The following article is provided courtesy of Wesley E. Pippenger, Tappahannock, Virginia.
Hollyfield Manor
289 Hollyfield Lane, Manquin
King William County, Virginia
Brochure:
The stately Greek Revival manor that dominates the landscape of farmland is not the original home on this site. The original was a frame house built circa 1750. In the late 1700s the Honorable Burwell Bassett, the brother-in-law and close friend of George Washington, owned the property and named it Bassettaire. A fire destroyed the frame home and in the early 1800s a brick Georgian home was built. The present-day manor house was the vision of John L. Clark and his wife Elvira in 1935. He bought, remodeled and added to the old brick Georgian home that had stood vacant for many years doubling its size to accommodate his many guests. Today the house Clark renamed Hollyfield and its grounds of lush greenery, small settings for relaxation, and large patio overlooking a 28-acre lake is the site of romantic weddings, family reunions, and other events. Susie and Frankie Barham, owners.
Historic Virginia (c.1948), pp. 85-86
“Hollyfield”
Historic Estate in King William County
Hollyfield was built by the Bassett family early in the eighteenth century and was known until recently as Bassettaire. It is located near Manquin in King William County along the Pamunkey River between Manquin and the Pamunkey River, about 18 miles east of Richmond on Route 360. The manor house of this old Virginia plantation is Georgian colonial of the white brick construction with massive Mount Vernon ionic columns extending to the base of the roof, and the plantation on which the house stands reputedly was visited on several occasions by George Washington in his travels through Virginia. The large brick veranda is very impressive as it has the appearance of a massive stage overlooking its spacious lawns. There is a full-size swimming pool with separate pool at the shallow end for children. The 25-acre lake well stocked with black bass and blue gills is one of the nicest fishing lakes in the state, including a rathskeller with broad fireplaces and rustic furnishings. The elaborate horse stables and cattle barns on the Hollyfield plantation are most desirable for a home of the highest type in Virginia.
Clarification Regarding Two Burwell Bassetts and Visits by President Washington
Wes Pippenger
There are two people named Burwell Bassett, father and son. The elder, Colonel Burwell Bassett (1734-1793), who lived at Eltham in New Kent County, was a great friend and brother-in-law of George Washington. Records of Washington’s comings and goings from 1768 to 1775 places all of his visits to Burwell Bassett (the elder, of course) at his home Eltham.
Burwell Bassett, the son (born 1764 at Eltham), was of Bassett Hall in Williamsburg, once a home of John D. Rockefeller. The Bassett Hall home was originally built in 1735 and owned by Colonel Philip Johnson. The younger Bassett attended William and Mary College, and while living at Bassett Hall served in the House of Representatives after having served in both houses of the state legislature. He died in New Kent County in 1841 leaving no heirs to Bassett Hall. Soon thereafter the estate was owned by Abel P. Upshur, one-time member of President Tyler’s cabinet. Thus Burwell Bassett’s residence at Bassett Hall during his political career was many years after George Washington had died in 1799.
So, that there were two men named Burwell Bassett is often ignored by authors of traditional stories of “the nephew of Martha Washington entertaining George Washington” where and when Burwell Bassett did not live. Experts can prove that it was impossible for either Bassett, Senior or Junior to have been the host to Colonel Washington at Bassett Hall in Williamsburg, and it is not mentioned in Washington’s detailed diaries. It is well established that the elder Burwell Bassett was host to George Washington numerous times at Eltham.
In addition to the above two homes of the Bassett Family, Eltham in New Kent County, and Bassett Hall in Williamsburg, we have Bassettaire in King William County that is now known as Hollyfield.
At some point Bassettaire was split into two parts, yet both owners maintained the same name. Therefore, a chain of title for the current Hollyfield property may become confusing.
Bassett Family Properties
CHRONOLOGY
Date Event
1654 New Kent County is formed from York County.
1664, JUL 3 Land grant to John Underhill and Wm. Bassett, 463 acres in New Kent County, southwest side of Weyanoke swamp, for transportation of 10 persons. [Patent Bk. 5, p. 240(161)].
1669, NOV 10 Land grant to Capt. Willm. Bassett, 1,800 acres in New Kent County. Formerly granted to Jno. Broch/Broach, decd. and by inquisition by escheater. [Patent Bk. 6, p. 248]. It is on this land that the Eltham plantation stands.
1670 Col. William Bassett (1670-1723), the Second, married Joanna, daughter of Lewis Burwell, the Second, of Carter’s Creek, Gloucester County. Bassett was selected to the General Assembly from New Kent County in 1692 as soon as he was of age. He was appointed to the Council in 1707 but resigned, and reappointed in 1711. [Harris, Old New Kent County…, Vol. 1, p. 43]
1671/2 William Bassett, the First, died testate, will proved 4 JAN 1671/2 in New Kent County court. He devised to his wife Bridgett for her life the land on which he “now lives” bought of Charles Edmonds, and it seems this tract was the Eltham plantation proper. To son William, the Second, the 1,800 acres patent bought of Col. Robert Abrahall and John Broch [sic] and 1,200 acres marsh land adjoining to it. [Virginia Historical Society, Mss2 B2948b3]. Son William inherited almost 5,000 acres on the south side of the York River and his father’s large brick house just below the present site of the town of West Point. [Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Vol. 1, p. 387].
1684-1711 William Bassett, the Second, is a vestryman in St. Peter’s Parish of New Kent County. [N.S. Colonial Dames, Vestry Book of St. Peter’s Parish (1905), pp. 5, 10-18, 77, 107].
1688, APR 23 Land grant to Mr. William Bassett, 2,048 acres in New Kent County, in St. Peter’s Parish, on south side of Pamunky River, adj. Col. Bacon. Granted to Capt. Wm. Bassett, his father, 29 APR 1687 for transportation. [Patent Bk. 7, p. 643]
1693, NOV 28 William Bassett, the Second, was married to cousin Joanna Burwell. [Bible; Harris, Old New Kent County…, Vol. I, p. 49]. He is the founder of Eltham.
1695, APR 21 Land patent to Capt. William Bassett, 1,086 acres in Blissland Parish, New Kent County. [Patent Bk. 8, p. 419]. Located on Pamunkey River from the new dwelling house of sd. Bassett, to mouth of sd. river and to his house called the Brick House where the County Court was formerly held. This patent ties to the Eltham house.
1701 King William County is formed from King and Queen County.
1703, OCT 23 Land patent to Thomas Bray, for 1,750 acres in King William County that lay on both sides of Goodwin’s Swamp, for transportation of 35 persons. [Patent Bk. 9, p. 582]. Historian Malcolm Hart Harris ties the boundaries of this patent to those matching Bassettaire. At some point this land was added to the large holdings of William Bassett, the Third.
1704 Rent Rolls show Thomas Bray with 1,400 acres in King William County, and William Bassett with 4,100 acres in New Kent County.
1707 JUN 20 The feoffees of the town of Dillaware in King William County sell to the Hon. Wm. Bassett New Kent County, a ½ acre (town lot 3) provided Bassett build within 1 year a house of at least 20 feet square [King Wm. Records, 1702-1720, item 408].
1709, JUL 8 William Bassett, the Third, was born, and baptized the 10th of August following. [Bible[1]; Harris, Old New Kent County…, Vol. I, p. 49].
1723, OCT 11 Col. William Bassett, the Second, dies, probably at his home Eltham. He was buried at Eltham, but in 1879 reinterred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
1734, MAR 3 Burwell Bassett, son and heir of William Bassett, the Third, was born at Eltham, Blissland Parish, New Kent County, and died there 4 JAN 1793. He inherited Eltham from his father and succeeded him in offices and honors held by his father in the county.
1737, MAY 3 Thomas Bray deeded to the College of William and Mary, 1,540 acres that was part of his 1703 patent, lying on both sides of Moncuen Swamp, in the place called Munkewin, in order that the lines might be corrected. [Malcolm Hart Harris, Old New Kent County … (1977), Vol. II, p. 856, citing a deed in the manuscript collection of the College of William and Mary.
1743 William Bassett, the Third (1709-1744) is a Burgess.
1744 William Bassett, the Third, dies while serving in the House of Burgesses, leaving young Burwell Bassett as his principal heir. It is likely he died testate but no will copy has been found. At his death widow Elizabeth married her second husband, the Rev. Mr. William Dawson, president of the College of William and Mary.
1755, JUN 26 Burwell Bassett [Sr.] (d. 1793) married (1) Ann Kidley Chamberlayne. [Bible, VHS]
1757, MAY 7 Burwell Bassett [Sr.] (d. 1793) married (2) Anna Maria Dandridge, b. 30 MAR 1739, d. 17 DEC 1777. [Bible, VHS]
1757 Burwell Bassett [Sr.] is a churchwarden and vestryman of Blisland Parish, New Kent County, as is his son in 1786. [C.G. Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of St. Peter’s Parish, p. 680; C.G. Chamberlayne, Vestry Book of Blissland Parish, pp. 137, 231-232].
1762-1775 Burwell Bassett (1734-1793) served in the House of Burgesses from New Kent County, 1762-1775, in the commission of justices, and served in the Revolutionary Convention of 1775-1776. After the war he was elected to the state senate from 1780-1788 and 1788-1793. He was a son of Col. William Bassett III of Eltham (1709-c.1744) and Elizabeth Churchill. Burwell Bassett married (1) 26 JUN 1755 to Anne Kidley Chamberlayne, and (2) 7 MAY 1757 to Anna Maria Dandridge, sister to Martha Dandridge who married Daniel Parke Custis and then George Washington. One child by Burwell’s first marriage died as an infant.
1764, MAR 18 Burwell Bassett Jr., son of Burwell Bassett and Anna Maria Dandridge, was born at Eltham, and died testate there 26 FEB 1841. During his father’s lifetime he served in the General Assembly and later in the state senate from 1798-1803. He was elected to Congress in 1805 and served until 1813, and again from 1821-1831.
1765, AUG 30 John Bassett, son of Burwell Bassett and Anna Maria Dandridge, was born at Eltham, and died intestate in 1826 at Farmington. He marries Betty Carter Browne, and they are parents to George Washington Bassett, born 23 AUG 1800 at Farmington. John graduated William and Mary, was a lawyer, and resided at Farmington until his death in 1826.
1768, MAY 7 George Washington “came up to Colo. Bassett’s to Dinner.” [John C. Fitzpatrick, The Diaries of George Washington, 1748-1799, Vol. I, p. 268].
1771, MAY 19 George Washington “went to church and returned to Colo. Bassett’s to Dinner.” [Fitzpatrick, Vol. II, p. 18].
1777, DEC 17 Anna Maria (Dandridge) Bassett, wife of Burwell Bassett (d. 1793) dies.
1782 While Burwell Bassett is taxed for 1,600 acres in King William County, that year his taxable lands in New Kent County are 5,980 acres (1,000a St. Peters, 3,840a Eltham, 390a Rootes, and 750a [at the] Courthouse). He also owned 900 acres in Hanover County.
1788, JAN 10 Burwell Bassett Jr. (1764-1841), of New Kent County, son of Burwell Bassett by his second wife Anna Maria Dandridge, married at Eltham to Elizabeth McCarty, daughter of Daniel McCarty of Pope’s Creek, Westmoreland County. Bond dated 10 JAN 1788 in Westmoreland County. They had no children. Thus the younger Burwell Bassett was a nephew of Martha (Dandridge) Custis Washington.[2] Burwell Jr. married (2) to Philadelphia Ann Claiborne, daughter of William Dandridge Claiborne of Liberty Hall in King William County.
1785, FEB 16 Burl Bassett is one of several witnesses to a deed by Carter Braxton, of King William County, to [blank] Claiborne, of Windsor. [King Wm. Co. Records, 1722-1786]
1793, JAN 4 Burwell Bassett died testate at Eltham, New Kent County, in consequence of a fall from his horse. His son John Bassett was devised Farmington and Clover Lea plantations in Hanover County, and the land across the river in King William County known as Bassettaire. [Library of Congress, Letter, Henry Lee to George Washington, 6 JAN 1793[3]].
1800, AUG 23 George Washington Bassett is born at Farmington [tombstone] to parents John Bassett and Betty Carter Browne. He later owns Eltham, Farmington, Clover Lea[4] and Bassettaire.
1811 SEP 24 Burwell Bassett [Jr.] is an Executor of the estate of William Dandridge Claiborne and offers for sale at public auction the valuable plantation on the Pamunkey River called CAHOKE. [VG, 11 SEP 1824; John Frederick Dorman, Claiborne of Virginia… (Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, Inc., 1995), p. 55]
1816 John Bassett has a Mutual Assurance Policy on a King William County property at the Pamunkey River [Reel 5, Vol. 44, policy 2043], being a renewal of policy 652, for $2550 property value including a dwelling, kitchen and barn. This is for the 583-acre property called Tarvincque that Bassett purchased from William Fleming in 1817. [KW DB 7, part 1, p. 197].
1820 The second Burwell Bassett [Jr.] is taxed for lands in New Kent County: 3,840 acres Eltham, 396 acres Roots, and 645½acres Courthouse, AND 100 acres in Williamsburg [Bassett Hall].
1826 John Bassett dies intestate at Farmington in Hanover County, as evidenced in the King William land tax record for in 1826, showing “John Bassett Est.” taxed for 1,600 acres. Also, land tax records for Hanover County change from John Bassett, for 1,300 acres in 1825 and 1826 to George W. Bassett, 1,300 acres in 1827.[5]
1826, AUG 1 Capt. George W. Bassett of Hanover County married Betty Burnett Lewis, daughter of Robert, at the Mary Ball Washington House in Fredericksburg. Bond dated 1 AUG 1826 in Fredericksburg. [Enquirer, 8 AUG 1826, p. 3, Bible VHS; Richmond Whig, 25 DEC 1886, p. 6]
1832, OCT 4 Deed of Release, property containing [six]teen hundred 50 acres called Bassettaire, George W. Bassett having fully paid the whole amount. [KM DB15, part 1, p. 104].
1841, FEB 26 Col. Burwell Bassett died in New Kent County in the 77th year of his age. He was formerly a member of the Virginia Legislature and a member of Congress. [National Intelligencer, 9 MAR 1841]. When he died he left to his brother John Bassett (1765-1826) his large estate and Eltham.
1851, JAN 1 Deed [of mortgage or trust] by George W. Bassett to James M. Jeffries, for tract on Pamunkey River known by the name of Bassetterre, adj. B.B. Blake, Walker Tomlin est. and Goodwins, containing [?]teen hundred and 60 acres. [KW DB14, p. 181]
1857, NOV 24 Deed [of mortgage or trust] by George W. Bassett to James M. Matthews, for Bassettaire, containing 1550 acres and slaves. [KW DB16, part 2, p. 564].
1861, JUL 21 George W. Bassett, of Hanover County, to Richmond T. Lacy, deed of trust to secure Bassett’s debt to Henry Webb. [KW DB15, part 2, p. 486].
1868 George W. Bassett, son of John, son of Burwell, sold his inherited 1,600 acres to Robert Polk. [KW DB16, p. 568].
1878, AUG 28 George Washington Bassett, dies at Clover Lea [tombstone] in his 79th year. He was the last owner of Eltham with the Bassett name. [Bible; Harris, Vol. 1, p. 48]
1886, DEC 15 Betty Burnet Bassett, relict of Capt. George Washington Bassett, of Clover Lea, Hanover County, died at Mordington, the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Charles T. Mitchell, near Charlestown, Jefferson County, West Virginia; the daughter of Robert Lewis of Fredericksburg and his wife Judith Carter Browne. [Richmond Whig, 25 DEC 1886, p. 6]
1927, OCT 11 Richmond Times-Dispatch article (p. 17), sale of Bassettaire, “Morton G. Thalhimer, Inc., Real Estate Auctioneer, 1013 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia.” Deed of trust by W.F. Yarlett, Sr., trustee in his own rights, Emma G. Yarlett his wife, and William H. Campbell and Elizabeth J. Campbell his wife, to John P. Leary, trustee [King William Deeds, Bk. 37, p. 327], default having been made in payment of $750 and of the principal note for $25,000. For sale that tract in Acquinton Magisterial District, King William County, near Newcastle Bridge, known as Bassettaire, containing 840 acres, including the pond adjacent to the lands of John T. Dale (which farm also known as Bassettaire is part of the original Bassettaire farm and called Eoscene and owned by Robert W. Tomlin).
1931 DEC 11 Virginia Gazette article, “No. 11—Bassett Hall, The Vice-Presidential Home of President John Tyler” [VG, 11 DEC 1931, p. 5]
1932 JUL 1 Virginia Gazette article, “Washington Was Not a Guest Of Burwell Bassett—Kibler” [VG, 1 JUL 1932, p. 6]
1935, MAR 24 Richmond Times-Dispatch article (p. 48), for sale by auction due to default. Ref. Deed Book 43, p. 307, owners Wirtley T. Lipscomb and Olive Lipscomb his wife are possessed and have the right to convey; Bassettaire, containing 840 acres more or less, including the pond.
1945, NOV 24 Richmond Times-Dispatch article (p. 5), “’Hollyfield,’ in King William Is Sold; To Be Livestock Farm”. Sold by Col. Albert E. Pierce, of Galena, Md., to Jerome Levinson, of Hampton. Swimming pool constructed by John L. Clark, a New York business man.
1947, JUL 18 Virginia Gazette article, “Bassett Hall History Relates Of Romance And Adventure” [VG, 18 JUL 1947, p. 66]. This relates to a home of the name off Francis Street in Williamsburg.
1948, JAN 18 Richmond Times-Dispatch article (p. 27), “Historic ‘Hollyfield Plantation’ is Scene of Unusual ‘Manufacturing Plant’ for Beef.”
1952, APR 20 Daily Press (Newport News) article (p. 49) states that the home was built by the Bassett Family and given to Burwell Bassett who married George Washington’s sister-in-law Anna Maria Dandridge. That the two married is correct; beyond that there is no evidence the home was “given.”
1953, DEC 4 Virginia Gazette article, Washington Never At ‘Bassett Hall’” [VG, 4 DEC 1953, p. 12]
1976, APR 18 Richmond Times-Dispatch article (p. 110) states owners Mr. & Mrs. John H. Martin, Jr.
CHAIN OF TITLE PIECES
Date Event
1703, OCT 23 Thomas Bray, land patent for 1,750 acres [PB9:582]
1744 William Bassett, the Third, dies and leaves young Burwell Bassett as his principal heir.
1744-1793 Burwell Bassett [Sr.] owns Eltham in New Kent County, Farmington and Clover Lea in Hanover County, and Bassettaire in King William County. Burwell Bassett is taxed for 1,600 acres in King William County, from 1782 to 1793.
1793-1826 John Bassett (1765-1826), son of Burwell Bassett [Sr.] owns Bassettaire. During the entire period John is taxed for 1,600 acres in King William County. John dies at Farmington in Hanover County. [Land Tax records]
1851 George W. Bassett appears to mortgage Bassetterre [sic], containing [?]teen hundred 60 acres, to James M. Jeffries [KW DB14:181]
1826-1878 George Washington Bassett (1800-1878), of Hanover County, son of John Bassett, owns Bassettaire. From 1826 through 1863, George W. is taxed for 1,600 acres in King William County. I don’t have ready access to tax records after 1863.
1927 W.F. Yarlett, Sr. and wife Emma G., and William H. Campbell and wife Elizabeth J., to John P. Leary, in trust; they default. [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 11 OCT 1927, p. 17; DB37:327].
1935 Wirtley T. Lipscomb and wife Olive owners are in default. [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 24 MAR 1935, p. 48; DB43:307]
1935-1945 John L. and Elvira Clark
1945 Albert E. Pierce, of Galena, Md., to Jerome Levinson.
1976-1990s Mr. and Mrs. John H. Martin, Jr.
2023 Susie and Frankie Barham.
SUMMARY HISTORY FOR DOCENTS
Welcome to Hollyfield Manor. While we wait, I offer some background information about the property.
More details are perhaps known about the land and the people rather than the structures that have been here. So let us begin with the land and its owners. While the tract here was owned by the Bassett Family it was known as Bassettaire. After the tract sold out of the family, it was renamed after 1935 as Hollyfield.
Historian Malcolm Hart Harris traced this land back to a patent with similar boundaries granted in 1702 to Thomas Bray for 1,750 acres in King William County. At some point the land parcel became the property of William Bassett, the Second (1670-1723) who had married his cousin Joanna Burwell of Gloucester County. William was a vestryman and churchwarden of St. Peter’s Parish and Blissland Parish in New Kent County, selected to the General Assembly from New Kent in 1692, and appointed to the Council in 1707 and 1711. William had inherited thousands of acres of land from his father William, the First, who died testate in 1671/2 in Blissland Parish of New Kent County. Son William also died in Blissland Parish in 1723 at his home called Eltham.
William and Joanna’s son William Bassett, the Third (1709-1744) was a member of the House of Burgesses. At his death in 1744, William owned thousands of acres in the tri-county area, and his young son Burwell Bassett (1734-1793) was his principal heir. Burwell Bassett, who was born at Eltham, served in the House of Burgesses from New Kent, was in the commission of justices, and served in the Revolutionary Convention of 1775-1776. After the war he was elected to the state senate from 1780 until his death in 1793.
Because of extensive damage and destruction to court records in King William County by fire in 1885, researchers must rely on tax records and alternate sources to piece together what can be learned. Virginia’s tax records began in 1782 and were two-fold: land taxes and personal property taxes. Copies were sent to Richmond and it is the Richmond copy that survived for our study from which details may be gleaned.
In 1782, Burwell Bassett, the Elder, was a taxpayer and owner for 5,980 acres in New Kent County where he lived at Eltham, plus 1,600 acres here in St. David’s Parish of King William County, and another 900 acres across the river in Hanover County. In 1782, he was taxed here for 1 white person over age 21, probably his overseer, 29 slaves, 13 horses, 58 cattle and 2 wheels (like a sulky). Bassett was married to Anna Maria Dandridge, sister to George Washington’s wife Martha.
Burwell Bassett, the Elder, died in 1793 in consequence of a fall from his horse, and the ownership of the 1,600 acres passed to his son John Bassett, of Farmington in Hanover County. When John died in 1826, ownership passed to his son George Washington Bassett (1800-1878). G.W. Bassett sometimes resided in Spotsylvania County where his wife was from, but mostly in Hanover County. He owned the 1,600 acres here through the Civil War. After his death in 1878 the property left the Bassett Family.
As a side, Burwell Bassett, the Elder, had a son by the same name who for a while lived at Bassett Hall in Williamsburg. Confusion of the two men of the same name and where each of them resided has led to misinformation about the common story George Washington visited and dined here. The fact is that Washington frequented the residence of the Elder Bassett at Eltham in New Kent County—not at a Bassett home in Williamsburg, and not even here at Hollyfield. Remember that Burwell Bassett, the Elder, owned this tract but did not live here.
It is likely that soon after Burwell Bassett, the Elder, came of age he arranged for a frame dwelling to be built on the Bassettaire tract, probably for use of his overseer. Tradition is that this earlier structure was destroyed by fire, and was replaced by a brick structure during the life of John Bassett (1765-1826), of Farmington. In 1813, John Bassett’s 1,600 acres here were described in the tax record as “good river land.” Thus, it appears that John Bassett is credited with constructing the dwelling here at Hollyfield.
Not until 1820 do the tax records show us a value for buildings on the land. Even though the term “buildings” could include barns, ice houses, dairies, or smoke houses, etc., the tax amount for buildings was often focused on the dwelling. So in 1820, John Bassett, of Hanover County, owned the 1,600 acres here that are described as being on the Pamunkey river near New Castle, 12 miles west of the courthouse—the land was valued at $40,000 including buildings worth $200. Between 1838 and 1840 the value of the buildings increased from $200 to $800 indicating that the size of the dwelling was likely expanded. The $800 value remained through the Civil War, with a reduction in value to $500 between 1851 and 1856. One could continue review of tax records after 1863 to learn when the size of the land changed and the value of the buildings changed. In 1935, the Bassettaire tract contained about 840 acres.
Since the Bassett Family ownership the property has changed hands quite a few times, suffered at least two transfers due to default or bankruptcy, and even stood vacant for a short while. A recent real estate sale described the tract as just over 1,100 acres including a 27-acre pond, and fronts 2.3 miles on the Pamunkey River.
The central portion of the dwelling you see today is brick in English and Flemish bond. Its massive Greek revival columns are similar in style to another Bassett Family home, Clover Lea, in Hanover County, that was built and first occupied by the George Washington Bassett family in 1844. The manor house here measures about 7,500 square feet with an additional 2,400 square feet in a 5-room basement. It contains 8 bedrooms, 4½ bathrooms, a main kitchen and a separate breakfast kitchen, a formal dining room, formal parlor, study or library, family room, and more. There are many out buildings, including a block barn, dairy barn, office buildings, a garage/shop, stables, and even a swimming pool. During the ownership of the Clarks the land use was changed from primarily agricultural to pasture for cattle.
[1] The Bassett Family Bible record copy online at the Virginia Historical Society (Mss6:4 B2946:1) and is greatly more legible than the copy online at the Library of Virginia. Other family Bible portions are presented in Malcolm Hart Harris, Old New Kent County…, Vol. I, p. 49, and the Bible of George W. Bassett is published in the Hanover Historical Society Bulletin, No. 8 (May 1973).
[2] William M. McCarty and Kathleen Much, The McCartys of the Northern Neck (Baltimore, Md.: Gateway Press, Inc., 2005), p. 165, note Eltham was built in 1730 and was the plantation home of Col. Burwell Bassett. The house lay slightly off George Washington’s route to and from Williamsburg, but he usually found time to visit there. The families were even more entwined by the marriage of GW’s nephew George Augustine Washington to Col. Bassett’s daughter Frances (usually referred to as Fanny). Eltham burned in 1876 and the bricks from one of the dependencies were used in the Williamsburg restoration.
[3] Henry Lee writes, “Your amiable nephew at Eltham continues to linger without the smallest chance of recovery, and Mrs. Washington enjoys a tolerable state of health in the midst of calamity—this information I have from Doctor Mcclurg who attended Colo. Basset during his illness.” From 1779-1783 McClurg was a professor of anatomy and medicine at the College of William and Mary, afterwards moving to Richmond.
[4] The Bassett Family Bible, copy at Virginia Historical Society (Mxx6:4 B2946:1), has a note atop one of the family record pages that “Clover Lea house finished 1844 we moved in Sep. 27th.”
[5] This is in St. Paul’s Parish, and the 1,300 acres are described as located 17m SE of the courthouse.