Wigwam | |
Location | 4 mi (6.4 km) northeast of Lodore, Virginia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°28′18″N77°59′53″W / 37.47167°N 77.99806°W Coordinates: 37°28′18″N77°59′53″W / 37.47167°N 77.99806°W |
Area | 0 acres (0 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 69000220 [1] |
VLR No. | 004-0003 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 25, 1969 |
Designated VLR | May 13, 1969 [2] |
The Wigwam is a landmark home, of Cape Cod style, built in 1790, close to the Appomattox River near Lodore on Rt. 637 (Giles Road), in Amelia County, Virginia. Governor William Branch Giles (1762-1830) built the house and made it his home until his death, and it later became a home for the Harrison family. [3] [4]
The original 18th-century building included only the back section, with the more formal front being added in 1818. [5] There is some information that the front section was originally relocated from the John Royall estate, called Caxamelalea. However, experts from Williamsburg have refuted this based upon their inspection of the house. It has 18 rooms and at one time had 5 full baths. There are 4 chimneys, which serve 13 fireplaces, and 65 windows, 17 of which are dormers. One room in the basement appears to have been used to hold Yankee prisoners in the American Civil War; the room has a barred window and evidence of shackles on the wall. [6]
In 1832, Giles' son conveyed the property to William Henry Harrison, cousin of the president by that name. [3] Harrison, with his wife Lucy (née Powers), raised six children there, and established a school for boys in the home, named Amelia Academy. The Christian school was run principally to prepare its students for entrance to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The school's 1859–1860 flyer indicated a census of 25 pupils, and the school's board members included John Hartwell Cocke. [3]
In his final years running the school, William Henry was assisted by his eldest son, J. Hartwell Harrison. Two days before Christmas in 1881, William Henry, inconsolable and confused after the death of wife Lucy in Richmond that October, set out on horseback in the snow, supposing to visit her for Christmas. Hours later, his horse returned to the Wigwam without him, and he was discovered at a nearby intersection, having suffered a fatal heart attack. His burial in Richmond next to Lucy was arranged by Christmas, and the Wigwam passed to his son Hartwell. Hartwell eventually phased out the school there and made the Wigwam his home with wife Anna (née Carrington) and their six children. He farmed the property and became the area's local Baptist minister. [3]
The devastating effects of the Panic of 1893 resulted in Hartwell’s mortgage default in 1896, and the family's eviction from the home by his brother-in-law, Lewis Harvie Blair. The family, including 4 children aged 7 to 17, had just finished putting in that year’s crops. In the mid-1900s, the property was owned and renovated by Hartwell's son, Robert C. Harrison. [3]
The Wigwam was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. [1] In the late-1990s, the home and farm underwent major renovations by new ownership.
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(help)Berkeley Plantation, one of the first plantations in America, comprises about 1,000 acres (400 ha) on the banks of the James River on State Route 5 in Charles City County, Virginia. Berkeley Plantation was originally called Berkeley Hundred, named after the Berkeley Company of England. In 1726, it became the ancestral home of the Harrison family, after Benjamin Harrison IV located there and built one of the first three-story brick mansions in Virginia. It is the home to two presidents of the United States: William Henry Harrison, and his grandson Benjamin Harrison. It is now a museum property, open to the public.
Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation, is located on the north bank of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. The main plantation house, built in 1730, was the home of President John Tyler (1790–1862) for the last twenty years of his life. It is located on State Route 5, a scenic byway which runs between the independent cities of Richmond and Williamsburg. The house is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the river. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
Amelia County is a county located just southwest of Richmond in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The county is located in Central Virginia and is included in the Greater Richmond Region. Its county seat is Amelia Court House.
William Branch Giles was an American statesman, long-term Senator from Virginia, and the 24th Governor of Virginia. He served in the House of Representatives from 1790 to 1798 and again from 1801 to 1803; in between, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, and was an Elector for Jefferson in 1800. He served as a United States Senator from 1804 to 1815, and then served briefly in the House of Delegates again. After a time in private life, he joined the opposition to John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, in 1824; he ran for the Senate again in 1825, and was defeated, but appointed Governor for 3 one-year terms in 1827; he was succeeded by John Floyd, in the year of his death.
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John Hartwell Cocke II was an American military officer, planter and businessman. During the War of 1812, Cocke was a brigadier general of the Virginia militia.
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