USA > Virginia > Manors of Virginia in colonial times > Part 3
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LEWIS
KENMORE The home of Betty Washington
KENMORE
Zachary Lewis, the Immigrant of 1692. Still another tradition says that they are descended from General Robert Lewis, of Brecon, Wales, who settled in Gloucester County in 1635. Whether the John Lewis who was living in Gloucester in 1660 was the son of General Robert Lewis and his wife Elizabeth cannot be said, but the former is known to have married Isabella Warner, sister of Augustine Warner, who was Speaker of the House of Burgesses.
Their son, Councillor John Lewis, born in 1669, married Elizabeth Warner, his cousin, and was the father of John, born in 1692, the third of the name and line in Virginia. John 3rd married Frances Fielding, they being the parents of Colonel Fielding Lewis, who was born July 7,1725.
In 1746 Colonel Lewis married Catharine, an aunt of George Washington, and after her death he married the General's only sister. The follow- ing entry was made by Colonel Lewis in the family Bible, now owned by the Lewis family of Marmion, King George County: "I was married to Miss Betty Washington, sister of General George Washington, 7th day of May, 1750."
Though the Kenmore estate once numbered so
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
many acres, it has now dwindled to few, but these, placed away and apart from the rest of the town, give an effect of ease and space unwarranted by the area. The grounds are partially enclosed by a heavy brick wall of English appearance, to which ivy clings with grim tenacity, and the mosses of ages have mellowed its tone.
Great trees stand sentinel around the mansion -oaks, maples, and poplars, firs and sycamores; and where some gaunt and withered forest mon- arch has succumbed to the waste of time and storm, honeysuckle and woodbine lend their sweet-scented garlands in pitying tribute to the life it once had.
The old brick mansion could tell a tale of romance and history blended, could the staunch old walls but speak; for this was the house where Washington often found needed rest after tire- less duty, and where his mother, "the Rose of Epping Forest," lived at the last. To-day the transient visitor or stranger guest pauses always, almost directly in front of Kenmore, and gazes reverently at a monument bearing the simple in- scription, " Mary, the Mother of Washington," beneath which lies the quiet sleeper who blessed her country as no other woman can. At Ken- more, too, was born Major Lawrence Lewis, who married the beautiful Nellie Custis.
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KENMORE
The mansion played its first part in history in the French and Indian War of 1755-1757, being at that time a rendezvous for recruits as well as headquarters for Washington, then a colonel in the English army and but twenty-six years of age. Twenty years later, when America was in the throes of her greatest struggle, General Washington many times sought his sister's fire- side for a council of war or a breath of home. During the Civil War the dwelling served as barracks for Federal sharp-shooters, and it bears to-day the marks and scars of many shells which struck it cruelly during those troublous times. But Colonel Lewis must have had in view a lengthy existence for the home he presented to his little bride, the thick walls and massive foundations of which have weathered so bravely three bitter wars.
Being desirous of having this home one of the handsomest in all Virginia, the early builder spared neither time, trouble, nor expense to attain that end, and the remarkable materials and work- manship bespeak both an architectural triumph and practical forethought. In color the mansion is the true Colonial buff, with the framework of the doors and window-arches white, which con- trasts restfully with the time-stained stone steps
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
that have borne the footsteps of two hundred years of joy and sorrow, peace and war. The arcade forming a left wing to the building pre- sents rather original lines, having served no prac- tical purpose beyond proving a decorative relief from the kitchen, which is placed in the rear. But under these graceful arches perhaps Betty Wash- ington often sat with a bit of tatting or an old- time sampler. Here, too, fancy makes a picture of the greatest man of a very great country, pacing the floor of the quaint arcade and revel- ling in the air of peace and comfort or frowning over grave thoughts that came.
The unobtrusive entrance thrown out on the right of the dwelling is thoroughly Colonial. The main entrance-door of heavy oak is adorned with an antique brass knocker, and opens immedi- ately into the central hallway, which runs the depth of the house, joining and becoming a part of the library in the rear, and thus rendering the exit to that portico direct from the library-a charming idea, and one well executed. The panelling and wainscoting of the graceful stair- way are painted white, as are the balustrades, in keeping with the rest of the hall. The doorway shows pilasters as decoration, as well as a semi- circular cornice, which gives an extremely good
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BETTY WASHINGTON
The famous mantel at Kenmore, the plastic decorations of which were designed by General Washington and represent several of Æsop's fables, notably that of "The Fox and the Crow."
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KENMORE
effect, while the carving of the cornice proper is far beyond the usual. An historic marquetry table stands under the old-fashioned mirror, and a grandfather's clock and rare Jacobean chairs render the hall furniture harmonious on the whole and artistic in detail.
The greatest and most unusual feature of Kenmore lies undoubtedly in its ceiling decora- tions, incomparable marvels of untiring care and faultless execution. The plaster designs are said to have been executed by a British prisoner held during the Revolution, and of the graceful clus- ters of flowers, baskets of fruits, and horns of plenty more than twenty thousand separate and distinct pieces are clearly visible. The library ceiling is one of the most interesting in the man- sion, tradition claiming that the plaster decora- tion over the mantel was designed by General Washington. It portrays several of Æsop's fables, conspicuously that of " The Fox and the Crow." The mantel itself and the pediments are of wood beautifully carved. The great arched doorway of this hall-library, with its double pilasters and superbly carved frame, is an ex- quisite bit of workmanship, and near it stands the quaint old clock which belonged to Mary Washington, still monotonously telling the pass-
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
ing of time. The walls, which might otherwise be called too prim and severe, are lent distinction and charm by the portraits which hang thereon, and the furniture of this eighteenth century room is of mahogany and rosewood, the chief ornament being the piece of bronze on the centre table, which is one of Barye's famous bits.
The drawing-room on the right of the hall adjoining the library cherishes much of historic interest, for here have always gathered famous men and women, too many of whom are now sad wraiths that haunt the living present in longing for irrecoverable days. Among the choice por- traits hanging here is a noted one of Colonel John Eager Howard, who was voted a medal by Congress for bravery at the battle of Cowpens, this medal being now one of the most prized of all the Kenmore treasures. Harding's portrait represents the kindly face of the old aristocrat with a half-genial, half-humorous expression about the mouth. His white hair attests that he had then been married many years to that cele- brated, fractious beauty, Mistress Peggy Chew, and the plain, dark coat, beneath which shows a lighter waistcoat topped with an old-fashioned stock, is that of the elderly gentleman of post- Revolutionary times. In the drawing-room are
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KENMORE
again seen the wonderful ceiling and mantel decorations. Still true to the Colonial period, the room holds neither superfluous furnishing nor ornaments, the most conspicuous among the latter being the marble busts placed in the chim- ney alcoves, which came from the hand of the far-famed Powers.
In the midst of such delightful surroundings, where history and romance are so closely mingled, one readily gives way to silent revery and wistful thoughts of the times and of the people who lived before. Throughout the mansion are evi- dences of the wealth and culture of the eighteenth century architect-builder, aided and augmented by the generations who have succeeded to the beautiful old home.
Occupying a very prominent position, Colonel Lewis, on being proposed for the office of County Lieutenant for Spottsylvania in 1757, was thus written of by Colonel John Thornton: "Col. Fielding Lewis, a gent. of fortune and character in the county and much esteemed by the people, who I make no doubt would readily exert them- selves under such a Gent. in case of a sudden call to the defence of our frontier." He was ap- pointed by the General Assembly held at Wil- liamsburg in 1761 one of the commissioners to
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examine into the accounts of the militia lately ordered into active service, and in 1772 was com- missioned with others to strike the 'dividing line between King George and Stafford Counties. Being a man of great public spirit, Colonel Lewis, though prevented from active duty by ill health, gave his money freely to the patriot cause, forwarding at one time £7000 sterling to carry on the manufacture of arms. In fact, at one time he was so much embarrassed by the advances he had made to the Colony of Virginia that he was unable to pay his taxes.
Colonel Lewis, born July 7, 1725, died at Ken- more in 1781, when his children scattered over the country. The estate was sold to Mr. Gordon, from whom it was bought by Mr. Thomas S. Barton in 1796. Mr. Barton, who was promi- nent during the Civil War, was the son of Lieu- tenant Seth Barton, a gallant young officer of Rhode Island who distinguished himself during the Revolution, while his son of the same name was a general in the Confederate army.
About twenty-five years ago the property was bought by Mr. W. Key Howard. Mr. Howard, of one of the most illustrious families in the country, was the grandnephew of Francis Scott Key, of " Star-spangled Banner " fame, and his
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KENMORE
portrait hangs at Kenmore near those of Lieuten- ant William Howard and the renowned Colonel John Eager Howard. When the fine old home- stead came into his possession, it was in very bad repair, never having recovered from the effects of the Civil War, the scars of which showed only too plainly. The grounds, now so charmingly restful, were then used as a common, without re- gard to the damage, and the atmosphere of the entire surroundings was one of inertia born of years of strife and struggle for a lost cause.
But bright days have once more come to Ken- more, and the historic mansion, in its setting of grand old trees and velvet greensward, harmon- izes softly with springtime verdure or gleams in contrast to winter snow. With the first bird-song of early April, narcissuses uncover their winsome faces, followed in sequence by double jonquils clustered over the lawn in great splashes of brightest gold: Mary Washington's loved and cherished blossoms, blooming for this generation in honor of auld lang syne.
Kenmore, in its lengthy existence, has sheltered many men of many minds. The walls of the historic mansion have responded to the mirth of Washington, Jefferson, Lafayette, and other boon companions, and again to the sighs of the
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actors in a later and more bitter war. Owned always by the makers of history, it is revered as the home of the same, and, as season follows season and years lengthen into centuries, the air and breath of old-time glory hang over the venerable acres, which rest to-day in the quiet dignity of two hundred years ago.
BROOKE'S BANK
OME one has said that an old mansion is in itself a history; that its stories are the vol- umes, and its many rooms the chapters, illustrated by antique furniture, while the in- mates form the characters, whether actors upon the stage of long ago or less picturesque figures of to-day. Just such a history is old Brooke's Bank, which discloses the identity of its first owners in its name.
Though the name of Brooke is found a number of times among the incorporators of the Virginia Company in the charter of 1609, there is a film of uncertainty regarding the exact date upon which the first of the family emigrated to America. Members of it, however, were living in Virginia and Maryland in the middle of the seventeenth century. According to one authority, Robert Brooke, of Maryland, married Mary, daughter of Thomas Baker and granddaughter of Sir Thomas Engham, knight, of Goodlestone. His
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second wife was Mary Mainwaring, and a well- authenticated tradition claims it to have been their son Robert who came to Virginia, and was the ancestor of some of the most distinguished men in the State, among whom Governor Robert Brooke was a conspicuous figure.
Robert Brooke, the first of the name in Vir- ginia, seems to have settled in Essex County, where he was justice in 1692, and married Catherine, the sister or daughter of Humphrey Booth, in 1689. The sons of this union were Robert, Jr., Humphrey, and William, the name of the first ranking more prominently than any in the family, he having been one of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe, that picturesque order established by Governor Spotswood as the result of his famous tramontane expedition.
All told, there were but fifty in this expedition of pioneers and gentlemen, the object of which was to discover a passage over the Blue Ridge Mountains. This being effected, the name of George I. was cut upon a rock on the highest mountain, which was called Mount George, in honor of His Majesty, that next it being named Mount Alexander, for the exploring Governor. Owing to the rough and rocky travel, the horses required many shoes, an article but little used then in eastern Virginia, and which, playing such
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GOVERNOR ROBERT BROOKE
BROOKE'S BANK
an important part in the enterprise, was taken as the emblem. Upon their return, each gentleman is said to have been presented by Governor Spots- wood with a tiny golden horseshoe, with jewels representing the nail-heads, and upon which was inscribed, " Sic juvat transcendere montes." In the hope of encouraging the exploration of the back country, membership to this order was accorded by the Governor to any one who could prove that he drank the health of His Majesty on the summit of Mount George.
Robert Brooke, Knight of the Golden Horse- shoe, married Phoebe , and moved to Farmer's Hall, now the Sale estate, in Essex, which he left to his son Robert, but which later went to his daughter Mary, who married Hum- phrey (?) Sale, a descendant of English landed gentry prominent since the time of Edward I., and whose son, Humphrey Sale, is spoken of in the will of Sarah Brooke, dated 1767. From Mary Brooke and Humphrey Sale sprang all the Virginia Sales, one of the oldest and most repre- sentative families of Essex, Rockbridge, and Bedford Counties.
On a tablet in the Court House at Tappahan- nock, Virginia, which was placed there by the descendants of the Horseshoe Knight in 1714, is engraved:
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
" IN MEMORY OF ROBERT BROOKE, GENTLEMAN, JUSTICE OF YE OLD COURT 1692-1706 AND OF ROBERT BROOKE, JR., DEPUTY CLERK OF YE OLD COURT 1700 AND HORSE SHOE KNIGHT."
Beneath this were the horseshoe and the motto. William, brother of Robert, Jr., and second son of Robert and Catherine Brooke, inherited lands in Essex County. About 1720 he married Sarah Taliaferro, to whom a grant of many acres was made by George II. in 1751, and it was by her that the present Brooke's Bank mansion was built, in 1751, in pursuance of directions in the will of her husband, who died in 1734.
The red brick dwelling, with green outer blinds and white wood-work, is a square two-story structure with quaint entrance porticos on both fronts, these with their double balconies furnish- ing the only ornamentation of a rather severe exterior. In the interior, of true Colonial lines, there is a wide hall running from door to door, broken midway by a graceful arch. The front of the house is occupied by the large drawing and dining rooms, on opposite sides, the library being in the rear. All the rooms show handsome panelling and wainscoting.
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BROOKE'S BANK
The grounds form three terraces on the river front, and in olden days were approached over circular stone steps. The mansion is placed near enough to the river to have suffered cruelly when the Federal gunboats were lying in the Rappa- hannock, and marks of shells fired from the Pawnee are still visible. Two balls entered the second story, and the one which lodged near the window has only recently been removed. The violence of the sudden concussion forced open a secret panel in the wainscoting in one of the first- floor rooms, where old wills and other valuable papers had been concealed for years. As the house was unoccupied at that time, many of these papers were undoubtedly lost, and some, owing to their age, have since gone to pieces, thereby rob- bing the family of much interesting historic matter.
When Sarah Taliaferro Brooke died, in 1764, the estate of 2200 acres went to her son William, who married Anne Benger, niece of Lady Spots- wood, and survived his mother only a few months. His sister, Sarah Brooke, then inherited the plantation, and it is her will that is referred to above, under the date of 1767.
The next owner was John Brooke, who married Lucy Thornton in 1777, and left the
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COLONIAL MANORS of VIRGINIA
estate to his son William Thornton Brooke in 1788. The wife of the latter was Mary Whiting Baylor, and from them the homestead passed to their son, William Hill Brooke, the last owner of that name. In 1880 the old estate was sold to Dr. Walton Saunders, whose widow, now Mrs. St. George Hopkins, is the present possessor of the mansion and 400 acres, all that is left of the once great manor.
From the upper story of Brooke's Bank a very beautiful view of the Rappahannock may be had, of many miles in extent, for the stream is here unusually broad, and, from the elevated position of the mansion, seems to stretch very far. The high-ceiled rooms guard many romantic war-time secrets, which, sadly enough, we are destined never to know; but the wreckage of stormy days is visible no longer, and in spring the old-time jonquil and narcissus, once trampled beneath the soldiers' feet, lift their winsome faces, glorifying all the lawn. Memories cluster thickly about the historic plantation, which so well deserves the peaceful harvest it is reaping to-day-memories which belong to one and all who, seeing the old mansion, listen to the pretty legends and pitiful tales with which it has abounded since the days of the Horseshoe Knight.
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BLANDFIELD
OT far from the shores of the Rappahannock River is the quiet, an- cient mansion of Bland- field, upon the face of which sorrow has struck many blows and and left some unheal- ing wounds. Scorches from the scars of war are plainly visible, and there hangs about its walls a gravity born of much suffering, blended with the comfort of having sheltered many gener- ations of one line, though these generations have known to the full tears as well as smiles. Not once has the long-linked chain of births and deaths been broken, to be scattered far and near. From the quaint old windows out of which their forefathers gazed grandchildren now look. All the rooms are enveloped in historic associations, and from every corner is felt the peaceful in- fluence of memories cherished through past ages and revered sacredly to-day.
The creator of this once sumptuous plantation
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was William Beverley, grandson of the first of the name in Virginia. The prominence of this aristocratic family appears to have been noted in the time of King John, according to records found in the town of Beverley, England, where Thomas de Beverley was superintendent of the fortifications in the fifteenth century.
Robert Beverley, the Immigrant, came to Vir- ginia about 1663 and took up lands in Middlesex County. In 1670 he was made Clerk of the House of Burgesses, which office he seems to have held throughout his life. History proves him to have been one of the most influential men in the Colony, though he was not always in sym- pathy with the popular cause. Being one of Governor Berkeley's staunchest supporters, he lent his strength towards the suppression of Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, winning thereby the disapproval of the Colonists in general, who censured him in no light terms. The commission issued by Berkeley appointing Major Beverley commander of his troops November 13, 1676, states: " Whereas, by many frequent and suc- cessful services to his Sacred Majesty, this Coun- trey, and me, his Majesties Governor of it, Major Robert Beverley hath approved himself to be most loyall, circumspect, and curagious in his
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BLANDFIELD
Majesties service for the good of his countrey, and the suppressing this late horrid Rebellion, begun by Bacon, and continued since his death by Ingram, Lawrence, Hansford, and others, the last of which he, the said Robert Beverley, with courage and admirable conduct, never to be for- gotten, this day brought to me."
Though the true attitude of Beverley toward the Crown will be seen by the foregoing, in some way he seems to have incurred the displeasure of Francis Moryson, one of the commissioners sent from England to overthrow the Rebellion, who, after his return to Great Britain, wrote: " Beverley and Ludwell still continue the same mutineers, as we left them, and will never be other, but will undoubtedly cause new disturb- ances in the country as soon as the soldiers are gone."
Of the first wife of Robert Beverley little is known beyond her Christian name, Mary, but his second, Catherine, whom he married March 28, 1679, was the daughter or widow of Major Theophilus Hone, of James City County. On his death, in 1687, his estate is said to have been valued at about £31,000, his lands numbering 50,000 acres, which were divided among his eight children, Robert, the second of the name and son
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of Mary Beverley, being by far the most dis- tinguished.
Born about 1675, Robert Beverley spent his life on his beautiful estate in King and Queen County. He was a member of the House of Burgesses for a number of years, and was one of Spotswood's Knights of the Golden Horseshoe. In 1705 he wrote the "History of the Present State of Virginia," in which is found the phrase, " the almighty power of gold," which may be reckoned with Washington Irving's "almighty dollar."
Considering the fondness that the early Vir- ginia planters showed for horses, the following from this same history is an interesting glimpse of the part horses played in 1700: " There is yet another kind of sport which the young people take great delight in, and that is the hunting of wild horses; which they pursue sometimes with dogs, and sometimes without. You must know they have many horses foaled in the woods of the uplands, that never were in hand, and are as shy as any savage creature. These, having no mark upon them, belong to him the first that takes them. However, the captor commonly pur- chases these horses very dear, by spoiling better in the pursuit; in which case he has little to make
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BLANDFIELD Erected by Robert Beverley about 1760
BEVERLEY
BLANDFIELD
himself amends, besides the pleasure of the chase. And very often this is all he has for it; for the wild horses are so swift that 'tis difficult to catch them, and when they are taken 'tis odds, but their grease is melted, or else, being old, they are so sullen that they can't be tamed."
Robert Beverley 2nd married Ursula, daughter of Colonel William Byrd of Westover, who died in 1698, when but sixteen years of age, if the epitaph on the old tombstone at Jamestown spoke truly. Their only son, William Beverley, was born about 1698, and added to the large in- heritance of his father by patents of many thou- sand acres. Having married Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Richard and Elizabeth Randolph Bland of Prince George County, he gave his country- seat in Essex the name of Blandfield, in honor of his bride, the estate of 4000 acres having been bought in 1730 from James Booth, John Davis, and other patentees.
The manor-house, which he erected about 1760, has suffered but little change, and though it was slightly remodelled in 1852, the staunch brick walls and exterior design are as they were orig- inally.
The great central building is joined to the un- pretentious wings by means of unusually long
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corridors, and the porticos are on substantial lines, in keeping with the simple severity of the exterior, of which the chief ornamentation is the dentilled cornice. An air of past ages pervades Blandfield, which becomes more poignant once the mansion is entered. Here the sad ruin of former grandeur greets both the untrained and the sympathetic eye, for the house was the scene of unwarranted vandalism during the Civil War. When the Federal gunboats were in the Rappa- hannock, the troops sent ashore from them struck madly right and left, and, landing at Blandfield, left the beautiful mansion and estate a glaring wreck of its former self. The hand-made panel- ling and wainscoting were wickedly torn from the walls, to be burnt or carried away. Family portraits from the brushes of masters were irreverently cut from their hanging places and thrown in among the furniture, of which it is said fifteen wagon-loads were taken off to beautify the houses of many who had desecrated another's home. In the catalogue of the Bland- field portrait-gallery, opposite to not one number only is the sad entry, "Taken by the enemy in 1864; " the names of old grandees and famous beauties may still be recorded, but always there follows the pathetic note, for the gallery was
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