Author: Caroline Historical Society

Over the years, folks who have attended the Fourth of July Celebrations in Port Royal, Virginia have experienced Independences Days like no other.  The event ran twenty years until the COVID closed the venue in 2020.  Bonnie Cannon has been a living history interpreter and volunteer each of these years and serves as Vice- President of Historic Port Royal one of the sponsors of this event.

Bonnie is the daughter of Maynard and Mae Elliott of Bowling Green. When Bonnie was a child, her parents, brothers, Kenneth and David, and sister Cynthia resided in a brick home built by her father and grandfather, Floyd Hampton Elliott, on Route 2 north of town.  Bonnie has lived in Caroline all of her life and attended Bowling Green schools until her senior year when she transferred to James Monroe High School and graduated in 1971.  After earning an associate degree from Germanna Community College she attended Strayer College. In her position as a computer specialist at The Naval Surface Weapons Center in Dahlgren, she worked with networking and data lease management.  These experiences provided her with the opportunity to work with Satellite Systems for 39 years.  

In the late 1960’s, Bonnie worked for Dr. Don Verne in his Rexall Drug Store on Main Street in Bowling Green. In addition, Bonnie worked for eight years in an antique shop in Fredericksburg City. Her interest in Colonial America increased as she learned more about local history, early lore, antiques and collectables. When not participating in re-enactments and volunteering in numerous venues, she and Clyde babysit their loving grandson. Bonnie is married to Clyde Cannon. Their daughter, Jessica and her husband, John Potter, have a son Samuel who is the delight of their grandparents’ eyes.  Jessica and her family reside at “The Campbell House” in the Sparta area of Caroline County.

“Living History Day” was the highlight event of Caroline County in 2005. Bonnie was Co-Chair for the venue held on the Courthouse Green.  Kim Park, Mayor of the Town, wrote a note of thanks saying, “your historical knowledge and dedication to re-enacting are impressive. The community and I deeply appreciate the tireless work you have contributed to help the Town of Bowling Green”. Town Council presented Bonnie with a “Resolution” for her service in December 2005.

 She planned, organized, and participated in the day’s events showcasing regional Native Americans, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Civil War, and cultural lifestyles. One delightful event that day was the performance of the 2^nd South Carolina String Band from Gettysburg, PA. Joe Ewers, band leader, wrote a thank you letter to Bonnie mentioning the “lovely time they had in Bowling Green, and how they have often spoke enthusiastically with friends and family about the tea that you folks put on and how much they learned from the experience”.

In 2003, Bonnie participated in “Civil War Day” sponsored by The Fredericksburg Christian School.  Ms. Pam Catlin, 5^th grade teacher, thanked Bonnie for her demonstration of Civil War cooking.  The weather conditions that day made it impossible to cook on an open fire, so the group moved indoors for the demonstration and Ms. Catlin remarked, “Thank you for giving us clarity to know how to respond to “changing weather conditions”.  One 5^th grader wrote, “Thanks for teaching us cool things.”

Bonnie travelled to George Washington’s Birthplace in Westmoreland County numerous times to volunteer in special programs celebrating “President’s Day and George Washington’s birthday” and on other special occasions. As a costumed volunteer, Bonnie demonstrated open hearth cooking in the outdoor kitchen.

For many years, H.E.L.P. (Historic Economic Leadership Panel) of Bowling Green, sponsored the Christmas Candlelight Tours of Homes. The December event featured properties in Bowling Green with holiday decorations and docents who highlighted each residence.  Over the years, Bonnie participated in those holiday celebrations serving as a docent in the homes on this tour. One of the oldest homes in town is The Dickinson Estate, located on south Main Street.  It hosted an all- day living history experience and Bonnie was there, lending her expertise with camp-life tours, and with food preparation, along with 19^th century comedy and fashion. This event was also sponsored by H.E.L.P.

A momentous occasion for Virginia and for the county occurred on April 28, 2007, with the Commemoration of America’s 400^th Anniversary of Jamestown 1607-2007. It was a ‘living history day” in which Bonnie planned, organized, and participated in the historic Village of Port Royal.

In October of 2000, Bonnie Cannon worked in “Open Fire Food Preparation” on the first Saturday in the Garden Tour Program held at Historic Kenmore and the Mary Washington House.in the city Fredericksburg, Virginia.  She prepared food over an open fire using period methods and materials.  Visitors experienced cooking the old fashion way by observing meals being prepared in the Colonial Kitchen Gardens at the Mary Washington House.

The above mentioned are just a few of the many events Bonnie has spent hundreds of volunteer hours in planning, organizing and participating in order to make history come alive.  Her living history demonstrations were and continue to be well received by those in attendance. Bonnie’s expertise and dedication in “behind the scenes” planning, has allowed each event to become a grand success.

March 2022
Bonnie Elliott Cannon             and
Dale Brittle, Secretary
Caroline Historical Society
Gildale1966@gmail.com

Women in History Month, March 2022

March is designated as National Women in History month. For the sixth year, the Caroline Historical Society honors outstanding Caroline women who have become successful individuals in their careers. Over the years, members and the public have recommended names of women they believe worthy of consideration. Members of the Society then research the individuals and write articles for publication in the CHS Newsletter, the CHS Webpage and the CHS Facebook page.

The newsletter is sent to members four times a year. One honoree will be highlighted in each publication. The organization encourages the public to check out the CHS website and Facebook pages. An honoree will be spotlighted each week during the month of March.

CHS is proud to announce the first honoree for Women in History Month 2022.

Audrey Borkey Torrance

An informed conversationalist and community activist, Audrey Borkey Torrance served her county and country well. Audrey, the daughter of Cecil and Clarice Borkey of Bowling Green, attended Lee Maury High School, graduated in 1940 and immediately found an office position following commencement. The United States was gearing up to enter the “Big” War, and Audrey was employed in the Land Acquisition Office for properties in the soon-to-be Camp A.P. Hill. She remained an office clerk there for 5 years, until the small office, which was located where the old Kidwell’s grocery store used to be on Main Street in Bowling Green, closed in 1945.

During the War Years, Audrey volunteered as a “Plane Spotter”. The spotting tower was located in Bowling Green behind Billy Grey’s Store. In the late afternoons and evenings, she and another volunteer, climbed the steps of the tower and using binoculars viewed and recorded each plane that flew over Bowling Green. Audrey wasn’t the only Borkey to serve during war time. Her brother Cecil served in the U.S. Navy. He was born in Richlands, VA. Cecil was stationed at the American embassy in Turkey during the war. Audrey “lived” to drive Cecil’s Packard in “overdrive” while he was away.

The United Service Organization (USO) was a big part of the life for the men who served in the armed services and trained at Camp A. P. Hill, now Fort A. P. Hill, during WWII. Caroline County was fortunate to have two USO buildings. The largest and most active was on Butler Street in Bowling Green. The building still stands today and has been used as town offices since the end of World War II. As a USO facility, the building housed a library, shower facilities, relaxation area, snack bar and dance floor.

On Wednesday and Saturday nights “The Jess Pine” Band of Fredericksburg entertained the troops and their guests. School buses picked up girls from Ladysmith, Milford, and Bowling Green. Mothers also drove their young daughters to the dances which began at 8:00 p.m. and ended by 11:00 p.m. Mothers were hosts at the dances and most guests were high school students.

Audrey remembers, “We had good times.” Songs could be suggested. She had a twinkle in her eye when she said “we had to fight for the good dancers.” “A lieutenant played the piano. He was wonderful. He came from Connecticut, I think.” “I remember the band playing, “The Paul Jones”, a dance done in a circle. When the music stopped and you were not opposite a partner, you found yourself disqualified and had to sit down.” When the guests left at 11:00 o’clock many, who lived in Bowling Green, chose to walk home. “We were a bunch of girls having an enjoyable time,” she mused. “Five of the girls served as “Donut Dollies”. I remember Theo Boland, Nancy Hanson, Julia Lumpkin, and Margaret White and I were the five persons who served as hosts. “Audrey also served on the USO Steering Committee. The committee organized weekly dances, arranged for special events such as birthday parties, and arranged accommodations for visiting families. The USO director lived in an apartment upstairs in the Borkey home on Milford Street which is now owned by Lynn and Mike Lenahan.

According to Joyce Goforth, a good friend and bridge partner of Audrey’s, “she and I are the only two remaining club members left in our Bridge Club. Nancy Hanson, and Anne Garland Green, met their husbands at the USO dances. I remember Audrey worked the voting polls for years on end.” Audrey recalls working with one of the poll book operators when the earthquake struck in May 2014. A nerve-wracking experience! “Joyce also mentioned Audrey donated an enormous amount of blood during the Red Cross Drives. The house on Maury Avenue, in which the Lenahan family live, belonged to Audrey’s family (Borkey). She knows the ends and outs of all the original town’s people.”

For over forty years, Audrey was employed with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). She was the original girl who opened the office in Bowling Green which was housed in her mother’s kitchen on the corner of Lafayette Avenue. The office was later moved to the basement of the Old Hotel on Main Street and then moved again to the top of the town’s drug store, and their final was to the new offices located at Farmer’s Store. Audrey remembers working for J. R. Ford Contracting out of Lynchburg who constructed Route 301 when it became a dual road.

Audrey placed second in the Fredericksburg “Miss Highway Department” Contest in 1952. The contest was sponsored by the Employees Benefit Association. Contestants came from fourteen counties. Audrey was selected “Miss Fredericksburg District”. A banquet was given to honor all of the contestants.

During her time with VDOT, she married Gordon Torrance and they had one son who lives in Fredericksburg. Gordon and Audrey met on a blind date and spent the day on a picnic with friends across the river. Gordon’s family lived in Concord, Virginia outside of Lynchburg. They often visited Lynchburg and were there in 1955 when the fire devastated the town of Bowling Green. Gordon was the one man who helped with the cleanup after the fire. Gordon was a contractor and performed work with his bulldozer and other equipment.

Audrey loves to cook, especially cakes. and continues to stay in good physical condition by working out the last nineteen years in her basement three days a week with friends Kathryn Burruss and Barbara Lanford. She was one of the original “Curves” girls in Bowling Green.

Loving attention has been paid to her needlepoint chair covers. Several living room and dining chairs are decoratively covered with floral designs, many set-in black backgrounds Stunning workmanship. Her needles are kept close by so work may begin when she has a bit of time to resume her passion. Her 99^th birthday is coming up this year.

We pray she continues to enjoy a long and prosperous life. I certainly enjoyed my conversation with Audrey in January and believe Audrey Borkey Torrance is truly worthy of being named one of this year’s “CHS Women in History.”

Dale Brittle, Secretary, Caroline Historical Society, March 2022

Helen “Penny” Bates Chenery was born on January 27, 1922, in Westchester County, New York. From her early years, Penny loved horses, thanks in large part to her father, Christopher Tompkins Chenery, he being named after his grandmother, Emily Sophia Tompkins Chenery. Penny marveled at the athleticism and grace of horses, having once said, “I really believe they are noble.”  

In 1936, when Penny was 14 years of age, her parents purchased The Meadows, a 2,000+ acre estate in Doswell, later creating the Meadow Stable, one of the most successful Thoroughbred breeding farms in the country.

Penny’s early adulthood was remarkable as she exited Smith College in 1943, working as an assistant at a company that designed landing craft for the Normandy invasion. Before the invasion, however, Penny decided to volunteer for the Red Cross, and traveled to France in 1945 as a “Doughnut Girl” to aid exhausted soldiers as they prepared to head home. Her ability to relate to others no doubt aided her as she entered the public eye of the horse racing community in later years. Penny then attended Columbia University’s business school, one of 20 women in her class, where she met her husband John “Jack” Tweedy. The couple had four children, and lived in the Denver, Colorado area.

In 1967, much changed in Penny’s life: her mother, Helen Clementina Bates Chenery died in late 1967, her father’s health was failing, and her two siblings planned to sell the formerly profitable Meadow Stable, as it was now losing money. Penny agreed to take over management of stable operations, with the help of her siblings and her father’s business assistant. Penny commuted monthly from Colorado to Virginia, and few in the business took her seriously. For several more years, Meadow Stable continued to lose money. The tide began to turn in 1971 when her colt Riva Ridge won 2-year-old of the Year. Just before Penny’s father’s death in early 1973, Riva Ridge won the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, and Secretariat, the chestnut Thoroughbred born in 1970, was named 1972 horse of the year by the Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Secretariat was gained in a losing coin toss! Penny lost out on the first foal, The Bride, produced by Bold Ruler and Penny’s broodmare, Somethingroyal. Secretariat, the yet-unborn, Bold Ruler and Somethingroyal foal, would go to Penny next year. Remarkably, after Secretariat’s naming as horse of the year at age two in 1972, Penny deftly orchestrated a plan to syndicate Secretariat

before any of his Triple Crown victories. Penny called on the new head of Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, the son of her father’s longtime associate, Bull Hancock. Bull Hancock had just passed on, and 23-year-old Seth Hancock, fresh at the helm, took a chance on Secretariat. The transaction yielded an opportunity to settle Meadow Stable’s estate taxes without liquidating the farm’s bloodstock, at an unprecedented price of $6.08 million and contractual terms called for him to race for Meadow Stable in 1973. In a few short days, young Seth Hancock pulled off the transaction with both known clients and new investors. The rest, as they say, was history, as Secretariat became a Triple Crown Winner in 1973, also gracing the cover of Time Magazine. Secretariat was the most celebrated racehorse of all time and the only non-human ranked among ESPN’s 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20^th Century.

In a 1972 interview, Penny had said that her role was not at all unusual for a woman, stating, “A number of women run racing stables. It actually precedes women’s lib.” Penny referenced the late Isabel Dodge Sloane, who was mistress of Brookmeade Farm in the 1920s in Upperville, Virginia (Fauquier County).

After Secretariat’s retirement, Penny became an ambassador for Thoroughbred racing and continued after Secretariat’s death in 1989. Penny became the first female president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and president. She was one of the first women admitted to The Jockey Club and helped found the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, dedicated to saving Thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from neglect, abuse and slaughter. Penny established the Secretariat Vox Populi award which honors racing’s most popular horse each year, as well as the Secretariat Foundation, which supports a variety of charities in the racing community. Penny was honored in 2006 with the Eclipse Award of Merit for her lifetime contributions to the Thoroughbred industry and has advocated for research and equine care advancement, along with banning use of performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing.

Helen “Penny” Bates Chenery died on September 16, 2017 at her home in Boulder, Colorado at the age of 95.

Resources

Newspapers.com, The Montana Standard, Butte, Montana, “Penny Chenery, owner of Triple Crown champ Secretariat, dies,” by Beth Harris, AP Racing Writer, September 2017

Newspapers.com, The Star-Democrat, Easton, Maryland, “Chenery, owner of Secretariat, dies at 95,” WPNS, September 2017

Newspapers.com, The Miami Herald, Miami, Florida, “Christopher T. Chenery, 86, Owned the Derby Winner,” UPI, January 1973

The New York Times, New York, New York, “Secretariat Is Horse of Year, Topping La Prevoyante in Poll,” by Steve Cady, December 1972

The Bee, Danville, Virginia, “Helen Chenery Tweedy Rapidly Gaining Prominence; Owns Racehorse, Riva Ridge,” by Christine Darg, Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 1972

Claiborne Farm, “The History of Claiborne Farm,” August 24, 2021, https://claibornefarm.com/history/

Barbara C. Lagasse – CHS Lifetime Member