The house called Green Mount stands quietly, beautifully, proudly on a small knoll of rich soil in rural King & Queen County, Virginia. A General Edwin Cox prepared "A True Relation of the History of King and Queen County in Virginia", around 1957, and in this he describes the county. Using his words, "King and Queen lies along the northeastern banks of the York and Mattaponi Rivers and stretches more than sixty miles from the Poropotank on the southeast to the Maracossic on the northwest. Its width is nowhere more than ten miles." Three different Indian tribes were living here in 1607 and it was a long period of time before white men could safely establish homes here and begin businesses along the banks of those rivers which allowed for transportation and trade. The county wasn't established until 1681.
The land upon which Green Mount is located was first granted to the Pickle Family in the late 1600's. The Pickle Family built a home here, naming the place Pickle Hill. But the records of when the house was actually constructed were burned during the Civil War. The reason the courthouse in King & Queen County was set ablaze is due to something that happened to a family member living in this home in 1864. Pickle Hill, probably built around 1730ish ?, is later renamed Green Mount, 1842. I am anxious to write more about that era, but will do so in another post, soon to come.
The home was described in an insurance policy by its second owner, Philip Pendleton in 1802 as a wooden building measuring 32 X 18 feet, one story high, and underpinned with brick." (Old Houses of King & Queen County, Virginia - by Cox & Weathers, p. 271) He served as an inspector of tobacco at a nearby town, Walkerton, 1774 located on the Mattaponi River. He was most likely living at Pickle Hill (aka Green Mount) at the time of the Revolutionary War and was in the Virginia Militia. In 1776 he was licensed to run the Ordinary at Todd's which was a thriving port village at the end of the road Green Mount is located on. (Todd's Bridge Road) The Mattaponi River twists and turns along the county's border and is accessible about a mile and half from the house at this port town location.
Pendleton is deceased by 1804 and the home is purchased by a Henry Garnett. "When the new owner reinsured it four years later it had dormer windows; 9 X 9 foot porches front and back; two wings, each measuring 12 x 18; and a 10 x 18 shed room beyond the east or left wing. This enlargement reflects the growing prosperity shown in Garnett's tax returns. In 1805 he was assessed for sixteen slaves, seven horses and mules and a "chair," or small vehicle; when he sold Pickle Hill to Hugh Campbell ten years later he owned twenty -two slaves, fourteen horses and mules, a two-wheel carriage, another vehicle valued at $400, and a mill. His house must have been rather bare, as taxable household goods were a looking glass between two and three feet long, a sideboard, four tables, and a plated teapot." (Old Houses...p 271)
Last May as we were about to leave one day to take our oldest son to Richmond to the Army recruiting station (he's now serving with the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan) we saw someone pull up out front. I went quickly to the yard gate and met a man by the name of
Hugh Campbell.
He introduced himself and upon learning of our need to leave at that time he asked if he could visit the cemetery out back where his great or great-great grandfather, (I can't recall which,) is buried. We of course said it was perfectly fine and to please come back when he could visit with us and see the recently restored home. My husband and two sons and I had been overseeing and very much participating in the restoration of the house for 3 labor-filled years before moving in on Memorial Day of 2008. We had lived just a few miles from the house before that and in the area since 1989. The owner of Green Mount lives elsewhere and asked us to help him restore the home, then move in as renters. That is what occurred.
An interesting historical fact predating the house is this:
Captain John Smith remarks about an Indian village just about 1 1/2 miles from where Green Mount now is, when he was captured by Powhatan's brother Opecancanough and was taken from one village to another in the winter of 1607. That same Indian village area on the banks of the Mattaponi became a thriving colonial port town in the 1700's which was mentioned earlier. George Washington wrote in his diary no less than fifteen times as having sup'd or slept at Todd's Ordinary, which was the tavern built upon that site and the village was a main thoroughfare of the day both by river and road. A later owner of Green Mount (Dr. Fleet) bought some of that same land and operated a ferry and toll bridge across the river at that same point that John Smith and George Washington wrote of. One of the old colonial houses was actually moved from that little village which has been called Todd's and later Dunkirk, and was attached as an "ell" to the back of Green Mount. Dr. Fleet added this old structure about 1850. It may well be the oldest part of the house. His other changes such as adding a wing for treating patients and raising the roof to accommodate a second story were the last major changes done to the home. It basically is the same as it was since 1850 with the exception of a few minor changes we made during the restoration. We tried not to change things, but in a few instances we opted to alter some of the structure to make it more practical and give the house a somewhat better flow throughout.
Hugh Campbell, the descendent of the former owner was able to shed some light on two of the tombstones in the family cemetery out back. Two of the earliest tombstones are both dated 1823, one belonging to a Christina Campbell and another to a man. It may have been his great-grandfather, I can't recall. But, the two died the same year. The woman's age was about 28 and I assumed that a disease had been the cause. He told me that the woman had died while giving birth and the man died when chopping down a tree on the property, which fell upon him. I do hope this Hugh Campbell will return for another visit someday. I believe he has some valuable information to share in addition to what I was able to learn in our very brief conversation that day. If there were not two feet of snow on the ground I would walk out to the cemetery and get the correct names and accurate information from those tombstones and take a close up photo of the cemetery. I'll have to do that in a future post, as the weather is just a bit nippy today! Here is a view of the cemetery from my upstairs bedroom...
Th Campbells sold to William Bentley and moved to Hanover in 1836. Bentley sold in 1839 to Benjamin FLeet, (the last of 14 children~his mother dying after his birth) of Goshen. He did not occupy the home evidently until finishing medical school in Philadelphia and then bringing his bride, Maria Louisa Wacker of Melville to the home. They bore 9 children, 2 of which died shortly after birth. The remaining 7 children, 4 boys and 3 girls lived rich lives here and I am anxious to share their stories with you. Here is a photo taken of a painting hanging here in the house. It was done by Sidney King of Caroline County, probably about 1960. There are actual photographs of all the family member from the 1860 era, so it was probably painted using those images as his guide. Notice that one son is dressed in Confederate uniform. That is Fred, then the next oldest son is Benny. The other children are David, Lou, Bessie, Florence, and Willie. Much more will be shared about this family in the next blog.
