On October 20, 1774, the First Continental Congress created the Continental Association, which called for a complete ban on all trades between America and Great Britian of all goods, wares, or merchandise.
In support of the cause, the enslaved communities at Robert Carter III’s plantations, including Nomini Hall in Westmoreland, began producing food and clothing. The bakery, equipped with two ovens that could take twenty-five thousand bushels of wheat per year and bake one hundred pounds of bread at once, was busy with activity. At times, so much wheat and corn was being received that mill wheels turned for eighteen hours a day. The production of salt, a dire wartime shortage, was taken over by the enslaved communities in Westmoreland County. Where tobacco once grew, crops of flax, hemp, and cotton were planted. The tobacco stonehouse was turned into a textile factory and slaves were taught seamstress work.
Surnames* of Black Patriots from Northern Neck, Virginia who served during the American Revolutionary War:
*This list is incomplete. As research continues, NNVHS asks that you please contact them - nnvhs@live.com, with names of Patriots who do not appear on this list.
To learn more about the enslaved community at Nomini Hall, Westmoreland County, visit, the Nomini Hall Slave Legacy’s website, by LaTonya Lawson-Jones -
It looks like some new and interesting technologies and programs may be on their way when Westmoreland County’s next school year rolls in. The school division has made it a point to slowly but surely expand its Career & Technical Education (CTE), and if the School Board’s recent approval of a CTE application is any indication, it’s about to pull in some truly ground-breaking stuff.
The pandemic and the remote learning that came with it had very deleterious effects on the learning abilities of students. Here in Virginia, Fairfax County’s schools were the most infamous horror story related to falling grades, but almost no school division walked out of that mess unscathed. It also brought the growing literacy problem up to the forefront.
Davonta Hill, a 28-year-old former Essex County Schools employee, will have to face charges for indecent liberties with a child under 15, using an electronic device to solicit or proposition a minor, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Last week, the Virginia Supreme Court upheld the ruling in a case that strikes close to home for some Northumberland County parents, particularly those who went to a February 2022 School Board meeting only to find that they had to watch it on TV.
When the final note of the song “We are the World” was sung at Cople’s recent Spring Concert, one of the young soloist burst into tears. Going quickly to her side, Adraine Bibbens took it all in stride. She, too, looked misty-eyed across the large crowd as the cheers and accolades roared across the room. Leslie Steele had just announced that this would be Bibbens’ last concert.
Back in the midst of the pandemic, the Westmoreland County School Board made a point of having regular updates from Dr. Richard Williams, the director of the Three Rivers Health District, on what was happening with the virus. As the level of concerns started to wane, Dr. Williams appeared less and less, but he made an appearance at last week’s School Board meeting and once again spoke at length about the situation surrounding the virus.
Amateur radio is a bit of a nationwide hobby, particularly in rural areas like Westmoreland County. HAM radio field days still happen across the country as dozens of amateur radio clubs keep the practice alive. Last Friday, as a result of this hobby, students in Montross Middle School got to have a chat that went into orbit.
RCPS Superintendent Dr. Trey Davis primed the School Board and Board of Supervisors for troubled waters with regard to the school system’s proposed budget. And with that the hope that that all school employees will get a 5% raise like other County employees has dimmed.
On March 31, 2023 the Latin Ballet of Virginia came to WHS and provided students with an inside view of how Latin cultures connect a community with music and dance.
Richmond County Public Schools hosted its first Walk-A-Thon on the Rappahannock High School track this past Saturday. Over 100 people came to talk, walk, and participate in the offerings of the day, which included a bake sale and car wash.
Northern Neck students showed up and showed out for the Second Annual Innovation Challenge at Dahlgren. The Rappahannock High Robotics team claimed 1st place in the Special Technical Object Recovery Mission (STORM), and a King George team claimed 3rd place.
Drivers are not minor players in the education system. Richmond County employs 20 bus drivers and eight car drivers, and according to Richmond County Superintendent Dr. Trey Davis, they’re making a big difference.
Senator Richard Stuart introduced another General Assembly resolution recognizing a Westmoreland icon. SJ 318 is a call to celebrate the life of Francis Reed Jenkins.
When one hears the term Buffalo Soldier, our minds will, more often than not, shift back to a Black soldier in Union blue, with a soldier’s cap and a Krag carbine, charging up San Juan Hill alongside then-Lieutenant John J. “Black Jack” Pershing. What some don’t realize is that even after that, the mantle of the Buffalo Soldiers was carried on through the ages, with many Black veterans from the later wars of the 20th Century bearing the moniker proudly.
“Prior to 1866, during the first days of reconstruction, Black folks who lived on or near Knights Run, as we know it today, did not have a place to worship. Paymus Nutt, cofounder of First Baptist Church, pleaded with Negro worshippers of the White Coan Baptist Church at Coan Stage, Virginia, about the need to form their own church. As a result of Nutt’s conference, prayer meetings were held on Sunday evenings and during the week at the home of Alexander Day.
Governor Glenn Youngkin, recognizing that running a school is no easy job for those at the top of the school hierarchy, issued a proclamation earlier in the year designating the week of January 15-21 as Virginia’s School Principals Appreciation Week.
On October 20, 1774, the First Continental Congress created the Continental Association, which called for a complete ban on all trades between America and Great Britian of all goods, wares, or merchandise.
It took eight rounds before a winner was declared for the Westmoreland County Public Schools’ spelling bee district championship. At the end of the evening, seventh grade Montross Middle School student, Bri’Elle Hall sealed her victory by spelling correctly the final word of the night, “prophetically.”
Bay Transit announced that the 2023 edition of the Bay Transit – Rappahannock Community College (RCC) Scholarship will be $2,000. With funds generated from sponsorships of Bay Transit’s annual ‘Art in Transit’ judged competition, as well as a $1,000 match from the RCC Educational Foundation, Bay Transit was able to double the scholarship fund.
United Women in Faith of White Stone United Methodist Church recently established two scholarship awards for Rappahannock Community College (RCC) students.
Rappahannock Community College (RCC) has joined with Virginia Tech to offer a new career and technical training program, Promoting Careers in Aquaculture, for local high school juniors and seniors. The Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula region has a high concentration of employment opportunities in the seafood and shellfish aquaculture industry and is primed for growth over the coming decades.
Angel Visit Baptist Church will host the Thirty-fourth Annual Essex County Community Celebration of the Life and Work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 16, 2023, at 7 p.m. at 29566 Tidewater Trail, Dunnsville, Virginia. The theme of the celebration is “Remember and Respond.”
Congratulations to Rappahannock High School English teacher, Mr. Grover Cleveland Winfield III, on being selected to present at the 2022 National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention: !Suenos! Pursuing the Light! in Anaheim, California.
On Saturday, June 18, Colonial Beach will hold its first ever Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom at the Town Hill. The event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., will honor Black history and culture. Admission will be free, and all people are welcome to attend.
The Rappahannock Industrial Academy, or RI Academy as it was called, was established by African Americans to fulfill the need for high school education for African Americans at a time when no public schools in the area offered it. It existed from 1902 to 1948 and primarily served students from Middlesex, Essex, and King and Queen Counties.
Lancaster Supervisors declared October 15, 2022 Armistead Stokalas Nickens Day in Lancaster and called attention to all county citizens. On that day, Nickens will have a Virginia Historical Highway Marker unveiled honoring him as Lancaster’s first and only black legislator in the Virginia House of Delegates.
2022 has been quite the year for Westmoreland County’s school division with plenty of trials, tribulations, and triumphs culminating earlier in the year with the grand opening of Westmoreland High School.
In Westmoreland County, the school board has been feeling the bite of inflation in many places, most notably in the realm of food service. At last week’s meeting, the matter cropped up during a presentation by school board superintendent Dr. Michael Perry.
Ten Westmoreland High School students were recently inducted into the Westmoreland High School National Honor Society. Matthew Benson, Aven Clarke, Hailey Jett, John Lahey, Stephanie Ochoa, Heroina Point-Du-Jour, Whitnee Rotenizer, Jordan Saunders, Julissa Valdez, and Brooklyn Wheeler were presented to the audience.
Rappahannock Community College Haynesville Correctional Center (HCC) student Stephen Drayton had just one more class to complete when the pandemic halted in-person instruction in March 2020. On November 4, two and a half years later, Drayton walked across the prison gymnasium floor to receive his Associate of Arts & Sciences degree from RCC President Dr. Shannon Kennedy.
As of Monday, Northumberland County Public Schools has a new director of finance on the job. NUCPS approved Tara Booth for the position on October 27 following the announcement on the heels of the announcement that Jason Bellows was leaving for other pursuits.
It was hard to tell which shined more brightly, the brilliant stars in the October galaxy or the myriad of retiring educators and staff at Westmoreland County Public Schools’ employee recognition banquet on October 20.
The building is up, the change order has been approved, but there is quite a bit to be done and dealt with at Westmoreland High School. Superintendent Dr. Perry gave the lowdown on what there was to look forward to.
A school principal is a key figure in the education of the students, and yet, they are not often seen by the students except on special occasions or as a result of exceptionally raucous behavior. At last week’s Westmoreland County School Board meeing, Chairman Ralph Fallin gave a presentation honoring the principals of the division’s four schools.
A large brilliant harvest moon shined down on a perfect high school football game evening on Friday, October 7, 2022. It was a great ending for the first Westmoreland High School’s homecoming. With the home crowd being entertained by the WHS cheerleaders, the Eagle’s varsity football team showed their skills with a 28-12 victory over the visiting Lancaster High School team.
It’s not often that three boards are in one place, but last Wednesday, the George D. English building held Westmoreland County’s Board of Supervisors, Industrial Development Authority, and School Board under the same roof to discuss what the school board’s superintendent, Dr. Michael Perry, hoped would be the final change order brought before them all.
Northumberland Superintendent Dr. Holly Wargo is urging families to send students to school as much as possible “on a daily, consistent basis.” It’s an issue she addressed in her recent update and at this month’s board of supervisors meeting.
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