Next in our revived Lecture Series:
 

 “Lovettsville’s Hidden History:

Mount Sinai Church and Cemetery"

Presented by the Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery 
Sunday,  April 3, at 2:00 p.m.

 
During April, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors is expected to decide on measures to preserve and protect the Mount Sinai Free Will Baptist Church and Cemetery site, which is located at the intersection of Mountain Road and Britain Road, southwest of the town of Lovettsville. This is the result of an initiative presented jointly by Phyllis Randall, the Chair of the Board of Supervisors, and Caleb Kershner, the Catoctin District Supervisor, last November.  The initiative asked the Board to have County staff look into options for either acquiring the cemetery property, or to take other measures to preserve and protect the historic property. It is likely that the staff recommendations will be presented to the full Board at its April 19 business meeting.

On April 3, the Lovettsville Historical Society will present the story of the Mount Sinai Church – organized in 1883 as a mission of the Free Will Baptists at Storer College in Harpers Ferry – and its cemetery. 

The cemetery was in use from at least 1887 until the 1950s, and as many as 100 people could be buried there.   We will also tell the stories of some of the families who are asssociated with Mount Sinai, and we will discuss the efforts now being made to restore and preserve this hidden gem of Lovettsville history.

Speakers will include the founders of the Family & Friends of Mount Sinai Cemetery:

·       Claudette Bard, a trained genealogist, will present her findings of some of the families who have members buried at Mount Sinai, including the following families: Curtis, Redman, Paris, Morgan, and Young. She will also talk about Henry Howard, a Lovettsville Delegate to the 1883 “Colored Mass Meeting” which demanded civil rights for Loudoun’s black citizens.

·       Howard Gilbert Timbers has studied his ancestor Pvt. Samuel Timbers, who served with the 29th U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War, and who is buried at Mount Sinai.  Private Timbers served in the latter phase of the War, at Petersburg, Richmond, Appomattox, and then in Texas along the Mexican border.

·       Edward Spannaus has been studying the history of Mount Sinai – how it was founded as a mission of the Free Will Baptists who also founded Storer College in Harpers Ferry, and how the property was eventually sold off and abandoned.

This event will be held both in-person at the Lovettsville Town Council Chambers, and will be streamed online via Zoom.  The Zoom link will be sent out a few days before the lecture. To request the Zoom link, please RSVP to events@LovettsvilleHistoricalSociety.org .The Council Chambers are located in the old Town Hall, which is directly behind the Lovettsville Museum.

The program is free and open to the public, but donations and are welcome to defray expenses of the program.

Nearby (virtual & in-person) events of interest:

EXHIBITS

April 1 - 30. Thomas Balch Library Exhibit: “ Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum.” Thomas Balch Library, 208 W Market St., Leesburg. call 703-737-7195 or email balchlib@leesburgva.gov for more information.

April 2 through July 31 – “Danny Lyon: Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.” Features 57 photographs documenting the Civil Rights Movement by Danny Lyon, a giant of post-WWII documentary photography and film. The exhibition will include photographs made by Lyon as he traveled the South and Mid-Atlantic regions from 1963 to 1964 as the first staff photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a national group of college students who joined together after the first sit-in by four African American college students at a North Carolina lunch counter. Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst St, Winchester, VA 22601 www.theMSV.org

 
LECTURES, SEMINARS, TOURS & OTHER EVENTS:
 
Friday, April 1, at 7:00 p.m. – “Grant and the Lieber Code” (virtual event) Sponsored by the Civil War Round Table Congress. Living historian Dr. Curt Fields, as General Ulysses S. Grant, will discuss the origins and implementation of the Lieber Code. According to the Library of Congress, the Lieber Code, named after its main author Francis (Franz) Lieber, set out rules of conduct for Union soldiers during the U.S. Civil War. Even today, it remains the basis of most regulations of the laws of war for the United States, and it inspired other countries to adopt similar rules for their military.  Register here.

Monday, April 4, at 7 p.m. – "A Black Family at the Battle of South Mountain" with Emily Amt. Very few firsthand accounts survive of African American experiences during the Civil War in Western Maryland. One of them comes from the family of Rev. Daniel Ridout, an A.M.E. preacher for Frederick and Washington Counties. Living in Hancock at the beginning of the war, and then outside Burkittsville, the Ridouts had many adventures before the Battle of South Mountain, which happened literally in their front yard. This talk will look at how the Ridout family--mother, father, and children--experienced the years 1859 to 1862, and especially the invasion of Maryland and the Battle of South Mountain. We'll also learn about one of the Ridout sons who joined the United States Colored Troops. This lecture will be held in person in Community Room 308/309 and livestreamed on the Library's YouTube channel. The link can be found on the Library website home page. Washington County Free Library, 100 South Potomac Street, Hagerstown, MD 21740

Thurs., April 7, at 10 a.m. – “Researching Court Records.” Jeanette Irby, Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge and former Leesburg Town Attorney, will will discuss how to use court records and other resources for data that are frequently overlooked in genealogical and historical research. She will demonstrate how to mine court records for clues that can be used to collect information for genealogical research. Examples of these records include real estate records, chancery suits, estates, and indexes. Lower level meeting room at Thomas Balch Library, 208 W. Market Street, in Leesburg. Pre-registration is required for this event. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov, or register online.

Mon., April 11, at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Historic Encounters Days are a series of hands-on-history events for students, families, and homeschool groups at the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum. The April 11 program is Technology/STEM: Learn about technology through the ages and see simple machines in action. To learn more or to register, please visit the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum website. This program is made possible in partnership with Claude Moore Park and the Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum.

Wed. Apr. 13, at 7:00 p.m. – “One That Got Away” with Doug Perks. West Virginia became the 35^th U.S. State during the Civil War. Although not among the original 44 counties in the new state, there was a provision in the West Virginia Constitution that created a pathway for Jefferson County to join the state. Why did West Virginia want Jefferson County, and how did Jefferson leave Virginia? Doug Perks is the Historian for Elmwood Cemetery, the Jefferson County Museum, and the Jefferson County Historical Society. He writes the column “History Matters” for the Spirit of Jefferson. The program is free and open to the public, but we encourage you to reserve and attend the dinner to help out the CWRT and our host facility. The family-style dinner this month will consist of fried chicken and baked beans with all the sides for only $20, payable at the door. You must reserve your dinner by Sunday, April 10 by contacting Chris Craig at ccraig@laurellodge.com. Dinner at 6:30 pm, (7 pm for the program) at Camp Hill United Methodist Church, 601 Washington Street, Harpers Ferry, WV.

Fri., April 15, at 1:00 p.m. – “Love and Duty” Livestream. Director of Education John Lustrea will talk with author Dr. Angela Elder about her forthcoming book Love and Duty. Elder will relate stories of Confederate widows and how their losses changed their relationship to the Confederacy after the Civil War ended. Elder is an Assistant Professor of History at Converse University. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a Ph.D in History, she became the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Tech. Her dissertation, which explored the experience of Confederate widowhood, won the Southern Historical Association’s C. Vann Woodward Dissertation Prize and St. George Tucker Society’s Melvin E. Bradford Dissertation Prize in 2017. This is a virtual program hosted by the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. You can tune in by visiting youtube.com/user/nmcwm at the scheduled time.

Thurs., April 21, at 7:00 p.m. – “McDowell’s Plan for First Bull Run,” Frederick County Civil War Roundtable Meeting. Harry Seltzer presents “McDowell’s Plan for First Bull Run,” examining the expectations and intentions of Brigadier General Irvin McDowell for the campaign which culminated in the battle of July 21, 1861. Through the use of existing and easily available primary documents and military theory of the day, the program argues that the traditional interpretation of McDowell’s “plan” and the reasons for its failure is at odds with the evidence, and is based in large parts on facts not in evidence. Free for members, $5 suggested fee for non-members. National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 48 East Patrick St., Frederick, MD 21701.

Wed., April 27, at 1:00 p.m. – “Congo, the Miserable Expeditions and Dreadful Death of Lt. Emory Taunt, USN,” Luncheon Lectures with Andrew Jampoler (VIRTUAL EVENT). Former Navy Lieutenant Emory Taunt’s third time in the Congo, as the first resident American diplomat in equatorial Africa, ended in January 1891 with his death along the great river, the familiar fate then of many Europeans in King Leopold’s private estate. His life and times at the end of that century open a window today on the tragic history of this deeply troubled nation. This is a virtual event. Pre-registration is required. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov, or register online: http://tinyurl.com/TBLEvents