Elzy Burroughs
Elzy Burroughs (1771/77–1825) was an American stonemason, engineer, lighthouse builder and keeper. Elzy Burroughs was born and raised in Stafford County, Virginia. Elzy Burroughs' family leased and operated a sandstone quarry in the Aquia Creek area of Stafford County. Known as Aquia sandstone, material from quarries in this area was utilized in the construction of Mount Vernon, the United States Capitol building, the White House, and the first lighthouse constructed at Cape Henry in Princess Anne County, Virginia, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. As a child, Elzy would have grown up playing near sandstone quarries. He would have been surrounded by expert stonemasons and by all of the tools, equipment and skills that are necessary to that profession. So it was no surprise when he, too, grew up to join in the mason's craft. As a young man, Burroughs worked as a mason and builder across the Tidewater Virginia region. He had a young wife, the former Miss Lightburn, als ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Americans
Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim American nationality. The United States is home to people of many racial and ethnic origins; consequently, American culture and law do not equate nationality with race or ethnicity, but with citizenship and an oath of permanent allegiance. Overview The majority of Americans or their ancestors immigrated to the United States or are descended from people who were brought as slaves within the past five centuries, with the exception of the Native American population and people from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands, who became American through expansion of the country in the 19th century, additionally America expanded into American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands in the 20th century. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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County Clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service counters, screening callers, and other administrative tasks. History and etymology The word ''clerk'' is derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning " cleric" or " clergyman", which is the latinisation of the Greek ''κληρικός'' (''klērikos'') from a word meaning a "lot" (in the sense of drawing lots) and hence an "apportionment" or "area of land". Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon", at Perseus The association derived from medieval courts, where writing was mainly entrusted to [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William K
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Liam, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the German given name ''Wilhelm''. Both ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic ''*Wiljahelmaz'', with a direct cognate also in the Old Norse name ''Vilhjalmr'' and a West Germanic borrowing into Medieval Latin ''Willelmus''. The Proto-Germa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Point Comfort Light
New Point Comfort Light is a lighthouse in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay, United States, off the tip of the Middle Peninsula. Finished in 1804, it is the third-oldest surviving light in the bay, and the tenth-oldest in the United States. History New Point Comfort was one of four locations in the Chesapeake Bay designated for a lighthouse by the newly formed federal government, and in 1801 funds were appropriated for its construction along with a light at Smith Point Light, Smith Point. Both were constructed by Elzy Burroughs, who also constructed the light at Old Point Comfort Light, Old Point Comfort which is nearly the twin of this light. (Note that Old Point Comfort and New Point Comfort are two different locations, not two different lights on the same spot.) Burroughs's involvement with New Point Comfort, however, extended beyond construction. New Point Comfort at the time was a small island separated from the mainline by a narrow passage named Deep Creek. A disp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mathews County, Virginia
Mathews County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,533. Its county seat is Mathews. Located on the Middle Peninsula, Mathews County is included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk- Newport News, VA- NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. History During Virginia's colonial era, the area that later became Mathews County was part of Gloucester County. In 1691, the Virginia General Assembly had directed that each county designate an official port-of-entry. Established around 1700, the community of Westville was located along Put-in Creek, a tidal tributary of Virginia's East River feeding into Mobjack Bay, which was a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. In 1776 during the American Revolutionary War, Virginia's last Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, left Virginia after pushed to the southeast to Gwynn's Island by General Andrew Lewis and the Continental Army. General Lewis' forces bombarded Gwynn's Island from Fort Cricket Hi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Point Comfort
New Point Comfort is a point of land located in Mathews County Mathews County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,533. Its county seat is Mathews. Located on the Middle Peninsula, Mathews County is included in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport ... at the tip of Virginia's Middle Peninsula in the lower Chesapeake Bay in the United States. It is the site of the New Point Comfort Natural Area Preserve and the New Point Comfort Light. Geography The tip New Point Comfort is now on an island separated from the mainland of Mathews County south of the unincorporated town of Bavon, Virginia, Bavon at the mouth of Mobjack Bay. It is north of Old Point Comfort in Phoebus, Virginia, Phoebus, Hampton, Virginia, Hampton. The peninsula to the north of the point, from Peppers Creek and Horn Harbor southward, is also called New Point Comfort. History England, English exploration, explorer John Smith of Jamestown, John Smith passed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Northumberland County, Virginia
Northumberland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 11,839. Its county seat is Heathsville. The county is located on the Northern Neck and is part of the Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace AVA winemaking appellation. History The area was occupied at the time of English settlement by the Algonquian-speaking historic tribes of the Wicocomico, Chickacoan, and Patawomeck. The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1648 during a period of rapid population growth and geographic expansion. Settlement began in this area of the Northern Neck around 1635. Originally known as the Indian district ''Chickacoan'', the area was first referred to as Northumberland (a namesake of Northumberland County, England) in the colonial records in 1644. The following year, John Mottrom served as the first burgess for the territory in the House of Burgesses, which met at the capital of the Virginia Colony at Jamesto ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Smith Point Light
Smith Point Light is a caisson lighthouse in the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Potomac River. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. History "Smith Point", at the mouth of the Potomac River, has been marked by a succession of lights, having been served by three towers, three lightships, a screw-pile lighthouse, and the present caisson structure. The first light, a stone tower, was erected by Elzy Burroughs on Smith Point itself in 1802. Erosion at the point was severe, and the light had to be rebuilt further inland in 1807 by Burroughs and his brother, William K. Burroughs. William had also been named the second keeper of the light in 1806. Again in 1828 the tower was rebuilt, this time by another builder. This last tower was finally abandoned in 1859, having been supplemented in the meantime by a lightship stationed off the point from 1821 onward. As was the case with many others, the first lightship was destroyed in 186 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fort Monroe, Virginia
Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virginia, at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula, United States. Along with Fort Wool, Fort Monroe originally guarded the navigation channel between the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads—the natural roadstead at the confluence of the Elizabeth, the Nansemond and the James rivers. Union General George B. McClellan landed his forces at the fort during Peninsula campaign of 1862 during the American Civil War. Until disarmament in 1946, the areas protected by the fort were the entire Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River regions, including the water approaches to the cities of Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, along with important shipyards and naval bases in the Hampton Roads area. Surrounded by a moat, the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Old Point Comfort
Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the independent city of Hampton, Virginia. Previously known as Point Comfort, it lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the United States. It was renamed Old Point Comfort to differentiate it from New Point Comfort up the Chesapeake Bay. A group of enslaved Africans was brought to colonial Virginia at this point in 1619. Today the location is home to Continental Park and Fort Monroe National Monument. History 1600s and 1700s For more than 400 years, Point Comfort served as a maritime navigational landmark and military stronghold. According to a combination of old records and legend, the name derived from an incident when the Jamestown settlers first arrived. Captain Christopher Newport's flagship, '' Susan Constant'', anchored nearby on 28 April 1607. Members of the crew "rowed to a point where they found a channel which put them in good comfort". They named the adjacent land Cape Co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the nation's second vice president under John Adams and the first United States secretary of state under George Washington. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation. He produced formative documents and decisions at state, national, and international levels. During the American Revolution, Jefferson represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration of Independence. As a Virginia legislator, he drafted a state law for religious freedom. He served as the second Governor of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, during the Revolutionary War. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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United States Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a federal district (the city of Washington in the District of Columbia, where most of the federal government is based), five major self-governing territories and several island possessions. The federal government, sometimes simply referred to as Washington, is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the president and the federal courts, respectively. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court. Naming The full name of the republic is "United States of America". No other name appears in the Constitution, and t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |