Jasper Family Home (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the home once stood. No visible remains exist.


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William Jasper was probably born in 1808 as a slave on the plantation of William Hayward Foote. According to his will, Foote decided to free his slaves on or soon after his death in 1846. At this time Jasper, in his thirties, was valued by appraisers to be worth $350. Foote’s will also freed Jasper’s wife Sara, in her mid-twenties, and their two daughters who were six and four. They were actually freed in the early 1850’s. It is important to note that the Jaspers were free blacks in Virginia before the Civil War. But even as free blacks they faced numerous obstacles. The Jaspers wanted to stay in Virginia near friends and family, so in 1853 and 1858 they chose to register as free blacks in Fairfax County to prove that they were free. This meant they could travel and gain employment. In 1860 William Jasper purchased 13 acres of land near the Hayfield Plantation. It is likely that he put together the $200 to pay a white farmer and slave owner for the land from his work as a farmer.


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Here follows an article written by Sue Patterson in the Fall 2002 "Franconia Legacies" newsletter as published on the Franconia Museum's website:

Beneath the Laurels of Franconia
Prior to the Civil War, one former slave and two descendants of slaves settled in the Franconia area, laying the foundations for a small but thriving African-American Community in the late Nineteenth Century and the first part of the Twentieth Century. Although Thornton Gray, George Carroll, and William Jasper did not establish roots in the Franconia area until the 1850's, their ancestors had lived in slavery in the immediate vicinity since at least the late 1700's. Their ancestors, slaves of such august personalities as George Washington of Mt. Vernon and Lund Washington of Hayfield Farms, surely observed the unfolding events of our Nation's founding. In Franconia, the three free black Americans bought land, raised their children, and built a church and a school together -- establishing a community. The achievements of this community can still be seen today in the quaint Laurel Grove Baptist Church and School (a Museum now) along Beulah Street.

In the early 1880's African-American families in Franconia had no place to worship except in their homes or had to travel 10 miles to the city of Alexandria. William Jasper became tired of walking to Alfred Street Baptist Church and also, he did not want his family to walk to school or church. In 1881, he and his second wife Georgianna gave a half-acre to the school trustees of the Mount Vernon District, Fairfax County for a schoolhouse. In 1884, the Jaspers deeded another half-acre for the building of the Laurel Grove Baptist Church.

William Jasper, born between 1797 and 1811, was the son of Eliza and Morris Jasper. He nad his first wife, Sarah, born about 1823, were emancipated in November 1846, by the will of William Hayward Foote of Hayfield Farm. Foote was the foster son and nephew of Elizabeth Foote Washington, wife of Lund Washington. Sarah and William had at least six children. She was dead by 1869. William was registered as a free black in July 1853, and September 1858. He was a 5'6 1/2", black man with a scar on the back of the left hand and a scar on the ankle.

William bought 13 acres from Thompson Javins in November 1860, along Beulah Street (known as Windsor Road then). William married his second wife, Georgianna, on December 9, 1859, at the Virginia Theological Seminary. They had two children, Richard and Georgianna. William died in 1896 in Franconia. After his wife's death, the land went to their daughter, Georgianna. Her descendants recently sold the land to the Fried Properties for re-development into an office park.

Today the church and school remain. The Laurel Grove School Association and Fried Properties are restoring the school as a museum. The church and school's neighbors are office buildings, a shopping center and a residential development located on traffic-congested Beulah Street. Far removed from the open-air worship services held in a grove of Laurels. No more Bush Picnics are held ny hte congregation in the nearby woods, long gone.


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Here follows an excerpt from the Spring 2006 "Franconia Legacies" newsletter written by Jacqueline "Jac" Walker and published by the Franconia Museum:

Famous Franconians: WINNIE WALKER SPENCER
Winnie Walker Spencer was born in Franconia, Virginia. We wish to honor her as she celebrates her 98th birthday on March 22, 2006. She is the only surviving member of her immediate family and enjoys good health. She currently lives in Clifton, Virginia with her niece, Phyllis Walker Ford and her husband, Clifton Ford. Winnie had made her home on Walker Lane in Franconia which is now a development known as Metro Park. A neighbor, Arthur “Buddy” Nalls was the builder of her brick home and he fondly remembers Winnie’s homemade loaf of bread every week. Buddy’s mother, Mattie Nalls, and Winnie were very good friends.

Her grandparents, William and Georgianna Jasper were freed slaves who deeded one-half acre of their land to the Mt. Vernon School district in 1881. The Jaspers, along with their neighbors, built the one-room school located on Beulah Road, so that African American children in Franconia could be educated. Education was stressed by her parents, Maurice and Georgianna Walker and grandparents at an early age, so it was never a question as to Winnie’s future or to her four siblings, Dumont Sr., Van Dyke Sr., Alma and Geneva. Her father, Maurice Jenkins Walker, was known as “Jinks” to his many friends in Franconia and was highly respected by all who knew him. Winnie’s sister, Geneva Walker Jones, also an educator, passed away on September 16, 2005. She was born November 19, 1910 and was the youngest child. She retired from teaching at Wilton Woods School in 1977, after forty-two years in the classroom which she, like Winnie, was passionate about helping to educate her students for the future.

After her retirement, Geneva and Winnie decided to travel and see as much of the United States as possible. Most trips were by bus and done during the summer months. After a few years, they decided to try flying and taking a cruise on “a big ship.” Geneva enjoyed both; Winnie gave up flying after the first trip.

Winnie was one of four educational trailblazers honored by the Fairfax County Branch of the NAACP at their 60th Annual Freedom Fund and Awards Banquet on October 15, 2004. It was held at the Double Tree Hotel, Falls Church, Virginia. All four of them had been educators in Virginia, three in Fairfax County. The others were George Felton, Charles Price and Claiborne T. Richardson. (George Felton and Charles Price were teachers at Luther Jackson High School when Phyllis Walker was a student there). Winnie proudly displayed her perfect attendance certificate for 1916. Winnie was truly an inspiration to so many for her contributions and encouragement as an educator to young people over the years. She was often quoted to say “get an education and everything else will fall into place.”

It was also “Aunt Winnie” who encouraged me to capture in writing the history and stories from the Franconia families. She repeatedly said to me “Write it down, Write it down!” This was the encouragement I needed to get involved with the Franconia Museum.

Winnie had to walk to the train every day to travel from Franconia to Washington, D.C. to attend Armstrong High School. She could not let her friends at school know that she did not live in the city. From high school, she went to St. Paul’s Normal School, Lawrenceville, Virginia and on to Virginia State College in Petersburg, Virginia where she earned a B.A. teaching degree. She received her Master’s Degree from New York University.

Winnie taught for almost 40 years in elementary schools in Fairfax and Prince William County’s. She taught at Woodlawn Colored School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia and in Dumfries, Gum Springs, Vienna, and Bailey’s Cross Roads. She taught in segregated schools during her entire career. In the early years, she taught in two-room schools with potbelly stoves. She and her students made the fire, and often cooked soup or stew for lunch. She and her students endured many hardships. These included second hand books, little or no transportation for “colored” students and little county support for the schools. Parents and teachers provided what was needed so that students could receive a proper education. Winnie visited student’s homes and helped parents fill out administrative forms and other documents as required by the County. She remembers classroom visits by Superintendent W. T. Woodson and Supervisor Emma Moore. In her early years of teaching, one of the requirements of Fairfax County Public Schools was to complete a specified class each summer, which was not a requirement of the white teachers who were required merely to read a book.

The one-room school has been refurbished and is now the Laurel Grove School museum. Phyllis Walker Ford is the president of the school’s board of directors. She has been actively involved in creating a history lesson about the school that her ancestors helped build to educate African American Elementary students, which was operated from 1883 – 1933. If you have a story, a book, diploma, picture, article of clothing, a family photograph, anything pertaining to Laurel Grove or other local African American schools, please contact Phyllis Walker Ford. It is very fitting that this museum exists during Aunt Winnie’s lifetime. She played a big part in its heritage. Winnie’s family legacy in encouraging and promoting education will live on and on.