Bellefield Plantation (or Bellfield, also called E.D. Plantation) is a historic

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

site located in

York County, Virginia York County (formerly Charles River County) is a List of cities and counties in Virginia#List of counties, county in the eastern part of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, located in the Tidewater (region), Tidewater. As o ...

, United States. In modern times, the former site is located off the

Colonial Parkway Colonial Parkway is a scenic parkway linking the three points of Virginia's Historic Triangle, Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. It is part of the National Park Service's Colonial National Historical Park. Virginia's official state cl ...

next to the York River and abuts

Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It provided a weapons and ammunition storage and loading facility for ships of the Unit ...

. In 1630, the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colony lasted for t ...

made the decision to plant a settlement on the York River:

John West (governor) John West (December 14, 1590 – c. 1659) was an early member of the Virginia General Assembly and acting colonial Governor of Virginia from 1635 to 1637, the third West brother to serve as Governor and one of the founders of the West Family ...

received a land grant for this purpose, 600 acres "on the east side of Felgates". "Felgates" refers to Robert Felgate's 1632 grant of "350 acres lying at Kiskeyacke upon Pamunkey". In 1635 after the "thrusting out" of Governor Sir John Harvey, John West was chosen as temporary replacement, and served until 1637 when Harvey was restored to his position. In 1640, West was ordered to England, along with neighbor John Utie,

Samuel Matthews (captain) Captain Samuel Mathews (c. 1580 – November 30, 1657) was a Virginia planter, political figure, and the father of Governor Samuel Mathews (Colonial Virginia governor). Also known as Colonel Mathews, the elder Samuel became one of the most promine ...

, and

William Peirce (burgess) William Peirce ( to ), emigrated with his family to the new Colony of Virginia, where he became a valued soldier, as well as a planter, merchant and politician. Although Peirce fought in several skirmishes with Native Americans and served in both ...

to answer charges in the

Star Chamber The court of Star Chamber () was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (), and was composed of privy counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judicial activities of the ...

. All four were eventually cleared, and returned to Virginia. West sold the original 600 acres, along with adjoining land for a total of 1250 acres to

Edward Digges Edward Digges (14 February 1620 – 15 March 1674/75) was an English barrister and colonist who became a premium tobacco planter and official in the Virginia colony. The son of the English politician Dudley Digges represented the colony before ...

in 1650. It became known as the "E.D." Plantation at this time, and using slave labor, grew in fame for producing luxury tobacco. The plantation remained in the family until 1787, when it was sold.Tyler, Lyon G., "Pedigree of a Representative Virginia Planter", ''William & Mary Quarterly'' Jan. 189

also in Genealogies of Virginia Families: From the William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.) 1982) vol. II, p. 169 et seq. The Plantation was known as "Bellfield" by 1811, when it was advertised for sale as "Belfield, 1.000 acres in York Co., the only estate where the famous E.D. tobacco was raised, which never failed to bring in England one shilling when other tobacco would not bring three pence." The area would continue to be used for agriculture purposes up until 1918, when the US Navy purchased the land for establishment of Navy Mine Depot, Yorktown (in modern times called

). In the 1930s as the

was established, the land was transferred to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

References

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External links

* National Park Gallery, Image of first house at Bellfield : https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/ebba031a-7076-40a8-a77b-05e8c1b52e19 * National Park Gallery, Image of second house at Bellfield : https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/2e37ec9a-943b-4173-b2a8-88eb4024730d Plantations in Virginia

See also

References

External links