An Evening at Old Denton

An Evening at Old Denton

The Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area Association recently held a fascinating event at Old Denton, an historic farm near The Plains. The focus was on John Singleton Mosby, a legendary Confederate Civil War officer, and his rangers who wreaked havoc among Union forces all around Northern Virginia. In 1863, Mosby was nearly captured at Old Denton, where he was spending the night with his wife, Pauline, in an upstairs bedroom of what was then known as the Hathaway House. Mosby jumped out a window onto the limb of a nearby walnut tree, balanced himself for hours and somehow eluded being caught. That tree, believed to be about 400 years old, still stands next to the house tall and strong, though the limb Mosby managed to hang on to is long gone.

Old Denton and its famous Mosby black walnut tree.

Arborist Tom Armstrong has been lovingly working on preserving the walnut tree since 1977.

Author Patrick O’Donnell holds a copy of his book he signed for Bruce Kulpan.

Michael Murphy collects Mosby artifacts and brought along a few.

Travis Shaw, Director of Education for Piedmont Heritage, spoke to guests about Old Denton’s colorful history.

Garon and Donna Stutzman