Bringing Back Sligo

I have a surprise for you!  Shortly after I posted the information about Mrs. Scott-Johnson I was contacted by a great granddaughter of P.L. Shannon!  I had been secretly hoping someone from the Shannon family would reach out to me without me having to turn full stalker and see who I could find and for that I am truly grateful.

So, without further ado, I will share with you what she wrote and it is all very interesting (if you’re as interested in Sligo’s history as I am, anyway).  We even get the answers to a few questions such as why Sligo ceased operating as a farm and who built the cottage (gah!!!).

Note:  I have joined two emails into one so as to streamline the information.  Also, because I am a nerd who likes to make life harder than it should be.

I wish I had more memories for you but I was pretty young at the time. Here’s  what I remember:

I am the oldest of Price’s 3 biological great-granddaughters. I raised at least one steer for 4-H on the property and was encouraged to be a “farm girl.” My sisters are probably too young to have spent much time on the property and additionally were encouraged to join other in-town activities, such as Girl Scouts, instead of building memories on the farm. I was born in 1951, and my sisters were born in 1954 (after Price died) and 1958. I am probably your best resource from my family and glad to help if I can.

Price’s 3rd wife Mollie had the daughter who lived near Baltimore. I have kept in touch with Mollie’s grandchildren, most of whom live in California. After Price’s death, Mollie lived at Kenmore Lodge on Princess Anne St. for years until she moved to her daughter’s. The farm house was then used as the farm manager’s residence. The manager I remember was Jimmy Linton. I do not remember the interior of the house, possibly because I was so little/because of its use as the manager’s residence.

The long term employee’s name I believe was Tunston (spelling?) Scott. I remember vaguely seeing him still working when I was little. I remember he was very well thought of…A valued person who helped at the farm for many years (part of the farm “family”). Mrs. Scott-Johnson’s part of the blog was fascinating and her memories excellent!

The rectangle building across from the main house was built by my father as his farm office. The cattle buildings were at the back of the lane behind the main house and office. When I was little, the farm was an active Angus breeding operation. Some of the cattle were shown as far away as Chicago. Others were raised for their beef. My parents were part of the Virginia Angus Association and community. I remember Angus auctions being held at the farm. The cattle auctions on the property were an “event.” Cattlemen from all over the state would come to make bids. I remember the auctioneer with his “auctioneer-style” language (nonstop fast bidding technique)…it was fascinating to listen to.

As I remember, the office was white painted wood siding with shutters (possibly dark green) (Note from Lauren:  It would have matched the paint color of Sligo at the time). As I remember, my father’s office was a room in the back (straight back from the door) (Another note from Lauren:  Now it is a kitchen). The front room housed a farm secretary’s desk and file cabinets. The location of the office was across from the farm house…maybe set a little farther down the lane…but near the house. There was also a chicken coop behind the main house. It was definitely a fully operating farm property.

Price was good friends with Henry Warden in West Virginia, where Price originally lived. Price and Henry both moved to Fredericksburg around 1900. Henry Warden owned the adjacent farm Hazel Hill. Price and Henry continued to be good friends after their move to Fredericksburg. Price lost his leg in a farming accident and had a prosthesis.

Apparently Sligo was originally purchased around 1900 by my other great-grandfather Henry Warden as part of a group of land parcels. As I said…Henry lived at Hazel Hill, an adjacent farm, and my guess is that both properties were operated together with Price’s help. Price’s son Sidney Sr. married Henry’s daughter Grace. Grace died when my father Sidney Jr. was born, and Sligo became part of her estate. I do not know when the property was officially transferred to Price, but regardless of the name on the title, Price was its “owner” and resident from the early 1900’s. I do know my father dearly loved Price, who helped raise my father, after Grace’s death.

My father…moved back to town about 1949 to help Price run the farm. Sometime around 1960 (as I remember) the farm was annexed into the city, which made it unfeasible to continue to be operated as a farm. The Angus operation was moved to other property owned by my father and the Sligo property was eventually sold. The name of the cattle operation, at least when my father was involved, was Lee Hill Farm (separate from your Sligo house designation). The Hazel Hill and Sligo farm properties extended from where the Hazel Hill Apartments now stand all the way to Sylvania Plant as fields and pastures and probably as far back as the river…i.e. that entire side of the road.

I wish you had seen the farm with its cattle.  It was a beautiful setting.  One memory:  One of the Angus bulls at the farm often grazed in the front field next to the road (across from the main house and in front of the office). He would sit on his haunches like a dog…very unusual for a bull…and he was nicknamed “Sitting Bull!”