We found an interesting booklet from 50 years ago titled “Virginia Shrines of Independence.” It’s a guide to Revolutionary sites in Virginia; it came out before the nation’s bicentennial in 1976; and it contains some shocking omissions. “There is hardly a spot in Virginia untouched by the Revolutionary War,” the introduction begins. “Wherever you are, you need but look around you to find a field where history was made, a hill that served as a stronghold, a stream crossed on the way to a battle, or a home made famous by its short- or long-term residents.” And so forth. Naturally we turned to the alphabetical listing of counties and cities to find out what our ancestors, tucked nicely in the family sedan, could have found of interest locally. Answer: practically zip. Whoever compiled this little book noted that Gloucester County, then as now, had Abingdon Church and Ware Church, survivors from before the Revolution. These churches, still in use and serving their original purposes as hous...