UPDATE: Little Old Cabin in Halfway

Earlier this year my Aunt Jane volunteered to go to the Fauquier Court House and see what she could find out about That Little Old Cabin in Halfway. She came away with this deed (from Deed Book-63, Pg 140), which reads:

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Lunceford EC [extants]

{} Deed

Griffith Abner

This deed made on 22^nd day Dec 1870 between Elija C Lunceford & Harret E Lunceford his wife, of the first part, and Abner Griffith of the second part all of the county of Fauquier State of Virginia. Witnesseth that the said parties of the first part for and in consideration of the sum of three hundred dollars, to these in hand paid by the said party of the second part the rec’t of which is hereby acknowledged do sell & convey unto the said Griffith of the second part all their title + interest in the real estate of their father John Griffith dec. said estate lying & being in the county of Fauquier near Longbranch Meeting house + the same on which said Jno Griffith lived & died – the said gran – tors do convey unto the said grantee all interest they now have or ever may have in the said estate & do generally warrant & defend the same against the claims of any and all others.

Witness the following signatures & seals

                                                                                    E. C. Lunceford {SEAL}

                                                                                    Harret E. Lunceford {SEAL}

                                                                                    Abner Griffith {SEAL}

Fauquier Cty to wit {

                        Personally appeared before me Edward C. Turner a Justice of said county Elija C Lunceford whose name is signed to the annexed deed and acknowledged the same in my county

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Wow, what a find! Unfortunately, there was no plat or survey associated with this deed. Aside from the "...near Longbranch Meeting house....." reference, it could be for property almost anywhere in the Halfway area. However, it did confirm that Elijah and Harriett were at one time in possession of their part of John Griffith's property (part of her inheritance) and that their interest in the estate later was conveyed to Abner Griffith in 1870 for the sum of $300.

While at the court house, Aunt Jane was fortunate enough to run into the county preservation planner, Ms Wendy Wheatcraft. I followed up with Wendy for a later meeting where she was kind enough to take me to the deed room and walk me through a title search of the land the cabin sits on. We began with the current owners and searched back in time through fifteen separate transactions, finally arriving at 1894 and a dead end involving a Howdershell Chancery suit. From various sources the Howdershell family were known as large land owners and speculators with some of their grants originating from Lord Fairfax. What I really found amazing was that none of the deeds cited a plat or survey, only making reference to the "100 acres, give-or-take" of the Pickett survey. And there were no references to any Lun(ce)sford owners or tenants. However, there was a W. H. Smith transaction in 1902 (DB 93, Pg 390) which might provide a connection to the George H. Smith cemetery (see more below).

Wendy also put me in touch with the current property owner, the Braswell's of "Ballantrae". They were most gracious and invited me over for a ride around their property. Much of the land is bounded by dry lay stone walls especially that portion on the Long Branch side in the vicinity of the cabin. After taking another quick look inside the cabin, Harry Braswell showed me another feature in the attic that I had missed on our earlier visit; numbered notching in the ridge poles of the roof. We're not sure what these were for. Perhaps the poles were matched on the ground and this numbering system helped the carpenter line things up once they were hoisted up for placement. 

This visit helped answer two other questions: 1) Why was the cabin not listed on the Long Branch Lane section of the Little River Rural Historic District (LRRHD) application? And 2), why was the Smith cemetery listed separately on the Long Branch Lane inventory? Since the cabin is technically within the Ballantrae estate, it was listed as a secondary dwelling for its Rock Hill Mill Road address (LRRHD inventory #030-5579-0203). And according to Wendy, cemeteries in Virginia are recognized as separate land features not connected directly to real estate. So even though the Smith Cemetery is within the property line of Ballantrae, it is considered its own parcel. The LRRHD surveyors simply included it as part of the Long Branch Lane inventory (030-5579-0157).

So for now we can make no direct connection between our family and this little old cabin in Halfway. Unfortunate, yes, but this certainly has been one hell of a research story; from Bev Aiken's family oral tradition and visit in 1962, to our rediscovery in 2014, to disappointment in the Fauquier County Deed Room. But Halfway and the surrounding area most certainly is ground zero for our early family's land holdings. Additional parcels around Long Branch Meeting house include the Griffith House, Hugh Griffith's Shop, and cousin Tim Lunceford has been investigating family properties in the Hopewell area just south-east of Halfway. Only genealogical sweat equity spent shifting through wills, deeds, census records and other materials will bring some finality to our quest.

R. Dwayne Lunsford, PhD