Chapter Markings

Fairfax Arms – May 15, 1966
Regent: Mary Edith Martin Roysdon

The Fairfax Arms was built in 1750, by Peter Wagener. It served as a tavern in the port of Colchester on the Occoquan River and was an overnight stop on the post road to Philadelphia. It is located on Old Colchester Road, Mason Neck (Lorton), Fairfax County, Virginia. A bronze plaque was placed on the front of the building. It reads:

Fairfax Arms
Built 1750
Colchester, Va.
Marked by
the Bill of Rights Chapter, NSDAR
May 1966

George Mason 1763 Boundary Stones – September 20, 1967
Regent: Mary Edith Martin Roysdon

Two boundary stones were placed in 1783, to mark common property lines and corners of “Lexington,” owned by George Richard Bushrod Line established by a 1660 patent. One stone is located at “Craigfair,” 10809 Harley Road, Mason Neck (Lorton), Fairfax County, Virginia (in the vicinity of Gunston Hall) and the other is located nearby in parkland.

A fence was erected around each stone and a bronze plaque placed on each fence. Each plaque bears the only words still legible on the boundary stones at the time of the marking:

At this place the land of Mason and Cockburn
corner of Bushrod’s Line.

Mount Air – October 26, 1969
Regent: Rose Amelia Mosby Snead

Mount Air was built in 1727, on land granted to Daniel McCarty by Lord Fairfax. It is located at 8600 Accotink Road, Lorton, Fairfax County, Virginia.

The marker, an eight by twelve inch bronze plaque, was placed at the left of the front door of the house and read:

Mount Air
1727
Marked by
Bill of Rights Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
October 1969

Unfortunately, the house has since burned down and was a total loss.

Merchants Mill House – November 1, 1970
Regent: Anne Moncure Wall

The Merchants Mill House was built in 1793. It served the adjacent Merchants Mill which began operations in 1759, and continued until 1924, when it burned. The Mill House is located on the Occoquan River in Occoquan, Prince William County, Virginia.

A bronze plaque was placed on the front wall of the building to the left of the front door. It read:

Merchants Mill House
1765
Marked by
Bill of Rights Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
November 1, 1970

The original marker was stolen in 1996. In June of 1997, our chapter and the town of Occoquan bought and dedicated a new marker jointly and placed it inside the Mill House building. 

Henderson House – Rededicated October 22, 1978

Henderson House was built in 1785, by Alexander Henderson, a Patriot of the American Revolution. It is situated on Duke Street in Dumfries, Prince William County, Virginia.

The marker, a bronze plaque, is mounted on the front of the home and reads:

Henderson House
Built in 1785
Alexander Henderson
Patriot of the American Revolution
Placed by the Bill of Rights Chapter
Daughters of the American Revolution
1978

Potomac Path Marker (Rededication) – April 25, 1982
Regent: Jane Burd MacDonald

The Potomac Path, or King’s Highway, was a major transportation route linking the northern and southern colonies in colonial America. The original marker, dedicated in 1933, by the Susan Riviere Hetzel Chapter, NSDAR, was located at the gate of Rippon Lodge on U.S. Route 1 just south of Woodbridge, Prince William County, Virginia.

A bronze plaque was placed, with the original marker, on a large boulder at Rippon Landing, intersection of Blackburn Road and Rippon Boulevard, south of Woodbridge, east of U.S. Route 1. The rededication marker reads as follows:

Marker relocated
and
Rededicated
April 25, 1982
Bill of Rights Chapter, NSDAR

Oak Hill – September 9, 1984
Regent: Sharon Suprun Littley

Oak Hill was the home of President James Monroe. It was built during his second term of office. Much of the Monroe Doctrine was written at Oak Hill. It is located on Route 15 near Aldie, Loudoun County, Virginia.

A bronze plaque in front of the entrance steps reads:

Oak Hill
Owned by President and Mrs. James Monroe
from 1808 – 1831
This house built in 1823. Birthplace of
the Monroe Doctrine
Dedicated on September 9, 1984 by
Bill of Rights Chapter
National Society Daughters of the
American Revolution

George Mason (at Gunston Hall) – September 21, 1987
Regent: Grace Marian Cook Perlot

George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, was an ardent supporter of the inclusion of a Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution.

On the occasion of the Bicentennial of the Constitution, an eleven by eight and one-half inch bronze plaque was dedicated to George Mason at Gunston Hall, his plantation near Lorton, Fairfax County, Virginia.

A bronze plaque was placed on the wall of the lobby of the Anne Mason Building and reads:

Bicentennial of the Constitution
1787 – 1987
George Mason
Father of the Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights Chapter, NSDAR

Weems-Botts House – October 6, 1996
Regent: Jeanne Roeder Purkins

Located at the corner of Duke and Cameron Streets in historic Dumfries, Prince William County, Virginia, is the Weems-Botts House. Mason Locke Weems bought the half-acre plot in June of 1798. A retired minister, he was also a bookseller and probably used the earliest portion of the building as a bookshop and temporary lodging.

Weems sold the property in June 1802, to Benjamin Botts, a successful criminal lawyer, one of the team that defended Aaron Burr during his trial for treason. Botts used the building as his law office. Botts died in the Richmond theater fire of 1811, and in 1835, the house was sold for taxes. Four sons of Botts repurchased the property three years later. The house is now used as a museum.

A bronze plaque placed on the front of the building reads:

WEEMS BOTTS HOUSE
Dumfries, Virginia
Marked by Bill of Rights Chapter,
NSDAR
October 6, 1996

Merchants Mill House Marker (Rededication and Relocation) – June 1997
Regent: Jeanne Roeder Purkins

The original marker was stolen in 1996. In June of 1997, our chapter and the town of Occoquan jointly bought and dedicated a new marker and placed it inside the Mill House building. 

Fleurries – April, 26, 1998
Regent: Jeanne Roeder Purkins

Fleurries, the former home of Stafford County patron, Anne E. Moncure, was originally located a few hundred yards from the historic Aquia Church in Stafford County, Virginia. In 1987, a preserved and restored section of the home was moved to the grounds of Aquia Church to preserve it from encroaching development. Fleurries and the Aquia Church are located at the intersection of Routes 1 and 610.

The small, four-room cottage-style home has a white exterior and a handsome varnished wood interior and is used as the Aquia Church office.

A bronze plaque placed on the front of the building reads:

FLEURRIES
Former Home of Miss Anne E. Moncure
The existing portion of the house
was moved in 1987 to this site, now
owned by the Aquia Church

Marked by the Bill of Rights Chapter
National Society
Daughters of the American Revolution
April 26, 1998

Gravesite of Stephen Howison – November 12, 2000
Regent: Beth Doggett Atkinson

The grave of Stephen Howison, American Revolutionary War Patriot, and his wife, Mary Brooke was marked by our chapter. They are buried at Howison Homestead Cemetery, Howison Homestead Park, Minnieville Road, Dumfries, Virginia.

A bronze plaque placed at the gravesite reads:

Revolutionary War Patriot and Wife
Stephen Howison
Mary Brooke Howison
Patriot of Virginia
Married Circa 1763
Charles County, MD
Placed by
Bill of Rights Chapter
NSDAR
November 2000

Gravesite of Willoughby Tebbs – May 9, 2002
Regent: Beth Doggett Atkinson

The grave of Willoughby Tebbs, American Revolutionary War soldier was marked by our chapter. He died in 1803, and is buried on a wooded site off Possum Point Road in Prince William County, Virginia.

A bronze plaque placed at the gravesite reads:

Revolutionary War Soldier
Willoughby Tebbs
2nd LT, QM, Grayson’s REGT, VA
1759 – 1803
Placed by
Bill of Rights Chapter, NSDAR
May 2002

Williams Ordinary – September 12, 2009
Regent: Carolyn Duft LeVering

Built in the form of an eighteenth century mansion, the Ordinary is a two-story rectangular structure with a facade of five bays. The front wall is laid in all-header bond with rusticated stone doorway. It is believed that the Ordinary is the only building left in Virginia with all-header bond construction. The window openings are spanned by flat stone arches with superimposed keystones. The basement wall is of random order ashlar below a cornice with modillions and hipped roof. Also featured on the house are four interior end chimneys.

During the colonial times, the Ordinary was known as Williams Ordinary. Over the years it was also known as Love’s Tavern, the Stage Coach Inn, and the Old Hotel. During the Civil War, the building was used as a Confederate Army headquarters during the blockade of Washington D.C., along the Potomac River. Today the building houses the Prince William County Department of Public Works Historic Preservation Division.   

A bronze plaque placed on the front of the building reads:

WILLIAMS ORDINARY
THOUGHT TO BE
VIRGINIA’S ONLY SURVIVING
COLONIAL BUILDING
WITH ALL-HEADER-BOND
BRICKWORK
Bill of Rights Chapter, NSDAR
September 2009