Scotchtown is a
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 ...
located in
Hanover County, Virginia
Hanover County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 109,979. Its county seat is Hanover, Virginia, Hanover.
Hanove ...
, that from 1771 to 1778 was owned and used as a residence by U.S.
Founding Father
The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e., political system ...
, his wife Sarah and their children. He was a
revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society.
Definition
The term—bot ...
and elected in 1778 as the first
Governor of Virginia
The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...
. The house is located in
Beaverdam, Virginia, northwest of
Ashland, Virginia on VA 685.
The house, at by , is one of the largest 18th-century homes to survive in the Americas. In its present configuration, it has eight substantial rooms on the first floor surrounding a central passage, with a full attic above and
English basement
An English basement is an apartment (flat in UK English) on the lowest floor of a building, generally a townhouse or brownstone, which is partially below and partially above ground level and which has its own entrance, separate from those of the re ...
with windows below.
It was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1965.
The house is owned and managed by
Preservation Virginia, which operates a number of other historic properties across the Commonwealth, including the
John Marshall House, the
Old Cape Henry Lighthouse,
Bacon's Castle, and
Historic Jamestowne.
History
The Scotchtown property was given as a land grant to Charles Chiswell, a prominent
planter and iron mine owner, in 1717. Chiswell built a small house on the property, probably in the 1720s. It was expanded to its present size around 1760.
It was first given the name "Scotch Town" in a 1757 deed of sale. At this time the house also was used as a store that bought and sold local
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
.
Patrick Henry purchased the house in 1771 and lived there with his wife, Sarah Shelton Henry, and their six children. This was his home during his most influential period, including his famous "
Give me liberty or give me death!" speech at
St. John's Episcopal Church in
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
. It was also his residence when he was elected Governor of Virginia in 1776. His wife Sarah, who suffered from mental illness, died at the site in 1775.
He resided at Scotchtown until 1777. That year he married his second wife and in 1778 they relocated, after his election, to the
Governor's Palace in
Williamsburg
Williamsburg may refer to:
Places
*Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia
*Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City
*Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California
*Williams ...
.
The house was purchased by the Wilson Miles Cary family after their original home had been taken over as a small-pox rest camp. They briefly resided there until attempting to sell it in December 1781. The house and land were transferred to Benjamin Forsythe in Hanover County's 1787 tax records, but Cary is charged once more in 1792. An ad in a 1794 Richmond paper announces, "Scotch-Town Grammar School will be conducted the present year by Peter and Thomas Nelson. Peter Nelson, Rector, St. Martin's, Hanover".
[Shaw-English, Virginia. "Scotchtown" Hanover County Historical Society Bulletin, Nov. 1993, Vol. 49, pp. 1,6.]
Beginning in 1801, the property was owned by John M. Sheppard-Taylor. Little is known about the Sheppard-Taylor family, other than the changes they made to the appearance of the house over the generations.
Sheppard divided the land between his children, leaving his daughters Lavinia and Sally Taylor the house and a few acres. The house was abandoned after the death of Sally Taylor, until Hanover circuit court Judge
Leon M. Bazile ordered the house to be auctioned. The house was sold to
Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities) in 1958.
Scotchtown was long believed to have been the girlhood home of
Dolley Madison
Dolley Todd Madison (née Payne; May 20, 1768 – July 12, 1849) was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of b ...
, wife of president
James Madison
James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...
, who was distantly related to Patrick Henry. But, there is little evidence beyond Madison's own recollections of the house as a child to support this fact. Dolley Madison's recollections may have been memories of visits to the house during her childhood.
Preservation
The property was sold at auction in July 1958, when it was purchased by
Preservation Virginia for $37,000.
[“Review of 1958 Events.” Ashland Herald-Progress, January 1, 1959, sec. 1.] Extensive
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
work has taken place in the decades following. A number of projects have restored the house to its late 18th-century appearance, including rebuilding outbuildings such as the icehouse, kitchen, and law office.
Scotchtown was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1965 as an unusual 18th-century structure associated with a Founding Father.
[ (includes a map of the property)] The property received a grant from the
Institute of Museum and Library Services
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for librar ...
in 1993 to "reexamine its policies, procedures, and the current condition of its collection and structures,"
including restructuring its programming. It is currently open for visitors seasonally or by appointment.
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia
This is a list of National Historic Landmarks in Virginia. There are currently 126 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs), and 2 former NHLs.
Current landmarks
The National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are widely distributed across Virginia's 95 cou ...
*
*
Birthplace of Patrick Henry
*
Pine Slash
*
Leatherwood Plantation
*
Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial
References
External links
Scotchtownat Preservation Virginia
at Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial website
*
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia
National Historic Landmarks in Virginia
Museums in Hanover County, Virginia
Historic house museums in Virginia
Colonial architecture in Virginia
Plantations in Virginia
Biographical museums in Virginia
Georgian architecture in Virginia
Houses in Hanover County, Virginia
Patrick Henry
National Register of Historic Places in Hanover County, Virginia
Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia
Homes of United States Founding Fathers