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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02375 4937
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/manorsofvirginia00sale_0
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MANORS of VIRGINIA
IN COLONIAL TIMES
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OF THIS VOLUME ONE THOUSAND COPIES HAVE BEEN PRINTED AND THE TYPE DISTRIBUTED
COLES
ESTOUTEVILLE Country-seat of the Coles family since 1771
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MANORS
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OF VIRGINIA IN COLONIAL TIMES
BY
EDITH TUNIS SALE
WITH SIXTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS AND TWENTY-TWO COATS-OF-ARMS
ET
DROIT AVAN
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PHILADELPHIA & LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 1909
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COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER, 1909
PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS, PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.
-32.50
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1255288
TO MY MOTHER SARAH DABNEY TUNIS
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FOREWORD
O those who made the writing of this book a possibility, I shall always be as deeply grateful as I am ap- preciative of their old homesteads, for I have but taken the family histories, romances and genealogies, which they so generously unrolled that I might see, and have welded them into one volume, hoping it may live to tell to future generations the stories of their forefathers and of their homes.
The interest which is shown to-day in the res- toration and preservation of early mansions, encouraged me to undertake this meagre story of Virginia's oldest and most far-famed manor houses, no State in the Union boasting such a wealth of historic estates as this superb old Com- monwealth, towards which the rest of the country so proudly looks.
Following that period of bravery and awe during which the corner-stone of America was so
5
FOREWORD
firmly laid, came the more pleasing era of planta- tion life, founded by men whose names are high enrolled in the book of history, and whose homes were little kingdoms worthy of the sincere study of our less picturesque generation, which may in them relive that wonderful yesterday, for- getting and regretting this later age in the dreams and reveries born of a knowledge of how the grandees lived in Colonial times.
And though America is proud of herself as a nation, England may take just pride in the way the little colony, planted by her in an unknown land, has grown into one of the most remarkable of world powers, treasuring in its most historic corner a group of ancient country seats which have braved the stress of years and circumstance to speak to all who visit them to-day, appealingly of the past.
EDITH TUNIS SALE.
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CONTENTS
SABINE HALL ..
17
MOUNT AIRY 29
CHATHAM 42
KENMORE. 52
BROOKE'S BANK 63
BLANDFIELD
69
STRATFORD HALL
79
GUNSTON HALL 92
WOODLAWN
104
TUCKAHOE
114
SHIRLEY
125
WESTOVER 134
BRANDON.
149
SHERWOOD FOREST. 159
CARTER'S GROVE. 172
THE NELSON HOUSE. 183 ROSEWELL 192
ELSING GREEN 207
MONTICELLO. 216
CASTLE HILL 229 ESTOUTEVILLE 244
MONTPELIER 259
BERRY HILL. 270
OATLANDS
282
7
PAGE
LIST of FAMILIES AND ESTATES
PAGE
ALLEN.
"TUCKAHOE"
123
BAILEY
"CHATHAM"
50
BARBOUR
" ROSEWELL "
196
BARTON.
"KENMORE"
60
BEVERLEY
"BLANDFIELD
"
69
BISLAND
"CARTER'S GROVE"
181
BOOTH
"CARTER'S GROVE"
181
BOOTH
" ROSEWELL "
203
BRANSFORD
"SHIRLEY"
133
BRAXTON.
"ELSING GREEN"
211
BROOKE.
"BROOKE'S BANK"
66
BROWNE
"ELSING GREEN"
212
BRUCE
"BERRY HILL ".
273
BURWELL
"CARTER'S GROVE"
172
BYRD
"WESTOVER"
135
CARTER
"OATLANDS "
282
CARTER
"SABINE HALL"
CARTER.
"SHIRLEY "
126
18
CARTER.
"WESTOVER"
146
CATLETT
" ROSEWELL"
203
COALTER
"CHATHAM"
49
COLES
" BERRY HILL "
272
COLES
"ESTOUTEVILLE"
244
COOLIDGE.
"TUCKAHOE"
123
CUSTIS
" WOODLAWN "
104
9
LIST of FAMILIES AND ESTATES
DANDRIDGE.
"ELSING GREEN"
207
DEANS.
" ROSEWELL "
204
DOUTHAT
" WESTOVER "
146
DREWERY
" WESTOVER "
147
DUPONT
" MONTPELIER
"
259
EUSTIS
"OATLANDS "
289
FITZHUGH
"CHATHAM"
42
GORDON
" KENMORE'
60
GREGORY
"ELSING GREEN "
213
HARRISON
"BRANDON "
150
HILL.
"SHIRLEY "
126
HOPKINS.
" BROOKE'S BANK"
68
HOWARD
"KENMORE"
60
HUTCHINS.
"OATLANDS "
289
JEFFERSON
" MONTICELLO"
217
JONES
" CHATHAM"
49
KESTER.
" GUNSTON HALL "
102
LACY
"CHATHAM"
49
LEE.
"STRATFORD HALL"
79
LEVY
" MONTICELLO "
228
LEWIS
"KENMORE"
52
MADISON
"MONTPELIER "
259
MANN.
"ROSEWELL "
196
MASON.
" GUNSTON HALL"
92
MINGE
"SHERWOOD FOREST"
159
NELSON
" THE NELSON HOUSE'
184
PAGE
" ROSEWELL "
192
RAMSAY
" WESTOVER "
147
RANDOLPH
" MONTICELLO"
226
10
LUVI LUVY VI L ( (
LIST of FAMILIES AND ESTATES
RANDOLPH
. "TUCKAHOE"
114
RIVES.
" CASTLE HILL"
231
SAUNDERS
"BROOKE'S BANK "
68
SELDEN
" WESTOVER "
.
146
SHARP
" WOODLAWN"
111
SMITH.
" GUNSTON HALL"
102
SPECHT
"GUNSTON HALL "
102
STARKE
"STRATFORD HALL "
88
STEWART
"STRATFORD HALL "
88
TAYLOE.
"MOUNT AIRY "
29
TAYLOR.
" ROSEWELL".
205
TYLER. .
"SHERWOOD FOREST"
159
WALKER
"CASTLE HILL "
229
WELLFORD
"SABINE HALL"
27
WIGHT
"TUCKAHOE"
123
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
ESTOUTEVILLE.
Frontispiece
Country-seat of the Coles family since 1771
COLES COAT-OF-ARMS
Frontispiece
SABINE HALL.
18
Still in the possession of the original line of Carters
"KING" CARTER'S BOOK-PLATE
18
LANDON CARTER
26
THE HALL, SABINE HALL.
26
Showing a Reynolds portrait of the "King"
MOUNT AIRY.
30
Built by Col. John Tayloe in 1758
TAYLOE COAT-OF-ARMS.
30
COLONEL JOHN TAYLOR
By St. Memin
34
SIR ARCHY.
34
The most famous race horse of Colonial times
CHATHAM.
42
Where General Robert E. Lee met Mary Custis
COLONEL WILLIAM FITZHUGH.
44
From the portrait by Hesselius painted in 1698
FITZHUGH COAT-OF-ARMS
44
KENMORE.
52
The home of Betty Washington
LEWIS COAT-OF-ARMS
52
BETTY WASHINGTON
57
THE FAMOUS MANTEL AT KENMORE
57
GOVERNOR ROBERT BROOKE.
64
BROOKE COAT-OF-ARMS.
64
BLANDFIELD.
73
Erected by Robert Beverley about 1760
BEVERLY COAT-OF-ARMS.
73
COLONEL RICHARD LEE.
80
The Immigrant. From the painting by Sir Peter Lely
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ILLUSTRATIONS
THOMAS LEE.
80
President of Virginia Colony
LEE COAT-OF-ARMS. 80
STRATFORD HALL.
82
The birthplace of Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee and Robert E. Lee
GEORGE MASON.
95
From the portrait by Hesselius
MASON COAT-OF-ARMS.
95
GUNSTON HALL.
96
The home of one of America's greatest statesmen, George Mason
COLONEL DANIEL PARKE.
105
Aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough. From the portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller
NELLIE CUSTIS.
105
Portrait by Gilbert Stewart
CUSTIS COAT-OF-ARMS
105
WOODLAWN.
109
The home of Nellie Custis
TUCKAHOE.
114
Original seat of the Randolphs of Virginia
THE NORTH STAIR, TUCKAHOE.
117
Renowned in the architectural annals of the country
THE HALL AT TUCKAHOE.
117
SIR JOHN AND LADY RANDOLPH.
118
From the paintings by E. C. Bruce at William and Mary College
RANDOLPH COAT-OF-ARMS.
118
"KING" CARTER.
126
From the painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller
JOHN CARTER.
126
From the painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller
CARTER COAT-OF-ARMS
126
SHIRLEY.
128
Built by Colonel Edward Hill in 1650
THE DRAWING-ROOM AT SHIRLEY
130
THR HALL AT SHIRLEY.
130
THE RIVER FRONT OF WESTOVER. .
136
The most famous country-seat in America
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ILLUSTRATIONS
THE HALL AT WESTOVER. 138
THE CELEBRATED NORTH GATEWAY AT WESTOVER. 140
With monogram of William Byrd THE TOMB OF WILLIAM BYRD. 140
Which dominates the old-fashioned garden
WILLIAM BYRD.
142
From the portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller
EVELYN BYRD.
142
From the portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller
BOOK-PLATE OF COLONEL WILLIAM BYRD
142
THE CORNER OF A GUEST-CHAMBER AT WESTOVER
146
THE DRAWING-ROOM AT WESTOVER.
146
Showing the famous black marble mantel
BRANDON.
150
Mansion erected by Nathaniel Harrison in 1702
HARRISON COAT-OF-ARMS 150
FAN CARRIED BY EVELYN BYRD. 154
When she was presented at the Court of St. James
THE HALL AT BRANDON.
154
SHERWOOD FOREST.
167
The country-seat of President Tyler
TYLER CREST.
167
CARTER'S GROVE.
177
Built by Carter Burwell in 1746
BURWELL COAT-OF-ARMS.
177
THE HALLWAY, CARTER'S GROVE.
178
The stairway of which still bears the marks of sabre cuts from Tarleton's troopers
WILLIAM NELSON
184
NELSON COAT-OF-ARMS.
184
NELSON HOUSE, YORKTOWN.
187
Headquarters of Lord Cornwallis during the Revolution
ROSEWELL.
198
Begun by Mann Page in 1725
GOVERNOR JOHN PAGE.
202
At the age of 16. From the painting by Benjamin West at William and Mary College
BOOK-PLATE OF FRANCIS PAGE, 1703
202
ELSING GREEN.
211
Built by George Braxton in 1758
15
ILLUSTRATIONS
DANDRIDGE COAT-OF-ARMS. 211
MONTICELLO.
216
Where Thomas Jefferson spent 796 days during his two terms as president
THOMAS JEFFERSON. .
225
From the painting in Independence Hall, Philadelphia
MRS. MARTHA RANDOLPH.
225
Daughter of Thomas Jefferson.
From the painting by
Thomas Sully
JEFFERSON COAT-OF-ARMS.
225
CASTLE HILL.
230
Home of the Princess Troubetskoy
HON. WILLIAM CABELL RIVES. 236
JUDITH WALKER RIVES
236
RIVES CREST.
236
MONTPELIER.
260
Country-seat of President Madison and where Dolly Mad- ison reigned supreme
BERRY HILL.
270
Country-seat of the Bruce family
CHARLES BRUCE.
275
JAMES BRUCE.
275
BRUCE CREST.
275
THE CELEBRATED STAIRWAY AT BERRY HILL
278
COUNCILLOR CARTER
284
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds
GEORGE CARTER
284
OATLANDS.
287
One of the old Carter homesteads, now owned by William Corcoran Eustis, Esq.
REAR VIEW AT OATLANDS.
291
Showing the hanging gardens.
THE HALL AT OATLANDS.
291
MANORS of VIRGINIA
IN COLONIAL TIMES
SABINE HALL
HE more one studies the life of Colonial days, the better, more inimitable, and happier it appears; and since the time of the Cava- liers, when lords and ladies reigned supreme, the old Virginia manors and mansions, with their historic tales and romantic legends, have been the pride of the entire country.
Virginia being the very stronghold of the aris- tocratic Southern planter from the time that the first shoot of English civilization was set in America, this God-gifted region, in which every loyal American proudly feels a personal share and interest, to-day claims the first great planta- tions of the country.
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
It is gratifying to know that we are discover- ing the great debt we owe the Colonists; for all that we are and all that we have came from these bravest of men, who carved a great republic from English dominion and new-found lands.
The majority of these superb plantations, of which the greatest men in the country were the natural production, are found in Tidewater Vir- ginia, the James, the York, the Potomac, and the Rappahannock being rich in their inheritance of an earlier age.
On the north shore of the latter river, as one sails up the high-banked stream, lie the historic acres of Sabine Hall, one of the famous Carter homesteads. While not an original grant, the Sabine Hall estate of 2000 acres is formed of several, including the Underwood and Fauntle- roy, tracts, patented in 1650 and bought up by Colonel Landon Carter in early 1700.
John Carter, the first of the name to appear in Virginia, was probably from Buckinghamshire, England, where the family seat seems to have been located, and there is every reason to believe him to have been one of the loyal Cavaliers who fled to the Old Dominion when the cause of Charles II. was lost. Settling first in Nanse- mond County, he at once became prominent in
18
Robert W Carter
SABINE HALL Still in the possession of the original line of Carters
SABINE HALL
the affairs of the Colony, being elected to the House of Burgesses soon after his arrival.
For bringing eighty persons into the Colony, " Colonel John Carter, Esq., Councillor of State," was granted 4000 acres of land in 1665. From Nansemond he moved to Lancaster County, where he was justice of the peace, mem- ber of the House of Burgesses, and a prominent vestryman of the parish.
Colonel John Carter left an unrivalled matri- monial record, having married first Jane Glyn, secondly Eleanor Brocas, thirdly Anne Carter, fourthly Sarah Ludlow, and lastly Elizabeth Shirley; but it is from Robert Carter of Coroto- man, son of John and of Sarah Ludlow, that the Virginia family is descended.
Colonel John Carter, whose curious tomb may still be seen in ancient Christ Church graveyard, died in 1669, leaving most of his lands to his sons John and Robert; but as the elder died un- married, Robert inherited the whole estate, which amounted to 18,500 acres.
Robert Carter was in person and possessions justly entitled to the sobriquet of " King," under which title he has come down in history as one of the most picturesque and commanding figures of the country. Speaker of the House of Bur-
19
COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
gesses, Treasurer, President of the Council, and acting Governor of Virginia, with his vast for- tune, there was no office nor honor which he did not attain.
At his own expense he built Christ Church, Lancaster County, the large pew near the pulpit, with the whole north cross, being reserved for the Carters for all time. According to an old tradi- tion, on Sundays no one was allowed to enter the church until after the arrival of King Carter's coach, when the congregation followed him and his family into the sacred edifice. Bishop Meade, who has written so feelingly of the old churches, says: " Where is the house built in these degen- erate days of slight modern architecture which may compare with old Christ Church, either within or without? "
A crumbling brick wall encloses the ancient burying-ground of the Carter family, smothered under a heavy growth of ivy and shaded by spreading walnut-trees. At the east end of the enclosure is the tomb of King Carter, next those of two of his wives, the three being the largest, heaviest, and altogether the richest in this coun- try. The Latin inscription on the marble slab, beneath which rests the lordly proprietor of Corotoman, is thus translated by Bishop Meade:
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1
SABINE HALL
" Here lies buried Robert Carter, Esq., an honorable man, who, by noble endowments and pure morals, gave lustre to his gentle birth.
" Rector of William and Mary, he sustained that institution in its most trying times. He was Speaker of the House of Burgesses, and Treasurer under the most serene princes William, Anne, George I. and II.
" Elected by the House its Speaker for six years, and Governor of the Colony for more than a year, he upheld equally the regal dignity and the public freedom.
" Possessed of ample wealth, blamelessly acquired, he built and endowed, at his own expense, this sacred edifice-a signal monument of his piety toward God. He furnished it richly.
" Entertaining his friends kindly, he was neither a prodigal nor a parsimonious host.
" His first wife was Judith, daughter of John Armistead, Esq. ; his second, Betty, a descendant of the noble family of Landons. By these wives he had many children, on whose education he expended large sums of money.
" At length, full of honours and of years, when he had well performed all the duties of an exemplary life, he departed from this world on the 4th day of August, in the 69th year of his age.
" The unhappy lament their lost comforter, the wid- ows their lost protector, and the orphans their lost father."
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
One portrait of King Carter as a young man represents a strikingly handsome figure in velvet coat and lace cravat, wearing the long, curling wig of the period. The luminous eyes seem to follow one everywhere. The firm mouth shows lines of pity next curves of scorn, and the beauti- ful, tapering hand that rests easily on the hilt of his sword could only have been used for the most delicate of tasks.
When he died, in 1732, King Carter left a princely fortune, consisting as it did of 300,000 acres of land, about £10,000 sterling, and 1000 slaves.
The second wife of Robert Carter was Mrs. Elizabeth Willis, daughter of Thomas and Mary Landon of Grednal, in the county of Hereford, the ancient seat of the Landon family. Of the ten children springing from this union, Landon, the third son, inherited the Sabine Hall estate. He married first a Miss Armistead, secondly Maria Byrd, daughter of Colonel William Byrd of Westover, and lastly Elizabeth Wormeley of Rosegill. Thus it is that the Carter name is so intermingled with the Fitzhughs, Berkeleys, Champes, Skipwiths, Nelsons, Lees, Braxtons, Randolphs, and many others equally distin- guished.
22
SABINE HALL
The manor-house of Sabine Hall, named pre- sumably for the noted villa of Horace at Tivoli, is built on early Georgian lines, and was erected by King Carter for his son in 1730, since when it has passed direct from father to son. A clearly emphasized fact is that throughout its existence the plantation has remained in the possession of the original line of Carters; which is particularly gratifying, as in only too many beautiful old homesteads "some stranger fills the Stuarts' throne."
The approach to the estate is over a surpass- ingly lovely wooded roadway more than a mile in length, canopied with white-petalled dogwood and rosy laurel in the months of springtime, and a mass of brilliant color when the first frost comes. On reaching the brick lodge, with its great white gate, the stranger guest is treated to a glimpse of the picturesque days of old, when the keeper, an aged negress with red bandana and courtesying manner, lifts the latch to let one through.
From the lodge to the mansion stretches a thickly turfed park of twenty-five acres, where oaks and sycamores, hickories and elms, afford dense shade, and are lined with precision into a stately avenue showing nature at her most lavish
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
and best. The landscape architecture of this winding driveway gives exquisite glimpses of the river flowing beyond. Just before reaching the lawn proper the driveway branches to both right and left, joining again in front of the man- sion and giving a dignified entrance and exit.
The grounds, with their incomparable green- sward, are adorned here with blue-blossomed catalpa trees and there with a group of maples, while dotted about in careless fashion are ashes and lindens, walnuts and oaks, venerable mon- archs of an early forest. A giant sycamore lends its ample shade on one side of the house, rivalled only by magnificent ailanthus trees, the pride of the estate. On the land side these beau- tiful grounds slope gently to the wooded vales below, gradually losing themselves in the forest of many miles in extent. The river front is given over to the terraced gardens, where old- fashioned box-edged flower squares, stocked and laid off in the quaint Colonial fashion, alternate with clumps of pure white snowballs and delicate lilacs or sweet-smelling calycanthus. Prim and pebbly walks, outlined with spring narcissus and early snowdrops, April cowslips, or violet beds, lead through and over the terraces, which are separated from the lowlier kitchen-garden by
24
SABINE HALL
magnificent boxwood hedges, unequalled in height and symmetry by any in the country. Planted there when America was very young, these marvellous hedges have fought the fires and strifes and wars of centuries, living to-day as they did in a time that is long since dead. And rolling for perhaps a mile beyond the fruit- ful orchards and garden terraces are the verdant fields and meadow lands, which slope to the very river's edge.
The bricks of which the manor-house is built were made on the plantation, King Carter having had his own brick-kiln, and, while originally laid in Flemish bond, were washed with cement some generations ago, presenting now a soft gray tone which contrasts harmoniously with the white stone facings and dark green window-blinds.
A stately portico on the land front of the mansion is supported by four massive columns of the Tuscan order, which in height equal that of the building; and the flag-stone floor is dupli- cated in that of the long veranda on the river front.
The interior, rich in panelling and carved wainscoting, is further adorned with choice ma- hogany furniture and rare old portraits, the handsomest being that of King Carter, by Sir
25
COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
Joshua Reynolds. This portrait, which hangs over the sofa in the main hall, shows him as a man of thirty-five in picturesque riding-costume; evidently he has just returned from a long ride, as he is in the act of removing his gloves before reading the letter addressed to " Hon. Robert Carter, Virginia," which lies on a near-by table. That of Colonel Landon Carter, the first to own Sabine Hall, pictures a serious, scholarly man in the prime of life; he wears a short white wig, and the plain cloth coat is well set off by the light satin waistcoat trimmed lavishly with a wide fancy gimp. The lace-edged sleeve-ruffles are counter- parts of the stock ends, and the position is one of natural ease, with one hand resting upon the braid-bordered pocket, while the other arm is thrown over a chair. The portrait of Elizabeth Armistead, his first wife, shows on the contrary a rather coquettish face. The high-bred matron wears a gown of shimmering satin, and holds carelessly an armful of old-fashioned flowers. The rest of the most notable portraits are cata- logued as Maria Byrd, daughter of Colonel William Byrd of Westover, second wife of Col- onel Carter; Elizabeth Wormeley of Rosegill, his third wife; Landon Carter II., grandson of the first; Robert Wormeley Carter and his wife,
26
LANDON CARTER
THE HALL, SABINE HALL Showing a Reynolds portrait of the "King"
SABINE HALL
Elizabeth Taylor; Dr. Beverley R. Wellford, Mary Alexander, his wife, and Mr. A. N. Well- ford. Most of these are from the brush of King or Gould.
It is in the cheery library that one finds great- est interest, for treasured here are many rare books and historic manuscripts of the first owner's day. Every inch of this room is filled with romantic associations; each nook and angle has its own particular story. That Colonel Landon Carter was on terms of intimacy with the most distinguished men of his time is evidenced in his correspondence, which has been carefully preserved, and is interwoven with the names of Washington, Lafayette, Richard Henry Lee, and Peyton Randolph.
If it is true that the greatest ornaments of a house are its guests, surely no mansion was ever more brilliantly adorned than Sabine Hall, the very name of which calls forth a procession of ghostly figures who once wined and dined, danced and slept, under the broad, hospitable roof.
But the sturdy King, with his massive intellect, the beautiful maids of centuries ago, the foreign lords and the American generals who played such a vital part in history-making and acted on
27
COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
the stage of this old country-seat, are now only memories and wraiths of a wonderful, unfor- gettable past. The life of Sabine Hall has proved longer than that of its many masters, and in their peaceful, quiet fashion the ancient man- sion and noble acres, the ideal home of the Southern planter, live in gentle dignity as they did when King Carter of Corotoman ruled the Northern Neck.
MOUNT AIRY
HE Northern Neck of Virginia, the whole of which was granted by Charles II. to Lord Culpeper in 1683, was literally and figurative- ly the abode of the great families of the country in its earliest days. Here, within fifteen miles of one another, were born Washington, Madison, and Monroe; while second only in point of historic interest were the other distinguished settlers who followed the course of the Rappa- hannock in seeking their first homes.
Mount Airy, the ancient estate of the Tayloe family, has place in the chronicles of Virginia as early as 1650, when William Taylor, the first of the name, emigrated to this country and took up lands in Lancaster, now Richmond County. He married Anne, daughter of Alice Eltonhead and Henry Corbin, who came from Hall End, War- wickshire, about the same time. It was during his life that the orthography of the name Taylor
29
COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
was changed to Tayloe, though the cause is entirely unknown.
His son, Colonel John Tayloe of the " Old House," fell heir to the large estates, which were increased by his marriage to Elizabeth Gwynne Fauntleroy, widow of Major Stephen Lyde. The first Colonel John Taylor, a man of no ordinary ability, was a member of the King's Council and prominent in numerous other ways. His will, executed January 3, 1744, covers five pages, and leaves the hereditary estate of many thousand acres to the Honorable John Taylor, born in 1721.
On July 11, 1747, Colonel John Tayloe 2nd was married to Rebecca, daughter of Governor George Plater of Maryland, who was from an illustrious family in Sotterly, county of Suffolk, England, the name having been one of prestige previous to the fifteenth century. Colonel Tay- loe is generally known as the founder of Mount Airy, as it was under his direction that the mansion, so memorable in the social annals of Virginia, was erected, in 1758.
This manor-house, justly considered by many the handsomest in Virginia, is constructed of red sandstone quarried from the surrounding hills, the white stone facings having been imported.
30
SPERO MELIORA
TAYLOE
MOUNT AIRY Built by Colonel John Tayloe in 1758
MOUNT AIRY
In architecture it boasts the distinction of differ- ence from any in the land, while it graces superbly one of the choicest river sites and com- mands to-day the same far-reaching view of the silver Rappahannock as it did two centuries ago. The large central building is connected with smaller wings by covered corridors thirty feet long and twelve wide, which curve outward in order to meet the wings, placed some feet in front of the main portion. This curve, a delightful departure from the ordinary, renders the enclosed court almost the shape of a horseshoe.
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