The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-14
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IN THE nAPPAHANNocK COUNTRY.
nDrooke,s Bank,

Qa1s-:--
IN THE RAPPAHANNOcK COUNTRY.
"Brooke's Bnnk.o
There are some magnificent estates
and mansions in Essex county. Many
OF them. unhAppily. now closed and
the owners living in some other
locality. Unfortunately I'VE two"
could not penetrate far into the in
terror on this memorable trip, and We
had to miss the opportunity OF getting
the atmosphere" OF many old places.
''Brooke's Bank Is beautiful and
ancient seat. The ancestor. as II were,
of farmers Hall Hall" st. julian"
Oakland" "Mantapike" and other
later Brooke homes scattered through
out Virginia.
Robert Brooke. the first OF his fam
fly In Virginia. settled in Essex coun-i
ty about 1883. for in this year he
Humphrey Booth. His sons were Rob-
Robert (2) was knight OF the Golden
Horseshoe. as we all know. His wife
was Phoebe, and his estate Farmers
Hail." in Essex county. He left this
place to his son. Robert (3). VINO in
turn left 1t to his daughter. Mary. She
married Sale, and the we'll
known family of Sales comes from this
union. William (2) Brooke married
Sarah Taliaferro. and the "Brooke's
Bank" mansion was built by her after
her husbands death, but according to
his wishes lie died in 1894, but the
house was not built until 1851. It
is II brick, mellowed by nearly two
centuries OF storm and sunshine.
Staunch, square and two-storied, with
fine porches and splendid hall run
ming through the house from one end
to the other.
Brooke's Bank" suffered terribly
during tho war. Though separated
from the Rappahannock by soft and
smiling terraces, 1t was near enough
TO feel the crash of the Pawnee shells
and TO suffer painful bruises there
from. One OF these shells-as men
toned in a former paper-jarred a
secret panel from the wall and price,
less papers fell out like imprisoned
spirits, and many alas! became lost
spirits as we'll.
Sarah Taliaferro Brooke left
"Brooke's Bank" to her son. William.
who married Ann Benger. niece of
Lady Spotswood. He died early. and
the estate went to his sister. Sarah.
Her will was made in 1857. and she
left the place to her brother. John
Brooke. who married Lucy Thornton.
He left 1t to William Thornton Brooke
In 1888, who married Mary Whiting
Baylor and left the place to his son.
William Hill Brooke, and here the
line of succession. kept up for five
genera lions, breaks.
DR.. Walton Saunders purchased
"Brookes Bank" in 1880, and mis-
widow. who afterwards married st.
George Hopkins. is the present owner.
She keeps the place in fine order and
treasures the tradition with which 1t
abounds.
Judge Wexford tells US that Higher
up on the peninsula was a steamboat
wharf, even in my own day, bearing
the ambitious name OF Leeds Town.
In old Colonial days 1t INDUCED in
high aspirations to be commercial
port Just around this wharf were
three handsome estates. owned by
Henry Taylor. younger son Of John
Taylor. Of Caroline, namely, Bunker
HILL The Leeds Farm and the
Penn Farm Mr.. Taylor's family re-
sided for some time at Bunker HILL
but the low grounds being considered
unhealthy, he bought summer home
two or three miles back from the
river on the ridge country. This hos
.pitable home OF .MontrQss' was my
first personal recollection of this
country.
When was a boy of about ten
years old at school Mr. and Mrs. Tay-
Tor extended an urgent Invitation to
my brother and myself to visit our
classmate,s the father Of Henry Taylor.
of the Richmond bar. and brother of
Mrs. Williams G. Wickhanl, mother OF
Henry Taylor Wickham, so long most
favorably known in the Virginia Sem
ate and ast counsel Of the Chesapeake
and Ohio Railroad Co. My good father
and mother permitted us to accept the
invitation under< the guidance down
the river Of theff venerated pastor,
Rev. DR.. Samuel B. Wilson. Mrs.
Taylor was a devoted Presbyterian.
and wished Or. Wilson to come down
and baptize her younges child. Ed
mund Pendl eton. whose young life OF
hope and promise was cut short by
a Yankee bullet while he was guard
Ing his home at Belvidera, in Spotsyl-
vania' county.
IN ontrose was very near to oak
Grove Church and POST Office, on the
met the old gentlemen or the neigh
.borhood-old Mr.. Lawrence Washing
ton. Charles e. Jet, Colonel Henry
T. Garnet and others. and enjoyed the
great privilege Of Colonel Garnett's
home. Haywood and of strolllng
along the broad shores OF several
miles OF the lordly Potomac. / also
went to Mr.. Jets estate OF Wake
3field,' standing on the natal spot OF
George Washington. then marked by a
fiat marble tablet. Now a fine monu-
,ment stands there.
''Oak Grove was a great resort or
all the neighborhood in the semi-
weekly visitations of the mail carrier.
The old cartier. n half-Witted. but
faithful servitor OF the government I
knew welltthen and afterwards. These
old mail carriers We're the express
agents to and from their county route
ia It's great central point in my own
little town Of Fredericksburg. They
travelled In a. stiog GIG. With the front
filled with mail bags (not SO heavy as
one would imagine) and boxes, hun-,
dies medicines, etc. some of them
.pendant on the shafts OF the buggy
and the und err gear Of the va icl 8,
5fyuTn II fha great, and exciting poli 49,