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Jean Tibbets Papers on “This Land at Cornwell Farm”, MSS 08-29, Virginia Room, Fairfax County Public Library
Donated June 28, 2004.
Carol Abrams, 2015
EAD generated by Ross Landis, 2024
Frances Jean Bullock was born on June 20, 1926 to Louise and Joseph A. Bullock in Hartford, Connecticut. She studied aeronautical engineering at Purdue University, and worked for Curtiss-Wright in Columbus, Ohio, and Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, Connecticut. She later worked as a model appearing in national magazine advertisements.
After marrying Roland T. Tibbetts, she moved to the Washington area in 1958. Tibbets was among the first women to graduate from the University of Virginia in the 1970s and worked as a psychologist focused on psychological testing and measurement. In 1983, she founded Search Corp., a technology information company based in Great Falls, Virginia. She headed the company until 2001.
In 2003, Jean Tibbets wrote the book This Land at Cornwell Farm which was published by the Great Falls Historical Society, an organization of which she had been involved with for 20 years. Cornwell Farm is a 200-acre tract of land in Great Falls, Virginia. Tibbets’ research includes the geological history of Cornwell Farm and its Native American past and then follows its title chain from 1731 to 1973. The Cornwell Farm tract faced subdivision by the Yeonas Company in 1972, which led the community to organize blocking the proposed development of 80 to 90 moderately-priced clustered houses. They fought for Great Falls’ semi-rural character and a continuation of large lot sizes over five acres. The ad hoc committee of the Great Falls Citizen’s Association succeeded in buying the Cornwell Farm tract from the developer and developing it themselves in large lots. They sold all 27 lots via silent auction. Jean Tibbetts and her husband Roland Tibbetts purchased one of those lots in 1973, with the address of 655 Mine Ridge Road. They built their home on the property and lived there for decades.
Jean Tibbetts’ research sources for This Land at Cornwell Farm included the “Rambler” columns about local history that were written in the first half of the 20th century. As the chair of the publications committee of the Great Falls Historical Society in 1984, Jean Tibbetts spearheaded the group’s efforts to reprint a series of local history columns from the early 20th century called the “Rambler.” The “Rambler” column appeared in the former Sunday Star newspaper from 1905 until the 1940s. The column had several authors, but the best known of these was J. Harry Shannon, a Washington Star reporter who wrote about his journeys on horseback and on foot in the Washington DC-area from 1912 to 1927. Area scholars consider Shannon’s articles to be authoritative and historically valuable for local history. In 1984, under Jean Tibbetts’ leadership, the Great Falls Historical Society sought to word process and republish Shannon’s articles from the “Rambler” series. Jean Tibbetts sought and received permission from The Washington Post, which owned all Evening Star copyrights, to reprint the “Rambler” articles in book form. She also undertook getting the “Rambler” columns transcribed. Tibbetts received written letters of support from the District of Columbia Public Library (which had bound volumes and microfilm reels of the columns), The Washington Post, the Columbia Historical Society, and the Fairfax County History Commission. The Great Falls Historical Society piloted the project by reprinting the “Rambler” column from June 2, 1918 in its 1984-1985 Reflections report. The Society published a “Rambler” column in each of their 1985-1986, 1986-1988, and 1988-1991 Reflections reports as well. Also in 1984, the Society began working on fundraising strategies to reprint Shannon’s columns in book form by speaking with the Fairfax County Grants Coordinator. It does not appear that the Great Falls Historical Society succeeded in republishing the “Rambler” columns, but the columns are now digitally available through DC Public Library.
Jean Tibbetts died in Leesburg, Virginia on September 7, 2004. Since 2006, the Great Falls Historical Society has bestowed an annual award named for Jean Tibbetts to honor an outstanding contribution to the research, articulation, dissemination, and preservation of the history along the Potomac River corridor from McLean to west of Dranesville and south through Herndon.
The Jean Tibbetts Papers on This Land at Cornwell Farm consists of 5.50 linear feet, spans 1955-2003, and consists of correspondence, interview notes, deeds and other land records, family histories and genealogy notes, and other research materials related to the families and history of this section of Great Falls, Virginia. Subjects covered include the geology of Cornwell Farm’s land and its early occupants before it was first titled in 1731 to Guy Broadwater from Lord Thomas Fairfax; each of its changes in title from 1731 to 1973; the tract during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars; the genealogy of two families in the title chain - the Cornwells and the Jacksons; and its 1970s-era development as low-density parcels rather than the higher-density parcels that had been proposed. The collection also covers Tibbetts’ involvement with the Great Falls Historical Society in getting a series of local history columns from 1912 to 1927 republished.
Series 1: Chapter Notes and References, 1955-2003, Boxes 1-4
This series contains folders pertaining to 16 chapters of the manuscript This Land at Cornwell Farm. Secondary research material (some annotated); draft reference lists; newspaper clippings; hand-written notes; and draft copies of the manuscript text are sorted by chapter.
Series 2: General Subject Files, 1973-2003, Boxes 5-6
This series contains research and reference material for This Land at Cornwell Farm. It consists of draft copies of the manuscript text sorted by its subject, such as Georgetown Pike; hand-written notes; secondary research material; correspondence; interview transcripts; Cornwell Farm Homeowner Association documents, membership lists, meeting announcements, and minutes; newspaper clippings; maps; title chains; and real estate deeds.
Series 3: Family Files, 1978-2002, Boxes 7-8
This series contains genealogical research on each family who was relevant in the title chain for the property known as Cornwell Farm, with emphasis on the Cornwells and the Jacksons (The John Jackson Line, the Richard Jackson Line, and the Spencer Jackson Line). Each folder pertains to a specific family or a family member. The content includes family trees; family group sheets; other forms of genealogical research such as inclusive name printouts; copies of government documents; hand-written notes; interview notes; secondary research material; publications; newspaper clippings; and maps.
Series 4: Great Falls Land Research, 1983-1989, Box 9
This series contains real estate records that pertain to the lots on the property known as Cornwell Farm. The content includes real estate deeds; copies of legal documents; legal records for land disputes; maps, correspondence; and hand-written notes. The folders are organized by family name and the property associated with that family or family member.
Series 5: The “Rambler” Files, 1984-1991, Box 10
This series contains material related to the Great Falls Historical Society’s efforts in the mid-1980s to reprint the “Rambler” columns in book form. The material consists of correspondence; research; indices; interview notes; and fundraising letters. The bulk of this series are selected “Rambler” articles that first appeared from 1914 to 1920 in a variety of the following formats: photocopies of the newspaper articles, photocopies of the microfiche version of the newspaper articles, photocopies of enlargements of the newspaper articles, and typed transcriptions. This series also contains copies of the Great Falls Historical Society’s 1984-1985 Reflections report that included a reprint of the “Rambler” column from June 2, 1918. The column was headlined, “The Rambler Writes of Old Families Living Near Forrestville, Va.” [Forrestville was the old name for Great Falls.]. Copies of the “Rambler” reprints that appeared in the Great Falls Historical Society’s 1985-1986, 1986-1988, and 1988-1991 Reflections reports are also in this series of the collection.
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