First Fund-Drive Letters Mailed
December 20, 1999
The first set of Fund Drive letters are mailed out in late October, early November and December 1999, to over 1700 potential contributors.
Archives for December 1999:
Digging Up Elk Run’s Past
December 15, 1999
From The Fauquier Times-Democrat, Wednesday, December 15, 1999 (with permission)
By John Toler, Times-Democrat Staff Writer
Under the watchful eye of Dr. Pat Curry, an archaeologist from Marshall who is volunteering her time and skills for the project, the excavation of the old Elk Run Church site has recently begun.
On Nov. 11, Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, members of the congregation of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and Boy Scouts of Troop 1177 working on their archaeology merit badge went to the site to work and to learn.
“The objective of these initial excavations is to find what might be remaining of the foundation of the old Anglican Church, built in the 1740s,” said Ed Dandar, chairman of the Elk Run Church Site Preservation Committee. “An exploratory trench dug on Dec. 4 uncovered some stones fastened by mortar that might lead to further clues as to the size of the church and its orientation on the site.”
The group has used field tables loaned to them by the Virginia Data Processing Unit, Army National Guard, of Manassas.
Jackie Lee, director of the Old Jail Museum in Warrenton, is conducting ongoing research on the church and its first minister, the Rev. James Keith. It is planned that a state historical marker will be erected on the site next year.
The project’s fund drive, which will provide money for research, historical interpretive signs, fencing and landscaping, has now reached $9,000 of a targeted amount of $25,000, according to Dandar. Persons wishing to contribute are urged to call him at (703) 791-6158.
The old church’ site was given to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, near Catlett, early this year by the late Edward P. Browning, one of Keith’s descendants.
Archaeology Fund Raising The Dig
Second Dig Success!
December 4, 1999
Archaeological planning begins on November 13, 1999, and the second dig takes place on December 4. The second dig uncovers the first parts of the Elk Run Church structure.