Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

LOCATION:

These colonial lots are located on the south side of Francis Street near the Capitol. On Tyler's adaptation of the College Map (1791?) they are designated as "Bucktrout" and numbered "253 and 254".

IN SUMMARY:

As James City county court records were largely destroyed by fire during the Civil War, a clear title to property on Francis Street is difficult if not impossible. The first known owner of these lots appears to have been Colonel William Finnie who may have been living at this location from ca. 1778. In 1787 Colonel Finnie advertised his house and lots for sale. He did not locate it except to note that it was "a beautiful situation and has a lot on each side capable of improvement." In 1787 John Carter Byrd bought Colonel Finnie's house for £500 and also some furniture. Land Tax records for that year note that Byrd gained "4 lots of William Finnie and Archibald Diddup." (Diddip's property was towards the east.) Byrd lived at this location from 1787 to 1796, time of his decease. In 1797 Richard Randolph of "Curles", Henrico county, bought Byrd's property. Randolph at his death in 1799, bequeathed the house and lots to his wife, Maria Beverley Randolph and stated that he had purchased of John C. Byrd and Benjamin Bucktrout. There were then 6 lots. About 1801 Benjamin Bucktrout was living to the west of James Semple's property on Francis Street according to an insurance policy on the Semple house. Bucktrout owned 2¼; lots at this date and in 1810 he seems to have come into 6 lots "via Hubard". Hubard's lots were west of the Bucktrout lots on the plats. Bucktrout held 8¼ lots until his death in 1812/13 when they were conveyed by will to his wife, Mary Bucktrout. Mrs. Bucktrout held the property until 1834 when her son, Richard M. Bucktrout, became owner. He was owner from 1834 to 1861 when the tax records cease to be recorded.

The Bucktrout family have continued ownership of most of this property until the present time. For further details of later ownerships, consult the court records of James City county and the City of Williamsburg, and Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. Accounting Department.

The Frenchman's Map of Williamsburg (1782) shows a house flush to the street facing north and just west of the Semple house foundations.

The Bucktrout Map of Williamsburg (1803) shows a house on what appears to be Lot 254 though Bucktrout's lots are not numbered.

Photostat Copy of the Williamsburg Plat in "Williamsburg, The Old Colonial Capital" by Lyon G. Tyler

LOCATION:

Lots 253-254 lie on the south side of Francis street in Williamsburg. On Tyler's adaptation of the College Map (1791?) the lots are marked by numbers and "Bucktrout". See: copy of map opposite page.

HISTORY:

Because these lots lie in that part of Williamsburg which was in James City county, title is almost impossible as James City county court records were destroyed by fire during the Civil War. Hence any clear title to lot conveyances in this area was lost. However, from personal papers, account books and newspapers, we have a fairly conclusive evidence of the owners from ca 1778.

Sometime prior to 1787 Colonel William Finnie¹ owned a house and lot on Francis street in Williamsburg. From items to follow chronologically in the report, it looks as though Finnie owned and lived on Lots 253-254.

Colonel Finnie who became Quartermaster-General of the Southern Department during the Revolution was living in or around Williamsburg from ca 1764. From 1764 to 1782 he had slaves baptized in Bruton Parish; in 1765 his daughter, Nancy, was baptized there; in 1769 he carried an account with Edward Charlton, Williamsburg wigmaker; in 1783 he was mayor of the city and for some years he held membership in the Botetourt Lodge of Free Masons.²

In November, 1778 and April, 1779 Colonel Finnie had repair work done by Humphrey Harwood, local carpenter and brick mason in the city. Harwood mended the plastering, fixed porch, whitewashed 6 rooms and 2 passages.¹ Further repairs were made in 1782-1786 which indicated that there was a cellar to the house, a dining room and there were 5 marble chimney pieces put in the house.²

In 1780 a reference to Colonel Finnie by Major-General Henry Gates established his residence in Williamsburg then:

Hillsborough 20th July 1780.

…I, yesterday wrote to Doctor Richman, who lives near Williamsburgh, and ordered him to come and reside here, where the First General Hospital must be fixed … Colonel Finnie, as I understand, the D.Q.M. Genl of the Southern Army; has rec'd my orders to repair to, and reside at Richmond, and to act from thence to Hillsborough in forwarding the Carriages and Stores &c from thence to the Camp. I do not know if he will quit his Residence at Williamsburgh; if not, another should be instantly put in his Place…
H. G.³

In 1781 Colonel Finnie was furnished with firewood by Benjamin Weldon, James City county citizen. The wood bill amounted to £135.⁴ In 1782-1784 Colonel Finnie, Mrs. Finnie and Will were visited professionally by Dr. John M. Galt, Williamsburg physician.⁵ In 1782 Williamsburg Personal Property tax records list Finnie with "6 slaves, 2 horses and 2 cattle."⁶ 3. Heads of Families in Williamsburg (1782) show Finnie with "6 whites and 7 blacks."¹

The Frenchman's Map of Williamsburg (1782) shows a house flush to the street west of the Semple site.²

In May, 1787 Colonel Finnie advertised his house and lots for sale:

[May 24, 1787]

FOR SALE,
MY HOUSE & LOTS,
In the City of Williamsburg,
Where I now live, it is a beautiful situation, and has a lot on each side capable of improvement. Any person inclinable to purchase, may know the terms by applying to me on the premises, or in my absence to the Honourable JOSEPH PRENTIS, who I impowered to treat for the same.
WM. FINNIE.³

Finnie's notice and description of his property shows us that there was a vacant lot on either side of his house. We interpret the lot on the east to be lot 255, formerly Archibald Diddip's lot; and lot to west was lot 253. See: reference to Diddip's lot to follow.

Williamsburg Land Tax records for 1788 list "John Byrd⁴ of Wm Finnie & Arch Diddup---4 lots---£32."⁵ (Diddip held 1 lot--£5 in 1786 and Finnie held 2 lots--£27 in 1786. Finnie's and Diddip's lot valuations added together would make £32 which is the same amount paid by Byrd.) Diddip's property was Lot 255 east of Finnie. (See: House History of Diddip Lot, Research Department.) Diddip's property was 4. sold May 4, 1787.

When Finnie was making changes to his property by using Harwood, the carpenter and brick mason, there was a note by Harwood referring to "bricks ... from Diddip's old House". These bricks, evidently, had been used by Harwood with Finnie's consent.¹

Another source gives us the price John Byrd paid Colonel Finnie for the house:

In September, 1789 Tazewell charged this item against Byrd:
"To sowing your Wheat Lot in Town & 1 Bushel Wheat --- £0.17.0." He furnished Byrd in November, 1789 with "75 Loads of Wood----£37.10.0; 3000 shingles16/-- £2.8.0;" and in December with "12 Loads of Wood delivered since the other---£6.0.0."³

John Byrd (full name was John Carter Byrd) was the son of William Byrd III by his first marriage to Elizabeth Hill Carter. He owned the property 5. via Finnie from 1787 to his death in 1796. From 1788 to 1796 Byrd or his family was visited professionally by Drs. Galt and Barraud in Williamsburg.¹ Names mentioned in accounts were: "Mr. Byrd, Lady, Clara, Julia and Kate." In 1788, Byrd paid personal property tax for the first time in Williamsburg on "7 slaves, 4 horses, a post-chaise and a phaeton." He continued to pay tax until 1797 when the charges were against his estate.²

In 1789 an advertisement signed by James Galt offered for sale or rent a house "nearly opposite to John Byrd" on Francis street:

November 4, 1789.

To be SOLD; or RENTED the ensuing year,
THE HOUSE at present occupied by Mr. Smith,³ fronting on Francis Street, and joining the capitol square, nearly opposite to John Byrd, Esq. It has 4 rooms on the first floor…
JAMES GALT.⁴

In 1790 Byrd had Humphrey Harwood, Williamsburg carpenter and brick mason, make some changes to the property:

Williamsburg Land Tax records continued in the name of John Carter Byrd from 1788 to 1797.⁶

Byrd died in December, 1796. His death was reported in The Virginia Gazette and Weekly Advertiser, a Richmond newspaper:

WILLIAMSBURG, Dec. 12, 1796.

DEATHS:
Mrs. CHARLOTTE DIXON...and JOHN BYRD, Esquire.¹

Sometime in 1797 Richard Randolph², of "Curles," Henrico County, bought Byrd's property. In his will, written on February 19, 1799 and recorded in James City county court, he stated that he bequeathed "To Wife, Maria, all houses & lots in Williamsburg where I now live, which I purchased of John C. Byrd and Benjamin Bucktrout …"³

Williamsburg Land Tax records for 1797 allot John C. Byrd--4 lots-£21; and Benjamin Bucktrout as owner of 2 lots--£15. (For biographical sketch of Bucktrout, cabinet maker, consult Chiswell-Bucktrout House History.) In 1798 Richard Randolph held 6 lots--$80.⁴ In 1799 Randolph's estate held 6 lots--$80; and in 1800 the records are the same.⁵ Randolph's name disappears from the tax records in 1801.

The Bucktrout plat of Williamsburg (1803) shows the name "Bucktrout" on the two lots just west of the Semple lots. There is a drawing of a house on the first lot (Lot 254 according to the Tyler's adaptation of the College Map numbers) See: copy, illustration 2.

In 1801 Benjamin Bucktrout is noted as living to the west of James Semple's property, according to an insurance policy on the Semple house.⁶ 7. From the plats and insurance policy, we infer that Bucktrout had come into Lots 253 and 254 via the Randolph estate. (The Land tax records do not give this property change.) Bucktrout is listed as owning 2¼ lots. In 1810 he seems to have come into 6 lots "via Hubard." A look at the Bucktrout or Tyler plats will show "Hubard" on the two lots directly west (Lots 251 and 252; also three lots behind Lots 251-254 are marked "Hubard" and six lots south of the last three are marked "Hubard." We do not know which of these Hubard lots were the six acquired by Bucktrout in 1810. However, Bucktrout held the 8¼ lots from 1810 until his death in 1812/13 when they were devised to his wife, Mary Bucktrout.¹ From 1814 to 1834 Mary Bucktrout, widow of Benjamin Bucktrout, was owner. In 1834 Richard M. Bucktrout, a son, came into the property valued at "$975 for lot and buildings and $600 for buildings via Mary Bucktrout." He held also "1 lot $430 with buildings via John D. Travis," and "1 lot $200 via George and Joseph Gresham."² Richard M. Bucktrout held this property from 1834 until 1861 (when tax records ceased for Williamsburg.) Complete record of values are given in Illustration #2 of this report.

Mr. John S. Charles who lived in Williamsburg many years, recalled in 1933 how Williamsburg was during the period of the Civil War. He had this to say about the location of these lots on Francis Street:

About on the site of the present home of Mr. Peebles, there stood a long tall frame building used, for some years before the War as a coffin shop, by the then well-known Dick Bucktrout. This house was once a Methodist Church, and used by the followers of John Wesley as their house of worship, until the house now used as a post office was built.

Not far to the east of this old church, there was a story and a half frame house with dormer windows. The front door was close to the ground and opened out on Francis street; and 8. used as a residence by Mr. Bucktrout until the Macon house was built. There were then no other houses between the house just described and the Peyton Randolph' house, which in 1861 presented much the name appearance as at the present.

¹

The Bucktrout family have continued ownership of the property. For further details of ownership, consult the Court Records of James City County and the City of Williamsburg.

Illustration #1

From Frenchman's Map

Bucktrout Map

Illustration #2

Illustration #3

Illustration #4

THE PEEBLES PROPERTY
(Haughwout) Block 2-Bldg. 16

The property known as the "Peebles Property" is located on the south side of Francis Street near the Capitol. Little evidence could be discovered about the lots of this property until ca 1791 when Benjamin Bucktrout^* seems to have become owner of two lots, designated on the College Map (1791) as "#253 Bucktrout" and "#254 Bucktrout." (Photostat copy of College Map is attached.) Tax records for Williamsburg, which are incomplete, show that Bucktrout possessed only ¼ lot before 1791; by 1797 he had acquired two lots to add to the ¼ lot already in his possession.

The Frenchman's Map (1782) for this area shows a house flush to the street on the first lot west of the "Semple house." A smaller house is shown on the boundary line between this lot and the second lot west. The location of these three houses seems thus: [map detail]

Archeological drawings of the Hubbard house foundations, excavated in 1941 by Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., [obscured] what was undoubtedly the Bucktrout house as the first house west of the Semple house. See drawing below as copied from the architect's report of the Hubbard house:

Insurance policies of James Semple for 1801 and 1805, with the Mutual Assurance Society, give Bucktrout as neighbor. Semple's property in 1801 is described as "on the Back Street South of the old Capitol bordered on one side by Benjamin Bucktrout, in the county of James City in the city of Williamsburg." The policy for 1806 gives similar information.

By 1810, Bucktrout had bought 6 lots "via Hubbard." It is not known which of the Hubbard lots Bucktrout acquired. Two Hubbard lots, #251 and #252, were to the west of Bucktrout's lots. (See College Map.) Hubbard also owned 9 other lots just to the rear of his Francis Street property, known as lots #251 and #252. However, in 1814 Mary Bucktrout is charged with 8-¼ lots as devisee of Benjamin Bucktrout. Mary Bucktrout continued to own the Francis Street lots until 1835 when the lots appear in the name of Richard M. Bucktrout and others. As Mary Bucktrout's other lot had been transferred to Littletown Tazewell in 1834, it seems altogether reasonable to think that the lot listed in the name of Richard M. Bucktrout (in 1854 valued at $1200) was the lot and house formerly Benjamin Bucktrout's and Mary Bucktrout's. (A tax transfer for 1834 had placed the lot, which was formerly Mary Bucktrout's as property of Richard Bucktrout, her son.) In 1836, Richard M. Bucktrout is noted in the tax accounts as adding a new building on the lot which building was assessed at $275. In 1861, Bucktrout paid tax on 2 lots with houses, one valued at $3500 and one valued at $2000. (Above information found in Tax Accounts for Williamsburg or in the tax transfers.)

To quote from the "Recollections of Williamsburg" by Mr. John S. Charles during the period 1861-65: -3-

"About on the site of the present home of Mr. Peebles there stood a long tall frame building used, for some years before the War, as a coffin shop, by the then well-known 'Dick Bucktrout.' This house was once a Methodist Church, and used by the followers of John Wesley as their house of worship, until the house now used as the post office was built.

"Not far to the east of this old church there was a story-and-a-half frame house with dormer windows. The front door was close to the ground and opened out on Francis Street; and was used as a residence by Mr. Bucktrout until the 'Macon' house was built. There were then other houses between the jouse just described and the 'Peyton Randolph' house [Semple house], which in 1861 presented much the same appearance as at present. There was then a one-and-a-half story frame house, with dormer windows, that was a short distance form this historic old dwelling and on line with the east end of it, and nearer the street, with entrance at the west end. This house was used as a kitchen and servants' quarters and was moved a few years ago to the rear of the lot."

(pp. 59-60)

The Bucktrout-Lively Map (1867) shows the name "Bucktrout" on the two lots on Francis Street near the Capitol as described in the above report.

From a conversation between Mr. John Henderson and the Misses Morecock in 1941 about the Chiswell-Bucktrout House (now razed), the impression made was that some of the material in the Bucktrout House to the west of the Semple property (no longer standing) had been used in the present Peebles property.

Because the James City County records were destroyed during the period of 1861-65, a complete record of title to lots on Francis Street east is impossible to secure. The Southall Papers may furnish further evidence on the ownership of these lots in the eighteenth century.

Note: No previous house history had been prepared on this property.

Mr. Thomas and I have studied the material excavated at the above site.

Owing principally to a singular scarcity of ceramic fragments, as compared with the iron implements, we find it comparatively inscrutable.

From the fragments we have, we would visualize a building erected not earlier than mid-18th century which was burned about 1790. The predominant ceramic fragments showing evidence of fire are of Chinese porcelain (c. 1755 on in vogue) and Queensware (c. 1775 in Virginia vogue). However, there is a fragment of burned hand-painted Staffordshire which we would find difficult to date earlier than 1790. There is no considerable quantity of earlier wares or later wares, other than those mentioned, and what there is of either is not burned.

Again, there are two bayonets which seem to have been in the fire which destroyed the building. They are probably of the Revolutionary war period, and therefore would tend to preclude an earlier date of destruction.

We would note with interest the presence of offset interior shutter hinges with both wrought nails and blunt screws adhering to them (quite similar to those excavated at the Palace.) Also, furniture hardware and a number of calcined marble fragments. As opposed to these, there is a surprising proportion of garden implements and wooden locks.

We offer these points for what they are worth. The material is not as indicative as most.