wiki143 - User contributions [en]

Neutrality Acts of the 1930s

2025-06-11T02:05:21Z

72.84.78.56: /* Neutrality Act of 1939 */

{{short description|U.S. laws enacted before World War II}}
{{For|other Neutrality Acts|Neutrality Act (disambiguation){{!}}Neutrality Act}}
{{use American English|date=August 2019}}
{{use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{U.S. Congressional opposition to war}}

The '''Neutrality Acts''' were a series of acts passed by the [[US Congress]] in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1939 in response to the growing threats and wars that led to [[World War II]]. They were spurred by the growth in [[isolationism]] and [[United States non-interventionism|non-interventionism]] in the US following the [[United States in World War I|US joining World War I]], and they sought to ensure that the US would not become entangled again in foreign conflicts.

The legacy of the Neutrality Acts is widely regarded as having been generally negative since they made no distinction between aggressor and victim, treating both equally as [[belligerents]], and limited the US government's ability to aid Britain and France against [[Nazi Germany]]. The Acts were largely repealed in 1941, in the face of the [[Lend-Lease Act]].

==Background==
The [[Nye Committee]] hearings between 1934 and 1936 and several best-selling books of the time, like [[H. C. Engelbrecht]]'s ''[[Merchants of death|The Merchants of Death]]'' (1934), supported the conviction of many Americans that the [[American entry into World War I|US entry into World War I]] had been orchestrated by bankers and the [[arms industry]] for profit reasons. That strengthened the position of isolationists and non-interventionists in the country.<ref>{{cite book |first=Arthur |last=Herman |title=Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II |pages=6, 12, 79 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4000-6964-4}}</ref>

Powerful forces in the [[US Congress]] pushing for [[non-interventionism]] and strong Neutrality Acts were [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] Senators [[William Edgar Borah]], [[Arthur H. Vandenberg]], [[Gerald P. Nye]], and [[Robert M. La Follette, Jr.]],<ref name=dd>{{citation | url = http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/mac_03/mac_03_00231.html | title = Neutrality Acts | first = David G | last = Delaney | publisher = Novel guide | access-date = June 5, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090211234409/http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/mac_03/mac_03_00231.html | archive-date = February 11, 2009 | url-status = dead }}.</ref> but Congressional support for non-interventionism was not limited to the Republican Party. The [[Ludlow Amendment]], requiring a public referendum before any declaration of war except in cases of defense against direct attack, was introduced several times without success between 1935 and 1940 by [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Representative [[Louis Ludlow]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter=The Ludlow Amendment and Fortress Defense |pages=152–185 |first=Ernest C. Jr. |last=Bolt |title=Ballots before Bullets: The War Referendum Approach to Peace in America, 1914–1941 |year=1977 |publisher=University Press of Virginia |isbn=9780813906621 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ballotsbeforebul0000bolt/page/152 }}</ref>

Democratic President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] and especially [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Cordell Hull]] were critical of the Neutrality Acts for fear that they would restrict the administration's options to support friendly nations.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hull |first=Cordell |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcordell01hull |title=The memoirs of Cordell Hull |last2=Berding |first2=Andrew Henry Thomas |date=1948 |publisher=New York, Macmillan Co. |others=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=David M. |title=Freedom from fear: the American people in depression and war, 1929 - 1945 |last2=Woodward |first2=C. Vann |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-514403-1 |series=The Oxford history of the United States / C. Vann Woodward, general ed |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Apostle of human progress: Lester Frank Ward and American political thought, 1841-1913 |date=2003 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Pub |isbn=978-0-7425-2217-6 |editor-last=Rafferty |editor-first=Edward C. |series=American intellectual culture |location=Lanham, Md}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Roosevelt |first=Franklin D. (Franklin Delano) |url=https://archive.org/details/4926315.1938.001.umich.edu |title=The public papers and addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. [electronic resource] : with a special introduction and explanatory notes by President Roosevelt |last2=Rosenman |first2=Samuel Irving |last3=United States. President (1933-1945 : Roosevelt) |date=1941 |publisher=New York : Macmillan |others=University of Michigan}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.85890 |title=Franklin D. Roosevelt and American foreign policy, 1932-1945: with a new afterword |date=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-509732-0 |editor-last=Dallek |editor-first=Robert |location=New York |pages=109-112 |chapter=Chapter 4: “The Drift Toward War” |archive-url=}}</ref> Even though both the [[United States House of Representatives|House]] and [[United States Senate|Senate]] had large Democratic majorities throughout these years,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Composition of Congress by Party 1855-2017 |url=https://www.infoplease.com/us/government/legislative-branch/composition-of-congress-by-political-party-1855-2017 |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=www.infoplease.com |language=en}}</ref> there was enough support for the Neutrality Acts among Democrats (especially Southerners) to ensure their passage. Although congressional support was insufficient to override a presidential veto, Roosevelt felt he could not afford to snub the South and anger public opinion, especially while he was [[1936 United States presidential election|facing re-election in 1936]] and needed congressional co-operation on domestic issues. With considerable reluctance, Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Acts into law.<ref name = sd>{{cite web | url = https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/id/99849.htm | title = The Neutrality Acts, 1930s | date = January 30, 2008 | place = US | publisher = State Department | access-date = June 5, 2008}}.</ref>

==Neutrality Act of 1935==
Roosevelt's State Department had lobbied for embargo provisions that would allow the president to impose sanctions selectively.<ref name=":1" /> This was rejected by Congress.<ref name=":1" /> The 1935 act, passed by Congress on August 31, 1935,<ref>{{cite web |title=Milestones: 1921–1936{{snd}}Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/neutrality-acts#:~:text=On%20August%2031%2C%201935%2C%20Congress,apply%20for%20an%20export%20license. |website=history.state.gov |access-date=29 August 2020}}</ref><ref>Public Resolution 67, 74th Congress, {{USStat|49|1081}} of August 31, 1935</ref> imposed a general embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in a war.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623">{{cite book|author1=Frauke Lachenmann|author2=Rüdiger Wolfrum|title=The Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force: The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=boWuDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|year=2017|publisher=Oxford UP|page=176|isbn=9780198784623}}</ref> It also declared that American citizens traveling on warring ships traveled at their own risk. The act was set to expire after six months. When Congress passed the Neutrality Act of 1935, the State Department established an office to enforce the provisions of the Act. The Office of Arms and Munitions Control, renamed the Division of Controls in 1939 when the office was expanded, initially consisted of [[Joseph C. Green]] and [[Charles W. Yost]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=Stansfield |url=https://archive.org/details/secrecydemocracy00turn |title=Secrecy and democracy : the CIA in transition |date=1985 |publisher=Boston : Houghton Mifflin |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-395-35573-2 |pages=23-24}}</ref>

Roosevelt invoked the act after [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War|Italy's invasion of Ethiopia]] in October 1935, preventing all arms and ammunition shipments to Italy and Ethiopia. He also declared a "moral embargo" against the belligerents, covering trade not falling under the Neutrality Act.<ref name="en">{{cite web|url=http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/E-N/Embargoes-and-Sanctions.html|title=Embargoes and Sanctions|last=Combs|first=Jerald A.|year=2002|website=Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy}}</ref>

==Neutrality Act of 1936==
The Neutrality Act of 1936,<ref>Public Resolution 74, 74th Congress, {{USStat|49|1152}} of February 29, 1936</ref> passed in February of that year, renewed the provisions of the 1935 act for another 14 months. It also forbade all loans or credits to belligerents.

However, this act did not cover "civil wars", such as [[Spanish Civil War|that in Spain (1936–1939)]], nor did it cover materials used in civilian life such as trucks and oil. U.S. companies such as [[Texaco]], [[Standard Oil]], [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], [[General Motors]], and [[Studebaker]] sold such items to the Nationalists under [[Francisco Franco|General Franco]] on credit. By 1939, Spain owed these and other companies more than $100,000,000.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=James M. |title=The Spanish Civil War: A History and Reference Guide |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-32274-7|year=2003 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=August 2020}}

==Neutrality Act of 1937==
In January 1937, Congress passed a [[joint resolution]] outlawing the arms trade with Spain. The Neutrality Act of 1937<ref>Public Resolution 27, 75th Congress, {{USStat|50|121}} of May 1, 1937</ref> was passed in May and included the provisions of the earlier acts, this time without expiration date, and extended them to cover civil wars as well.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=David M. |title=Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-503834-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/freedomfromfeara00kenn }}</ref> Furthermore, U.S. ships were prohibited from transporting any passengers or articles to belligerents, and U.S. citizens were forbidden from traveling on ships of belligerent nations.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623"/>
In a concession to Roosevelt, a "[[Cash and carry (World War II)|cash-and-carry]]" provision that had been devised by his advisor [[Bernard Baruch]] was added:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Divine |first=Robert A. |url=https://archive.org/details/reluctantbellige00divi |title=The reluctant belligerent : American entry into World War II |date=1965 |publisher=New York (etc) : Wiley |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-471-21624-7 |pages=18-22}}</ref> the president could permit the sale of materials and supplies to belligerents in Europe as long as the recipients arranged for the transport and paid immediately with cash, with the argument that this would not draw the U.S. into the conflict. Roosevelt believed that cash-and-carry would aid France and Great Britain in the event of a war with Germany, since they were the only countries that controlled the seas and were able to take advantage of the provision.<ref name=sd/> The cash-and-carry clause was set to expire after two years.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623"/>

[[Empire of Japan|Japan]] invaded [[Republic of China (1912–49)|China]] in July 1937, starting the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]. President Roosevelt, who supported the Chinese side, chose not to invoke the Neutrality Acts since the parties had not formally declared war. In so doing, he ensured that China's efforts to defend itself would not be hindered by the legislation: China was dependent on arms imports and only Japan would have been able to take advantage of cash-and-carry. This outraged the isolationists in Congress who claimed that the spirit of the law was being undermined. Roosevelt stated that he would prohibit American ships from transporting arms to the belligerents, but he allowed British ships to transport American arms to China.<ref>{{Citation | first= Ronald E | last = Powaski | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDAoVZqHwocC&pg=PA72 | title = Toward an Entangling Alliance: American Isolationism, Internationalism, and Europe, 1901–1950 | place = Westport | publisher = Greenwood | year = 1991 | page = 72| isbn = 9780313272745 }}.</ref> Roosevelt gave his [[Quarantine Speech]] in October 1937, outlining a move away from neutrality and toward "quarantining" all aggressors. He then imposed a "moral embargo" on exports of aircraft to Japan.<ref name=en/>

==Neutrality Act of 1939==
Early in 1939, after [[German occupation of Czechoslovakia|Nazi Germany had invaded Czechoslovakia]], Roosevelt lobbied Congress to have the cash-and-carry provision renewed. He was rebuffed, the provision lapsed, and the mandatory arms embargo remained in place.<ref name="isbn=9780198784623"/>

[[File:Treasures of Congress - Postcard against amending the Neutrality Act I.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Postcard sent to a Congressman opposing the Neutrality Act of 1939]]
In September 1939, after [[Invasion of Poland|Germany had invaded Poland]], the United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany. Roosevelt invoked the provisions of the Neutrality Act but came before Congress and lamented that the Neutrality Acts may give passive aid to an aggressor country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-urges-repeal-of-neutrality-act-embargo-provisions |title=September 21, 1939: FDR urges repeal of Neutrality Act embargo provisions |publisher=History.com |access-date=February 4, 2011}}</ref> Congress was divided. Republican Senator [[Gerald Nye]] wanted to broaden the embargo, and other isolationists like Vandenberg and [[Hiram Johnson]] vowed to fight "from hell to breakfast" Roosevelt's desire to loosen the embargo. An "outstanding Republican leader" who supported helping nations under attack, however, told [[H. V. Kaltenborn]] that the embargo was futile because a neutral country like Italy could buy from the US and sell its own weapons to Germany, while US companies would relocate factories to Canada.<ref name="kaltenborn19390922">{{Cite AV media |url=https://archive.org/details/1939RadioNews/1939-09-22-CBS-H-V-Kaltenborn-Commentary.mp3 |title=CBS H. V. Kaltenborn Commentary |date=1939-09-22 |last=Kaltenborn |first=H. V. |type=Radio }}</ref>

Roosevelt prevailed over the isolationists, and on November 4, he signed the Neutrality Act of 1939 into law,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=David M. |title=Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195144031 |page=433}}</ref><ref>Public Resolution 54, 76th Congress, {{USStat|54|4}} of November 4, 1939</ref><ref>[https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/77th-congress/session-1/c77s1ch473.pdf Joint Resolution To Repeal Sections 2, 3, and 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939, and for Other Purposes, 17 November 1941]</ref> allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations (Great Britain and France) on a [[Cash and carry (World War II)|cash-and-carry]] basis, thus in effect ending the arms embargo. Furthermore, the Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1937 were repealed, U.S. citizens and ships were barred from entering war zones designated by the president, and the National Munitions Control Board (which had been created by the 1935 Neutrality Act) was charged with issuing licenses for all arms imports and exports. Arms trade without a license became a federal crime.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Douglas |last1=Brinkley |first2=David |last2=Rubel |title=World War II: The Axis Assault, 1939–1942 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4LnoQgC4GKQC&pg=PA99 |year= 2003 |publisher=Macmillan |pages=99–106|isbn=9780805072464 }}</ref>

==End of neutrality policy==
The end of neutrality policy came in September 1940 with the [[Destroyers-for-bases deal]], an agreement to transfer 50 [[United States Navy|US Navy]] destroyers to the [[Royal Navy]] in exchange for land rights on [[British possessions]]. This was followed by the [[Lend-Lease program|Lend-Lease Act]] of March 1941, which allowed the U.S. to sell, lend or give war materials to nations Roosevelt wanted to support: Britain, France, and China.<ref>[[Warren F. Kimball]], ''The Most Unsordid Act: Lend-Lease, 1939–1941'' (Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, 1969) ch 1.</ref>

After repeated incidents in the Atlantic between [[U-boat|German submarines]] and U.S. ships, Roosevelt announced on September 11, 1941, that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to attack German and Italian war vessels in the "waters which we deem necessary for our defense". This order effectively declared naval war on Germany and Italy.<ref>Burns, James MacGregor (1970). ''Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom''. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. hdl:2027/heb.00626. {{ISBN|978-0-15-678870-0}}. pp. 141–142</ref> Following the sinking of the U.S. destroyer {{USS|Reuben James|DD-245|2}} while she dropped depth charges on German U-boats on October 31, many of the provisions of the Neutrality Acts were repealed on November 17, 1941.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/daybyday/event/november-1941-4/ |title=November, 1941 – FDR: Day by Day |website=FDR: Day by Day |publisher=[[Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum]] |language=en-US |access-date=2018-08-29 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> As a result, merchant vessels were allowed to be armed and to carry any cargoes to belligerent nations.

On December 4, 1941, the US press published [[Rainbow Five]], a leaked plan outlining US war strategy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/12/02/Historian-FDR-probably-engineered-famous-WWII-plans-leak/4189565419600/|title=Historian: FDR probably engineered famous WWII plans leak}}</ref> The U.S. formally declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941, following the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] and the [[Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire|Japanese declaration of war]] of the previous day; [[German declaration of war against the United States|Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.]] on December 11, 1941, and the [[United States declaration of war on Germany (1941)|U.S. responded with a declaration of war]] on the same day.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/12/12/issue.html|title=War Opened on US|last=Kluckhorn|first=Frank|date=December 12, 1941|work=New York Times|access-date=September 12, 2019}}</ref>

==Subsequent application==
The provision against unlicensed arms trades of the 1939 act remains in force.<ref>{{USC|22|441}} (notes)</ref>

In 1948, [[Charles Winters]], [[Al Schwimmer]], and [[Hank Greenspun|Herman Greenspun]] were convicted under the 1939 Act after smuggling [[B-17 Flying Fortress]] bombers from Florida to the nascent state of [[Israel]] during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/washington/24pardons.html |title=Jailed for Aiding Israel, but Pardoned by Bush |last=Lichtblau |first=Eric |date=24 December 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A1 |access-date=28 January 2010}}</ref> Winters was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $5,000, while Schwimmer and Greenspun were each fined $10,000. Schwimmer was also stripped of his voting rights and veteran benefits.<ref name=":0" />

All three received [[presidential pardon]]s in subsequent decades. Greenspun was pardoned by [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1961, Schwimmer was pardoned by [[Bill Clinton]] in 2001, and Winters was pardoned by [[George W. Bush]] in 2008.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=http://www.jta.org/news/article/2008/12/23/1001785/pardon-granted-to-man-who-flew-planes-to-israel |title=Pardon granted to man who flew planes to Israel |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=December 23, 2008 |access-date=December 23, 2008}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Chambers, John Whiteclay. "The Movies and the Antiwar Debate in America, 1930–1941." ''Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies'' 36.1 (2006): 44–57.
* Cortright, David. ''Peace: A history of movements and ideas'' (Cambridge UP, 2008), global coverage.
* {{citation|last=Divine|first=Robert A.|title=The Illusion of Neutrality|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1962|oclc=186301491}}
* Fischer, Klaus P. ''Hitler and America'' (U of Pennsylvania Press, 2011).
* {{citation|last=Garner|first=James W.|title=Recent American Neutrality Legislation|journal=International Affairs|year=1937|volume=16|number=6|pages=853–869|doi=10.2307/2602764 |jstor=2602764}}
* Jonas, Manfred. ''Isolationism in America, 1935–1941'' (Cornell UP, 1966).
* Reynolds, David. "The United States and European security from Wilson to Kennedy, 1913–1963: A reappraisal of the 'Isolationist' tradition." ''RUSI Journal'' 128.2 (1983): 16–24.
* Rofe, J. Simon, and John M. Thompson. "‘Internationalists in Isolationist times’–Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and a Rooseveltian Maxim." ''Journal of Transatlantic Studies'' 9.1 (2011): 46–62.

==External links==
{{commons category|Neutrality Acts of the 1930s}}
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/neutralityact.htm Neutrality Act of August 31, 1935]
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/neutrality2.htm Neutrality Act of February 29, 1936]
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/interwar/neutrality3.htm Neutrality Act of May 1, 1937]
* [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/neutrality.htm Neutrality Act of November 4, 1939]

[[Category:1937 in American politics]]
[[Category:1937 in American law]]
[[Category:United States foreign relations legislation]]
[[Category:History of United States isolationism]]
[[Category:Legal history of the United States]]
[[Category:1937 in international relations]]
[[Category:1935 in American politics]]
[[Category:1939 in American politics]]
[[Category:1930s in the United States]]
[[Category:Neutrality (international relations)]]

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

2025-05-14T03:10:06Z

72.84.78.56: /* Second lighthouse */

{{short description|Lighthouse in North Carolina, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
| coordinates = {{coord|35|15|2|N|75|31|43.7|W|display=inline,title}}
| module = {{Infobox lighthouse | qid = Q109235124 | embed = yes | name = Original light}}
{{Infobox lighthouse | qid = Q109235341 | embed = yes | name = Skeleton tower}}
{{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes
| name = Cape Hatteras Light Station
| nrhp_type = nhld
| nocat = yes
| nearest_city = [[Buxton, North Carolina]]
| built = 1870
| architect = Dexter Stetson
| added = March 29, 1978
| designated_nrhp_type = August 5, 1998
| area = {{convert|10|acre}}
| refnum = 78000266<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}
}}
'''Cape Hatteras Light''' is a [[lighthouse]] located on [[Hatteras Island]] in the [[Outer Banks]] in the town of [[Buxton, North Carolina]] and is part of the [[Cape Hatteras National Seashore]].<ref name=cghist>{{cite uscghist|NC| accessdate = 2013-03-14}}</ref><ref name=cgll>{{cite uscgll|2|2012|6}}</ref><ref name=Rowlett>{{cite rowlett|nc}}</ref> It is the tallest lighthouse in the U.S. from base to tip at 210 feet. The lighthouse's semi-unique pattern makes it easy to recognize and famous. It is often ranked high on lists of most beautiful, and famous lighthouses in the US.

The Outer Banks are a group of [[barrier islands]] on the North Carolina coast that separate the [[Atlantic Ocean]] from the coastal sounds and inlets. Atlantic [[ocean current|currents]] in this area made for excellent travel for ships, except in the area of Diamond Shoals, just offshore at [[Cape Hatteras]]. Nearby, the warm [[Gulf Stream]] ocean current collides with the colder [[Labrador Current]], creating ideal conditions for powerful ocean storms and sea swells. The large number of ships that ran aground because of these shifting sandbars gave this area the nickname "[[Graveyard of the Atlantic]]." It also led the [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]] to authorize the construction of the Cape Hatteras Light. Its 198-foot height makes it the tallest brick lighthouse structure in the United States and 2nd in the world.<ref name="roadside">[http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/23160 ''Buxton, North Carolina - America's Tallest Lighthouse - Climb It''.] [[Doug Kirby|Roadside America]]</ref><ref>{{cite rowlett|tallest}}</ref> Since its base is almost at sea level, it is only the 15th highest light in the United States, the first 14 being built on higher ground.

==Hatteras Island Visitor Center and Museum of the Sea==
Adjacent to the Cape Hatteras Light is the '''Hatteras Island Visitor Center and Museum of the Sea''', operated by the [[National Park Service]], which is located in the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Double Keepers' Quarters. Exhibits include the history, maritime heritage and natural history of the Outer Banks and the lighthouse. The visitor center offers information about the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, ranger programs and a bookstore.

==History==

===Original lighthouse===
On July 10, 1794, after [[Secretary of Treasury]] [[Alexander Hamilton]] requested that they make a lighthouse on this location after his ship almost crashed and sank on its to way to [[New World|The New World]] giving it the nickname "Hamilton's light" Congress appropriated $44,000 "for erecting a lighthouse on the headland of Cape Hatteras and a lighted beacon on Shell Castle Island, in the harbor of Ocracoke in the State of North Carolina." The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was constructed in 1802.

The Cape Hatteras light marked very dangerous shoals that extend from the cape for a distance of {{convert|10|nmi|km}}. The original tower was built of dark sandstone and retained its natural color. The original light consisted of 18 lamps; with {{convert|14|in|mm|adj=on}} reflectors, and was {{convert|112|ft|m}} above sea level. It was visible in clear weather for a distance of {{convert|18|mi|km}}.

In July 1851, Lt. David D. Porter, USN, reported as follows:
{{cquote|"Hatteras light, the most important on our coast is, without doubt, the worst light in the world. Cape Hatteras is the point made by all vessels going to the south, and also coming from that direction; the current of the Gulf Stream runs so close to the outer point of the shoals that vessels double as close round the breakers as possible, to avoid its influence. The only guide they have is the light, to tell them when up with the shoals; but I have always had so little confidence in it, that I have been guided by the lead, without the use of which no vessel should pass Hatteras. The first nine trips I made I never saw Hatteras light at all, though frequently passing in sight of the breakers, and when I did see it, I could not tell it from a steamer's light, excepting that the steamer's lights are much brighter. It has improved much latterly but is still a wretched light. It is all-important that Hatteras should be provided with a revolving light of great intensity, and that the light is raised {{convert|15|ft|m}} higher than at present. Twenty-four steamship's lights, of great brilliancy, pass this point in one month, nearly at the rate of one every night (they all pass at night) and it can be seen how easily a vessel may be deceived by taking a steamer's light for a light onshore."}}

The improvement in the light referred to had begun in 1845 when the reflectors were changed from 14 to {{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on}}. In 1848 the 18 lamps were changed to 15 lamps with {{convert|21|in|mm|adj=on}} reflectors and the light had become visible in clear weather at a distance of {{convert|20|mi|km}}. In 1854 a first-order Fresnel lens with flashing white light was substituted for the old reflecting apparatus, and the tower was raised to {{convert|150|ft|m}}.

In 1860 the Lighthouse Board reported that Cape Hatteras Lighthouse required protection, due to the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1862 the Board reported "Cape Hatteras, lens and lantern destroyed, light reexhibited.

===Second lighthouse===
At the behest of mariners and officers of the U.S. Navy, Congress appropriated $80,000 to the [[United States Lighthouse Board]] to construct a new beacon at Cape Hatteras in 1868.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usace.army.mil/History/hv/Pages/111-CapeHatterasLighthouse.aspx |title=Historical Vignette 111 - Cape Hatteras Lighthouse |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506052503/http://www.usace.army.mil/History/hv/Pages/111-CapeHatterasLighthouse.aspx |archive-date=2010-05-06 }}</ref>

Completed in just under two years under the direction of [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Brigadier general (United States)|Brigadier General]] J. H. Simpson of the [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]], the new Cape Hatteras lighthouse cost $167,000. The new tower, from which the first-order light was first exhibited on December 16, 1871, was the tallest brick lighthouse tower in the world. It was {{convert|200|ft|m}} above ground and the focal height of the light was {{convert|208|ft|m}} above water. The old tower was demolished in February 1871, leaving ruins that lasted until finally eroded away in a storm in 1980.<ref>{{NRISref|version=2010a|refnum=78000266}}</ref>

In the spring of 1879 the tower was struck by lightning. Cracks subsequently appeared in the masonry walls, which were remedied{{clarify|reason=a lightning rod with ground would prevent future strikes but not fix the cracked wall|date=March 2019}} by placing a [[lightning rod|metal rod]] to connect the iron work of the tower with an iron disk sunk in the ground. In 1912 the candlepower of the light was increased from 27,000 to 80,000.

[[File:USCGHatteras.jpg|upright|left|thumb|Cape Hatteras Light, USCG Archive photo]]
Ever since the completion of the new tower in 1870, there had begun a very gradual encroachment of the sea upon the beach. This did not become serious, however, until 1919, when the high water line had advanced to about 120 ft (36.5) from the base of the tower. Since that time the surf gnawed steadily toward the base of the tower until 1935, when the site was finally reached by the surf. Several attempts were made to arrest this erosion, but dikes and breakwaters had been of no avail. In 1935, therefore, the tower light was replaced by an [[Aerobeacon]] atop a four-legged steel skeleton tower, placed farther back from the sea on a sand dune {{convert|166|ft|m}} above the sea, visible for {{convert|19|mi|km}}. The abandoned brick tower was then put in the custody of the National Park Service.

The [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] and [[Works Progress Administration]] erected a series of wooden revetments which checked the wash that was carrying away the beach. In 1942, when German [[U-boats]] began attacking ships just offshore, the Coast Guard resumed its control over the brick tower and manned it as a lookout station until 1945. By then, due to accretion of sand on the beach, the brick tower was 500 to {{convert|900|ft|m}} inland from the sea and again tenable as a site for the light, which was placed back in commission January 23, 1950.[[File:Hatteras Lighthouse spiral staircase.jpg|thumb|Internal staircase of Hatteras Lighthouse]]

The new light consisted of a {{convert|36|in|m|adj=on}} aviation-type rotating beacon of 250,000 candlepower, visible {{convert|20|mi|km}}, and flashing white every 7.5 seconds. The steel skeleton tower, known as the [[Buxton Woods Tower]], was retained by the Coast Guard in the event that the brick tower again became endangered by erosion requiring that the light again be moved.

The light displays a highly visible black and white diagonal [[daymark]] paint scheme. It shares similar markings with the [[St. Augustine Light]]. Another lighthouse, with [[Helix|helical]] markings—red and white '[[candy cane]] [[wikt:stripe|stripe]]'-- is the [[White Shoal Light (Michigan)]], which is the only true '[[barber pole]]' lighthouse in the United States.<ref name="Wobser">[http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/whiteshoal.htm Wobser, David, Boatnerd.com, White Shoal Light.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711115551/http://lighthouse.boatnerd.com/gallery/Michigan/whiteshoal.htm |date=2011-07-11 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.michiganlights.com/whiteshoallh.htm Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy, White Shoal Lighthouse.]</ref> Its distinctive "barber pole" paint job is consistent with other North Carolina black-and-white lighthouses, "each with their own pattern to help sailors identify lighthouses during daylight hours."<ref name="roadside"/>
Today the Coast Guard owns and operates the navigational equipment, while the National Park Service maintains the tower as a historic structure. The Hatteras Island Visitor Center, formerly the Double Keepers Quarters located next to the lighthouse, elaborates on the Cape Hatteras story and the lifestyle on the Outer Banks. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, tallest in the United States,<ref name="roadside"/> stands {{convert|208|ft|m}} from the bottom of the foundation to the peak of the roof. To reach the light, which shines {{convert|191|ft|m}} above mean high-water mark, requires climbing 268 steps. The construction order of 1,250,000 bricks was used in the construction of the lighthouse and principal keeper's quarters.<ref name="cghist"/> The light is used and maintained by the U.S Coast Guard as an Aid to Navigation, protecting Mariners from the treacherous shoals of the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

===Relocation===
[[File:Moving Cape Hatteras Light - NPS photo.jpg|left|thumb|Cape Hatteras lighthouse during its relocation on July 1, 1999]]
[[File:HaterasMove.jpg|right|thumb|Workers prepare for another few inches of movement.]]
[[File:Cape Hatteras Light Station.JPG|thumb|The base of Cape Hatteras Light after relocation]]

In 1999, with the sea again encroaching, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse had to be [[Structural moving|moved]] from its original location at the edge of the ocean to safer ground. Due to [[erosion]] of the shore, the lighthouse was just {{convert|15|ft|m}} from the water's edge and was in imminent danger. The move was a total distance of {{convert|2900|ft|m}} to the southwest, placing the lighthouse {{convert|1500|ft|m}} from the current shoreline. All other support buildings at the site were also moved at the same time. All support buildings were placed back in positions that maintained their original compass orientations and distance/height relationship to the lighthouse. International Chimney Corp. of Buffalo, New York was awarded the contract to move the lighthouse, assisted by, among other contractors, Expert House Movers. The move was controversial at the time with speculation that the structure would not survive the move, resulting in lawsuits that were later dismissed. Despite some opposition, work progressed and the move was completed on September 14, 1999.<ref name="roadside"/><ref>Mike Booher and Lin Ezell, ''Out of Harm's Way'', Eastwind Publishing, Annapolis, MD, 2001, {{ISBN|1-885457-15-4}}.</ref>

The Cape Hatteras Light House Station Relocation Project became known as "The Move of the Millennium." General contractor International Chimney and Expert House Movers won the 40th Annual Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1999.<ref>[http://www.ehmoftexas.com Expert House Movers, Inc]</ref> The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is one of the tallest masonry structures ever moved (200 feet tall and weighing 5,000 tons).

==Specifications==
* Construction material: Approximately 1,250,000 [[brick]]s
* Height above sea level: {{convert|210|ft|m}}
* Height of the structure: {{Convert|198.5|ft|m}}
* Daymark: black double helix spiral stripes on white background
* Number of steps: 257 steps to reach the light
* Brightness: 800,000 candle power from each of two 1,000-watt lamps
* Flash pattern: 1 second flash, 6.5 second eclipse
* Visibility: From 20 nautical miles (37 km) in clear conditions. In exceptional conditions, it has been seen from 51 miles (94 km) out.<ref name="npschls">{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/caha/planyourvisit/chls.htm |title=Cape Hatteras Light Station - Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service) |publisher=National Park Service }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of tallest lighthouses]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite magazine |last=Witcher |first=T. R. |date=January 2018 |title=Preserved For the Future: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse |url=https://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/CE_Magazine/Home_Page/Content_Pieces/2018-1-history-lesson-cape-hatteras.pdf |magazine=Civil Engineering |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |access-date=January 26, 2018 |archive-date=January 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127143503/https://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/CE_Magazine/Home_Page/Content_Pieces/2018-1-history-lesson-cape-hatteras.pdf |url-status=dead }}

==External links==
{{commons category|Cape Hatteras Lighthouse}}
* [http://www.nps.gov/caha/historyculture/movingthelighthouse.htm Moving the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - Cape Hatteras National Seashore (U.S. National Park Service)]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dJ34UzLHO0/ Video showing the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse from the ground and the view from the top] from 2016
* {{HABS |survey=NC-357 |id=nc0432|title=Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Point of Cape Hatteras, access road from Route 12, Buxton, Dare County, NC|photos=29 |color=2 |dwgs=13 |data=25 |cap=3}}

{{Lighthouses of North Carolina}}
{{Outer Banks}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina}}
{{Authority control | additional=Q109235124,Q109235124,Q109235341}}

[[Category:Lighthouses completed in 1802]]
[[Category:Lighthouses completed in 1870]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Relocated buildings and structures in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Hatteras Island]]
[[Category:Museums in Dare County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Lighthouse museums in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks]]
[[Category:Civilian Conservation Corps in North Carolina]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmark lighthouses]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Cape Hatteras National Seashore]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Dare County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina]]
[[Category:1802 establishments in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Brick buildings and structures in North Carolina]]

Pea Island

2025-05-14T02:43:32Z

72.84.78.56:

{{Short description|Island in North Carolina, United States}}
[[File:DunesPeaIslandJune2007.JPG|thumb|Pea Island dunes]]
[[File:Outerbanks north carolina pea island.jpg|alt=Pea Island Ocean View|thumb|Pea Island ocean view]]
'''Pea Island''' is an island which is part of the [[Outer Banks]] of [[North Carolina]]. Because of the shifting nature of the [[barrier island]] system of which Pea Island is a part, and the way in which [[inlet]]s open and close over time, Pea Island has, at times, been contiguous with the neighboring [[Bodie Island]] to the North and [[Hatteras Island]] to the south. Pea Island was created when two inlets, the [[New Inlet]] in 1738, and [[Oregon Inlet]] in 1846, separated it from the neighboring islands. The island was rejoined to Hatteras Island intermittently from 1922 until 1945 as the narrow New Inlet opened and closed with shifting sands. From 1945 to 2011, Pea Island was merely the northern 11 miles or so of Hatteras Island. [[Hurricane Irene]] reopened the New Inlet, making Pea Island separate again, although New Inlet has since closed reconnecting it with Hatteras. Pea Island was home to the [[Pea Island Life-Saving Station]], the first [[United States Coast Guard|U.S. Coast Guard]] life-saving station to have an all [[African Americans|African-American]] crew. Since 1937, it has also been home to the [[Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge]].

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box
| title = Beaches of The Outer Banks
| years =
| with =
| before = [[Oregon Inlet]]
| after = [[Rodanthe, North Carolina|Rodanthe]]
}}
{{S-end}}

{{Outer Banks}}

{{Portal bar|Islands|North Carolina}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|35.723|-75.496|type:isle_region:US-NC_dim:10000|display=title}}

[[Category:Islands of Dare County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Islands of North Carolina]]
[[Category:Outer Banks]]

{{DareCountyNC-geo-stub}}

Wash Woods, Virginia

2025-05-14T02:27:30Z

72.84.78.56:

{{Coord|36|34|47|N|75|52|23|W|display=title}}
{{Lead too long|date=May 2024}}

'''Wash Woods''' was an [[town|unincorporated town]] on the coast of the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in the former [[Princess Anne County, Virginia|Princess Anne County]] (now the independent [[Virginia Beach, Virginia|City of Virginia Beach]]), in the southeastern corner of [[Virginia]]. It has been [[Ghost town|abandoned]] since the 1930s, except for the [[United States Life-Saving Service|Life Saving Station]] which remained operational until the mid-1950s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.twiddy.com/history/wash-woods.aspx |title=Wash Woods Station History by Twiddy & Company |publisher=Twiddy.com |access-date=2016-05-26}}</ref> The site of the former town is located within [[False Cape State Park]] in Virginia Beach. [[File:Wash Woods Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Wash Woods cemetery in False Cape State Park]]

According to legend, the community was settled by survivors of a shipwreck who waded ashore centuries ago on the remote and uninhabited stretch of beach and decided to stay.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kimberlin |first=Joanne |url=http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/whats-name-false-cape-state-park |title=What's in a name? | False Cape State Park | History | pilotonline.com |publisher=Hamptonroads.com |date=2010-11-01 |access-date=2016-05-26}}</ref> The village's [[Methodist]] church and several other structures were built using [[Cupressaceae|cypress]] wood that washed ashore from [[schooner]] John S. Wood that ran aground with a load of lumber and broke apart during a storm in 1889.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/falscape.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001215050600/www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/falscape.htm|archive-date=2000-12-15|title=False Cape State Park}}</ref> By the turn of the 20th century Wash Woods was home to two lifesaving stations, a grocery store, two churches, and a school. Three hundred people once lived there, working as fishermen, farmers, hunting guides, [[market hunters]], and as lifesavers patrolling the beach and manning lifeboats to rescue shipwrecked sailors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp960421/04170043.htm|title = Stop 22: Wash Woods, A Village Nature Overtook}}</ref>

Located along the section of the [[US East Coast]] long known as the [[Graveyard of the Atlantic]], from its beginnings the small town of Wash Woods was subject to the severe weather conditions which had shipwrecked its first residents and brought the lumber ashore to build it. Residents staffed one of the first life saving stations, called False Cape, established in 1875.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uslife-savingservice.org/station-sites/false-cape/ |title=False Cape Life Saving Station|access-date=2023-02-24}}</ref> After the disastrous wrecks of the {{USS|Huron|1875|6}} at [[Nags Head, North Carolina|Nags Head]] and steamship ''Metropolis'' a few miles south of Wash Woods near the [[Currituck Beach Lighthouse]], both of which resulted in great loss of life, Congress responded to the public outcry and an additional lifesaving station known as Deal's Island Station was established south of Wash Woods in 1877. The station was renamed Wash Woods for the nearby town circa 1883, and in 1917 the original lifesaving station was replaced by a new more modern [[US Coast Guard]] station.

The sea inundated the narrow sliver of sand so often that townspeople had begun to leave Wash Woods by the 1920s. Another factor was the [[Migratory Bird Treaty Act]] signed in 1918 which outlawed market hunting of waterfowl.<ref>{{cite book |last= Terres |first= John K. |title= The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds |publisher= Alfred Knopf |date= 1980 |location= New York |pages= [https://archive.org/details/audubonsocietyen00terr/page/176 176, 181, 264-265, 283, 453, 495, 588-589, 598-59, 733-735, and 769-770] |isbn= 0-394-46651-9 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/audubonsocietyen00terr/page/176 }}</ref> When the disastrous [[1933 Chesapeake–Potomac hurricane]] followed by the equally severe [[1933 Outer Banks hurricane]] struck back to back, it essentially sealed the town's fate. The storm surge caused by the category 4 storms flooded the entire area, damaged many buildings including the Coast Guard Station, and washed most of the fertile topsoil from farm fields into Back Bay. Subsequently, the few remaining residents of Wash Woods relocated across Back Bay to [[Knotts Island]] or to mainland Princess Anne County and the site became the location of several waterfowl hunting clubs until 1968 when the land was taken over by the Commonwealth of Virginia to become a state park.

Today, the area is a Virginia state park known as [[False Cape State Park]], that adjoins the federally managed [[Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge]]. There is still a small cemetery adjacent to the ruins of the Wash Woods Methodist church, the steeple of which remained standing through the 1970s. Vandals demolished the steeple circa 1980. False Cape State Park's Wash Woods Environmental Education Center is housed a converted hunt club house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1162387 |title=View Museum Info |publisher=Museumsusa.org |access-date=2016-05-26}}</ref> [[File:Wash Woods Methodist.jpg|thumb|Wash Woods Methodist Church steeple in False Cape State Park]] The Wash Woods Coast Guard station, built in 1917, still stands a few miles south of the site of the former town across the state line in [[Carova Beach, North Carolina|Carova Beach]]. The former Coast Guard Station was completely restored in 1989 and is now used as a real estate office.

In the mid-1950s, Wash Woods remained a voting precinct consisting of 13 registered voters. On most election days, all of the 13 voters would meet just after midnight and vote. Under Virginia law at that time, when all the voters of any given precinct had voted in person, the precinct could close and report the results of the voting. Since the state at that time was basically a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] state controlled by a political machine headed by U.S. Senator [[Harry F. Byrd, Sr.]], and known as the [[Byrd Organization]] all of the registered voters of the precinct always voted for the Democratic ticket. The results of the voting at the Wash Woods precinct was reported soon after midnight as a psychological device to promote the Democratic party, whether in local elections or in national elections. In the mid-1960s, during a local election, a group of local Democrats who opposed the local branch of the Byrd organization arranged for two voters to register to vote at the Wash Woods precinct. Those two voters then submitted their votes by mail. Under Virginia law, persons who had voted by mail had a right to report to their precinct on election day, pick up their previously mailed ballots, and then vote in person. Because these two voters had submitted their ballots by mail, the precinct could not close immediately after midnight on that election day and the psychological advantage previously offered by the precinct was lost. Immediately after that election, elected local officials representing the local branch of the Byrd organization dissolved the Wash Woods precinct and transferred the registered voters of that precinct to a larger adjoining precinct.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kiscrapbook.knottsislandonline.com/washwoodsmelinda.html |title=Wash Woods Melinda |publisher=Kiscrapbook.knottsislandonline.com |access-date=2016-05-26}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[False Cape State Park]]
*[[Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge]]
*[[Former counties, cities, and towns of Virginia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* [http://www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/falscape.htm False Cape State Park]
* [http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1162387 Museumsusa.org, False Cape State Park]

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in colonial Virginia]]
[[Category:Geography of Virginia Beach, Virginia|Wash Woods]]

Enon, Virginia

2025-05-08T04:00:03Z

72.84.78.56: /* History */

{{Short description|Census-designated place in Virginia, US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox settlement
|name = Enon, Virginia
|official_name =
|settlement_type = [[Census-designated Place|CDP]]
|nickname =
|motto =


|image_skyline =
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|pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
|pushpin_label = Enon
|pushpin_label_position = left
|pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Virginia
|pushpin_mapsize =
|image_map =
|map_caption = Location within Chesterfield county
|image_map1 =
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| subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = United States
|subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Virginia]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Virginia|County]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield]]
|government_footnotes =
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|unit_pref = Imperial
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|population_as_of = [[United States Census, 2020|2020]]
|population_footnotes =
|population_total = 4075
|population_density_km2 = auto


|timezone = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
| utc_offset = −5
|timezone_DST = EDT
| utc_offset_DST = −4
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_ft = 91
|coordinates = {{coord|37|19|38|N|77|19|10|W|region:US-VA_type:city|display=inline,title}}


|postal_code_type = [[ZIP code]]s
|postal_code = 23836
|area_code =
|blank_name = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info =
|blank1_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info = 2629708<ref name ="GNIS" />
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}}
'''Enon''' is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) located in the eastern point of [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield County]], [[Virginia]], [[United States]],<ref name ="GNIS">{{cite gnis|2629708|Enon Census Designated Place|May 4, 2024}}</ref> just east of [[Chester, Virginia|Chester]]. The population as of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]] was 4,075.<ref name="census2020">{{Cite web |title=Census profile: Enon, VA |url=http://censusreporter.dokku.censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US5125877-enon-va/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=Census Reporter |language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
In 1611, 300 musketeers were ordered by the [[London Company|Virginia Company of London]] to travel up the James River away from the unsafe swamplands of [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] and develop a new capital of Virginia, where they led by [[Thomas Dale|Sir Thomas Dale.]] landed at present day Enon and founded [[Bermuda Hundred]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Henricus Historical Park |url=https://henricus.org/ |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Henricus |language=en-US}}</ref> This colony become the second successful British colony in Virginia.

Through most of the 20th century, Enon remained a largely undeveloped rural area until the development of Rochedale Farm, one of the [[James River Plantations]], as a high end residential community and [[golf course]] known as [[River's Bend]] starting in 1988.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rivers Bend On The James - Chester, VA Homes for Sale & Real Estate {{!}} neighborhoods.com |url=https://www.neighborhoods.com/rivers-bend-on-the-james-chester-va |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=www.neighborhoods.com |language=en-us}}</ref> Since the turn of the 21st century, several other large tracts of farmland and timberland in the Enon area, including [[Meadowville, Virginia|Meadowville]] and Mount Blanco have since been sold for residential and commercial development.

== Demographics ==

{{US Census population
|1990= 2693
|2000= 3097
|2010= 3466
|2020= 4075
|estyear=
|estimate=
|estref=
|align-fn=center
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.html|title=Decennial Census by Decade|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=}}</ref> 
2010<ref name=2010CensusVA>{{Cite web|title= 2010 Census of Population - Population and Housing Unit Counts - Virginia|url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/2010/cph-2/cph-2-48.pdf|website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref> 2020<ref name="census2020" />
}}

Enon was first listed as a [[census designated place]] in the [[2010 U.S. Census]].<ref name=2010CensusVA/>

Enon has 4,411 people living there according to recent community surveys in 2021. Of those 4,411 citizens, 62.3% are white, 20.4% are African-American, and 6.8% are other races. The median age for an Enon resident in 37.1 years old.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Enon Demographics - Get Current Census Data for Enon, VA |url=https://www.virginia-demographics.com/enon-demographics |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=www.virginia-demographics.com}}</ref>

== Education ==
Enon is served by [[Chesterfield County Public Schools]]. Public schools include Elizabeth Davis Middle School, Elizabeth Scott Elementary, and Enon Elementary. High school students in Enon attend [[Thomas Dale High School]].

== Location ==
It is located near the intersection of East Hundred Road ([[State Route 10 (Virginia)|State Route 10]]) and [[Interstate 295 (Virginia)|I-295]] just south of the [[Varina-Enon Bridge]]. Recent industrial attractions include [[River’s Bend Business Center]] and the [https://meadowville.com/ Meadowville Technology Center] (which houses an [[Amazon.com]] Fulfillment Center, [https://www.vita.virginia.gov/ Virginia IT Agency], [https://chirisa.com/ Chirisa Capital Management], [https://www.cartograf.com.mx/english/empresa.html Cartograf], [https://www.niagarawater.com/ Niagara Bottling facility], [https://www.medline.com/ Meldine], [https://meadowville.com/lego/ LEGO manufacturing], nearby areas also are home to [https://www.altria.com/Pages/default.aspx Altria], and [https://www.advansix.com/chesterfield/ AdvanSix].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* http://villagenews.us/artman/publish/article_171.shtml

{{Chesterfield County, Virginia}}
{{Greater Richmond Region}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Unincorporated communities in Virginia]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Chesterfield County, Virginia]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in Virginia]]

{{ChesterfieldCountyVA-geo-stub}}

Thomas Dale High School

2025-05-03T15:08:07Z

72.84.78.56: /* Notable alumni */

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Thomas Dale High School
| logo = TDKnight.jpg
| image = Thomas Dale High School.jpg
| image_size =
| motto =
| motto_translation =
| streetaddress = 3626 West Hundred Road
| city = [[Chester, Virginia|Chester]]
| state = [[Virginia]]
| zipcode = 23831
| country = USA
| url = [https://thomasdalehs.oneccps.org/ Official Site]
| district = [[Chesterfield County Public Schools]]
| us_nces_district_id = 5100840<ref name=NCES/>
| superintendent = Dr. John Murray<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.oneccps.org/page/superintendent/ |title= Superintendent}}</ref>
| us_nces_school_id = 510084000350<ref name=NCES/>
| principal = Anthony McLaurin
| fundingtype = [[Public school (government funded)|Public]]
| schooltype = [[High school#United States|high school]]
| grades = 9-12<ref name=NCES/>
| language = [[American English|English]]
| mascot = Knight
| colors = {{Color box|Maroon|border=darkgray}} {{Color box|Gray|border=darkgray}} Maroon and gray
| founded = 1906
| free_label_2 = [[Magnet school|Specialty center]]
| free_2 = Fine and Performing Arts
| teaching_staff = 170.75 {{FTE}}<ref name=NCES/>
| grade9 = 663
| grade10 = 699
| grade11 = 563
| grade12 = 631
| ratio = 14.97<ref name=NCES/>
| enrollment = 2,556 (2022-23)<ref name=NCES>{{cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&Zip=23834&Miles=10&ID=510084000350|title=THOMAS DALE HIGH|publisher=National Center for Education Statistics|accessdate=July 15, 2024}}</ref>
| rival =
| athletics_conference = [[Virginia High School League]] [[AAA Central Region|Central Region]] [[AAA Central District|Central District]]
| feeders = Elizabeth Davis Middle School [[George Washington Carver|George W. Carver]] Middle School
}}

'''Thomas Dale High School''' is a public high school located in [[Chester, Virginia|Chester]], an unincorporated community in [[Chesterfield County, Virginia|Chesterfield County]], [[Virginia]], United States.

It was named for Sir [[Thomas Dale]], a 17th-century leader in the [[Virginia Colony]]. The [[high school]] is operated by the local [[school division]], [[Chesterfield County Public Schools]].

== History==
Thomas Dale High School was named for Sir [[Thomas Dale]], an English naval commander who served as colonial deputy-governor of the [[Colony of Virginia]].

===Buildings and names===
[[File:Thomas Dale High School - West Campus.jpg|thumb|Thomas Dale High School's west campus, formerly Chester Middle School.]]
The school was built in 1906 and named Chester Agricultural High School. In 1917, it was renamed Chester High School. In 1942 it was given its current name of Thomas Dale High School.

In the early 1940s, a new building was constructed on the western side of the original building. This building, formerly known as Chester Middle School, stands today as the Thomas Dale Ninth Grade Campus. The 1906 structure was later demolished. In 1964, another replacement facility opened less than a mile east on [[Route 10 (Virginia)|State Route 10]].

In the mid-1980s, the building saw a small expansion, followed in the early 1990s by some interior renovation and the addition of air conditioning.

To alleviate overcrowding, an annex known as the Thomas Dale West Campus opened in 1997 in the former Carver Middle School building on Branders Bridge Road. This facility housed the 9th grade.

Between 1999 and 2001, the 1964 building underwent a massive expansion and a complete interior and exterior renovation. Thomas Dale West Campus closed with the completion of this project. The Thomas Dale West Campus was later turned into what is now the Carver College and Career Center (formerly Community High School).

Though the 2001 expansion was projected to accommodate the school's population for decades, the student population grew rapidly. It was decided that neighboring Chester Middle School would be shut down due to budget cuts and the overcrowding at Thomas Dale, thus the high school annexed Chester Middle. Ninth graders are currently housed at the former Chester Middle School, now known as the Thomas Dale Ninth Grade Campus, while 10th - 12th graders are at the main campus.

== Academics ==
TDHS is ranked among the top 13,000-17,000 high schools in America, 263-320th in Virginia, 34-46 in the Richmond Metro Area, and 9-11 out of 11 high schools in [[Chesterfield County Public Schools|CCPS]]. 22% of students participate in [[Advanced Placement|AP]] courses. The graduation rate is 91%.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Dale High School - Overview |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/chesterfield-county-public-schools/thomas-dale-high-school-20409 |access-date=July 15, 2024 |website=usnews.com}}</ref>

== Sports ==
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2020}}
The athletic teams compete as the "Knights" and wear the school colors of maroon and gray.

*Baseball: Following a 2007 District Tournament Championship, the 2008 team went 20–3 on their way to a regular-season and tournament crown. The 2009 team again won the regular-season championship and advanced to the regional semi-finals before a close loss to Deep Run.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
*Football: Thomas Dale won their first state football championship on December 12, 2009, defeating [[Lake Braddock Secondary School#Football|Lake Braddock]].{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
*Soccer: In 2005, the Knights varsity boys soccer team won the Virginia State AAA soccer Championship. They successfully defended that title in 2006.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
*Tennis: The Thomas Dale Boys tennis team claimed five titles in 2010: Coach of the year, Player of the Year and Boys Singles titles, Boys Doubles title, and Team District Champions. The 2011 season gave the Knights their 3rd straight district title, ending the year with a 14–0 record.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
*Volleyball: The Thomas Dale 2007 boys volleyball went 26–0, losing only three sets all season, on their way to Thomas Dale's third team state title in three years (Boys soccer 2005, 2006).{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
*Wrestling: The wrestling team won the Central Region Championship in 1975, 1988, 1990, and 2008.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

== Notable alumni ==
*[[Will Bates]] (2009), former MLS player
*[[Roger Bothe]] (2006), former professional soccer player
*[[Melissa Harris-Perry]] (1991), former MSNBC TV host, professor of politics and African-American Studies at [[Wake Forest University]]
*[[William Henderson (American football)|William Henderson]] (1990), retired NFL player<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=HENDEWIL02
|title=William Henderson
|publisher=databaseFootball.com
|accessdate=March 25, 2013
|url-status=usurped
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123134631/http://databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=HENDEWIL02
|archivedate=January 23, 2013
}}</ref>
*[[Rudi Johnson]] (1998), retired NFL player<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JOHNSRUD02 |title=Rudi Johnson |publisher=databaseFootball.com |accessdate=March 25, 2013 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521115735/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JOHNSRUD02 |archivedate=May 21, 2013 }}</ref>
*[[Ken Oxendine]] (1994), retired NFL player<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=OXENDKEN01 |title=Ken Oxendine |publisher=databaseFootball.com |accessdate=March 25, 2013 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023185607/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=OXENDKEN01 |archivedate=October 23, 2012 }}</ref>
*[[C. J. Reavis]], NFL player<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pilotonline.com/sports/college/virginia-tech/football/andy-bitter/article_c82d3c84-3c69-5297-a479-6f51b92e5d0e.html|title=Reports: Defensive back C.J. Reavis commits to Hokies|first=Andy|last=Bitter|date=April 20, 2013|access-date=July 4, 2019}}</ref>
*[[Joe Sloan]] (2005), college football quarterback, Offensive Coordinator for the [[LSU Tigers football|LSU Tigers]].
*[[Chris Tyree]] (2020), college football wide receiver for the [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame Fighting Irish]] and the [[Virginia Cavaliers football|Virginia Cavaliers]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://247sports.com/player/chris-tyree-85374/high-school-148152/|title=Chris Tyree, Thomas Dale, All Purpose Back|website=247Sports.com|access-date=October 4, 2023}}</ref>
*[[Lacey Waldrop]] (2011), pro softball player

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [http://chesterfield.k12.va.us/Schools/Dale_HS/ Thomas Dale High School]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070702083123/http://specialtycenterarts.com/ Thomas Dale Specialty Center for the Arts]}}

{{Coord|37|21|44.8|N|77|26|12.8|W|display=title}}
{{AAA Central District}}
{{Education in Chesterfield County, Virginia}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale}}
[[Category:Public high schools in Virginia]]
[[Category:Chesterfield County Public Schools]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1906]]
[[Category:1906 establishments in Virginia]]
[[Category:Brick buildings and structures in Virginia]]

List of James River plantations

2025-05-02T20:58:29Z

72.84.78.56: /* Plantations south side of James River */

{{short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Category see also if exists|James River plantations}}
{{See also|Template:James River Plantations}}

'''James River plantations''' were established in the [[Virginia Colony]] along the [[James River]] between the mouth at [[Hampton Roads]] and the [[head of navigation]] at the [[Atlantic Seaboard fall line|Fall Line]] where [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] is today.

== History ==
The colony struggled for five years after its establishment at [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] in 1607. Finally, a profitable export crop was identified through the efforts of colonist [[John Rolfe]]. After 1612, a sweet form of [[tobacco]] became the largest export crop, customarily shipped in large [[hogshead]]s.

Because the river was a highway of commerce in the 17th and 18th centuries, the early [[plantations in the American South|plantation]]s were established on the north and south banks along it, with most having their own [[wharf]]s. Most were much larger than {{convert|100|acre|km2}}. The name derived from the English tradition of subdividing [[shire]]s/[[Counties of England|counties]] into [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]].

While some are now long gone, some of the larger and older of the James River plantations are still in use and/or open to the public. Almost all are privately owned, and houses and/or grounds are generally open daily to visitors with various admission fees applicable.

==Partial listing of plantations in early 17th century==

Based upon the makeup of the [[House of Burgesses]] in 1619, a partial list of
early plantations and their representatives were:

* for [[James City Shire|James City]]: Ensign [[William Spence (burgess)]] sometimes spelled Spense and Captain [[William Powell (Virginia colonist)|William Powell]]
* for [[Charles City Shire|Charles City]]: [[Samuel Sharpe (burgess)]] and Samuel Jordan
* for the [[Henricus|City of Henricus]]: [[Thomas Dowse]] and [[John Pollington]] or John Plentine or Polentine
* for [[Kecoughtan, Virginia|Kiccowtan]]: Captain William Tucker and [[William Capps]]
* for [[Lower Brandon Plantation|Martin's Brandon]], [[John Martin (Jamestown)|Captain John Martin]]'s Plantation: Thomas Davis and [[Robert Stacy]]
* for [[Smythe's Hundred]] Plantation: [[Captain Thomas Graves]] and [[Walter Shelley]]
* for [[Martin's Hundred|Martin's Hundred Plantation]] (also known as [[Wolstenholme Towne]]): John Boyse or Boys and John Jackson (burgess)
* for [[Argall's Gift Plantation]]: Thomas Pawlett and Edward Gourgainy
* for [[Flowerdew Hundred Plantation]]: Ensign [[Edmund Rossingham]] and [[John Jefferson (burgess)]]
* for Captain Lawne's Plantation: Captain [[Christopher Lawne]] and [[Ensign Washer]]
* for Captain Warde's Plantation: Captain John Warde and Lieutenant John Gibbes or [[John Gibbs (Virginia politician)|John Gibbs]]

==Plantations north side of James River==
Listed from east to west (downriver to upriver):
*[[Herbert House (Hampton, Virginia)|Herbert House]]
*[[Marie's Mount]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Seminar to explore lesser-known history of 400-year-old Irish settlement in Newport News|url=https://www.dailypress.com/2021/07/26/seminar-to-explore-lesser-known-history-of-400-year-old-irish-settlement-in-newport-news/|access-date=October 21, 2024|publisher=Daily Press|date=July 26, 2021}}</ref>
*[[Blunt Poynt|Blunt Point]]
*[[Denbigh Plantation|Denbigh]]
*[[Boldrup Plantation Archeological Site|Boldrup/Bolthrope]]
*[[Richneck Plantation|Richneck]]
*[[Stanley Hundred]]
*[[Matthew Jones House|Bourbon]]
*[[Endview Plantation|Endview]]
*[[Lee Hall Mansion|Lee Hall]] is a large 19th-century [[Italianate]] [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] built in 1859 as the home of Richard Decatur Lee, a prominent local planter who was not directly related to the famous Confederate general [[Robert E. Lee]]. The mansion was used as headquarters for Confederate generals [[Joseph E. Johnston]] and [[John B. Magruder]] during the [[Peninsula Campaign]] of the [[American Civil War]] in 1862. Lee Hall Mansion is now a museum.
*[[Queen Hith Plantation Complex Site|Queen Hith]]
*[[Carter's Grove Plantation|Carter's Grove]] stands on the former site of [[Martin's Hundred|Martin's Hundred Plantation]] and [[Wolstenholme Towne]].
*[[Kingsmill Plantation|Kingsmill]]
*[[Ambler Mansion]] In the two centuries following the arrival of the English colonists, the island landscape on [[Jamestown Island]] evolved from the seat of the colonial government to large plantations owned by the Ambler and Travis families. Built circa 1750 by [[Richard Ambler]], 350 yards east of the old [[Jamestown Church]], the two-story, center-hall, single-pile, brick house with walls laid in [[Flemish bond]] with few glazed headers was typical of early [[Georgian architecture]]. The home was burned during the [[American Revolution]] but was restored by [[Colonel John Ambler]]. The mansion by then owned by [[William (Orgain) Allen|William Allen]] was burned again by runaway slaves during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], and was restored a second time. When the house burned for a third time in 1895 it was abandoned but its ruins still stand and have been stabilized by the [[National Park Service]].
*[[Powhatan Plantation|Powhatan]]
*[[Green Spring Plantation|Green Spring]]
*[[Tomahund Plantation|Tomahund]] Tomahund is a plantation located just west of the [[Chickahominy River]]. The manor house built in the mid-18th century was a long [[gambrel]]-roofed wood-frame structure. The house at Tomahund resembled neighboring Tedington, and like Tedington it also had a two-level portico added. Although the 18th-century manor house no longer stands, Tomahund is a working plantation in the 21st century.
*[[Tedington Plantation|Tedington]] Tedington was built ca. 1750 by [[William Lightfoot]] on a tract of land at Sandy Point that had been acquired by his grandfather [[Phillip Lightfoot]] who arrived in the Virginia Colony in the late 17th century and became a wealthy merchant in Yorktown. The house was a long wood-frame structure with a gambrel roof and a two-level portico that was added at a later date. The house was destroyed by fire in 1928.
*[[Rowe Plantation]] was situated on Sandy Point along the James River. The 3 part house of architectural significance no longer exists. Owned early in its history by the Minge family. Other owners have been Lightfoot, Bolling and Harrison families.
*[[Sherwood Forest Plantation|Sherwood Forest]] is the home of President [[John Tyler]], the first Vice President to ascend to the presidency. Tyler was twice Governor of Virginia, a [[U.S. Senator]], a member of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], a Virginia state senator and member of the [[Virginia House of Delegates]]. A graduate of the [[College of William & Mary]], he later became Chancellor of that institution. As a supporter of state's rights, he re-entered public service in 1861 as an elected member of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Congress. He died in 1862. The house and its 1600 acres (6.5 km2) have been continuously owned by his direct descendants. In the mid-1970s, the residence was restored by President Tyler's grandson, [[Harrison Ruffin Tyler]], and his wife, the current owners.

:The House, circa 1730, is [[Tidewater architecture|Virginia Tidewater in architectural design]], and is the longest frame dwelling in America. It was expanded to its present length, 300 feet (90 m), by President Tyler in 1845, when he added the 68-foot (21 m) ballroom designed for dancing the [[Virginia reel (dance)|Virginia reel]]. Sherwood Forest is a [[National Historic Landmark]], Virginia Historic Landmark, and listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. Sherwood Forest is open to the public seven days a week, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

*[[Kittiewan]], originally known as Millford, overlooking Kittiewan Creek and the James River, is a typical Colonial-period medium-size wood-frame [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] characteristic of the Virginia Tidewater. Built in the 18th century, its first known owner was Dr. [[William Rickman]]. In 1776 Rickman was appointed by the [[Continental Congress]] to oversee the Virginia hospitals during the [[American Revolution]]. During the early 20th century, the magnificent paneled interior was identified as a potential acquisition for the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]s' American Wing, although the owners did not entertain the thought of removing this significant feature of the house. Stewardship of the house and surrounding {{convert|720|acre|km2}} is administered by the [[Archeological Society of Virginia]]. The house and grounds are open to the public by appointment.
*[[North Bend Plantation]] was built in 1819 by John Minge. In 1853 the home was doubled in size by Thomas Willcox. Architectural detailing from the expansion included Greek Revival detailing reminiscent of the designs of builder/architect [[Asher Benjamin]]. In 1864, during the [[American Civil War]], North Bend served as the headquarters of [[Major General]] [[Phillip Sheridan]] as 30,000 Union troops prepared to cross the James River on a [[pontoon bridge]]. The home has been in Copland family since 1916. It is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The grounds are open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily and guided tours of the house are available daily by appointment.
*[[Weyanoke, Virginia|Weyanoke]]
*[[Upper Weyanoke]] The plantation site was settled by English colonists during the 17th century and has been continuously occupied ever since, as indicated by archeological investigations. During the 18th century and early 19th century, the locally prominent Minge family owned the property, as well as others on the Weyanoke peninsula, such as [[North Bend (Weyanoke, Virginia)|North Bend]]. The one-and-a-half-story, early 19th-century brick cottage was probably built by John Minge as a two-room dependency to a now vanished main dwelling. The grounds of Upper Weyanoke also include a [[Greek Revival]] style residence built for [[Robert Douthat]] in 1859. The commodious two-story brick home has a side-hall plan typically utilized in urban homes, rather than rural plantation houses.
*[[Belle Air Plantation]] is a unique surviving example of a wooden house with post-medieval-type exposed interior framing, and is probably the oldest plantation dwelling along [[State Route 5 (Virginia)|State Route 5]]. The original five-bay portion of Belle Air possesses architectural details characteristic of seventeenth-century construction, with a floor plan and façade fenestration characteristic of 18th-century design. It is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The house is open for guided tours during Historic Garden Week and by appointment.
*[[Piney Grove at Southall's Plantation]] was established in the eighteenth century as a seat of the Southall family. During the late eighteenth century, the {{convert|300|acre|km2|adj=on}} plantation was owned by Furneau Southall. The original log portion of Piney Grove was built before 1790 as a corn crib, later converted and enlarged into a general merchandise store, and in 1905 enlarged and transformed into a residence. The home survives as a rare and well-preserved example of Early Virginia Log Architecture. It is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The grounds are open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily and guided tours of the house are available daily by appointment.
*[[Greenway Plantation]] is a wood-frame, one-and-a-half-story [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] that stands just north of Route 5 in Charles City County, Virginia. Located just west of the Charles City Courthouse, it is one of Charles City's earliest and most distinctive Colonial plantations and is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. Greenway was built circa 1776 by [[Judge John Tyler, Sr.]], the father of president [[John Tyler]]. Future President Tyler was born here in 1790. When Judge Tyler died in 1813, John Tyler at the age of 23 inherited Greenway and lived there until age 39 (1829), when he sold the plantation and moved to nearby [[Sherwood Forest Plantation]]. The plantation is privately owned and maintained. The structures have remained well-preserved over the years with little alteration.
*[[Burlington Plantation]]
*[[River Edge]] Once known as Clover Fields, River Edge, as it has been known for the last hundred years or more, stands just west of [[State Route 5 (Virginia)|State Route 5]] South, in Charles City County. The property was a grant of ten thousand acres from the crown to [[Colonel William Cole]], Esquire. The grant originally included all of the land along the James River from Gunn's Run to Herring Creek. Due to the destruction of early county records when the [[Charles City County Courthouse]] was burned by the Union Army during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], there is no record of the builder or date of construction for the present house. The deed of 1813 shows that there were four previous owners, and that in 1714 [[William Cole II]], a member of the [[House of Burgesses]], gave his bond, with [[John Stith]] as security, to construct warehouses on this land, then known as Swine Yards. Thus it is presumed that the house was built in the early 18th century. The house originally stood closer to the river but was moved to its present location at a later date. In 1769 William Cole IV sold four thousand of his ten thousand acres to [[William Byrd III]] of Westover. The nearby river landing known as Wilcox's Wharf, is the location from which a part of General Grant's army ferried across the James to Windmill Point at [[Flowerdew Hundred]] en route to lay siege to [[Petersburg, Virginia|Petersburg]] in 1864.
*[[Evelynton]] was originally part of [[William Byrd]]'s expansive Westover Plantation. Named for Byrd's daughter, Evelyn, this site has been home to the Ruffin family since 1847. The 2,500 acre (10 km2) farm is still family owned and operated. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house, lush grounds and gardens are open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.
*[[Westover Plantation|Westover]] was built circa 1750 by [[William Byrd III]], the son of William Byrd II, the founder of Richmond. It is noteworthy for its secret passages, magnificent gardens, and architectural details. The grounds and garden are open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, but the house is not open to the public.
*[[Berkeley Plantation]] was long the seat of the [[Harrison family]], one of the [[First Families of Virginia]]. It was the birthplace of [[Benjamin Harrison V]], son of the builder, who was a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] and three-time [[Governor of Virginia]]. His third son [[William Henry Harrison]], was born at Berkeley. A famous Indian fighter known as "Tippecanoe", William Henry Harrison later became the ninth President of the United States, in 1841, although he died shortly after taking office. His grandson, [[Benjamin Harrison]], was the 23rd President. On December 4, 1619, early settlers from England came ashore at Berkeley and observed the first official [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] in America. It was also the site of the first playing of ''[[Taps (bugle call)|Taps]]'' at the conclusion of the [[Peninsula Campaign|Peninsula Campaign of 1862]] during the [[American Civil War]]. It is normally open for tours 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.
*[[Edgewood and Harrison's Mill]] is a unique surviving example of Gothic Revival architecture along [[State Route 5 (Virginia)|State Route 5]] and the James River. Edgewood was once part of Berkeley Plantation and the mill was constructed by Benjamin Harrison V. It is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. The grounds are open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily and guided tours of the house are available daily by appointment.
*Westbury
*[[Shirley Plantation]], settled in 1613, is the oldest plantation in Virginia and the oldest family-owned business in North America, dating back to 1638. Occupied by the Hill family and their descendants since 1738, Shirley was the birthplace of [[Anne Hill Carter Lee]], the mother of Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]]. In 1793, she married [[Light Horse Harry Lee]] in the mansion's parlor. Shirley Plantation has been designated a [[National Historic Landmark]]. It is normally open for tours 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.
*[[Upper Shirley, Virginia|Upper Shirley]] The gracious late 19th-century dwelling at Upper Shirley with its beautiful site overlooking the [[James River]] has been the seat of several leading families of the Commonwealth. Built by [[Hill Carter]] for his son [[William Fitzhugh Carter]] during [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], a period in which few Virginians could afford to erect substantial residences, the original portion of the dwelling was constructed using bricks salvaged from a large 18th-century building that once formed part of the architectural complex at nearby [[Shirley Plantation]], the seat of the James River branch of the [[Carter family]]. The estate is privately owned and is not open to the public.
*[[Turkey Island (James River)|Turkey Island]]
*[[Malvern Hill]]
*[[Curles Neck]], was founded in the Varina district of [[Henrico County, Virginia|Henrico]] on 750 acres granted to [[Ancient Planter]] [[Thomas Harris (planter)|Thomas Harris]], family seat of the [[Harris (surname)|Harris]] branch of the [[First Families of Virginia]], at the request of [[Sir Thomas Dale]] for Harris's service in the early years of the colony. The original house built by Harris in 1633 is one of the oldest in Virginia; and the subject of an ongoing archaeology study. The plantation grew to over 5000 acres in size.
*[[Varina Farms]]
*[[Wilton House Museum|Wilton]] - Built circa 1753 for [[William Randolph III (son of William)|William Randolph III]], Wilton was once the centerpiece of a {{convert|2000|acre|km2|adj=on}} tobacco plantation in Henrico, and home to the [[Randolph family of Virginia|Randolph family]] for more than a century. They entertained [[George Washington]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], and the [[Marquis de Lafayette]]. Due to the industrialization of the surrounding area, in 1933 Virginia Society of [[The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America]] purchased Wilton and moved it to its current site on a bluff overlooking the James in Richmond, a few miles west of its original location.
*[[Chatsworth Plantation|Chatsworth]] - Chatsworth Plantation was part of the extensive Randolph family property acquired by [[William Randolph I]] (1650–1711). A home was built there in 1751 by Peter Randolph (1717–1767).
*[[Tree Hill (Richmond, Virginia)|Tree Hill]]-Begun in the late-eighteenth century just east of Richmond as a frame two-story, sidehall-plan farmhouse, Tree Hill grew with the Selden and Roane family fortunes until by the mid-nineteenth century the original house had evolved into a double-pile, center-hall plan Creek Revival plantation seat. As it stands today, the house is an impressive two-story [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States|plantation house]] with early one-story wings and a modern two-story tetrastyle portico. The house commands a magnificent view of the James River bottom lands and the Richmond city skyline.

==Plantations south side of James River==

Most of the extant plantations south of the James River are accessed by [[State Route 10 (Virginia)|State Route 10]], which runs between [[Suffolk, Virginia|Suffolk]] and [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] via [[Smithfield, Virginia|Smithfield]], [[Surry, Virginia|Surry]], and [[Hopewell, Virginia|Hopewell]].

The south side plantations, from east to west, include:

*[[Bacon's Castle]] also variously known as "Allen's Brick House" or the "Arthur Allen House" is located in Surry County, Virginia, USA, and is Virginia's oldest documented brick dwelling.[4] Built in 1665, it is noted as an extremely rare example of [[Jacobean architecture]] in the New World. The house became known as "Bacon's Castle" because it was occupied as a fort or "castle" by the followers of [[Nathaniel Bacon (colonist)|Nathaniel Bacon]] during [[Bacon's Rebellion]] in 1676. However, contrary to popular folklore, Bacon never lived at Bacon's Castle, nor is he even known to have ever visited it. Today Bacon's Castle is an historic house museum and historic site open for guest visitation. Bacon's Castle is an official [[Preservation Virginia]] historic site and operates under its 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit status.
*[[Chippokes]] Chippokes Plantation was established in 1617 by Captain William Powell of the Jamestown Settlement in the Virginia Colony. In 1967, the 1,700-acre (6.9 km2) plantation was donated to the [[Commonwealth of Virginia]] by Mrs. Victor Stewart for use as [[Chippokes State Park]]. One of the oldest working farms in the nation, Chippokes has kept its boundaries since the 17th century. The structures and artifacts on the property reflect plantation life from the early 17th century to the present. The [[antebellum architecture|antebellum]] Chippokes Mansion and the Chippokes Farm & Forestry Museum both offer scenic tours of the estate, cultivated formal gardens and woodlands.
*[[Rich Neck Farm]] Constructed in the early nineteenth century, the house was remarkable for the number of original accessory features that survived into the 21st century. Placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], May 19, 1980, Rich Neck provided a vivid impression of life on a prosperous Southside plantation in the early nineteenth century. Long connected with the Ruffins, one of the prominent families of [[Southside Virginia]], Rich Neck possessed a collection of buildings which were among the best preserved and most noteworthy of their type in the region. Situated behind the house were a nineteenth-century smokehouse, an early and mid-nineteenth-century office; and an outhouse, well house and chicken house, all built in the twentieth century. Original sashes, most of the doors, hinges (many with their leather washers), locks, and other hardware remained. The Ruffin family figured in Virginia's social and intellectual history throughout the colonial and early national periods. Its most notable member was [[Edmund Ruffin]], an ardent [[secessionist]] and agricultural pioneer. Research indicates Rich Neck was owned by the Ruffin family until 1865. The house long stood vacant and in a state of disrepair. In 2011 [[Preservation Virginia]] listed Rich Neck Farm as one of the most endangered historic sites in Virginia. The house was destroyed by fire in 2012.
*[[Pleasant Point (Scotland, Virginia)|Pleasant Point]] Patented to William Edwards in 1657, Pleasant Point is the ancestral home of the Edwards family in Virginia. The 19th-century home was built between 1724 and 1765 and renovated in the 1830s and 1950s. A Confederate signal station existed on the property during the Civil War; in [https://virginiachronicle.com/cgi-bin/virginia?a=d&d=TD19130803.1.41&srpos=119&e=-------en-20--101--txt-txIN-%22Pleasant+Point%22------#.WlvHejzvXyg.email May, 1864, U.S. troops raided the property] before continuing upriver toward Richmond, according to [[James Hoge Tyler]], a Confederate soldier assigned to the unit who later served as governor of Virginia (1898–1902).
*[[Smith's Fort]] The plantation received its name because it was the location of Captain John Smith's "New Fort," built in 1609, located directly across the James River from the Jamestown colony. The fort was quickly abandoned due to dry rot and a rat infestation.[3] The same land was later given by Chief Powhatan to John Rolfe as a dowry for the hand of Pocahontas when Rolfe and Pocahontas married. Archaeological surveys of the property have revealed that a number of structures have existed on the property and the present, restored main house was built by Jacob Faulcon in 1751.
*[[Swann's Point Plantation Site|Swann's Point]]
*[[Four Mile Tree]] A plantation near Jamestown, Virginia that once encompassed two thousand acres (8 km2), it was situated on the south bank of the James River opposite Jamestown, four miles (6 km) further north. On a hill near the water's edge a handsome old house overlooks the river. This plantation, was the seat of the Browne family for two hundred years. The first owner, Colonel Henry Browne, was a member of [[William Berkeley (governor)|Sir William Berkeley]]'s Council in 1643. The manor house constructed circa 1745 remains well-preserved in its original historical state.
*[[Pipsico]] (now [[Pipsico Scout Reservation]])
*[[Eastover Plantation|Eastover plantation]] has been owned and operated by the Peninsula Baptist Association as a retreat center since 1972. The 19th-century manor house overlooking the James River has been renovated to accommodate the modern desires of guests. It can be reserved for special events such as weddings, bridal and baby showers, afternoon teas and Bed and Breakfast lodging all based on availability.
*[[Wakefield Plantation]] is the original home of the prominent [[Harrison family]] as it appears to have been the property of the first Benjamin Harrison as early as 1643.<ref>The William and Mary Quarterly
Vol. 16, No. 4 (Apr. 1908), pp. 221-235</ref> Portions of Wakefield remained in the Harrison Family until circa 1800. The present mansion at Wakefield was built in the 1940s.
*[[Claremont Manor]] Claremont Manor is located in Surry County, Virginia, on the south shore of James River at its confluence with [[Upper Chippokes Creek]]. It was in the area occupied by the [[Quiyoughcohannock Indians]] when George Harrison received a grant of 200 acres there is 1621. [[Arthur Allen (Virginia Colony)|Arthur Allen]] purchased the land in 1656, and in 1754, William Allen built the manor house, naming it Claremont Manor in 1793. The name Claremont was generally thought to be in honor of the Royal Residence "Claremont" in the [[Shire]] of [[Surrey, England]], birthplace of [[Queen Victoria]]. The plantation remained in the Allen family for over two centuries. The house survives with many alterations.
*[[Lower Brandon Plantation|Brandon Plantation]] is located on the south shore of the [[James River]] in [[Prince George County, Virginia]]. The {{convert|5000|acre|km2|adj=on}} plantation is a working farm and is one of the longest-running agricultural enterprises in the United States. It has an unusual brick mansion in the style of [[Palladio]]'s "Roman Country House" completed in the 1760s, and was perhaps designed by [[Thomas Jefferson]]. It was established in 1616 by [[Captain John Martin]], one of the original leaders of the [[Virginia Colony]] at [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] in 1607. The plantation was owned by the [[Harrison family]] from 1700 to 1926 when the estate was purchased and restored by [[Robert Williams Daniel]]. Brandon is a National Historical Landmark and although it is a private residence, the house and gardens are open for tours.
*[[Upper Brandon Plantation]] - This was part of an original land patent known as Brandon, granted to [[Captain John Martin]], one of the founders of Jamestown. William Byrd Harrison inherited the upper {{convert|3555|acre|km2}} of Brandon, which became Upper Brandon. He built a large brick manor house in 1825 and developed the farm into a model of modern agricultural management. It remained in the [[Harrison family]] until 1948. In 1985, a Richmond-based corporation purchased the property, and restored and furnished the long-vacant manor house for use as a corporate retreat. Upper Brandon is a privately owned working farm.
*Edloe - This important five-bay wood-frame [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] overlooks the James River just west of Upper Brandon. Matthew Edloe I arrived in Virginia in 1618 aboard the ''Neptune'', [[Lord Delaware]]'s ship, and 1637 his son and heir Matthew Edloe II patented 1,200 acres in [[Charles City County, Virginia]]. Prince George County was formed from the portion of Charles City located south of the James River in 1703. The date of construction of the house at Edloe is unknown because the property records of Prince George County were destroyed during the American Civil War. The five-bay clapboard house was insured by John Edloe in 1805 and 1810, and old beams uncovered during 20th-century renovations to the house indicate that it almost certainly dates to the 18th century. The book ''Sketches of Slave Life: Or, Illustrations of the "Peculiar Institution"'' by Peter Randolph published in 1855 describes Randolph's live as a slave on Edloe Plantation prior to the Civil War. Edloe is a privately owned working farm in the 21st century.
*Dunmore-
*Willow Hill - This 700-acre plantation overlooking the James River at the mouth of Wards Creek, was an original grant to Col. John Ward in the 17th century. The original house burned in the 1840s and was rebuilt on the same foundation. The brick facade was added in the 1940s by Mrs. Cocke.
*Bonnacord - Captain David Peebles of Fife County, [[Scotland]], a Royalist, escaped to Virginia circa 1649 during the [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]] Rebellion, leaving his wife and their young children in Fife. In 1650 he patented 833 acres on the south bank of the [[James River]] in Charles City County (later Prince George) Southeast of Old River Road (now Rte 10) and Powell's Creek. David Peebles called his plantation ‘Bon Accord,’ and died there prior to September 1, 1659. Through marriage and inheritance the Bon Accord estate passed through the Poythress family to the Cocke Family.
*[[Aberdeen (Disputanta, Virginia)|Aberdeen]] is a historic [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] located several miles north of Disputanta, in Prince George County, Virginia. It was built about 1810, and is a two-story, temple form brick dwelling. Unlike most of the James River Plantations Aberdeen was built back from the River along the old river road (now Rte 10). It features a pedimented gable roof and a diminutive entrance portico supported by [[Doric order]] columns. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
*[[Flowerdew Hundred]] dates to 1618–19 with the patent of {{convert|1000|acre|km2}} on the south side of the James River in Virginia. Sir George Yeardley, the Governor and Captain General of the Virginia Colony, may have named the property after his wife, [[Temperance Flowerdew]]. Their primary residence was in Jamestown when Sir George called the first General Assembly in Jamestown in 1620. With a population of about 30, the plantation was economically successful with thousands of pounds of tobacco produced along with corn, fish and livestock. Sir George paid 120 pounds (possibly a hogshead of tobacco) to build the first windmill in British America. The plantation was purchased in the 1960s by David A. Harrison, III, a member of the prominent [[Harrison family]]. He permitted extensive archaeological digs to be conducted on the property. The artifacts collected during these digs were donated to the [[University of Virginia]]. Today, Flowerdew Hundred plantation is a private residence.
*[[Hatches]]
*[[Maycock Plantation]], also known as Maycox and Maycock's Plantation, (now incorporated into the [[James River National Wildlife Refuge]])
*Greenway is located on the south side of Rt 10 east of [[Hopewell, Virginia|Hopewell]]. The residence was built ca. 1800 and is among the oldest houses still standing in [[Prince George County]]. The house, built over an English basement, is a typical wood frame, hall and parlor, farm house with gabled dormers and large end chimneys. Many of the windows have the original blown glass. Greenway is a private residence and is currently operated as an [[American Saddlebred]] horse farm.
*[[Beechwood Plantation]] (home of [[Edmund Ruffin]] and site of the [[Beefsteak Raid]]) Built in the 1850s by Edmund Ruffin for his son [[Edmund Ruffin, Jr.]], the house is a large, two-story, wood frame, mansion built in the [[Greek Revival]] style, sided with plain weatherboards set on a full raised brick basement with, interior chimneys, floor to ceiling windows and a low, hipped tin roof. Long vacant and open to the elements, Beechwood stands in a state of ruin as of 2011.
*[[Tar Bay]] One of only a few brick homes built on the south bank of the James during the colonial period, the Tar Bay mansion was a high style Georgian [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] built in 1746 by Daniel Colley on a bluff overlooking a broad reach of the James just west of [[Coggins Point]] known as Tar Bay. The house was a two-story five-bay, hip-roofed brick structure over a full English basement. Its brickwork was laid in Flemish bond with gauged brick [[jack arches]]. It was somewhat unusual due to an extension from the river front that gave the house a T-shaped floor plan. The chimneys had exterior fireplace openings, that were bricked up at the time of construction. These were apparently for future additions to either side of the house that were planned, but never built. The plantation remained in the Colley family through the early 19th century when the estate passed by marriage and inheritance through the Cocke family to descendants of [[Edmund Ruffin]]. The mansion was being used as a summer home by the Ruffin family when it was gutted by fire in the mid-1960s. Its ruins still stand (2013) nearly forgotten in the woods above the James.
*[[Bouvier Castle]]
*[[Jordan Point, Virginia|Jordan's Journey]]
*[[Evergreen Plantation (Virginia)|Evergreen Plantation]] (birthplace of [[Edmund Ruffin]])
*[[Appomattox Plantation]] is a [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] located (at [[City Point, Virginia|City Point]]) in Hopewell, Virginia, USA. It is best known as the Union headquarters during the [[Siege of Petersburg]] in 1864–65. The restored manor house on a bluff overlooking the confluence of the James River and Appomattox River, and the grounds are managed by the [[National Park Service]]. The museum there, Grant's Headquarters at City Point Museum, is a unit of the [[Petersburg National Battlefield]] Park.
*[[Weston Manor]] is a large five-bay, wood-frame, [[Plantation complexes in the Southeastern United States#Plantation house|plantation house]] built in 1789 for William and Christian Eppes Gilliam on land in Prince George County acquired from her cousin [[John Wayles Eppes]] as a wedding gift. The Gilliam family arrived in Virginia in the 17th century as indentured servants. By the late 18th century the family had amassed several plantations in the area. Christian was the daughter of Richard Eppes of [[Appomattox Plantation]]. Her maternal grandfather was a descendant of [[Pocahontas]], as were many members of the [[First Families of Virginia]]. It is noted for its period interior, and is open for tours from April 1 through October 31 each year. Hours are Monday through Saturday 10am - 4:30pm, Sunday 1pm - 4:30pm.
*[[Presquile Plantation]] In 1780, [[David Meade Randolph]] married a cousin [[Mary Randolph]] and they settled in Chesterfield County near [[Bermuda Hundred]] at Presquile, a plantation just west of the [[Appomattox River]] that was part of the [[Randolph family of Virginia|Randolph family]]'s extensive property along the James River. While David Randolph saw to the cultivation of his plantation, gaining a reputation as "the best farmer in the country," as well as a noted inventor, Mary assumed a conventional role, supervising the household, entertaining their many guests and acquiring a reputation as a lively hostess who set an exquisite table. While living at Presquile, Mary bore four sons. Over time, life at Presquile, situated along the swamp lands of the lower James River, proved difficult. According to a contemporary source, the swamps produced noxious fumes that brought on "frequent and dangerous diseases. Mr. Randolph is himself very sickly, and his young and amiable wife has not enjoyed one month of good health since she first came to live on this plantation." By 1798, the family had moved to Richmond, where they built a mansion, christened "Moldavia" (a combination of their two given names) by a friend. Presquile was sold out of the Randolph family three years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chesterfield.gov/content.aspx?id%3D2978 |title=County of Chesterfield, VA | Historic Chesterfield - Mary Randolph - History |accessdate=August 25, 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910091332/http://www.chesterfield.gov/content.aspx?id=2978 |archivedate=September 10, 2015 }}</ref> Part of the plantation is now the [[Presquile National Wildlife Refuge]]
*[[Mont Blanco]] also known as Mount Blanco was a plantation set on a high bluff overlooking the [[James River]] in [[Chesterfield County, Virginia]]. The manor house was a two-story, wood-frame, [[hall and parlor house|side-hall]] farmhouse, with an [[Ell (architecture)|ell]] built in the last decade of the eighteenth century for [[John Wayles Eppes]], a [[United States representative]] and [[United States Senate|Senator]] from [[Virginia]] and son-in-law of [[U.S. President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]]. The name of the Plantation is said to have been suggested by Eppes's father-in-law Thomas Jefferson, due to the height of the bluff and the expansive views across the broad river valley below. ([[Mont Blanc]], in the [[Alps]], is the highest mountain in [[Western Europe]].) During the [[American Civil War]], the plantation was plundered by Union soldiers of the [[Army of the James]] under General [[Benjamin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Franklin Butler]], who occupied the area during the [[Bermuda Hundred Campaign]]. In 1948 Mount Blanco, then operated as a dairy farm known as Wood's Dairy, was acquired by Francis Gibbons Sloan, grandfather of [[LSU]] offensive coordinator [[Joe Sloan]]. The 18th century house at Mount Blanco was destroyed by fire in the mid-1950s and was replaced by a modern home. In the first decade of the 21st century, the agricultural operation was discontinued, and the land was developed as a residential subdivision.
*Meadowville, originally part of [[Sir Thomas Dale]]'s settlement in 1613. It was first called Rochdale Hundred and afterwards 'Neck of Land in Charles City', to distinguish it from 'Neck of Land in James City' and later became known as Jones Neck.<ref name=Torrence>{{cite web |last1=Torrence |first1=William Clayton |title=Henrico County, Virginia: Beginnings of Its Families: Part I |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1914991 |website=The William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine |access-date=November 16, 2024 |doi=10.2307/1914991 |date=1915}}</ref> By 1681 the land had been acquired by [[William Byrd]] who sold 507 acres to Richard Kennon, who gave the property to his daughter Judith who married Thomas Eldridge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ELDRIDGE/1998-12/0912902710 |title=RootsWeb: ELDRIDGE-L [ELDRIDGE-L] THOMAS ELDRIDGE, JUNIOR AND SENIOR - VIRGINIA (Part 1 of 8) |website=archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126032910/http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ELDRIDGE/1998-12/0912902710 |archive-date=January 26, 2013}}</ref> The Jones Neck property was later divided and the western portion became known as Rochedale and the eastern 207 acre parcel became known as Meadowville. In 1926 a canal known as the [[Jones Neck cutoff]] was dug across property which shortened distance by water to Richmond by 4.5 miles. The portion that was separated became known as Meadowville Island. The property remained devoted to agriculture until the early 21st century when it was sold for the development of Meadowville Landing, a high end residential community.
*Rochedale Hundred, was originally part of Sir Thomas Dale's settlement in 1613. It was first called Rochdale Hundred and afterwards 'Neck of Land in Charles City', to distinguish it from 'Neck of Land in James City' and later became known as Jones Neck.<ref name=Torrence/> By 1681 the land had been acquired by [[William Byrd]] who sold 507 acres to Richard Kennon, who gave the property to his daughter Judith who married Thomas Eldridge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ELDRIDGE/1998-12/0912902710 |title=RootsWeb: ELDRIDGE-L [ELDRIDGE-L] THOMAS ELDRIDGE, JUNIOR AND SENIOR - VIRGINIA (Part 1 of 8) |website=archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130126032910/http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ELDRIDGE/1998-12/0912902710 |archive-date=January 26, 2013}}</ref> The Jones Neck property was later divided and the western portion became known as Rochedale and the eastern parcel became known as Meadowville. In the mid-20th century the western 300 acres known as Rochedale Farm was acquired by a [[Southern States Cooperative]] executive and remained devoted to agriculture until the late 1980s when it was sold for the development of River's Bend on the James, a high end executive community. In 1990 the [[Varina-Enon Bridge]] that carries [[Interstate 295 (Virginia)]] across the James River opened just east of Rochedale.
*Kingsland (owned by [[Christopher Branch]] at [[Henricus]])
*Spring Hill is a {{frac|1|1|2}}-story, double-pile, side-hall, wood-frame plantation house. The house is clad with beaded clapboards and rests upon a brick foundation laid in a Flemish bonc. It is covered with a gabled roof pierced by two dormers on each slope. It has a pair of brick chimneys on the west wall, opposite the interior passage. Dendrochronological analysis has shown that the original structure was built in the summer of 1767 or shortly thereafter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dendrochronology.com/SHLVAx1.html|title = Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory - Spring Hill - Virginia}}</ref> The house stands in a state of ruin in the woods just west of the [[Dutch Gap]] power station.
*[[Bellwood (Richmond, Virginia)|Bellwood]] is a historic plantation house, that has also been known as Sheffield, Auburn Chase, and New Oxford. Bellwood was built on Sheffield, a plantation owned by the Seth Ward family since the mid 17th century. Judge Richard Ward, son of the original Seth Ward immigrant, acquired Sheffield in 1665 and five subsequent generations of first born sons named Seth were born and raised at Sheffield. In 1797 Seth Ward V sold the property to his aunt and uncle, Mary Ward and Richard Claiborne Gregory who built Bellwood about 1804, as the manor house on the large Sheffield plantation that is the site of the present-day [[Defense Supply Center, Richmond]]. When the U.S. Army purchased the property in 1941 from the estate of James Bellwood the manor house was turned into an officers' club. The structure, although renovated and adapted for use by the military, still retains much of its original architecture, including its original pine flooring, paneled doors, stairs, ornamental locks and doorknobs, and window frames. The Bellwood Club is on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and is a registered historic landmark in both Virginia and Chesterfield County.
*[[Ampthill (Chesterfield County, Virginia)]] Ampthill Plantation was located on the south bank of the James River about four miles south of the head of navigation at modern-day Richmond, Virginia. Built by [[Henry Cary, Jr.]] about 1730, it was just upstream of Falling Creek. It was later owned by Colonel [[Archibald Cary]], who maintained a flour mill complex and iron forge at the nearby town of Warwick. [[Mary Randolph]] was born there in 1762. In 1929 the manor house at Ampthill was dismantled and moved to a site on Cary Street Road in the West end of Richmond where it still stands today. The former plantation property is now occupied by a [[DuPont]] plant.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|James River Plantations}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080208080519/http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/jamesriver/ James River Plantations, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]

{{James River Plantations}}

[[Category:James River plantations| ]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Virginia]]
[[Category:James River (Virginia)]]

Thomas Nelson Conrad

2025-03-30T15:19:04Z

72.84.78.56: /* Civil War */

{{Short description|American academic administrator}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Thomas Nelson Conrad
| image = Thomas Nelson Conrad.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = August 1, 1837
| birth_place = [[Fairfax, Virginia|Fairfax Court House, Virginia]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1905|1|5|1837|8|1}}
| death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| order = 3rd
| title = President of [[Virginia Tech|Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College]]
| term_start = January 17, 1882
| term_end = July 1, 1886
| predecessor = [[John Lee Buchanan]]
| successor = [[Lunsford L. Lomax]]
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Educator, soldier, chaplain, journalist, mayor
| spouse = Emma T. Ball (1845-1900, her death)
| children = 7
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| allegiance = {{Flag|Confederate States of America}}
| branch = [[Confederate Secret Service]]
| alma_mater = [[Dickinson College]]
}}
'''Thomas Nelson Conrad''' (August 1, 1837 – January 5, 1905) was the third president of [[Virginia Tech]] (then [[Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College]]) and served in the [[Confederate Secret Service]] during the Civil War.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.unirel.vt.edu/history/historical_digest/conrad_years.html|title=The Conrad Years|last=|first=|date=|website=Virginia Tech History: Historical Digest|archive-url=|archive-date=|accessdate=May 30, 2016}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.collegiatetimes.com/the-confederate-president/article_9de2184e-1b06-11e7-8676-43797fd9220b.html|title=The Confederate President|last=Jones|first=Matt|date=March 21, 2017|website=Collegiate Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=April 17, 2020}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Conrad was born on August 1, 1837, to Nelson Conrad and Lavenia M. Thomas, at [[Fairfax, Virginia|Fairfax Court House, Virginia]].<ref name=":1" /> He attended [[Dickinson College]] in [[Carlisle, Pennsylvania]], where he received his bachelor's degree in 1857.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/125th/pres/conrad.htm|title=President Thomas Nelson Conrad|last=|first=|date=May 19, 2008|website=Virginia Tech Special Collections|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521182252/http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/125th/pres/conrad.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2018|accessdate=April 17, 2020}}</ref>

==Civil War==
At the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]], Conrad taught at the Georgetown Institute in [[Washington, D.C.]], which also bestowed a master's degree on him in 1860.<ref name=":1" /> While there, he openly expressed his sympathy for the Confederacy, and a few days after the June 1861 commencement, he was arrested and placed in the [[Old Capitol Prison]].<ref name=steers>{{cite book|last1=Steers|first1=Edward|title=Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|date=2005|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813191515|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFi3hlh0VPUC&q=Thomas+Nelson+Conrad+Georgetown+Institute&pg=PA55|accessdate=June 29, 2015}}</ref>{{rp|55}}

Conrad was given a letter of recommendation from General [[J.E.B. Stuart|Stuart]] to President [[Jefferson Davis]] to spy for the [[Confederate Secret Service]]. He met Davis, who endorsed the letter and referred him to other members of the Confederate government. Conrad received gold from [[Judah Benjamin]] and his “name placed on the rolls of the secret service bureau”. He then saw Secretary of War [[James Seddon|Seddon]] for “papers and outfit”. Davis invited Conrad to his [[White House of the Confederacy|executive mansion]] to hear his plans.<ref name="Conrad">{{cite book | last = Conrad | first = Thomas Nelson | title = The Rebel Scout | publisher = National Publishing Co. | year = 1904 | url =https://archive.org/details/rebelscoutthrill00conr}}</ref>{{rp|93–95}}

Captain Conrad went to [[Washington, D.C.]] with his Dickinson roommate and [[Phi Kappa Sigma]] fraternity brother Daniel Mountjoy Cloud and M. B. “Tippie” Ruggles, son of General [[Daniel Ruggles]] as couriers. His slave William also accompanied them.<ref name="Conrad"/>{{rp|95}}

Conrad set up his covert intelligence gathering operation in the large "Van Ness" estate, owned by [[Thomas Greene (CSA)|Thomas Greene]], at the corner of Constitution and 17th in the heart of [[Washington D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.collegiatetimes.com/news/the-confederate-president-part-ii-the-spy/article_6b5b4af4-0967-11e7-9888-133ee4b2d2a1.html | title=The Confederate president, Part II: The Spy | date=March 24, 2017 }}</ref> Greene had helped Conrad earlier, was a known CSA sympathiser, and a close relative of the wife of CSA Intelligence Major [[Cornelius Boyle]].

His wartime exploits included among other things, hatching a plot to assassinate the [[Commanding General of the United States Army]], [[Winfield Scott]], that was vetoed by the Confederate government who feared that the elderly and infirm Scott would be replaced by someone more fit for command; sneaking into the [[United States Department of War|War Office]] during lunch hour to lift copies of documents describing General [[George B. McClellan|McClellan]]'s battle plans for the [[Peninsula Campaign]], a large-scale offensive by the [[Union Army]] to capture the Confederate capitol at [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] from the desk of a friend who was a [[double agent]]; and conspiring to kidnap [[U.S. President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]].<ref name=":1" />

In September 1864, Conrad and a team went to Washington in an attempt to kidnap President [[Abraham Lincoln]]. The members of the team were “Bull” Frizzell (who had been in the Old Capitol Prison with him), Cloud, and slave William. The plan was abandoned because Lincoln was well protected.<ref name=ev /> Conrad denied that anyone in the Confederate government knew of his plot except for the military secretary of General [[Braxton Bragg]] who was aware of it.<ref name="Conrad"/>{{rp|131}} However, Seddon wrote an order for [[John S. Mosby]] and Lieutenant Cawood to “aid and facilitate the movements of Capt. Conrad.”<ref name="Conrad"/>{{rp|119}}

Conrad’s courier Ruggles assisted [[John Wilkes Booth]] by giving him a ride on his horse shortly before Booth was killed.<ref name=JC>{{cite news|last1=Cress|first1=Joseph|title=Shadow of Suspicion: Dickinson College grads conspired to kidnap Lincoln months before assassination|url=http://cumberlink.com/news/local/communities/carlisle/shadow-of-suspicion-dickinson-college-grads-conspired-to-kidnap-lincoln/article_49a81e69-aab2-514c-9cd3-231e7afd82cf.html|accessdate=June 29, 2015|publisher=The Sentinel|date=April 11, 2015}}</ref> Conrad was also a frequent visitor to [[Mary Surratt|Mary Surratt's]] tavern that was used as a safe house for Confederate spies.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hatch|first1=Frederick|title=Protecting President Lincoln|date=2011|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786463626|page=85|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k_Co6TgBGQUC&q=Thomas+Nelson+Conrad+Mary+Surratt&pg=PA85|accessdate=June 29, 2015}}</ref>

Two days after Lincoln was assassinated, Conrad was arrested by a landing party of the Union vessel [[USS Jacob Bell (1842)|Jacob Bell]] on the night of April 16, 1865.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Furgurson|first1=Ernest B.|title=Teacher, Preacher, Soldier, Spy|date=August 7, 2012|url=http://www.historynet.com/teacher-preacher-soldier-spy.htm|publisher=History Net|accessdate=June 29, 2015}}</ref> He was put aboard a train bound for a Union [[prisoner of war]] camp but managed to escape by jumping from the moving train after the soldiers guarding him fell asleep.<ref name=":1" /> He vanished into the Virginia wilderness and was never re-captured.

In May 1887 Conrad wrote several articles about his activities as a spy for a Philadelphia newspaper. He later reworked these into the 1892 autobiography ''A Confederate Spy: A Story of the Civil War'', which he later revised into the 1904 work ''The Rebel Scout: A Thrilling History of Scouting Life in the Southern Army''.<ref name=ev>{{cite web|last1=Furgurson|first1=Ernest B.|title=Thomas Nelson Conrad (1837–1905)|url=http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Conrad_Thomas_Nelson_1837-1905|publisher=Encyclopedia Virginia|accessdate=June 29, 2015}}</ref>

==Post-War Career==
In 1871, Conrad was appointed principal of the [[Preston and Olin Institute]] in [[Blacksburg, Virginia]], until it reorganized the next year as [[Virginia Tech|Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College]] (now Virginia Tech). He then purchased the ''Montgomery Messenger'' newspaper.<ref name=":1" />

Conrad served as the mayor of Blacksburg for three months in 1882<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/sidebar.htm|title=A Special Place for 200 Years: Blacksburg's Mayors and the Evolution of Town Government|last=Boone-Caldwell|first=Donna|date=|website=Virginia Tech Special Collections|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521230309/http://spec.lib.vt.edu/bicent/recoll/histbook/sidebar.htm|archive-date=May 21, 2018|access-date=April 17, 2020}}</ref> and was appointed president of [[Virginia Tech|Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College]] the same year.<ref name=":0" /> During his tenure, the college switched from semesters to the quarter system, which remained in place until the late 1980s. The college spent $2,229.96 on books of fiction and poetry, and a museum was opened. For the first time, the school’s farm became financially successful.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.president.vt.edu/lt_conrad.php |title=Life & Times of Virginia Tech Presidents |accessdate=August 15, 2007 |publisher=Office of the President of Virginia Tech |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070303025711/http://www.president.vt.edu/lt_conrad.php  |archivedate = March 3, 2007}}</ref> In 1886, the Board of Visitors removed all officers and faculty of the college, including Conrad.<ref name=":0" />

Conrad once again became mayor of Blacksburg, this time for one month in 1887.<ref name=":1" /> He then joined the faculty of the [[University of Maryland, College Park|Maryland Agricultural College]], resigning in 1890 to accept a position with the [[United States Census Office|U.S. Census Office ]] in [[Washington D.C.]]
<ref>’Thomas Nelson Conrad Dead’, ''The Washington Post'', January 6, 1905, p. 10.</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Digital Collections at the University of Maryland|title=A College Divided: Maryland Agricultural College and the Civil War|date=September 20, 2011|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalcollectionsum/6258579115/|access-date=April 17, 2020}}</ref> He later retired to a farm in [[Prince William County, Virginia|Prince William County]].<ref name=":1" />

== Personal life ==
Conrad married Emma “Minnie” Ball on October 4, 1866, and the couple had seven children.<ref name=":1" />

==Death==
Conrad died in [[Washington, D.C.]], on January 5, 1905, at age 67, and was buried in [[Montgomery County, Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://president.vt.edu/content/president_vt_edu/en/presidents.html|title=Past Presidents|website=president.vt.edu|language=en|access-date=April 17, 2020}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

==Legacy and honors==
The Conrad Cavalry, the equestrian unit of the [[Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets]], is named for Conrad who was an expert horseman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vtcc.vt.edu/alumni/corpsreview/cr-summer2017/summer17-conrad.html|title = Pilot Program Brings Training to the Conrad Cavalry Cadets}}</ref>

==References==
<references />

{{Virginia Tech presidents}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Thomas Nelson}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1905 deaths]]
[[Category:American slave owners]]
[[Category:American Civil War spies]]
[[Category:Presidents of Virginia Tech]]
[[Category:Dickinson College alumni]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States military]]

Martha Jefferson

2025-03-29T05:12:08Z

72.84.78.56: /* Slaves and Wayles' estate */

{{short description|First Lady of Virginia, wife of Thomas Jefferson (1748–1782)}}
{{about|Thomas Jefferson's wife|his daughter|Martha Jefferson Randolph}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Martha Jefferson
| birth_name = Martha Wayles
| term_label1 = In role
| image =
| caption = unknown painting presumed 1700s
| birth_date = {{birth date|1748|10|30}}
| birth_place = [[Charles City, Virginia|Charles City]], [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]], [[British America]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1782|9|6|1748|10|30}}
| death_place = [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], U.S.
| order1 = [[First Lady of Virginia]]
| term_start1 = June 1, 1779
| term_end1 = June 3, 1781
| predecessor1 = [[Dorothea Dandridge Henry|Dorothea Henry]]
| successor1 = Anne Fleming
| religion =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Bathurst Skelton|1766|1768|end=d}}
* {{marriage|[[Thomas Jefferson]]|1772}}
}}
| children = {{hlist|John Skelton|[[Martha Jefferson Randolph]]|Jane Randolph Jefferson|unnamed son|[[Mary Jefferson Eppes]]|Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson|Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson}}
| father = [[John Wayles]]
| mother = Martha Eppes
| relations =
| signature =
}}

'''Martha Skelton Jefferson''' ([[Maiden and married names|''née'']] '''Wayles'''; October 30, 1748 – September 6, 1782) was the wife of [[Thomas Jefferson]] from 1772 until her death. She served as First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson's term as [[Governor of Virginia|governor]] from 1779 to 1781. She died in 1782, 19 years before he became [[President of the United States|president]].<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /><ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" />

Of the six children born to Thomas and Martha, only two survived to adulthood, [[Martha Jefferson Randolph|Martha]] and [[Mary Jefferson Eppes|Mary]]. Martha died four months after the birth of her last child.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ">{{Cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/martha-wayles-skelton-jefferson |title=Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson |website=www.monticello.org |first=Gaye |last=Wilson |date=October 10, 1998|language=en |access-date=January 2, 2020}}</ref> The couple's letters to one another were burned, though by whom is unknown, and Thomas rarely spoke of her, so she remains a somewhat enigmatic figure.<ref name="Schwartz p. 129" /> (Similarly, Jefferson did not speak much of his mother, [[Jane Randolph Jefferson]].)<ref>{{cite book|author=William G. Hyland Jr.|title=Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKUoCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA134|date=26 February 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3984-5|pages=134–135}}</ref>{{efn|See [[Jane Randolph Jefferson#Relationship with Thomas|Jane Randolph Jefferson § Relationship with Thomas]]}}

As a widower, Thomas had a long-standing relationship and children with Martha's half-sister, [[Sally Hemings]], an enslaved woman who was three-quarters white by descent.<ref name=mont>{{cite web|url=http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/John_Wayles|title=John Wayles|website=Monticello|access-date=25 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120722015323/http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/John_Wayles|archive-date=22 July 2012}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Martha Wayles was born on October 30, 1748 (O.S. October 19, 1748), the only surviving child born to Martha Eppes Wayles (1721–1748) and [[John Wayles]] (1715–1773),<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /> near [[Colonial Williamsburg]]<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" /> in [[Charles City County, Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/forest |title=The Forest |website=www.monticello.org |language=en |access-date=January 2, 2020}}</ref>

Martha's mother, Martha Eppes Wayles, had previously given birth to twins in 1746, but neither survived; the girl was [[stillborn]] and the boy died hours after his birth.<ref name="Monticello - JW" /> Martha was nicknamed "Patsy".<ref name="Hyland p. 115">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKUoCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 |title=Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson |last=Hyland |first=William G. |date=2015-02-26 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3984-5 |pages=115 |language=en}}</ref> Martha's father John was a [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]]-born emigrant to the [[Thirteen Colonies]] who worked as an attorney and prosperous [[Planter class|planter]] and [[Slavery in the colonial United States|slave trader]]. In addition, he was an agent for the Farrell and Jones company based in [[Bristol]], undertaking activities such as [[debt collection]] on their behalf.<ref name="Kierner p. 17">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yc5BkB6vTEkC&pg=PA17 |title=Martha Jefferson Randolph: Her Life and Times |last=Kierner |first=Cynthia A. |date=2012 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-3552-4 |pages=17 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Hyland p. 39">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKUoCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |title=Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson |last=Hyland|first=William G. |date=2015-02-26 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3984-5 |page=39 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Monticello - JW">{{Cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/john-wayles |title=John Wayles |last=Berkes |first=Anna |date=November 12, 2007 |website=www.monticello.org |language=en |access-date=December 31, 2019}}</ref> Martha Eppes Wayles was a daughter of Francis Eppes, a settler of the [[Bermuda Hundred]],<ref name="Monticello - JW" /><ref name="Malone p. 432">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UwqvCNY5cyYC&pg=RA2-PA432 |title=Jefferson the Virginian - |last=Malone |first=Dumas |date=1948-01-30 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-316-54474-0 |pages=432 |language=en}}</ref> an early Virginian colony established along the [[Appomattox River]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=orDbMGpInaQC&pg=PA55 |title=Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary |last=McCartney |first=Martha W. |date=2007 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com |isbn=978-0-8063-1774-8 |pages=55–56 |language=en}}</ref> While little is known of Martha Eppes Wayles' life, she had an appreciation for fine literature, such as her favorite novel, ''[[Tristram Shandy]]''<ref name="Schwartz p. 129">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5UtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA129 |title=Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves |last=Schwartz |first=Marie Jenkins |date=2017-04-06 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-14755-0 |pages=129 |language=en}}</ref> and ''[[Les Aventures de Télémaque]].'' (Her rebound version of the book, ''The Adventures of Telemachus'', contains her signature on the title page and resides at the [[Library of Congress]]).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tjlibraries.monticello.org/transcripts/sowerby/IV_434.html |title=Sowerby Catalogue Volume IV : page 434 |website=tjlibraries.monticello.org |access-date=January 2, 2020}}</ref>

Martha Wayles had two stepmothers, neither of whom lived long after their marriages to John Wayles, and through one stepmother she had four half-sisters.<ref name="Monticello - JW" /><ref name="Hendricks p. 19" /> Wayles married Tabitha Cocke,<ref name="Monticello - JW" /><ref name="Hyland p. 237">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKUoCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |title=Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson |last=Hyland |first=William G. |date=2015-02-26 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3984-5 |pages=237 |language=en}}</ref>{{efn|His wife's name is also given as Mary Cocke.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFV7DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves |last=Schwartz |first=Marie Jenkins |date=2017-04-06 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-46072-7 |page=131 |language=en}}</ref>}} of [[Malvern Hill]]. They had four children: Sarah, Elizabeth, Tabitha and Anne.<ref name="Monticello - JW" /> Sarah died in infancy.<ref name="Monticello - JW" /> Tabitha and Anne married the Skipwith brothers, Robert and Henry, respectively. Tabitha Skipwith died with her first childbirth. Nancy Skipwith, "Aunty Skipwith" to the Jefferson children and grandchildren, died in 1798.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} Elizabeth married [[Eppington|Francis Eppes]], Martha's cousin, and had two sons, Richard and [[John Wayles Eppes]], the latter of whom married Thomas Jefferson's second daughter, Mary Jefferson.<ref name="Malone p. 432" /> Wayles' second wife died most likely after the birth of Anne in August 1756 and before he married his third wife in January 1760.<ref name="Monticello - JW" />

On January 26, 1760, Wayles married his third wife, Elizabeth Lomax Skelton (she was the widow of Reuben Skelton, an older brother of Bathurst Skelton, his daughter Martha's first husband). Without producing a child with Wayles, she died on February 10, 1761.<ref name="Monticello - JW" /> John Wayles then took [[Betty Hemings]] as a mistress, and gave Martha additional half-siblings.<ref name="Monticello - Wayles/Hemings" />{{efn|After the death of his third wife, Wayles took the then 26 year-old Betty Hemings as his mistress<ref name="Monticello - Wayles/Hemings">[http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/john-wayles "John Wayles"], ''Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia'', Monticello, accessed 10 March 2011. Sources cited on page: Madison Hemings, "Life Among the Lowly," ''Pike County Republican'', March 13, 1873. Letter of December 20, 1802 from Thomas Gibbons, a Federalist planter of Georgia, to Jonathan Dayton, states that Sally Hemings "is half sister to his [Jefferson's] first wife."</ref> or [[concubine]].<ref name="Monticello - JW" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Blassingame |first=John |title=Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, Interviews, and Autobiographies |page=475 |isbn=0807102733 |year=1977|publisher=LSU Press }}</ref>{{efn|Although there were sources that believed that Wayles fathered children with Betty Hemings, author William G. Hyland, Jr. did not believe that Wayles had Betty as a mistress.<ref name="Hyland p. 219">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKUoCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA219 |title=Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson |last=Hyland |first=William G. |date=2015-02-26 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3984-5 |pages=219 |language=en}}</ref>|name="Hyland re: Hemings"}} Born into slavery, the children of this union were three-quarters European in ancestry and half-siblings to Martha and Elizabeth Wayles.<ref name=mont/> The youngest was [[Sally Hemings]], born in July 1773, two months after her father's death.<ref name="Watson">[http://www.jeffersonlegacy.org/commentary.html Robert P. Watson and Richard Yon, "The Unknown Presidential Wife: Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015061559/http://www.jeffersonlegacy.org/commentary.html |date=October 15, 2013 }}, Jefferson Legacy Foundation, 2003, Quote: "(Wayles never remarried but had five children – Nance, Critta, Thenia, Peter, and Sally – to his slave Elizabeth "Betty" Hemings, the youngest of which would become famous for her relationship with Thomas Jefferson.)" Note: This varies from the Monticello website on the number and some of the names. Accessed 7 January 2012</ref><ref>[http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/elizabeth-hemings "Elizabeth Hemings"], ''Plantation and Slavery,'' Monticello, accessed 7 January 2012. Note: The Monticello website says that Hemings' children by Wayles were Robert, James, Thenia, Critta, Peter, and Sally.</ref>}} Martha likely received her education—including literature, dance, music, French language and Bible study— from private tutors or women in the family. She became the "Lady of the House" after her second stepmother died when she was 13 years of age and was often a hostess to John Wayles' social events and helped manage his business and household affairs.<ref name="Hendricks p. 19" /> She knew how to make candles, soap, butter and remedies for illnesses.<ref name="Hendricks p. 20">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqeXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |date=2015-10-13 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-883-2 |page=20 |language=en}}</ref>

==Marriages and children==
Martha Wayles first married Bathurst Skelton (born 1744), an attorney, on November 20, 1766, at age 18. Their son, John, was born on November 7, 1767. Skelton died on September 30, 1768. Martha then moved back to The Forest following her husband's death. Three-year-old John died on June 10, 1771.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /><ref name="Hendricks p. 20" />

===Thomas Jefferson===
[[File:Thomas Jefferson by Mather Brown.jpg|thumb|[[Mather Brown]], ''Thomas Jefferson'', 1786, oil painting, [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]]]]
[[Thomas Jefferson]], likely began courting Martha in December 1770.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /> They shared an interest in horse-back riding, literature, and music.<ref name="Hendricks p. 20" /> As part of Martha's [[dowry]] for their January 1, 1772 wedding,<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" /> Thomas and Martha received property, including the [[Elk Hill (Goochland, Virginia)|Elk Hill plantation]], where Martha had lived with her first husband,<ref name="Kranish p. 38" /> and a great number of slaves, which helped Thomas complete the construction of the Monticello residence and landscaping of the estate's 5,000 acres.<ref name="Hendricks p. 20" /><ref name="Kranish p. 38" />{{efn|After the wedding, the couple left The Forest plantation for Monticello. A heavy snowfall began on the afternoon of their journey and produced two feet of snow. As a result, they had to forgo their carriage. Their horses were swapped for two fresh horses at [[Blenheim Vineyards#History|Blenheim Estate]] of Jefferson's friend, Edward Carter. Martha and Thomas completed the remaining seven-mile leg of their journey of narrow paths.<ref name="Kranish p. 39">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/flightfrommontic0000kran |url-access=registration |title=Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War |last=Kranish |first=Michael |date=2010-01-21 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-974590-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/flightfrommontic0000kran/page/39 39] |language=en}}</ref> Thomas Jefferson described his outlook for the marriage: "In every schemings of happiness she is placed in the fore-ground of the picture, as the principal figure. Take that away, and it is not a picture for me."<ref name="Kranish p. 39" />}} While Monticello was undergoing construction and Thomas was away, Martha often stayed at the Elk Hill plantation.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKUoCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 |title=Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson |last=Hyland |first=William G. |date=2015-02-26 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3984-5 |pages=94 |language=ar}}</ref>

They had six children, but only two daughters reached adulthood.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /> An unnamed son, Jane Randolph, and Lucy Elizabeth, who died of whooping cough, died as infants.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /> Only the eldest, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson, survived past the age of 26:<ref name="Hendricks p. 20" />
* [[Martha Jefferson Randolph|Martha "Patsy" Jefferson]]<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" /> (September 27, 1772{{spaced ndash}}October 10, 1836)
* Jane Randolph Jefferson (April 3, 1774{{spaced ndash}}September 1775)
* unnamed son<ref name="All">{{cite book|last1=Quinn|first1=Sandra L.|last2=Kanter|first2=Sanford|title=America's Royalty: All the Presidents' Children|date=1995|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|page=19|isbn=9780313295355|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6egBFIqZJQC&pg=PA19}}</ref> (May 28{{spaced ndash}}June 14, 1777), lived for 17 days
* [[Mary Jefferson Eppes|Mary "Maria or Polly" Jefferson]]<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" /> (August 1, 1778{{spaced ndash}}April 17, 1804)
* Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson (November 3, 1780{{spaced ndash}}April 15, 1781)
* Lucy Elizabeth Jefferson (May 8, 1782{{spaced ndash}}{{circa|October 13, 1784}}) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/lucy-jefferson-1782-1784|title=Lucy Jefferson (1782-1784) | Thomas Jefferson's Monticello}}</ref>

==Slaves and Wayles' estate==
Martha and Thomas Jefferson acquired a number of slaves as part of her dowry for her marriage, and later from the estate of John Wayles, which made Thomas the second largest slave owner in Albemarle County. The dowry increased the number of slaves he owned from 52 to 187.<ref name="Kranish p. 38" />

Among the more than 100 enslaved Black and Indigenous people were [[Betty Hemings]], of [[mixed-race]] ancestry, and her 10 mixed-race children. The youngest, an infant, was [[Sally Hemings]]. The six youngest were [[quadroon|three-quarters white]] in ancestry and half-siblings of Martha Wayles Jefferson, as they were fathered by her father. Betty also had four children born before those of Wayles'. All the Hemings family members gained privileged positions among the slaves at Monticello, where they were trained and worked as domestic servants, chefs, and highly skilled artisans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explorer.monticello.org/text/index.php?id=25&type=7|title=Monticello Explorer: Elizabeth Hemings (1735-1807)|website=explorer.monticello.org|access-date=20 October 2017}}</ref> Sally Hemings, who was fathered by John Wayles, was the half-sister of Martha Wayles Jefferson, and the subject of a scandal about her relationship with Thomas Jefferson.<ref name="Kranish p. 38" />

Martha's father, John Wayles, died at age 58 in 1773. He left substantial property, including slaves, but the estate was encumbered with debt.<ref>Death notice from ''The Virginia Gazette'', June 3, 1773: "On Friday last died, at his house in Charles City, JOHN WAYLES, Esquire, attorney at law."</ref> Upon Wayles' death, Betty Hemings and her six children with John Wayles were moved "without hesitancy" to Monticello to prevent the Hemings from being separated.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona00meac |url-access=registration |title=Thomas Jefferson |last=Meacham |first=Jon |date=2012 |publisher=Random House |pages=[https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona00meac/page/60 60]|isbn=9781400067664 }}</ref> The estate was worth £30,000, but was in debt to Farrell and Jones in Bristol for £11,000. Wayles three sons-in-law, including Thomas Jefferson, decided to break up the estate and its debts.<ref name="Meacham p. 70">{{cite book |title=Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power |last=Meacham |first=Jon |year=2012 |isbn=9781400067664 |page= [https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona00meac/page/70 70] |publisher=Random House Publishing |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona00meac }}</ref> Martha and her husband Thomas Jefferson inherited the Willis Creek and [[Elk Hill (Goochland, Virginia)|Elk Hill]] plantations and a total of 135 people, including members of the [[Hemings]] family.<ref name="Schwartz pp. 142-143">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFV7DgAAQBAJ&q=%2522shadow%2520family%2522%2520John%2520Wayles&pg=PA143 |title=Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves |last=Schwartz |first=Marie Jenkins |date=2017-04-06 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-46072-7 |pages=142–143 |language=en}}</ref> They also inherited £4,000 in debt.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K1m1tRlh7xQC&pg=PA148 |title=Jeffersonian Legacies |last1=Onuf |first1=Peter S. |date=1993 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-1463-3 |language=en|page=148}}</ref> Jefferson and other co-executors of the Wayles estate worked for years to clear the debt<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWT90lWyLqEC&pg=PA15|title=Principle and Interest: Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Debt |last=Sloan |first=Herbert E. |date=2001 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-2093-1 |pages=15–26 |language=en}}</ref> and the overwhelming debt led to Thomas Jefferson's financial ruin.<ref name="Kranish p. 38" />

==Contemporaneous descriptions==
No contemporaneous portraits of Martha Jefferson survive, but she has been described by family members and [[Isaac Jefferson|Isaac Granger Jefferson]] as small, graceful, and pretty, and like her daughter, [[Mary Jefferson Eppes]]. She was described by Robert Skipwith, her sister's husband, as having possessed "... the greatest fund of good nature ... that sprightliness and sensibility which promises to ensure you the greatest happiness mortals are capable of enjoying."<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /> As Thomas was having Monticello built, he obtained a piano forte from England for Martha as a wedding present.<ref name="Kranish p. 38">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/flightfrommontic0000kran |url-access=registration |title=Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War |last=Kranish |first=Michael |date=2010-01-21 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-974590-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/flightfrommontic0000kran/page/38 38] |language=en}}</ref> She played the [[harpsichord]] piano forte, while Thomas Jefferson played violins. Martha reportedly played the harpsichord "very skillfully and who, is in all respects, a very agreeable sensible and accomplished lady," according to a [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian officer]], Jacob Rubsamen, who visited Monticello in 1780.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" />

[[File:Monticello original front elevation drawing 1771.jpeg|thumb|left|Original front elevation drawing of [[Monticello]], 1771]]

According to her daughter, Martha Jefferson was highly educated and musical, a constant reader, with a good nature and a vivacious temper that sometimes bordered on tartness. She had great affection for her husband. She was a little over {{convert|5|ft|cm}} tall, with a lithe figure, auburn hair, and hazel eyes.<ref name="Hendricks p. 19">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqeXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 |title=America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |date=2015-10-13 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-883-2 |pages=19–20 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="GBWH - First Ladies">{{Cite web |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/history/firstladies/mj3.html |title=Biography of Martha Jefferson |last=George Bush White House (Archives) |website=georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov |access-date=January 2, 2020}}</ref> She was an accomplished [[needlewoman]], some of her [[embroidery]] still exists.<ref name="Watson"/><ref name="Hendricks p. 19" /> Martha maintained a collection of notes regarding her household duties and recipes, such as butchering and curing meat and the creation of large batches of soft and hard soap, candles, and beer. During her first year of marriage, she began the practice of brewing beer, producing {{convert|170|usgal|L}} that year.<ref name="Kukla PT112">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_h5dAvrQaaAC&q=Martha+Jefferson+170+gallons+beer&pg=PT112 |title=Mr. Jefferson's Women |last=Kukla |first=Jon |date=2009-06-03 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-53867-3 |pages=PT112 |language=en}}</ref>

==First lady of Virginia==
[[File:Colonial Williamsburg Governors Palace Front Dscn7232.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|alt=Governor's Palace|[[Governor's Palace (Williamsburg, Virginia)|Governor's Palace]], Governor Jefferson's residence in Williamsburg]]

Martha Jefferson was First Lady of Virginia from 1779 to 1781, during the [[American Revolution]].<ref name="Hendricks pp. 20–21" /> In that capacity, and in response to a request from [[Martha Washington]], Mrs. Jefferson led a drive among the women of Virginia to raise funds and supplies for her state's militia in the [[Continental Army]] to the extent that her health permitted.<ref name=Kukla>Kukla, John. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=_h5dAvrQaaAC&pg=PT118 Mr. Jefferson's Women]'', p. 118 (New York: Knopf Books, 2007).</ref> The letter to [[James Madison]]'s mother, [[Eleanor Conway Madison]], is the only letter written by Martha Jefferson known to now exist.<ref name="Hendricks p. 23">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqeXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 |title=America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |date=2015-10-13 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-883-2 |pages=23–24 |language=en}}</ref> She published an appeal in the ''[[Virginia Gazette]]'', announcing that collections would be taken in the churches. Nationally, the Ladies Association raised $300,000 to buy linen shirts for Washington's army.<ref name=Kukla /><ref>Hendricks, Nancy. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KqeXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House]'', p. 23 (ABC-CLIO, 2015).</ref>

==Health problems==
[[File:Thomas Jefferson Gravesite - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|[[Monticello Association|Monticello Family Graveyard]], including Thomas Jefferson's gravesite]]

Managing the Jefferson household became increasingly difficult for Martha Jefferson, who had endured at least one case of smallpox, may have had [[diabetes]], and was weakened by her numerous pregnancies,<ref name="Hendricks pp. 20–21">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KqeXCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title=America's First Ladies: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House: A Historical Encyclopedia and Primary Document Collection of the Remarkable Women of the White House |last=Hendricks |first=Nancy |date=2015-10-13 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-883-2 |pages=20–21 |language=en}}</ref> which would ultimately kill her.<ref name="Hyland p. 115" /> She bore the stress of having to flee a British invasion of Richmond in early January 1781 and a raid on Monticello in June of that year<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" /> and was aware that the British were interested in capturing her or her husband.<ref name="Hendricks pp. 20–21" /> The baby, Lucy Elizabeth I, fell ill during the January evacuation and never recovered, dying in 1781 on April 15.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wead |first1=Doug |title=All the Presidents' Children: Triumph and Tragedy in the Lives of America's First Families |date=2004 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qv8_vLud0LQC&pg=PA126 |access-date=October 29, 2024 |quote=Lucy Elizabeth I was born during the Revolutionary War with British soldiers advancing. Through snow and freezing temperatures of January, Martha Jefferson fled upriver to safety with Patsy, Polly, and the five-week-old newborn. The baby fell ill and never recovered...}}</ref>

Thomas limited his political service due to her health.<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" /> Jefferson was in [[Philadelphia]] for the [[Second Continental Congress]] in 1776, where he drafted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] over a period of two weeks in June 1776. He wished to return to her as soon as possible.<ref name="Hendricks pp. 20–21" /> Thomas served as [[List of governors of Virginia|governor]] and in the [[Virginia House of Delegates|House of Delegates]] in Virginia. He declined the offer to serve as the commissioner to France made by the [[Continental Congress]] while she was alive.<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" />{{efn|He served as commissioner to France beginning in 1784. He took his eldest child, Patsy, with him and later sent for his second daughter, Polly.<ref name="GBWH - First Ladies" />}}

==Death==
The birth of Lucy Elizabeth II, their youngest child, in May 1782 was reportedly the most difficult pregnancy for Mrs. Jefferson, since the infant was over 16 pounds at birth.<ref name="Hendricks pp. 20–21" />{{efn|Martha wrote the following from ''[[Tristram Shandy]]'' just before she died.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /><ref name="Hendricks p. 23" />

{{Quote frame
| align=center
| author=[[Laurence Sterne]]
| quote=
''Tristram Shandy'' 
Time wastes too fast: every letter 
I trace tells me with what rapidity 
life follows my pen. The days and hours 
of it are flying over our heads like 
clouds of windy day never to return– 
more. Every thing presses on–
}} On the same document, Thomas responded to these lines with "and every time I kiss thy hand to bid adieu, every absence which follows it, are preludes to that eternal separation which we are shortly to make!" It is the rare document that Thomas Jefferson did not destroy of his wife's handwriting.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" /><ref name="Hendricks p. 23" /> Thomas had written to [[François-Jean de Chastellux|Marquis de Chastellux]] of his state of suspense over the summer following the birth of Lucy Elizabeth.<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" />}} Edmund Randolph wrote in the month of her death that Thomas was "inconsolable" about Martha's declining health and pain."<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" />

Mrs. Jefferson's health worsened and she died on September 6, 1782, four months after the birth of her last child. <ref name="Watson"/>{{efn|At his wife's death, Thomas "was led from the room almost in a state of insensibility by his sister Mrs. Carr, who, with great difficulty, got him into his library where he fainted, and remained so long insensible that they feared he would never revive."<ref name="Watson"/> After the funeral, he withdrew to his room for three weeks. Afterward, he spent hours riding horseback alone around Monticello. His daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph wrote, "In those melancholy rambles I was his constant companion, a solitary witness to many a violent burst of grief."<ref name="Watson" /> Not until mid-October did Jefferson begin to resume a normal life when he wrote, "emerging from that stupor of mind which had rendered me as dead to the world as was she whose loss occasioned it."<ref name="Watson" />
}}

She was buried at Monticello and her tombstone was inscribed with words written by Thomas, the closing of which read: "Torn from him by death. September 6, 1782. This monument of his love is inscribed".<ref name="Monticello - MWSJ" />

So that her children would not grow up with stepmothers,<ref name="Hendricks pp. 20–21" /> Martha had asked Thomas Jefferson to never marry again, and he never did. Her request has been attributed to her own disagreeable relationships with her stepmothers. At her death, she was 33; he was 39.<ref>Hyland, William G. Jr. ''Martha Jefferson: An Intimate Life with Thomas Jefferson.'' Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015; pg. 1</ref>

==Legacy==
Martha Jefferson was portrayed by [[Blythe Danner]] in the 1972 film ''[[1776 (film)|1776]]''.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifsFKepTCQ4 Colonial Williamsburg: Interview of Martha Jefferson], YouTube
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071029181826/http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Martha_Wayles_Skelton_Jefferson Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson], Monticello: For accurate, up-to-date information written and moderated by historians at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.
* [http://archive.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=3 Martha Jefferson], First Lady Biography

{{Thomas Jefferson|state=expanded}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Martha}}
[[Category:1748 births]]
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[[Category:American people of English descent]]
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[[Category:Burials at Monticello]]
[[Category:First ladies and gentlemen of Virginia]]
[[Category:Jefferson family]]
[[Category:People from Monticello]]
[[Category:People from Charles City, Virginia]]
[[Category:People from colonial Virginia]]
[[Category:18th-century American people]]
[[Category:18th-century American women]]
[[Category:Deaths in childbirth]]