 | | | Who Was “Major William Hibbs? Mosby’s eye rested on a grizzled, hardened little man well past his fiftieth birthday. He had given his name as William Hibbs, Loudoun County blacksmith. Some of the Partisans said he had two sons off fighting with the regular army. His hat, a faded felt riddled by sparks from the forge, rested sideways on his head, above a matting of gray hair that hung low over his forehead like a fetlock. ...The only part of his raiment that represented the army was an old gray military coat, held together by a strange array of buttons, only two of which bore the initials of the Confederacy” (Jones, 106). “Mosby eventually dubbed him “Major”, and the nickname stuck. Hibbs, said a comrade, was the most excitable of men” (Wert, 43). “On March 23, [1863], Mosby’s conglomerates...near Chantilly...Mosby dismounted his men, formed a line behind some fallen trees and fired into the oncoming column. The gunfire stalled the New Yorkers long enough for the Confederates to remount and charge...the Northerners fled in a wild horse race. In the forefront of the Southerners rode ‘Major’ William Hibbs, uncontrollable in his joy” (Wert, 49). “Mosby had continued sending what the men dubbed ‘Corn Details’ [to forage from the farmers] into Loudoun throughout May. On occasions an entire company performed the duty; at other times ‘Major’ William Hibbs and a few men hauled the grain. Hibbs, stated John Alexander, possessed an unerring instinct for locating a Union sympathizer’s barn in the dark of night. Hibbs was equally adept at finding a local distillery” (Wert, 165). Jones, Virgil Carrington. Ranger Mosby. McLean: EPM. 1972.Wert, Jeffry D. Mosby’s Rangers. New York: Simon/Shuster, 1990. |
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| | | | | | | | Settlers began to move into the region that is now Loudoun County between 1725 and 1735. Germans from Pennsylvania moved into the northwestern county, where they established small, grain-producing farmsteads. Quakers and Scots-Irish also migrated into the northern county from Pennsylvania and Maryland, and from the British Isles. Wheat was quickly established as the county’s cash crop. Numerous grist mills processed the grain into flour for local use. Small hamlets were established in the county, but there were few real population centers. Quakers established the village of Philomont and the small community of Mountville grew up around the house of Ezekial Mount. After the Revolution, new grain markets in Europe increased the profitability of cereal farming. In addition to grist mills, larger merchant mills were built, where flour was packed in barrels and exported to Alexandria. | | |  | | | | Developments in transportation during the first half of the 19th century included turnpikes, canals, and railroads. Turnpikes in Loudoun County linked the western part of the county and settlements beyond the Blue Ridge with markets in Alexandria and Georgetown. The Snickers Gap Turnpike was completed in 1813, extending from Aldie to Snickers Gap along the old Colchester Road, and a tollgate for the turnpike was located near Mountville. Hibbs Bridge was built over Beaverdam Creek on this road between 1822 and 1835. Stephen P. Hibbs and William H. Hibbs were operating the mills along Beaverdam Creek by 1852. In 1857, the Hibbs purchased the property at Beaverdam Bridge on the Snickers Gap Turnpike consisting of a Merchant mill, saw mill, Dwelling House and two lots adjacent to the Merchant mill. It was during this period that the bridge over Beaverdam Creek became known as Hibbs Bridge. From A Phase I Cultural Resource Survey of the Proposed Route 734 Bridge Replacement, William and Mary Archaeological Project Center, October 4, 1990. | |
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