The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1909-10-28
CHATHAM
Some of Its Past History and Present
Splendor.

OpltHuOT.
Chatham is one of the notable places !
Of Virginia Its situation is very fine,
standing upon high hill overlooking |
Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock |
and catching gimpses of its neighbor |
homes. The trees at Chatham are in |
their splendid prime. They literally |
tower upon the perfect turf, and are of
every variety. The flowers bloom as
if there were nothing but gladness on
their green earth.
Chatham began its existence as the |
home Of William Fitz Hugh. The name
Ftz Hugh carries with it lot of dig |
nifty. 1t dawned upon Virginia in 1910
in the person also Of a William, who |
was son of Henry Fitz Hugh, Of Bed |
ford, England. He bore arms, and left
a portrait of himself, by Heselins, and
one of his father, too, and many other
things that proved him a man of taste
and Of fortune.
William 4) Fitz Hugh built Chat !
ham during the lifetime of his father,
at whose death he inherited Eagles
Nest" and much besides. He owned
Somerset, in King George, and
"Ravensworth, in Fairfax, and at the
latter place he died. Why he left
Chatham as home we do not see. he
was man of wide influence and varied
taste. He served his country and was
fond of the social side of life. In the !
Chatham stables such noted equine he
roes as Kitty Fisher, Brilliant, Regu-
lus and Volunteer rested after their
wild victories, and in the Chatham din
ing-room brother planters and sports :
men feasted when the race was done. |
At the death of William (5) Fitz Hugh |
Chatham was sold. and in the last year
it has been purchased by A. Randolph |
Howard, Esq, of Fredericksburg. The
last Fitz Hugh mistress was Anne |
Randolph, of Chatsworth, and the
mother of the present owner was a !
Miss Randolph, Of Tuckahoe.
Mr.. Howard has restored !'Chatham
with the sincerest fidelity The place
had gone down lamentably, but where
the wainscoting had fallen more has |
been replaced, and the scrutiny Of the |
most jealous expert would fail to tell
the old from the new.
The road sweeps up the hill gently,
and the carriageway leads to a square
porch, from which 1--WE two eager and
enthusiastic pilgrims to dear old
shrine walked into grand square hall,
Upon the wall were pictures OF
Howards, Lightfoots, RObbs and
Smiths, ancestors of the present master
and mistress of the place; and the furn-
iture the Fitz Hughs might have first
used at Chatham, so beautifully |
does it harmonic with the architecture
of the house. To the right is the great |
drawing-room; to the left the dining |
room, and on each side, down narrow
arched corridors, are more rooms IN
the wings; to the right chambers with
modern baths attached, to the left
library and den and bachelor quarters;
upstairs, more spacious chambers, halls,
corridors and baths. The white wood
work all over the house, and the artis-
tic treatment Of the walls gives one the
impression of rosy old age. Nothing
in "Chatham," we are sure, can IN any
way offend the ghosts, which, OF
course, walk here, except the bath
rooms. Those dear shadows of the
former residents Of Chatham, who
kept clean we know, and never men
toned il; now the eternal "barth Is
the most discussed portion of the mod
ern residence.
Mr.. Howard, the owner and restorer
Of Chatham" is a representative OF
the oldest Virginia families. HIS
mother was a daughter OF Thomas (9)
Mann Randolph, Of Tuckahoe, who was
son of Thomas (3) Mann Randolph
and Gabrielle Harvie, who was son OF
Thomas Mann (2) Randolph, Of Tuck
ahoe, and Judith Page, of Roosevelt,
and Thomas (2) Mann Randolph was
son of Colonel William (D Randolph,
of Turkey Island, progenitor OF the
distinguished Randolph family, Mr..
Howard's father was son of William
Howard, of Maryland, and Rebecca
Ann Key, grandson of Colonel John
Eager Howard and Margaretta Chew,
who was daughter of Chief Justice
BENJAMIN Chew, and granddaughter of
Chief Justice Samuel Chew and Mary
Galloway. his wife. Chief Justice
Samuel Chew was grandson of Colonel
Samuel Chew, member of Maryland
House of Burgesses, and great-grand-
son of Colonel John Chew, emigrant to
Virginia, and member of Virginia
House of Burgesses, 1923.
John Eager Howard was the son OF
Cornelius Howard and Ruth Eager,
and Cornelius Howard was the son OF
Joshua Howard, emigrant. George
Eager, the ancestor of Ruth Eager,
served in Colonial wars. The rami-
fications of this family go back to the
Oldest and most influential citizens OF
Marylands- the Lloyds, the Boarmans,
the Morgans, the Platers, the ellis and
the Neals-and by the marriage OF
Colonel Edward Lloyd and Elizabeth
Tayloe 90 into Virginia again to the
Mt. Airy TaylOes,, the Gwyns, the
Corbins and the Griffins. Mr.. Howard
has pedigree enough for Chatham.
The wife of Mr.. Howard, the present
mistress Of Chatham, is the daughter
of Augustine Smith, ESQ.,, Of King
Geoge, and Harriet F. Robb, his wife,
who is the daughter of Captain Robert
G. Robb, of the navy, and Fannie Ber--
nard Lightfoot, daughter OF the old
potentate of Port Royal, Philip Light
foot, of whom and his family we spoke
in our last paper on the makers OF
Yorktown.
These Smiths and Lightfoots are con-
nected with all the leading old fami-
lies of Virginia. 1t is a great: satis-
faction to see a prosperous Virglniah
at the head of this noble estate, and his
hospitality havors of that lost day
when the door of the home of the coun-
try gentleman was never latched.
Tirnae -nienatch