Alice Cannon will return to the story of Judy Woodfolk, convicted at the age of eight of attempted murder of her mistress, Margaret Rogers Terrell of Glen Echo. In Part One, Judy’s story ended with her delivery to the State Penitentiary in Richmond. In the midst of a microburst last June, Alice gave us Part Two, in which she discovered a Juda/Judy Holmes, presumably Judy Woodfolk, who survived prison and returned to Albemarle County by the end of the century.
In Part Three Alice will tell us how the revival of the once-rejected plan to build a Route 29 Bypass led to confirmation of the story she had pieced together but, as she says, “never imagined might one day be verified.” A proposed route for the Bypass would have gone through the Woodfolk cemetery behind Rio Hills shopping center, thus generating an archaeological impact study that provided the clinching testimony.
Members of the Woodfolk family will be with us at this meeting, which I hope will range in its discussion over the whole area including Hydraulic, Union Ridge, and Woodburn that was settled largely by African Americans after the Civil War. Much of the land they lived on is in the current path of the proposed Bypass.
Next meeting of Central Virginia History Researchers: Thursday, Dec. 1, 4 PM, at the Jefferson Library
My family is from Charlottesville and were owned by the Terrell family of Glen Echo. I am interested in any information related to the Terrells and the slaves they owned. Of specific interest is the presentation by Alice Cannon of “Judy”. I was wondering if there is a written record of her presentation at the several CVHR monthly meetings. Thank you in advance and I look forward to your response.
Kenneth Coles
64 R Street NW
Washington DC 20001
chicagoque2@gmail.com