Bull Run/Gatepost/Hortontown

Bull Run/Gatepost/Hortontown

1810-2000

A group of more than 40 people emancipated from Robert Carter III’s Leo Farm between 1793 to 1826 established a community southwest of Centreville between Bull Run and Cub Run. The Harris and Robinson families were prominent, but there were many families that formed this community, including the Burkes, Naylors, and Gaskins, among others. The community was engaged in agriculture, producing wheat and corn, supporting local merchant mills and stores. They established a church and cemetery, and as soon as they were permitted, a school. Over the next 200 years their settlement would thrive and grow to be one of the largest African American communities in Fairfax County.
The Harris family were prominent landowners in Fairfax County. In 1844, Jesse Harris purchased the 211-acre Waterside tract. By 1859, the extended Harris family would own over 570 acres. In 1868, Jesse Harris donated 1 acre of land for the Rock Hill School and Charles Harris would petition the Freedman’s Bureau for funds to complete construction. Both Jesse and Obed Harris were successful in claiming compensation for damages to their respective farms during Union occupation. In 1895, Anthony Harris donated an acre of his land to build the Cub Run Primitive Baptist Church. Anthony would be remembered at his death in 1913 as “one of the most highly respected colored persons in Fairfax County.
The Robinson family is well-known for their ties to James “Gentleman Jim” Robinson, the largest African American landowner whose farm site is preserved at Manassas National Battlefield Park (in Prince William County). Some members of the Robinson, such as miller James Pendleton Robinson, moved into Fairfax and supported the Bull Run community. Others, like B. Oswald Robinson, continued to live in Prince William, but affected Fairfax communities through their careers (Oswald was an educator).
Cain Duncan (1840-1927) fought in the Civil War from 1863 to 1865 with the 23rd U.S. Colored Infantry. The 23rd was the first African American regiment to engage Lee’s Army of the Potomac in an armed skirmish in Spotsylvania in 1864. They later participated in the siege at Petersburg including the infamous Battle of the Crater where Union troops, especially US Colored troops suffered heavy losses. The 23rd was also present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Cain Duncan was promoted to the rank of sergeant. After the war he became the beloved father of 16 children and served his community as a church trustee and clergyman.
Mattie Orrie Gaskins Brown was one of the oldest residents of Centreville when she died at 107 in 2000. A prominent member of the Cub Run Primitive Baptist Church, she was named honorary mayor of Centreville during the town’s 1992 bicentennial celebration. In 1988 Mrs. Brown rescued the Willoughby Newton Boundary Stone from destruction by developers. The stone is on display in the Sully Government Center.

A Little Known African American Community at Bull Run. Heather Hembrey, 2021. Fairfax County Park Authority Our Stories and Perspectives website: https://ourstoriesandperspectives.com/2021/02/28/a-little-known-african-american-community-at-bull- run/

Freedom is Not Enough: African Americans in Antebellum Fairfax County. Curtis L.Vaughn, 2014. Doctoral Dissertation, George Mason University. Accessed via George Mason University Archival Repository Service webpage: http://jbox.gmu.edu/bitstream/handle/1920/9155/Vaughn_gmu_0883E_10726.pdf?sequence=1&isAllo wed=y .

A Matter of Faith and Plumbing. Timothy Dwyer, Washington Post, Dec 26, 2002. Accessed via Washington Post Archives website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/12/26/a- matter-of-faith-and-plumbing/d20e2855-fc2a-4f61-9893-dfdda2e312e6/

Looking Back at Black Life. Jean Seaberry, Washington Post, Feb 13, 1992. Accessed via Washington Post Archives website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1992/02/13/looking-back-at- Black-life/b0455f80-fd3e-42d4-85e2-ae432338db30/

Historic Cub Run Primitive Baptist Church. Chrystal Gaskins, Anthony Matthews, Dorthea Spriggs, & Linneall Naylor. Unpublished manuscript. Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

Myth to Truth: The James ‘Gentleman Jim’ Robinson and Susan Gaskins Story. Chrystal Gaskins, Anthony Matthews, Dorthea Spriggs, & Linneall Naylor. Unpublished manuscript. Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

Jesse Harris (1795-1875). Chrystal Gaskins, Anthony Matthews, Dorthea Spriggs, & Linneall Naylor. Unpublished manuscript. Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

Abstracts of Claims for Civil War Losses, Fairfax County (3 volumes) by Beth Mitchell. Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

Jesse Harris, Southern Claims Records accessed on Ancestry website: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1217/images/RHUSA1871A_088510- 00661?usePUB=true&_phsrc=SuH410&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=118457

Obed Harris, Southern Claims Records accessed on Ancestry website: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1217/images/RHUSA1871A_088510- 00691?usePUB=true&_phsrc=SuH420&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=118458

“Death of Anthony Harris.” The Manassas Journal, January 10, 1913, p.2. Accessed via the Prince William County Public Library Relic Digital Archives website: https://eservice.pwcgov.org/library/digitalLibrary/News-Archive/Manassas%20Journal%201913- 1914/the%20manassas%20journal_1913%2001%2010.pdf

“The Robinson Legacy in Education, History.” February 15, 2006. Accessed via The Connection Archives website: http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2006/feb/15/the-robinson-legacy-in- education-history/

“Cain Duncan.” Mary Lipsey. Published on Fairfax County Cemetery Preservation Association Inc., Veteran Honor Roll website: https://honorfairfaxcemeteries.org/cain-duncan/

Census and military records for Cain Duncan (Cane/Kane). Ancestry website: https://www.ancestry.com/search/ ; and on the Fold3 website: https://www.fold3.com/?group=1 . Both websites can be accessed at the Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

U.S. Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865 for Kane Duncan. Accessed via Ancestry website: https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui- content/view/1589665:1666?tid=&pid=&queryId=5380b0d59f1c14719c6ebeff3ab3cf40&_phsrc=SuH 677&_phstart=successSource . Available in the Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

Alexander Brown v. Cain Duncan & wife, etc. 1898-048, Fairfax County. Accessed via Library of Virginia Virginia Memory Chancery Records Index website: https://www.virginiamemory.com/collections/chancery/

23rd Regiment, US Colored Troops, National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database website: https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units- detail.htm?battleUnitCode=UUS0023RI00C

On the death of Mattie Orrie Gaskins Brown. House Joint Resolution No. 884, Feb 22, 2001. Accessed via Virginia’s Legislative Information System website: https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi- bin/legp604.exe?011+ful+HJ884ER

“Mattie Orrie Gaskins Brown,” accessed via Find-A-Grave website: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31798636/mattie-orrie-brown

“Local Woman Provides Historic Landmark.” Donna Barnes, The Centre View, January 21, 1988, p. 1,6. Newton Boundary Stone (Centreville, Va.) File, Vertical Historical Landmark Files, Subject Files, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library.

Sully

West of Centreville between Bull Run and Cub Run

See Robinson’s Mill, Rock Hill Freedom School, Cub Run Colored School, Cub Run Primitive Baptist Church, Cub Run Memorial Gardens.