Mr. Alexander B. Gouldman purchased over 300 acres of White Plains at a public auction on the courthouse steps in the mid 1880s, after the death of its previous owner, Mr. James Slaughter Quesenberry.
The Gouldmans owned White Plains until the 1920s and were a well-known part of the local community. They were often cited in The Daily Star newspaper, a precursor to the Free-Lance Star that exists in Fredericksburg today.
Click on the images to see larger versions of the newspaper clippings that I found in my research. The first tells of Mr. Gouldman’s excellent hunting skills and his show at the County Fair and the other finds the family doing some weekend shopping in King George.
Mr. Gouldman and his wife, Virginia, loved and cared for White Plains for nearly 40 years and are now buried in the property’s small cemetery. Other graves are identified only with large quartz markers, one of a small child born to the Owens family in 1893. She lived just three days before being laid to rest. An archive letter from past residents of the property talk about the huge cedar tree that once covered the site. While only half of it is left, the periwinkle and small wild flowers still cover the ground.
I’m glad they are here.
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