Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The first Charles City
Westover plantation was the site of the first Charles City center of government. All ships arriving with indentured servants or slaves were required to land at designated markets where the servants and slaves might be sold. Court records from 1655 establish that Westover was such a designated market. The original courthouse, church and tavern were located to the west of the plantation house as shown in this plat from the 1700s. Visitors interested in walking to the old landing and courthouse site may do so as a part of Westover’s self-guided grounds tour. Plat from William Byrd Title Book courtesy Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Richmond, Va.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The first Charles City
William Byrd I imported more than 100 Africans during the 1600s. Only one Virginian imported a larger number. Africans imported by Byrd may have been offloaded here, and, if so, Westover may have been a principal point of disembarkation of Africans brought to Virginia during the 1600s. Photo courtesy John Bragg.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The first Charles City
A “monthly” court was established in the Borough of Charles City in 1623. Several important law suits concerning the status of Africans were decided by this court. Although many court records were lost during the Civil War, one surviving order book reports a case decided in 1665, involving “Jack” a Negro—(no surname given) who sued for his freedom. Jack claimed that he had an agreement with his former master Rice Hoe to be freed after eleven years of faithful service. Hoe’s son claimed that Jack had not served faithfully. Neighbors testified to the contrary that Jack had been a faithful servant and the court set him free. Still, at the time Jack filed his lawsuit he had already served a total of twenty-nine years—a period of servitude so long that it was almost indistinguishable from a lifetime of servitude. Another case decided in 1677 involved a free Negro woman named Susannah who petitioned to be freed from the payment of taxes, a form of relief customarily provided to aged and disabled citizens. Charles City County Deed, Orders and Depositions, 1655-1665, pp 604-05.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The Byrd dynasty
Westover became the seat of the Byrd family in 1688 when William Byrd I purchased it from Theodorick Bland. Secret diaries kept by William Byrd II have been reading matter for generations of high school and college students. The well-known diaries provide a voyeuristic view into Byrd’s private life because he detailed personal matters, from his daily consumption of food and elimination of waste to his sexual indiscretions. When Byrd had sexual relations with slaves he recorded the event in his diary with the trifling words “played the fool” with Marjorie or Sally or some other victim. Hans Hyssing, William Byrd, II, (1674-1744), courtesy Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Richmond, Va. virginiahistory.org
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The Byrd dynasty
Almost every evening Byrd visited and talked to his “people,” meaning his slaves. Byrd maintained a keen interest in the latest medicine and recorded concerns about his servants’ health in his diary. Slaves were subjected to vomits, purges, plasters and poultices. They also were bled for various ailments, as were members of the Byrd family. Byrd also collected wild roots, like ginseng, which he used to make a tea. Collection of Seasonings by Bagus Pradipa
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The Byrd dynasty
Westover slaves were whipped for misbehavior such as stealing liquor, lying when questioned, sexual infidelity and bedwetting, in addition to more serious offenses like running away. The first Mrs. Byrd was especially cruel and vindictive in her treatment of slaves. Byrd quarreled with his wife when she caused Little Jenny to be “burned with a hot iron.” On another occasion Byrd forcibly removed tongs from his wife’s hands when she was using them to beat the same slave.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The Byrd dynasty
William Byrd III, the last of the Byrd dynasty at Westover, served as a Colonel of the militia during the French and Indian War. On these campaigns Byrd was accompanied by his valet Jack White. In 1803 a visitor to Westover described being met at the front door by the valet, whom he described as a dignified old black man wearing a wig. According to the visitor Byrd was known to have said that Jack White “had saved him from the grave.” John Hesselius, William Byrd III, 18th century, courtesy Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Richmond, Va. virginiahistory.org
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
The Byrd dynasty
Westover slaves became pawns in a matter of national politics during the Revolutionary War. William Byrd III, a man closely identified with the Royal government in Virginia, committed suicide on Jan. 1, 1776, leaving his wife with vast debts and many children. When Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold, the American traitor, embarked on an invasion of Virginia in the winter of 1780-81 he chose Westover as the place to land 900 British soldiers. He selected Westover because Mary Willing Byrd was a cousin of his wife. Arnold later obtained permission to return Westover slaves taken at the time of his landing. British ships flying flags of truce plied the James River back and forth to Westover until it was discovered that they had opened trade with Mrs. Byrd under the guise of making restitution of captured property. Mrs. Byrd was charged with treason for trading with the enemy, but was never tried. Image courtesy Library of Congress.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Evangelicals in the quarters
The oldest African-Baptist congregation in America may have been established by slaves belonging to William Byrd II. A History of First Baptist Church (Harrison Street) of Petersburg, published in 1879, details the origins of this congregation. According to that history, roots of the congregation traced back to slaves living on Byrd’s Bluestone Plantation located on the North Carolina border. Those slaves were first organized into a church in 1758 or 1759. When Byrd sold his Bluestone plantation, the slaves were brought to Westover where the church was reorganized in 1779. This much of the history is independently corroborated by Robert B. Semple’s History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia (1810). Painting by John Antrobus, ca. 1860, held by Historical New Orleans Collection.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Evangelicals in the quarters
According to the Harrison Street church history, five slave preachers were ordained in 1779: Aaron Gardner, Moses Gardner, Benjamin Gardner, Thomas Gardner and Benjamin Farrell. This runaway slave advertisement published in 1774 provides independent corroboration that Byrd owned a slave by the name of Tom Gardner at the time of this reported ordination. It seems highly unlikely that a church history published 100 years later would accurately name a Westover slave if the history were not fundamentally rooted in fact. Elder L.A. Black, Sketch of the Centennial Anniversary of the First Baptist Church [Harrison Street], Petersburg, Va.(1879); Virginia Gazette (Purdie & Dixon) 24 Nov. 1774.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Evangelicals in the quarters
Also, according to the Harrison Street church history, the congregation continued to meet in the quarters at Westover until the “burning of those quarters in 1812.” Burning of the quarters at Westover cannot be confirmed, but the Westover quarters were definitely “broken up” in 1814 when Mary Willing Byrd, the widow of William Byrd III died and the remaining Byrd family slaves were sold or parceled out to family members by the terms of the Byrd wills. Some Byrd slaves were sold to owners in Petersburg, and presumably it was these slaves who organized the church in 1816 that became the First Baptist Church—Harrison Street. Image courtesy First Baptist Church, Petersburg, Va.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
A plantation town
In the 1700s and 1800s large Virginia plantations like Westover were virtual towns filled with people, livestock, activity and odors. The scene is difficult to imagine in today’s tranquil setting. The Westover house, pictured here, is open for group tours by appointment, and the grounds and outbuildings are open daily for self-guided grounds tours. Photo courtesy Muschi Fisher.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
A plantation town
The Westover kitchen may have been rebuilt and converted from another use in the 1840s by the Selden family, who owned Westover after the Byrds. John Selden had 18 children and reportedly needed the old kitchen, now a west wing of the house, to accommodate his many children. Westover cooks labored in this confined area to produce meals for the large Selden family and visiting guests. Westover kitchen photo courtesy Muschi Fisher; “Bringing in dinner at Upper Shirley,” Huestis Cook, courtesy Valentine Museum, Richmond, Va.: Old Tomahund kitchen photo courtesy Charles City County Richard M. Bowman Center for Local History.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
A plantation town
The Westover necessary house—a fancy five-seat outhouse—was equipped with a fireplace so that it might be kept warm in winter. Unlike conventional outhouses which empty to a pit in the ground, this one was built with a cleanout door. Westover slaves would have been responsible both for keeping a fire burning in winter and for the regular cleanout of the accumulated waste. Photos courtesy Muschi Fisher.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
A plantation town
The old Westover ice house is another surviving workplace. Each winter slaves were employed in cutting ice from the river and hauling it to the ice house. The blocks were lowered down onto the bottom of the pit and packed with layers of straw insulation. Photo courtesy John Bragg.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
A plantation town
The Westover slave quarter was located to the west of the house. A description from 1803 states that, the quarter consisted of two rows of uniform, whitewashed log cabins facing each other across a street. The buildings probably looked something like these old buildings photographed in neighboring New Kent County. Commonly each quarter building housed several families. Windows were fitted with wooden shutters, rather than glass windows, and roofs were constructed of wooden slabs. Photos from William S. Gordon, Recollection of Old Quarter (1902), courtesy Charles City County Richard M. Bowman Center for Local History; description of slave quarters from Charles Royster, The Fabulous History of the Dismal Swamp Company, a Story of George Washington’s Times (1999), pg. 433.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
A plantation town
In the quarter, slaves tended gardens from which they raised most of their own food. The weekly allotments given by owners usually consisted of a small quantity of meat or fish. Slaves also raised chickens and, on some plantations in Charles City, sold eggs and chickens to their masters. Negro Cabin in Louise Smith Squire, Sketches of Southern Scenes, (New York: 1885) courtesy Charles City County Richard M. Bowman Center for Local History.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Sister Robinson recollects
Guessing her own age to be about 100, Sister Robinson, a former Westover slave was interviewed in 1937. She did not know her precise age because “the book what belong to old marse was destroyed.” Sister Robinson generally had favorable things to say about John Selden, her former owner, observing that on rainy days “he didna’ make me wuk inna’ rain! ‘E let ’em set in da barn an’cut wood ‘un shell cawn.” George H. Greenham, Our Trip to America (1898), Charles City County Richard M. Bowman Center for Local History; quotation from Perdue, Barden & Phillips, eds., Weevils in the Wheat.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Sister Robinson recollects
Although Sister Robinson’s recollections were generally rosy, her stories of “outwitting the system” reflect the terror that lurked beneath a surface calm. One such story concerned local paddyrollers – the name applied to young men who patrolled the county at night looking for slaves who were travelling off their own plantations. Sister recalled, “Marse didnu’nt sell any slaves an’ ‘e didn’t have no paddyrollers. He had a son on dem paddyrollers. Wen they ‘ud come ‘roun’ the son ‘ud come too. See? An’ he’d say, ‘Aw! ‘Tain’t nobuddy in dah but ol’ Jake an’is ol’ woman, ‘an the paddyrollers ‘ud whup up thah hosses an’ ride on. That night tho’ uncle Jake wuz havin’ a big suppah an’ had t’ree men undah the bed jes’ a termblin’ lak aspen leaves they wuz so sceared. Ol’ Unc’ Jake tho’, he jes’ sayed, ‘Hain’t nobuddy heah ‘ception me an’da ol’ ‘oman, marse.’ Lucky fo’ them men dey dinunt ketch ‘em cause effen they ketch you, they whup yer sompin terrible.” Image courtesy www.millikensbend.org; quotation from Perdue, Barden & Phillips, eds., Wheevils in the Wheat.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Sister Robinson recollects
Preferring their own religious gatherings to the ministers’ “be obedient” sermons, Sister Robinson explained: “Sometimes us slaves could go to meetin’ houses an’ sometimes us slaves could ‘ave meetin’s to ourselves at our houses wif permission, but every once in a while we’ud slip an’ have meetin’s at our houses. Wen dey had these the men an’ women ‘ud come slippin’ in fust one den ‘nothah until they wuz all in. Then dey’d turn a big pot down at the do’ sill so’s ta catch the noise wen dey shouted an’ hallahed. I remembah one ‘oman had a big mouf. She uster put huh haid raight in the pot an’ jes’ yell an’ hollah an’ you couldn’t heah huh more’n three foot away.” Engraving William Ludwell Sheppard, Frank Leslie’s illustrated newspaper, 1873 Aug. 9, p. 352 courtesy Library of Congress; quotation from Perdue, Barden & Phillips, eds., Weevils in the Wheat.
Westover Plantation—a place of origins
Sister Robinson recollects
Speaking of death in the camps for destitute freedmen after the war, Sister Robinson recalled, “I sure missed mah home den. My! Hit’s a purty place. Ef yer evah go up da rivah, you kin see it. The gate’s raight out neah the rivah. You”ll know it. Hit’s got t’ree big silvah eagles sittin’ on da gate. Yessah! T’ree of ‘em, an they’s purty beauteous too.” Photo courtesy Muschi Fisher, quotation from Perdue, Barden & Phillips, eds., Weevils in the Wheat.