The Little Old Town of Quinby

In Memory of Littleton Thomas LeCato -- May 5, 1831 -- March 19. 1909.

The tide came and went along the marsh, where cattle calmly grazed under the Cet-oaks, on the Broadwater side of Bradford's [Neck] and Upshur's Necks, in the year 1896 -- there was no fence law then. Few houses were to be seen and there were no docking facilities, except where a gut made up in some private property. Most of the folk had a boat and fished, hand-line fashion, when fish were biting.

Years before, soon after the War Between the States, two men had left the community. One to become a prominent lawyer after graduating from the University of Virginia, for which his mother prepared him in the first settlement in Upshur's Neck, "Warwick [plantation]". He was Upshur B. Quinby. The other went to New York, where with his father and brother, he opened one of the first produce commission businesses in the city. Later he carried on the same type of business in Baltimore and in Philadelphia. This man was Littleton Thomas LeCato from "Atlantic View [plantation]", the first settlement in Bradford's Neck.

During the winter 1895-96, Littleton LeCato returned to his boyhood home. The years had not accumulated money for him, but they had developed an inborn love of progress, a desire to see something done, something accomplished that would benefit the ordinary man. He was not long going to work.

The nearest store was five miles away, so he began lining up the necessary data to open a United States Post Office. Finally the way was cleared for the opening, provided Tom would carry the mail to and from the other office three times a week for three months without pay. Well, he wanted his own mail, so why not? Next came the question of a name, a post office must have a name. This is where the other man, his old friend and family connection, comes into the story. Tom LeCato took great pleasure in naming the Post Office Quinby, for his boyhood friend, Upshur Quinby.

Ever since returning to his old home, a plan for bringing the locality within easy reach of shipping facilities had been growing in Tom LeCato's mind. The nearest railroad station was at Keller, eight miles away. By direct line Painter was four miles away, but Machapungo Creek lay between Quinby and Painter. A few sailboats sailed up and down the creek. When Tom began to talk about building a bridge across Machapungo Creek he was met with "it can't be done, -- where's the money coming from? -- you can't block that channel." He met all these calmly. An excellent student of human nature, he knew that if he could make people see that a bridge would bring in money, a bridge could and would be built.

A brother, Dr. George W. LeCato, in the Virginia Senate at the time, succeeded in getting a bill passed allowing a bridge with a draw to be built across Machapungo Creek. Now diplomacy was called into play. By a tactful logic people owning land over which the road to the bridge would pass were convinced that it would increase the value of their land to have it do so, and gave the land.

Then came the money raising. Of course the bridge must be a toll bridge. All this took place before automobiles had materialized, so using a colt he had broken to harness and a buggy, he began canvassing. Owners of Neck land, who lived elsewhere, and in some cases were people with money, saw it as a paying investment and took stock of $25 a share. People here and there invested so, little by little, the money came in until the needed amount, between two and three thousand, was in hand.

The builder chosen was Francis Savage Smith, Tom LeCato's brother-in-law, known for the excellency and thoroughness of his work. Many shook their heads and said that a bridge of timber could not be built that would stand Machapungo's tides and ice, but it was built. Machapungo Bridge was opened for traffic June 22, 1898. Its length was eighteen hundred feet, width sixteen feet and cost $2600. The bridge served its purpose well until it was washed away in a storm, August 23, 1933. The State government assumed control of the bridge, rebuilt it and reopened it June 23, 1934. The stock for the first bridge paid 100% dividends for several years.

During this time in the life of the little town, the only place in which religious services could be held was the one-room school house, where the desks -- boards hinged along the side of the building were lowered Sundays, and the benches turned right about face. Now a town needed a church. Tom LeCato's children donated the land, so while the bridge was materializing, "Smith Chapel", named for the pastor at that time, Rev. G. E. B. Smith, was built.

Thus began Quinby. Now on the twenty acres alone that were then "Atlantic View" farm land, more than twenty houses stand. Three stores and a restaurant do good business in the little town. A public dock, to which a surfaced road runs from the main highway, provides boating facilities for pleasure and water work. A government dug channel provides deep water at any tide. Thousands of dollars are made every year by the watermen, and each year sees more and more outside folk come to enjoy the fishing and boating.

The old school was moved long ago, the first store moved, too. Even the church has been moved and large Sunday School rooms added. Quinby grows and thrives. Many of the people own their own homes. Every morning about seventy of its folk go out to work elsewhere. "Fisherman's Inn" with its modern cabins down on the waterfront, bids fair to become a popular resort.

Littleton Thomas LeCato lies in his native soil, but the spirit that began Quinby is not dead.