Thank you, Brent, for reminding all that even seeing something in print is not adequate!

A small Episcopal church in Amherst County has traditionally been dated as 1799 because of the date for gathering subscriptions to put up a new building.  Not long after I started here I did some investigation.  To me, raising a new building _often_ indicates that there is an established congreation in place.  After a couple years I found a 1770 reference to the church--by name--in the papers of Alexander Brown at William & Mary.  I have passed on the information to several amateur historians who were writing books about the area, and lo and behold, when the publication comes out, they cite the church as established 1799.

This is by no means the only instance of such a happenstance....  Repetition in any format, be it print or virtual, does not make it a fact.


I can't wait to retire and write a history of Amherst County.

Holly Mills Hodges
Director, Amherst County Museum
Amherst, VA


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