Chapman's-Beverly Mill
by Guy Whiteley
Title
Chapman's-Beverly Mill
Artist
Guy Whiteley
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Chapman's Mill, also known locally as Beverly Mill, in the Thoroughfare Gap in Virginia, was built in 1742 by Jonathan and Nathaniel Chapman, a father/son duo. The mill became an important gristmill in the Shenandoah Valley, providing cornmeal and wheat to Alexandria and for shipping to Europe. Over the years, the mill has proven to be an important site in the Thoroughfare Gap area near Haymarket. It has been used to provide American troops with food and shelter in seven different wars: the French-Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World Wars I & II. George Washington visited the mill several times.
During the Civil War, the Confederates used Chapman's Mill as a meat curing warehouse. It is around this time that one of the legends of the mill occurred. It is said that a girl gave a farmer's wife bad meat from the mill, and it ended up killing the woman. In a rage, the woman's husband hung the girl, killing her, on the fourth floor of the mill. Local residents have since reported sightings of an apparition that appears to be a girl hanging from a meat hook.
After the first Battle of Manassas, the Confederates set fire to the mill, so Union troops could not use it to their advantage. In August of 1862, the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap took place in the same vicinity of Chapman's Mill. Confederate Lt. General James Longstreet defeated Union Brig. General James Ricketts in this battle, and proceeded to the second Battle of Manassas. Many say that this battle directly led to the South's victory in the second Manassas. There were about 100 casualties in the Thoroughfare skirmish. (from thevirginialegend.blogspot.com)
Uploaded
July 22nd, 2012
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