Stafford Magazine | February/March 2024

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INSIDENOVA

Local club helps dogs find and keep homes

LOCAL VOLUNTEER WINS STATE HONOR

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CONTENTS

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www.staffordmagazine.com Stafford Magazine is published every other month and distributed to over 9,000 selected addresses. While reasonable care is taken with all material submitted to Stafford Magazine, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage to any such material. Opinions expressed in articles are strictly those of the authors. While ensuring that all published information is accurate, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any mistakes or omissions. Reproduction in whole or part of any of the text, illustrations or photographs is strictly forbidden. ©2024 Rappahannock Media LLC.

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AMAZING KIDS

The Gift of Time UMW graduate earns state volunteer award

10

COMMUNITY

More Than a Cart Art classes land permanent home in Stafford

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NONPROFIT COVER STORY

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Puppy Love

ON THE COVER:

Local club helps dogs find and keep homes

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BUSINESS

The Spice of Stafford Always Flavored offers locally sourced hot sauces

22

VOICES

Who was Margaret Brent?

Members of the Stafford Dog Club gathered recently at their facility with their canine friends. From left to right: Bob Brooks with Ashley, Victoria Lewon with Baylee, Jerome Foreman with Jordi, Jessica Maybar, with Ken Schultze’s dog Mickey, Ken Schultze with Sunny, and Jacinta and Patrick D'Silva with Stormi. Photo by Doug Stroud.

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AMAZING KIDS

The Gift of Time UMW graduate earns state volunteer award

BY TR ACY BE LL

Meghan McLees received the 2023 Outstanding Young Adult Volunteer Award from the governor’s office for her work with a variety of nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity.

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rom tutoring students and building houses to helping animals and the homeless, Meghan McLees and her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed – even by Virginia’s governor.

That’s why the University of Mary Washington graduate received a state award for her extraordinary volunteerism – something that’s more of a way of life than a whim. McLees, who did much of her volunteer work with Stafford County organizations, received the 2023 Outstanding Young Adult Volunteer Award from the Virginia Office of the Governor.

“Meghan is a great role model with a wonderful combination of passion for making the world a better place and organizational skills,” said Sarah Dewees, UMW’s director of community engagement, who nominated McLees for the award.

At UMW, McLees was known for her civic generosity, but her kindness spread beyond the campus to people and organizations all over. Stafford Junction, a nonprofit that helps families in poverty, was one of many places McLees made her mark.

One day, she logged into a Zoom call to tutor an elementary school student in the organization’s Brain Builders program, which connects tutor-mentors with students in need. But when she saw the boy’s face on the screen, she sensed something was wrong. Without missing a beat, McLees adjusted the planned lesson to an educational game.

“We just did that the whole time, and we talked about his day,” McLees said. “He was having a hard time at school.”

McLees graduated from UMW last May, but that day and others like it were a turning point – creating clarity about her career path. She is from the Midlothian area of Richmond and is now working on a graduate degree in counseling at the University of Maryland.

According to Serve Virginia, which

promotes and supports volunteerism in the state, McLees racked up more than 108 documented service hours last year.

About 60 of those were at Stafford Junction – and even after she graduated from UMW, McLees recruited plenty of other college students to serve there as volunteers. She also volunteered as a tutor and mentor at the Thurman Brisben Center, a homeless shelter in Fredericksburg.

While at UMW, McLees’ calendar was

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full as she involved herself in numerous service groups and projects on and off campus. She helped build and fix up homes for Habitat for Humanity, led more than 100 fellow students in a service group, weeded community gardens, picked up litter, cleaned cages at the local SPCA and created fundraisers for more projects.

McLees remained active volunteering even during early uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UMW, where her assistance helped revive a few service programs that had stalled.

Kasey Morello, an office manager and honors program coordinator for UMW’s community engagement department, said she knew McLees to be “dedicated to her volunteer work, enthusiastic about tackling new challenges and full of intellectual curiosity.”

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She’s a hard worker and creative problem solver, Morello said, and someone who is especially thoughtful about addressing social problems.

In the fall, McLees and Virginia’s other top volunteers were presented their awards at the Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Awards ceremony at the governor’s mansion in Richmond.

“The resilience, generosity and commitment of these volunteers exemplify the best of Virginia,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said during the event. “Each honoree has made an impressive impact in their community and made life better for Virginians.”

The awards program, now 30 years old, spotlights extraordinary efforts of individual volunteers and organizations. According to Serve Virginia, more than 2.2 million Virginians volunteer each year – about 34% of the state’s residents. This totals more than 231 million hours of service and an estimated $5.5 billion in economic impact.

Volunteers like McLees “set an example for what the power of volunteering can accomplish and inspire others to act” said Cliff Yee, chairman of the Virginia Governor’s Advisory Board on Service and Volunteerism.

Danny Avula, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Social Services, said the honorees are “exemplary people,” “an inspiration to us all” and they “ensure a better tomorrow” for our communities and the state.

Tracy Bell is a freelancer who lives in Stafford County.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Meghan McLees volunteered at a local food bank.

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Art classes land permanent home in Stafford

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Stephanie Cox’s ArtCartKids is now located in a renovated house on Bells Hill Road.

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tephanie Cox used to bring her art classroom to the kids. But now, at a renovated house on Bells Hill Road on an idyllic 2-acre lot, she at last has a fulltime home for her courses.

“The minute I stepped in the door, I knew this was the place I wanted for our art studio,” Cox said, standing in front of the 1957 house she closed on last summer. It’s indistinguishable from its neighbors except for the ArtCartKids logo in its front window.

“My goal has always been to provide a place where kids can be safe and they’re not judged,” she added. “They can create

whatever they want to create and build the confidence they need to be creators.”

Cox, too, has fashioned a rather unique path. She taught elementary school in California for years before moving to Virginia and teaching at Prince William Academy. Cox started the Art Cart Mobile Art Studio in 2019, while still teaching at the school, in Woodbridge. But the Interstate 95 commute proved onerous, especially after she bought a home in Stafford.

Cox set up shop in Stafford so that the parents of her students don’t have to drive their children all the way into

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Fredericksburg or Prince William.

“There was no way I could be a parttime teacher over there and run a full-time business and be able to make my mortgage,” she said. “But it was a good place to cut my teeth, so to speak. I created lessons and saw how the kids would do. [Now] I bring it to the studio.”

At Art Cart Kids Enrichment Studio, students from ages 3 to 17 can take classes as well as engage in “open studio sessions” to encourage their expressivity in a variety of media. In the “living room” of the house – Cox does not live there – supplies for

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artistic endeavors are evident, from egg cartons and sketch pads to pencils and markers in every shade. The house also saves Cox the trouble of carting all of her supplies to various classrooms, as she did previously.

“Because everything is here, the art takes on a whole new level of their creativity and their own personalization of it,” she said of her students. “Because one will say, ‘Do you have any felt?’ Yep, I got felt. ‘Do you have any yarn?’ Yes. I got yarn!”

CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS Cox formerly worked with Stafford County Parks and Recreation to deliver classes, held at a local coffee shop and gym. When that gym closed, Cox settled on the house as the permanent home for Art Cart Kids. Thanks to her community connections, she was able to quickly get county signoff on zoning considerations. At the grand opening last year, Stafford County Supervisor Monica Gary welcomed Cox and the school to the neighborhood.

In addition to students’ work hanging in the studio, Cox has placed images of famous artists, such as Frida Kahlo. This connects her students to those who came before – and leads to some rather humorous interchanges, such as when Cox asked a class to make something based on the work of still-living artists.

“When I taught first grade in California, I asked ‘Who wants to be an artist when they grow up?’ And this one kid said, ‘I don’t; they

all die!’” Cox said, followed by a hearty laugh.

Cox also offers art camps and seasonal workshops. Her studio was festive in December, with holiday ornaments in the shape of Frank Lloyd Wright and Diego Rivera bedecking the studio’s tree.

County rules allow Cox to operate the home as a commercial business but limits the number of in-person students to 11 at any one time.

“I found that I was pulling in more kids than I did when I was mobile,” she said.

“So the business is catching on, and it is blooming.”

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES Cox is proud of the diversity of her students, and many have special needs. She has also been working with Stafford Junction, a local nonprofit that delivers educational afterschool activities. Cox happens to have as a student the daughter of Myriam Brown, executive director of Stafford Junction, which helped the two women develop a combined mission statement.

Brown’s daughter, an only child who has dealt with social anxieties, had tried soccer and various other activities without success.

However, she connected with Cox’s artistic courses, which allowed her creativity to

flourish in a supportive environment.

Brown saw an opportunity to help other kids as well.

“One day, I observed a group of children who looked very focused as they worked on some drawings,” said Brown. The Junction’s field manager, Greg Minor, had placed a small plant in the center of the table and asked them to draw it.

“They were creating their art pieces with

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Want more? For more information, or to sign up for classes, visit www.artcartkids.com Eric Althoff is a freelance writer who lives in Stafford County.

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such focus, joy, and calmness…I needed to get these children involved with Stephanie and Art Cart Kids. These children did not have the same opportunities my daughter had to explore their talent and creativity outside of school.”

Cox said everyone should be able to engage in art and noted that Brown quickly found 11 Stafford Junction kids to bring to the eight-week session. She believes the

collaboration with Stafford Junction will continue to be fruitful.

“The children love having a warm, inviting, safe space with all the tools they need to fully immerse themselves in art,” Brown added. “Art is a fantastic way to allow these children to relax, create memories and improve their mental health while developing their talents.”

Cox hopes to eventually add music and dance instruction, turn the basement into another educational space and library and potentially put another building on the same property. Keeping the operation funded is a constant concern.

“At the end of every class, whether it’s homeschool or painting class or whatever, the kids stand in front of the fireplace and we take a group photo,” Cox said. “I really want it to be an ‘enrichment center’ because Stafford County really doesn't have a lot of afterschool activities for kids.

“And we need it. We have a lot of kids, and they need stuff to do.”

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PUPPY love Local club helps dogs find and keep homes

BY T R ACY B EL L

A

“small but mighty” group of dog lovers is working to help pups find homes and keep them by encouraging training and building rapport between humans and their pets.

Victoria Lewon, a North Stafford resident and president of Stafford Dog Club, said that in the past 18 months, the club has hosted dog-adoption events, inviting animal shelters and rescue groups to participate.

Separately, it holds affordable dog-training sessions at its Mountain View Road facility to bond people with their dogs and reduce the chance that people give up on their animals.

Shelters are overrun with animals, Lewon explained, and many that do find homes end up being returned.

“It’s a crisis,” said Lewon, 75.

“I hope people love them, train them and don’t return them. If you can potty-train a child, you

can train a dog. They will give you back twice the amount of love you give. So anything we can do to encourage the love, care and support of an animal, we want to do that.”

Stafford Dog Club, established in 2005, has been a fixture in Lewon’s life ever since. It currently has 27 members of all ages, backgrounds and professions, united by their love of dogs.

“It takes up a lot of my time, but I love it,” said Lewon, in her fourth year as president.

She said her husband, Thad, typically assumes she’s doing something with the dog club if he doesn’t see her around the house.

“He loves dogs and he’s a big help,” she said. “He loves them as much as I do.”

The couple – together more than 40 years – has a 7-year-old chocolate lab mix named Baylee and a 5-year-old golden retrieverBrittany mix named Bella.

Over the years they’ve had

The Stafford Dog Club holds several adoption events each year. four dogs pass away, which is difficult, Lewon said, but dogs bring so much joy that they fill their lives with them again.

Lewon said she’s always had two dogs, even when the couple’s children were small, because it’s what they can comfortably handle. But when adoption events are on the horizon, Lewon said her husband still makes her swear she won’t bring home any more dogs.

DOG PARK ON THE WAY Local dogs and their humans are sure to be delighted when Mountain View Dog Park opens.

The long-awaited, 2-acre dog park is planned to be, well, the cat’s meow for dogs.

A groundbreaking was held in the fall for the park, at 2125 Mountain View Road near Margaret Brent Elementary School and Mountain View High School. It is set to open this summer.

Stafford Dog Club members Jessica Maybar, handling Ken Schultze’s dog, Mickey; Bob Brooks with Ashley; Jerome Foreman with Jordi; Victoria Lewon with Baylee; Ken Schultze with Sunny, and Jacinta and Patrick D’Silva with Stormi.

PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD

The dog park is designed to serve the northern end of the county, according to Stafford County’s community engagement department, but everyone and their dogs are welcome.

ADOPTION EVENTS AND MORE

Adoption events – a big focus for the club – will next be held June 8 and Sept. 14, typically with about seven or eight animal-rescue groups, at no charge to them. The club also brings in vendors, both dog-related and otherwise, who pay $15 to $20 for the day. Prior events have included a raffle and demonstrations from the sheriff ’s office K9 force.

The events are held outdoors, weather permitting, at 2945 Mountain View Road, a more than 100-year-old building near Willowmere Park and a former meeting spot for local Ruritans.

The dog club started meeting there so dogs could attend, too. Before that, the club met at a library or at members’ homes.

A BETTER TRAINED DOG IS MORE APT TO BE KEPT IN THE THAN SENT TO A SHELTER

home

Now, it pays electricity at the building in exchange for meeting there and maintaining it, said Lewon, noting the building is in the midst of renovations.

The nonprofit has had as few as four or five members over the years and as many as 35.

“Some come and go,” Lewon said. “We are few, but we are mighty.”

Professional dog trainer Laurie Williams, who owns Pup ’N Iron Canine Enrichment Center in Stafford, started the Stafford Dog Club. She is known for appearing with her Maltese, Andrew, on the reality show, “Greatest American Dog,” and ultimately moved on from the club, but Lewon said early club members kept it going.

Along with adoption fairs, the club hosts a small bingo

night once a month at its facility, which can hold about 35 attendees. The club also attends community events, socializes with its dogs, educates the public about dog ownership and provides dog training to the community.

TRAINING BREEDS SUCCESS

In addition to adoption events, the Stafford Dog Club holds regular training sessions at its facility on Mountain View Road.

Ken Schultze, a North Stafford resident and vice president of the dog club, joined in 2016 and has two dogs – Mickey, a black lab-pointer mix and Sunny, a yellow lab-pit bull mix. Both are about 7 or 8 years old, he said.

A self-described “jack of all trades,” Schultze assists as a dog trainer for the club, but training is led by the club’s “very knowledgeable” trainer, Lynne Balch.

At a club Christmas show, under Balch’s training, one of the dogs was deemed the narrator and dressed to the nines in a tuxedo. The dog did not move for the whole show, Schultze said.

For $95, including a training leash and collar, owners can have their dog take one of the club’s sevenweek, one-hour classes – either basic, or a step up, novice. Each class teaches proper leash walking and basic commands such as heel, sit, come, stay and wait.

“We feel it is important in our community to develop a rapport with our dogs, and … a

better trained dog is more apt to be kept in the home than sent to a shelter,” Lewon said.

Schultze’s dog, Sunny, and her sister came from an abusive background, he said, pointing out another reason to help dogs find proper, loving homes.

Schultze hopes the club’s adoption events help rescues and shelters.

“Come check out some dogs,” he said, “and hopefully some dogs get to find homes.”

Anyone with an interest in dogs is also welcome to join the dog club, even those living outside of Stafford. Junior members are welcome but must have an adult with them.

The club also holds special events, including festive Halloween and Christmas parties – complete with dogs in costume and dog gift exchanges where pups take turns using their keen sense of smell to sniff out which presents they want.

Lewon would like to see the club increase its membership including attracting more junior members and their dogs – and potentially having their own class to help them bond with their dogs.

“This club is very dear to me,” she added, “and to see that it has lasted as long as it has – we are very proud of it.”

Tracy Bell is a freelancer who lives in Stafford County.

MORE INFORMATION Location: 2945 Mountain View Road Next training sessions begin: Basic, Feb. 17; novice, Feb. 18.

Monthly meetings: First Saturday of every month, 11 a.m.

Membership fees: $40 per person/year or $50/year for a family Bingo: Third Saturday of every month, starting at 6:30 p.m. (dogs not allowed).

Contact: Visit stafforddogclub.org or email stafforddogclub@gmail.com

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BUSINESS

Y

The Spice of Stafford Always Flavored offers locally sourced hot sauces STORY AN D P HOTOS BY ERIC ALT HOF F

ou can be forgiven for not having noticed the Always Flavored hot sauce store and deli along Princess Anne Street in Fredericksburg. The specialty retailer sits in the same parking lot as the Inn at the Old Silk Mill and across the street from a Hardee’s.

But because foot traffic can be a problem, owners Rita and Chris Witte are just as likely to be found out and about in the Stafford County area, enticing one person at a time to sample such spicy sauces as Ritebeata’s PeriPeri and the Wrath of Rita.

“We had our home garden, as [many people] did during COVID,” Rita said during an interview at the shop. “I literally had too many jalapenos and serranos in the garden. I’d never made hot sauce in my life and just decided to make it.

“And, being the marketing person I am, I [told people] ‘Come try it!’”

Witte was already intimately familiar with food service by the time she graduated from high school. Her father was a food service director in the Marine Corps, and

she became a general manager at age 18.

Her father tried to steer her from food service, so Witte earned degrees in business administration and marketing. But food kept calling her as a career.

“I love bringing people together with food,” she said. “I love creating new things – and the fun that it creates within an environment.”

Rita and Chris, a fellow New Jersey native, met while working at a Taco Bell where Rita was the general manager. The couple, realizing they couldn’t afford a home in New Jersey, bought a house in Stafford, near where Rita’s father had once been stationed – and near where she had attended both elementary and middle school. Before starting Always Flavored, Rita plied her foodie expertise at IKEA, the Manassas Regional Airport and Stafford’s own Adventure Brewing.

The couple now has two children, Anastasia and Gavin, who are often found helping around Always Flavored.

“When we were a small country in

the world, kids had to go work with their parents because they couldn’t afford to hire people” to watch their children, Witte said.

“I’m not ashamed of my [model] because at least they’re learning [and] they see how it is to work.”

HELPING OTHER YOUTH The Wittes, who have also been foster parents to other children, continue to impart their wisdom and can-do attitude not only to their biological kids but also to other youth in the community who might benefit from learning about the food trade.

Their apprentices have even included students from The Oberle Academy in Fredericksburg, who earn internship credit.

“I’m never going to be able to teach anybody culinary knife skills but…what I do know is that there are 12- and 13-year-olds that don’t even know how to clean up after school,” Rita said. “Can we teach them to live better? Can we teach them [to] eat a little healthier?”

Many of the children the couple fostered have come from rough circumstances. Rita

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Left: A selection of hot sauces at the Always Flavored store in Fredericksburg, along with banners recognizing some of the store’s awards.

Right: Anastasia Witte with the store’s mascot, “Chilly P.”

shared that a 15-year-old girl they once sheltered was reading at a second-grade level. They realized that imparting any kind of practical skills – cooking or otherwise – would help these youth at least have something for their resumes.

“I want to be impactful. That’s the kind of stuff that we believe in,” said Rita, adding that she will often refer young people seeking work to other businesses if she doesn’t have any openings. “We believe in showing and teaching. What’s our knowledge going to do if we just sit on it?”

In addition to their shop, Always Flavored hot sauces can be found at the Fredericksburg Food Co-op, A-Z Meats, the Made in Virginia Store and Olde Virginia

Gourmet. The Wittes are often seen at farmers markets and other events, such as the Cheers Festivals and the Fredericksburg Heritage 4th of July Festival. Rita was there on a rather sweltering Independence Day, handing out samples and earning fans one at a time.

Whether at an event or at the shop, the Wittes allow customers to try as many hot sauces as they like before buying a bottle.

Otherwise, Rita said, “You get them home, take a bite, and it’s just going to sit there for three years. I don’t want to waste people’s time and money. I want to tell you how to use it” in various recipes.

She added that customers can also trust her ingredients to be fresh and lacking in

20 S TA F F O R D M AG A Z I N E • F E B R U A RY/ M A R C H 2 0 24

preservatives. “I want you to be able to use this 10 different ways because it’s fresh. And it’s not going to hurt your body.”

MORE THAN HOT SAUCE At the Always Flavored shop, the Wittes also whip up an array of sandwiches suitable for breakfast and lunch – typically flavored with their seasonings. Chris said the couple realized early on that they needed to sell something else in addition to hot sauce to meet their overhead.

Rita also makes cookies, including honey butter cookies, similar to snickerdoodles.

“So I’m using our seasonings as the savory and then the sweet,” she added. “I’m just trying to be creative and think differently.”

They also realize that with inflation and grocery bills rising, paying $10 for a bottle of craft hot sauce is a tall ask. “If you put us next to Texas Pete and your budget is tight… we have to be realistic,” Because of its limited foot traffic, Always Flavored tries to collaborate with other businesses, including radio station 93.3 WFLS and the Fredericksburg Nationals.

“When you collaborate with Rita and Chris, you’re not just a business partner or an employee; you become part of their extended family,” said Sean Quinn, promotions director for Alpha Media, which owns WFLS. “Their genuine care and concern for those they work with are truly exceptional.”

During the 2023 FredNats’ season, Rita cooked for the team’s staff in exchange for prominent marketing at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

“Never before had the staff looked forward to a Thursday night meal until she came into our lives,” said Jimmy Burns, partnership activation manager for the team. “The partnerships at the ballpark are what business owners make of it – and they make the most of it.”

In collaboration with local brewery Barley Naked, the Wittes produced a hot sauce called Good Intentions With Bad Principles. The concoction is a hybrid of the brewery’s Bad Principles Hazy New England IPA and an array of ingredients from Always Flavored’s garden, including jalapenos, green chilis and serranos. Barley Naked founder Barry Boyd said initially he was hesitant to ask Rita to redo her original elixir, but the ensuing batch quickly caught fire – so to speak.

“The second recipe that she came up with for Barley Naked, it was off the scale,” Boyd said. “When our stock gets low, I’ll reach out to [Rita], and within a couple days she turns out a whole other batch. Her consistency, her repeatability of flavors are very good.”

The Wittes celebrated the first anniversary of their brick-and-mortar shop in November. They also won second place in the 2023 “Scovie” Awards for hot sauces.

In addition to local retailers, Rita hopes to get her products onto Costco and Walmart shelves. She and Chris plan to remain in their location for the foreseeable future while paying attention to their bottom line – as well as foot traffic.

“It gets people [to see] the face of the business, the people that can’t make it out to the farmers market,” she said. “You can come in, you can try everything here.

You’re getting that experience.”

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Want more? Visit alwaysflavored.com Eric Althoff is a freelance writer who lives in Stafford County.

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VOICES

STAFFORD COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

MARYLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Who was Margaret Brent?

An illustration of Margaret Brent making her case to be a member of the Maryland General Assembly -- and the elementary school in Stafford named after her.

BY DAVID S. KE RR

W

hen I was on the Stafford County School Board many years ago, the county was building a new elementary school, and I proposed that it be named after a famous American, Stafford resident Margaret Brent. In 2003, a school was officially named after this remarkable woman.

That’s all very impressive, but not many people know much about her. She was a woman of many accomplishments, but perhaps the most notable is that, according to the American Bar Association, Margaret Brent,

an early English Colonist – first living in Maryland and then in present-day Stafford – was the first woman attorney in America.

Margaret Brent arrived in the Maryland Colony when she was 37. That was roughly 1638. The area was still a wilderness. She wasn’t married. Quite possibly as a part of a Catholic order she followed, she had taken a vow of chastity. That’s hard to tell.

Others speculate she wanted to preserve her fortune. In those days, when a woman married, her property transferred to her husband. This might not have suited Margaret Brent.

She was by any standard a trailblazer. She became a substantial landowner in Maryland. And knowing that the only requirement for being a member of the Maryland General Assembly was land ownership above a certain amount, she petitioned to join.

It was rejected. Brent might have been well-known and respected, but the General Assembly was a boy’s club and

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that was that – though there is some speculation that she almost won them over.

She nonetheless played an active role in Maryland politics and became a political advisor and confidant to the then Colonial Governor of Maryland, Lord Calvert. During this period, the Maryland Colony faced severe civil strife that overflowed from the English Civil War. Things became so bad that Lord Calvert escaped to Virginia.

He later returned and reasserted his authority but died shortly thereafter. Brent, in the unheardof role for a woman, was the executor of his estate – and in the process the de facto political leader of Maryland. She saw to it that tensions eased and that the militia, which was threatening mutiny, was paid.

However, it was her legal abilities that cemented her place in U.S. history. There was no bar association in those days, and apparently all on her own, she had the clout and intelligence to

be allowed to take on cases.

Being the 1600s, she had to present all of her cases in court to all-male magistrates, judges and juries. According to the American Bar Association’s research, she handled 149 formal cases in Maryland courts.

In the 1660s Maryland’s anti-Catholic laws made life difficult for Brent, who moved to Stafford. She was, as she had been in Maryland, one of the largest landholders in the region. The tract of land in her name went as far north as present-day Alexandria and Fredericksburg.

Her home was on Aquia Creek, not far from Aquia Harbor. There is no record of her continuing, at least formally, her legal work in Virginia.

However, she remained an active and prosperous businesswoman until she died in 1671. The location of her grave is unknown, but it’s probably not far from the Crucifix on U.S. 1 in Stafford.

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg summed up the quandary Margaret Brent presented to men in power in the 17th century: “Awards were made in the name of Margaret Brent, a great lady of the mid1600s, celebrated as the first woman lawyer in America.

Her position as a woman, yet possessor of power, so confused her contemporaries that she was sometimes named in court records not as Mistress Margaret Brent, but as Gentleman Margaret Brent.”

She would be a remarkable person in any century. But her role as a practicing attorney 260 years before women got the vote is what sets her apart.

David Kerr is a Stafford resident and an adjunct professor of political science at VCU. He worked on Capitol Hill and for various federal agencies for many years.

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