N. Va. Historian, Author Edith Moore Sprouse Dies

By Patricia Sullivan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 3, 2004; Page B06

Edith Moore Sprouse, 80, a well-known Northern Virginia historian who indexed and catalogued a century's worth of Fairfax County government records from the mid-1700s, died of a heart attack Jan. 30 at her home in Alexandria.

Mrs. Sprouse, former chairman of the Fairfax County History Commission and author of numerous books on local history, is best known for the 20-year project that she and two other women undertook in 1970 to sort and organize the county's court documents.

"The significance of that is that the Fairfax County court, up until 1870, was the government of Fairfax County," said Jack L. Hiller, a local historian. "Up to that time, all the matters that came before the court . . . were in a pile of paper. You didn't have access to them. You didn't have a way to look something up. [The project] now makes available to researchers that time period in Fairfax history."

Mrs. Sprouse also cleaned and catalogued artifacts for the Fairfax County Archaeological Laboratory and assisted with the archaeological program at Gunston Hall plantation, the home of George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights. She helped organize the manuscript collection at the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum in Alexandria and also helped place many roadside historical markers around Fairfax County.

Suzanne Levy, the Virginia Room librarian with the Fairfax County Library, and Joyce McMullin, manager of special collections at the Alexandria Library, said Mrs. Sprouse's interests and accomplishments were deep and broad.

Her 1860 Census project matched the names of all the citizens of the county with tax records, genealogical documents, marriage certificates, property and slave-ownership records -- all the records she could locate. It has been a "godsend" to students, Levy said.

"She did a lot of this pre-computer. That was one of her spectacular contributions," Levy said. That census is now being matched to a map that shows the owners of each piece of Fairfax property in 1860.

One of her unpublished projects was a Fairfax index that came from scrolling through reams of microfiche of the Maryland Gazette, a newspaper published in Annapolis, and identifying its coverage of Northern Virginia and Virginians.

"Having spent four decades in the field, she knew what names to pull out. Her specialty was really 18th- and 19th-century Virginia, particularly eastern Fairfax County," McMullin said. "There was no question she didn't have an answer for."

Beth Mitchell, who collaborated with Mrs. Sprouse on the Fairfax County index project, along with Priscilla Howe, and on other historic projects, said the motivation was curiosity.

"She always had this instinct of where to look and kept at it. She was always finding these interesting bits" of information, Mitchell said. And she was willing to share what she found.

"She was never too busy to answer any question anyone had. Nothing belonged to her," said Tony Wrenn, an area architectural historian. "There was a depth of understanding of history; there was nothing that did not interest her. The past was a classless and raceless past to her."

And yet, she lived in a "starkly contemporary house" in the Hollin Hills section of Alexandria, Wrenn said. Perhaps her secret was that "Edith did not hang around her apartment," said Hiller, who accompanied her to Baltimore two weeks ago, "talking history all the way."

She was born in Scranton, Pa., and received a geology degree from Wellesley College in 1945. She went to work for the Army Map Service in Washington, creating maps from photos, but left the job to marry and raise a family.

Mrs. Sprouse resumed her career in 1960, after her youngest child started school. She wrote her first book, "Potomac Sampler," in 1961, followed by many others, including "Colchester: Colonial Port on the Potomac," "Mount Air," "Along the Potomac River" and "Fairfax County in 1860: A Collective Biography."

She was instrumental in the decision to move the Dranesville Tavern, on the Fairfax-Loudoun county line, out of the path of the widened Route 7 in the late 1960s.

She served on the boards of the Franconia Museum and the Fairfax County Historical Society and was an adviser to the Friends of Historic Huntley. She was a member of the Northern Virginia Association for History, the Alexandria Historical Society and many more historical organizations. She also knitted hundreds of hats and mittens for the needy through the Community Partners for Children. The Rare Book Room in the Barrett Branch of the Alexandria Library is named for her.

Her husband of 47 years, James M. Sprouse, died in 1995.

Survivors include three children, Susan McConnell of Atlanta, Betsy Sprouse of Alexandria and Peter Sprouse of Austin; and two grandchildren. 

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

MY NAME IS DON HAKENSON AND I’M REPRESENTING THE FRANCONIA MUSEUM AND I AM EXTREMELY PROUD AND HONORED TO BE ASKED TO SPEAK ABOUT EDITH MOORE SPROUSE TODAY. SHE WAS A MONUMENTAL LEGEND KNOWN FOR HER KNOWLEDGE ON FAIRFAX COUNTY HISTORY AND PRESERVATION.  BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY EDITH SPROUSE WAS MY ADVISOR, MY MENTOR, MY PUBLICIST, MY CONFIDANT, AND MY VERY DEAR FRIEND. 

 WHEN I FIRST MET HER AND TOLD HER ABOUT THE BOOK I WAS WRITING SHE IMMEDIATELY STARTED LOOKING AT HER OWN VAST FILES TO SEE HOW SHE COULD HELP ME.  SHE ASKED FOR NOTHING IN RETURN AND EXPECTED NOTHING IN RETURN.  THAT’S THE TYPE OF WOMAN SHE WAS. 

SHE WAS THE FIRST PERSON THAT I GAVE A PERSONAL DRIVING TOUR OF THE AREA THAT I WAS WRITING ABOUT.  SHE LOVED THE DRIVE AND LOVED GETTING OUT HEARING THE HISTORY, WALKING AROUND AT EACH SITE AND FEELING HISTORY BREATHE.   THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT THAT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED WAS WHEN EDITH SPROUSE SAID “DON – I DIDN’T KNOW THAT!’  CAN YOU IMAGINE EDITH SPROUSE SAYING TO YOU, “I DIDN’T KNOW THAT?” 

ANOTHER TIME EDITH AND I DROVE TO THE VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO REVIEW SOME RECORDS.  WE HAD A GREAT TIME RESEARCHING SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND FINALLY RETURNED THAT AFTERNOON.  WHEN I DROPPED HER OFF AT HER HOME SHE SAID TO ME AS SHE WAS GETTING OUT OF HER CAR, “DON—YOUR DRIVING IS IMPROVING.”

IT WAS EDITH THAT RECOMMENDED THAT I SEND MY MANUSCRIPT TO THE FAIRFAX COUNTY HISTORY COMMISSION AND I KNOW THAT IT WAS EDITH THAT PUSHED VERY HARD FOR ME TO WIN THE NAN NETHERTON AWARD!  WHATEVER SUCCESS OR RECOGNITION THAT I HAVE I OWE TO EDITH SPROUSE. SHE WAS ALWAYS HELPING ME.  THAT’S THE TYPE OF WOMAN SHE WAS. 

IT WAS EDITH THAT CONTINUALLY PUSHED ME TO COMPLETE AND PUBLISH THE BOOK AND IT WAS EDITH THAT RECOMMENDED ME FOR MY FIRST TALK ABOUT THE BOOK.

ONE DAY I WAS AT HER CONDOMINIUM APARTMENT AT MONTEBELLO, WHICH WAS LOCATED ON THE LAND WHERE THE MOUNT EAGLE HOUSE USED TO BE LOCATED.  SHE JUST LOVED TELLING PEOPLE THAT SHE LIVED ON LAND THAT WAS OWNED BY LORD FAIRFAX.  LATER ON SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE HAD BEEN ASKED BY THE KINGSTOWNE LIBRARY TO SPEAK.  UNFORTUNATELY, SHE REALLY DIDN’T WANT TO SPEAK AND SAID TO ME THAT SHE WOULD CONSIDER IT A PERSONAL FAVOR IF I WOULD SPEAK TO THEM FOR HER ABOUT MY UPCOMING BOOK.  HOW COULD I TURN HER DOWN? SHE HAD ALWAYS BEEN SO NICE AND WONDERFUL TO ME.  

EDITH WAS ALWAYS DOING THINGS TO HELP ME. WHETHER IT WAS LETTING ME KNOW WHERE I MIGHT BE ABLE TO SELL MY BOOK, ATTENDING THE MOSBY AND FRANCONIA TOURS THAT I DO WITH GREGG DUDDING OR RECOMMENDING ME FOR POTENTIAL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS.  SHE WAS ALWAYS DOING SOMETHING TO HELP ME.  

ONE DAY EDITH INVITED MYSELF, GREGG AND A FRIEND OF MINE OVER FOR LUNCH AND SHE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW MY FRIEND’S NAME.  SHE WAS ALWAYS NICE AND CONSIDERATE TO EVERYONE. 

THIS PAPER THIN OLDER SWEET LADY WAS A VERY SERIOUS AND HARD WORKING DYNAMO!  SHE WAS ALWAYS RESEARCHING, READING AND FINDING NEW INSIGHTS ABOUT FAIRFAX COUNTY.  SHE WAS THE MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE PERSON OF FAIRFAX COUNTY HISTORY THAT I EVER MET.  WE ARE ALL HERE TODAY TO PAY HOMAGE TO HER. 

WHEN I WAS WRITING MY BOOK I QUOTED AN HISTORIAN THAT MADE A STATEMENT ABOUT A HOUSE LOCATED IN THE FRANCONIA AREA.  SHE TOLD ME THAT THE STATEMENT WAS NOT TRUE.  HOWEVER, IN THE NEXT DRAFT OF MY BOOK I STILL LEFT THAT HISTORIANS OPINION IN THE MANUSCRIPT.

WHEN EDITH REVIEWED THE NEXT DRAFT SHE DID NOT SAY A WORD TO ME, BUT I COULD SEE BY HER DEMEANOR THAT SHE WAS NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE PASSAGE.  IN THE NEXT DRAFT I WENT AHEAD AND TOOK IT OUT.  WHEN SHE REVIEWED THE CHANGED DRAFT AND SAW THAT I HAD DELETED THE ERRONEOUS STATEMENT, SHE STATED STERNLY, “I’M GLAD YOU FINALLY TOOK THAT STATEMENT OUT--IT WAS WRONG!” LET’S MAKE THE BOOK ACCURATE!  THAT’S THE TYPE OF WOMAN SHE WAS! 

EDITH WAS A STOREHOUSE OF KNOWLEDGE AND IT WAS ALWAYS FUN FOR ME TO TALK WITH HER.  ONE TIME I WAS SELLING MY BOOKS AT THE MT. OLIVET CHURCH BAZAAR.  A MAN CAME UP TO ME AND SAID THAT HE HAD ALWAYS ADMIRED EDITH SPROUSE BUT HAD NEVER MET HER.  HE SAID IT WAS HIS GREATEST REGRET THAT HE HAD NEVER MET EDITH.  HE HAD ALWAYS LOVED HER BOOKS AND HER STORIES.

ONE-HOUR LATER UNEXPECTLY EDITH SHOWED UP AT THE BAZAAR TO SIT WITH ME AND TO KEEP ME COMPANY.  I TOLD HER ABOUT THE MAN I HAD MET EARLIER IN THE DAY AND I ASKED HER IF I LOCATED THE MAN AGAIN WOULD SHE LIKE TO TALK WITH HIM.  SHE SAID ABSOLUTELY.  

I SEARCHED THE BAZAAR QUICKLY, FOUND THE KINDLY GENTLEMAN AND YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE SMILE ON HIS FACE WHEN I INTRODUCED HIM TO EDITH. IT WAS DEFINITELY WORTH SEEING.  EDITH MET WITH THIS GENTLEMAN AND THEY BOTH HAD A WONDERFUL TIME TALKING ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE PASSION—FAIRFAX COUNTY HISTORY. 

EDITH REALLY DIDN’T KNOW HOW MUCH SHE WAS RESPECTED BY THE EVERY DAY ORDINARY PEOPLE, TO AND INCLUDING DON HAKENSON, WHO BOUGHT HER BOOKS OR READ HER STORIES ON FAIRFAX COUNTY AND ALEXANDRIA.  SHE WAS RESPECTED EVEN MORE BY THE MEMBERS OF THE FAIRFAX COUNTY HISTORY COMMISSION.  EVERYONE LOOKED UP TO HER! 

EDITH SPOUSE WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO HELP ANYONE WHO HAD QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO HISTORY.  I FOUND OUT FROM TALKING WITH HER THAT GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS HER PERSONAL HERO.  I REALIZED THAT THERE WERE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN GEORGE AND EDITH.  GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS A GIANT OF A MAN WHO WAS OUR FIRST PRESIDENT WHO HELPED CREATE OUR CURRENT COUNTRY AND GOVERNMENT.  HE WAS THE RIGHT MAN AT THE RIGHT TIME.   EDITH SPROUSE WAS A SMALL WOMAN WHO WAS A GIANT WITH KNOWLEDGE WHEN IT CAME TO THE HISTORY AND PRESERVATION OF OUR AREA.   HER BOOKS AND STORIES OF FAIRFAX COUNTY ALERTED OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OF POSSIBLY LOOSING HOUSES, BUILDINGS AND LAND THAT WERE SIGNIFICANT TO OUR HERITAGE AND OUR HISTORY.  SHE WAS THE RIGHT PERSON AT THE RIGHT TIME.