston will suit me..I should prefer him; & therefore beg that he be sent hither immediately.* Harrison was married to George Johnston’s half sister, Sarah. Johnston immediately accepted the post and was appointed on January 27, 1777.

During the next few months, Johnston became interested in a young lady and wrote “In short, I can possess her, fortune and all if I please, but the times will not admit any Incumbrance (sic). These rascally redcoats may arouse me from her Embraces, perhaps for a colder object. Unfortunately, Johnston would come down with “camp fever,” a disease caused by exposure to the elements, poor diet, insect bites, etc. After a brief illness, Johnston died on May 29, 1777, at Morristown, New Jersey, a strategic site during the war that became known as the military capital of the American Revolution.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fairfax Genealogical Society website:

BELVALE SLAVE CEMETERY
7101 Telegraph Road (Route 611)
South Alexandria, Virginia USA

Original Information from Volume 5 of the Gravestone Books

“Belvale,” once the home of George Johnston, stands at 7101 Telegraph Road (Route 611). Johnston purchased 167 acres of land in 1763, and built a home there which remained in the Johnston family until 1925, according to a 1970 Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory of the site. Johnston, according to the survey, was a member of the Virginia Assembly from 1758 to 1766, and counted George Washington and Patrick Henry among his friends and colleagues.

The survey states that “there is a cemetery which may have been a slave burial ground” on the property. In 1970, the house stood on 49 acres of Johnston’s 167-acre purchase. Since that time the land around Belvale has been developed with single family homes. The location of the cemetery is not known.

No Updates from Volume 6 of the Gravestone Books


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2007 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

The Headless Horseman of Telegraph Road and Other Ghost Stories

“While doing research for the museum at the Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Library I read three slender books entitled “Snake Hill to Spring Bank”, Volume I-III. The books were local histories compiled by Groveton High School students during the 1970’s. Some of the stories involved ghosts and spooky happenings on Telegraph Road, Kings Highway, Stoneybrooke, and Hayfield. I thought that since this newsletter would be published sometime around Halloween it might be appropriate to include them. The following information was written by Edith Sprouse in 1975:” Researched by Jim Cox.

George Washington’s Ghost and Other Local Spirits

Belvale was another beautiful home on Telegraph Road. It’s still standing. It was built in 1763. It belonged to George Johnson, who was George Washington’s attorney. So, of course George Washington went there from time to time. George Johnson was also a close friend of Patrick Henry. They were political friends, and they discussed the situation during the upheaval of our birth of nation. Belvale had its ghosts too. The ghost is supposed to be of George Washington sitting in the library, on a sofa reading a book.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2008 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

Ghostly Happenings At Belvale On Telegraph Road
submitted by Jim Cox

Belvale was another beautiful home on Telegraph Road. It’s still standing. It was built in 1763. It belonged to George Johnson, who was George Washington’s attorney. So, of course George Washington went there from time to time. George Johnson was also a close friend of Patrick Henry. They were political friends, and they discussed the situation during the upheaval of our birth of nation. Belvale had its ghosts too. The ghost is supposed to be of George Washington sitting in the library, on a sofa reading a book.

This blurb was extracted from an interview with Dawn C. Fones, and was published in our Fall 2007 Newsletter The interview was published in “Snake Hill to Spring Bank”, Volume III, 1979. Last year the Washington Post published a story entitled “Where Lake Meets Legend, There’s Plenty Going On”. The article was published on April 28th, 2007, and had the following interesting and ghostly information about Belvale:

Mandt's house is on a court near the front of the community, where the original farmhouse still stands. The big white Belvale house dates to 1764. It has a steep roof, a parlor-type room to the side and pillars supporting a porch overhang at the front door. A Historic American Buildings Survey listing from 1970 says there was a "cemetery which may have been a slave burial ground" on the property, but there's no sign of that now.

The mansion was built for George Johnston, a friend of Patrick Henry and George Washington. Johnston was closely associated with the 1765 resolution opposing the Stamp Act. He died in 1766, possibly in the gun room of the house, according to documents in the Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Public Library.

In 1977, when the new community was being discussed, the Fairfax County History Commission pushed to keep the name Belvale for the neighborhood. The developer wanted to raze the house, but Edith Sprouse, then chairman of the commission, suggested that "the retention of old structures adds a perspective and flavor that is often lacking in a new development," according to county records.

Legend among residents in the area tells of a ghost that haunts Belvale's grounds, particularly a cedar grove that once stood at the south end of the house.

An article in the September 1964 Hollin Hills Bulletin, a newsletter from another Fairfax County community, said that the Johnston family sold the house to A.B. Weldeford in 1925 and that stories of the ghost emerged then.

"On the second night of each month the ghost appeared in the grove south of the house. Under a tall cedar tree lies his body, that of a young man killed in a duel," the article said.

Details of the duel are sketchy, but one version states that the man was a guest at Mount Vernon and was not happy with his place at the dinner table, so he "fought and died in a duel." Another version has the young man as a guest at Mount Vernon but attending a ball at Belvale and getting into a duel there, with "George Washington's assistance digging the grave" and planting the cedar tree. The tree was still on the property at the time of the article, which recounts both versions .

The D.J. Richard family, which owned the house in 1964, claimed to have seen the ghost from the attic window. "At midnight, they climbed the attic stairs to catch a glimpse of the ghost from the south window, whereupon they clicked on the light switch and all the lights in the house blew out," the article said.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Fall 2017 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

GEORGE JOHNSTON, JR., OF BELVALE
Written by Carl Sell

(This is a story about a young man who grew up at Belvale on Telegraph Road in the mid 1760s, and joined the Revolutionary War effort in a leadership position that created the United States of America. He served as an aide-de-camp to his neighbor from Mount Vernon, General George Washington, for a short time before succumbing to an infectious illness at age 28 in May 1777. His gravesite remains a mystery.)

George Johnston, Jr., was fourteen years old in 1763 when his father bought 167 acres on Dogue Creek (Belvale) in Fairfax County from Ann Carpenter, who had inherited the land from her father, Richard Carpenter. The junior Johnston was the first child born to the union between George Johnston and Sarah McCarty of nearby Mount Air. The elder Johnston had been previously married to Margaret Thomson, who died at an early age. They had three children. Sarah would be pregnant with her eighth child when Johnston, Sr., died on August 31, 1766.

George Johnston, Sr., was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Fairfax County, when he died. He would be succeeded by George Washington of neighboring Mount Vernon. Johnston had served as Washington’s lawyer. The two first met when Johnston rented to a young Washington temporary space in his Winchester law office while Washington was surveying property on the “western frontier” of Virginia in the 1740s.

Belvale, located at 7701 Telegraph Road, was built in the mid 1760s by George Johnston, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Fairfax County. He died in 1766 and was succeeded by George Washington. The house remains standing today and is the home of Steve and Donna Vermillion. Johnston handled legal affairs for Washington, and Washington's diary mentions that fact as well as Johnston's having visited Mount Vernon. Johnston's son, George, Jr., grew up at Belvale and later served as Washington's aide in the Revolutionary War. He was with Washington when the General and his troops crossed the Delaware on December 26, 1775, to surprise and defeat a British garrison in Trenton, NJ. Johnston, Jr., became Washington's aide the following January, but died of camp fever five months later.

Although the copy of the deed for the land purchased by the elder Johnston mentioned buildings, the house known as Belvale probably was built shortly after the sale. And, no doubt young George was pressed into service as a laborer on the job. He was being schooled in law at the same time and opened a practice in Loudoun County on March 12, 1770.

As trouble brewed between Great Britain and her American colonies, young Johnston was firmly on the side of the rebellion. When war broke out in 1775, Johnston joined the Second Virginia Regiment as a captain in charge of the First Company on September 21. The First was composed of men from the counties of Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun. In all, the Second Virginia included seven companies that included 476 privates. Johnston fought in numerous skirmishes in Tidewater, Virginia, and the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9. The Americans were victorious in the battle for the narrow footbridge that crossed a branch of the Elizabeth River on the Great Dismal Swamp and opened the way to Norfolk and North Carolina.

The British had built a fort protecting the crossing, but decided to attack a fortified force on the other side. The narrow bridge allowed only six men to march abreast, and they were easy marks for the American sharpshooters. As a result, the British retreated to ships anchored off Norfolk and conducted inland raids for the rest of the war until the British surrendered at Yorktown in 1781.

The following August after the success at Great Bridge, the Second Virginia joined the Continental Army under General George Washington, young Johnston’s neighbor back in Fairfax County. In the early morning of December 26, 1776, Johnston, by then a major, crossed the icy Delaware River in a cold wind with Washington’s column in longboats and routed a Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. The event remains one of the most memorable accomplishments of the Revolutionary War.

In January 1777, there was a vacancy for an aide position on Washington’s staff, so he asked his military secretary, Robert Hanson Harrison, about Johnston. Washington asked Harrison: “I have heard Major Johnston is a Man of Education. I believe him to be a Man of Sense — these two are very necessary qualifications, but how is his temper? If Major Johnston would not, in your opinion, make a good Aid (sic) de Camp to me? If you think Mr. Johnston will suit me... I should prefer him; & therefore beg that he be sent hither immediately.* Harrison was married to George Johnston’s half sister, Sarah. Johnston immediately accepted the post and was appointed on January 27, 1777.

During the next few months, Johnston became interested in a young lady and wrote “In short, I can possess her, fortune and all if I please, but the times will not admit any Incumbrance (sic). These rascally redcoats may arouse me from her Embraces, perhaps for a colder object." Unfortunately, Johnston would come down with “camp fever,” a disease caused by exposure to the elements, poor diet, insect bites, etc. After a brief illness, Johnston died on May 29, 1777, at Morristown, New Jersey, a strategic site during the war that became known as the military capital of the American Revolution.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Spring 2018 edition of the "Franconia Legacies" newsletter published by the Franconia Museum:

IN MEMORIAM
DONNA BELLE VERMILLION (1947 – 2018)

Donna and Stephen Vermillion were driving down Telegraph Road toward Hayfield in 1986 to look at a house for sale when they spotted an old estate home on the left-hand side of the road. It too was for sale, so they stopped, went in, and made a down payment before the day was over. It was love at first sight, just as it was for the couple 20-plus years earlier when they were youngsters living in Alexandria. Donna passed away on January 4, leaving Stephen with the historic Belvale and the beautiful memories.

Donna and Stephen both graduated from George Washington High School in Alexandria. He was a football and basketball star while she was a beautiful young cheerleader who was full of life and whose smile would light up any room she entered. Donna had moved to Alexandria from California when she was nine years old. She was born in Greensboro on March 25, 1947 and her parents were Harold and June Yarborough.

Stephen worked for the US Postal Service for 31 years, including carrying mail in the Franconia area out of a distribution center located in the back of Ward’s Corner, the collection of buildings that also included a store, restaurant, theatre, and other businesses located on Franconia Road at Old Rolling Road. The Franconia Museum includes a display featuring pictures and information about Ward’s Corner. Earlier, Stephen was a lifeguard at Meadowview Swim Club in Rose Hill.

Donna and Stephen had five children, sons Stephen Patrick, Jr., (Nancye), Sean Michael (Helen), Brent (Cindy), and daughters Ameri Belle Reif (Dave) and Leslie Terrazas (Louie). There are 10 grandchildren in order of birth: Zachary Terrazas, Catherine Vermillion, Allison Vermillion, Emily Vermillion, Sydney Terrazas, Claire Vermillion, Sarah Vermillion, Charles Vermillion, Mary Grace Vermillion, and David Vermillion. Donna also is survived by sisters Phyllis Yarborough and Tammy Rockefeller (Robert). A Celebration of Life was held in Donna Belle’s honor on Saturday, January 13, 2018 at Reality Church on Franconia Road, where Brent Vermillion is the pastor.

Donna and Stephen were the proud owners of Belvale, the oldest house still standing in the Franconia area. It dates back to the 1760s and was built by George Johnston, who was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses who served as George Washington’s legal advisor. Johnston is mentioned numerous times in Washington’s diaries, often in connection with legal issues.

The Vermillions maintained Belvale in excellent condition, and the view from Telegraph Road today looks like a colonial era painting. The house is nestled among a modern subdivision with a long front lawn stretching back from Telegraph Road. It was saved as part of the zoning case that approved the development of the Lake D’Evereux community. Look for the black mailbox with the numbers 7101 on Telegraph Road just before or after (depending which way you are traveling) Lake D’Evereux Drive. The house was a featured stop on the Museum’s 2016 summer tour.

It was Donna’s fondest desire that Belvale receive the historic recognition she and Stephen and others felt it so richly deserved. The Vermillions submitted an application to have the house placed on the National Register. Later, the Franconia Museum also made an application. Neither was acted upon favorably for reasons that are not clear to either the Vermillions or the Museum Board of Directors. The Museum is committed to continue trying so this gem in Franconia’s midst can take its place among our nation’s distinguished examples of American History.

The Fall 2016 edition of the Museum’s newsletter included a story about George Johnston, Jr., who crossed the Delaware with Washington and later became the General’s aide for a short time before dying of camp fever during the Revolutionary War.