Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of VirginiaWillis, Carrie Hunter
History
Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia
Willis, Carrie Hunter
Shenandoah National Park (Va.); Shenandoah River Valley (Va. and W. Va.) -- History
At the Battle of Chancellorsville General Stonewall Jackson, famous
Confederate commander, was mortally wounded. A simple shaft marks the
place and a wild flower preserve is located near it.
"While the fundamental purpose of the park is historical
education, its program is by no means confined to this
limitation. It offers important recreational and educational
features aside from critical military history. The Jackson
Memorial Wild Flower Preserve ... affords excellent instruction
in botany.... The deep woodlands of the area threaded with foot
trails leading along the old trenches are a delight to lovers
of the outdoors...."
Kenmore--1752
Kenmore, the home of Fielding Lewis and Betty Washington Lewis (George
Washington's only sister), is an outstanding example of the architecture
of Colonial Virginia. It is also intimately connected with the stirring
history of Colonial times and with the life of George Washington.
Augustine Washington, about 1739, moved from Hunting Creek to Ferry
Farm, across the river from Fredericksburg, with his second wife, Mary
Ball, and their five children--George, Betty, Samuel, John Augustine,
and Charles--for the sake of community life and the religious and
educational advantages it offered. Here the children grew up and
received their education--Betty at a "Dame School," George under the
tutelage of Parson Marye. Betty and George were especially intimate
companions because of their nearness of age and their similarity in
personality and character.
When Betty was sixteen, and a "mannerly young maid," her cousin Fielding
Lewis came seeking her hand in marriage. Lewis had come up from
Gloucester three years previously with his wife and son. Mrs. Lewis died
in 1749. Shortly thereafter, Fielding started courting young Betty. They
were married in 1750, the bride being given away by her brother George,
and for a time they lived on a plantation adjoining Ferry Farm. In 1752
Lewis bought 861 acres of land, adjacent to Fredericksburg, the survey
being made by George Washington, who had been appointed government
surveyor in 1748. On this land, with its fine view of the countryside,
Lewis built Kenmore (called Millbrook at the time) in accordance with a
promise he had made to his bride.
As time went on, Fielding Lewis became closely associated with the
political life of Virginia. He was a member of the House of Burgesses
for many years. He also served in the French and Indian War and was
Colonel of the Spotsylvania County Militia. It is said that the
resolution endorsing Patrick Henry in his resistance to the tyranny of
Governor Dunmore, passed by the Committee of 600 in the Rising Sun
Tavern in Fredericksburg, was written by him in the Great Room of his
home, Kenmore, a paper which for all intents and purposes was a
declaration of independence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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