Transcriber's note:
Archaic spelling and variations in spelling, punctuation and
hyphenation have been retained except for those listed at the end of
the book.
Research has indicated the copyright on this book was not renewed.
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.
[Illustration: cover]
_JOURNAL & LETTERS_
OF PHILIP VICKERS FITHIAN
_Journal & Letters of_
Philip Vickers Fithian
1773-1774:
_A Plantation Tutor of the
Old Dominion_
[Illustration: logo]
EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY
HUNTER DICKINSON FARISH;
ILLUSTRATED BY FRITZ KREDEL
The University Press of Virginia
Charlottesville
COPYRIGHT 1957 BY COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG, INCORPORATED
_Previous editions copyright 1943, 1945
by Colonial Williamsburg, Incorporated_
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number 57-13498
The University Press of Virginia
First printing for Dominion Books
October 1968
Fourth printing 1990
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
_Preface_
Once in a great while historians find a firsthand account that
provides striking insight into a past era. Only rarely is such a
document written with the perception and charm that make its readers
feel as if they had participated in the incidents described and shared
the experiences related. The journal and relevant correspondence of
Philip Fithian constitute this kind of source.
Fithian was reared in New Jersey and attended the College of New
Jersey in Princeton, receiving his degree in 1772. Before entering the
Presbyterian ministry, he followed the advice of President Witherspoon
of Princeton and became a tutor in the family of Robert Carter at
"Nomini Hall" plantation on the Northern Neck of Virginia. The
reactions of the somewhat austere young man to the rich, warm life of
a Virginia plantation are always instructive and often amusing. The
Carters and their seven children were a fascinating family, liberal in
their sentiments and deeply interested in books and music. Fithian
sets forth truthfully, yet with lively touches, the family's
assessments of the society in which it moved, the institution of
slavery, and the dispute developing with the mother country.
Throughout his experiences Fithian remained true to his "fair
Laura"--Elizabeth Beatty in far off New Jersey.
The journal, with certain of the letters, was first published in 1900,
in somewhat abbreviated form, by the Princeton Historical Association.
Dr. Hunter Dickinson Farish, in his edition of _The Journal and
Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian_ (Williamsburg Restoration
Historical Studies, III; Williamsburg, Va., 1943), included the
complete journal, added other relevant letters as well as Fithian's
catalogue of Carter's library, and supplied a thoughtful Introduction.
Dr. Farish was Director of Research at Colonial Williamsburg from 1937
until ill health forced him to retire in 1944. He broadened the
program there by bringing young research associates to the staff,
making grants-in-aid to scholars in the field of early American
history, and establishing and editing the Williamsburg Restoration
Historical Series. He also taught at the College of William and Mary
and helped to work out the organizational plans for the Institute of
Early American History and Culture, which since 1943 has been jointly
sponsored by Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and
Mary.
Dr. Farish's edition of the _Journal_ had been out of print for a few
years when, in 1957, Colonial Williamsburg reissued it, with pen and
ink illustrations by Fritz Kredel designed to interest new readers.
The present edition by the University Press of Virginia reproduces the
1957 one, but in convenient paperback form. Young Fithian's revealing
picture of Virginia plantation life will always be a key source for
the historian and an absorbing human document for the general reader.
EDWARD P. ALEXANDER
Director of Interpretation
_Colonial Williamsburg
September 1967_
_Contents_
INTRODUCTION
1. Virginia During the Golden Age xiii
2. Philip Fithian and the Carter Family xxv
JOURNAL AND LETTERS OF PHILIP FITHIAN 3
APPENDIX 221
NOTES 237
INDEX 249
_CHAPTER ONE_
Virginia During The Golden Age
In the "Golden Age," or half-century immediately preceding the
American Revolution, a remarkable civilization reached its zenith in
the broad coastal plain of eastern Virginia. Gradually, during a
century of colonization and expansion, the heavily wooded tidewater
had been converted into a land of settled order and accumulated
wealth. Vast estates had been carved out of the wilderness and large
plantations were everywhere the rule.
Embraced by numerous arms of the Chesapeake and covered by a network
of wide rivers and creeks, this sylvan Venice abounded in safe and
convenient water routes. Pressing through the mouths of the deep
estuaries, the ocean tides reached the "fall-line," beyond which the
streams were inaccessible to shipping owing to the rapids. Ocean
vessels could penetrate to the plantations in every part of the
lowlands and carry cargoes thence straight to the wharves of London
and the outports. Despite the distance and rigors of the voyage, the
colonists of the Tidewater had maintained a constant intercourse with
the mother country from the time of their earliest settlement.
The hope had long persisted that this coastal plain might yield the
ores, timber, ship stores and other products England needed, and for
which she then largely depended on foreign potentates. Lacking an
ample supply of cheap labor, however, colonial industries could not
compete with well-established ones of the Old World. For well over a
century tobacco proved the one commodity which the colony could
profitably produce for the home market in large quantities.
A notable result of the method of tobacco cultivation was a rapid
depletion of the soil. Intent only upon reaping quick returns, men
customarily neglected the most ordinary precautions to preserve
fertility. Since the tobacco plant required the richest loam to
produce the leaf in its perfection, fields were usually abandoned
after three or more crops had been harvested, and "new grounds" were
cleared. Thus there developed an ever recurring need for fresh lands.
Under so wasteful a system, Virginians had soon realized the necessity
of acquiring many times the quantity of land they could cultivate at
any one time. Farseeing men, realizing a day would come when fertile
soil could no longer be had for a song, wished also to provide
sufficient elbow room for their children at a future day. The
appreciation in land values in a new country provided a further
incentive to the accumulation of large holdings. As a result,
enterprising persons everywhere competed to secure the best tracts.
Towards the close of the seventeenth century the practice of
engrossing lands gained increased momentum. African slavery was
rapidly superseding white indentured servitude as the principal source
of labor supply. The price of tobacco had steadily declined owing to
overproduction, the burdens of the Navigation Acts, and the effects of
European wars. As a result of these conditions, the margin of profit
from the leaf had so decreased that the cheaper labor of slaves and
large-scale production had now become virtually essential to economic
survival. After he had served his indentureship, the white servant
could no longer establish himself as an independent farmer as he had
once done, and the small yeoman now usually felt obliged to sell his
lands to his wealthier neighbor and either become his tenant or
migrate to some other section or colony. Political developments
likewise favored the accumulation of large estates. Through repeated
intermarriage certain families had acquired a very extensive
influence. Members of these families were active in the Governor's
Council or the House of Burgesses and held other high offices as a
matter of course. Their official position often aided them as private
individuals in acquiring lands. Through the presentation of "head
right" certificates, compensation for military services, purchase from
private proprietors, and other ways they obtained domains comprising
thousands of acres. Some carved out what resembled small
principalities. William Fitzhugh of Stafford County owned over 50,000
acres, and by 1732 Robert or "King" Carter of Lancaster County held
some 333,000 acres.
The estates of such men, far from consisting of one compact property,
generally comprised many separate and sometimes widely scattered
tracts, perhaps in half a dozen or more counties. They ranged in size
from a few hundred to thousands of acres. The individual owner
acquired his holdings over a period of years, in what often appeared a
haphazard manner. Not infrequently, a planter, foreseeing the
depletion of his Tidewater lands, engrossed large tracts in the
Piedmont and Valley sections.[1]
[1] Cf. Morton, Louis, _Robert Carter of Nomini Hall: A Virginia
Tobacco Planter of the Eighteenth Century_, pp. 62-87.
Life in the Tidewater during the Golden Age was dominated, to a
remarkable extent, by families possessing vast estates. Not everyone,
it is true, owned such princely domains as the Carters or Fitzhughs,
but men in their station were imbued with a deep sense of their
obligation to society. They sat as justices in the county courts,
served as sheriffs and as colonels of the militia in their counties,
and acted as vestrymen and church wardens in their parishes. They
accepted seriously their duty to preserve the peace and watch over the
less fortunate classes. Because of their wealth and position, their
education, resourcefulness and keen sense of public responsibility,
they were able to influence and to impress their ideals and tastes
upon the community in a measure rarely equalled by a similar
aristocracy.
The great landed proprietors operated their estates in either of two
ways or a combination of the two. They might take full responsibility
themselves, planting tobacco and secondary crops; they could lease
tracts to others to cultivate; or they might do both. Sometimes a man
leased more of his arable lands than he reserved for his own use.
Though disturbed conditions in Europe and the burdens imposed by the
British regulatory system led to repeated attempts to develop other
staples for export, tobacco continued to be the mainstay. Aside from
money crops, however, the great landowners had to supply numerous
foodstuffs and other commodities needed on their plantations.
A proprietor customarily resided on what was generally known as the
"manor plantation."[2] This seat usually served as the nerve center of
the activities of his entire estate, with the other units subordinate
to it. Not infrequently some of the outlying properties were devoted
to producing commodities needed by the manor plantation and by such
other plantations as were engaged in raising tobacco and other
marketable staples. Overseers or stewards managed the units over which
the owner found it difficult to exercise personal supervision. These
men reported to him at regular intervals to receive instructions and
give an account of their stewardship.
[2] In the issue of the _Virginia Gazette_ for May 24, 1751, Thomas
Eldridge of Prince George County advertised the sale of his "Mannor
Plantation" and three other plantations. Such references to manor
plantations appeared frequently in the _Gazette_ and in the wills of
the period.
Though the basis of life was agricultural, the great landowners
discharged a wide variety of other economic functions. They served as
factors for their neighbors, buying their crops, selling them
supplies, and providing them with credit facilities. Many sent vessels
regularly up and down the Chesapeake and the Virginia rivers,
purchasing the produce of others for later marketing. In like fashion
they brought manufactured goods from overseas for sale in the
plantation stores. When European conditions interfered with the import
trade, enterprising men frequently set up grist mills, textile
factories, foundries, and other manufactories on their plantations, to
supply their own and their neighbors' needs.
The great Tidewater proprietors of the Golden Age were, then, no
perfumed courtiers spending their days in idleness and diversion and
consciously seeking to avoid all "taint of trade." In a very real
sense they were capitalists, acute men of business, seriously
concerned with managing their estates, tilling their lands and
disposing of their produce, and eager to reap a profit through trading
with their neighbors. Their ledgers and their correspondence reveal
their energy, shrewdness, and enterprise. In a similar way the
constant stream of letters they wrote the factors who served them in
London, Bristol, and other ports of the mother country show their
vital interest in conditions in the world market.
The planters' preoccupation with such matters does not signify that
they lacked grace of living, nor that they were deficient in
aristocratic ideals. They were determined they should not revert to
barbarism in the wilderness. At no time did they allow themselves to
forget that they were inheritors of British civilization.[3] Taking
the English gentry as their model, they tried, insofar as colonial
conditions would allow, to follow the ways of the country gentlemen of
the homeland. On that pattern they fashioned their manners, their
homes, their diversions; and with a similar aim they sought to
acquire, and instruct their sons in, every branch of knowledge useful
to a gentleman.
[3] Cf. Wright, Louis B., _The First Gentlemen of Virginia_, _passim_.
That it was a constant concern of these planter-businessmen to see
that their children should acquire "polite" accomplishments is clearly
revealed in their papers. In a letter in 1718 Nathaniel Burwell of
"Carter's Grove" deplored his son's inattention to his studies, not
only because an ignorance of arithmetic would hamper him in "the
management of his own affairs," but also because, lacking a broad
basis of knowledge, he would be "unfit for any gentleman's
conversation and therefore a scandalous person and a shame to his
relations, not having one single qualification to recommend him."[4]
In a like spirit William Fitzhugh of "Bedford" in Stafford County
asserted in 1687 that his children had "better be never born than
illbred."[5]
[4] _William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. VII, series 1, p. 43.
[5] Stanard, Mary Newton, _Colonial Virginia_, p. 271.
Though a parent sometimes specified that his sons be taught languages,
philosophy, dancing, fencing, and other such "polite" subjects,
practical studies were not neglected. Such subjects as mathematics,
surveying, and law prepared a youth for managing the estate he would
one day inherit and for discharging the obligations to society imposed
by his position. The goal was not professional specialization, but,
rather, an education which would develop fully every side of a
gentleman's character. George Washington expressed this ideal in
referring to plans for the education of his ward, young "Jacky"
Custis, in 1771. Admitting that "a knowledge of books is the basis
upon which other knowledge is to be built," he explained that he did
not think "becoming a mere scholar is a desirable education for a
gentleman."[6] Thus, also, Robert Beverley, father of Harry Beverley
of "Hazelwood" in Caroline County, directed in his will that his son's
guardians should continue the boy's education until he should be
taught "everything necessary for a gentleman to learn."[7]
[6] Hornsby, Virginia Ruth, "Higher Education of Virginians," p. 10.
Typed M.A. Thesis, Library of the College of William and Mary.
[7] _William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. XX, series 1, p. 437.
Books provided a ready means of transmitting English standards of life
to the colony. The carefully selected volumes in the manor houses
clearly reveal their owners' aspiration to become "compleat
gentlemen." It was not unusual for the collection of a prosperous
planter to number as many as one or two thousand. Works providing
guidance in the mode of life they admired greatly predominated, though
works of literature were not absent. English "courtesy" and "conduct"
books were on every gentleman's shelves. Richard Allestree's _A
Gentleman's Calling_ and Henry Peacham's _The Compleat Gentleman_, and
other works which portrayed fortitude, prudence, temperance, justice,
liberality, and courtesy as cardinal virtues appear again and again in
the inventories of the period, along with the writings of Castiglione
and other Italians of an earlier day from whom English authors had
derived ideas of courtly conduct.
Most numerous were works stressing a gentleman's religious
obligations. Duty to God and Church was set forth in devotional works
of various kinds, collections of sermons, and theological treatises.
Then came books on historical subjects which offered actual examples
of men of great deeds. There were also many volumes on politics and
statecraft and military manuals, all of them useful in teaching the
larger obligations which a man of wealth owed to society. Guidance in
the practical duties of a great estate was furnished in treatises on
various phases of farming and gardening, manuals of medicine and
surgery, books on surveying and engineering, commentaries on law and
legal procedure and handbooks of architecture.[8]
[8] Cf. Wright, _First Gentlemen_, _passim_.
Naturally, the character of the schooling provided for the growing
generation greatly concerned the Virginia gentlemen. Many, eager to
give their children direct contact with the traditional learning and
culture of the mother country, sent them for a period of years to
English schools.[9] Not infrequently, mere infants were placed under
the protection of relatives and friends in the mother country. As
early as 1683 William Byrd II, then nine years old, and his sister
Susan, about six, were being watched over in English schools by their
Horsmanden grandparents, and plans were making to send over their
little sister, Ursula, aged four. Each of the great "King" Carter's
five boys was sent overseas at an early age. In 1762 John Baylor of
Caroline County, who had received his own education at Putney Grammar
School and Caius College, Cambridge, sent his twelve-year-old son to
Putney, and about the same time put his four young daughters at a
boarding school at Croyden in Kent.[10]
[9] An Englishman visiting Virginia at the close of the eighteenth
century stated, with reference to persons he met who had been educated
abroad before the Revolution, that he "found men leading secluded
lives in the woods of Virginia perfectly _au fait_ as to the literary,
dramatic, and personal gossip of London and Paris." Bernard, John,
_Retrospections of America, 1797-1811_, p. 149.
[10] Stanard, _Colonial Virginia_, p. 290.
The high value placed upon schooling in England is well illustrated in
the attitude of Robert Beverley of "Blandfield" when he prepared to
send his young son, William, abroad in 1773. Confiding the lad for a
season to a tutor in the home of his father-in-law, Landon Carter of
"Sabine Hall," he carefully explained his purpose. "I would recommend
to Mr. Menzies the Latin Lillies Grammar," he wrote Carter, "because,
as no other rudiments are used in any Schools of Eminence, when he
goes to England, he may in part have gotten over the Drudgery of
Education. All I wish to learn him in Virginia is, to read, write, &
cypher, & do as much with his Grammar, as the Time will admit
of...."[11] Planters frequently provided in their wills that their
young sons and daughters be educated abroad. It is likely that an
even larger number of small children would have been sent "home," as
the planters fondly called the mother country, had their parents not
feared the dangers of an ocean voyage and the mortal effects of the
smallpox which was raging in England during the eighteenth century.
[11] Letter of Robert Beverley to Landon Carter, Blandfield, May 19,
1772, in possession of Mrs. William Harrison Wellford of Sabine Hall.
Cf. "Extracts from Diary of Landon Carter in Richmond County,
Virginia"; _William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. XIII, series 1,
pp. 160-163.
As an alternative to sending children overseas, the traditional
learning of the English schools could be brought to Virginia by
English-trained tutors and governesses. Well-to-do planters
customarily engaged such persons to instruct their children at home,
even when it was planned to send the youngsters abroad later. They
also employed dancing and music masters to visit their households at
regular intervals. A building near the mansion was generally set aside
as a schoolroom. There the master's children and perhaps those of some
neighboring planters were taught. The young men and women who came
overseas to teach the children of Virginia were honored members of the
households in which they lived. Great care was taken in selecting
them. After a number of young Scotchmen had come to the colony as
tutors during the eighteenth century, it was feared they would "teach
the children the Scotch dialect which they can never wear off."[12]
Throughout the period one finds frequent mention of the need of
suitable instructors in the letters of the planters to their factors
in the mother country. After the middle of the century, tutors were
sometimes secured from Princeton and other American colleges.[13]
[12] _William and Mary College Quarterly_, Vol. XIX, series 1, p. 145.
[13] Robert Andrews, a Pennsylvania youth educated at "the College of
Phileda," served as a tutor at "Rosewell," the Page home in Gloucester
County, for several years, and two young men from Princeton taught the
Carter children at "Nomini Hall." Cf. letter of John Page, Jr., to
John Norton. "Rosewell," September 18, 1772, in Mason, Frances Norton,
_John Norton & Sons_, p. 271. See also page 160.
A goodly number of the youths sent to the English schools enrolled
later at the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, and others who had been
educated by private tutors were also sent there. Certain families sent
generation after generation of sons to these universities. At
intervals from the time that Ralph Wormeley, the second of that name,
had matriculated at Oriel College, Oxford, in 1665, until the outbreak
of the Revolution, his kinsmen were found in English colleges. Not a
few young Virginians attended the Inns of Court.
In his domestic establishment the planter sought to reproduce as
nearly as he conveniently could the residence of the English gentry
with its gardens, lawns, and parks. Plans of English homes and
gardens, which intelligent workmen or even a layman might adapt, were
accessible in the handbooks of architecture and gardening found in
many of the planters' libraries. In some instances the striking
similarity of detail leaves little doubt that the plans for a
planter's residence derived directly from plates in these books. All
the forms common to the English country architecture of the period
were employed in the plantation residences. Sometimes English master
builders and gardeners were imported to supervise the construction of
the residences and the planting of the grounds.
The vogue for formality in English architecture and landscaping was
mirrored in the arrangement of the Virginia estates. The mansions were
generally placed according to carefully preconceived plans in a formal
setting which nonetheless managed to achieve an air of ease and
naturalness. Balance and symmetry were observed everywhere, with the
buildings, gardens, and extensive lawns forming component parts of one
composition. Walks of brick or oyster shell crossed the grounds in
geometric pattern. If a bowling green or formal garden flanked one
side of the mansion, an orangery or perhaps a park stocked with deer
flanked the other.
English box and other ornamental plants were used with fine effect.
Terraces, elaborate parterres, sunken panels, canals, and dramatic
vistas gave variety to the scene. "Falling gardens" were popular at
the residences situated on high eminences overlooking the great rivers
and marshes.[14] Not infrequently, as at "Blandfield," a ha-ha
provided a note of pleasant surprise for one walking on the lawns.[15]
Graceful garden houses, dovecots, and other miniature structures,
carefully placed, sometimes imparted a fanciful atmosphere to the
whole. Every estate had its orchard, the fruit of which surpassed the
choicest specimens of the homeland. Wildernesses or preserves of
transplanted trees might be found at some distance from the residence,
and sometimes serpentine drives and walks invited one to explore
hidden retreats.
[14] A "falling garden" consisted of a series of very broad terraces,
usually connected by ramps covered with turf, oyster shell or other
surface material to prevent erosion. In some instances the successive
levels were planted in elaborate patterns. In others the whole was
covered with turf. The "falling garden" at "Sabine Hall" retains its
eighteenth-century design intact.
[15] A ha-ha is a boundary to a garden, pleasure-ground, or park of
such a nature as not to interrupt the view from the mansion and may
not be seen until closely approached. According to a French
etymologist, the name is derived from _ha_, an exclamation of
surprise, uttered by one suddenly approaching such a boundary. The
ha-ha consists of a trench, the inner side of which is perpendicular
and faced with a wall; the outer being sloped and turfed. The ha-ha
permitted grazing cattle and sheep to appear on the landscape, and at
the same time held them at a distance from the mansion. In his diary,
George Washington refers, on several occasions, to the ha-has on the
grounds at "Mount Vernon." Cf. Fitzpatrick, John, _The Diaries of
George Washington_, Vol. II, _passim_.
Situated amidst such attractive surroundings, the residences appeared
to fine advantage. Their architectural arrangement contributed much to
their impressiveness. At the same time it was admirably suited to the
peculiar needs of plantation life. The mansion or "great house" was
but the central unit, about which, at carefully spaced intervals,
stood numerous smaller structures, all subsidiary to it. Spoken of
indiscriminately as "offices," these dependent buildings all served
some useful purpose or function in the domestic economy.
The mansion was usually a substantial two-story, rectangular building
of brick, though sometimes it was built of stone or wood. The rather
low-pitched roofs were generally shingled with cypress or slate. Since
many of the activities of the household were carried on in offices
under separate roofs, a central structure approximately seventy-five
feet long and forty-two feet wide was usually regarded as commodious.
The exteriors of these houses were often characterized by an elegant
simplicity achieved through perfection of line and proportion. The
severity of a facade might be relieved by a handsome wooden cornice, a
pedimented hood over the doorway, a string-course and water table of
molded brick, and window and door facings of rubbed brick. Sometimes
pilasters of finely molded brick framed the doorways.
Not infrequently the principal offices, set in advance or in the rear
of the mansion, served as foils to impart greater dignity to it.
Sometimes, as at "Blandfield" and "Mount Airy," the major offices were
connected with the central building by straight or curved lateral
passages. The great house and its dependent structures were generally
placed in such a relation as to form one or more rectangular
courts.[16] The principal offices were often large and contained a
number of rooms.
[16] At "Mount Vernon" the mansion and its wings together composed
three sides of an open square, the main house and its wings closing
the side opposite the open end. At "Stratford Hall" four dependent
structures formed a square court, inside of which the great house
stands. Two offices are set twenty-eight feet in advance of the main
house on the land front. On the water front two others are placed in a
similar relation to it. At "Shirley" the great house and four
principal dependent buildings form a long rectangular court, the
mansion closing the side facing the river.
To one unfamiliar with plantation life, the number and diversity of
the offices about the manor house occasioned astonishment. A Huguenot
exile who visited "Rosegill," the home of Ralph Wormeley, as early as
1686, recorded that the master's residence comprised at least twenty
structures. "When I reached his place," this Frenchman wrote, "I
thought I was entering a rather large village, but later on was told
that all of it belonged to him."[17]
[17] _A Huguenot Exile in Virginia_, ed. and tr. by Gilbert Chinard
(New York, 1934), p. 142. In writing of Maryland early in the
eighteenth century, Sir John Oldmixon said: "Both here [Maryland] and
there [Virginia] the _English_ live at large at their several
Plantations, which hinders the Increase of Towns; indeed every
Plantation, is a little Town of itself, and can subsist itself with
Provisions and Necessaries, every considerable Planter's Warehouse
being like a Shop...." Oldmixon, John, _British Empire in America_
(second edition, 1741), Vol. I, p. 339. Cf. Kimball, Fiske, _Domestic
Architecture_, _passim_.
Offices near the great house were utilized as counting-rooms,
schoolrooms, and sleeping quarters for the sons of the family as well
as for a variety of other purposes. The kitchen, wash-house, dairy,
smoke-house, and other offices intimately connected with the processes
of housekeeping were usually set farther away in order to keep the
mansion cool in summer and free it of the noise and odors of
cooking.[18]
[18] A historian who described the Virginia residences at the
beginning of the eighteenth century stated that "All their Drudgeries
of Cookery, Washing, Daries, &c. are perform'd in Offices detacht from
the Dwelling-Houses, which by this means are kept more cool and
Sweet." Cf. Beverley, Robert, _The History and Present State of
Virginia_, Book IV, p. 53.
Within the manor house the lower floors were usually devoted entirely
to social purposes. Halls and chambers were generally finely panelled
in native pine or walnut, and the symmetry of the paneling, the deeply
recessed windows, and the excellent proportion of the doors and
mantels imparted dignity and beauty to the rooms. Frequently the
effect was heightened by fine carving, and occasionally the pink or
orange tones of mantels of sienna marble lent a pleasing touch of
color.
In many of the apartments there were fine cornices, modillions, and
dentils. Delicately fluted pilasters often flanked windows and doors.
Elaborately carved cornice and mantel friezes and frets represented
the most skilled craftsmanship of the period. Sometimes, as at
"Carter's Grove," the miniature carving of the friezes was of
exquisite beauty. Motifs such as the egg and dart, the Wall of Troy,
and the Tudor rose were employed with fine effect.
In the halls ornamentation was frequently given freer scope than
elsewhere. The wide passageways which extended through the houses were
customarily broken midway by arches of fine proportions. The usual
focal point of interest in the hallways, however, was the stairs, the
sweep of which was often majestic. Carved and hidden newel posts were
common, and sometimes the pattern of the posts reappeared in elaborate
friezes below the landing. Twist-carved balusters were placed on the
steps, and running floral and foliated carving decorated the risers or
step-ends of many of the stairs.
For these homes the Virginia aristocrats imported furniture, china,
plate, and other furnishings from England and France. Their letters to
factors in the homeland were filled with descriptions of the articles
wanted, and frequently specified that items must be in the latest
London fashion. Choice pieces of walnut and mahogany, expensive
mirrors, and carpets and hangings of the best quality graced their
drawing rooms. Harpsichords, spinets, and other fine instruments stood
in many homes, and portraits of members of the family, some by the
best artists of the day, hung on their walls. In the dining rooms,
fine crystal and plate emblazoned with the family crest gleamed on
polished sideboards and tables.
Though they sometimes maintained residences at Williamsburg for the
court season, the Virginia great were rarely absentee landlords in the
sense that planters in other colonies were. Rather, they were country
gentlemen residing on their manor plantations, and, as we have seen,
seriously interested in improving their homes and domains. A family
was customarily identified by reference to its seat. "Epping Forest,"
"Marmion," "Berkeley," "Chelsea," "Elsing Green," and the other
musical names by which the homes were called, impart a romantic and
picturesque flavor to the literature of the region, and reveal the
strong hold retained over men's affections by the mother country.
Since no land in the Tidewater was cleared until it was to be
utilized for tobacco culture, and since discarded fields were allowed
to grow up in thickets, the plantation establishments were generally
located at a considerable distance from one another and separated by
heavily wooded tracts.[19]
[19] The Tidewater plantation economy had spread into the Piedmont
section prior to the American Revolution. A paroled British officer
writing of his situation in Albemarle County in 1779, said: "The house
that we reside in is situated upon an eminence, commanding a prospect
of near thirty miles around it, and the face of the country appears an
immense forest, interspersed with various plantations, four or five
miles distant from each other; on these there is a dwelling-house in
the center, with kitchens, smoke-house, and out-houses detached, and
from the various buildings, each plantation has the appearance of a
small village; at some little distance from the houses, are peach and
apple orchards, &c. and scattered over the plantations are the negroes
huts and tobacco-houses, which are large built of wood, for the cure
of that article." Cf. Anburey, Thomas, _Travels Through the Interior
Parts of America_, Vol. II, p. 187.
Set in a land abounding in excellent house sites, the planters' homes
generally stood near the bank of one of the great rivers or upon some
natural eminence. In the former case these houses had two fronts, a
land and a water entrance. The approach from the public highway
generally led through a wide avenue of trees, perhaps a mile or more
in length, or the house might be shielded from the public gaze by a
park of stately beeches or poplars. Since overland routes often
presented serious difficulties, the Virginians made highroads of their
rivers and creeks, and the side of the mansion facing the water
generally constituted its true front. This is evidenced by the fact
that one usually ascended the stairs from the water side. Isolated as
the homes were, the Virginians were able to enjoy the seclusion so
greatly prized by the gentry of the mother country, and they developed
to a high degree the hospitable and generous traits and the love of
outdoor sports that have usually characterized country squires.[20]
[20] A British observer reported in 1779 that "... before the war, the
hospitality of the country was such, that travellers always stopt at a
plantation when they wanted to refresh themselves and their horses,
where they always met with the most courteous treatment, and were
supplied with every thing gratuitously; and if any neighbouring
planters heard of any gentleman being at one of these ordinaries, they
would send a negroe with an invitation to their own house." Cf.
Anburey, _Travels Through the Interior Parts of America_, Vol. II, p.
198. This same traveller described the hospitality shown the guests at
one of the James River plantations. "I spent a few days at Colonel
Randolph's, at Tuckahoe, at whose house the usual hospitality of the
country prevailed," he wrote. "It is built on a rising ground, having
a most beautiful and commanding prospect of James River; on one side
is Tuckahoe, which being the Indian name of that creek, he named his
plantation Tuckahoe after it; his house seems to be built solely to
answer the purposes of hospitality, which being constructed in a
different manner than in most other countries; I shall describe it to
you: It is in the form of an H, and has the appearance of two houses,
joined by a large saloon; each wing has two stories, and four large
rooms on a floor; in one the family reside, and the other is reserved
solely for visitors: the saloon that unites them, is of a considerable
magnitude, and on each side are doors; the ceiling is lofty, and to
these they principally retire in the Summer, being but little
incommoded by the sun, and by the doors of each of the houses, and
those of the saloon being open, there is a constant circulation of
air; they are furnished with four sophas, two on each side, besides
chairs, and in the center there is generally a chandelier; these
saloons answer the two purposes of a cool retreat from the scorching
and sultry heat of the climate, and of an occasional ball-room. The
outhouses are detached at some distance, that the house may be open to
the air on all sides." _Ibid._, p. 208.
The constant activity that centered about the great house is clearly
reflected in the journals, letters, and account books of the day.
Through their pages may be seen the great planter-businessmen, the
members of their families, the overseers and stewards, the free white
artisans, the Negro slaves, and the indentured servants moving about
their daily tasks. The master of the plantation in a counting room
near his mansion balances accounts, writes letters to his factors in
England, or converses with the overseers and stewards from his other
plantations who have come for instructions regarding their work. The
children of the household and their tutor pass to and from the office
used as a schoolroom. A ship from the homeland touches at the
plantation landing and its captain comes ashore to bring letters and
the latest news from the mother country, and perchance to dine at the
planter's table. Visitors from neighboring plantations or from
adjoining counties arrive in sloops or in coaches or sedans. Rooms
reserved for guests are rarely empty and almost any event serves as
the excuse for a celebration. A peripatetic dancing master arrives,
the children of the neighborhood gather, and an informal dance is held
after they have been singly instructed. Even passing strangers are
accorded hospitable entertainment and treated as welcome guests. The
planter and his family frequently ride out in a coach or chair for "an
airing" or to call upon neighbors or relatives. On Sunday, if the
weather be good, he takes his family by water to attend services at
the parish church. Not infrequently a neighbor's servant arrives
bearing venison or some other delicacy for the master's table.
Countless articles are bought or taken from the plantation stores. In
the smith's shop nails and other articles are forged for plantation
use, and the chair of a neighbor is mended or his plows pointed.
Provisions are sent to the outlying plantations and supplies needed
for the home place brought from them. In buildings near the mansion,
tobacco is cured and prized. Hogsheads are rolled to the wharf to be
shipped.
Such was the nature of the world about "Nomini Hall," the manor house
of Robert Carter III in Westmoreland County, to which Philip Vickers
Fithian, a young Princeton-bred theological student, went as a tutor
to the children of the household in 1773.
CHAPTER TWO
Philip Fithian And The Carter Family
During his residence at "Nomini Hall" from October, 1773, to October,
1774, Philip Fithian recorded his impressions of the life about him in
a daily journal and in letters to relatives and friends. These
impressions constitute a detailed and illuminating account. The
civilization he described differed in many respects from that he had
known in New Jersey. His austere Presbyterian training caused him to
look with disfavor or misgiving upon many of the gay diversions and
other social customs of Virginia. Yet he was open-minded to an unusual
degree and not unsympathetic to the people among whom he lived. His
freshness of viewpoint led him to comment upon various features of
Virginia civilization which would doubtless have escaped the attention
of one more familiar with them. He admired many aspects of Southern
life and for the members of the Carter household Fithian developed a
genuine and lasting fondness. The account possesses both vivacity and
charm.
At "Nomini Hall" Philip Fithian found himself in an excellent
observation post. Robert Carter, its owner, was the scion of one of
the wealthiest and most influential Tidewater families. His
great-grandfather, John Carter, had emigrated to Virginia from England
in 1649. Acquiring some 13,500 acres in the Northern Neck, the fertile
region between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers, John Carter had
established his home "Corotoman" on the Rappahannock in Lancaster
County. Becoming ere long a successful planter and businessman, Carter
served first as a Burgess and then as a member of the governor's
Council.
Robert or "King" Carter, son of the emigrant, so eclipsed his father
that he has usually been regarded as founder of the family in
Virginia. Bold, capable, and acquisitive, "King" Carter strove
ceaselessly to expand the family fortunes. By strict attention to
business and a close regard for his prerogatives as agent of the
Fairfaxes, the proprietors of the Northern Neck, he ultimately became
the richest and perhaps the most powerful man of his day in
Virginia.[21] First as a Burgess and then as a member and President of
the Council, he exerted a political influence that contributed greatly
to the management of his private affairs. Realizing earlier than most
the need future generations would have for fresh lands, he obtained
for his progeny altogether some 333,000 acres.
[21] Cf. Wright, Louis B., _Letters of Robert Carter, 1720-1727_ (San
Marino, 1940), p. viii.
Under the custom of primogeniture, Carter arranged that the bulk of
his lands, including "Corotoman," should go to his eldest son, John
Carter II. He, nonetheless, saw to it that his other sons, Robert,
Landon, Charles, and George should have ample estates. Robert Carter
II, however, died a few months before his father, leaving a young son,
Robert III, and a daughter, Elizabeth. A short time after "King"
Carter's death his surviving sons procured a special legislative
enactment investing the share of the estate intended for the dead son
in the young grandson. When Robert Carter III reached his majority,
therefore, he would become master of more than seventy thousand acres.
The young boy's uncles, John, Landon, and Charles Carter, acted as his
guardians. As a result of his mother's early second marriage to
Colonel John Lewis, he lived at the latter's manor plantation, "Warner
Hall" in Gloucester County. When the lad was nine, he was sent to the
College of William and Mary. Nothing further is definitely known of
how his youth was spent.
On reaching twenty-one Robert at once began preparations for a trip to
England where he remained two years. The purpose of this visit is not
known. It is probable, however, that he was following the example of
his grandfather, his father, and the other sons of "King" Carter who
had all completed their education in the mother country. Indeed the
records of the Inner Temple reveal that he was admitted to the
privileges and assumed the agreeable duties of a member of that august
legal society a few months after he arrived there.[22] Whatever his
motives, though, it is unlikely that a spirited young man, possessed
of ample means and free of parental restraint, would bury himself
entirely within musty college walls. Reports at home had it that he
spent his time in idleness and gay diversions. A portrait painted at
this time by a fashionable artist, probably in the studio of Sir
Joshua Reynolds, shows him arrayed in a fine doublet of silk and a
high lace collar, with a mask in one hand as if to indicate he was
about to hasten away to some masquerade.
[22] Cf. Jones, E. Alfred, _American Members of the Inns of Court_, p.
41.
Whatever his youthful follies may have been, Robert Carter possessed a
gentle and thoughtful nature. As he matured, he became increasingly a
serious man of business and of scholarly and cultivated tastes.
Returning to Virginia in 1751, he soon married and settled down to the
life of a country squire at "Nomini Hall," the manor house his father
had built in Westmoreland County.
On a visit to Maryland, Carter had met Frances Anne Tasker, the
sixteen-year-old daughter of one of the foremost citizens of that
colony. Struck by the beauty, good sense, and fortune of the young
girl, he had secured her consent to become his wife. Frances Tasker
Carter was an uncommon person. Notwithstanding the numerous children
she had already borne her husband when Philip Fithian entered her
household, she was still beautiful, elegant, and youthful looking. She
was also well-informed and frequently surprised Fithian with the
breadth of her interests. Ever cheerful and agreeable, she managed the
household with fine success and carefully trained her seventeen
children.
Besides a handsome dowry, Frances Tasker brought her husband a family
influence that proved of great assistance in both his public and
private career. Benjamin Tasker, her father, who had wide commercial
connections, had served for thirty-two years as a member and President
of the Council of Maryland, and for a period as acting-Governor. Her
mother, Anne Bladen Tasker, was the daughter of William Bladen who had
been successfully Secretary and Attorney-General of that colony.
Thomas Bladen, her mother's brother, a former governor of Maryland,
had removed to England and become a member of Parliament for Old
Sarum, where he was now in an excellent position to promote the
interests of his American relatives.[23]
[23] Sisters of Anne Bladen Tasker and Thomas Bladen had married
Daniel Dulany, Samuel Ogle, and Christopher Lowndes, all men of
important political and financial connections in their world.
Robert Carter led a busy life at "Nomini Hall." To utilize profitably
the resources of an estate of seventy thousand acres was a task that
demanded foresight and planning. He customarily cultivated as many as
a dozen large plantations at once, and it was necessary that the
operations on the several units be carefully integrated. Though
tobacco constituted the crop of first importance on his estate, entire
plantations were sometimes devoted to producing grain stuffs and
supplies needed at "Nomini Hall" and on the other plantations. From
time to time, too, Carter sought to develop other money crops which
might supplement the constantly dwindling profits from tobacco. The
preparation of new grounds to replace discarded fields constituted a
laborious task that had to be coped with at intervals. He set up and
equipped so many plantations that he resorted at one time to the signs
of the zodiac for names for them.