USA > Virginia > Manors of Virginia in colonial times > Part 11
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Monticello was a Mecca for Americans and foreigners alike. Some came from interest, others from curiosity, but guests were so con- tinuous and visits were of such duration that this man who wore the laurel wreath was forced to consider mundane trials. Not a day passed but that the mansion was filled with visitors, while the ample stables housed their many horses. Jeffer- son's granddaughter tells us that sometimes fifty unexpected guests would have to be prepared for in the course of one day.
After his greatness, Jefferson knew no private life at Monticello, and the incessant entertaining wrought sad havoc with the income that had once been more than sufficient.
Six months after his death Monticello was sold,
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and in 1828 the mansion, with 400 acres, became the property of Commodore Uriah P. Levy, an ardent admirer of the eminent statesman.
During the Civil War the estate was confis- cated by the Confederate Government and the mansion used as a hospital, after which it was rented out to veritable vandals, who allowed the historic spot to be sadly desecrated. The family of Mr. Levy regained possession of it, however, and the reverent work of restoration was soon wrought.
After a visit to the beautiful spot, and a sigh of regret for the days so long dead, memory lives in silent musing, for, apart from its historic in- terest and association, " Monticello, with its im- posing architecture, its great trees, its spacious lawns, and its wonderful perspective of mountain grandeur, illustrates the noblest type of our Colonial homes."
CASTLE HILL
N the rare old days nobil- ity was no stranger to the lords of the great Virginia estates, who counted house and dinner guests from among the royal ranks, and perhaps no plantation was more favored in this respect than Castle Hill, the picturesque acres of which roll in the heart of Albemarle County, and were first wrested from the Indians by Dr. Thomas Walker about 1740.
Thomas Walker, the progenitor of the Vir- ginia family, came from Staffordshire, England, in 1650. Settling in Gloucester, he was in 1662 a member of the Colonial Assembly, representing that county. His ancestry was of the nobility, Sir Thomas Walker having represented Exeter in the Parliament of Charles I .; but the name of his wife is enveloped in obscurity, and though the Thomas Walker of King and Queen County was
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in all probability his grandson, there is no proof to substantiate the fact.
This Thomas Walker married Susanna Peachy (?), September 29, 1709, and his second son, Dr. Thomas Walker, was the first owner of the Castle Hill estate. The old Walker family Bible, printed in 1589, which is still in the posses- sion of one of his descendants, records his birth: " Thos. Walker borne Jan. ye 25, 1715." In 1741 he married Mildred Thornton, the Widow Meriwether, through whom he came into posses- sion of the 11,000 acres comprising Castle Hill, a grant from George II. to Nicholas Meriwether.
Dr. Walker is said to have been the first white man ever in Kentucky, having explored that country in 1750, even Daniel Boone being thir- teen years later. The hatchet with which he blazed his trail, marking the lands he acquired from the Indians, was inscribed " T. W.," and is supposed to be now in a museum in Louisville, having been found in Kentucky some years ago.
The approach to Castle Hill is over a road of winds and bends, through a superb avenue of stately cedars and locust-trees, which continues to the extensive lawn. On one side is the pictu- resque park of tangled undergrowth, where oak branches droop over evergreens and delicate
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CASTLE HILL Home of the Princess Troubetskoy
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ferns fringe the great trunks. In sharp con- trast to this forest primeval is the lengthy stretch of faultless turfing, relieved only by palms and cacti of the tropical zone.
In the midst of all this verdure, so entirely hidden by the density of the foliage as to be almost invisible from the road, is the two-story brick mansion, in its dignified repose reaping the harvest of a peaceful age. The exact date of its erection is rather vague, but is generally placed about 1764. The original house built by Dr. Walker is still standing, and though it fronted then towards the mountains, that is, northwest, when it was remodelled by the Honorable Wil- liam C. Rives in 1824 it was made to face southeast.
Guarding each side of the mansion are gor- geously hued giant azaleas, while close to the walls are banked lesser but still beautiful shrubs.
The generous portico is supported on Cor- inthian columns, thickly hung with English ivy, the tendrils of which cling lovingly to the upper balcony rail. The wings, added by Mr. Rives in 1840, are used as conservatories, being perhaps the most extensive in Virginia, stocked as they are with rare exotics and native plants of infinite variety.
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On the interior the key-note is luxurious space. A great hall, running its entire depth, connects the older with the more modern part of the dwell- ing. In all of the rooms on the first floor are treasures of art, and many interesting mementos of travel collected by Mr. Rives during his long sojourn abroad. 'Among the portraits, those of Mr. and Mrs. Rives and the group of their three sons, Francis, William, and Alfred, as children, are noticeable, while that of the Princess Trou- betskoy, done in Paris, is the most celebrated of those of latter years.
The graceful circular stairway which connects the first and second floors is a marked feature of the interior decoration, and from the upper bal- cony may be had a glorious view of the surround- ing country.
A broad and undulating meadow climbs towards the eastern sky, merging gradually into the woody vales, beyond which the deeper forest proves the necessary shadow for the nature- painted picture. Exquisite blossoms that know no human tending nod before the winds of sum- mer or sleep beneath the winter snows, and masses of brilliant foxglove cover the fences and hang from the trunks of trees. Beyond all, the majestic mountain rises from the nest of hills,
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losing its summit in misty grayness or cutting sharply into dazzling blue.
The first owner of all this beauty, the explorer, statesman, and soldier, introduced here the now renowned Albemarle pippin, one of the most delicately flavored apples ever grown.
Dr. Walker won fame for his diplomatic rela- tions with the Indians, Castle Hill being a stop- ping-place for the sachems on their way to and from Williamsburg. `According to tradition, he met with them under a great ox-heart cherry-tree which grew near the house till 1854. In 1775 he was with Washington at the defeat of Braddock, and during the Revolution both he and his home- stead played an important part.
One of his descendants has given the following account of Tarleton's visit to Castle Hill:
" It was on the 4th of June, 1781, according to Lossing (see 'Field Book of the Revolution '), when Tarleton, with his British troopers, on their way to Charlottesville, Virginia, appeared at Castle Hill and demanded breakfast. Among the rebels surprised there were William and Robert, brothers of Gov. Thomas Nelson of Yorktown, Virginia, and Francis Kinloch. In their attempt to escape, the latter was pursued into the vineyard field by a British soldier, who
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shouted, ' Stop, Cousin Frank; you know I could always beat you running.' Whereupon the Cousin Frank surrendered to an old acquaintance and relative. Living at Castle Hill at that time was a colored lad, about eleven years old, named Thomas Wilkes. Dr. Walker brought him to Castle Hill from King and Queen County, Vir- ginia, and subsequently employed him as his body-servant. He was also at one time fifer of the Eighty-eighth Virginia Regiment. He lived to an old age, and became known far and near as 'Uncle Tom.'
" According to Uncle Tom, Tarleton's men were mostly armed with halberds and spontoons. They are a sort of spear, and samples of these weapons are seen in the Tower of London, in the room called the Horse Armory. Tarleton was on his way to Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia, having received orders from Cornwallis to capture Gov. Thomas Jefferson (afterwards President United States), and members of the Virginia Legislature, there assembled.
" Tarleton was detained at Castle Hill about the breakfast, for more reasons than one. The cook stated that the soldiers forcibly carried off the food as fast as she could prepare it. This put Tarleton out of humor, and when he was told
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that some of his men were breaking open the stables and stealing the horses, he lost all patience and became furious. The culprits were seized, and, according to Uncle Tom, punished in a terrible manner. Having been stripped to the waist, they were bound across tobacco hogsheads. In this position they were flogged with a perfor- ated sole-leather paddle. The screams of the unfortunate creatures attested the severity of the punishment, but none except those who have heard Uncle Tom imitate their cries can fully appreciate it."
As every one knows, this detention at Castle Hill caused Tarleton to miss the capture of Jefferson.
Among other interesting stories, the writer above referred to relates: " Uncle Tom used to say that Dr. Walker had a remarkable dog, named Bowser. The Doctor went out, once upon a time, and remained absent among the Indians for the space of seven years. Upon his return to Castle Hill, one evening, his dog, who had not seen him in all that time, recognized his voice, and broke through a shutter in getting out of a room to meet him. The identical shutter was at Castle Hill in 1852, and Uncle Tom always took great pride in showing it."
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Francis Walker, the youngest son of Thomas and Mildred Thornton Walker, was born in 1764, and on the death of his father, in 1794, inherited Castle Hill. He married Jane Byrd, daughter of Colonel Hugh Nelson of Yorktown, and it was their daughter, Judith Page Walker, born in 1792, who married, in 1819, William C. Rives, who thus came into possession of the estate.
Mr. Rives' mother was a Miss Cabell, daughter of Dr. William Cabell of the English Navy, who owned 25,000 acres of land on James River, he having emigrated in 1720.
Though Castle Hill was prominent as the home of the Walkers, it is undoubtedly best known as that of the Rives family, under whose régime it has achieved a fame that cannot be dimmed for many years to come.
William Cabell Rives, one of the most eminent men of his day, was a member of the General Assembly from 1817 to 1823, and in Congress from 1823 to 1829. He was appointed minister to France in 1829, which office he held until 1832, when he was elected to the United States Senate, where he served until 1845. In 1849 he was again made French ambassador.
The following letter, written by Mrs. Rives during Mr. Rives' first term at the American
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HON. WILLIAM CABELL RIVES
JUDITH WALKER RIVES
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Embassy in Paris, gives an intimate description of the château of Lafayette, which place they were then visiting:
" LA GRANGE, July 25th, 1830.
" MY DEAR SISTER :- We have desired much ever since our sojourn in France to pay a visit to our ven- erable friend Lafayette at his château of La Grange. Many circumstances have heretofore prevented us from enjoying this gratification, but we resolved a few days ago to pay him a short visit, as the necessity of his return to Paris as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, convoked on the third of August, left but a short time for him to remain at his château during the summer. We left Paris accordingly on the 24th, and reached the château on the evening of the same day, being a distance of about forty miles.
"The château is very old, and the outside being flanked with round towers in the antique style with thin loop-holes, it has the aspect of a fortified castle. This effect is heightened by the stream or canal which partly surrounds the walls, and which has once been the moat.
" The interior of the château is pecularily interesting to an American, as at every turn there are objects that recall the remembrance of our native land. On ascending the large stairway, the first object that meets the eye is a large map of Virginia; a little farther on is another, of the United States. The
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American flag presented to the General by the officers of the Brandywine forms the tapestry of part of the principal salon, and is an appropriate drapery to the picture of Washington which it surrounds. The portraits of our distinguished men each have their place, and with those of a few of the General's country- men are the only ornaments of the salons. Indeed, there is an air of perfect simplicity about the furniture which is in keeping with the avowed republicanism of the owner.
" The château is always full of visitors, either from the neighborhood or Paris, for whom there is a pro- vision of twenty-two chambers.
" The family is quite numerous, consisting at present of the daughter of the General, who bears the name of Virginia (Madame de Lasteyrie), and the lady of his son, George Washington Lafayette, with their un- married sons and daughters."
Life at Castle Hill during the time of Mr. Rives is very beautifully described in an old letter written by one of his guests during a house-party in honor of Lord and Lady Napier, Lord Napier being then Her Britannic Majesty's minister to the United States, in the early part of Buchanan's administration:
" I need not say they are enchanted with Lady Napier, and she says to me ' she has met no one
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in America like Mr. Rives, and but few in Europe ' combining his many high and excellent qualities. But I leave her to tell her own story to you. She says she is perfectly happy here, meeting so much culture and refinement in the family. Everything with her is couleur de rose, regretting when fatigue causes her to seek repose. She was made at home at once, and so felt and acted. I only wish you could have been in the party. Drives, books, music, walks, and jeux de mots have all been in requisition. In our views of men and things Mr. Rives and I coin- cide, and we tell each other anecdotes of the past that chance to be new to each other; so you see, with politics, agriculture, domestic history, and even in genealogy, we have common themes. So time never hangs heavy with me. Besides, I have other associations. Mr. Francis Rives is here with his wife, only child of Mr. George Barclay, with whom and his bride I crossed the Atlantic in 1819. Mr. William C. Rives, Jr., on his planta- tion beyond the depot, married the daughter of David Sears, a sister of Madame de Hauteville. I knew her parents, and her maternal and pater- nal grandfather, besides sundry of her family and friends. Yesterday, as we returned from a visit
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to her, in a wagon, Lady Napier, Mrs. Rives, Mr. Rives, and myself, on a rather steep hill we met Mr. Mason of Boston, uncle to Mr. Rives, Jr., just landed from the cars, with his travelling- bag in his hand, on his way to visit his niece. Mr. M. was on foot. He bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Rives, but was not recognized by either of them, not being expected; but he was by me, though I had not seen him for about ten years. He was my classmate and friend.
" This morning I made him a visit, and he and Mr. and Mrs. William Rives are to dine with us to-day.
" By Mrs. Rives' permission I send you a verbatim copy of a letter from Mr. Webster, from her interesting book of autographs, embrac- ing valuable letters from Washington, 'Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Monroe, Ran- dolph, &c., chiefly to her family and her husband:
"'NEW YORK, March 21st, 1844.
"' Hon. W. C. Rives,
"' MY DEAR SIR :- I pray to tender you both thanks and congratulations for your excellent and admirable speech in reply to Mr. Buchanan. It was read here yesterday by everybody, and praised as universally as it was read.
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"' It is to me quite unaccountable that Mr. B. should indulge in such sentiments as he expresses towards England. He talks as if England were still oppressing and grinding us, under a colonial bondage, and as a cruel stepmother, &c .; a tone, as it seems to me, quite below the dignity of a Government conscious of its own independence and its own power.
"'It is equally marvellous that in speaking on such subjects, and in the face of the world, he should suffer himself to fall into such enormous mistakes.
"' Whoever is about to impute dishonorable conduct to a government or an individual ought to be careful, one should think, about the accuracy of his facts.
"' Mr. B.'s mistakes brought to my mind a humorous epitaph which some one proposed for the tomb of Wraxall. I do not recollect it fully, but it was something to the following effect, and more and better:
Mistaking, misdating, Misciting, miswriting, Misspelling, mistelling, Ill-sorting, distorting, Confusing, abusing,
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Words, speeches, letters, and facts all: Here lie the bones of Nathaniel Wraxall." " ' Yours truly, "'DANIEL WEBSTER.' "
The little Gothic chapel which stands at the foot of the hill, and is clearly visible from the mansion, was the life-work of Mrs. William C. Rives. Known now as Grace Church, the chapel took the place of old Walker's Church, which was erected about 1746. The freestone of which the sacred edifice is built was quarried near the place. Carved oak and Virginia pine finish the interior, lighted by stained-glass windows, and the three marble tablets that are seen in the chancel were given by Mrs. Henry Sigourney, of Boston, while the bell, which weighs 1175 pounds, was presented by Mr. David Sears, of the same city.
Mrs. Sigourney, who was Amélie Louise Rives, was named for the wife of Louis Philippe, of whom her father was a great friend. The same name is now borne by her niece, the Princess Troubetskoy, who, as Amélie Rives, has won fame in the literary and artistic world.
The future of this famous estate has been forever insured by Mrs. Sarah C. Rives, wife of Colonel Alfred Landon Rives, and the present
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owner. In a deed dated June 10, 1908, Mrs. Rives retains for herself and three daughters a life-interest in Castle Hill, but should the latter leave no heirs, the property passes to the Univer- sity of Virginia as a perpetual memorial of this most interesting family.
These vast acres, once the stopping-place of Indians and the meeting-place of the foremost men of an early age, now rest quietly in their mountain scenery. The meadows are clothed in the rich mantle of famed Virginia blue grass, for historic Castle Hill is now the celebrated stock- farm of Mrs. Allen Potts, daughter of Mrs. Rives, who counts among her hunters and hack- neys a number of the finest blue-ribbon winners in the country.
After having once visited the charming spot and felt the hospitality of its owners, one agrees to the letter with Wirt, who said, " The people of Albemarle County are the society of nature; " and, once known, they are forever appreciated.
ESTOUTEVILLE
S the gallant Count d'Estouteville marched into England with the Conqueror, undoubt- edly he had never a thought that his name was destined to be borrowed for one of the most sumptuous estates of a then unknown country. But tradition, history's elder sister, tells us that such was true, and Estouteville, the Coles homestead in Albemarle County, Virginia, is worthy of the name of its family's famous ancestor.
Among the many land-grants in Virginia to which was affixed the signature of George III. were four made August 3, 1771, to John Coles II., son of the first John Coles, who came to the new world in 1710.
This family, which now has so many roots and branches in this country, claims an aristocratic English descent. Many centuries ago, when England was vainly trying to bring Ireland 244
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under her complete dominion, great inducements were held forth to English gentlemen who settled there; and taking advantage of an offer of many thousand acres, one of the Coles ancestors emi- grated to Enniscorthy, in the county of Leinster, where his descendants still continue to live.
Perhaps had John Coles 1st, a younger son, not incurred the displeasure of his father, there never would have been any of the name in America. As it was, the hot-headed youth left the paternal roof for the foreign land, and there is a pretty touch of pathetic sentiment in the thought that the estate he founded here was called Ennis- corthy, in memory of that more ancient home.
John Coles, the Immigrant, who built the first dwelling in Richmond, married Mary, daughter of Isaac Winston of Hanover County; and though he left a large family, owing to certain ideas of aristocratic inheritance the majority of his vast property went to the eldest son, Walter, John Coles 2nd gaining the Goochland County possessions, which a later subdivision brought into Albemarle. To the manor born of these lands the latter added the aforementioned grants, which consisted respectively of 200, 235, 200, and 150 acres, the whole having increased to 1831 acres since His Majesty honored John Coles in
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1710. This was the beginning of beautiful Estouteville, which has always been held by those of one name and line; and let us hope that as new years and centuries roll around, new generations of the same blood will treasure the old homestead, as a wonderful heritage from an age that is dead.
The John Coles who virtually laid the corner- stone of Estouteville was born in 1745. He was a colonel of militia during the Revolution, and after the surrender of Burgoyne was honored with the command of the British prisoners held in Charlottesville. Apart from his great services to his country, he was a factor in the world of sport, being one of the most enthusiastic turfmen of his time and owning as fine a stable as Vir- ginia, the home of famous horses, afforded. It was said of this Colonial gentleman: "He had the virtue of the old-fashioned profuse, Virginia hospitality developed to an unusual degree. He kept open house, and there was rarely a time when they were without guests. Among those who would come, not for a day, but for weeks, were Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Patrick Henry, Wirt, Edmond, John and Thomas Mason, Randolph, Tazewell, and a number of prominent men of the state." He married Mary E. Tucker, daughter of John and Elizabeth
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Travis Tucker, and it was their son, John Coles 3rd, who built the present mansion of Estoute- ville, which to-day wins the admiration of every architect in the land; for the builder proved in the style, workmanship, and material of his manor-house the rare combination of artistic appearance and sterling worth.
The twelve-mile drive from Charlottesville to Estouteville takes one through the famed Green Mountain section of Virginia, the clay road wind- ing like a broad red band through hills and valleys, always fringed with trees and shrubbery. Just a few miles before the public highroad branches into the private driveway, is the historic spot where Lafayette cut through the forest, heading off Lord Cornwallis, whom he forced to retreat to Yorktown. The entire drive is through country teeming with facts of history and legends of romance, which, with the divinely picturesque scenery, renders it one long to be remembered by the least sentimental traveller. 'About two hun- dred yards from the main road, the ten-acre lawn is entered. Here long lines of lilac hedges stand like sentinels, halting the presumptuous present and wafting over all their wonderful spring fra- grance, which lingers till the rose-garden bursts into bloom.
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Rising out of a grove of majestic trees, which drop from their huge arms trailing tassels of their foliage as a screen against the idle gaze of a curious world, the manor-house is most imposing. Immediately in front of it, where the large circle is bordered with old-fashioned rose-bushes, which live and die according to the sun-dial in the centre, the green folds seem to lift themselves that those really interested may enter and enjoy. Proud of the beauties they disclose, great trees are planted sometimes in rows and again care- lessly dotted over the grounds, all serving to guard the exquisite spot from the too inquisitive gaze of chance passers-by. The abode of knowl- edge, culture, and hospitality, many distinguished persons have been entertained here, for Estoute- ville has always smilingly welcomed each genera- tion as it took the place of another.
This handsome dwelling, replacing one of more ancient date, was begun about 1815, and since its completion has suffered no remodelling save one or two modern interior additions, which, wisely enough, have not been allowed to interfere with the original design in any way. The red brick house stands out in perfect harmony with its surroundings. In common with most of the architecture of this section, the lines show a Jef-
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