 Elzy Burroughs' family leased and operated a sandstone quarry in the Aquia Creek area of Stafford County.Known as Aquia sandstone, material from quarries in this area was utilized in the construction of Mount Vernon, the United States Capitol building, the White House, and the first lighthouse constructed at Cape Henry in Princess Anne County, Virginia, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.As a child, Elzy would have grown up playing near sandstone quarries.