The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-10-03
RICH NORTHERNERS
INVADE THE SOUTH
Virginia Estates Invite the
Home Seekers
MANSIONS THAT ARE OLD
Historic Westover Goes Back to
Wealthy Descendent of the Byrds.
Berkeley Birthplace of Pres
ident w. n. Harrison.


and his ambition rampant to own a coun-
try seat with historic associations made
to order, is invading the South nowadays
and sometimes picking up a bargain.
While some of those imposing and ia
nous plantations are undergoing the
transformation of modern innovations at
the eager pleasure and the doubtful taste
OF Northern newcomers the majority
remain, especially in Virginia, to be the
delight of generations in the future and,
to those favored few who are admitted to
the hospitality of their owners, a lesson
in the art of living as it was known to
the leading families of the South when
fortune was at flood.
Virginia houses are to be seen and re-
joiced in now that were the centers of
whole communities in Colonial days, the
days when they builded for the centuries
to come.
Their stately dignity, their graceful
proportions, their air of generous serenity
and leisurely living tell even to the most
Indifferent observer fascinating stories of
the men and women their walls have
sheltered
Some Along the James.
Along the James glimpses are to be had
of these old places that have withstood
the weather and the changing social and
political conditions.
There is Westover the home of the
Byrds, for example. at which former
President Roosevelt and his wife were
entertained on the occasion of one of
their visits to jamestown. Few places
are richer in historic memories. Built by
the second William Byrd-one of the most
notable men of Colonial days, a member
of the kings council scholar and
writer Of distinction fellow of the Royal
Society, receiver general of the royal rev.
enues, and the representative of the
colony of the English court-the house
has witnessed many notable gatherings.
Colonial governors, officers and leaders
in the war of the Revolution, statesmen
deeply concerned with the problems of
the young republic, the leaders of the
opposing forces in the war between the
States, have all been sheltered beneath
its roof.
Then there is Berkeley, the home of the
Harrisons, the birthplace of Gen. w. Fl.
Harrison, and the place to which he re-
tired to write his inaugural address after
his election to the presidency.
Near by is Sherley, patented in the
seventeeth century to Col. Edward Shir-
ley the home of the Hills, the Carriers,
the Lees the birthplace of Annie Carter
Lee, who was the wife of Light Horse
Harry Lee of Revolutionary fame and
the grandmother of Gen. Robert E. Lee
Not far distant is Malvern Hills, the
grant for which was obtained by the
Cookies in the seventeenth century. The
house is In excellent preservation. and Is
a fine specimen of Colonial architecture
The place is now the home of the Halls.
1t was here that one of the mostly hotly
contested battles of the civil war was
/ fought in July, 1852, between the forces
of General Mcclellan and those of Gen.
eral Joseph E. Johnston.
Brandon an Ancient Estate.
Brandon, on the opposite shore of the
James dates its beginnings to Colonial
days, also, patented in 1917 to Capt. John
Martin a member Of the first council, 1t
passed eventually into the possession of
the Harrisons, and is still occupied by
descendants of the Colonial owners
After three-quarters of a century of
changes, Westover is the homestead once
more of descendant of the Byrds. 1t
passed into the possession of strangers
on the death of the widow of the third
William Byrd. in 1914, and for half
century it was occupied by various own
ers, remaining longest in the hands of
the Seldens, who lived there for thirty
years.
During the civil war the place was oc-
supied by Gen. Pope and other Federal
officers, and 1t served successfully as
headquarters and as a storehouse for
the commissary department. The close
of the war found is sadly SCARED. The
fields were desolate; the great gates had
been 1eveled; the left wing and corridor
had been pulled down to build fortifica-
lions; the interior was marred and bat
tered.
But better days ensued when 1t be-
came the property of Maj. A. Fl. Drewry
the hero of Drewrys Bluff, whose wife
was Miss Harrison a member of a col
lateral branch of the old family With
infinite care Maj. Drewry restored the
grounds and buildings to their old-tme
condition, bringing back Its beauty and
charm
Within the last decade the place has
become the home of Mr.. and Mrs Will
liam McCreery Ramsay who have COM
pleted the rehabilitation begun by NAL
Drewry. The old wing has been rebuilt,
whole plantation is in fine state of Gull
tiyation. Mrs. Ramsay is a lineal de-
scendant of the Maryland branch of the
family and purchased the property a
short time before her marriage. The
restoration has been a labor of love, and
1t has been carried out so faithfully that
1t has been said that If Col. Byrd could
return he would find the place just as it
was in his day.
William Byrd, the first of the Byrds of
Westover, acquired the estate by pur-
chase in 1888, but the estate and its own
ers figure in history from the beginning
of the colony In 1919 the place was Sc
lected by Capt. Francis West as the site
for the lands of Henry West. fourth Lord
Delaware. the son of Lord Delaware, the
first royal governor of Virginia In the
great Indian massacre, sthree years later
Westover suffered with its neighbors at
the hands of the savages.
Patented in 1887
In 1857 Capt Thomas Pawlett patented
2000 acres of the estate known as West
over and the plantation remained In the
Pawlett family until 1866 when Theo-
dore Bland, of Berkeley, one of the kings
council became it's owner Nearly a
quarter of century later Bland sold 1t to
William Byrd son of a London goldsmith
In those days tobacco counted for as
much as the coin of the realm, and the
purchase price of the 1900 acres acquired
by the founder of Westover's greatness
was 300 pounds in money and 10000 pounds
of the fragrant weed.
The residence stands on a bluff over
looking the river and the velvety lawns
stretch down to the shore. broad hall
runs through the centar of the house, and
the rooms are of generous proportions.
wainscoated to the ceilings, and fitted in
exquisite taste, with furnishings of the
Colonial period The homestead has its
traditions as well as its historic ASSOC
cations some of which center about the.
t,oooc still tn he saep of q sIIbforrapaop