Jaybird's Jottings

Isabel Dodge Sloane (1897-1962)

When you’re a child of someone who has earned prestige and acclaim, it can be difficult to forge your own path.

Isabel Dodge Sloane (1897-1962) certainly was a child of a distinguished figure and she certainly became one herself.

Her father was John Francis Dodge (1864-1920).  Yes, that Dodge, as in Dodge Brothers Motor Company in Detroit.    John and his brother Horace helped it to become one of the top car sellers in the US.

In 1924, Sloane began her charging career in horse and hunt country by setting up a racing stable.  In 1929 she purchased 850 acres in Upperville and built and established Brookmeade Stables.  Two years later, she built a Colonial Revival mansion home in front of the stables (32128 John Mosby Highway). 

Rather than a narrative for Sloane, let’s use a series of statements gleaned from sources that include, “The Hunt Country of America,” “Legacies of the Turf,” and “Gender and Virginia's Early-Twentieth Century Equine Landscapes.”   We will end with a closing part.

 

• Born in Detroit.
• Educated at the prestigious Liggett School for Girls.
• Active in a number of sports including golf and fishing.
• Married (1921) George Sloane, Securities Broker.
• Earned the nickname “First Lady of Turf.”
• Maintained one of the most outstanding thoroughbred breeding farms in the US.
• Bred a total of 21 earners of $100,000 or more, one of highest such rankings.
• More known for flat racing, but early on won in steeplechase races.
• Her gelding His Boots twice won the most prestigious steeplechase race in the US, the American Grand National.
• Three horses in the Racing Hall of Fame —  Cavalcade, Sword Dancer, and Bowl of Flowers.
• Greatest year was 1934.  Became first woman to top the list of money-winning owners in a year (and did it twice).  Her horses won $251,138 (2025 = $5.9M).  Cavalcade won the Kentucky Derby and Horse of the Year.  High Quest won the Preakness. 
• 1949  Brookmeade Stables voted Breeder of the Year.
• 1950  Topped the money-earning list with $651,399.  Named Owner of the Year.
• 1951 Won Preakness (Bold).   Honored Guest at the Testimonial Dinner, only second woman.
• 1954 Elected vice-president of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association.
• 1959 Won Belmont Stakes (Sword Dancer) and Horse of the Year.
• 1960 Bowl of Flowers Two-Year Old Philly Champion.
• 1961 Bowl of Flowers Three-Year Old Philly Champion.

After Sloane passed away in 1962, most of her Brookmeade foals went to Hubert Phipps (1905-1969).  As Slater notes, he became “a driving force in the promotion and development of the Thoroughbred Industry in Virginia.”  Phipps served as President of the Virginia Thoroughbred Association and owned Rockburn Stud south of Upperville.   

In 1981, Brookmeade was purchased by Texan billionaire Joe L. Albritton (1924-2012).  He was Chairman and CEO of Riggs Bank in Washington, a newspaper publisher, and philanthropist.  Albritton changed the name to Lazy Lane Farms.

In her book, "Middleburg Mystique," Vicky Moon touches on Albritton.  In 1991, his 3-year-old horse, Hansel, won two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Preakness and the Belmont stakes.  He also raised angus cattle and owned WJLA, the Washington ABC affiliate.    

Lazy Lane Farms doesn’t seem to have made the news lately, but a You Tube video by Jim Wylie can be seen from eight years ago.  In the beginning, one sees Brookmeade and its impressive mansion.    

 

 

The Maples

So far in our look at mansions, we have come across a number of family names that keep popping up.  One of them is the Fletchers.  Something like 30 Fletchers rest peacefully at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Upperville.  In 1887, Willie Fletcher acquired Green Garden.

Now we come to Joshua Fletcher (1810-1862).  He and his wife Eliza built The Maples, a c. 1853 beauty at 33688 John Mosby Highway in Upperville.   It’s hidden from Route 50, so we were not able to get a photo.   

There isn’t much on the Fletchers on the web, but in the book, “Makers of America” (Edited by Leonard Wilson), the author has a chapter on Robert Fletcher.  He was the son of  Joshua Fletcher and Eliza.   Joshua was a large farmer and landowner.  Robert is believed to be the great-great-grandson of Joshua Fletcher, the Immigrant from Wales.  

The author writes Fletcher was educated at the neighboring military academy known as Armstrong’s.   He served as a Captain in the Confederacy in Welby Carter’s Company A of the First Virginia Calvary.  Two of his brothers, John and Clinton, were also in the war.   They were both killed in the war and Robert’s father also died in 1862.  This made him the matriarch of the large family.    

The author also writes that Robert Fletcher had a favorite Kentucky mare, was a great judge of steer, and treasurer of the church. 

As mentioned, The Maples is not on the National Register for Historic Places, but it is mentioned briefly in the NRHP form for the Unison Battlefield.  It tells us the two-story, three-bay stone house was built c. 1856, and is “an extremely well-preserved example of the Greek Revival style.”   It features a portico, bank barn, machine shed, granary, summer kitchen, the slave quarters made of stone.   

Anyone at The Maples would have seen Battle of Unison action on Day 3 when the Union advanced on General Stuart’s positions.   The form tells us The Maples marked the end of Stuart’s line, the extreme left flank.   Inside the home, rebel rifles shot at the advancing New York soldiers.   The Federal infantrymen, “drove the sharpshooters from the house and broke Stuart’s line.   Rosser ordered a retreat toward Upperville.” 

The house remained a Fletcher seat until 1999 when Andy and Michele Stevens acquired it.  As told by The Washington Times, they meticulously restored the main manor home, as well as eight other buildings.   The three-level bank barn is unique. 

 

 

 

 

 

Rose Hill

In horse and hunt country, a standard practice with mansion homes was to place the house a ways back from the road.   A notable exception is Rose Hill Farm in Upperville.   The lovely red brick house (34090 John Mosby Highway) lies just 100 yards from Route 50, about halfway between Upperville and Middleburg.   Its placement derives from its origins as a tavern.   In fact, in those days, Ashby's Gap Turnpike, what is now Route 50, ran right beside the tavern.

 

Rose Hill is not as famous as some of the others we have looked at, but it’s on the 1994 National Register for Historic Places nomination form and Audrey Windsor Bergner included in her book, “Old Plantations and Historical Homes around Middleburg, Virginia.”  

 

On land once owned by Carters, and a spot roughly halfway between Upperville and Middleburg and a short walk from Pantherskin Creek, Rose Hill was built in three stages.  It includes slave quarters originally not attached to the house, an octagonal icehouse, stone granary, a small stone bridge, a meat house, and the Denham family cemetery.

 

At the time the form was written, Rose Hill had remained a working farm and was owned by Glascock descendants.

 

Rose Hill Farm dates to c. 1820 when a Federal style house was built for Amos Denham.   He had been living in the Ellicott City area.  His second wife was Amy.    They opened the dwelling as a tavern serving travelers along Ashby’s Gap Turnpike.    Travelers between Winchester and Alexandria would have been impressed with the tavern building, perhaps one of the best around.

 

After Denham passed in 1833, Rose Hill went to his widow Amy.   She passed away in 1853.   

 

Thomas Glascock then bought the property.   As Bergner points out, the Glascocks are intertwined with other families in these parts, such as Rust and Fletcher.  Peter Glascock founded the village of Paris and had served with Continental Army forces during the American Revolution.

 

Thomas Glascock expanded the farm to over 1,000 acres. He also added the fancy veranda with a grapevine design and the two-story nine-room stone slave quarters.  It is one of the largest of its kind in Loudoun County.  He probably added the three-story stone quarry.   The form tells us it is the only known structure of its kind remaining in Loudoun County.

 

After the Civil War, which had brought damage to the farm’s barns, Glascock raised wheat, oats, corn, poultry and honey.   He prospered when others in the county did not.  

 

After Thomas Glascock passed away in 1884, his granddaughter, Tacie Glasscock Fletcher, inherited Rose Hill.   In 1905, she married George H. Slater, grandson of George Glascock.    The Slater family also dots stories in the upper Piedmont.   

 

Tacie added the two-story brick wing that joined the former slave quarters and the main house.  In a tradition thick with examples, Colonial Revival work has been made.

 

The two sons of Tacie and George attended the Episcopal Academy in Alexandria.   Tom inherited Rose Hill.   Tom and his wife Hylton Rucker had two sons.  Tom Slater Jr, great, great, great grandson of Thomas Glascock, owned the farm in 2003.  

 

In 2017, T. Rees Shapiro (The Washington Post), visited the farm and spoke with Bobby Slater.  Shapiro noted the family has called the 300 acres home for eight generations.   Across the street, Slater Run Vineyard is run by Kiernan Slater and her husband Chris Patusky.  The vineyard is 100% solar powered.

 

 

 

 

Katherine Elkins Hitt (1886-1936)

If there is one thing we are seeing with our peeks into the mansions in horse and hunt country, it is that they can be windows into the stories of forgotten people of distinction.    Homeland, a mansion near Middleburg, (35321 Notre Dame Lane) is certainly a great example.

The common narratives on these stories tell us about the wealthy elite who, after the turn of the century, began to arrive from other parts of the country, especially the north.   In this case, however, the two new faces lived in Washington.

Enter Katherine Elkins Hitt (1886-1936) and her husband William Hitt (1879-1961).   In 1920, they joined the growing club of horse lovers by building and living in a mansion they named Homeland.  The expansive dwelling exceeded some of the others in size and sported two-story columns.    Located about a mile west of Middleburg and just south of the community of St. Louis, the former dwelling has had a second life by serving as some form of an Academy for youth since 1965.

It’s disappointing that the road into Homeland is a private one and the mansion is not on the National Register for Historic Places. But that’s ok.  There are photos on the web and as we’ve said before, homeowners and building occupants deserve their privacy.   

And we got an ace up our sleeve, Kitty Slater and her book, “The Hunt Country of America.”   She faced some touch choices on what to include and what to leave out.  Homeland, perhaps handicapped by some as not old enough, made her virtual Hall of Fame with two pages.  This was our introduction into the story Katherine and William Hitt.

It was difficult for women to stand out during times past when norms kept them in traditional roles.  Katherine was sometimes referred to in the press as Mrs. William Hitt, but she did something extraordinary.   In a story that had many readers across the nation, the newspapers wanted to know about her, Katherine Elkins Hitt.   After this limelight went away, Katherine forged a career in and around Middleburg.

Katherine’s forgotten story begin as a Washington socialite whose romance with the Duke of Abruzzi captured the attention of not just local readers, but also those across the nation and the world.   (Come on Hollywood, this would make for a great movie!)

Her story also includes the career she forged as a both a horse rider and a horse breeder.  In fact, Katherine’s horse Irish Laddie won the first Virginia Gold Cup Race held in 1925 and she took permanent possession of the trophy by being the first winner of three Gold Cups.  Katherine continued to blaze trails as an early prominent woman in the business of thoroughbred racing. 

If you were to ask residents of horse and hunt country to name a Top Five mansions, our guess is Homeland might not make that ranking.  Nothing against it, but as we have seen, competition is keen this way. 

Nevertheless, Slater points out, “Few Hunt Country homes bear much resemblance to Homeland in scope and grandeur."   It is a “product of early twentieth-century affluence, extravagance, and ostentation.”   

Fifteen years after the Great Hound Match of 1905 put Middleburg and this part of the Virginia Horse Belt on the map, more and more wealthy elite continued to arrive in this growing colony of fox hunters, A-listers, and hobby farmers.  As Mary Fesak notes in her dissertation ("Gender and Virginia's Early Twentieth Century Equine Landscapes"), these new arrivals continued to revive the declines in Virginia’s thoroughbred breeding and racing and turn working farms into "idealized equine estates."  

In 1920, Katherine and William Hitt joined the club.  Good timing.  The war was over and the Twenties were about to roar.  Residents would have been impressed by the new entry, located about two miles northwest of Middleburg and a mile east of Welbourne.   Homeland could not match the storied past of Welbourne or others nearby.  But it was a sizable mansion with 30-foot columns.  Katherine and William also built a training track, participated in fox hunts, and hosted hunt breakfasts. 

Harper’s Bazaar magazine wrote they were known for their cakes and ales.  (Sounds like a good partner with the ham sandwich).  As reported by the Weekly Enterprise (July 13, 1923), William and Katherine put on a Fourth of July treat with a “grand spectacular display of fine fireworks."   Afterwards, “several hundred people were served a magnificent feast at their hospitable home.”

 

DuPont Circle in Washington is still a charming neighborhood attracting and pleasing residents.   Long gone, however, are the days when it was the place to be.   The subtitle -- Center of High Society in the Capital -- to Stephen Hansen's book, "A History of DuPont Circle" says it all.

William's family and Katherine's family had a home and lived there.  

The father of William (1879-1961) was Robert R. Hitt (1834-1906), a United States Congressman from Illinois (1882-1906) who served in the key role as Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.  Hitt had been a close friend of President Lincoln and reported on the Lincoln-Douglass debates.  James Goode ("Capitol Losses") describes him as a “leading hostess during the age of elegance in Washington.”

William's mother was Sallie Reynolds Hitt (1843-1949).  The book “Massachusetts Avenue Architecture” tells us she gained a reputation as one of Washington’s social leaders.   One of her specialties was buffet suppers and teas served on the wide porch of her house.   

Her age of 105 is not a typo.  Two years after her husband Robert died in 1906, Sallie built a magnificent mansion in DuPont Circle at 1501 New Hampshire Avenue.   John Russell Pope designed it in the Beaux-Arts style.  His work includes the Jefferson Memorial and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art.   

Sadly, the Hitt House was demolished in 1970, but it lives on in James Goode’s, “Capitol Losses.”    Of the three-story limestone beauty and a few others near it, he writes they were, “Perhaps the most shocking destruction of Washington’s many historic buildings in the 1970s.”

Robert and Sally married in 1874 and had two sons, William (1879-1961) and his brother Robert Reynolds Hitt (1876-1938).   Both were born in Paris where his father was stationed after the appointment by President Grant as First Secretary of the American Legation.  

In Washington, the Hitts lived at 1507 K Street.  Robert became a diplomat, serving in Panama and Guatemala.  He lived in DuPont Circle at 1520 18th Street NW, a short walk from his mother’s residence.   Its designer was Jules Henri de Sibour (1872-1938).  His works include embassies, apartment and office buildings in Washington and Oxon Hill Manor.   

In his book, “A History of DuPont Circle, Center of High Society in the Capitol,” Hansen points out “William considered himself a financier and sportsman, though it seems he never held any positions.”

Katherine’s father, Stephen Benton Elkins (1841-1911), served as Secretary of War under President Benjamin Harrison, and then as United States Senator from West Virginia (1895-1911).  In 1890, Elkins co-founded the town of Elkins, West Virginia.   Along with his father-in-law, Senator Henry G. Davis, they funded what became David & Elkins College in 1904.

In 1866, Senator Elkins married Sallie Jacobs (1841-1872).  After she passed away, Senator Elkins married (1875) Mary “Hallie” Davis (1853-1933).  Her father was a railroad magnate and US Senator (West Virginia) Henry G. Davis (1823-1916).   Someone has pointed out she “had the distinction of being a senator's daughter, a senator's wife and a senator's mother.”

Senator Elkins and Hallie built and lived in Halliehurst, an impressive 31-room Victorian mansion in Elkins.   He also became the owner of the Washington & Old Dominion RR (1936-1956).  The Senator and Hallie had four children, including Davis Elkins (1876-1959), who was born in Washington and became US Senator (West Virginia).

Katherine (1886-1936) was the youngest child. 

Starting in 1891, Senator Elkins and his family had their Washington residence at 1623 K Street.  This was one block from the Hitt family (1507 K Street).  Goode points out the stretch of K Street from 9th to 20th was considered the Park Avenue of Washington during this time.   

Growing up in DuPont Circle, Katherine became friends with Cissy Patterson (one of the first women to head a major daily newspaper, the Washington Times-Herald), Alice Roosevelt (daughter of President Roosevelt), and Countess Marguerite Cassini (daughter of the Count of Cassini).  This high-stepping trio became known as the “Three Graces of Washington.”  The Style sections loved them.

In her memoir, “Never A Dull Moment,” Cassini describes Katherine as “dashing.”  She also said William was a “brilliant polo player.”

Goode also tells us about the Elkins House (sadly demolished in 1937) located at 1626 K Street, just one block from the Hitt House.  An architectural beauty, it featured stone belt courses and Adamesque swags as decoration for flat lintels.   With a ballroom that could accommodate 200 guests, it was built for entertaining.   The Evening Star described the house as the “scene of many of the most elaborate social functions of the day." Guests dined at a 20-foot table.

With the Hitts living just one block from the Elkins, perhaps William thought of Katherine as the girl next door.  As Hansen points out, both families assumed the two would get married.  William ("Billy") sought her hand. 

But then came Prince Luigi Amedeo, the Duke of Abruzzi (1873-1933).  The line of royalty in his family went back to the 12th-Century.  His grandfather was King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy.   The Duke’s exploits included traveling around the world, a famed explorer including a North Pole attempt, and a celebrated mountain climber who would set a world altitude record at the time of 24,600 feet.  As a Vice-Admiral, he commanded the Italian Fleet during World War I. 

What the Duke didn't have was someone to share his swashbuckling life with.

Where the Duke first met Katherine in the spring of 1907 is not certain.  Goode has the sparks first flying at the Elkins house just south of DuPont Circle.   Hansen writes they were introduced at a dance at the home of Ambassador and Mrs. Larz Anderson in 1907 (known today as the Anderson House, and home of the Society of Cincinnati).  Other accounts have the moment occurring during the Duke’s visit to the Jamestown Exposition (He also visited Mount Vernon and planted a poplar tree).

No matter.  As Mirella Tenderini, author of “The Duke of Abruzzi” points out, “Apparently the attraction was mutual.  Their affair would capture the hearts of the world and become the most publicized romance of the age.”

Hansen adds, “Few American heiresses have taken a firmer hold on the country’s attention than Katherine Elkins.”

Recapping the affair in 1913, The Washington Post wrote of Katherine:

“The fame which came to her later, when in the first years of a brilliant young womanhood she captured the heart of a royal prince, the Duke of Abruzzi, made the name of this daughter of a republic as well known in as many foreign lands as it was in her own.”

From 1908 to 1910, the newspapers across the county should have sent Katherine and the Duke periodic checks.  Such was the extent of the coverage of their whirlwind romance.   

Things began to get hot in February, 1908.  Sailing under a false name, the Duke escaped the press in Europe and sailed to Cuba.  He then picked up Katherine and her mother in Palm Beach.  They drove to Washington, where the paparazzi caught up to them.   Seeing them together set off a frenzy of rumors that they were to be engaged.    

Hansen writes that Katherine and her mother traveled to Europe in the spring of 1909, and that there appears to have been at least one time Katherine and the Duke were together.    

In 1910, Katherine threw cold water on the story by coming home and telling reporters there was no engagement.  But that did not stop the rumors and the reporting.   The Duke turned down royal marriage proposals, keeping the story of him and Katherine alive.   

One newspaper summed up the story, comparing it to a novel:

“A royal hero, tales of quarrels between two queens, and of intrigues at one of the great courts of Europe, have figured in this romance, the central figure of which was an American girl.”

Finally, the Duke was out of the picture.  In a quiet ceremony at Halliehurst, William and Katherine were married in October, 1913. 

The Evening Star wrote that the Hitt-Elkins nuptials was part of “the busiest week in the matrimonial line we have known for some time.”  The newlyweds shared a love of horses and sports of the open.   

In 1920, William and Katherine built Homeland.    Perhaps they had tired of the city life and the social spotlights.  The change, however, did not work out.  Just a year later they divorced. 

But hold on to your hat.  Like a twist in an O’Henry tale, William and Katherine remarried in Washington in 1923.   They headed back out to Loudoun County and became members of the Middleburg and Piedmont Hunt Clubs.  The latter is the oldest in the US.

Free to pursue a fresh start, Katherine became an avid horsewoman.  One of her horses, Irish Laddie, won the first Virginia Gold Cup steeplechase in 1922.   By winning it three times, she was given permanent ownership of the trophy.

Katherine’s horses made the news throughout the 1920s.  On May 14, 1932, the New York Times headline read, “Sun Meadow First By Half a Length; Mrs. Hitt’s Colt Gets Up in Final Surge to Beat Aegis in Pimlico Feature.”  That proved to be the final running of the Pimlico Spring Handicap.

In his book, “I Got the Horse Right,” famed writer Damon Runyon described the race, saying:

“It was a great spectacle, that race around the last turn.  It looked from the stand as if a handkerchief would have covered the noses of the three horses (Twenty Grand, Jamestown, and Sun Meadow).”   

He added, "The Belmont is one of America’s oldest stakes and is highly prized by winners and horse owners for its breeding value."

Katherine also made news as a polo player.   In May, 1912, The Washington Herald published an article titled, “Women Rival Men at Polo.”  They wrote, “Perhaps one of the most brilliant horsewomen of the capital city is Miss Katherine Elkins.”

Alongside pioneering women such as Isabel Dodge Sloane (Brookmeade Farm in Upperville) and Liz Whitney (Llangollen in Upperville), Katherine blazed trails as a women thoroughbred breeder.  In June, 1929, the Fauquier Democrat wrote:

“No sportswoman is better known in either eastern or southern turf circles than Mrs. Katherine Elkins Hitt.”   

Being mentioned in the same sentence in the article as Daniel C. Sands (1875-1963) might have been some kind of ultimate compliment for Katherine.  As noted by the Museum of Hounds and Hunting, his accomplishments were legendary.   He served as a Master of Foxhounds for the Middleburg and Piedmont Hunts for a combined 44 years.

William got in on the turf action, too.  As Julia A. Campbell points out in her book, “The Horse in Virginia,” William “stood Sun Meadow, a son of Sun Briar at Homeland, and rode hunters like Elf King in horse shows.”

Campbell points out this was a period of time (1940s) when Northern Virginia “held the same status that Southside Virginia had enjoyed more than a century before.”

Guests to Homeland would have been awed by its 30-foot columns and size.  Slater tells us the home featured two enormous formal drawing rooms.  The old horse paintings hanging of the wall would have impressed and pleased local tastes.

There are certainly some large mansions in horse and hunt country but it sounds like Homeland’s interior rooms exceeded norms.

Slater adds.

“Their guests dined in splendor at a full-length banquet table under a glistening chandelier.  So vast was the master bedroom and a similar suite that they could have doubled nicely as a ball room.”

Everyday folks got to see Homeland during the 1934 Virginia Historic Garden Week.  The newspapers noted the stables of their thoroughbreds would be shown.

Sad news came two years later.  Katherine passed away in a hospital in New York in September, 1936.    She had become ill while at Saratoga.  The funeral services were to be held at the residence of William’s widowed mother at 1501 New Hampshire Avenue.  Barron, the obituary writer for the Evening Star, noted that William and Katherine had frequently visited her.  Katherine was laid to rest at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington. 

William kept his mother’s house at 1511 New Hampshire and also lived at Homeland.  In the 1950s he married Eugenia Woodward of Birmingham, Alabama.   He soon sold Homeland.   In 1965, it became the home of Notre Dame Academy, who made sizable additions.  

In 1951, William sold the Washington house at 1511 New Hampshire.  It was demolished in 1970.  

William passed away at his New York home in 1960.  The Evening Star pointed out he was a retired financier and resident of Washington for 78 years.   Katherine was not mentioned.   

William was laid to rest at the Rock Creek Cemetery, beside his mother, Sallie, his brother, Robert, and Katherine.

The Duke had passed away in March, 1933.  The obituary written by Barron (Evening Star), pointed out he visited the house where the Duke had lived.   Barron wrote:

“When I walked through it last December there were only two pictures on the walls of the living room - King Victor Emanuel and the late Katherine Elkins Hitt.”

 

 

Foxlease Farm

Our last visit to horse and hunt country was to Old Welbourne.   For our next one, we are going to head back to Willisville Road and drive towards Old Welbourne for about a mile.  Although you can’t see it from the road, Foxlease Farm (33846 Foxlease Lane, Upperville) lies on the west side on the road. 

We were torn on whether or not to include this one, as the build date of the oldest part is uncertain and the additions are from after 1950.   But it is a massive (12,162) and exquisite stone mansion with extended parts and it gives us insight into the story of John B. Archbold (1910-1993).   

Born in Bar Harbor, Maine, John Archbold joined that long list of those with wealth who arrived from north of the Mason-Dixon line and settled in horse and hunt country.   Actually, settled may not be the right word.  Archbold had a number of places he called home.   

His father was Armar Saunderson (1872-1952), born in Ireland and the son of Colonel Edward James Saunderson (1837-1906), a leader of the Unionist party in the House of Commons who lived at Castle Saunderson.

His mother was Anne Archbold (1873-1968).  She was a daughter of John Dustin Archbold (1848-1916), who founded Acme Oil Company, and served as vice-president under John D. Rockefeller at Standard Oil.   

Cynthia Howar tells us Anne spent her childhood in Italy and was educated in Florence and Paris.   Her passport was filled with visas from world travel.  She became a philanthropist, preservationist, and active sportswoman.

The National Register for Historic Places nomination form for Hillandale (Georgetown) fills in details.  After divorcing Saunderson, Anne kept her last name and the children and made Washington her permanent home around 1922.

As we noted in our post on Anne, she, along with Charles Carroll Glover (1846-1936) and other preservationist, helped save some precious land that is now both the Carroll-Archbold Trail and Carroll-Archbold Park.

Anne passed away in 1968.  She was laid to rest at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Upperville, about four miles from Foxlease.   John inherited and used Hillandale when he visited Washington.   In 1973, he sold eight acres to France for a Chancery and residence.   In the 1980’s, Hillandale was close to being demolished, but preservationists prevailed.   Townhouses and houses surround it.   

John Archbold attended the nearby prestigious Sidwell Friends School and graduated from Princeton, Class of ‘34.   During World War II, he served in the Navy and was attached to the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA. 

After living in New York and Palm Beach, Archbold acquired a farm north of Middleburg.   He named it Foxlease Farm after the home near Lyndhurst, England where his mother and father had lived.   He ran it as a diary farm for registered Holstein.   At that time, there was just a small dwelling called "The Hut."

Starting in the 1950s, Archbold and Foxlease made the local papers from time to time.   The most common reporting was salt and pepper for the Society reporters, blurbs about his return from places like his mother’s home in Nassau and guests who no doubt cherished the experience.  Like many of the mansions out there, the setting for Foxlease is lovely and pristine, a small crown on a hill, views of the Blue Ridge mountains, nothing but green spaces, perhaps a ride on a horse and a story from John, and serenity in spades. 

In November, 1959, Kitty Slater (“Fact and Fancy of Fauquier and Loudoun”) covered the social activities of the week-long National Horse Show in New York.  Among the attendees were Archbold’s daughter, Anne.   The show remains a big deal in the horse world, and is the oldest continually held horse show in the United States. 

Archbold made front page headlines in April, 1959 (“Helicopters Rescue 5 From Sinking Yacht,” Evening Star).  His 58-foot yacht (Chinanera) sank in the Atlantic 20 miles off Miami.  Among the rescued were his mother, Anne.   One of the others was Alexander Liggett, chairman of the First National Bank of Tampa. 

In November, 1962, Slater reported on some special guests to Foxlease.  The Archbolds played host to  28 members of the Country Landowners Association of England and the Earl of Buckinghamshire.   Such visits dove-tailed with the history of horse and hunt country.   Appreciating the lay of the land (and cheaper costs) which drew comparisons with the ideal fox hunting lands of Leicestershire, quite a few Englishmen moved there in the first half of the century.   

In 1966, Gerald Ford, Congressman from Michigan, paid a visit to Foxlease.  He spoke with farm manager and friend Ted Haberland.  The future President “made a few remarks and suggested that Virginians vote for William Scott, running for the House.”   Ford’s son Steve worked at Foxlease in 1964.   

In those days, the driveway to Foxlease started at Greengarden Road.   It ran past a house at 21054 Greengarden Road and went due east to the farm house.  Sometime between 1960 and 1972, the current configuration of Archbold Lane and Foxlease Lane was laid out, as well as the making of the two ponds.  The larger one is labeled Archbold Lake.  The current small structure in the middle of the lake (33703 Foxlease Lane) appears to have been built at that time, too.

In her book, “Middleburg Mystique,” Vicky Moon tells us about the expansion Archbold made to the house that had been called “The Hut.”   She describes it as a “rather rustic structure.”   Its build date seems unknown.  Historic Aerials shows a smaller house there in the 1940s.   The first set of expansions show up in 1974.

Billy Dew, a well-known architect in and around Middleburg, designed the additions, which were “a series of pavilions linked by transition rooms.”   One chamber, the Music Room, was 30 by 64 feet and featured a commercial-size organ brought from Hillandale. 

John Archbold passed away in 1993 at Foxlease.  His obituary described him as a “philanthropist who supported efforts to preserve the environment and conserve natural resources.”  He donated his Springfield Plantation on the island of Dominica to Clemson University and 1,000 acres for use as a national park.   Honoring his donations, he received the Order of the British Empire.   His first wife was Elizabeth Brown (passed away 1939), second was Lucie Seronde (divorce), and third was Bertrande Benoust (passed away in 1966). 

In 1997, the estate was bought by Jeffrey Steiner (1937-2008), Chairman of Fairchild Corporation (Aerospace).  His son Eric was an accomplished polo player.   An article in The Washington Post by Tim Smart (“Fairchild’s Value Visionary”) tells us Steiner and his family happened upon the farm and took a liking to it.  He acquired it for $5.7M.   

The Steiners hired the esteemed architect Errol Adels, whose client list included Sultan Qaboos in the capital city of Muscat, Oman.  As Fauquier Now points out, his additions to Foxlease, “transformed them conceptually into a Mas, the distinctive architectural style of traditional farmhouses found in Provence, France.”  Historic Aerials (2002) shows the additions located to the west of the main mansion.   

Jacques Wirtz, a world-famous Belgian landscape designer, sketched new landscaping that used his “signature clouds of undulating boxwood.”

The Steiners turned the farm into Foxlease Polo Club, a “one of a kind equestrian facility” operated by Julia Steiner.   In an article at Chronicle of the Horse, ("Allison Springer is Really Ready for Rolex Now," April 17, 2008), Springer praised the operations there, saying, "Foxlease Farm is so wonderful.  It has a great ring and all my horses are so happy there.”

In 2019, Bonhams Auctioneers posted a Facebook page noting that viewings were open in Los Angles for the contents of “A Virginian Country House: The Collection of Eric Steiner.”  Offered were “280 lots ranging from 18th and 19th century furniture, sculpture from the 17th-late 20th century and fine art ranging from huge old master paintings to contemporary Chinese and American art.”

Foxlease has apparently been renamed.  An article in Middleburg Life (Dec 23, 2023) shows it as Littleton Farm.   

This mansion and spread of buildings isn’t as hallowed as historic estates such as Welbourne and Ayrshire. Nevertheless they are extraordinary and the Archbolds gave us some great legacies and stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anne Archbold

Ahead of a post about Foxlease Farm near Middleburg, where lived John D. Archbold (1910-1993), a philanthropist whose areas included the environment and natural resources, let’s take a look at his mother, Anne Archbold.

 

We were not able to get a photo of Hillandale (3907 Mansion Court), but I enjoyed the walk I took yesterday through parts of Georgetown and then touching on the edge of the Foxhall Village neighborhood.

 

The setting is quite remarkable with the fall line gorge cutting through and forming the natural border between the two neighborhoods.  As you descend down to the trail, you feel a sense of enchantment and serenity. During the summer it must be heavenly there.

 

Near the trail is a log cabin I touch on.  Hillandale is higher up from there. The log cabin is the earliest known such structure in DC and is rare in an urban setting.

 

Were it not for Archbold and Charles Carroll Glover (1846-1936), the finger shaped, two-miles and more long swath of land between Georgetown and Foxhall Park, and other neighborhoods north of it, which includes the trail and park named after them, would be a four lane highway.

 

It was quite remarkable. As I walked downhill on Reservoir Road and approached the log cabin and the trail, I felt the cooler temps and appreciated so much what they and others did to save precious green acres like these. 

 

Anne Archbold (1873-1968) was a daughter of John Dustin Archbold (1848-1916), who founded Acme Oil Company, and served as vice-president under John D. Rockefeller at Standard Oil.

 

Cynthia Howar tells us she spent her childhood in Italy and was educated in Florence and Paris. Her passport was filled with visas from world travel. She became a philanthropist, preservationist, and active sportswoman.

 

The National Register for Historic Places nomination form for Hillandale fills in details. After divorcing Saunderson, she kept her last name and the children and made Washington her permanent home around 1922.

 

Colonial and Georgian were style norms for homes at the time, but Anne did no go down beaten paths. In 1924, she built Hillandale, an impressive Italian Villa mansion north of Georgetown (3907 Mansion Court) near the corner of Reservoir and Foxhall. For the design (14-century Italianate), she hired Josephine Wright Chapman, one of the first woman architects in the US. Guests at her parties included Madam Chiang Kai-Shek and playwright and composer Noel Coward.

 

Around the same time, Charles Carroll Glover (1846-1936), banker and philanthropist, donated 27 acres of his estate. Anne donated 23 acres of her land. This combined to form some of the land that became Glover-Archbold Park and Trail.

 

Anne also deeded a c.1843 log cabin to her daughter Moira, who lived there until 1988. Located near the corner of Reservoir and 44th, and visible from the trail, it became known as the Wetzell-Archbold Cabin. It is the earliest known such log cabin in DC and is rare in an urban setting.

 

In 1947, there was a proposal to build a four-lane divided highway (to be called Arizona Avenue) through Glover-Archbold Park as a commuter route. The National Park Service website points out Anne’s leadership was key in opposition. After a long fight, those plans were scrapped.

 

In 1957, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission issued a master plan for the region. It called for a Three-Sisters Bridge over the Potomac (about a half-mile west of Key Bridge) with a four-lane highway through Glover-Archbold Park.

 

In 1961 Anne and Glover filed an injunction. Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall introduced a bill in opposition and won the battle. The land was transferred to the NPS. Along a stretch of almost two miles, one can walk in a peaceful setting along the Glover-Archbold Trail.

 

Anne passed away in 1968. She was laid to rest at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Upperville, about four miles from Foxlease Farm. John inherited and used Hillandale when he visited Washington. In 1973, he sold eight acres to France (photo of sign for Lafayette) for a Chancery and residence. In the 1980’s, Hillandale was close to being demolished, but preservationists prevailed. Townhouses and houses surround it.

 

In her 1970 article (“The Archbold Spirits Lives at Hillandale,” The Washington Post), Nancy Ross told her readers about the villa mansion. In June, 1970, its doors swung open for the annual ball of the Opera Society of Washington. The chair of the event was none other than Marjorie Merriweather Post (Talk about friends in high places...)

 

We sometimes have cynical thoughts about the wealthy. But some do give back and Anne Archbold was certainly one of them.

Dulany Family, Select Genealogy

Yesterday we provided a timeline for Old Welbourne and Welbourne.  Today we offer a select genealogy for the Dulany family.   Please note it is not any genealogical work of our own, rather we gathered it from our notes and on line sources.   Also helpful was Margaret Ann Vogtsberger and her book, “The Dulanys of Welbourne.” 

Photo: Welbourne, by author.

As we noted yesterday, this is an extraordinary family story.   There are certainly others that extend for multiple generations, but this one really stands out with historical figures, stories that are part and parcel to understanding the rich past of hunt country, and a continuous three-centuries-long line from Daniel the Immigrant to Rebecca Dulany, his great, great, great, great, great, great granddaughter, who runs the Welbourne Inn.   She is the seventh generation Dulany to live there, and the fifth generation to run it as a Bed and Breakfast.

It is our great hope that Welbourne gets an update to the 1971 NRHP form.   We also recommend consideration be given to give it status as a National Historic Landmark.   

 

1. Daniel Dulany, “The Elder” (1687-1753)

Left Queens County, Ireland and arrived as an indentured servant at Port Tobacco, Maryland.   Became noted lawyer,  Attorney General in Annapolis and other high offices, and land developer who became “Forgotten Father of Frederick, Maryland.”  Second wife was Rebecca Smith (1696-1737). 

 

2. Daniel Dulany Jr, "The Younger" (1721-1797)

Son of Daniel Dulany, The Elder. 

Born in Annapolis.  Served as Mayor of Annapolis before becoming a highly respected lawyer in Baltimore.  Remained loyalist, but in 1765 penned paper against taxes without representation.  In 1749 married Rebecca Tasker, daughter of Benjamin Tasker (1690-1768). Tasker family important in early Maryland history.

 

3. Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1819)

Grandson of Daniel Dulany, The Elder

Son of Daniel Dulany, the Younger

Served in the American Revolution and became a friend of George Washington and a frequent visitor to Mount Vernon.  In 1774, he married Eliza French (1756-1824), a wealthy ward of Washington.  She was a daughter of Daniel French of Rose Hill, south of Alexandria.   

Benjamin and Elizabeth built a large brick house at 601 Duke Street.    Richard Pratt (“A Treasury of Early American Homes”) tells us its was furnished to perfection and calls it "one of the choice examples of early American elegance.”  Smith and Miller described it as the “least altered house in the city.”   Washington dined with the Dulanys there on February 21, 1785.  In 1824, Lafayette spoke from the steps of the home.   He spent the night across the street at 301 S. St. Asaph, famed Lafayette House.

 

4.  John Peyton Dulany (1787-1878)

Great Grandson of Daniel Dulany, The Elder

Son of Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1818)

Forgotten figure in the Dulany family.  Probably grew up in Alexandria and spent time at Clermont, family summer home, site in Rose Hill area, south of Alexandria.   

Father of Col Richard Henry Dulany.  Planted Dulany flag near Middleburg.   Distinguished himself not just as a farmer, but as a banker, including assets in New York.   His son Richard Henry will become key player in stories in and around Welbourne.

In 1812, married Mary Ann DeButts (1786-1855) at Mount Welby, which lies across the Potomac from Alexandria.    She is the daughter of Samuel DeButts (1756-1814) and Marianne Welby DeButts (1752-1828).  Also Irish, they built and lived at Mount Welby, a historic home now a part of Oxon Hill Farm and Park, across the river from Alexandria.

John and Mary build a log dwelling north of Middleburg, which will become part of Old Welbourne.   They name their land Welbourne after Welborn Hall in Lincolnshire where Mary Ann was born.   They also acquired a small farm house south of Old Welbourne and expanded it.  This becomes Welbourne.

 

5.  Col. Richard Henry Dulany (1820-1906)

Great, Great Grandson of Daniel Dulany The Elder

Son of John Peyton Dulany (1789-1878)

Col. Richard Henry Dulany became the most famous of the Dulanys, a beloved and respected figure who founded and nourished not only the Piedmont Hunt but also the Upperville Horse Show.  Both are the oldest in the US and remain a vibrant part of horse and hunt country. 

In 1847, married Rebecca Ann Dulany Dulany (1828-1858).  Four children — Mary Dulany Neville (1849-1935), Fannie Dulany Lemmon (1851-1928), Henry Grafton "Hal" Dulany (1854-1890), and Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany (1856-1917).  All four will become a vital part of the Dulany story.

 

6. Francis Carter “Fannie” Dulany Lemmon (1851-1928)

Great, Great, Great Granddaughter of Daniel Dulany The Elder”

Daughter of Col. Richard Henry Dulany 

In 1876, marries John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915) of Baltimore.   Inherited Welbourne in 1906.   

When John passes away in 1915, their daughter Elizabeth (1893-1994) takes up residence at Welbourne with her mother.   That same year, she began a close, but platonic 26-year pen pal relationship (he was married, she remained single) with famed Scribner editor Maxwell Perkins (1884-1947).  He helped writers like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, and Zora Neale Hurston.

 

7.  Francis Carter “Fanny” Lemmon Morison (1875-1956)

Great, Great, Great, Great Granddaughter of Daniel Dulany The Elder”

Daughter of Francis Carter “Fannie” Dulany Lemmon (1851-1928) and John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915)

In 1900, marries Nathaniel Holmes Morison Sr. (1872-1957).    After the passing of her mother, Welbourne passes to Fanny.

 

8.  Nathaniel Holmes “Holmey” Morison Jr. (1908-1972) 

Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandson of Daniel Dulany The Elder.

Son of Fanny Carter Lemmon (1875-1956) and Nathaniel Holmes Morison Sr. (1872-1957).

In 1957, Welbourne passed to Nathaniel Holmes “Holmey” Morison Jr.  In 1931, he marries Sally Harris (1909-1988).   Kitty Slater notes they frequently entertain and hold an annual Open House.   Welbourne is also open to select paying guests as well as parents of Foxcroft students, visiting fox hunters, and Historic Garden Week visitors.                                                                                                                             

9.  Nathaniel Holmes “Nat” Morison III (1936-2019)

Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandson of Daniel Dulany The Elder

Son of Nathaniel Holmes “Holmey” Morison Jr. (1908-1972) and Sarah Truax “Sally” Harris (1909-1988)

In 1959, Nat and wife Sally Weymouth take the helm at Welbourne and run it as a Bed and Breakfast for over 60 years.  He was a graduate of the University of Virginia.  To celebrate New Orleans-style jazz music, Nat and his brother George begin hosting jazz-themed parties at Welbourne. 

Also formed the Goose Creek Jass and Ragtime Society and hosted the Stomp and Cakewalk celebrations.   

 

10.  Rebecca Dulany Morison Schaefer

Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Granddaughter of Daniel Dulany The Elder

Daughter of Nathaniel Holmes “Nat” Morison III (1936-2019) and Sally Weymouth

Rebecca carries on the fine tradition of hosting guests at the Welbourne Inn and keeping its stories alive.  In 2021, she launched a new website for the Inn and appears prominently in a documentary titled, "Welbourne Inn: Over 200 years of Dulany family history."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welbourne and Old Welbourne

“The story of the Dulanys remains one of rags to riches, a story worth rediscovering.  Book Review, "The Dulanys of Maryland" by Aubrey C. Land. 

"Even its name is delightful, invoking the patina of age." --  Audrey Windsor Bergner

"There are many layers to Welbourne's history…  Of course, the history never stopped."  -- Rebecca Dulany Schaeffer, Video at Welbourne Inn website.

 

On the heels of finishing up with our look at north of Upperville, we decided to continue in that vicinity.  But rather than rolling it out in another series, let’s take our next exploring one place at a time with a look at Old Welbourne.   

Once again, our scouting department thanks our old pal Eugene Scheel.  Looking at his map of Loudoun County, we spotted Old Welbourne on Willisville Road, about two miles north of Route 50. We certainly know about Welbourne, but this was the first time we heard about Old Welbourne.   

I thought its set of stories might not be that big of a deal, but it turns out there was a lot to learn.   We are most fortunate and pleased that Old Welbourne has been recently added to the National Register for Historic Places.    

In our last visit to these parts, we ended at Green Garden.  From there, let’s now head eastward along Millville Road towards Willisville.    With fond memories of visiting that African American community and its neighbor Welbourne, we wave to them, turn left on Willisville Road, and head up for about a mile to Old Welbourne.    

 

Knowing that many of the mansions out here are not visible from the road, or only partially, we are jumping for joy when we see Old Welbourne.   Like Green Garden, it’s a red brick beauty.   

Photo:  By author.

Old Welbourne certainly has some stories, but it sure seems like it has gotten lost in the shuffle.  Welbourne, on the other hand, has seen the limelight.   For example, it appears on the front cover of two essential books -- "The Hunt Country of America" by Kitty Slater and "Old Plantations and Historic Homes around Middleburg, Virginia" by Audrey Windsor Bergner.  

Just east of Willisville, and situated across from Crednal, the Carter family seat, Welbourne was built in stages that added to an original small farm house (c. 1775).   We visited it last year and had a great time.  The beloved stuccoed mansion operates as a B&B, but also serves as a museum of sorts to the Dulany family and some of the history made in that area.

I will never forget our visit last year.    It was as if we were on a Hollywood set.  The dirt road (Welbourne) leading to the house remains bumpy and unimproved.   Only the power lines and poles mark the landscape as modern.  The drive to the front of the house was also on hardened dirt, with no marked parking spots or signs and no other cars. 

Also like something out of a vanished time, a welcoming house dog greeted us outside and escorted us in.   Walking inside, it was a continuation of the time travel with a warm feeling of old school cozy.   

After being impressed by seeing some antiques and the lovely old staircase, I glanced to the left and began to admire a wooden placard hanging on a wall.  It lists the Masters of the Piedmont Hunt (up to 1987) which is the oldest hunt club in the US.  It is also part of Welbourne's history.   

List

At the top of the list is Col. Richard Henry Dulany (1820-1906), who called Welbourne home for most of his long life.   He founded the Piedmont Hunt in 1840 and the Upperville Horse Show in 1853.   Both are still running strong and are the oldest in the US.    

Col. Dulany also served as the Master of the Piedmont Hunt from 1840 to 1873.  During the Great Hound Match of 1905, a seminal event in the history of fox hunting and these Piedmont hills west of Washington, Welbourne was front and center as host and central command.   

The Dulany name appears on the list of Masters a total of six times, spanning an incredible 73 years.   And what an amazing family legacy for the Dulanys.   Across the span of almost 200 years, the last seven generations have owned and lived at Welbourne.   The last four generations have ran it as beloved inn keepers, as well as hosting cherished events.   Dulany family reunions at the mansion have brought family members together.

Note:  We will post a select family genealogy tomorrow.

Rebecca Dulany Morison Schaefer, the current owner of Welbourne and manager of the Welbourne Inn, is the great, great, great, great, great, great, granddaughter of Daniel Dulany, the Elder/Immigrant (1685-1753).   She was kind enough to show us around that day we visited.   She also created a loving video tribute to Welbourne that can be seen at the Welbourne Inn web site.

When you read articles about Welbourne, most of the writers, when referring to the descendants, reach back to Col. Richard Henry Dulany.  Completely understandable.  He was a beloved icon and central figure in horse and hunt country.

But this line of the Dulany family story starts four generations earlier with Daniel Dulany, the Immigrant (1685-1753).  His son was Daniel Dulany The Younger (1721-1797).   These two historical figures made their mark in the legal worlds in Maryland.   Around 1780, Col. Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1818), grandson of Daniel Dulany the Immigrant, and son of Daniel, the Younger, planted the family flag in Alexandria.

In 1773, Col. Benjamin Dulany married Elizabeth French (1756-1822).   The powerful couple lived at the famed Dulany house they built at 601 Duke Street in Old Town.  Through the years, it has been cherished as one of the finest in the Old Town Historic District.   

In 1811, Col. Dulany and Elizabeth gave some land north of Middleburg to their son John Peyton Dulany (1789-1878).  Like Old Welbourne, his story has been overlooked.

John Peyton Dulany (1789-1878) was the father of Col. Richard Henry Dulany (1820-1906).   The story of Welbourne is synonymous with Col. Richard Henry Dulany’s time and presence there, but in fact, the family story in these parts begins with his father John Peyton Dulany.  He not only owned the land that became Old Welbourne, he also bought a small farm house and made it into the mansion we know today as Welbourne.

And it was his wise investments in New York and New England that helped the family have a core of wealth beyond farming.  Kitty Slater adds that John Peyton Dulany’s minister praised him, saying, “In benevolence, his equal was seldom met.” 

As I started reading the NRHP form for Old Welbourne, I began to see that the story of the Dulany family is interwoven with both Old Welbourne and Welbourne.   We also began to realize that the best way to tell the Old Welbourne story is to provide a chronological sequence of both.   

We present it below.  Tomorrow we will provide an annotated look at each of the ten generations of the family in these stories.   

1706

Daniel Dulany “The Elder” (1685-1753) leaves Queens County, Ireland and arrives as an indentured servant at Port Tobacco, Maryland.   Dulany becomes a noted lawyer and Attorney General in Annapolis.  He also holds a number of high offices and is a land developer who became “Forgotten Father of Frederick, Maryland.”  Second wife is Rebecca Smith (1696-1737). 

1721

Daniel, The Younger, Dulany Jr., (1721-1787), son of Daniel Dulany is born in Annapolis.  Serves as Mayor of Annapolis before becoming, like his father, a highly respected lawyer.  Remained loyalist, but in 1765 penned paper against taxes without representation.  In 1749 married Rebecca Tasker, daughter of Benjamin Tasker (1690-1768). Tasker family important in early Maryland history. 

1752

Colonel Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1818), son of Daniel, is born.  He will serve in the American Revolution and become a friend of Washington and a frequent visitor to Mount Vernon.  In 1774, he marries Elizabeth French (1756-1822), a wealthy ward of Washington.  She was a daughter of Daniel French of Rose Hill south of Alexandria.   In his diary, Washington wrote -- "half the world was in her pursuit."

1775

Welbourne

Earliest portion is a two and a half story stone farm house which now forms part of the south wing.  Form doesn’t say who built the small dwelling or owned the land.

1783

Col. Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1818) and his wife Elizabeth French (1756-1822) build a brick house at 601 Duke Street.    Richard Pratt (“A Treasury of Early American Homes”) tells us the house was furnished to perfection and calls it "one of the choice examples of early American elegance.”  Smith and Miller described it as the “least altered house in the city.”   George Washington dined with the Dulanys on February 21, 1785.  In 1824, Lafayette spoke from the steps of the home.   He spent the night across the street at 301 S. St. Asaph, the famed Lafayette House.

1789

John Peyton Dulany (1789-1898), son of Daniel Dulany, The Younger, is born, either in Alexandria or family summer seat south of Alexandria.   

1797

Daniel, The Younger, Dulany Jr. 1721-1797, passes away in Baltimore. 

1799

Col. Dulany and Elizabeth acquire mansion atop Shuter’s Hill.   Rent 601 Duke before selling. 

1811

Old Welbourne

Col. Benjamin Tasker Dulany (1752-1818) and his wife Elizabeth French (1756-1822) gift to their son, John Peyton Dulany (1789-1878), 250 acres north of Middleburg.   Land may have been owned by Daniel French, father of Elizabeth.  Initially called Welbourne, but will become known as Old Welbourne.

1812

John Peyton Dulany begins to distinguish himself not just as a farmer, but as a banker, including assets in New York.  He is also an enslaver.

Marries Mary Ann DeButts (1783-1855) at Mount Welby, which lies in Prince George's Country, Maryland, across the Potomac from Alexandria.    She is the daughter of Samuel DeButts (1756-1814) and Marianne Welby DeButts (1752-1828).  Also Irish, they built and lived at Mount Welby, a historic home now a part of Oxon Hill Farm and Park.

John and Mary name their land and small home Welbourne after Welborn Hall in Lincolnshire where Mary Ann was born.   This will become known as Old Welbourne.

John Peyton Dulany and Mary begin to farm at Old Welbourne.

1813

Old Welbourne

John and Mary live in a log dwelling.  Exact built date not known, but completed in 1813.  Her mother, Mary Welby DeButts of Mount Welby, across from Alexandria, visits and describes dwelling as very small, two little rooms, above and below.  

1815

Old Welbourne

John Peyton Dulany (1789-1878) receives additional 252 acres from his parents.   He enlarges the log dwelling to one and a half story with stone and plaster.

1820

Col. Richard Henry Dulany (1820-1906), son of John and Mary Dulany, is born.  Will become the most famous of the Dulanys.  Four children, Mary Dulany Neville, Fannie Dulany Lemmon, Henry Grafton Dulany, and Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany will become vital part of the Dulany story.

1833

Welbourne

John Peyton Dulany (1789-1878) purchases a c. 1775 two and a half story stone farm house two miles south of Old Welbourne and across from Crednal.  Probably larger than the log and stone dwelling at Old Welbourne.  John later enlarges by adding flanking two story wings, front porch portico, and stucco.   

Family probably moves from Old Welbourne to Welbourne some time after 1840.  In 1840, the Dulany children were Mary (22), Julia (26), and Richard Henry (20).   

1840

Welbourne

Col. Richard Henry Dulany founds the Piedmont Fox Hounds in 1840.  It is the oldest fox hunting group in the US.

1845

Perhaps for the first time, Welbourne is mentioned in the Alexandria Gazette (August 13).  John Peyton Dulany of “Welbourne Hall” is listed as a reference for a new Boarding School for Young Ladies in the city at Prince and S. St. Asaph.

1847

Col. Richard Henry Dulany, son of John Peyton Dulany, marries Rebecca Anne Dulany (1828-1858), his wealthy second cousin. 

In 1835, Rebecca received a 500-piece silver service from Lady Hunter, her great aunt living in London.  Lady Hunter had died childless in Brighton in 1835.   She left the other half to Sir Richard Hunter of Dulany House, and the Queen’s physician.

Colonel Dulany and family remain at Welbourne.   Family is Mary (1849-1876), Frances ‘Fannie’ (1851-1928), Richard ‘Dick’ Henry Jr. and H ‘Hal’ Grafton (1854-1890).  

1851

Francis “Fannie” Dulany (1851-1928) born, probably at Welbourne.  She is sixth generation Dulany and will inherit Welbourne in 1906.  Will marry John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915) of Baltimore.   

1853

Col Richard Henry Dulany founds the Upperville Colt and Horse Show, the oldest horse show in the US. 

He also commissions George A. Frederick of Baltimore to design and build Oakley, a mansion on the south side of today’s Route 50.  This sophisticated house was built in the Italian Villa style.    Among the home’s occupants were Dr. A.C. Archibald Cary Randolph (1885-1960) and his third wife Theodora Ayer (1905-1996).  She distinguished herself as "The First Lady of Foxhunting" and first woman Master of Hounds.

Eva Dulany (1887-1933), daughter of Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany, (1856-1917), marries Dr. A.C. Randolph (1885-1960).  Possible that Old Welbourne was renovated for them.   They live there.  Dr. A.C. Archibald Cary Randolph is highly respected and will serve as Master of Piedmont Hunt from 1931 to 1954. 

1858

As both an enslaver and a banker with investments in New York, Richard Peyton Dulany is one of wealthiest men in Loudoun County.   In 1856, enslaver of 23.   Old Welbourne ranks among the most productive farms in Loudoun County. 

Rebecca Dulany, wife of Col. Richard Henry Dulany, passes away.  Colonel Dulany remains at Welbourne. 

1861-1865

Colonel Richard Henry Dulany serves as a Colonel in the Civil War with the 7th Virginia Calvary.   Suffers crippling arm injury.

1862

Part of the Battle of Unison is fought on or near Old Welbourne.

1864

Old Welbourne

Outbuildings burned during Burning Raid of 1864.

1875

Francis Carter “Fanny Lemmon (1875-1956) born, daughter of “Fannie” Dulany Lemmon (1851-1928) and John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915).  She is seventh generation Dulany and will marry Nathaniel Holmes Morison Sr. (1872-1957).

1876

Mary (1849-1935), oldest daughter of Colonel Richard Dulany marries Robert Neville.  Born in Ireland, he becomes a noted horseman and breeder and “one of the most widely known and genuinely popular sportsmen in America.”    Developed Welbourne, which held the 7-1-2 furlong record in the US.   Ballacalla won at Pimlico in 1909.

Robert and Mary move into Pelham, a brick mansion next to Crednal and across from Welbourne.  House was a wedding present. 

Francis “Fannie” Dulany (1851-1928), sister of Mary, marries John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915).  He is a Confederate veteran from a Baltimore family.  They move to Baltimore.

1878

John Peyton Dulany passes away at Welbourne as one of richest persons in the county.  Had still been living at Welbourne, but laid to rest at family cemetery at Old Welbourne.   Cemetery enclosed with fieldstone wall capped in limestone.

Welbourne is inherited by his son, Colonel Richard Henry Dulany (1820-1906).

Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany (1856-1917), son of Col. Richard Henry Dulany, marries Eva Virginia Randolph (1855-1932). Possible that the Manor House at Old Welbourne was built at this time in the Queen Anne style. 

1881

Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany, (1856-1917) and Eva probably move into the new manor home at Old Welbourne.   Located near 1812 log and stone dwelling, but not adjoined like Welbourne.   Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany had become Master of the Piedmont Hunt in 1873, replacing his father who served from 1840 to 1873.  Richard Dulany will serve as Master from 1873 to 1908.

1890

H. Hal Grafton Dulany (1834-1890), son of Col. Richard Henry Dulany, passes away.  He was single and had been living at Grafton Hall.

Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany (1856-1917), inherits his brother’s farm Grafton Hall.  Leaves Old Welbourne and moves into Grafton Hall. 

Old Welbourne’s smaller dwelling falls into a state of disrepair. 

1896

The Alexandria Gazette, quoting the Staunton News, notes Richard Hunter "Dick" Dulany Jr. passed through the city with six fine horses, all being celebrated steeple chasers. “His stable contains the finest hunters in Virginia.”

1900

Francis Carter “Fanny Lemmon (1875-1956), daughter of “Fannie” Dulany (1851-1928) and John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915), marries Nathaniel Holmes Morison Sr. (1872-1957).  He sold cotton at New York Exchange.    Couple moves to Welbourne.

1903

Main house at Grafton Hall burns.   Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany, (1856-1917) moves back to Old Welbourne. 

1905

Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany (1856-1917) builds “Grafton Hall” on site of Grafton, which had burned down.   Returns to live there.

The Great Hound Match of 1905 takes place, a two-week event that put Middleburg and the area hunting grounds on the map.  First day kicked off at Welbourne and the Dulany's also held a Grand Finale Hunt Breakfast.    Harry Worcester Smith, Master of Fox Hounds for Massachusetts's Grafton Hunt, writes that he got the idea for a match against Alexander Henry Higginson (Master of Hounds Middlesex Hunt in Massachusetts) and his British-bred hounds after visiting Dozier Dulany.

The Washington Post reported (November 14) that:  “No falls occurred during the day, but Miss Terry Dulany made a sensational jump over a wire fence that tied up all of those behind her.”

1906

Welbourne

Col. Dulany passes away at Welbourne.  He is lauded in papers such as the Evening Star.   The Alexandria Gazette writes that he was one of the most prominent citizens of Northern Virginia, the "father of horse shows in the country, and breeder of the finest hunters."

Welbourne is inherited by his daughter, Fanny Dulany Lemmon (1851-1928), wife (m. 1876) of John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915). 

1907

Selling of the estate of Col. Richard Henry Dulany takes place in April.   John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915), husband of Fannie Dulany Southgate (1851-1928) is part of the auction management.  Items include 42 horses, including one thoroughbred stallion, flock of sheep, cattle, farm equipment, and wagon gear.

1910

Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany, (1856-1917) restores Old Welbourne in the Colonial Revival and returns to live there. 

Eva Dulany (1887-1933), daughter of Richard Hunter “Dick” Dulany, (1856-1917), marries Dr. A.C. Randolph (1885-1960).  Possible that Old Welbourne was renovated for them.   They live there.  Dr. A.C. Archibald Cary Randolph is highly respected and will serve as Master of Piedmont Hunt from 1931 to 1954. 

1915

Elizabeth Lemmon (1893-1994), daughter of John Southgate Lemmon (1840-1915) and Fannie Dulany Lemmon (6th Dulany generation) takes up residence at Welbourne with her mother after her father passes away.  Raised in Baltimore, she attended the famed Peabody Institute, raised champion boxer dogs, and was a great aunt of Rebecca Dulany Morison Schaefer, 10th generation Dulany and current owner of Welbourne.  Moved to Welbourne upon her father’s passing in 1915.

1921

Elizabeth begins a close, but platonic 26-year pen pal relationship (he was married, she remained single) with famed Scribner editor Maxwell Perkins (1884-1947).  He helped writers like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, and Zora Neale Hurston.

In a letter to Perkins (July 30, 1934), Fitzgerald wrote:

“I thought Elizabeth Lemmon was charming.  The whole atmosphere of that countryside made me wonder about many things.”

In 1934, the Saturday Evening Post publishes Fitzgerald’s short story, “Her Last Case.”  One reviewer called it one of his most important stories about the South.   In “Critical Companion,” Mary Jo Tate tells us Ben Dragonet’s home in “Warrenburg,” was inspired by Fitzgerald’s visit to Welbourne that summer.

Thomas Wolfe also visited Welbourne that same year, arriving in the fall. His book, “The House of the Far and Lost” owes something to his stay at the Dulany family seat, which becomes “Malbourne.”

1928

After the passing of Fanny Dulany Lemmon (1851-1928), Welbourne passes to her daughter, Fanny Lemmon Morison (1875-1956), wife of Nathaniel Holmes Morison Sr (1872-1957).

Mid-1930s

Fanny Lemmon Morison (1875-1956), wife of Nathaniel Holmes Morison Sr. (1872-1957), begins to run Welbourne as a Bed and Breakfast.

1933

Eva Dulany Randolph (1887-1933) passes away.   A.C. Randolph inherits Old Welbourne.

1934

Dr. A.C. Randolph marries Rebecca Ann Dulany (1884-1941).  Nicknamed Cuppa, she is Eva’s sister.  They live at Old Welbourne.

1936

Nathaniel Holmes “Nat” Morison III (1936-2019) born in Winchester VA, 9th generation Dulany.  Will marry Sherry (“Sally) Weymouth and will run Welbourne for 60 years.

1941

Rebecca Ann Dulany (1884-1941), wife of Dr. A.C. Randolph, passes away.

1942

Dr. Randolph marries Theodora Ayre of Boston.  They live at Grafton Hall in Upperville.  She will serve as either Master or co-Master of the Piedmont Hunt from 1954 to 1987 and become known as the "First Lady of  Foxhunting."

Dulany Randolph (1912-1988), son of Dr. A.C. and Eva, and his wife Sally Sears, move in to Old Welbourne.   Foxhunts and noteworthy parties are held, but house falls into poor condition. 

1940s

Sally’s mother, Evelyn Sears Randolph, of Boston, seeing that the house has been neglected, funds restoration of Old Welbourne.   

Late 1950s

Randolph and Sally divorce.  Old Welbourne abandoned.

1957

At the passing of Fanny Carter Lemmon (1875-1956) and Nathaniel Holmes Morison Sr. (1872-1957), Welbourne passes to Nathaniel Holmes “Holmey” Morison Jr (1908-1972), husband of Sarah Truax Sally Harris (1909-1988).   The couple takes over the helm of running Welbourne as a Bed and Breakfast.   

1959

Welbourne passes to Nathaniel Holmes “Nat” Morison III (1936-2019), who marries Sherry Weymouth. He becomes grand host at Welbourne and runs a sanctuary for retired horses.  In tribute to his father, he founded Goose Creek Jass (original spelling) and Ragtime Society.    

1961

Erskine and Lily Bedford acquire Old Welbourne.  Both of Erskine’s parents were fox-hunters and Masters in Maryland.  This marks the first time in almost 200 years the house and property is out of the Dulany/Randolph family.  Cemetery stays in family.

Bedfords restore the house.   The architect is Washington Reed, esteemed architect whose work includes Colonial Williamsburg and Paul Mellon’s Rokeby.

Bedford becomes Master of Piedmont Hunt (1979-1987). 

1962

Tradition of summer stick ball games starts at Welbourne.  Plaque outside the house gives the winners of every season.   

1965

Old Welbourne

Bedford invests in farming operations and builds farming complex. Includes silo made of pre-cast concrete and a blue steel one.   

1972

Nathaniel Holmes “Holmey” Morison Jr. (1908-1972) passes away.  Buried at Old Welbourne.  He had attended Episcopal High School and the University of Virginia.  He spent a number of years in New York where he was on the board of the New York Cotton Exchange. 

1974

Welbourne

To celebrate New Orleans-style jazz music, Nat Morison and his brother George begin hosting jazz-themed parties at Welbourne.   They form the Goose Creek Jass and Ragtime Society and host the Stomp and Cakewalk celebrations.      

Early 1980s

Nathaniel “Nat” Morison and wife Sherry take over running Welbourne as a Bed and Breakfast.

1987

Welbourne

Article in The Washington Post ("Weekending in Cottage of the Manors Born," Caroline Lancaster, November 20) touts Welbourne and a few others in the area as an “Estate Cottage.”  

“Splendid breakfast served in the dining room amidst ancestral portraits and antiques… Catch up with Nat Morison, seventh generation member of the family and resident historian.” 

1994

Elizabeth Lemmon (1893-1993) passes away at nursing home in Leesburg.  Buried at Old Welbourne cemetery. 

1995

A Virginia State Highway Marker is erected for Welbourne. Located at intersection of Route 50 and Atoka Road.

1998

Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville overflows to mourn the loss of Erskine Bedford. The beloved joint master of the Piedmont Hunt and owner of Old Welbourne since, was fatally injured while fox-hunting.   Laid to rest at family cemetery, only non-member of Dulany family there.

Old House Interiors magazine (Spring 1998) publishes a loving valentine to Welbourne.  Regina Cole writes: 

"The current inhabitants remember their ancestors and more.  They share space with them, with the effects of their lives.  They tell their stories as readily as they discuss tomorrow’s weather."

2006

Tom and Mary Catlett acquire and live in Old Welbourne.

2013

Catlett’s sell the house and farm.

2013

Brad and Tandy Bondi acquire and live in Old Welbourne. They continue the tradition of allowing fox hunts.  They restored the library and barn, remodeled the kitchen, and rebuilt the fieldstone walls.

2019

Nathaniel Holmes “Nat” Morison III (1936-2019) passes away.  Lovingly described as "the consummate Virginia gentleman." 

Rebecca Dulany Morison Schaefer, his daughter, inherits Welbourne.   Takes on manager duties of the Bed and Breakfast.  Creates video to tell some of its history. 

2021

Old Welbourne

Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area reports cabin has been restored.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

North of Upperville: Part Ten, Green Garden

Leaving Newstead, we continue to head south on Greengarden Road.  In terms of a road going from paved to non-paved, one of the most dramatic shifts occurs when this one crosses over Millville Road.  This stretch is sunken road heaven. 

I shouldn’t digress, but it’s worth pausing here before we get to the Green Garden mansion home.   In her book, “The Hunt Country of America,” Kitty Slater starts with a historical perspective that reminds the reader that back then all of these lands were wilderness.   She reaches back to John Lederer.  He was a German physician who blazed trails by boldly leading three expeditions into the mountains of Virginia (1670-71).  He was also the first European to document his expeditions in writing.   

Slater quotes Lederer as being excited at one point when he experienced the contrast between the dark of the forest and then the sudden sight of “a clear and open sky.”   

I experienced something like that here on Green Garden Road when a blocking tree line ends and suddenly everything to the west opens back up.   In the distance is the long stretch of the Blue Ridges and Ashby’s Gap.    Looking around, there is almost nothing man-made.

Out of sight, but in the distance is Highway 17.  Southerners know 17 as the Coastal Highway.  It runs from southern Florida and ends right there at Paris and Highway 50 at Ashby’s Gap.   

This road loomed large in my childhood dreams.   Every summer Dad and Mom took us to the beach near Wilmington.  I’d see the sign and was hit with a touch of wanderlust, the desire to go see what was along that way.     

On our previous outing, the driving along Trappe has been fairly flat.  Same for the first part of this drive.   But now we are reaching to the hills that make horse and hunt country so appealing and enchanting.  

My scouting told me the mansion was up on top of this big hill.  But at first I can’t see it. Then suddenly the red brick beauty that is Green Garden appears.  The dramatic look over is breath taking.  As we have discussed, so many mansions out here are situated to maximize privacy, but this one can be easily seen, just 600 feet from the road and no cloaking of trees.  Green Garden is fronted with a line of large trees.   We’ve seen this type of linear landscaping before, but it never gets old.

Green Garden is on the National Register for Historic Places with a 2007 listing date.   It states the mansion is one of Loudoun County’s most exceptional examples of the Greek Revival style.     

The original part is now the rear portion.  The main block came along circa 1846 with five bays.  A three-bay porch with Doric column adds a nice touch and includes a Chinese-Chippendale-style balustrade.  Outbuildings include a root cellar (c. 1833), a smokehouse (1847), a barn (1870), and an ice house.   The farm spreads across 34 acres.

The form tells us the Green Garden land was originally patented around 1765 by Reverend Charles Green (1710-1765).  He received the grant from Lord Fairfax in 1742 as part of a 1,150 acre tract.  In 1764, a John Hendron leased about 100 acres of Green’s land.

It is fascinating in that Reverend Charles Green preached in Alexandria from 1753 to 1765 and then at the Truro Parish church on today’s Telegraph Road.   He was the first permanent rector for the parish.   

In 1770, John Gibson (1772-1800) bought 15 acres.  In his time, a dwelling was located on this prime spot about a mile north of what is now Route 50.   Gibson probably built the mill nearby and likely did very well with the business.  He gave the name Green Garden.

The original part of the house, a small brick mill manager’s house with just a kitchen and sitting room, was completed around 1833.  It was built for Jessie Richards, a prosperous miller who owned the still standing mill just a short distance away and beside Panther Skin Creek. 

In 1837, Richards sold the estate and the mill to Dr. Bushrod Rust.  Once again, the Rust family emerges in these stories.   Perhaps you will remember some of them lived at nearby Cleremont Farm. 

Dr. Bushrod Rust was a son of Captain George Rust, who expanded Cleremont.   Dr. Bushrod Rust grew up there.  He married Margaret Carr, daughter of Joseph Carr, who founded Upperville.    Dr. Rust owned a total of almost a thousand acres in the area we have been looking at, including Clifton Mill near Willisville. 

In 1846, he began building a large house in front of the original miller’s house.  Financing came from Farmers Bank at Alexandria.  Rust built the house, but his debts were high.  In 1847, he was forced to sell Green Garden at auction.   

Jesse Richards, who had managed the mill, made a return of sorts by acquiring Green Garden.  The form tells us he is listed as a farmer in the 1860 census.  He prospered during this time when Loudoun County was the state’s fourth largest producer of flour and meal and milling was the largest industry in the county.

War came to Green Garden in a number of ways, including the 1864 campaign by the Union forces that pushed the rebels westward.  The nomination form points out in one raid, the Green Garden's outbuildings burned.   

Jesse Richards and his wife had four sons.   Two, Adolphus “Dolly” Richards and Tom Richards, served with the Confederates during the Civil War, including joining up with John Moseby’s feared Rangers.   They found refuge in a number of houses in this area north of Upperville, including Green Garden.   

After the war, Dolly Richards did not return to Green Garden.  In Kentucky, he wore the robes of a judge for the superior court.   His father remained at the mansion home and picked the hoes back up along with his wife, Martha, other son Washington, and two daughters.  Wheat and corn might have been their main products.   Jesse passed away in 1883.   

In 1887, Willie Fletcher, who grew up in Upperville, and his wife Annie bought Green Garden.  They worked the fields with their two sons William and Bedford.   Although diary farmers stayed in the black, these were tough times for agricultural farmers.

With the passing of Willie in 1920 and Annie in 1931, their two sons inherited the property.  In 1987, the family sold Green Garden John and Marcia Bols.   They restored it and installed modern heating and air conditioning.   

In 2002, Jay and Estelle Zeiler acquired the house and land.  They upgraded the electrical and HVAC systems, restored garden walls, and helped place Green Garden on the NRHP.   The cherry on top was putting the 35 acres into perpetual land conservation easement. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

North of Upperville, Part Nine, Corotoman

Corotoman.

On the southern part of Virginia’s Northern Neck, that name, likely Anglicized from Cuttatawomen, belongs to the indigenous peoples who lived there, the river (Corrotoman) that flows into the Rappahannock, and the site of the residence of the famed Carter family who built and lived in it.   

Before a fire destroyed the Carter mansion in 1729, the dwelling, described as “perhaps the finest house in Virginia,” and influential in terms of architecture, graced the entrance to the river.  Robert “King” Carter (1667-1732), a famous name in colonial Virginia history, was born there.  Part of Corotoman’s history includes a brave group of enslaved who made a courageous dash for freedom during the War of 1812.   Its archeological site has been a gold mine.

In a little known story, the Corotoman name got new life in horse and hunt country.   About two miles north of Upperville, a mansion house about the same width as the original one, arose c. 1900.   Very likely in tribute, the builder gave it the name Corotoman.  The location is along Millville Road near Greengarden Road, and about a mile south of Newstead.    Tucked away on the seldom used road, the house, farm, and its history are out of sight and out of mind.   

Corotoman is not on the National Register for Historic Places.  We put this together.

 

Corotoman was probably built in the early 1900s.   One newspaper report said the house was built where the Bellefield plantation had been located.  

Perhaps for the first time, Bellefield shows up in the papers on June 11, 1836.  Cuthbert Powell placed a large “A Fine Farm for Sale” ad in the Alexandria Gazette.  He described it as:

"that beautiful and fertile farm called Bellefield, late the residence of my son, and adjoining that on which I reside in the county of Loudoun.  This estate contains 450 acres of land with substantial and comfortable accommodations for a genteel family, and the necessary farm buildings… crops of grain, pastures, grazing stock."   

If you will recall, Cuthbert Powell (1775-1849) inherited Llangollen in 1810.  His father was Lt. Col. Levin Powell (1737-1810), founder of Middleburg and builder of Llangollen.  Both lived in Alexandria before moving out to Loudoun County.   Cuthbert moved out permanently in 1830.   At the time of our write up on Llangollen, we did not realize he owned Bellefield.

The article did not say which of Powell’s son had been residing there, but the obituary for Charles Leven Powell Sr. (1804-1896), indicates he removed to Loudoun in 1812.   Powell Sr. studied law in Winchester and had a practice in Loudoun County.   After the Civil War, he returned to Alexandria.    He was born at the corner of Fairfax and Queen streets.

On April 1, 1837, Thomas Carter placed an ad in the Alexandria Gazette for the horse Osceola - “This fine young horse will stand the ensuing season at Bellefield, Loudoun County, near Upperville."

He described the horse as a "beautiful bay, rising sixteen hands, four years in May, comes from the best raising stock."  His sire was the celebrated horse, Carolinian by Sir Archie, his dam by Hoskin’s Sir Peter, his great dam by Lamplighter.

Carter placed another ad in the Alexandria Gazette on October 19, 1838.   

"A Fine Loudoun Estate for Sale, The Subscriber having removed his residence from Loudoun County, is desirous of selling his estate called Bellefield.  Within 3 miles of Upperville,  Contains 453 acres. Grazing or grain farm, considered one of the best in the county.   The dwelling house is of stone, of good size, and is in complete repair.  Excellent stone barn, good stables, ice house, dairy, overseer’s house, negro quarters, apple orchard."

This could be the first description of Bellefield, and seemingly a rare one.

In our write up about Newstead and Howardsville, we talked about Jacob Howard.  He was enslaved at both Newstead and Bellefield.  Dedicated researchers such as Lori Kimball and Kevin Grigsby show us that Jacob was also sent to Bellefield plantation beginning on April 14, 1863.  Bellefield was a sister plantation owned by Elizabeth, widowed when George Carter passed away in 1846.

On December 24, 1862, Jacob and an enslaved woman named Sophie were married at Bellefield.  It was a non-legal wedding ceremony performed by Reverend Kinsolving, minister Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Middleburg.  This took place in the dining room of the house. 

Author Polly E. Bugros (“Remembering Lucile, A Virginia Family’s Rise from Slavery and a Legacy Forged a Mile High”) touches on Bellefield.  She tells us that Elizabeth Carter, in October, 1861, after learning the fighting had reached Dranesville, about 23 miles from Oatlands, took up residence at Bellefield.  Her son George was a courier for the Confederacy.  After falling ill, George made his way to Bellefield to recover.  Bugros adds that “slaves took advantage of the often-chaotic circumstances at Oatlands and Bellefield to run away.” 

According to the Alexandria Gazette (September 24, 1885), Elizabeth Carter passed away at Bellefield.   

In 1907, the story of Bellefield picks back up when the Fauquier Democratic reported on the passing of Arthur Charles Marshall (1868-1907).  He had been living near Rectortown and was the eldest son of Sir Arthur Marshall of Buckden Towers, Huntingdon, England.   Arthur had immigrated from England in 1887.  He purchased Bellefield and lived there with his wife, Miss Fanny Carter, daughter of the late Col. Welby Carter of Crednal.   

His obit described Marshall as a fine horseman and devoted to fox-hunting.  The funeral was at Crednal, which lies across from Welbourne.  It seems very likely he was laid to rest there at the family cemetery.

The census of 1900 shows Marshall as born in 1868 and living with Fannie in the Mercer District in Loudoun County.   His occupation is listed as “Dealer in Houses.” 

In 1907, Malbon G. Richardson (1871-1935) married Sophia Carter (1873-1931), daughter of Colonel Richard Welby Carter (1837-1889) and Sophie DeButts Carter Carter (1841-1928).   Born in Massachusetts, Richardson had joined that growing set of men who came north to south to settle down amongst the fox hunters.    He served in the Army during World War I and as a vestryman at Upperville Trinity Church.    

One of Sophie’s seven siblings was her sister, Fanny Marshall (1873-1945), who had married Arthur Marshall.   The Society writers must have chipped in and sent the newlyweds a gift.   Maybe not every person who said they were a Carter descendent was actually one, but the family was well represented and revered.

Note: If I have it right, Sophie was the Great-great-great-great-great-grand daughter of Robert “King” Carter.

Sophie sure must have been proud of her family.  The Carter name appears 90 times in the National Register for Historic Places nomination form for Crednal, the brick mansion across from Welbourne, and just east of Willisville.   The cemetery there is a history lesson that points to Sabine Hall, the famed family seat on the Northern Neck, and all those Carters.  Ever so sadly, they were enslavers, and in some cases in large numbers.

Across the street lies Welbourne, the former Dulany estate and mansion.   In 1905, two years before the wedding, the mansion had hosted the first day of the famous Hound Match, which put Middleburg and the area on the map.

The wedding surely packed the church in Upperville.   Sophie was taken down the aisle by her brother, John Armistead Carter (1875-1931) of Norfolk. 

Her maid of honor was Miss Nina Carter, her sister.   Nina Carter Tabb (1883-1950) distinguished herself as a chronicler of life in and around Middleburg.   She wrote Society and Hunt Country articles for the Washington papers, with a regular column (“Down Virginia Way” and “In the Hunt Country) in The Washington Post and Evening Star.

In 1912, Nina married John MacKenzie Tabb (1886-1916).  Before his life was suddenly cut short at age 30, he served on the Boards of Directors for the Piedmont Hunt Club, oldest in the country.   

Virginia family royalty was also seen in the presence of Miss Hannah Fairfax Washington.  Other Carters included Mary Welby Carter, Rebecca Dulany Carter, and Juliet Randolph Carter. 

On the groom’s side, there was a James Roosevelt, who hailed from Boston.    

In 1910, Richardson purchased Bellefield.   In her book, “Loudoun County, Virginia, Past and Present,” 1940, Harriet Brockman Samuels writes that Richardson built the house on the site of Bellefield, which was built by George Carter.   According to Samuels, Bellefield had been destroyed by fire.  She adds that Mrs. Richardson was one of King Carter’s numerous descendants.

Apparently, it was Richardson who changed the name to Corotoman, seemingly on advice from Sophie.  Rather than looking like the original Corotoman in Lancaster County, the house features tall columns.   

Kitty Slater tells us Major Richardson served as Secretary on the Board of Governors for the Piedmont Foxhounds in 1914.    Fellow Bostonian and beloved huntsman Joe Thomas served as Master of Fox Hounds for the hunt group and built the massive kennel at Huntland.  He was likely at the wedding, too.   

Richardson no doubt held fond and proud memories of being part of the Great Hound Match of 1905.   Smith’s hounds came from a select group including Richardson.  The Bostonian also served as Smith’s First Whip.

Covering the horse action in and around Upperville, Mayme Oder Peak (“Upperville Show Holds High Place in Nation’s Horsedom,” The Washington Post, May 13, 1923) wrote a valentine to the riders and the landscape: 

“No more picturesque sight could be imagined than the grouping of a hunt meet in front of one of the old country houses.  Such a grouping is shown in the cut of Corotoman, the home of Major Malbon Gore Richardson, former master of the Piedmont Fox Hounds and one of many ardent horsemen who migrated from New England to the Piedmont section.”

Juxtaposed with the article was a photo of Corotoman and its distinct six pillars.  Of course such a fronting has been done elsewhere, but this one sports a widow’s walk.   Following a rich tradition seen across these Piedmont hills, a line of trees leads up to the handsome dwelling.   The distant from the road also matched many others - close enough to be somewhat seen, but far enough for some privacy.  

Richardson and Sophie, who evidently had no kids, were first hand witnesses to the rise of horse and hunt country, which gained more and more wealthy residents after the Great Hound Match of 1905.  In 1930, the couple warmed hearts by donating $2,000 to William & Mary.  The money re-established a scholarship in the name of Robert “King” Carter.   

Sad news came in April, 1931, when readers learned of Sophie’s passing at Garfield Hospital in Washington.  She was survived by Major Richardson and her five sisters.   Two were living in Middleburg.  Sophie was laid to rest at the family cemetery at Crednal, the lovely mansion across from Welbourne between Middleburg and Upperville.

Four years later, Colonel Richardson passed away.  Nina J. Tabb wrote “the sporting world was distressed to hear of the sudden death of Col. Richardson.”  He took his last breath at Corotoman.   As with Sophie, the mourners gathered at Upperville Trinity Church, and he joined Sophie at Crednal.

Tabb also reported on the estate sale for Corotoman in August, 1937 - “So many friends and colleagues met there that it turned into quite a social gathering.”   

That summer,  Mr. and Mrs. Harold D. Menken of New York bought Corotoman from the Richardson estate. The total acreage was 179.  The Menkens “planned to do considerable remodeling.”

In the Blue Ridge Herald (August 30, 1956), Corotoman made the front page with a photo.   One sees the columns and two stories made of stone.  

At that time the house was still the home of the Menkins.  They raised Guernsey cows.  In 1946, he had advertised for workers needed, noting “modern 60-cow farm for purebred Guernseys, new 5 room house.”

Covering the Upperville Garden Club tour, the Evening Star (July 21, 1957), noted that Corotoman was one of five stops.  The other four were Mrs. Sloane’s Brookmeade, Austin Kaye’s Windsor Farm, the Reed Thomases’ Ovoka, and Mrs. Robert Clark’s Stoneleigh. 

The Blue Ridge Herald (July 25, 1957) informed its readers:

“The old house burned down during the tenure of Arthur Marshall and the farm was sold to Col Richardson.  They built the present stone house in the early 1900s and renamed the place after the Tidewater estate of Robert King Carter.”

In September, 1975, the Piedmont Virginian wrote:

“With the beautiful Corotoman, home of Mr and Mrs Roland Thompson as a background, this Lord & Taylor evening fashion follows the draped look with a cover up top.  This will be part of the 26th annual Hunt Country Fashion Show at Uppervile to raise funds for the Mary D. Neville Guild.”

The beauty at Corotoman these days lies in the way Mark and Ann Thompson take care of the land and waters.   As reported on by Pat McIlvaine (“Corotoman Farm Governor’s 2008 Clean Water Farm Award Winner”), Mark Thompson, son of the late Roland Thompson, with the help of Dave Helmick, farm manager and others, began a systematic program in 1999.   

They “created a role model farm by installing over 3 miles of high tensile fence, 54 acres of riparian buffers, and practiced land management  with rotational grazing.”

These efforts improved the water quality of the Jeffries Branch, Goose Creek, the Potomac, and the Chesapeake Bay.  In 2008, Governor Kaine chose them as one of 37 farms across the state with a Clean Water Farm and Bay Friendly award.    Part of the incentive is the Virginia Agricultural Best Management Practices Cost Share Tax Credit.

Frederick Kunkle of The Washington Post also reported on the work. ("Kaine Touts Progress," March 18, 2009). The farm land was permanently protected by a conservation easement.  The Thompsons installed 9,735 feet of fencing to keep livestock out of streams.

In 2022, Emma Boyce (Country Zest & Style, “Horses With Middleburg Owners Will Compete at Paris Olympics”) reported on Middleburg area horses and owners that were set to compete in the Paris Olympics.  One of them was Ann Thompson of Corotoman Farm who owned Romeo 88.

Thompson also made the news in July, 2021 (Cassini Z says goodbye to the sport, EquNews).  The 14-year-old gelding, who rode at the finest shows and won seven times, retired to Corotoman Farm.