A Little Bit of Virginian History

In an earlier blog, I had mentioned that we went to the Northern Neck of Virginia last weekend. This comparatively small and secluded area of Virginia was the birthplace of three US Presidents--George Washington from Westmoreland County, James Madison from King George County and James Monroe, also from Westmoreland County.

Then there was the famous Lee family who built Stratford Hall just a couple of miles away from our Airbnb house.  The Lees produced two signers of the Declaration of Independence (Francis Lightfoot Lee and Richard Henry Lee), one of George Washington's famed cavalry officers, Harry "Light Horse" Lee and his son, Robert E. Lee, the Confederate General of Civil War fame.

Our Virginian history lesson started at Stratford Hall (above) which was built by Thomas Lee (1690-1750) who ultimately became the acting Governor of Virginia.  (The actual "Governor" resided in England, which might not have been such a good idea in retrospect).   Thomas Lee started construction of the Hall in 1737-38 and it evolved into one of the great houses of Virginia.  His work on the house was continued by his eldest son, Richard Ludwell Lee, and after Monticello, it is the single most impressive historic "house" that I  have visited in Virginia.

Not to be outdone, there were highly accomplished women in the family too, including Hannah Lee Corbin who staunchly defended women's rights, her sister Ann Lee, and the "Divine Martha" (she was astonishingly beautiful but died at 27), who inherited Stratford Hall from her father, Philip Ludwell Lee, and married her cousin, Harry "Light Horse" Lee.  Talk about keeping it in the family!  Each successive generation added to the house but the crowning glory is the "main room" (above) which looked out across the immense lawn (below) to the Potomac River in the distance. 

Of course, Stratford Hall was a plantation, maintained by 137 slaves, its main product being tobacco which was transported to England from a large dock on the Potomac River just below the "Stratford Cliffts." These cliffs (yes, the Horsehead Cliffs we met in the last blog) commanded a striking view but also an excellent defense when some marauding British sailors were driven off during the Revolutionary War by hastily organized local militias.  (Well regulated militias and the right of the people keep and bear arms once had a sound rationale.  However, it is worth pointing out that most of the Brits have been chased off by now and there are no well regulated militias any more.  We have the U.S. military instead).

The gardens and grounds were beautifully laid out and it all looked quite idyllic--even the slave quarters with their large kitchens and "gardens" where they were able to grow (and trade) their own food and handicrafts.  However, we did learn that the Stratford Hall inhabitants of the white persuasion only bathed twice a year because the water was considered "dangerous," that they only drank beer and wine (even the kids), and slept very little because the bed bugs were intolerable.

We also visited Washington's birthplace in nearby Popes Cove (above), near modern Colonial Beach.  George's humble wooden house did not survive a fire in 1779.  However, the foundations of his birth house are clearly marked and a somewhat discordant (in my view) commemorative "Colonial Revival" structure was built nearby in the 1930s to give some idea of what a successful "middle class" plantation house might have looked like.  In addition, there is a working farm that is maintained to show what conditions might have been like in George Washington's day.  Cattle, sheep, pigs and a good workshop (below) are in evidence.

I have to admit that I got a bit confused on this leg of the trip.  I confidently asserted to Jane and Sarah that I had already been to George Washington's birthplace but the more I looked at the surroundings, the less I recognized them.  I mentioned this to our guide who gave me a bit of a strange look (we had just passed through the wine cellar).   He asked me to describe where I "thought" I had been before and after giving him a description of a big house, the newly excavated foundations of "George Washington's house" and the place where George was supposed have thrown a stone across the Rappahannock River. He sighed in a rather condescending manner and said: "Ah yes, you must have been at Ferry Farm, George Washington's "boyhood" home near Fredericksburg."

What? I had paid $11.00 for that tour around Ferry Farm and was left with the distinct impression that George had been born there. I even have a photo of the principal architect with whom I spent an hour looking at the foundations and plans and construction materials that were being prepared for an "exact replica" of The Washington House that would be built there.  Well, either I was totally duped or just got muddled up between birthplace and boyhood--I mean, they both start with "b".

So, now I know that George was born in Popes Cove (a truly beautiful location) and lived there until he was about 6 years old; that he had lived at Ferry Farm during his "boyhood" until he was about 18; and, later in life, had visited often, and then lived at, other land the Washington family owned at some place called Mount Vernon.  Just to be absolutely clear, the Washingtons also had a house in Barbados (where he became sterile I learned on this trip) and a property called Sulgrave Hall in England from where the original Washingtons hailed. Which reminds me, I once visited the grave of Washington's great, great grandfather in Maldon, Essex, so I am fast becoming a Washington aficionado).

We did consider visiting James Monroe's birthplace in Colonial Beach but were told that there was nothing more than a marker there and, possibly, a recently erected "facsimile" of what his birth house might have looked like.  We were a bit historied out by this stage so retreated back to our Airbnb house which was definitely a genuine 2003 construction where no US President or any member of the Lee family had ever lived or slept.  A little deer was our only visitor.