A Trip to Patrick Henry’s Scotchtown.

Hello again, everyone!
A few days ago, I went to Scotchtown where Patrick Henry lived from 1771 to 1777. He lived there with his wife, Sarah Shelton Henry, and six children, Elizabeth, Anne, Patrick Jr., Nathaniel, Alexander Spotswood and Sarah Butler Henry. Later he had 11 more children with his second wife, Dorothea Dandridge (a relative of Martha Dandgridge Washinton,). They were named John Henry, Edward Winston, Martha Catherine, Fayette, Jane Robertson, Dorthea Spotswood, Martha, William, Edward and Richard Henry. All together he had 17 children and, eventually, 77 grandchildren (WOW!).
Sarah Shelton died at Scotchtown in 1775. She suffered from mental illness and was kept in the basement of the house with a slave to watch over her as she was dangerous to her children and everyone else.
Patrick Henry and Dorthea Dandridge were then married in 1777 and in 1778 Mr. Henry was elected as Governor of Virginia. The Henry’s moved into the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg that same year.
Scotchtown was given to Charles Chiswell, a prominent planter and iron mine owner, in 1717 as a land grant. He probably built a little house on the property in the 1720’s. It was expanded to it’s current size around 1760. Scotchtown was sold in a deed of sale to Preservation Virginia in 1957 for a sum of $17,000. The house was, at the time, being used as store that bought and sold local tobacco.
In 1771, Patrick Henry, Sarah Shelton Henry and their children came to live at Scotchtown. It was their house when Patrick Henry gave his famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech (actually he might not have even said those exact words. No one knows.)
In 1801, Scotchtown was owned by the Sheppard/Taylor family. All we know them is that they made some changes to Scotchtown.
The kitchen was the busiest building of all. It was always in use and the slave in charge had to wake up at 3am to start breakfast. The main meal had to be made very early so that in the summer the fire could be put out because of how hot it was going to get later in the day. The kitchen was separate from the house so that if it caught on fire, the whole house would be safe.
Scotchtown is believed to be the childhood home of Dolley Madison, the wife of James Madison (a relative of Patrick Henry,) but her memories of the house might just have been family visits.

*Fun fact; in the past a man referred to as “Goatman” lived in the house. He lived there with his goats and chickens. He kept people from stealing and making messes, but…he wasn’t very good at keeping the house clean himself.

Patrick Henry was born on May 29th, 1736 in Hanover County, Colony of Virginia to John Henry and Sarah Winston Syme. He went to school for a while, but then was homeschooled by his father. He tried hard to find work but didn’t have much luck.
Patrick Henry first got a job as a planter, but the soil was bad and their main house burned to the ground in 1757. He tried to get work at a mercantile store, but he had no luck. While he was studying law, he farmed on Pine Slash Plantation. He later qualified as a lawyer in 1760.
Henry took on the “Parson’s Case” in 1793. It was his first case. It had to do with whether the price of tobacco should be made by the Colonial Government or by the Crown. He also gave a speech that criticized religious leaders/priests who challenged Virginia’s laws as “enemies of the community”. The Hanover County Courthouse where Henry gave that speech is still in use today as a courthouse. It is across from the famous Hanover Tavern where Henry stayed while he was arguing the case (and tended bar for a time in his younger years). The Hanover Courthouse is the third oldest courthouse still being used today in the USA.
The Henrys (Sarah Shelton Henry, Patrick Henry and their six children) moved to Scotchtown in 1771. Sarah started to show funny behavior which, at that time, wasn’t called a mental illness or “just a phase”. Her illness just got worse and worse over time. She was eventually moved to the basement with a slave when she became dangerous to herself and others around her. She was put into a Quaker Shirt (which is now called a straight jacket.)
Patrick Henry took care of Sarah and when he was at work, the slave would take charge. They had to watch over her, feed her, cloth her, bathe her and stop her from hurting herself twenty-four hours a day. A new asylum had just been opened in Williamsburg, but it was not really a hospital as much as it was a prison. Patrick Henry wanted his wife to be as comfortable and well cared for as possible, so the basement was made as comfortable as possible.
In the Spring of 1775, Sarah Shelton Henry died. She was 37 years old. At the time, people thought her illness was due to her being “possessed by the devil”. Therefore, she wasn’t given a religious funeral or a Christian burial. She was buried thirty feet away from the basement door (as that is where she died.) A lilac tree was planted next to the grave so that she would always be remembered. That same lilac tree is standing today.
Patrick Henry grieved. He and Sarah had known each other their whole lives. Not only had Henry lost his beloved spouse, but his children had lost their mother!
In 1777, on October 25th, Patrick Henry married his second wife, Dorothea Dandridge. She was a cousin to Martha Dandridge Washington. Dorothea was 22 years-old and Henry was 41. They had 11 children together.
In 1779, they moved to Leatherwood Plantation in Martinsville, VA which had 10,000 acres.
Near the end of Henry’s life, he suffered from a case of Malaria. He died from stomach cancer on June 6, 1799. He was 63 years old.

*Fun fact; Patrick Henry wrote lyrics and put them to Scottish melodies. He also wrote poems for his family, but burned them as he didn’t want anyone to find out (besides his family) that he spent time doing things “entertainment-wise”. He and Thomas Jefferson were said to be the best fiddlers in all of Virginia.

Before ending this post I’d like to share with you a few pictures I took during my visit to Scotchtown!

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Patrick Henry was truly an important man and a wonderful part of history. I know I always say this at the end of all my posts, but seriously, if you haven’t been to Scotchtown, you must go. It’s such an awesome and beautiful experience.

See you soon!

Over and out,
Odessa

A Short Visit to Stingray Point

Hello everyone!
Recently my dad, my brother and I made a short visit to Stingray Point on our way to our family’s Deltaville beach house. I found out some pretty interesting things about the place including a story about John Smith, one of Jamestown’s founding fathers.

Let’s begin…

So, as you know, Jamestown was founded in 1607. In 1608, John Smith and a crew of only 12 men set sail for Stingray Point, the southern tip of land at the mouth of the Rappahannock River. In the beginning history of Jamestown everyone was searching for gold, but after the tragedies there (which included finding no trace of gold), Smith and his men were simply exploring and trying to map out the whole area.

On the ship there were 6 soldiers, a doctor, 5 gentlemen and Smith himself. It was very small, indeed.

(John Smith’s visit to Stingray Point is written in his journal as “The General History of Virginia and the Summer Isels”).

When they arrived on the shore, they must have been hungry for they skewered fish with their swords. At one point, Smith skewered a stingray (as there were and still are stingrays and skates in the Stingray Point waters), and as he was taking the stingray off his sword, the creature whacked him in the arm with it’s barbed tail.

There wasn’t any blood, but there was a small blue spot where the stingray had struck.
It was poisonous, for within 4 hours Smith’s shoulder, arm, and hand had swelled! Imagine the pain!

The doctor on the ship was named Walter Russell (for some reason that name seems familiar. Sir Walter Russell, maybe?). With help from the Native Americans, he found the necessary ingredients to make a special ointment (along nearby Antipoison Creek) that he applied to the blue spot. By nightfall, Captain John Smith was feeling so much better that at dinner time, he ate the poor stingray that had brought him so close to death.

When Smith left (he was probably VERY happy to leave, too) he named Stingray Point, “Stingray Isle”. How it became Stingray Point is still a mystery to me, but if you know please tell me in the comments!

PICTURES!!!!!! YAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!

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Thank you so much for being part of my VAventures! Tune in next time when we go to…Scotchtown!!!!!
Hope you’ll join us!

xxoo,
Odessa

Our St. Peter’s Church Adventure!

Hello all,
This VAventure took place at the historic St. Peter’s Church where Union soldiers and others carved their initials in the brick exterior a long, LOOOONNG time ago. Some carvings were from as early as 1617. When we visited we saw, covering the walls, hundreds of carved initials and designs. I snapped a picture of each one and you can see most of them in the slideshow at the bottom of the page.

Now, for the fun information:

St. Peter’s Church is Episcopalian and is located in New Kent County, Virginia. That’s where our family country house is.

It’s called “The First Church of the First First-Lady.” (that being Martha Dandridge Custis Washington)

St. Peter’s Church was founded in on April 29th 1679 and it’s construction started in 1701. The church was finished in 1703. Only 2 years!

And how about this: President George Washington and Martha Washington were married at the church on January 6, 1759, 2 years after the death of Martha’s first husband, Daniel Parke Custis. Wow!

Another First Lady, Laticia Christian (wife of John Tyler) is said to have attended services there during her youth. Lots of Christians are buried in the graveyard.

After the Revolutionary War, St. Peter’s Church fell apart because nobody cared enough to take care of it.

The poor little church suffered a lot during the Civil War. Union soldiers stabled their horses inside tied to the pews which only made it worse for St Peter’s.

In 1896, General Robert E. Lee wrote, “St. Peter’s is the church were General Washington was married and attended in early life. It would be a shame to America if allowed to go to destruction.” Then, in 1872, General Lee’s son (who was also a General) William Henry Fitzhugh Lee oversaw part of the restoration of St. Peter’s church.

Now you see why St. Peter’s Church is so important. Maybe you’ve been there before. If you haven’t, you should definitely go.

PICTURE TIME!!!!

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Jamestown; The New World

Hello again everyone!
I’m back with a really fun adventure. This time, we went to Jamestown, the start of America. It’s a place of memories, hardship, sorrow and the beginning of our country!
Have you been to Jamestown before? If you have then you’ve probably seen the statue of Captain John Smith and the site where the archeological dig takes place. It’s amazing to think that 4 centuries ago a ship with about 150 boys, men and crew-members landed at the site of Jamestown. The hardships they went through included: diseases, unclean water, really low food supply (so much so that they turned to cannibalism and they ate their animals including dogs, horses, cats and even poisonous snakes. As for cannibalism, they dug up corpses) and the constant fear of Spaniards and American Indians.

I picked up some facts about Captain John Smith, by the way!

John Smith was born around 1580, the son of a yeomen farmer of modest means.

As a young man, he traveled through Europe and fought as a soldier in the Netherlands and Hungary. He was captured there, taken to Turkey and sold into slavery in Russia.

He murdered his master, escaped from captivity and journeyed back to Hungary to collect a promised reward of money and a coat-of-arms. He returned to England in time to participate in the Settlement of Virginia.

John Smith was arrogant and boastful, often not-too-polite and sometimes brutal! He sounds like he would be hard to be around. But physically strong and worldly wise, he made an excellent settler.

He was the governor of Virginia in 1608.

Captain John Smith reported that the first church services were held outside under an awning. It was made from an old sail.

John Smith was not what people called a gentleman. On the ship he took to Jamestown, he often irritated the other passengers and within 3 weeks of sailing, he was in shackles.

“Our commodity was iron which we made into little chisels.” “There was no talke, no hope, no worke, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold.”  ~ Captain John Smith

That’s some very interesting information about Captain John Smith. Even from that little bit, you can tell that he was brave, confident and not always very nice.

Did you know that there were five different churches in Jamestown? One of them burned down.

In the 1920’s, two old women saw the Jamestown Fort church tower and wanted to buy it, not knowing it was the actual church. At that time, everybody thought that Jamestown had been washed away by the James River. In 1994, a man named Dr. Bill Kelso thought that it was odd that a church from Jamestown would be on the outside of the fort so he came to the conclusion that the fort must be under the ground and that’s how Jamestown was “rediscovered”! It’s quite interesting, really.

Have you ever heard of Pocahontas? Well, if you know who she is, but don’t know much about her, then here are some interesting tidbits about her. It may not be much, but it’s enough.

Pocahontas was born about 1595, probably at Werowocomoco 15 miles from Jamestown.

In 1608, she made frequent visits to the colonists often carrying food from her father.

Captain John Smith believed that Pocahontas saved his life two times in the colony’s first years.

April, 1613, Captain Argall kidnapped her and took her to Jamestown. While captivated, she was given lessons in Christianity, converted and was baptized.

Her marriage to John Rolfe in April of 1614 helped establish peaceful relations between the Powhatan and colonists.

Pocahontas and John Rolfe had a son named Thomas.

Many people say that John Smith was in love with Pocahontas, but actually, Pocahontas may have only been 10 or 12. John Smith was in his 30’s when he first met her, so she was too young for him.

“In March 1617, Rolfe and Pocahontas boarded a ship to return to Virginia; the ship had only gone as far as Gravesend on the River Thames when Pocahontas became gravely ill. She was taken ashore and died in John Rolfe’s arms at the age of twenty-two. It was not known what caused her death, but theories range from smallpox, pneumonia, or tuberculosis, to her having been poisoned. According to Rolfe, she died saying, “all must die, but tis enough that her child liveth”. Her funeral took place on March 21, 1617 in the parish of Saint George’s, Gravesend. The site of her grave is thought to be underneath the church’s chancel, though since that church was destroyed in a fire in 1727 her exact gravesite is unknown. Her memory is honored with a life-size bronze statue at St. George’s Church by William Ordway Partridge.” (Wikipedia)

So, that’s a little bit about Jamestown. As I said before, it’s not much, but it’s enough. I had fun there getting all the little bits of information I could to bring back and post on my blog for you to read. If you haven’t been there and you want to go on a fun, educational adventure, then go to Jamestown.

Address of Jamestown Settlement and phone number;

2110 Jamestown Road

Williamsburg, VA

23185

(757) 253-4838

Picture time!

I hope that you will keep going on these fun adventures with me.

Odessa

Historic Hollywood Cemetery

Hello all,

Sorry for my absence, but I haven’t had much time for VAventures lately. This time, I’ve selected a wonderful place to go…Hollywood Cemetery.

The name “Hollywood” came from the many holly trees that filled the property. The cemetery part is obvious.

It has a beautiful view of the James River. You should see it sometime if you haven’t already.

Did you know that the cemetery is really close to the site where Captain Christopher Newport planted a wooden cross a few weeks after Jamestown was founded?

Hollywood Cemetery was designed in the year 1847 by architect, John Notman of Philadelphia and has been around as a cemetery in Richmond since 1849.

The cemetery serves as a final resting place for 2 American presidents (James Monroe and John Tyler), 6 Virginia governors, 2 Supreme Court justices, 22 Confederate Generals and 1000’s of Confederate soldiers.

Hollywood Cemetery sold it’s first grave site in 1949, but some people buried there were born as early as 1700! The people who were born that early were moved from they’re original burial grounds and re-buried in the cemetery.

If you’ve been to Hollywood Cemetery before, then you’ve probably seen the 90 foot, made-of-granite pyramid. If you didn’t already know, it’s a monument for the many soldiers who died in the Civil War and some in the Battle of Cold Harbor. The soldiers aren’t actually in it, but they’re buried nearby.

Did you know that Jefferson Davis is buried there as well as Edgar Allen Poe’s school teacher? Also, famous novelist, James Branch Cabell is there resting in peace.

Well, I guess I’m copying Looney Tunes, but who cares. “That’s All, Folks!”

Thank you so much for being part of my VAventures.

Ready for some pictures?
I’ll write again soon!

Odessa

Smith Mountain Lake Family Vacation.

Hello everyone! I’m finally back with more adventures to tell you about. The newest one? This one, of course. You’re wondering where and what Smith Mountain Lake is? Well, in this short article that I wrote, you’ll find out.

Smith Mountain Lake (near Roanoke and Rocky Mount, VA.).

So, this past Friday I went to a place called Smith Mountain Lake. My mom had a training there and originally my dad, my brother and I weren’t going to go. I’m incredibly glad that we went because while my mom was at her training, my dad, my brother and I went to the Smith Mountain Lake State Park. Plus, it was 70 degrees outside and it made for a really good VAventure. We did some sketches and played on the rocks and found peculiarly shaped sticks at the park. I found out a couple of things about the place, too. The thing that I found most interesting was that the “lake” is man-made … it isn’t a natural one!  It took 2 years to fill it up! People talked about damming the Roanoke and the Blackwater Rivers in the late 1920’s. However, construction did not begin until the early 1960’s.                                                                                                                                                                                          Another thing I found out about Smith Mountain Lake was that it’s the largest “lake” in Virginia that doesn’t touch any other states. Lake Gaskin is bigger, but it goes through another state.  At the Smith Mountain Lake State Park we went to an island called Turtle Island. It was a nice little island to sit on and eat a picnic. It was too bad we didn’t have anything for a picnic, but we did have our trusty sketch books with us, so we sketched some things like a house boat out on the water, the lake and a house far across the lake with gray walls and a cute red roof. We drove around the park a little and saw some beautiful trees and flowers. The best sight was a little house made out of wood and red clay. It reminded me and my dad of George Washington’s time, Mount Vernon and Historical Williamsburg.                                                                                                                                                                          I truly loved my visit to Smith Mountain Lake this winter! I highly recommend taking a family vacation there yourselves. Here are some pictures we took along the way:

I hope to hear from you if you’ve been to Smith Mountain Lake before.

Odessa

What A Cruel War (The Battle at Cold Harbor)

Hello again folks! I’m very sorry that I haven’t done a VAventure for many weeks! I’ve been very busy as some of you know. It’s also because of the weather. So cold outside, but cozy inside.
I went to Cold Harbor, the historic battlefield where Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee fought in 1864 (I recently read the diary of Emma Simpson, about the Civil War and how hard it was back then. It was a really good book…and really sad.)
Here are some of the interesting things I found out about Cold Harbor:

Cold Harbor is not a name connected to water even though it’s pretty close to the Totopotomoy Creek. Actually, it was a place where travelers could go for food, water and shelter.

At Dawn on June 3rd, 1864, more than half of the Northern Army rushed across a large field to try and push Robert E. Lee and the Southern Army into the Chickahominy River. After fierce hand to hand fighting, the Union Army retreated. (June 12th) 13,000 northerners died and about 5,000 Confederates died in just two weeks of combat.

The Federals had more men. They had 114,000 men and the Confederates had 56,000.

The South were very good at digging earthworks. An earthwork is a mound of soil or rock (when on the Civil War it was always soil) that the soldiers made for defense. The soldiers in the Civil War dug with anything they could find such as cups, canteens split in two and fashioned as shovels, bayonets and tin plates.

The field they fought on had not been plowed in years. It might  have been a corn field.

It was the bloodiest war of all.

Pictures!!!!!!!!!

Again, I am very sorry that I haven’t posted anything for so many weeks.

Thank you,

Odessa

I Love Maymont!

Today, for the first time ever, I took a tour of the Dooley Mansion at Maymont Park. It was truly amazing and I would love to go back. I remember one of my favorite rooms was Mrs. Dooley’s bedroom and my favorite aspect about it was the giant swan bed. Our tour was wonderful as well as the tour. If you haven’t been yet, you should plan a trip to go sometime. It’s a most enjoyable place to take the family on a picnic or just sightseeing! If you have been, you’ll know exactly what I mean by enjoyable.

Well, I did some research about the house and the Dooleys and I got some pretty good information. I also got some very interesting information in the house. The sad news was that photography wasn’t allowed. I got some other pictures downstairs where photography was allowed and outside, too. Here are the facts;

He was the son of Irish immigrants John and Sarah Dooley.  He was born in Richmond, one of nine children. His father was a successful hat maker. The Dooley was prominent in the community and the parish of Saint Peter’s Roman Catholic Church.

At the age of 14, Major Dooley decided he would be a millionaire.

All of Major Dooley’s lady relative’s were suffragettes (I just read a great diary kept by a 14 year old girl named Kathleen Bohwen).

Major (even though he never really was a major) James Dooley fought in the civil war as did his brother and his father. He was wounded and after that he could never do physical combat again. He was also captured and confined for a short time.

“After the war, he completed a Master of Arts degree at Georgetown and returned to Richmond. During the postwar years when Richmond was beginning to rebuild its business district, he began his career as a lawyer.” (Maymont – An American Estate)

Major Dooley was an avid reader and had his very own book collection in the men’s drawing room. In his later life, he had a stroke and retired to the right side of the house. One room he stayed in is known to be the room that he didn’t stay in for long as it wasn’t as fancy as most of the others. On the ceiling, there was a light on the chandelier with two holes on the side. This was for reading. It was lit by gas instead of electricity and the holes were to let the smoke out.

In 1869, he married Sarah (Sallie) O. May. A descendant of several old Virginia families, Sallie, the eighth of nine children just like Major Dooley, was born on June 7th, 1846, in Lunenburg County at Locust Grove, the plantation of her mother’s parents, Peter and Sally Bacon Jones.

Mrs. Dooley was an avid card player and they think that she played Whirl (Bridge).

She didn’t like electricity, but she liked gas light. In fact, she thought ladies looked prettier under it. They also made their own gas in the basement.

Mrs. Dooley was Episcopalian.

Her mother died when she was about 7. This forced her to spend long visits with her older sisters who were already married.

Mrs. Dooley was a writer, as well as a card player. She even had a book published called, “Dem Good Ole Times.”

“In 1892, Sallie May Dooley became the founding regent of Virginia’s first chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Old Dominion Chapter. She was also a charter member of the Society of the Colonial Dames in the State of Virginia, a member of the Order of the Crown (Americans of royal descent), and a supporter of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and the Virginia Historical Society.” (Website: Maymont – An American Estate)

“During the Gilded Age of the late 1880s through the 1910s—the era of Carnegie, Rockefeller and Vanderbilt —millionaires demonstrated their prosperity through their elaborate homes. Richmond-born financier James Dooley was among this new class in American society.” (Maymont – An American Estate)

In 1886, James and Sallie Dooley bought farmland right next tothe James River. This was where they planned to build their home.

“Their architect, Edgerton Stewart Rogers(1860 – 1901), born and educated in Rome, combined the Romanesque Revival style with the picturesque Queen Anne for the Dooley Residence.” (Maymont – An American Estate)

“The Dooleys were living in their new 12, 000 square-foot, 33-room home, which they named “May Mont”, a name which combines Mrs. Dooley’s maiden name and the French word for hill, by 1893.” (Maymont – An American Estate)

The couple spent the next 3 decades filling their home’s fancy rooms with treasures from all over the world.

“In 1911 , the Dooleys purchased a wedge-shaped section of the Kanawha Canal that bordered Maymont. To create their garden, it is believed that they hired Muto, a master Japanese gardener who had designed gardened for other estates all along the East Coast.” (Maymont – An American Estate)

“At age 40, with no children and the resources of her husbands prosperity at her disposal, Sallie Dooley led the effort to the transform the landscape into a showplace that would rival the lavish estates that were springing up all over the country.”
(Maymont – An American Estate)

“Major Dooley died in 1922, and upon Mrs. Dooley’s death in 1925, Maymont was bequeathed to the City of Richmond. There were no heirs to remodel the residence and its interiors. There were no subsequent generations to parcel the land or to sell off the Dooleys’ distinctly personal collection of decorative arts. In fact, only six months after Mrs. Dooley’s death, Maymont opened as a public park and museum, and has survived intact.” (Maymont – An American Estate)

Surprisingly, Mrs. Dooley was against the Suffragette Movement. She believed that a woman’s job was to tend to the house and a man’s job was to tend to the outside world.

It was an honor to pour tea when you were a guest.

Many Gilded Age households produced their own homemade wine.

“Laundresses made up the the highest percentage of working women in Richmond in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. Many did laundry for several families a week, either at their employers houses or their own.” (Maymont)

Maymont’s cook was responsible for feeding not only the Dooleys’ and their guests, but the household staff, as well.

The pantry, also known as  “The Dairy Room”, provided a cool space away from the stove where the cook made butter, buttermilk and cottage cheese for the dining tables at Maymont.

Now that you know a little bit about Maymont, you should go and take the tour like I did. You’ll probably hear some of the facts that I shared with you, but you’ll probably hear some that I didn’t get. You could get some facts and then post some in a comment for me to see and also, I’d love to hear about your experience.

By the way, here are the pictures I took;

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Until the next VAventure (which will be next week as we are taking a small break),

Odessa

I Went to Polegreen Church!

Have you ever been to Polegreen Church?  Well ,today I took a little unplanned trip there.  The weather was perfect for it and I learned some interesting things.  Polegreen Church is a perfect place to have a picnic, sketch, read and even take a little nap!  I sure would like to do those things there. Here are some facts I got.

In 1742 the meeting house at Polegreen Church became vital to the colonists’ struggle for religious and civil liberty when Samuel Morris and other Presbyterian dissenters called the Reverend Samuel Davies (1723- 1761) to become pastor.

Samuel Davies, the young pastor, had come to Polegreen from Delaware.

It was named for a landowner in the area.  Oratory of religious liberty resounded off it’s walls, inspiring none other than Patrick Henry, who lived 4 miles to the East and attended the church as a young man with his mother.

The church was burned to the ground in June of 1864 just before the Battle of Cold Harbor when Confederate artillery was fired on it to dislodge Union sharpshooters.  Ironically, the soldier who fired the fateful shot was a member of the church’s congregation.

After it was burned, people found out what it looked like from sketches drawn by soldiers in their diaries.

The South’s first Presbyterian met at Polegreen Church, next to what is now known as the Heatherwood subdivision.

A man named Dr. Robert Bluford Jr. found remnants of the old church in 1989 and created the non-profit foundation to enhance the archaeological site.

Following American victory in the Revolutionary War, the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson, was adopted in 1786.

That’s all I have, but what about you?  Do you have any facts about Polegreen Church?  I would love to get some more from you.
Thanks for reading my blog!

Oh yes!  I almost forgot…pictures!!!!

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My Homeschool Tour at Agecroft Hall!

Today I took a trip to Agecroft Hall. I took the tour inside the house, but unfortunately photography was not allowed, so I took photos outside and inside places where photography was allowed. If you’ve ever taken a tour of Agecroft, please share your experience with me in a comment.

Here are some facts.

1. The manor house was built in Lancashire, England in 1495.

2. For hundreds of years, Agecroft was that distinguished home of England’s Langley and Dauntesey families.

3. At the end of the 19th century, the house fell into disrepair and in 1925 it was at auction. Hearing of the tremendous opportunity, Richmonder T.C. Williams Jr. purchased the structure and had it dismantled, crated and shipped across the Atlantic, and then painstakingly reassembled in a Richmond neighborhood known as Windsor Farms.

4. Agecroft was settled on a site reminiscent of it’s original site on Lancashire’s Irwell River and it took two years to rebuild.

5. I was a working farm and the only a third of the farmhouse (Agecroft Hall) is here now.

6. T.C. Williams Jr. only got to enjoy his house for a year before his death and he was quite old. His wife, however, lived there for about 40 years after her husbands death and when she finally left the property, she was in her late 70’s.

7. Agecroft used to be called Edgecroft due to spelling in the late 15th century, 16th century and the 17th century.

8. The Dauntesey’s were very superstitious. They believed that a dead cat being put in a wall would keep away evil spirits since they could catch mice and rats.

9. If a lady didn’t have large hips for dress looks, they might wear what’s called a bum role (below)

10. Water was unsafe to drink as it came from the Thames River and since waste was always being dumped in it, nobody new what kind of bad bacteria was lurking in it.

11. The last chore of the day was collecting firewood.

12. People would use rushes for the floor for warmth and, believe it or not, a trash can. If you had left over wine or crumbs, you could just throw them on the ground. The dogs and cats would use it for their bathroom. You can probably guess how smelly that would be. Yep! Pretty smelly. They would replace the rushes only once every two months! During those two months, they might sprinkle nice-smelling herbs to make the stench less smelly. After a while, you’d get use to the smell. They did!

13. Sometimes they would peel the outside of a rush off and  and use it for a 15-20 minute candle as they didn’t have electricity back then. This was also very smelly, indeed.

14. After supper, if there were guests, there would be entertainment. Can you guess what that entertainment was? If you guessed music, you are correct! Music was entertainment and women were usually the performers as they were expected to know how to play at least one instrument. The music sheets, however, were different then they are today. The notes and words were written in three different directions so that anyone was performing could read the music on the left, right and center. Ingenious!

15. Chess was played by men and women and so were cards. The chess pieces, if owned by the rich, were sometimes made of ivory.

16. Did you know that people slept sitting up? This was also part of the many superstitions that the Dauntesey’s believed. They believed that it kept away evil spirits and curtains were for warmth and to keep bad air away.

17. For all the people who like football, here is a fun fact about it what it was like back then. There were no referees, no rules and the goals were 5 miles apart! It’s a ‘wow’ right.

Now the pictures!

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