Essex and Middlesex counties are adjacent to one another, and in many ways are quite similar. They share the same geographical setting — the south bank of the Rappahannock River — and families have moved over time from one county to the other.
Both counties were supportive of the American cause in the American Revolution, but they reacted to the Revolution in some distinctly different ways. One county, for example, sent church representatives to seek support for the patriot cause, while the other sent a sheriff to demand 10% of livestock and crops for support of American troops. One county was the first in Virginia to send aid to Massachusetts after the British responded to the Boston Tea Party by closing Boston Harbor, while the other included in the county resolutions reflecting that “reason and policy reclaim” against the destruction of property that had taken place in the Boston Tea Party.
Director Tim Manley of the Essex County Museum and Historical Society will host a discussion of these different responses to the Revolution along with Wright Andrews on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. at the Essex Museum at 218 Water Lane in Tappahannock. Participants in the discussion will include Middlesex journalist and historian Larry Chowning and Robert W. Prichard, vice president of the Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society. The gathering is a continuation of a discussion that began with a meeting on Nov. 16, 2025 at the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse.
There is no charge for attendance, but the Essex Museum and Historical Society asks that those who are planning to attend RSVP by email to communications@ecmhs.org so as to provide a better idea of how many people to expect.
