In 1988, I learn in “The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South” that close by Manassas was one of many locations “named for Jews who owned the plot the place the put up workplace was constructed or used the crossroads as a middle for his or her peddling.” I wrote Mr. Evans to precise the significance of getting this Manassas historical past extra extensively recognized, and he wrote me proper again, supportive of my concept. With Mr. Evans’s steering, I situated the Aug. 10, 1861, version of the Richmond Enquirer that defined the legend of “Outdated Manasseh.” It said “an enthusiastic buddy” defined “the mountain cross had taken its title from a caterer for the touring public, we consider a Jew, who for a very long time had his home of leisure there. He was extensively recognized and far esteemed for his form coronary heart and good cheer, and the horseman would typically add many miles to his day’s journey, that he would possibly spend the night time with ‘Outdated Manasseh,’ as they familiarly fashion him. Briefly, he was as properly referred to as his hole, and from him the latter caught its title of Manasseh’s Hole.” That led to the title of the Manassas Hole Railroad that shaped a junction with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in present-day Manassas.
