Flowerdew Hundred Plantation
Encyclopedia
Flowerdew Hundred Plantation dates to 1618/19 with the patent by Sir George Yeardley
, the Governor and Captain General of Virginia, of 1000 acres (404.7 ha) on the south side of the James River
. Yeardley probably named the plantation after his wife's wealthy father, Anthony Flowerdew, just as he named another plantation "Stanley Hundred" after his wife's wealthy mother, Martha Stanley. (Yeardley's wife, Temperance Flowerdew
, came from English gentry in the County of Norfolk.) A "hundred" was historically a division of a shire or county. With a population of about 30, the plantation was economically successful with thousands of pounds of tobacco produced along with corn, fish and livestock. Sir George paid 120 pounds (possibly a hogshead of tobacco) to build the first windmill in British America.
Today, Flowerdew Hundred plantation is a private residence.
with only six deaths, remaining an active and fortified private plantation unlike many others in the area, such as the Citie of Henricus
. The first windmill erected in English North America was built by 1621, and was an English post type. In 1624, Abraham Piersey, Cape Merchant of the Virginia Company purchased Flowerdew Hundred renaming it Piersey's Hundred. Piersey’s Stone House was the first home with a permanent foundation in the colony. The 1624 Muster lists approximately sixty occupants at the settlement, including some of the first Africans in Virginia.
Throughout the seventeenth century, Flowerdew Hundred continued to prosper with the establishment of a secondary settlement. In 1683 with the passage of the king’s Advancement of Trade Act, Flowerdew Towne was formed down river, but it was not very successful within the James River planter economy. Sometime after 1720, a ferry ran from the stretch called Three Mile Reach to the northern bank of the James. An ordinary or tavern was eventually built there for the convenience of the passengers. Part of the old Hundred was owned by a series of family men—all named Joshua Poythress.
The property was shelled during the 1781 campaign of Gen. Benedict Arnold
. He ordered Lt. Col. Simcoe and some Queen’s Rangers to spike the guns near Hood’s fort on the eastern edge of the property and then continued to the capital of Richmond
, setting it afire.
The particular plantation was re-formed again through the work of John Vaughn Willcox, a merchant of Petersburg. He married the last Poythress heiress and bought up the surrounding land. They built a new house in 1804 on the high ridge looking over the James with their primary home in nearby Petersburg.
The Civil War came to Flowerdew in June 1864 when the Lieutenant General, Commanding General of the Armies of the United States Ulysses S. Grant
ordered his men to cross the James River in an effort to flank Gen. Robert E. Lee
. In support of the Overland Campaign, the Corps of Engineers found the right spot at Flowerdew and by a remarkable feat of construction built a pontoon bridge
in one evening that set a record for a floating bridge. Grant’s Crossing at Flowerdew (or Wilcox Landing as it is also called) held this record until 1945 and WWII. The Army of the Potomac with three corps and a supply train crossed the river in about three days heading for City Point and the Siege of Petersburg
. The site of the pontoon bridge was “found” again in 1986 by Eugene Prince and Taft Kiser. Using Prince’s Principle, a simple 35 mm camera, a cypress tree, and an Alexander Gardner
photograph
taken in 1864, they were able to place the bridge into the modern landscape.
The old Willcox house was torn down in 1955 though a magnolia planted in 1840 still survives. The bald cypress tree that anchored the great pontoon bridge also remains. In 1978, a commemorative windmill of English post design was built on the farm by English Millwright Derrick Ogden.
Over the years the name has been spelled as Fleur, Flowerdieu, Flower de and Flourdy Hundred. Other names for the property include Piersey or Peircey’s Hundred, Selden, Hood’s, and Bellevue. It is listed on Virginia’s Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
, Civil War Overland Campaign Lee-Grant Trail, and the National Register of Historic Places.
led the final excavation in the original limits of the fortified area. The excavations yielded more than 500,000 artifacts, all of which are currently housed at the University of Virginia.
The address is 1617 Flowerdew Hundred Road, Hopewell, Virginia
. Closed after October 12, 2007.
George Yeardley
Sir George Yeardley was a plantation owner and three time colonial Governor of the British Colony of Virginia. A survivor of the Virginia Company of London's ill-fated Third Supply Mission, whose flagship, the Sea Venture, was shipwrecked on Bermuda for 10 months in 1609-10, he is best remembered...
, the Governor and Captain General of Virginia, of 1000 acres (404.7 ha) on the south side of the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
. Yeardley probably named the plantation after his wife's wealthy father, Anthony Flowerdew, just as he named another plantation "Stanley Hundred" after his wife's wealthy mother, Martha Stanley. (Yeardley's wife, Temperance Flowerdew
Temperance Flowerdew
Temperance Flowerdew was an early settler of the Jamestown Colony and a key member of the Flowerdew family, significant participants in the history of Jamestown...
, came from English gentry in the County of Norfolk.) A "hundred" was historically a division of a shire or county. With a population of about 30, the plantation was economically successful with thousands of pounds of tobacco produced along with corn, fish and livestock. Sir George paid 120 pounds (possibly a hogshead of tobacco) to build the first windmill in British America.
Today, Flowerdew Hundred plantation is a private residence.
History
The plantation survived the 1622 onslaught of PowhatanPowhatan
The Powhatan is the name of a Virginia Indian confederation of tribes. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 of these native Powhatan people in eastern Virginia when the English settled Jamestown in 1607...
with only six deaths, remaining an active and fortified private plantation unlike many others in the area, such as the Citie of Henricus
Henricus
The "Citie of Henricus" — also known as Henricopolis or Henrico Town or Henrico — was a settlement founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia...
. The first windmill erected in English North America was built by 1621, and was an English post type. In 1624, Abraham Piersey, Cape Merchant of the Virginia Company purchased Flowerdew Hundred renaming it Piersey's Hundred. Piersey’s Stone House was the first home with a permanent foundation in the colony. The 1624 Muster lists approximately sixty occupants at the settlement, including some of the first Africans in Virginia.
Throughout the seventeenth century, Flowerdew Hundred continued to prosper with the establishment of a secondary settlement. In 1683 with the passage of the king’s Advancement of Trade Act, Flowerdew Towne was formed down river, but it was not very successful within the James River planter economy. Sometime after 1720, a ferry ran from the stretch called Three Mile Reach to the northern bank of the James. An ordinary or tavern was eventually built there for the convenience of the passengers. Part of the old Hundred was owned by a series of family men—all named Joshua Poythress.
The property was shelled during the 1781 campaign of Gen. Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
. He ordered Lt. Col. Simcoe and some Queen’s Rangers to spike the guns near Hood’s fort on the eastern edge of the property and then continued to the capital of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, setting it afire.
The particular plantation was re-formed again through the work of John Vaughn Willcox, a merchant of Petersburg. He married the last Poythress heiress and bought up the surrounding land. They built a new house in 1804 on the high ridge looking over the James with their primary home in nearby Petersburg.
The Civil War came to Flowerdew in June 1864 when the Lieutenant General, Commanding General of the Armies of the United States Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
ordered his men to cross the James River in an effort to flank Gen. Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
. In support of the Overland Campaign, the Corps of Engineers found the right spot at Flowerdew and by a remarkable feat of construction built a pontoon bridge
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...
in one evening that set a record for a floating bridge. Grant’s Crossing at Flowerdew (or Wilcox Landing as it is also called) held this record until 1945 and WWII. The Army of the Potomac with three corps and a supply train crossed the river in about three days heading for City Point and the Siege of Petersburg
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War...
. The site of the pontoon bridge was “found” again in 1986 by Eugene Prince and Taft Kiser. Using Prince’s Principle, a simple 35 mm camera, a cypress tree, and an Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner (photographer)
Alexander Gardner was a Scottish photographer who moved to the United States in 1856 where he developed his profession. He is best known for his photographs of the American Civil War, American President Abraham Lincoln, and the execution of the conspirators to Lincoln's...
photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
taken in 1864, they were able to place the bridge into the modern landscape.
The old Willcox house was torn down in 1955 though a magnolia planted in 1840 still survives. The bald cypress tree that anchored the great pontoon bridge also remains. In 1978, a commemorative windmill of English post design was built on the farm by English Millwright Derrick Ogden.
Over the years the name has been spelled as Fleur, Flowerdieu, Flower de and Flourdy Hundred. Other names for the property include Piersey or Peircey’s Hundred, Selden, Hood’s, and Bellevue. It is listed on Virginia’s Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is a series of water routes in the United States extending approximately along the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary, and its tributaries in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and in the District of Columbia...
, Civil War Overland Campaign Lee-Grant Trail, and the National Register of Historic Places.
Archaeology
The original land grant of 1,000 acres contains over 60 archaeological sites ranging from Archaic Native American encampments to Twentieth Century homesteads. Registered sites include 44PG64 (Stone House excavation); 44PG65 (Fortified Area); 44PG113 (Selden House sites) and 44PG98 (Flowerdew Towne/Ferry Complex). Archaeological investigations began at Flowerdew in the late 1960s, and continued through 1995 when archaeologist James DeetzJames Deetz
James Deetz was an American anthropologist, often known as one of the fathers of historical archaeology. His work focused on culture change and the cultural aspects inherent in the historic and archaeological record, and was concerned primarily with the Massachusetts and Virginia colonies...
led the final excavation in the original limits of the fortified area. The excavations yielded more than 500,000 artifacts, all of which are currently housed at the University of Virginia.
Foundation
In 1981, David A. Harrison, then owner of Flowerdew Hundred, created the Flowerdew Hundred Foundation. The Foundation operated until 2008.The address is 1617 Flowerdew Hundred Road, Hopewell, Virginia
Hopewell, Virginia
Hopewell is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 22,591 at the 2010 Census . It is in Tri-Cities area of the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. Closed after October 12, 2007.
Sources
- Dawson, Henry B., ‘’Battles of the United States’’, (Vol. I. New York. 1858).
- Deetz, James, ‘’Flowerdew Hundred: the Archaeology of a Virginia Plantation 1619-1864’’. (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1993).
- Frassanito, William A., ‘’Grant and Lee, the Virginia Campaigns, 1864-1865’’ (New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983).
- Hannum, Warren T., "The Crossing of the James River in 1864," The Military Engineer. 1932. Vol. XV. No. 81. P. 229-237.
- Hatch, Charles E., ‘’The First Seventeen Years: Virginia, 1607-1624’’ (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1957).
- Huston, James A. "Grant's Crossing of the James" (The Military Engineer. 1953. Vol. XLV, No. 303. P. 18-22).
- Jester, A., ed., ‘’Adventures of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1624/5’’ (Alexandria: Order of First Families of Virginia, 1987).
- Hume, Ivor Noël, ‘’The Virginia Adventure’’. (New York, Alfred A. Knopf. 1994).
- Prince, Eugene. "Antiquity" (March, 1988. Vol. 62, No. 234. P. 113-116).
- Prince, Eugene. "Photography for discovery and scale by superimposing old photographs on the present-day scene." AntiquityAntiquity (journal)Antiquity is an academic journal dedicated to the subject of archaeology. It publishes four editions a year, covering topics worldwide from all periods. Its current editor is Martin Carver, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of York....
. 1988. Vol. 62, No. 234. P. 113-116.