HORSESHOE 



HE county of Culpeper, which was carved out of 

 Orange in 1748, found its way first into the pages 

 of history through its gallant Revolutionary sol- 

 diers of whom John Randolph said, "They were 

 raised in a minute, armed in a minute, marched in 

 a minute, fought in a minute and vanquished in a 

 minute." Upon their picturesque green hunting shirts the motto, 

 "Liberty or Death" was so conspicuous that a would-be recruit 

 begged that it be modified to "Liberty or be Crippled." 



Since the time of these brave Minute Men, Culpeper has held 

 its place in the annals of the country through the bravery of its 

 people and the beauty and charm of its homes, some of which ante- 

 date the Republic. Among the latter, the lands granted by the 

 English Crown to Governor Alexander Spotswood naturally come 

 first. 



In William Byrd's "Progress to the Mines," after a description 

 of the Spotswood family and Germanna, he wrote under date of 

 September, 1732, "In the afternoon we walkt in a Meadow by the 

 River side, which winds in the form of a Horseshoe about 

 Germanna, making it a peninsula, containing about 400 acres." 

 As the present estate of Horseshoe contains approximately that 

 number of acres we must conclude that this very property was 

 once the home of the colonial governor. 



History tells us that John, the son of Alexander Spotswood, lost 

 by debt, his inheritance of four hundred and sixty acres, "known 

 as the Horseshoe tract," and that on April 15, 1767, the place 

 was purchased by James Pollard. Still later it became the property 

 of the Reverend John Thompson, who married the widow of Gov- 

 ernor Spotswood. 



John Thompson was a conspicuous figure in Virginia church 



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