Zann Miner: Nelson daughter rooted in Culpeper

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: August 22, 2008

The name Zann Miner, born Elizabeth Ann Nelson in Brownsville, Texas, is synonymous with Culpeper history.

She lives and breathes the stuff and, in fact, has lived on the same family farm in Reva since she was 2. That’s when her father, the late Jack Nelson, a pilot with Pan-American, moved his family off a military base in favor of the wide-open spaces of the Virginia Piedmont.

Here’s Zann as a 3-year-old sitting on the walkway just steps from the front porch, not long after she and her brothers came to Culpeper. Notice the turtle by her foot and the plaid coveralls.

Here’s Zann, now 59, just the other day sitting on the same walkway, which she bricked over just two months ago. Even though she manages the 152-acre estate, Miner admitted to no longer owning a pair of coveralls, but she did her best.

Need to know the history of some old building downtown or a rural racetrack, long since closed down? Most times, Zann - former director at the Museum of Culpeper History for 12 years - knows the background.

And if not, she’ll find it.

These days, when not mowing fields, planting flowers, pruning her peach trees, tending the garden, and overseeing the basic, never-ending maintenance needs of a large estate, Miner writes a history column for the Star-Exponent and contributes considerable research about all aspects of Culpeper history.

She also volunteers with the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield and does organizational and fund-raising consulting.

For more than two decades, as her first career, Miner ran the farm as a working farm, raising livestock and living by the clock of cows and horses. And as one of five children growing up in Reva, Miner had chores.

She learned to drive a tractor at the age of 7 and it was her job to steer as her brothers loaded bales on the wagon.

For fun, they had great big parties on the farm, which considering its mountain views, lush tree line and gently rolling hills, is probably one of the most scenic spots in Culpeper County. Said hills were most conducive to sleigh riding in the winter.

“My philosophy is if it is possible stay where you are and improve what you have,” Zann said.