Ball-Sellers House

12/22/2022

The 2023 Season of the Ball-Sellers House is a mere 4 months away. What ideas do you have about a big opening day event? Opening Day is Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 1 pm

12/21/2022

Where did Four Mile Run get its name? According to the “Landmarks of Old Prince William” by Fairfax Harrison, the stream was named in 1706 because it was four miles north of Great Hunting Creek (really creative). From the colonial period through the mid-19th century, it served as the power source for numerous grain mills. Today, the channelized Four Mile Run serves as part of the northern border of Alexandria with Arlington.

12/20/2022

John Ball, the builder of the Ball-Sellers House played the fiddle. We don't know how good he was at it, but it probably didn't matter to his wife and 5 daughters who probably appreciated this entertainment in the cold of winter.

NEW EPISODE RELEASE!
Our study of music in Early America continues with this third episode in our five-episode series.

Our last two episodes (Episode 343 and Episode 344) helped us better understand the musical landscapes of Native North America around 1492 and colonial British America before 1776. In this episode, we jump forward in time to the early days of the United States.

Glenda Goodman, an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the book "Cultivated by Hand: Amateur Musicians in the Early American Republic", joins us to investigate the role of music in the lives of wealthy white Americans during the earliest days of the early American republic.
Shownotes: https://benfranklinsworld.com/345

12/20/2022

A Look at Christmas Traditions in The Eighteenth Century

A Look at Christmas Traditions in The Eighteenth Century

Everyone knows how Christmas looks today, but some people wonder how Christmas time looked like in the past. The 18th century was both a time of violence because of the reactions against the rich and a time of economic expansion and Enlightenment ...

12/20/2022

The Ball-Sellers House has boxwood. We think the Powell's planted them. Photos we have of them at the house in the 1920s don't show them but later photos during the time they lived there do. They probably planted them for decorative purposes but we're on the lookout for evidence some were planted elsewhere on the property.

Their predecessors may have found them growing wild elsewhere on their property and used them for this same purpose: pleasant winter greenery and cold air blockers. It's easy to imagine what they looked like inside the c.1750 house.

Our 18th century German farmhouse is decked out with bundles of boxwood in the windows. Not only did these bundles bring in some festive greenery for the holiday season, but they also served as draft blockers to keep the cold wintery wind out. Boxwood was also long thought to protect the home against the winter spirits that were looking to cause mischief in the darkest time of year.

11/25/2022

Photos from Arlington Historical Society's post

11/25/2022

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is full speed ahead to Christmas, one month away. Make your Black Friday purchase from the comfort of your own home. Lynch Creek has some beautiful wreaths and holiday décor that can be shipped free throughout the USA. If you order through this link www.lynchcreekfundraising.com/c/300152 your purchase can help the Arlington Historical Society with !5% of your purchase going directly to support the preservation of the Arlington Historical Society Museum in the Hume School.

11/11/2022

The Ball-Sellers House is proud to say that veterans have lived here since the late 1700s.
-- Wesley Carlin was in the War of 1812
-- William Harriman was a machinist 2nd class in the US navy during the Spanish American War and served on the USS Yankton (see photo)
-- Will Powell was in the US Army during World War I and tried, unsuccessfully, to reenlist in World War II (see photo)
-- Julia Powell was one of the first US Navy Yeomen (f) also during World War I. She was a clerk and was also assigned to the USS Triton a tug on the Potomac. (see photo)
-- Jack Foster, among our early caretaker/renters, served in the US Army during World War II
-- Even our current caretaker, Margaret, served in the US Army.

10/31/2022

Happy Halloween! from the oldest house in the county!

10/30/2022

No event at the Ball-Sellers House could occur with out the many volunteers at the Arlington Historical Society who make it possible. Yesterday's team was Sue, Margaret, Jane, Michael, Jessica, and Mark. We had about 50 people come for the event and/or a tour!

10/30/2022

Bee Day was a great event today!! Here's Dwight Foster scout leader for Arlington's troop 106 introducing eagle scout Owen Yingling. Dwight tasked about Eagle Scout requirements and the value of being an Eagle Scout.

Then Owen talked about his project, building life size model bee skeps for the Ball-Sellers House. John and Elizabeth Ball were beekeepers when they built the house c. 1750.

After that, Virginia Johnson spoke about the history of beeking in Virginia from her book, "Virginia Honey, a Sweet History." We ate great foods made with honey, toured the museum, and talked about history and beekeeping. It was a great history party!

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped set, make and/or serve food, sell books, and provide tours! We couldn't have done it without you.

10/29/2022

Happy Cat Day!
The caretaker at the Ball-Sellers House has cats! They love to climb in the wisteria.

10/25/2022

The Friends of Urban Agriculture who care for the Ball-Sellers House kitchen garden are "buttoning" it up now that most of the growing season is over. Thank you Mary Resnick and other FOUA volunteers for tending the garden using some historic methods and supplying vegetables to Arlington food pantries to help feed Arlington's neediest.

10/22/2022

The Ball-Sellers House, the oldest structure in the county (built c.1750) is open today, Sat. Oct 22 from 1-4 for free tours led by a knowledgeable docent. Step into the artifact of the house and back into America's colonial era. FREE. 5620 3rd St. South in Arlington.

10/15/2022

Best Address Group on TikTok

See it for yourself today (Oct 15)

Interesting details in the Colonial-era house Ball-Sellers House Museum! ...

10/09/2022

On this day in Arlington history: October 9, 1943: Marian Rhinehart married George Sellers.

Marian Rhinehart was the orphaned niece of Julia and Will Powell who lived at 5620 Third Street, in the Glencarlyn neighborhood. Marian, wo ws living in Illinois with her parents, came to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents died within six months of each other.

She attended grade school at what is now Carlin Hall, then attended the Maury School in Clarendon. She graduated in 1940 from Washington-Lee High School. She met George Sellers over the back fence. They married and eventually settled in Vienna, Virginia. She and her husband established a life for themselves and had two children, Janet and James. She eventually came to serve as Vienna’s Town Clerk and retired from there are 40 years.

When her Uncle Will died in 1969 and left her the house, she didn’t need or want to live in it. In 1975 she donated the house—the oldest house in Arlington—to the Arlington Historical Society. It was built in the 1740s by John Ball and given to AHS by Mrs. Marian Sellers so that’s why it’s called the Ball-Sellers House. Both George and Marian are buried together in Arlington National Cemetery.

(Photo, Marian as a young woman in Glencarlyn, George Sellers’ family home in Glencarlyn, George and Marian’s gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery)

10/05/2022

Today is National Teacher Day
It's a great time to tell you that the Ball-Sellers House was once owned by a teacher: Irene O. Young

Irene Ottilie (Hussey) Young was born in Iowa in 1857. She became a teacher and married Robert Young, also a teacher, on Christmas morning in 1876. They had a daughter named Vera and moved to Helena Montana. Irene continued to teach while her husband became principal.

By 1892, Irene was no longer teaching in Montana but was living in Washington, D.C. At first she became a clerk in the USG Pension Building and by the next year she was divorced. By 1896 Irene was teaching math at Western High School. (This was the high school closest to what would be come Arlington County and many kids from the Virginia side of the Potomac attended it. It is now the Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts)

For a few years, she rented what is now the Ball-Sellers House as a weekend getaway and bought it in 1911 when she was 54. She continued to teach at Western because the railroad enabled her to have an easy commute in and out of DC.

Until recently, we knew little about Irene (and still have not found a photo of her) but she led a full vibrant life. She revised the math instruction for her school, helped establish a forerunner to the PTA and organized school social events for the faculty. She also continued her own education by attending academic courses as Columbia, Harvard, and George Washington University.

She liked classical music and attended concerts and women’s teas. She was also a suffragist, attending suffragist rallies advocating that women earn the right to vote. Her mother also came to visit her as did her daughter.

Irene sold the house in 1920 to Will and Julia Powell. She continued to teach and returned to Iowa to live near her daughter until she died in 1936.

Thanks to Janet, the daughter of Marian Sellers, we have several artifacts that Irene had in her home, including a settee, chairs, and a framed painting that hung over the mantle.

We are proud to share her life and teaching legacy.
(Images: a class at Western High School during Irene's tenure there; the Ball-Sellers House when Irene lived there; her settee; and her gravestone

10/01/2022

RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 29
The remnants of Hurricane Ian have forced us to reschedule this event. See you on Oct 29.

BEE a part of the history of the oldest house in the county TODAY. It's BEE day at the Ball-Sellers House, Oct 1 starting at 1 pm.

Click here for all the details
https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/events/putting-the-bee-in-ball-sellers/

10/01/2022

The Ball-Sellers House is closed this Saturday, October 1 due to rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ian. Our scheduled event: BEE Day at Ball-Sellers has been rescheduled to Saturday, October 29.

09/30/2022

RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 29
The remnants of Hurricane Ian have forced us to reschedule this event. See you on Oct 29.

We are proud to say the John and Elizabeth Ball, the builders of Arlington's oldest standing house, c. 1750, were bee keeepers. Saturday Oct 1 is BEE Day at the Ball-Sellers House! starting at 1pm We celebrate the bee and we celebrate those who help us understand them.
https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/events/putting-the-bee-in-ball-sellers/

09/29/2022

RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 29
The remnants of Hurricane Ian have forced us to reschedule this event. See you on Oct 29.

BEE there or BEE square! It's BEE DAY at the Ball-Sellers House on Saturday, Oct 1, at 1 pm. We have a lot going on and its all centered around our friends the BEES! Click here for all the details.

https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/events/putting-the-bee-in-ball-sellers/

09/28/2022

RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 29
The remnants of Hurricane Ian have forced us to reschedule this event. See you on Oct 29.

Saturday's scheduled event (Oct 1: Bee Day at Ball-Sellers House) has been rained out. Meteorologists have predicted that we will be rained out by the time our event would start at 1:00 by the remnants of Hurricane Ian. We are working to reschedule this event and will let you know as soon as WE know when it will be.

Find out about Virginia's sweet honey history at Bee Day at the Ball-Sellers House. Saturday, Oct 1 at 1 pm
https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/events/putting-the-bee-in-ball-sellers/

09/27/2022

CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN - WILL BE RESCHEDULED
Saturday's scheduled event (Oct 1: Bee Day at Ball-Sellers House) has been rained out. Meteorologists have predicted that we will be rained out by the time our event would start at 1:00 by the remnants of Hurricane Ian. We are working to reschedule this event and will let you know as soon as WE know when it will be.

Join us for a HONEY of a day on Saturday, Oct 1 at 1 pm when it's Bee Day at the Ball-Sellers House
https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/events/putting-the-bee-in-ball-sellers/

09/24/2022

On this day in Arlington history: September 24, 1881: Julia Rhinehart (Powell) is born. Julia will become one of the first women to enlist in the US military during World War I. In 1920, she and her husband, William Powell, will buy what will become the Ball-Sellers House and she will live there for the rest of her life.

Julia was the oldest daughter among nine children born to farmer Isaac Newton Rhinehart and his wife Victoria Elizabeth in Linville VA, small town a few miles north of Harrisonburg. According to the 1910 census: Julia was living in Washington, DC on 1440 Clifton St. NW Washington where she was working as a maid to a middle class family who had two children and a cook. Glencarlyn records show that sometime in the mid 19-teens Julia was boarding in a home in Glencarlyn and was working as a government clerk.

Glencarlyn was a new neighborhood in what was then Alexandria County. It had just been established in 1887 when the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) railroad line was built. People came out of DC to the country for day trips, eventually bought summer homes to visit on holidays and weekends, and then eventually bought to live there. Like many, Julia commuted to work in DC to her government clerk job.

After the US entered the First World War in April 1917, Julia heard the call to duty. As in wars before and since, women were called upon to work to help free men to serve on the front lines. Posters like this one probably helped make Julia take service to her country one step further than most women. She enlisted in the Navy and was one of the first women allowed to do so. She became a Yeoman (F). Julia was inducted into the service at the Washington Navy Yard on August 30, 1918. She was one month shy of being 37 years old - which was old by comparison with most of the other women. Julia was described on her medical record as 5'4", 127 pounds, brown hair, hazel eyes, and with "ruddy" complexion. Her occupation was as a clerk and dressmaker.

She was on active duty from September 3, 1918 to July 31, 1919 (the final parade). Her rank at discharge was Yeoman 2nd class. Julia was one of 11,275 yeomanettes. She is among the women pictured here who were presented for inspection on the National Mall. Julia was assigned to the USS Triton, a tugboat, a steam powered, steel-hulled tug that operated out of the Washington, DC Navy Yard. The Triton steamed up and down the Potomac River to the Naval Proving Grounds and Powder Factory, pushing barges loaded with materials for producing gunpowder. It is unknown if Julia may not have seen or stepped onto her decks, but for naval policy, this was her assigned ship. Julia and none of her yeoman (f) colleagues ever saw combat.

The military career span of Julia and most of the Yeomen (F) turned out to be brief. The war ended November 11, 1918. Even though Julia signed up for four years. She was kept on inactive status until her enlistment expired, receiving a retainer of $1 a month. When Julia was discharged, she got $60 and a War Service Certificate.

Julia Rhinehart met William Powell while living in Glencarlyn. He grew up there. They were married on December 5, 1920 and bought the house now located at 5620 3rd Street, South. Julia grew vegetables and had a reputation as a great cook. Julia worked at the Commerce Department commuting on the rail line. In 1932, her brother and his wife were killed in an automobile accident in the mid-west and their daughter, Marion Rhinehart came to live with Julia and Will Powell.

Julia died on January 9, 1957, she was buried at Arlington National Cemetery under the right of her army veteran husband, William Powell. But Julia, as a veteran in her own right did not have her own gravestone. Her niece and the Arlington Historical Society launched a search for her records to prove Julia’s military veteran status. In 2000 with help from Sen. John Warner’s office, Julia received her own headstone in the Arlington National Cemetery. (excerpted from the Arlington Historical Magazine, 2000)

(Images: Julia as a young woman; Julia in her uniform excerpted from a group photo of her unit in 1918; and her grave at Arlington National Cemetery.)

09/24/2022

The Ball-Sellers is open for free personalized tours today (Saturday, Sep 24) from 1-4 pm. Be transported back through time to colonial days and fine how how a farmer and his family lived.
5620 3rd St., South in the Glencarlyn neighborhood of Arlington, VA

09/23/2022

The Ball-Sellers is open for free personalized tours tomorrow from 1-4 pm. Be transported back through time to colonial days and fine how how a farmer and his family lived.
5620 3rd St., South in the Glencarlyn neighborhood of Arlington, VA

09/17/2022

It was a great day at the Ball-Sellers House today. We participated in Autumnfest hosted by the Glencarlyn Community Garden at the Glencarlyn Library. We showed a lot of people how colonial farmers ground wheat and corn in a quern or a mortar and pestle before John Ball built his mill on Four Mile Run. Tons of kids got to practice grinding wheat into flour.

Then a lot of folks went around the corner from the library and got a tour of The Ball-Sellers House.

Thanks to everyone who helped today, especially Sandy who brought the quern and the mortar and pestle.

Thanks also to Elise, Deb, David, Mark, and Sean. Thanks also to Ken and Gerry who gave a lot of people great tours of the house.

09/10/2022

The Ball-Sellers House will be open today (Sep 10) and every Saturday through October. Free tours into Arlington's colonial past in a real c. 1750 farmhouse. 1-4 pm at 5620 3rd St. South in the Glencarlyn neighborhood.

09/06/2022

Glencarlyn gears up for AutumnFest celebration - Sun Gazette

The Arlington Historical Society, Glencarlyn Community Garden and Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia will host the annual AutumnFest on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the historic Ball-Sellers House, 5620 3rd St. North, and at the nearby Glencarlyn Library, 300 South Kensington St.

The Arlington Historical Society, Glencarlyn Community Garden and Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia will host the annual AutumnFest on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the historic Ball-Sellers House, 5620 3rd St. North, and at the nearby Glencarlyn Library, 300 South Kensington St.....

09/04/2022

Sustainability Superstars

Find out more about the history of beekeeping in Virginia on Saturday Oct 1st at 1pm. We'll be dedicating a life-sized replica of a colonial era bee skep, the kind John and Elizabeth Ball had when they built the house c. 1750. 5620 3rd Street, South in Arlington.

They’re our top pollinators.

09/03/2022

The Ball-Sellers House is open today (Sat, Sep 3) and every Saturday through October from 1-4. Stop in for a free tour by a knowledgeable docent. Find out why this house is so unique in the county, the state, and the nation! 5620 3d St. South.

08/30/2022

On this day in Arlington history: August 30, 1918, Julia K. Rhinehart was inducted as a yeoman (f) for female, in the US Navy. There were only 11,275 Navy female yeomen, sometimes referred to as yeomanettes, who helped break the gender wall in the military. Julie (Rhinehart) Powell, future owner of the Ball-Sellers House with her husband, Will was one of them.

In March 1917, the US Navy was ordered to start recruiting women into the Naval Reserve to be clerks, radio electricians, accountants, and factory workers to free men for active duty. Women came from around the country, but the largest contingent was from the Washington area.

When she was inducted, Julia was one month shy of her 37th birthday—old by comparison to most of the other women who were mostly between 19 and 21 years old. Julia was from Rockingham County, Virginia and had moved to Washington a few years earlier. She worked as a dressmaker and clerk.

These first female naval personnel worked six days a week and often late at night and on Sundays as switch board operators, cable decoders, and translators. None ever saw combat and only a few went overseas. In some cases, some were assigned to ships along the coast for administrative duties and Julia was assigned to a tugboat, the USS Triton. The tug patrolled the Potomac to the Naval Proving Grounds and Powder Factory, pushing barges loaded with materials for producing gunpowder.

Julia was on active duty from September 3, 1918 to July 31, 1919. Although recruited for a four year stint, World War I ended on November 11, 1918 and she, along with other yeomen (f), were kept on inactive status until their enlistments expired receiving a retainer of $1 a month. She was discharged from the Navy as a Yeoman 2nd class on February 13, 1920. She died in 1957 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Section 31, Lot 5703. (Images of Julia courtesy, her great niece, Janet Meisels)

08/26/2022

Learn more about the history of beekeeping in Virginia on Oct 1 at 1 pm. And see a life sized model of the kind of bee skep that John Ball would have had in the 1750s.

🐝 🍯 🥄

08/24/2022

SAVE THE DATE!
Sep 17, 2022, 10-3
AutumnFest with Glencarlyn Community Garden

https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/events/autumnfest/

08/20/2022

The Ball-Sellers House is open for free guided tours today Saturday, Aug 20. Stop in and see how middle class farmers lived in Virginia's colonial era. The house was built c. 1750 and the Arlington Historical Society refurbished it to look like it may have when it was built by John & Elizabeth Ball.
Saturdays 1-4 pm through October, 5620 3rd St., South in the Glencarlyn neighborhood.

08/19/2022

On this day in Ball-Sellers House history, August 19, 1772: Moses Ball executor of John Ball’s estate sells John’s land to William Carlin for 100 pounds.

(Image: last will and testament of John Ball and a map of properties in Filofax County property ownership 1760, six years before John's death.)