history’s stories
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM MONUMENT
OUR HERITAGE
A look at the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center collection
By Ralph “Tuffy” Hicks
venerable By John Reifenberg
Dr. Kurt Leidecker and I shared a common opinion that the Religious Freedom Monument is one of if not the most important monuments in the United States, for what actions it represents. We were friends up until his death in 1991 at the age of 89. He was a wellknown Professor at the University of Mary Washington and founder of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for the study of Religious Freedom. He was also the driving force in the relocation of the monument to its present-day location on Washington Avenue adjacent to the Mary Washington Monument in 1977. The Fredericksburg City Council in 1932 authorized the Monument to be built by local stonemason St. Clair Brooks, on George Street near the present War Memorial. There are two other monuments that are older, both of which are Jefferson’s tombstones. His original tombstone is so inscribed now located at the University of Missouri and his newer gravestone in Charlottesville at his home Monticello. Thomas Jefferson, Edmond Pendleton, Thomas Lee, George Mason and George Wythe met in Fredericksburg on January 13-17, 1777 with the intention of drafting a document for Religious Freedom for Virginia citizens. The document was to allow every man and woman the right to their own religious beliefs. It would take another nine years before the document would become a part of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom when it was voted on and passed by the Virginia General Assembly. The importance of this statute would be that it would become the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Thomas Jefferson always felt that this document along with drafting the Declaration of Independence and his founding of the University of Virginia his three greatest achievements during his life. Dr. Leidecker was very proud of the memorial and we together designed a medal for the 200th anniversary of the meeting in Fredericksburg. The medal was a limited edition of one-hundred cast by the local Wegner Metal Arts Foundry using the “lost wax process” in bronze. I have a Proof with the “0000” stamped on it number one was donated for display to the Fredericksburg Museum. There was a celebration with several hundred citizens and politicians in attendance. The City of Fredericksburg has a yearly event at the Monument with the local Knight of Columbus in attendance as they have done for many years. The celebration is an annual event in January each year. Visit the Monument it is easy to find and within walking distance of many local attractions. This is one monument that the entire United States should be proud of and it all began in Fredericksburg.
Venerable. The adjective is often tossed out. Many people and places of the region qualify for the moniker. As an example, all natives and many longtime residents fondly remember Fredericksburg Hardware. Knowledgeable, friendly service; and if you needed anything, they had it. Another, but current, institution: Roxbury Farm & Garden Center. In 1999, current manager Andy Lynn donated eight ledgers to the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center dating from 1929 to 1969. These caught my eye and being familiar with the place and some of the people, I looked closer. The Roxbury quest began without a clear agenda. The original idea was to provide a brief history of the Roxbury Farm & Garden Center by examining the ledgers and other “Roxbury” documents found at the Center. For many years, I had made the erroneous assumption that the current site was its only site. Therefore, I assumed that the 1929 ledger was for the current location. Shortly after opening a Pandora’s Box of disparate documentation, I asked General Manager Andy Lynn to come in for a sit down and help me sort through the labyrinth. He agreed, but after his departure, the footing was even less secure, as he provided me with a dizzying array of details. As for the businesses namesake, he mentioned a large farm in the region of Thornburg that was known as Roxbury. Searching the Center’s database produced many primary documents, and one of the first was an 1817 deed between Walker R. and Sarah Carter of the one part and Elizabeth H. Stanard of the other part for one eighth of a tract of land “lying and being in the County of Spotsylvania” and containing 1,534 acres, being known as “Roxbury”. Another document, of a nonprimary origin, indicates that Robert C.
Stanard, between 1825 and 1829, purchased previous Roxbury lands in order to bring it back to its former acreage. (I have purposely omitted certain other records in order to present an overview that I could understand and still be informative). Another Spotsylvania County court document from the archives, dated 1828, records a transaction between John Pratt Jr. of the County of Caroline and Robert Stanard for “an [illegible] interest in a tract of land called Roxbury situated in the County of Spotsylvania and containing fifteen hundred and eighty four acres”. Later, as recorded in 1852, a document was initiated in 1841 between the trustees of the Charity School of Fredericksburg and Robert G. Stanard. The document was recording a “mortgage ….and duly written to record…in the clerk’s office of Spottsylvania County Court conveying the tract therein mentioned called Roxbury”. (I did have to chuckle after reading the final paragraph of this document; “Reuben T. Thom Treasurer, by order of Trustees of Charity Scool of Fredericksburg”) The surface was barely scratched, and as can be seen through this brief inspection of the (mostly) primary documentation found in the Center, more questions arise than are answered. Lands are acquired, divided, reassembled, mortgaged, held as collateral, and more. With regret, I have yet to include any mention of the mill, or describe its location in the county. So please come by and initiate your own research into the story of “Roxbury”. Indeed, everyone is invited to the Center for a smorgasbord of gratifying research and enjoyment.
John Reifenberg is a CRHC Volunteer
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF FERRIS BELMAN & MARIE CATLETT
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It’s All Energy
Wayne Whitley, DDS by Joan M. Geisler
WHAT IF your heart disease, high blood pressure, aches, pains, brain fog, chronic fatigue, IBS and more could be alleviated without medication? WHAT IF your child’s behavior problems, ADD, ADHD, depression, anxiety, anger, cutting, could be alleviated without medication? WHAT IF the root cause to your worse disease, ailment or dysfunction was all due to your tongue partially blocking your airway and causing you or your child not to breath optimally? Is that not the most amazing thought? WHAT IF it was true? WHAT IF there was a doctor right here in Fredericksburg that you could go to see if indeed this was your problem? Dr. Wayne Whitley is your answer. “Our bodies are walking miracles. What the medical field views as ‘symptoms’ are really warning signs and signals that something is wrong with our body,” says Dr. Whitley., “ warning signs that something else was wrong and not the disease itself? What a paradigm shift in our health care system that would be?” Dr. Whitley found the ORAL SYSTEM BALANCING helped him alleviate many of his ‘diseases, symptoms and ailments.’ And he is passionate to help you too. He creates a mouth piece to realign your tongue to get it out of the way so you can breathe.
Dr. Whitely believes that these ‘diseases, ailments, symptoms’ are the result of the body simply finding a coping mechanism because it is not getting enough oxygen. When our bodies are under stress or destress it responds with dumping adrenaline and cortisol so we have the ‘energy’ to fight or flight. If our bodies are not breathing properly and not getting optimum oxygen the same thing happens. The heart rate will increase resulting in high blood pressure which then triggers a slew of other ailments. A constant dumping of adrenaline and cortisol will eventually make us anxious, hyper, angry leading to hypertension, depression, ADD, ADHD. All because we are not breathing correctly. Imagine our mouth and throat and tongue like the Springfield Interchange. If any one of those bridges were damaged all the cars would have to compensate in order to maintain the traffic flow. What would happen to the side streets? They would get overloaded and damaged by handling more traffic than they were designed to handle. Same as our body. When we do not breath correctly and optimally, our body has to compensate and body parts and organs that were not designed to function at such capacity begin to give signals that it needs help. The heart beats faster, the brain is starving of oxygen and get foggy, irritable, anxious, depressed. If you or someone you know are suffering from headaches, migraines, sinus issues, brain fog, chronic fatigue, snoring, grinding teeth, fibromyalgia, call Dr. Whitley for a free consultation. He will take an x-ray of your throat to see if your tongue is properly aligned. For more info call Dr. Whitley at 540993-1091. Watch the video testimonies on Dr. Whitley's website www.drwaynewhitley.com
EEM for your precious peepers by christina ferber
Images from EEM Class Handouts Our eyes are the window to our soul, and we want to keep them healthy. Stress, age, and simple overuse can impact our vision, but luckily Eden Energy Medicine offers ways to get and keep our precious peepers doing their job and feeling good while doing it. Energy needs to have space to move for us to be balanced, and the area around the eyes is no exception. Doing the Crown Pull regularly makes space for clogged energy to release and the blood to circulate more efficiently. Start with your thumbs on your temples and your fingertips in the middle of your forehead. With pressure, stretch your forehead by moving your fingers to your temples. Repeat at your hairline and move over your head until you reach the base of your neck. Pull across it, and place your fingers behind your shoulders, squeeze them and pull your fingers over to the front. Take a deep breath and pull your hands off. Rubbing and Palming the eyes is another way to increase blood and energy flow, and it also helps with how the brain processes visual signals. When you wake up, give your eyes a nice, gentle rub. This supports your eyes by working with a meridian that is involved in eye health. Next palm your eyes by rubbing both of your hands together and shaking them off. Without touching the eyes, slightly cup your palms and place the heel of your hand on your cheekbones with the tips of your fingers resting at your hairline. Place your thumbs at your temples and cross your pinky fingers in the middle of your forehead. Hold this for about 1 to 3 minutes. You can also relax the energies that go through the eyes by holding other points around them. Place your thumbs at the bottom of each cheekbone and your fingers over the tops of your eyebrows (see image). Hold this for a few deep breaths. Tracing figure eights between the
eyes, as well as within your visual field, can help increase eye coordination and communication between the eyes and the brain. Make this motion as if you are drawing a pair of glasses between both eyes. The Tibetan Eye Chart offers a natural way to correct vision and eye coordination. It was designed by Tibetan monks, and you can use it to strengthen your eye muscles to improve vision if used often. The chart is attached, however you may want a larger version, so I suggest searching the internet to print one. Place it on a wall with the center at the height of your nose. Trace the image with your eyes moving from one dot to the next in a clockwise motion, and then in a counterclockwise motion. Next, move your eyes from the center red dot down each arm to the black dots, and then back to the red dot. Do each of these exercises first from a distance of four to six inches, and then again from about three feet away. If you wear glasses, do each exercise with your glasses on first, and then with them off. Keeping your eyes healthy also involves being sure to attend to them throughout the day. Give them new things to look at, especially if a computer is part of your regular scenery. Shift often from focusing on close things and things farther away. Move your head and scan the area with your eyes to keep them moving. There are amazing things to look at in this world of ours. Do these exercises regularly and hopefully, you can keep your eyes working so that you can continue to appreciate the scenery around us.
Christina Ferber is a Certified Eden Energy Medicine Practitioner. You can find out more atwww.itsallenergywellness.com
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