Descendants of historic families lend authenticity to marker dedication

Descendants of people who lived around here
during the Civil War and before came to the dedication of a historic marker Oct. 20 in
Mason District Park in Annandale.

The interpretive sign describes several events of historical significance
that happened in the area. Mason’s Hill, which was located near where the Mason
District Government Center is now, was important because of its strategic elevation.
JEB Stuart had an outpost at Mason’s Hill, and there was an observation tower
allowing his men to keep an eye on Washington, D.C.

“Fairfax County was forever changed by the Civil War,” said
Frank Vajda, the Mason representative on the Fairfax County Park Authority Board. “Throughout Virginia and the South, small places such as this played
large and significant roles in the outcome of this heroic conflict.”

The new interpretive sign in Mason District Park and others throughout the
county are part of a larger project to educate the public about the historical
significance of this area during Fairfax County’s observance of the
sesquicentennial of the Civil War. The signs will be listed on maps
and guidebooks produced by Civil War Trails.

Having a site listed on the Civil War Trail means it will
bring history tourists to the area who are likely to eat in Annandale
restaurants and otherwise support the local economy, said Patrick Lennon, chair
of the
Fairfax County Civil War 150th
Anniversary Planning Committee.

Mason’s Hill was owned by Murray Mason (1709-77), the
grandson of Founding Father George Mason and son of John Mason, a U.S. senator,
said Naomi Zeavin, who represents the Mason District on the Fairfax County
History Commission.

A couple of direct descendants of Timothy Bishop Munson, who
owned a farm at Munson’s Hill, spoke at the dedication ceremony. Julie Munson
described how her ancestor had to flee temporarily for opposing slavery and
supporting Lincoln’s campaign for the presidency. His daughter, Lucy, met with Lincoln in the White House to tell the president about the destruction of property by the Confederates. Lincoln wrote a letter recommending her for a job with the federal government.
Even with that recommendation, though, she didn’t get the position.

Mary Munson Root, also a descendant of Timothy Bishop Munson,
described how John Mosby, the “Gray Ghost,” raided Munson’s Hill on Sept. 25,
1863. Mosby’s Raiders searched the house looking for Munson, and mistakenly
captured his son, Daniel, instead. There was a skirmish in Falls Church, and
Daniel was able to escape and go home.

Jimmy Fleming, a noted Mosby portrayer, was there, too, with his
horse, Willie. Mosby didn’t have a special horse; he “borrowed” horses from
farms as he needed them, Fleming said.

The Munson house was torn down in 1962 to make way for the Munson Hill Towers apartment complex on Leesburg Pike.

Samuel Bailey, the fifth-generation great grandson of
Hachaliah Bailey (1775-1845), the original “Bailey” of Bailey’s Crossroads,
also spoke at the ceremony. Hachaliah moved from New York to Virginia
because he needed a place where the circus he had founded could spend the
winter.

In 1837, he purchased a 320-acre farm for $6,000. The house, near the intersection of what is now Columbia
Pike and Leesburg Pike, had 100 rooms, Bailey said. It burned down in 1952 after
being vacant for a number of years.

Bailey, a resident of Frederick, Md., brought to the ceremony a large
engraving showing Lincoln’s Grand Review of the Troops, which took place in Bailey’s
Crossroads in 1861. Bailey said his ancestor supported the North during the
Civil War, and Union soldiers stayed at the farm, although his son was drafted
into the Confederate Army.

Bonnie Fairbank, wearing a hoop skirt and seven layers of
clothing, usually portrays Martha Washington in Colonial Williamsburg, but appeared
at the Mason Hill ceremony as Annie Clark of the historic Clark House on
Columbia Pike. In the midst of the Civil War “Annie took care of everyone,”
providing food and care for the wounded soldiers on both sides, said
Fairbank, although she probably favored the Rebels.

Fairbank, a native of Annandale and a graduate of Annandale
High School, called historic markers “magic markers” that keep history alive
for schoolchildren “when so much of our heritage is being lost every day.”