Thursday, May 12, 2005

Benefactor's Legacy Facing A Bulldozer

Benefactor's Legacy Facing A Bulldozer: "Benefactor's Legacy Facing A Bulldozer
By Marc Fisher

Tuesday, May 10, 2005; Page B01
When Rachel Paxton, widow of a railroad man who built one of Leesburg's finest mansions, died in 1921, she left behind a five-page will written in her elegant, clear hand. The stilted, formal language that Paxton's attorneys imposed on her could not hide the grief and sorrow that saturated the latter half of her 95 years.
Rachel Paxton's only child, Margaret, bore a son, Charles, who died one month after his fifth birthday. Margaret mourned that boy for all her days. All evidence portrays a family crushed across the generations by the passing of the little guy. Rachel Paxton resolved to channel that anguish into something lasting and good."

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