John Sprint's Hotel

On Monday, October 1, 1877, the stockholders of the Winchester and Berry's Ferry Turnpike Road were called to meet at 12 o'clock at "John Sprint's Hotel, in Millwood," to elect a president and directors; certificates would be issued to stockholders who had not yet received them. The notice names a venue but does not identify its John Sprint with the John W. Sprint whose obituary appeared forty years later. That obituary said he was born in Winchester in 1829 and "moved to Millwood with his parents when he was quite young, and spent most of his life there."

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1877
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

A notice in the Clarke Courier of September 13, 1877 called the stockholders of the Winchester and Berry's Ferry Turnpike Road to meet at "John Sprint's Hotel, in Millwood," at 12 o'clock on Monday, October 1, 1877, to elect a president and directors.

What the source supports

That the turnpike company announced a stockholders' meeting at a Millwood hotel it called John Sprint's.

Uncertainty

A notice of a scheduled meeting; it does not report that the meeting took place. It names the hotel and nothing more about it. The hotel's John Sprint is not identified with John W. Sprint or with anyone else.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The notice, with the meeting place, day and purpose.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 13 September 1877, page 2: "Turnpike Notice."

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1877-09-13 (publication)

Locator: Page 2, notice headed "Turnpike Notice."

Relevant passage
The Stockholders of the Winchester and Berry's Ferry Turnpike Road, will hold a meeting at John Sprint's Hotel, in Millwood, at 12 o'clock, on MONDAY, THE 1st DAY OF OCTOBER, 1877, for the purpose of electing a President and Directors.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1877-09-13-turnpike-notice. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1917
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of October 10, 1917 reported that John W. Sprint, "one of the highly esteemed citizens of Boyce," had died at his home there; that he was born in Winchester on June 26, 1829 and moved to Millwood with his parents when young; that his wife, the former Emily Shearer of Millwood, had died about five months earlier; and that he left one son, J. Trone Sprint, a Boyce magistrate, and six daughters.

What the source supports

What the Courier's obituary says of John W. Sprint's life and family.

Uncertainty

An obituary's account. It does not mention the 1877 hotel or the 1882 firm, and nothing here identifies him with the hotel's John Sprint or with the firm's "J. W." Its list of survivors is not a list of every child.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His death at his home in Boyce.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, obituary of John W. Sprint, opening

Relevant passage
Mr. John W. Sprint, one of the highly esteemed citizens of Boyce, died at his home there on Tuesday morning

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His birth in Winchester and his move to Millwood.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, same obituary, birth and early life

Relevant passage
Mr. Sprint was born in Winchester on June 26, 1829, and moved to Millwood with his parents when he was quite young, and spent most of his life there.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His wife, Emily Shearer, and her death.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, same obituary, his wife

Relevant passage
Mr. Sprint's wife was Miss Emily Shearer, of Millwood, who died about five months ago.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His surviving son and daughters.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, same obituary, survivors

Relevant passage
He leaves one son, Mr. J. Trone Sprint, the well-known magistrate of Boyce, and six daughters

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

A newspaper notice under the display heading "Turnpike Notice." Its paragraph calls the stockholders of the Winchester and Berry's Ferry Turnpike Road to a meeting at John Sprint's Hotel, in Millwood, at 12 o'clock on Monday, October 1, 1877, to elect a president and directors. It is signed "By order of the President, J. E. Page," with the printer's mark "sep6 4t" at lower left.

The Winchester and Berry's Ferry Turnpike company called its stockholders to John Sprint's Hotel, in Millwood, for October 1, 1877. Clarke Courier, September 13, 1877, p. 2.

Clarke Courier (Berryville, Va.), September 13, 1877, page 2. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Rights Changes: A clipping cut from the Library of Congress page image when the project's source packet was assembled, shown at the clipping's own 823 by 580 pixels: not scaled, and re-encoded as JPEG with the file metadata dropped. Nothing retouched or added.

Source: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 13 September 1877, page 2: "Turnpike Notice." Open the full image

J. W. Sprint & Son, Boyce

By September 1882 a firm signing itself "J. W. Sprint & Son," of Boyce, was advertising phosphates "tested by farmers in our immediate vicinity" and announcing that it meant to make their handling "a special branch of our business." The advertisement names neither partner in full. John W. Sprint died at his home in Boyce in October 1917, remembered by the Courier as "one of the highly esteemed citizens of Boyce." His wife, the former Emily Shearer of Millwood, had died about five months earlier; he was survived by one son, J. Trone Sprint, a Boyce magistrate, and six daughters.

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1882
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

An advertisement in the Clarke Courier of September 14, 1882, signed "J. W. SPRINT & SON, BOYCE, VA.," offered phosphates "tested by farmers in our immediate vicinity" and said the firm expected to make their handling "a special branch of our business."

What the source supports

That a firm signing itself J. W. Sprint & Son, of Boyce, advertised phosphates in 1882.

Uncertainty

An advertisement. It names neither partner in full: its "J. W." is not identified with John W. Sprint, and the son is not named. It says nothing about when the firm began or ended.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The phosphates offered, and their testing nearby.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 14 September 1882, page 2: "Phosphates! Phosphates!", advertisement of J. W. Sprint & Son, Boyce

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1882-09-14 (publication)

Locator: Page 2, advertisement headed "Phosphates! Phosphates!", opening

Relevant passage
We are prepared to furnish the following brands of Phosphates, which have been tested by farmers in our immediate vicinity

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1882-09-14-sprint-phosphates. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The firm's plans and its signature.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 14 September 1882, page 2: "Phosphates! Phosphates!", advertisement of J. W. Sprint & Son, Boyce

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1882-09-14 (publication)

Locator: Page 2, same advertisement, closing and signature

Relevant passage
As we expect to make the handling of Phosphates a special branch of our business, we will be obliged to farmers for a share of their patronage. J. W. SPRINT & SON, BOYCE, VA.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1882-09-14-sprint-phosphates. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1917
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of October 10, 1917 reported that John W. Sprint, "one of the highly esteemed citizens of Boyce," had died at his home there; that he was born in Winchester on June 26, 1829 and moved to Millwood with his parents when young; that his wife, the former Emily Shearer of Millwood, had died about five months earlier; and that he left one son, J. Trone Sprint, a Boyce magistrate, and six daughters.

What the source supports

What the Courier's obituary says of John W. Sprint's life and family.

Uncertainty

An obituary's account. It does not mention the 1877 hotel or the 1882 firm, and nothing here identifies him with the hotel's John Sprint or with the firm's "J. W." Its list of survivors is not a list of every child.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His death at his home in Boyce.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, obituary of John W. Sprint, opening

Relevant passage
Mr. John W. Sprint, one of the highly esteemed citizens of Boyce, died at his home there on Tuesday morning

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His birth in Winchester and his move to Millwood.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, same obituary, birth and early life

Relevant passage
Mr. Sprint was born in Winchester on June 26, 1829, and moved to Millwood with his parents when he was quite young, and spent most of his life there.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His wife, Emily Shearer, and her death.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, same obituary, his wife

Relevant passage
Mr. Sprint's wife was Miss Emily Shearer, of Millwood, who died about five months ago.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His surviving son and daughters.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 10 October 1917, page 1: obituary of John W. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1917-10-10 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, same obituary, survivors

Relevant passage
He leaves one son, Mr. J. Trone Sprint, the well-known magistrate of Boyce, and six daughters

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1917-10-10-john-w-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

A newspaper advertisement headed "Phosphates! Phosphates!" in large type. It offers Popplein Silicated Phosphate, "The Model" Ammoniated Bone Phosphate with a table of its analysis in per cent, and Piedmont Guanos, says the brands were tested by farmers in the immediate vicinity, and closes with the signature "J. W. Sprint & Son, Boyce, Va." and the printer's mark "sept.7 6t".

J. W. Sprint & Son of Boyce advertised phosphates to neighboring farmers in 1882. Clarke Courier, September 14, 1882, p. 2.

Clarke Courier (Berryville, Va.), September 14, 1882, page 2. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Rights Changes: A clipping cut from the Library of Congress page image when the project's source packet was assembled, shown at the clipping's own 872 by 1,363 pixels: not scaled, and re-encoded as JPEG with the file metadata dropped. Nothing retouched or added.

Source: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 14 September 1882, page 2: "Phosphates! Phosphates!", advertisement of J. W. Sprint & Son, Boyce Open the full image

Mamie Humston and Thomas H. Sprint

A published abstract of the county marriage register records that Thomas H. Sprint, a 29-year-old merchant and the son of John W. and Emily Sprint, married Mamie Humston, daughter of Benj. F. and Fannie Humston, at Berryville on May 26, 1886. Their son Thomas Hatcher Sprint's obituary in 1944 named his parents as "the former Miss Mamie Humston of Shenandoah county, and Thomas H. Sprint of Clarke county," and his surviving brothers and sister as J. Ashby Sprint of Winchester, Frank H. Sprint and Mrs. Lucy Sprint Crim.

Source note: Patricia B. Duncan, 2008
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

Patricia B. Duncan's published abstract of the Clarke County marriage register records that Thomas H. Sprint, 29, a merchant, the son of John W. and Emily Sprint, married Mamie Humston, 23, the daughter of Benj. F. and Fannie Humston, at Berryville on May 26, 1886.

What the source supports

What Duncan's abstract records of the 1886 marriage and the couple's parents.

Uncertainty

A secondary published abstract, read on a scan of the printed page; the register page it cites, p. 137, was not inspected. It is the only record here that names Thomas H. Sprint's father as John W. Sprint, and it does not identify the hotel's John Sprint of 1877 or the partners of the 1882 firm. It names the bride's mother Fannie, where Humston's will names his wife Rebecca F.; the two are not reconciled.

Source

Reference work

Evidence role: supports. Duncan's entry for the marriage.

Patricia B. Duncan, Clarke County, Virginia Marriages 1836-1886 (Heritage Books, 2008)

Patricia B. Duncan · 2008 (publication)

Locator: Page 159, register entry for the marriage of Thomas H. Sprint and Mamie Humston

Relevant passage
SPRINT, Thomas H.; s/o John W. & Emily SPRINT; 29y; sgl; merchant; b. & res. ClrkVA; m. 26 May 1886 at Berryville to HUMSTON, Mamie; d/o Benj. F. & Fannie HUMSTON; 23y; sgl; b. ShenVA; res. ClrkVA; (lic) 26 Mar 1886; p. 137

Checked: Existing OCR reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.

Open source

Source family: duncan-clarke-marriages. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1944
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of July 6, 1944, reporting the death of Thomas Hatcher Sprint, born July 25, 1894 in Clarke County, named his parents as "the former Miss Mamie Humston of Shenandoah county, and Thomas H. Sprint of Clarke county," and his surviving brothers and sister as J. Ashby Sprint of Winchester, Frank H. Sprint and Mrs. Lucy Sprint Crim.

What the source supports

That the obituary names Mamie Humston and Thomas H. Sprint as Thomas Hatcher Sprint's parents, and J. Ashby Sprint, Frank H. Sprint and Lucy Sprint Crim as his brothers and sister.

Uncertainty

An obituary's account of the family, not a legal list of heirs. Thomas Hatcher Sprint, the son, is a different person from his father, Thomas H. Sprint.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His birth and his parents.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 July 1944, page 8: obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1944-07-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint, his parents

Relevant passage
Born July 25, 1894 in Clarke county, he was the son of the former Miss Mamie Humston of Shenandoah county, and Thomas H. Sprint of Clarke county.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1944-07-06-thomas-hatcher-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His surviving brothers.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 July 1944, page 8: obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1944-07-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same obituary, surviving brothers

Relevant passage
two brothers, J. Ashby Sprint of Winchester and Frank H. Sprint

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1944-07-06-thomas-hatcher-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His surviving sister.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 July 1944, page 8: obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1944-07-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same obituary, surviving sister

Relevant passage
one sister, Mrs. Lucy Sprint Crim of Winchester.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1944-07-06-thomas-hatcher-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

The Bellview farm

On April 30, 1902, B. F. Humston signed a will that gave "my daughter Mamie R. Sprint" the farm in Clarke County "known as the Bellview farm." It had come to him, the will says, from Marshall McCormick, trustee, and adjoined the lands of Mrs. Julia A. Anderson and others. She was to hold it "for and during the term of her natural life," with the rents and profits; at her death it was to pass to her children and to the descendants of any child who had died. The will was admitted to record on October 17, 1904, and the appraisers who valued Humston's personal estate that month listed wheat, hay, clover seed and corn under "Bellview Place."

Source note: Clarke County, 1904
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

In a will dated April 30, 1902, B. F. Humston gave "my daughter Mamie R. Sprint" the farm in Clarke County "known as the Bellview farm," which the will says was conveyed to him by Marshall McCormick, trustee, and adjoined the lands of Mrs. Julia A. Anderson and others, to hold "for and during the term of her natural life" with its rents, issues and profits; at her death it was to pass to her children and the descendants of any of them then dead.

What the source supports

The terms of Humston's will for the Bellview farm, as the will book records them.

Uncertainty

The will's own terms. It gives no acreage, bounds or location, and does not name Mamie's children or set out their shares. Its account of how Humston acquired the farm is not checked against a deed, which has not been found. The date is the will's execution: it was admitted to record in 1904, and neither date is a conveyance date.

Source

Contemporary document

Evidence role: supports. The devise of the Bellview farm to Mamie R. Sprint.

Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

Locator: Page 333, the sixth clause of the will, the devise

Relevant passage
I give and devise to my daughter Mamie R. Sprint the farm in Clarke County Va known as the Bellview farm, and conveyed to me by Marshall McCormick, Trustee, adjoining the lands of Mrs Julia A. Anderson and others.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary document

Evidence role: supports. The life interest and the remainder to her children.

Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

Locator: Page 333, the sixth clause of the will, the life interest and remainder

Relevant passage
To have and to hold the same for and during the term of her natural life with the right in her to collect the rents, issues and profits thereof for and during her life, but at her death her interest in said farm under this devise shall cease and be at an end, and said farm or tract of land shall pass to and become vested in her children and the descendants of such of her said children as may at the time of her death be dead.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary document

Evidence role: supports. The date the will was signed.

Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

Locator: Page 333, the execution line of the will

Relevant passage
30 day April 1902

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke County, 1904
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of Clarke County recorded on October 17, 1904 that the last will and testament of B. F. Humston, deceased, was produced and admitted to record.

What the source supports

The date on which Humston's will was admitted to record.

Uncertainty

The clerk's entry. It is not the date the will was signed, which was April 30, 1902, and it is not a conveyance date.

Source

Contemporary document

Evidence role: supports. The date and the production of the will.

Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

Locator: Page 334, the clerk's entry of probate

Relevant passage
Clerks office of the Circuit Court Oct 17th 1904 The last Will and Testament of B. F. Humston dec'd. was this day produced in the clerks office of said Court

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary document

Evidence role: supports. Its admission to record.

Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

Locator: Page 334, the clerk's entry of probate, continued

Relevant passage
and thereupon said Will is admitted to record as the last Will and Testament of B. F. Humston dec'd.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke County, 1904
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The inventory and appraisement of B. F. Humston's personal estate, dated October 31, 1904, lists under "Bellview Place" 534 bushels of wheat at $1.12, $598.08; hay, $58.50; 16 bushels of clover seed at $6.00, $96.00; and 100 barrels of corn at $1.90, $190.00.

What the source supports

That Humston's appraisers listed crops under the heading "Bellview Place" in 1904.

Uncertainty

An appraisal of personal property. Crops listed under a place name are not a title record and give no acreage or bounds. Only these lines are transcribed.

Source

Contemporary document

Evidence role: supports. The lines under "Bellview Place".

Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, page 338: inventory and appraisement of the personal estate of B. F. Humston, October 1904

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-31 (creation)

Locator: Page 338, the lines under "Bellview Place"

Relevant passage
Bellview Place Wheat 534 bu $1.12 $598.08 Hay 58.50 Clover seed 16 bu $6.00 96.00 Corn 100 bbls 1.90 190.00

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary document

Evidence role: supports. The date of the appraisal.

Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, page 338: inventory and appraisement of the personal estate of B. F. Humston, October 1904

Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-31 (creation)

Locator: Page 338, the date of the appraisal

Relevant passage
31st day of Oct 1904

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Ashby Sprint, apple exporter

Mamie's son J. Ashby Sprint worked in the apple business from Winchester. In 1925 he and George Peteley formed an apple-export partnership, "Sprint and Petely." In July 1928 he and Harry C. Warden of Clarke took possession of Logan Shutt's property near Kabletown, in Jefferson County, West Virginia, reported as 600 acres, about 250 of them in apple orchard, with a packing house that, it was said, "has often turned out 1,000 barrels of packed apples a day." The Courier reported the Petely partnership dissolved in April 1929, with Sprint keeping the firm's office, and that July a Winchester Star report it reprinted described him shipping the section's first car of summer apples for export, Early Transparents consigned to Connolly Shaw, Ltd., of Liverpool.

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1944
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of July 6, 1944, reporting the death of Thomas Hatcher Sprint, born July 25, 1894 in Clarke County, named his parents as "the former Miss Mamie Humston of Shenandoah county, and Thomas H. Sprint of Clarke county," and his surviving brothers and sister as J. Ashby Sprint of Winchester, Frank H. Sprint and Mrs. Lucy Sprint Crim.

What the source supports

That the obituary names Mamie Humston and Thomas H. Sprint as Thomas Hatcher Sprint's parents, and J. Ashby Sprint, Frank H. Sprint and Lucy Sprint Crim as his brothers and sister.

Uncertainty

An obituary's account of the family, not a legal list of heirs. Thomas Hatcher Sprint, the son, is a different person from his father, Thomas H. Sprint.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His birth and his parents.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 July 1944, page 8: obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1944-07-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint, his parents

Relevant passage
Born July 25, 1894 in Clarke county, he was the son of the former Miss Mamie Humston of Shenandoah county, and Thomas H. Sprint of Clarke county.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1944-07-06-thomas-hatcher-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His surviving brothers.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 July 1944, page 8: obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1944-07-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same obituary, surviving brothers

Relevant passage
two brothers, J. Ashby Sprint of Winchester and Frank H. Sprint

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1944-07-06-thomas-hatcher-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. His surviving sister.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 July 1944, page 8: obituary of Thomas Hatcher Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1944-07-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same obituary, surviving sister

Relevant passage
one sister, Mrs. Lucy Sprint Crim of Winchester.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1944-07-06-thomas-hatcher-sprint-obituary. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1929
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of April 11, 1929 reported that the partnership of Sprint and Petely, apple exporters, formed in 1925 by Ashby Sprint and George Peteley, had been formally dissolved, and that Mr. Sprint would keep the office the firm had used.

What the source supports

That the Courier reported an apple-export partnership of Ashby Sprint and George Peteley, formed in 1925 and dissolved by April 1929.

Uncertainty

A short news item. It dates the dissolution only by this report. The paper spells the partner's name both "Petely" and "Peteley"; neither is corrected here.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The partnership, its formation and its dissolution.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 11 April 1929, page 2: report of the dissolution of Sprint and Petely, apple exporters

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1929-04-11 (publication)

Locator: Page 2, item on the dissolution of the partnership

Relevant passage
The partnership of Sprint and Petely apple exporters, formed in 1925 by Ashby Sprint and George Peteley, has been formally dissolved

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1929-04-11-sprint-petely. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The office.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 11 April 1929, page 2: report of the dissolution of Sprint and Petely, apple exporters

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1929-04-11 (publication)

Locator: Page 2, same item, the office

Relevant passage
Mr. Sprint will retain the office formerly occupied by the firm.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1929-04-11-sprint-petely. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1928
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of July 26, 1928 reported that Ashby Sprint, of Winchester, and Harry C. Warden, of Clarke County, had concluded negotiations for the property of Logan Shutt near Kabletown, Jefferson County, W. Va., and were taking possession at once: 600 acres, about 250 of them in apple orchard, with a packing house that, it was said, "has often turned out 1,000 barrels of packed apples a day."

What the source supports

That the Courier reported Ashby Sprint and Harry C. Warden taking possession of an orchard property near Kabletown in 1928.

Uncertainty

A news report, not a deed. The property is in West Virginia and is not the Bellview farm. Its figures differ from the 579 acres, 285 in orchard, reported in 1932, and are not reconciled. The output figure is hearsay in the report itself.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The acquisition and the taking of possession.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 26 July 1928, page 4: report of the Kabletown orchard acquisition by Ashby Sprint and Harry C. Warden

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1928-07-26 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, report of the acquisition, opening

Relevant passage
Mr. Ashby Sprint, of Winchester, and Mr. Harry C. Warden of Clarke County, have concluded negotiations for the acquisition of the property of Logan Shutt near Kabletown, Jefferson County, W. Va., and are taking possession at once.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1928-07-26-kabletown-acquisition. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The acreage and the orchard.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 26 July 1928, page 4: report of the Kabletown orchard acquisition by Ashby Sprint and Harry C. Warden

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1928-07-26 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, same report, the property

Relevant passage
They acquire 600 acres, about 250 of which is in apple orchard. There is a large packing house on the farm

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1928-07-26-kabletown-acquisition. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The packing house's reported output.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 26 July 1928, page 4: report of the Kabletown orchard acquisition by Ashby Sprint and Harry C. Warden

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1928-07-26 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, same report, the packing house

Relevant passage
The packing house has often turned out 1,000 barrels of packed apples a day it was said.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1928-07-26-kabletown-acquisition. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1929
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of July 4, 1929 reprinted a Winchester Star report that the first car of summer apples shipped from the section for export, Early Transparents handled by J. Ashby Sprint, Winchester apple exporter, had left Winchester "today," consigned to Connolly Shaw, Ltd., of Liverpool.

What the source supports

That a report reprinted from the Winchester Star named J. Ashby Sprint as the exporter of the season's first export car of summer apples.

Uncertainty

A reprint that depends on the Star's report; the Star's issue has not been inspected, and its "today" is not dated here.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The shipment, its exporter and its consignee.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 4 July 1929, page 5: reprint of a Winchester Star report of the first car of summer apples shipped for export

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1929-07-04 (publication)

Locator: Page 5, reprinted report of the first export car

Relevant passage
The first car of summer apples shipped from this section for export left Winchester today. The shipment consisted of Early Transparents, and was handled by J. Ashby Sprint, Winchester apple exporter. The apples are consigned to Connolly Shaw, Ltd., of Liverpool.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: winchester-star-1929-07-export-car. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: contextualizes. The credit to the Winchester Star.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 4 July 1929, page 5: reprint of a Winchester Star report of the first car of summer apples shipped for export

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1929-07-04 (publication)

Locator: Page 5, same item, credit line

Relevant passage
—Winchester Star.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: winchester-star-1929-07-export-car. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

A newspaper clipping headlined "Warden is Partner in Orchard Purchase." It reports that Ashby Sprint of Winchester and Harry C. Warden of Clarke County had concluded negotiations for the property of Logan Shutt near Kabletown, Jefferson County, West Virginia, and were taking possession at once: 600 acres, about 250 of them in apple orchard, a large packing house on the farm, and a crop of 20,000 barrels of apples expected that year. It adds that the packing house had often turned out 1,000 barrels of packed apples a day, "it was said", that there were also five dwelling houses on the place, and that Mr. Shutt had farmed and grown fruit in Jefferson County for many years before moving to Florida five or six years earlier.

The Courier reported Ashby Sprint and Harry C. Warden's acquisition near Kabletown, Jefferson County, West Virginia, in July 1928. This is not the Bellview farm.

What this image does and does not showThe complete article as held, cropped from the newspaper's page 4; a newspaper report, not a deed. Its acreage (600 acres, about 250 in orchard) differs from the 579 acres, 285 in orchard, reported in 1932, and the two are not reconciled here. The packing house's output is reported as "it was said", not independently verified.

Clarke Courier (Berryville, Va.), July 26, 1928, page 4. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Rights Changes: The complete clipping, its own native JPEG stream, extracted byte for byte from packet page 5 of the accepted Sprint/Bellview evidence packet: not scaled, not re-cropped, retouched, enhanced, OCR'd, recolored or reconstructed. The retained original is exactly the packet's own embedded image bytes; the served file is re-encoded as JPEG only for the web derivative.

Source: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 26 July 1928, page 4: report of the Kabletown orchard acquisition by Ashby Sprint and Harry C. Warden Open the full image

Cold storage, a receivership and a lease

In 1930 Ashby Sprint was vice-president of the Berkeley Springs Ice and Cold Storage Company, which the Courier said could hold 65,000 barrels. A Winchester Star report from Charles Town, dated December 24 and reprinted in the Courier on January 7, 1932, said four stockholders, Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Warden and Mr. and Mrs. Ashby Sprint, had asked for a receiver for Blue Ridge Orchards, Incorporated; it listed $85,000 in liabilities and a 579-acre Kabletown tract, 285 acres in orchard, "taken over by the Warden and Sprint group in 1928." In August 1933 two trustees advertised for sale, under a trust deed of May 2, 1931, an apple packing house 110 feet by 50 at White Post Station, standing on Norfolk and Western land "leased to J. Ashby Sprint."

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1930
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of September 11, 1930 reported that the officers of the Berkeley Springs Ice and Cold Storage Company, formerly the Morgan County Cold Storage Company, of Berkeley Springs, W. Va., were H. C. Warden of Berryville, president, J. Ashby Sprint of Winchester, vice-president, and J. F. Wilson of Martinsburg, secretary and treasurer, and that it had a capacity of 65,000 barrels.

What the source supports

That the Courier named J. Ashby Sprint as vice-president of a Berkeley Springs cold-storage company in 1930.

Uncertainty

A news report. The capacity is as the paper gave it.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The company.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 11 September 1930, page 4: report on the Berkeley Springs Ice and Cold Storage Company

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1930-09-11 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, report on the company, its name

Relevant passage
The Berkeley Springs Ice and Cold Storage Company, formerly the Morgan County Cold Storage Company, located at Berkeley Springs, W. Va.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1930-09-11-berkeley-springs-cold-storage. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. Its officers.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 11 September 1930, page 4: report on the Berkeley Springs Ice and Cold Storage Company

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1930-09-11 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, same report, the officers

Relevant passage
Messrs. H. C Warden, Berryville: J Ashby Sprint, Winchester, and J F Wilson, Martinsburg. Mr. Warden is president, Mr. Sprint, vice-president, and Mr. Wilson, secretary and treasurer of the company

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1930-09-11-berkeley-springs-cold-storage. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. Its capacity.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 11 September 1930, page 4: report on the Berkeley Springs Ice and Cold Storage Company

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1930-09-11 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, same report, capacity

Relevant passage
It has a capacity of 65,000 barrels

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1930-09-11-berkeley-springs-cold-storage. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1932
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of January 7, 1932 reprinted a Winchester Star report, datelined Charles Town, W. Va., December 24, that a receiver had been asked for Blue Ridge Orchards, Incorporated, by four stockholders, Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Warden and Mr. and Mrs. Ashby Sprint; it listed liabilities of $85,000 and a 579-acre tract in Kabletown district, 285 acres of it in orchard, "taken over by the Warden and Sprint group in 1928."

What the source supports

That a report reprinted from the Winchester Star named Mr. and Mrs. Ashby Sprint among the stockholders who asked for a receiver for Blue Ridge Orchards.

Uncertainty

A reprint that depends on the Star's report; the Star's issue has not been inspected. It reports a petition, not the outcome of the receivership. Its Kabletown figures differ from those reported in 1928 and are not reconciled.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The dateline and the petition for a receiver.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 7 January 1932, page 3: reprint of a Winchester Star report, datelined Charles Town, of the Blue Ridge Orchards receivership

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1932-01-07 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, reprinted report, dateline and petition

Relevant passage
Charles Town, W. Va., Dec. 24.—A petition voluntarily asking the appointment of a receiver for the Blue Ridge Orchards, Incorporated, operating extensive orchard contracts in Jefferson county, was allowed by Judge D. H. Rodgers, in a special session of circuit court here this morning.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: winchester-star-1931-12-24-blue-ridge-orchards-receivership. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The four stockholders and the liabilities.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 7 January 1932, page 3: reprint of a Winchester Star report, datelined Charles Town, of the Blue Ridge Orchards receivership

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1932-01-07 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, same report, the stockholders and liabilities

Relevant passage
Four stockholders asked the receivership. They were Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Warden, Berryville, Va., and Mr. and Mrs. Ashby Sprint, Winchester. Liabilities were listed as $85,000

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: winchester-star-1931-12-24-blue-ridge-orchards-receivership. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The Kabletown tract.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 7 January 1932, page 3: reprint of a Winchester Star report, datelined Charles Town, of the Blue Ridge Orchards receivership

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1932-01-07 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, same report, the Kabletown tract

Relevant passage
a 579-acre tract in Kabletown district of which 285 acres is in orchard

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: winchester-star-1931-12-24-blue-ridge-orchards-receivership. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The 1928 acquisition.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 7 January 1932, page 3: reprint of a Winchester Star report, datelined Charles Town, of the Blue Ridge Orchards receivership

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1932-01-07 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, same report, the 1928 acquisition

Relevant passage
it was taken over by the Warden and Sprint group in 1928.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: winchester-star-1931-12-24-blue-ridge-orchards-receivership. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: contextualizes. The credit to the Winchester Star.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 7 January 1932, page 3: reprint of a Winchester Star report, datelined Charles Town, of the Blue Ridge Orchards receivership

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1932-01-07 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, same report, credit line

Relevant passage
—Winchester Star.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: winchester-star-1931-12-24-blue-ridge-orchards-receivership. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1933
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

A trustees' notice in the Clarke Courier of August 31, 1933 advertised for sale on September 30, 1933, under a trust deed dated May 2, 1931, an apple packing house 110 feet by 50 at White Post Station, standing on twenty-two hundredths of an acre owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway Company "and leased to J. Ashby Sprint."

What the source supports

That the land under a packing house at White Post Station was described in 1933 as leased to J. Ashby Sprint.

Uncertainty

An advertised sale; no completed sale is recorded here. The lease is of the railway land under the building. The notice does not say that J. Ashby Sprint owned or ran the packing house, and it names no operator. It concerns White Post, not the Sprint packing house at Boyce. The trust deed is recited, not inspected.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The sale date.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 31 August 1933, page 4: "Apple Packing House for Sale," trustees' notice of a packing house at White Post Station

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1933-08-31 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, trustees' notice, heading

Relevant passage
APPLE PACKING HOUSE FOR SALE SATURDAY, SEPT. 30, 1933

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1933-08-31-white-post-packing-house. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The trust deed and the building.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 31 August 1933, page 4: "Apple Packing House for Sale," trustees' notice of a packing house at White Post Station

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1933-08-31 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, same notice, the trust deed and the building

Relevant passage
Under authority of a trust deed dated May 2, 1931, of record in the Clarke County Clerk's Office, the undersigned will sell at public auction in front of the County Court House at Berryville, Clarke County, Virginia, for cash, that certain apple packing house one hundred and ten feet by fifty feet

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1933-08-31-white-post-packing-house. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The site and the lease of the land.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 31 August 1933, page 4: "Apple Packing House for Sale," trustees' notice of a packing house at White Post Station

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1933-08-31 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, same notice, the site and the lease

Relevant passage
situate on the Norfolk and Western Railway's property at White Post Station, Clarke County, Virginia. Said building is located on twenty-two one hundredths acres of land owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway Company and leased to J. Ashby Sprint.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1933-08-31-white-post-packing-house. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

A packing house at Boyce

The Courier's report on the 1931 harvest listed Petley and Cather, of Winchester, operating a packing plant at White Post, and then, separately: "The Sprint packing house at Boyce packed a large run from that neighborhood." The 1932 report again named the two apart, saying "the Sprint packing house packed a large quantity from that neighborhood." Neither report says who ran the Sprint house or whose apples it packed.

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1931
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier's report of November 19, 1931 on the county's apple harvest said that, in addition to three larger plants, Petley and Cather, of Winchester, operated a packing plant at White Post, and that "The Sprint packing house at Boyce packed a large run from that neighborhood."

What the source supports

That the 1931 harvest report named a Sprint packing house at Boyce, separately from the Petley and Cather plant at White Post.

Uncertainty

The report names no operator or owner for the Sprint packing house, and does not say whose apples it packed or exactly where it stood. Nothing here identifies it with J. Ashby Sprint, with the White Post packing house on leased railway land, or with the Bellview farm.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The White Post plant and the Sprint packing house at Boyce, named separately.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 19 November 1931, page 1: "Apple Harvest Is Completed"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1931-11-19 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, harvest report, the packing plants at White Post and Boyce

Relevant passage
In addition to these three larger plants, Petley and Cather, of Winchester operated a packing plant at White Post. The Sprint packing house at Boyce packed a large run from that neighborhood.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1931-11-19-apple-harvest. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1932
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier's report of November 24, 1932 on the apple harvest again named Petley and Cather's packing house at White Post and, separately, said that "the Sprint packing house packed a large quantity from that neighborhood."

What the source supports

That the 1932 harvest report again named the Sprint packing house separately from the White Post house.

Uncertainty

Unlike the 1931 report, it does not place the Sprint packing house at Boyce, and it names no operator for it.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The two packing houses, named separately.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 24 November 1932, page 1: report on the 1932 apple harvest

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1932-11-24 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, harvest report, the packing houses

Relevant passage
In addition to these three large plants, Petley and Cather operated a large packing house at White Post, and the Sprint packing house packed a large quantity from that neighborhood.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1932-11-24-apple-harvest. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Six lines of a narrow newspaper column in heavy type. They read that, in addition to three larger plants, Petley and Cather, of Winchester operated a packing plant at White Post, and that the Sprint packing house at Boyce packed a large run from that neighborhood; the last line begins the next sentence with "There are".

The Courier's 1931 harvest report named the Sprint packing house at Boyce separately from the White Post plant. It does not say who ran it.

Clarke Courier (Berryville, Va.), November 19, 1931, page 1. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Rights Changes: A detail of the clipping cut from the Library of Congress page image when the project's source packet was assembled: the rectangle from y 2,050 to 2,287 across the clipping's full 813-pixel width, kept at those 813 by 237 pixels, not scaled, and re-encoded as JPEG with the file metadata dropped. The rest of the report is on the Library of Congress page. Nothing retouched or added.

Source: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 19 November 1931, page 1: "Apple Harvest Is Completed" Open the full image

The farm west of Boyce

In December 1927 the trustees in Charles Whirley's bankruptcy advertised his horses, hogs, implements and 75 barrels of corn for sale "at the farm of Mrs. Mamie R. Sprint, near Boyce." The county's 1935 list of land delinquent for 1933 taxes carried "Sprint, Mamie, Bellview, 300 acres," owing $98.75. In July 1936 a Frederick County court entered a decree in a suit brought by her daughter, Lucy Sprint Crim, against J. Ashby Sprint and others, and that October special commissioners advertised the farm as 306 acres "about one-half mile West of Boyce," with a dwelling house, tenant house and large bank barn and "about twenty-five (25) acres" in bearing orchard.

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1927
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

A notice in the Clarke Courier of December 8, 1927 advertised that, by an order in the matter of Charles Whirley in bankruptcy, horses and colts, a mule colt, hogs and pigs, wagons, binders, harness, farm implements and 75 barrels of corn would be sold at public auction on December 14, 1927 "at the farm of Mrs. Mamie R. Sprint, near Boyce."

What the source supports

That a bankruptcy sale of Charles Whirley's stock and equipment was advertised to take place at Mamie R. Sprint's farm near Boyce.

Uncertainty

An advertised sale; no result is recorded here. The notice does not name the farm, and it does not say that Whirley rented, worked or managed it.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The sale, its date, its place and the property offered.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 8 December 1927, page 4: notice of a bankruptcy sale of Charles Whirley's live stock and farm equipment

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1927-12-08 (publication)

Locator: Page 4, bankruptcy sale notice

Relevant passage
The undersigned by virtue of an order in the matter of Charles Whirley in Bankruptcy will sell at Public Auction on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1927 at 11 o'clock A. M., at the farm of Mrs. Mamie R. Sprint, near Boyce, Clarke County, Virginia, a lot of live stock and farm implements, consisting in part of 13 Head of Horses and Colts; 1 Mule Colt; 56 Head of Hogs and Pigs; 2 Wagons; 2 Binders; a lot of harness and farm implements and farm equipment. 75 Barrels of Corn.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1927-12-08-whirley-sale. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1935
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier's list of land delinquent for 1933 taxes, in its issue of November 7, 1935, carried "Sprint, Mamie, Bellview, 300 acres .... $98.75."

What the source supports

That land listed as Mamie Sprint's Bellview, 300 acres, was delinquent for 1933 taxes.

Uncertainty

A delinquent-tax list, not a title record. The acreage is as listed; the 1936 advertisement gives 306. The Library of Congress dates the issue November 7, 1935, while the page's running head reads October 31, 1935.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The entry in the list.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 7 November 1935, page 3: list of land delinquent for 1933 taxes

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1935-11-07 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, delinquent land list, Greenway District

Relevant passage
Sprint, Mamie, Bellview, 300 acres .... $98.75

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1935-11-07-delinquent-land. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1936
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

An advertisement in the Clarke Courier of October 1, 1936 announced that special commissioners, under a decree entered on July 15, 1936 in the chancery cause of Lucy Sprint Crim vs. J. Ashby Sprint et als, pending in the Circuit Court of Frederick County, would sell at auction on October 23, 1936 a tract of 306 acres, more or less, "about one-half mile West of Boyce," with a dwelling house, tenant house and large bank barn and about 25 acres in bearing orchard, reciting that it was the land devised under B. F. Humston's will to Mamie R. Sprint for life with remainder to her children.

What the source supports

That the farm was advertised for sale in 1936 under a Frederick County decree in a suit brought by Lucy Sprint Crim.

Uncertainty

An advertised sale, not a completed one. Its statement of the devise recites Humston's will and is not separate confirmation of it. The case caption does not name every defendant and is not a schedule of shares. The acreage and distance are as advertised; other notices give 300 acres and one mile.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The decree and the case.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, commissioners' advertisement, the decree

Relevant passage
by virtue of a decree entered on the 15th day of July, 1936, in the chancery cause of Lucy Sprint Crim vs. J. Ashby Sprint et als

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The court.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the court and the place of sale

Relevant passage
which cause is pending in the Circuit Court of Frederick County, Va., will offer for sale at public auction in front of the County Court House at Berryville, Va., on

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The date set for the sale.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the sale date

Relevant passage
Friday, Oct. 23rd, 1936

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The acreage.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the acreage

Relevant passage
three hundred and six (306) acres, more or less

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The location, the buildings and the orchard.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the location and improvements

Relevant passage
about one-half mile West of Boyce, improved by a dwelling house, tenant house, large bank barn and other out buildings, about twenty-five (25) acres of said land is in bearing orchard

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: contextualizes. The advertisement's recital of the will.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the recital of the will

Relevant passage
devised to Mamie R. Sprint for life with remainder to her children.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Part of a newspaper sale advertisement. Under the display lines "Friday, Oct. 23rd, 1936" and "At 2 o'clock P. M." it describes a tract of 306 acres, more or less, in Greenway District, about one-half mile west of Boyce, with a dwelling house, tenant house, large bank barn and about 25 acres in bearing orchard, devised under B. F. Humston's will to Mamie R. Sprint for life with remainder to her children.

The farm advertised in 1936: 306 acres about half a mile west of Boyce, with about 25 acres in bearing orchard.

Clarke Courier (Berryville, Va.), October 1, 1936, page 8. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Rights Changes: A detail of the clipping cut from the Library of Congress page image when the project's source packet was assembled: the rectangle from y 740 to 1,600 across the clipping's full 812-pixel width, kept at those 812 by 860 pixels, not scaled, and re-encoded as JPEG with the file metadata dropped. The heading, the decree, the terms of sale and the signatures are on the Library of Congress page. Nothing retouched or added.

Source: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm" Open the full image

The last notices

In early December 1936 the Courier reported that the bid for the farm, $9,500, "was too low," and that it would be offered a second time on December 14. The issues searched for the following months report no buyer. In February 1937 J. Ashby Sprint and Thomas H. Sprint, as administrators of "the late Mrs. Mamie R. Sprint," advertised cows, sheep and corn for sale on "the Sprint farm one mile west of Boyce on the Winchester Pike." Two years later Jas. C. Royston, "Discontinuing Farming," advertised his horses, cattle, sheep and machinery for sale on "The Sprint Farm 1 mile West of Boyce, Va. South of Route 50." His notice does not say whether he owned the land or rented it, but it still called the place the Sprint farm.

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1936
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of December 3, 1936 reported that the 300-acre tract, "said to be one of the finest farms in the county," had been offered for sale "last Tuesday" but continued "because the bid of $9,500 was too low," and that the sale of the Sprint Farm in Greenway District had been continued until Monday, December 14, when it would be offered a second time in front of the courthouse in Berryville.

What the source supports

That the Courier reported a $9,500 bid for the farm rejected as too low, and a second offering set for December 14, 1936.

Uncertainty

A report of a rejected bid and a postponed offering; it records no sale. No report of the second offering's result was found in the held Courier for December 1936 to March 1937; the Winchester papers and the court file were not searched.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The rejected bid.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 3 December 1936, page 1: report that the sale of the Sprint farm was continued to December 14

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-12-03 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, report of the rejected bid

Relevant passage
The 300-acre tract of land, said to be one of the finest farms in the county, was offered for sale last Tuesday, but was continued because the bid of $9,500 was too low.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The second offering.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 3 December 1936, page 1: report that the sale of the Sprint farm was continued to December 14

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-12-03 (publication)

Locator: Page 1, same report, the second offering

Relevant passage
The sale of the Sprint Farm in Greenway District has been continued until Monday, December 14 at which time it will be offered a second time in front of the Court House in Berryville.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1937
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

A notice in the Clarke Courier of February 18, 1937, signed by J. Ashby Sprint and Thomas H. Sprint as administrators of the estate of "the late Mrs. Mamie R. Sprint," advertised cows and heifers, sheep, about 50 barrels of corn and some furniture for sale "on the Sprint farm one mile west of Boyce on the Winchester Pike."

What the source supports

That the administrators of Mamie R. Sprint's estate advertised a sale of stock, corn and furniture on the Sprint farm in 1937.

Uncertainty

A sale of personal property, not land; no result is recorded here. It shows an estate role, not who worked the farm. Which Thomas H. Sprint signed, Mamie's husband or their son Thomas Hatcher, is not established. A printing of February 11, 1937 names different administrators and calls her "Miss"; the two printings are not reconciled.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The administrators' sale and its place.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 18 February 1937, page 7: administrators' sale notice for the estate of Mamie R. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1937-02-18 (publication)

Locator: Page 7, administrators' sale notice, opening

Relevant passage
As administrator for the estate of the late Mrs. Mamie R. Sprint, we will offer for sale on the Sprint farm one mile west of Boyce on the Winchester Pike

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The cows, heifers and sheep.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 18 February 1937, page 7: administrators' sale notice for the estate of Mamie R. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1937-02-18 (publication)

Locator: Page 7, same notice, the stock

Relevant passage
FOUR COWS AND HEIFERS Close springers, be fresh in early spring. 75 SHEEP 75 Some with lambs.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The corn and furniture.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 18 February 1937, page 7: administrators' sale notice for the estate of Mamie R. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1937-02-18 (publication)

Locator: Page 7, same notice, corn and furniture

Relevant passage
About 50 barrels of corn, some furniture.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The administrators' signature.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 18 February 1937, page 7: administrators' sale notice for the estate of Mamie R. Sprint

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1937-02-18 (publication)

Locator: Page 7, same notice, signature

Relevant passage
J. ASHBY SPRINT AND THOMAS H. SPRINT, Admr's Mamie R. Sprint Estate.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Source note: Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1939
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

A notice in the Clarke Courier of February 16, 1939, signed "JAS. C. ROYSTON" and headed "Discontinuing Farming," advertised a public auction on February 27, 1939 of his personal property on "The Sprint Farm 1 mile West of Boyce, Va. South of Route 50."

What the source supports

That the place was still called the Sprint farm in 1939, in a sale notice of Jas. C. Royston.

Uncertainty

An advertised sale of Royston's own property; no result is recorded here. It does not say whether he owned or rented the land.

Source

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The sale, its date and its place.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 16 February 1939, page 5: public sale notice of Jas. C. Royston, on the Sprint farm west of Boyce

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1939-02-16 (publication)

Locator: Page 5, public sale notice, opening

Relevant passage
Discontinuing Farming on The Sprint Farm 1 mile West of Boyce, Va. South of Route 50, I will sell at Public Auction beginning at 10 A. M. on Mon., Feb. 27, 1939 The following personal property

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1939-02-16-royston-sale. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Contemporary report

Evidence role: supports. The seller.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 16 February 1939, page 5: public sale notice of Jas. C. Royston, on the Sprint farm west of Boyce

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1939-02-16 (publication)

Locator: Page 5, same notice, signature

Relevant passage
JAS. C. ROYSTON

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1939-02-16-royston-sale. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

About the accountsWhat the evidence says
What the evidence says

Humston's recorded will gives Mamie R. Sprint the Bellview farm for life. Courier notices place a Sprint packing house at Boyce and a leased packing-house site at White Post, but none names who ran the Boyce house, and the 1936 sale was advertised, not shown to be completed.

The devise rests on Will Book 2B itself; the 1936 advertisement recites the will and is not separate confirmation of it. The 1931 harvest report names the Sprint packing house at Boyce without an operator. The 1933 notice shows only that the land under the White Post packing house was leased to J. Ashby Sprint. No record here shows a buyer after the 1936 offerings.

  • An account exists✓ Supported by a source

    In a will dated April 30, 1902, B. F. Humston gave "my daughter Mamie R. Sprint" the farm in Clarke County "known as the Bellview farm," which the will says was conveyed to him by Marshall McCormick, trustee, and adjoined the lands of Mrs. Julia A. Anderson and others, to hold "for and during the term of her natural life" with its rents, issues and profits; at her death it was to pass to her children and the descendants of any of them then dead.

    See the evidence
    ✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

    In a will dated April 30, 1902, B. F. Humston gave "my daughter Mamie R. Sprint" the farm in Clarke County "known as the Bellview farm," which the will says was conveyed to him by Marshall McCormick, trustee, and adjoined the lands of Mrs. Julia A. Anderson and others, to hold "for and during the term of her natural life" with its rents, issues and profits; at her death it was to pass to her children and the descendants of any of them then dead.

    What the source supports

    The terms of Humston's will for the Bellview farm, as the will book records them.

    Uncertainty

    The will's own terms. It gives no acreage, bounds or location, and does not name Mamie's children or set out their shares. Its account of how Humston acquired the farm is not checked against a deed, which has not been found. The date is the will's execution: it was admitted to record in 1904, and neither date is a conveyance date.

    Source

    Contemporary document

    Evidence role: supports. The devise of the Bellview farm to Mamie R. Sprint.

    Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

    Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

    Locator: Page 333, the sixth clause of the will, the devise

    Relevant passage
    I give and devise to my daughter Mamie R. Sprint the farm in Clarke County Va known as the Bellview farm, and conveyed to me by Marshall McCormick, Trustee, adjoining the lands of Mrs Julia A. Anderson and others.

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary document

    Evidence role: supports. The life interest and the remainder to her children.

    Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

    Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

    Locator: Page 333, the sixth clause of the will, the life interest and remainder

    Relevant passage
    To have and to hold the same for and during the term of her natural life with the right in her to collect the rents, issues and profits thereof for and during her life, but at her death her interest in said farm under this devise shall cease and be at an end, and said farm or tract of land shall pass to and become vested in her children and the descendants of such of her said children as may at the time of her death be dead.

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary document

    Evidence role: supports. The date the will was signed.

    Clarke County, Virginia, Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334: will of B. F. Humston, dated April 30, 1902, and its admission to record, October 17, 1904

    Clerk of the Circuit Court of Clarke County, Virginia · 1904-10-17 (filing)

    Locator: Page 333, the execution line of the will

    Relevant passage
    30 day April 1902

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: humston-estate-will-book-2b-1904. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

  • An account exists✓ Supported by a source

    The Clarke Courier's report of November 19, 1931 on the county's apple harvest said that, in addition to three larger plants, Petley and Cather, of Winchester, operated a packing plant at White Post, and that "The Sprint packing house at Boyce packed a large run from that neighborhood."

    See the evidence
    ✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

    The Clarke Courier's report of November 19, 1931 on the county's apple harvest said that, in addition to three larger plants, Petley and Cather, of Winchester, operated a packing plant at White Post, and that "The Sprint packing house at Boyce packed a large run from that neighborhood."

    What the source supports

    That the 1931 harvest report named a Sprint packing house at Boyce, separately from the Petley and Cather plant at White Post.

    Uncertainty

    The report names no operator or owner for the Sprint packing house, and does not say whose apples it packed or exactly where it stood. Nothing here identifies it with J. Ashby Sprint, with the White Post packing house on leased railway land, or with the Bellview farm.

    Source

    Reporting

    Evidence role: supports. The White Post plant and the Sprint packing house at Boyce, named separately.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 19 November 1931, page 1: "Apple Harvest Is Completed"

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1931-11-19 (publication)

    Locator: Page 1, harvest report, the packing plants at White Post and Boyce

    Relevant passage
    In addition to these three larger plants, Petley and Cather, of Winchester operated a packing plant at White Post. The Sprint packing house at Boyce packed a large run from that neighborhood.

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: clarke-courier-1931-11-19-apple-harvest. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

  • An account exists✓ Supported by a source

    A trustees' notice in the Clarke Courier of August 31, 1933 advertised for sale on September 30, 1933, under a trust deed dated May 2, 1931, an apple packing house 110 feet by 50 at White Post Station, standing on twenty-two hundredths of an acre owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway Company "and leased to J. Ashby Sprint."

    See the evidence
    ✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

    A trustees' notice in the Clarke Courier of August 31, 1933 advertised for sale on September 30, 1933, under a trust deed dated May 2, 1931, an apple packing house 110 feet by 50 at White Post Station, standing on twenty-two hundredths of an acre owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway Company "and leased to J. Ashby Sprint."

    What the source supports

    That the land under a packing house at White Post Station was described in 1933 as leased to J. Ashby Sprint.

    Uncertainty

    An advertised sale; no completed sale is recorded here. The lease is of the railway land under the building. The notice does not say that J. Ashby Sprint owned or ran the packing house, and it names no operator. It concerns White Post, not the Sprint packing house at Boyce. The trust deed is recited, not inspected.

    Source

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The sale date.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 31 August 1933, page 4: "Apple Packing House for Sale," trustees' notice of a packing house at White Post Station

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1933-08-31 (publication)

    Locator: Page 4, trustees' notice, heading

    Relevant passage
    APPLE PACKING HOUSE FOR SALE SATURDAY, SEPT. 30, 1933

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: clarke-courier-1933-08-31-white-post-packing-house. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The trust deed and the building.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 31 August 1933, page 4: "Apple Packing House for Sale," trustees' notice of a packing house at White Post Station

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1933-08-31 (publication)

    Locator: Page 4, same notice, the trust deed and the building

    Relevant passage
    Under authority of a trust deed dated May 2, 1931, of record in the Clarke County Clerk's Office, the undersigned will sell at public auction in front of the County Court House at Berryville, Clarke County, Virginia, for cash, that certain apple packing house one hundred and ten feet by fifty feet

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: clarke-courier-1933-08-31-white-post-packing-house. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The site and the lease of the land.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 31 August 1933, page 4: "Apple Packing House for Sale," trustees' notice of a packing house at White Post Station

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1933-08-31 (publication)

    Locator: Page 4, same notice, the site and the lease

    Relevant passage
    situate on the Norfolk and Western Railway's property at White Post Station, Clarke County, Virginia. Said building is located on twenty-two one hundredths acres of land owned by the Norfolk and Western Railway Company and leased to J. Ashby Sprint.

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: clarke-courier-1933-08-31-white-post-packing-house. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

  • An account exists✓ Supported by a source

    An advertisement in the Clarke Courier of October 1, 1936 announced that special commissioners, under a decree entered on July 15, 1936 in the chancery cause of Lucy Sprint Crim vs. J. Ashby Sprint et als, pending in the Circuit Court of Frederick County, would sell at auction on October 23, 1936 a tract of 306 acres, more or less, "about one-half mile West of Boyce," with a dwelling house, tenant house and large bank barn and about 25 acres in bearing orchard, reciting that it was the land devised under B. F. Humston's will to Mamie R. Sprint for life with remainder to her children.

    See the evidence
    ✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

    An advertisement in the Clarke Courier of October 1, 1936 announced that special commissioners, under a decree entered on July 15, 1936 in the chancery cause of Lucy Sprint Crim vs. J. Ashby Sprint et als, pending in the Circuit Court of Frederick County, would sell at auction on October 23, 1936 a tract of 306 acres, more or less, "about one-half mile West of Boyce," with a dwelling house, tenant house and large bank barn and about 25 acres in bearing orchard, reciting that it was the land devised under B. F. Humston's will to Mamie R. Sprint for life with remainder to her children.

    What the source supports

    That the farm was advertised for sale in 1936 under a Frederick County decree in a suit brought by Lucy Sprint Crim.

    Uncertainty

    An advertised sale, not a completed one. Its statement of the devise recites Humston's will and is not separate confirmation of it. The case caption does not name every defendant and is not a schedule of shares. The acreage and distance are as advertised; other notices give 300 acres and one mile.

    Source

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The decree and the case.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

    Locator: Page 8, commissioners' advertisement, the decree

    Relevant passage
    by virtue of a decree entered on the 15th day of July, 1936, in the chancery cause of Lucy Sprint Crim vs. J. Ashby Sprint et als

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The court.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

    Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the court and the place of sale

    Relevant passage
    which cause is pending in the Circuit Court of Frederick County, Va., will offer for sale at public auction in front of the County Court House at Berryville, Va., on

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The date set for the sale.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

    Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the sale date

    Relevant passage
    Friday, Oct. 23rd, 1936

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The acreage.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

    Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the acreage

    Relevant passage
    three hundred and six (306) acres, more or less

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: supports. The location, the buildings and the orchard.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

    Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the location and improvements

    Relevant passage
    about one-half mile West of Boyce, improved by a dwelling house, tenant house, large bank barn and other out buildings, about twenty-five (25) acres of said land is in bearing orchard

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    Contemporary report

    Evidence role: contextualizes. The advertisement's recital of the will.

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 1 October 1936, page 8: "Commissioners' Sale of Sprint Farm"

    Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1936-10-01 (publication)

    Locator: Page 8, same advertisement, the recital of the will

    Relevant passage
    devised to Mamie R. Sprint for life with remainder to her children.

    Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

    Open source

    Source family: sprint-farm-sale-and-estate-1936-1937. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

    AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

Each statement above is assessed on its own evidence. Nothing here is averaged, scored or voted on, and a well-attributed account can be documented while what it describes stays unconfirmed.

Closing notes
What to take awayNewspaper notices preserve the Sprint name at a Millwood hotel and a Boyce business. Other records trace Mamie R. Sprint's Bellview interest and her son Ashby's apple trade, without establishing a single business or property.

Source note

The hotel, the Boyce advertisement, the farm notices, Ashby Sprint's business and the harvest reports come from the Clarke Courier, read on Library of Congress page images. Two of the Ashby items are the Courier's reprints of Winchester Star reports. The will, its probate entry and the inventory are Clarke County Will Book 2B, pages 332 to 334 and 338, read on the Ancestry images of the county film. The 1886 marriage comes from Patricia B. Duncan's published abstract of the marriage register; the register page itself was not inspected.

Several things remain open. The John Sprint of the 1877 notice is not identified beyond his name, and the "Son" of the 1882 firm is not named. The deed by which Humston acquired Bellview, the farm's exact boundaries, the shares of Mamie's children and the outcome of the 1936 sale have not been found. Descriptions of the farm are kept as each source gives them: 300 or 306 acres, half a mile or a mile west of Boyce. The Boyce packing house's operator is unidentified; attribution to Ashby Sprint is not established, and nothing here places the house on Bellview. His White Post lease is a lease of land under a packing house, not evidence that he operated that house or the Petley and Cather plant. Whirley's stock at the farm does not show that he rented or managed it. The searches that found no buyer and no farm role for Mamie's other children covered the held Clarke Courier and regional papers, not the Winchester papers or the court file. An earlier printing of the 1937 estate notice names different administrators, and the two printings call her "Miss" and "Mrs."

Open question

Was the farm sold at or after the offering announced for December 14, 1936, and to whom?

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Blandy: orchard, farm and arboretum

Another Clarke County farm and orchard, followed through what its records keep.