Editing Woodstock, Virginia (section)

=== Establishment ===
The new village was established by an act in 1761, sponsored by [[George Washington]], and the town was renamed Woodstock at that time. George Washington was a member of the [[Virginia House of Burgesses]], representing [[Frederick County, Virginia|Frederick County]], which the Woodstock area remained a part of until 1772. The act of the General Assembly gave full credit to Jacob Muller for initiating the idea.<ref name="auto5"/> Muller came from [[Germany]] in 1749, and had initially settled in [[Pennsylvania]]. By 1752, he obtained 400 acres from Lord Fairfax for the area that eventually was included in the town limits of Woodstock. Muller settled in Narrow Passage near Woodstock, and in the next few years his holdings grew to something between 1200 and 2000 acres,<ref name="auto13">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=micSAAAAYAAJ&q=woodstock%2C+virginia+germans&pg=PA244|title=The German Element of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia|first=John Walter|last=Wayland|date=October 30, 1907|publisher=The author|isbn=9780722246191|via=Google Books}}</ref> and he proceeded to lay out a plan for the town, Mullerstadt.<ref name="auto5"/> A few white settlers had preceded Muller, as the 1761 act establishing the town noted "several persons are now living there." It is realistic to assume this meant a scattering of log buildings.<ref name="auto5"/>  However, Muller's town plan was that referred to in the 1761 General Assembly act that established Woodstock.<ref name="auto5"/>

There is no clear reason why the town's name was changed to Woodstock, though theories include it being renamed by Washington<ref name="auto5"/> or perhaps for a wood stockade used by the community as shelter from Indian raids. Jacob Muller's town continued for many years to be known as Millerstown, or to [[German language]] residents as Muellerstadt.<ref name="auto5"/> During the years following the establishment of the town, Muller held a big land sale in which 40 parcels he plotted were purchased.  Muller died in 1766, just four years after his land sales. Andrew Brewbaker, his son-in-law, became proprietor of his grant, supported by a board of trustees appointed by the General Assembly to govern the new town.<ref name="auto5"/>  This form of government continued until 1795, when the town was authorized to hold elections. In 1761, the town's appointed trustees left no records, so early history of Woodstock as a town cannot be determined with accuracy. There was also no local newspaper until 1817.<ref name="auto5"/>