In 1792, Rev. Townshend Dade purchased a tract of land known as “Resurvey on Friend’s Advice” and built a small home with outbuildings for his wife and two small children. Rev. Townshed was no doubt looking for a quieter life in the country when he built the home, as he had previously been politically active in Virginia, to include being a signer of the “Resolutions of the Patriots of the Northern Neck of Virginia” to protest the Stamp Act of 1765.
Rev. Dade’s only son, Robert Dade, moved back into the home with his wife around 1808. Participating in the War of 1812 (to include the Battle of Bladensburg), Robert remained in the military, reaching the rank of Colonel, before resigning to serve in the Maryland State Legislature. In 1861, Colonel Dade was part of the committee formed to determine how Maryland would respond to the ensuing conflict between states (Dade sided with the confederacy).
Shortly after Colonel Dade’s death, his grandaughter Mary and her husband moved into the home with their six children. Mary’s husband was a successful selling agent for a cotton mill, and spent most of his time in New York. While he was gone, Mary made significant additions and changes to the home (even reorienting the interior of the home).
The home would change hand with other decendents of the Dade’s over the year’s (to include a veteran of the Spanish-American War). From 1951 to 1989, General Albert Wedemeyer and his wife lived at Friend’s Advice. General Wedemeyer was a West Point class of 1919 graduate (the class of 2019 just graduated 2 weeks ago!). Among many incredible accomplishments, General Wedmeyer formulated the grand strategy adopted by the Allies to fight and win WWII.
