Michael Lee Pope - Wicked Northern Virginia

ALSO BY MICHAEL LEE POPE

Ghosts of Alexandria (The History Press, 2010)

Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C. (The History Press, 2011)

Shotgun Justice: One Prosecutors Crusade Against Crime and Corruption in Alexandria and Arlington (The History Press, 2012)

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2014 by Michael Lee Pope

All rights reserved

First published 2014

e-book edition 2014

ISBN 978.1.62584.554.2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pope, Michael Lee.

Wicked Northern Virginia / Michael Lee Pope.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

print edition ISBN 978-1-62619-101-3

1. Virginia, Northern--History, Local--Anecdotes. 2. Virginia, Northern--Social conditions. 3. Virginia, Northern--Biography. 4. Crime--Virginia, Northern--History. 5. Corruption--Virginia, Northern--History. I. Title.

F232.N867P67 2014

975.59--dc23

2014035073

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Hope Nelson, my lovely bride, my best friend and my partner in crime.

George Combs, for helping me navigate Alexandria Local History Special Collections.

Julie Downie, for helping me translate Victorian euphemisms.

Mary Fishback, for helping me navigate the Thomas Balch Library.

Ruth Lincoln Kaye, for spreading an infectious interest in hidden history.

Ted Pulliam, for helping me whip this wicked project into shape.

Introduction

Northern Virginia Confidential

Northern Virginia is not a state. Its barely even a coherent region, sprawling across both sides of the Fall Line. Urban and rural. Rich and poor. Old money and new greed. It has the ego of a conceited cavalier and the charm of a strip mall. The classic Virginia gentleman may live on in myth, but the reality is not as righteous.

In fact, its pretty wicked.

Some version of the word wicked appears in the Bible about five hundred times. Wickedness caused the flood that destroyed the world, and it brought a fiery destruction to Sodom. Its associated with outrageous offense, annihilating anarchy, bitter provocation, rampant harlotry, worthless lives and pagan gods. Its silenced and smited, subordinated and slain.

But it remains with us.

Our friends from up North use it for emphasis, as in This is a wicked good book. But thats not the words only claim to fame. The original Broadway production of Wicked earned ten Tony nominations. And David Lynch used Chris Issacs 1989 song Wicked Game as a haunting refrain for Wild at Heart.

The story of wickedness in Old Dominion is a tale as old as human history. It stretches back twelve thousand years to the first people, a series of tribes that battled for dominance and empire. John Smith arrived on the scene with his own brand of English wickedness. It remains with us hidden in Northern Virginia today, lurking in its avenues, its alleys, its dumps, its mansions, its hotels, its police stations, its jails, its courts, its closets and its catacombs.

A tour of wicked Northern Virginia has it allmurder, mayhem, sex, violence and politics. Lots of politics. Virginia senator John Randolph dueled with Henry Clay in Northern Virginia after the two traded insults on the Senate floor. Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell ran for governor from his Northern Virginia headquarters. Members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors spent time in jail after selling their power and influence.

And yet the politics of Northern Virginia are just as divided as the opposite sides of the Fall Line. These days, its red versus blue. But in the not-too-distant past, it might have been pushy commercial interests versus a laid-back Jeffersonian ideal. Hotheaded secessionists versus levelheaded dealmakers. Progressive reformers versus machine power.

Look beyond the bucolic story of plantation estates and youll find one of the dizziest and dirtiest places in the world. Its a cookie full of arsenic on a cold platter of revenge. Its a region that has no industry but one: government. And it stars a rotating cast of greedy supervisors, vainglorious senators, bullying occupiers, party bosses and bloodthirsty doctors.

Chapter 1

Nine Pints

BLEEDING THE GENERAL AT MOUNT VERNON

George Washingtons doctors had blood on their hands.

Did George Washingtons doctors kill him? Ask the tour guides at Mount Vernon and youre likely to get a swift no accompanied by the evil eye. But do a little digging and youll realize the truth is a little more complicated. And bloody.

In the last twenty-four hours of his life, Washingtons doctors removed nine pints of blood from his body. On a good day, a human body has about fourteen pints. That means his crackpot medical team of postcolonial quacks removed more than half of the generals blood in the final hours of his life. Its impossible to give a full medical verdict on whether bloodletting caused Washingtons death, but it certainly didnt help.

Did George Washingtons doctors kill him? Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Our story begins on a cold winter dayThursday, December 12, 1799. The general, who was then a sixty-seven-year-old former president, rode out to inspect the farms on the periphery of his sprawling Mount Vernon estate. Under a cold and cloudy sky, the general mounted his trusty steed and headed out at about 10:00 a.m. to mark trees to be removed from the estate. About three hours into his tour, the sky opened up and a driving rain began, followed by hail and snow. As Washington pressed onward, the weather deteriorated. An icy December wind began to blow.

By the time he returned to Mount Vernon at 3:00 p.m., his hair was covered in snow, and his neck was soaking wet. He entered Mount Vernon at the west entrance, where he was greeted by his friend and estate manager Tobias Lear, a New Hampshire native who had started working for the Washingtons in 1784. The general went to the dining room, where the table was set for two. Lear asked Washington if he wanted to change into dry clothes, but the general was known for his punctuality and didnt like being late. He was also in a hurry to take care of some correspondence. Besides, he said, his greatcoat had kept him dry during his five-hour ride.

Still in his wet clothes, Washington warmed himself by the burning birch log in the ornate fireplace. Lear ordered a maid to bring dinner and inform Martha Washington that the general had arrived. A few minutes later, a servant girl arrived with hot tea, baked chicken and several thick slices of bread. Martha scurried into the room and began reprimanding the general for staying out in the stormy weather. She sat at the table with him as he ate, sipping tea and catching up on the days events.

Tobias Lear.