Traveling to History: Twenty Nine

Junius Brutus Stearns’ depiction of the marriage of George and Martha Washington January 6, 1759, at her White House plantation on the Pamunkey River. Washington would take his seat at the House of Burgesses the following month. (Courtesy of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association)

A Church Wedding?

On a recent Sunday, congregants entered St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in New Kent County for Sunday service, as they have for over two centuries. Built circa 1701, St. Peter’s is one of the oldest churches in Virginia, and a rare Jacobean structure still standing in the United States.

Inside are plain white walls and box pews typical of Protestant churches, and an impressive three-decker pulpit and a psalm board in the late 17th-century-style. A framed Unicorn and Lion, the coat of arms of Queen Anne, monarch at the time of the church’s building, adorns one wall.

The interior suffered greatly over the years, especially during the Civil War, and was reconstructed in the 1960s.

This was Martha Dandridge’s parish church, where she met her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, a vestryman there. After her marriage to George Washington in 1759, the couple attended this church while they honeymooned on Martha’s nearby White House estate.

Could they have married at this church? Most evidence points to a home wedding at the White House estate, but the Rector of St. Peter’s did officiate at their wedding. Wherever she wed, St. Peter’s was very important to her.

The Burgess Trail

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Talleysville, Virginia. This was the church of Martha Custis and her first husband. (Photo by James F. Lee)

My wife, Carol, and I were following the Washington Burgess Trail, routes that George Washington took between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg when he was a member of the House of Burgesses. Our guide was Arthur P. Gray’s 1938 article “Washington’s Burgess Route,” written for Virginia Journal of History and Biography.

Shortly before his marriage to Martha Custis, George Washington was elected as a representative to the Virginia House of Burgesses, first representing Frederick County, and later Fairfax County. Over the course of those years, he made many journeys from Mount Vernon to Williamsburg to attend House sessions. Most of the roads he took along the way are long gone, but many structures familiar to Washington remain today, such as St. Peter’s.

On his journeys, Washington likely traveled on horseback accompanied by an enslaved servant, stopping at ordinaries and friends’ houses along the way. Estimates from Colonial Williamsburg suggest that a rider might travel eight to 12 miles per hour without changing horses. Given the roughly 140 miles Washington would have traveled between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg, the rough roads, the weather, and the many stops, it might be a three-day journey.

After leaving Mount Vernon, Washington would travel via Occoquan, Dumfries, and Falmouth, perhaps stopping in Fredericksburg to visit his mother. Fredericksburg is where Gray starts his account, and where we started our trip.

The interior of St. Peter’s. The church was heavily damaged during The Civil War and was reconstructed in the 1960s. (Photo by James F. Lee)

George Washington as Colonel in the Virginia Regiment, oil on canvas by Charles Willson Peale, 1772. This portrait was painted when Washington served as a member of the House of Burgesses and depicts him as a young man. (Courtesy of Museums at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia)

Caroline County

From Fredericksburg heading eastward to Caroline County, Washington would pass through Bowling Green. The beautiful Tuscan-style courthouse there today was built in the 1830s, well after George Washington’s lifetime. But a house still standing that Washington did visit is the Old Mansion on South Main Street, built circa 1741. This was the Hoomes family residence and the large bowling green in front of it is still visible from the street. The house is a distinctive one-and-a-half story brick structure with a hipped roof with shortened ends and five hipped dormers in the front. It is privately owned.

Following Gray’s account, we came upon a bit of a mystery. Washington often stopped at Hubbard’s Ordinary several miles beyond Bowling Green. Gray writes that Hubbard’s was 1.1 miles east of the Sparta Post Office, and he made the case that it was still standing in 1938. We used the car’s odometer and Google map measurements but could not find any possible house that Gray refers to.

Hubbard’s is of particular interest because Washington stopped here with Martha on their way back to Mount Vernon after their marriage.

Continuing east from Hubbard’s, Washington likely turned right at Central Point onto Passing Road (Route 625), heading southward into King and Queen County, an area of cropland, especially soybean and corn, and lots of forest cover. In Washington’s time it was dominated by tobacco plantations dependent upon enslaved labor. At the county line, a low bridge crosses the narrow stream of King and Queen Swamp (identified as Beverley Run by Gray). Here the road name changes to Byrd’s Mill Road.

Traveling this route, Washington would have passed the Park Church, which no longer stands, although a roadside marker indicates the spot near where it stood, at the intersection of Byrd’s Mill Road and Newtown Road.

Martha Dandridge Custis, oil on canvas by John Wollaston, 1757. At the time of this portrait, 26-year-old Martha Custis was still married to Daniel Parke Custis. (Courtesy of Museums at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia)

The Newtown Road continues southward towards Route 360, the Richmond-Tappahannock Highway, a divided road that crosses the Mattaponi River into King William County. Washington wouldn’t have crossed here but rather several miles upriver at Todd’s Bridge, which no longer exists.

Just before the intersection, we turned right onto Todds Bridge Road just to see where it might lead. The road dead-ended before reaching the river, so we turned back to Newtown Road.

Across the Mattaponi into King William County

On the King William side of the river, Aylett was home to several generations of Ayletts, a prominent Virginia family. Washington often visited their plantation “Fairfield,” which is no longer standing, but an Aylett family cemetery remains on a private drive off Mill Road near Route 360. After several tries, we eventually found the cemetery.

Buried there is Martha Dandridge Aylett, Martha Washington’s first cousin. The cemetery is quite small, overgrown, and with walls in need of repair, a project the King William Historical Society is currently undertaking.

Washington often stopped at the ordinary opposite King William Courthouse, located on Route 30 today. While the ordinary is no longer there, the courthouse is, and although altered by renovations and enlarged over the years, the original 1725 section is still intact. This is the oldest courthouse in the country in continuous use.

Engraving of the Capitol of Virginia in Williamsburg by Henry Howe, 1845, where Washington served as a burgess. This building was Virginia’s capitol from 1753 to 1779. The view is looking east from Duke of Gloucester Street. It burned down in 1832. {{PD-US}}

A Fork in the Road

The Old Mansion at Bowling Green. Washington stopped here while serving in the House of Burgesses. (Virginia Department of Historic Resources)

Just to the south of the King William Courthouse, Gray describes a fork in the road, both ways taken by Washington over the course of his travels. One led towards St John’s Church, still standing near Sweet Hall on Route 30. This small church with a steeply pitched roof was built circa 1734 and enlarged to its present T-shape during the years when Washington passed by it. It is notable for the molded brick pediments around the doors. A prominent congregant was Carter Braxton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, who would have known Washington when they both served in the House of Burgesses.

From St. John’s, Washington would continue south towards Ruffin’s Ferry on the Pamunkey River. Before crossing the river into New Kent County, he might stop at Windsor Shades, a wood-frame building still standing with a gambrel roof and huge chimney stacks on either end of the original house. Given its spacious basement with a large fireplace, it was probably a tavern.

Today you can’t cross the river here but must continue southeast on Route 30 toward West Point. Windsor Shades is on a private road and inaccessible to the public.

The bridge over King and Queen Swamp, connecting Caroline and Kind and Queen Counties. (Photo by James F. Lee)

New Kent County and Eltham

Roadside markers highlighting Park Church and Newtown. Washington often passed Park Church on his journeys between Fredericksburg and Williamsburg. (Photo by James F. Lee)

At West Point, Route 30 crosses the Pamunkey River into New Kent County. Washington spent much time at Eltham, the home of Martha Washington’s sister Anna Maria, about ten miles from the Pamunkey River crossing. Eltham was a two-and-a-half story Georgian-style manor, constructed of red brick, and gabled roof. It burned down in 1875.

During his extended stays at Eltham, Washington often visited Chelsea, once a huge tobacco plantation on the Mattaponi River in King William County. The 18th-century manor was the home of his friend, Bernard Moore, and is still standing, a two-story, brick, t-shaped mansion with a hipped roof and a one-and-a-half story rear extension with a gambrel roof. The interior is notable for its wood paneled rooms. We were disappointed that this private residence is no longer inaccessible to the public.

Moore’s brother, Thomas, lived on an adjacent plantation of 1,000 acres that included 26 enslaved people. In 1770, according to his diary, Washington purchased two slaves from Thomas Moore, Frank for £31 and James, a boy, for £55. He also bought a bay mare for £8, 5s. These sums were credited against Moore’s debts to the Custis estate.

Due south of Eltham, Washington often stopped at Doncastle’s Ordinary, a tavern that claimed such illustrious visitors as General Cornwallis and the Marquis de Lafayette. The tavern no longer exists, but a marker has been placed on Route 30 north of the intersection with I-64 in James City County.

Continuing southward on his journey to Williamsburg, Washington would pass Hickory Neck Church, an Episcopal church a mile north of Toano in James City County on the Richmond Road (Route 60). The church today, a small, rectangular brick structure with a steeply sloped roof and three window bays, is smaller than in Washington’s time. The brickwork in the north, east, and west walls is 18th-century Flemish bond.

Washington’s last stopping place before entering Williamsburg was Chiswell’s Ordinary, a building no longer standing, in Toano.

The King William County Courthouse built in 1725. This is the oldest county courthouse in the United States in continuous use. (Photo by James F. Lee)

The Other Route

St. John’s Church near Sweet Hall. Washington passed by this church on his way to and from Williamsburg. Note the molded brick pediment above the door. The church was built circa 1734. (Photo by James F. Lee)

Washington’s other route, mentioned by Gray, once he passed the King William Courthouse, took him almost due south to William’s Ferry on the Pamunkey River. On the King William side of the river, just off Route 632, is Elsing Green, built by Martha Washington’s uncle in 1719, near the ferry. The mansion sits on a slope overlooking the Pamunkey River. We approached the manor at the end of an impressive mile-long entrance road lined with over 120 gorgeous willow oaks.

The two-story, brick structure is built in a U shape in the Queen Anne style. The side of the house facing the river has seven bays with the two ends of the U capped by massive chimneys. Today, the manor house sits on nearly 3,000 acres farmland, forest, swamp, and marsh, and is still a working plantation.

On the New Kent County side of the Pamunkey, Washington often visited Poplar Grove, the compact brick mansion of Richard Chamberlayne, son of a wealthy merchant and planter. On one of his visits there he met Martha Dandridge Custis, who lived a mile down the Pamunkey from Poplar Grove at her White House estate. Neither Poplar Grove nor White House are still standing.

St. Peter’s Church

We followed Route 642 southward for several miles from Poplar Grove to St Peter’s Episcopal Church, mentioned earlier. After viewing the interior, we made sure to check out the English bond brick work of the church identifiable by rows of bricks on the long side alternating with rows of short-end bricks, a style popular in the 17th century.

The church brick work contrasts with that of the imposing two-story tower with a pyramidal roof and four pedestals topped with decorative urns added mid-18th century. Reflecting newer tastes, the tower is laid in Flemish bond in which lengthwise bricks alternate with glazed short ends within each row.

Elsing Green, built by Martha Washington’s uncle in 1719. This Queen Anne style manor house sits on a bank of the Pamunkey River. (Photo by James F. Lee)

Continuing south, Washington would pass the New Kent County Courthouse on the New Kent Highway (Route 249). The courthouse of Washington’s time is no longer standing, but across the road, the ordinary where he often dined and played cards remains intact and has been carefully restored. Constructed circa 1735, the brick ordinary is one-and-a-half stories with a full-width porch, a gabled roof and three dormers. Today, The New Kent Ordinary is a guest house offering overnight lodging.

Washington’s Tidewater world was one of tobacco plantations dependent on enslaved laborers and household servants, crossroads taverns, and small settlements, and of course the colonial towns of Fredericksburg and Williamsburg. Travel was often interrupted by long stays at the mansions of family and friends, or by the vagaries of weather. These are only two of the several routes he would have taken during his travels in the area

Today, that landscape is still largely rural with soybean and corn fields, scattered houses, and large tracts of forest cover. Yet, many of the material sites from Washington’s time are still visible today.

A map approximating Washington’s Burgess routes from Map of Viginia and Maryland, published by S. Augustus Mitchell, 1834 https://www.loc.gov/item/2012593332, (Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division)

Sources

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, “Comparing Horse Power,” online.

Goodwin, Mary R.M., “Wheeled Carriages 18th Century Virginia,” December 1959. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series - 181, CWFL, Williamsburg, VA 1990.

Gray, Arthur P. “Washington’s Burgess Route.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 46, no. 4 (1938): 299–315. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4244897.

Maass, John R. George Washington’s Virginia. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2017, accessed via Internet Archive.

Washington Papers [June 1770] Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/01-02-0005-0015.