Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

LOCATION:

This report concerns lot 354 located on the south side of Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg opposite Bruton Parish Church.

OWNERS:

In 1714 John Custis was granted lot 354 along with lots 353 and 355 from the trustees of Williamsburg.

Peter Scott, carpenter, rented lot 354 from Custis family from 1733 to 1776.

In 1782 John Greenhow, merchant was the owner.

In 1788 Robert Greenhow was the owner.

Around 1820 Thomas Nelson held the property.

In 1830 Benjamin Bucktrout was owner.

In 1836 William Edloe came into the property.

In 1853 William G. Morrisett held the lot until ca. 1858.

In 1858 Talbot Sweeney was owner.

In 1870 Nathaniel and Cicero Burress bought of Sweeney.

Around 1871 the Maupin family became owners until 1929 when the property came into the hands of Williamsburg Restoration.

EXCAVATIONS:

Archaeological excavations have not been completed on this lot. Only the north portion has been excavated at this date.

IN SUMMARY:

See: pp. 9-11

APPENDIX:

LOCATION:

The location of colonial lot #354 is on the south side of Duke of Gloucester Street in Williamsburg about opposite to Bruton Parish Church. (See: Tyler's adaptation of the College Map (1791?), Illustration #1, Appendix).

HISTORY:

This lot was one of three lots owned by John Custis in 1714. These lots, #353, #354 and #355 were granted unto John Custis by the feoffees or trustees of Williamsburg:

… Have granted, bargained sold demised and to farm letter unto the said John Custis—his Heirs or Assigns three certain Lotts of ground in the said City of Williamsburgh designed in the Plott of the said City by these figures 353, 354 and 355—with all and singular the pasturage, Woods and Waters... Signed Sealed and delivered At a Court held for James City County the 9^th day of August 1714
Wil Robertson John Clayton and William Robertson Gent two of the Trustees for the Land appropriated for building the City of Williamsburg Came into Court presented and acknowledged this their Lease unto John Custis Gent & it is admitted to Record
Teste Wil Robertson Ces. Cur. (Copied from original deed, library archives, William and Mary College)

According to the Act of 1705 directing the building of Williamsburg, the owner of a lot must build a house of given dimensions within twenty-four months or the property reverts to the trustees. Hence Custis must have built thereon by 1717 in order to hold his interest in the property.

In the case of lot #355, east of #354, Custis erected buildings thereon which he called a "tenement." (See: House History of Lot #355, Research Department) Another tenement of Mr. Custis's was referred to in this way: "Mr. Custis's Tenement, where Scot lived, opposite to the Church." It is with this last named tenement, probably located on lot #354, which we are concerned with in interpreting this report.

From 1714 to 1755 court records do not furnish any information about lot #354. However, an advertisement in the Virginia Gazette of September 12, 1755 - which will be followed by evidence from other sources — seems to point to Peter Scott,¹ carpenter, renting this property from Custis:

Peter Scott, advertises 2 lots on the Back Street, near Col Custis's on which there is a good Dwelling House, contain^g Six Rooms and Closets … likewise will be sold, at the Subscriber's Shop near the Church, sundry Pieces of Cabinet Work, of Mahogony and Walnut, consisting of Desks, Book-Cases, Tables of various Sorts, Tools, and some Materials. Six Months Credit will be given to those that purchase above the Value of Fifty Shillings …. Peter Scott. (Virginia Gazette, Hunter, ed.)

In 1757 it seems that Peter Scott was renting from Custis's estate:

1757 Rent of Peter Scott .......... £ 12 (Custis Mss. Papers, Virginia Historical Society, photostat in Research Department)

In 1769 another item appears in the Custis Papers:

1769 Dec^r 11 Rec^d of M^r Peter Scott ... for y^e y^r1769 ..... £ 10

In 1771: A Memorandum of the tennants in the Estate of Col^o Custis and the amounts of the Rents in WilliamsBurgh Peter Scott .......... £ 10.0.-(Ibid)

It is known that James Spiers, joyner and cabinet-maker, rented lot #353 from Custis from 1744-1751 paying £ 2:10 per quarter or about £ 10 per year. The amount paid by Spiers for rent was the same amount paid by Peter Scott. John Wheatley, carpenter or builder, who rented the corner lot (#355) from Custis, paid £ 19.11 a year. (Ibid) Both Wheatley and Spiers association with the Custis lots stops after 1757, but Peter Scott, evidently, remained on the lot² (probably #354) until 3 his death in 1776. (See: evidence to follow in the report)

To sum up the above evidence concerning lot #354 and its occupants: (1) John Custis was the original owner; (2) Peter Scott rented the "Shop near the Church" (probably facing on Duke of Gloucester Street) and possibly occupied as a dwelling the house on the back part of the lot - which house faced upon Francis Street; (3) Scott paid £ 10 per year rent from the Custis family. A picture of the three lots owned by the Custis family and rented to three carpenters is something like this:

Until archaeological excavations have been made on this lot it will be impossible from existing sources to make a definite statement as to the buildings once placed on the lot.

Evidence that Peter Scott was renting from the Custis family at the time of his death is found in a letter of Edmund Randolph to George Washington of date, January 26, 1776:

Wmsburg, Jany 26, 1776.

…
About 5 Days since, Mr. Custis's Tenement, where Scot lived, opposite the Church, was burnt to the Ground, by the Negligence of some of the Soldiers, who had been quartered there. The Wind, being due South, the out-House escaped the Flames; the Difficulty of saving the Church became thereby very great. The Country are surely answerable for this Damage, as it accrued in their Service…. Edmund Randolph

Another reference to the fire appeared in the Virginia Gazette:

Mr. Peter Scott's old house in this City, which he had rented and lived in for 43 years, was burnt down last Sunday Night, by accident. (Virginia Gazette, Purdie, ed., January 26, 1776)

These sources indicate that Scott lived in a Custis tenement "opposite to the Church," and that the house was an "old house" occupied by Scott "for 43 years." This would place Scott on the property as early as 1733. As Spiers was renting lot #353 in 1744 and Wheatley was on lot #355, it seems reasonable to believe that Scott was occupying lot #354.

In 1778 General Washington and his wife, Martha (widow of Daniel Parke Custis)¹, gave full release to her son, John Parke Custis, of all dower rights in all the plantations, including the lots in Williamsburg:

Fredg. in the State of N. York,
October 10, 1778.

Dear Sir: I have now, at your request, given my full consent to the Sale of the Lands which I hold in right of Dower in a Tract in the County of York, to a Water Grist Mill thereon; To Lotts in the City of Williamsburg, and others in James Town … (The Writings of George Washington, XIII,
p. 56, edited by John C. Fitzpatrick 1936)

The Frenchman's Map (1782) indicates no buildings on the lot.² (See: Illustration #1 for drawing from the Frenchman's Map) The College Map (1791?) and the Bucktrout Map (1803) show "Greenhow" on the lot. (Illustration #1 for Tyler's adaptation of the College Map) The court records for the James City County part of Williamsburg were destroyed by fire, so a complete record of lots in this area is impossible unless other records come to light. However, it appears that John Greenhow, father of Robert Greenhow, was owner of the lot, and that at the death of John Greenhow in 1787, his son, Robert, came into the property. In 1786 5 Williamsburg Land Tax records give "John Greenhow-----4 lots -----£ 6.10" and in 1788 "John Greenhow to Robert Greenhow----- -----4 lots -----£ 50" (Photostat copy in Research Department) A look at the College Map (1791?) shows that Greenhow owned four lots in the city: two were #354 and the lot south of it; and two were #159 and #160.¹ (See: College Map, Illustration #1)

In advertising his father's property for sale, Robert Greenhow gave this description:

WILLIAMSBURG, September 24, 1787

Agreeable to the last will and testament of Mr. JOHN GREENHOW, late of this city, will be sold at public sale, on Thursday the 18 of October.
... will be sold, all the real and personal estate of the deceased, (except the store Goods) in and about the city of Williamsburg, consisting of a large and commodious Dwelling House on the main street, 6 or 8 Houses and Lots on the back street ...
ROBERT GREENHOW, sole executor.

We interpret this advertisement to mean that the dwelling house and store were located on lots #159 and #160. The "6 or 8 Houses and Lots on the back street" may be the houses on the lot to the rear of #354, also owned by Greenhow. The lot faces on Francis Street, "a back street" in relation to the main or Duke of Gloucester Street.

Sometime before 1820 the property was conveyed to Thomas Nelson of Yorktown. The Williamsburg Land Tax records indicate it thus: "1820 Thomas Nelson York Town-----1 lot -----$200 This was held formerly as part of Ro: Greenhow's property." (From copy in Research Department) Thomas Nelson held the lot until 1830 when Benjamin E. Bucktrout became the owner "Via Charles A. Wingfield Marshall of the superior court of chancery for W^msburg district; formerly charged to T. Nelson." (Ibid) In 1835 the property passed to Robert G. Richardson "Via Benjamin E Bucktrout" and in 1836 William Edloe was the owner: "1 lot -----$100 Via Robert G. 6 Richardson who purchased of Benjamin E. Bucktrout." (Ibid) Further evidence to substantiate Edloe's ownership of the lot — "formerly the property of Robert Greenhow" — is found in a deed to the adjoining property (the Custis-Maupin lot, #355). In July 1838 Wade Mountfortt by deed to John M. Maupin mentions the western boundary of lot #355 as "a lot formerly the property of Robert Greenhow lately purchased by Benjamin E. Bucktrout, and now belonging to William Edloe..." (Ms. Deed, Research Department)

In 1845 Edloe gave a mortgage on the property to Vest & Company. The description was: "a House and Lot in W^msburg bounded North by the Main street — South by Street — East by J. M. Maupin & West by G. Durfey¹..." (Southall Papers Mss, Legal Cases and Estates James City County, Folder 140 (May 23, 1845); William and Mary College Archives)

The Southall Papers show that in 1846 William Edloe had repairs made to his property by Johnson Sands, carpenter, amounting to $34.86: "hewing 2 sills for Porch," "Mending floor," "spliceing 6 sleepers," "25 feet of plank for floor," "making Kirb for Step at Post office," "Sawing 363 feet of scantling," "Sawing 826 feet of 2 In plank," "Hewing 2 sills 20 feet long." (Folder 142) The same year (1846) Edloe paid S. T. Bowman "to putting up stove and mending plastering," "To whitewashing room," "To 59 yards of plastering," "to morter to build post office steps," &c.² (Illustration #3 for complete accounts)

An inventory and appraisement of Edloe's property filed by Maupin, his executor, and Southall, administrator de boni non, with the will annexed, dated July 7, 1851, lists "Dwelling house and lot-----$2000 and House & lot on back street-----$300. 7 Not sold on 7 July 1851 for want of bidder." (Southall Papers, Folder 140, Legal Cases and Estates, James City County) The inventory is given by rooms: Dining Room, Parlor, Front Chamber, Back Chamber, Back Room, Office-------- total inventory $4930.92 ½; names of purchasers of items also listed. (See: Illustration #3 for complete account)

In 1853 William G. Morrisett was the owner of the lot: "1 lot $1400 lot and buildings $1800 Formerly charged to William Edloe's Est." This was the same valuation carried by Edloe. (See: Illustration #2 for complete tax report)

In 1856 Morrisett advertised his real estate as "situated in front of the Episcopal Church, and between the lots of Mrs. Maupin and the Rev. Mr. Wilmer, consisting of a LOT, WITH DWELLING-HOUSE, STORE and sundry out Houses on the Main Street, & LOT AND DOUBLE TENEMENTED house on Back street, in rear of the one on Main......" (Williamsburg Virginia Gazette, J. Hervey Ewing, ed., June 8, 1856)

Prior to the Civil War (in 1858), Talbot Sweeney¹ had become the owner with lot and buildings valued at $2500. (Ibid) As a result of a suit brought by Mrs. Susan Newman c. 1866 Sweeney had to sell the property on June 27, 1871. In 1870 Nathaniel and Cicero Burress² bought from Sweeney at $2500. Sweeney described the property as "a large commodious house and lot with appurtenances," and that the total rent was $360 annually. (See: Chancery Suits, Box 30, James City Court House, Williamsburg)

Cicero Burress entered into articles of agreement with John C. Tilford on June 27, 1871 agreeing to sell the property for $2400 — the lot bounded as follows: "North by the main street, East by M^rs Maupin's lot, South by Crawley's lot and west by the Parsonage, and being the same formerly owned by Talbot Sweeney, and which was 8 this purchased at public auction by said Burress under a decree of the Circuit Court for the City of W^msburg and county of James City, in the case of Newman & others against Sweeney & others … And in as much as, the said Houses located on the said lot are now insured for twenty five hundred dollars, in the Liverpool & London Insurance Company, the said John C. Tilford doth further covenant to keep the same regularly insured for the benefit of the said C. Burress, for the same sum of $2500, in the said company, or in some other good insurance company (until the property is fully paid for) …" (Cole Ms Papers, Miscellaneous grouping, William and Mary College)

Mr. John S. Charles has this to say of the houses on lot #354 as he remembered them during the Civil War period:

The next lot east [of the Rectory] now has on it two dwellings. There was in 1861 on this lot a two story frame building with a one story addition on the west end. The main building had a porch on the front and the one story part had also a door opening toward the street. In front there was a flower yard enclosed by a neat picket fence with gate for each front door. On the eastern end there was a double gate opening into an ample back yard where there was a very large frame house, very old, with its roof projecting over in front supported by posts set in the ground. The house extended nearly the entire width of the lot and was used as a kitchen and servants' quarters. It was destroyed by fire not many years ago. (Recollections of Williamsburg, p. 30, copy in Research Department)

Mrs. Victoria M. Lee's description of this house varies somewhat:

West of the Maupin house, near where the house now called the Galt Cottage stands, but much nearer to the street, stood a frame story and a half house which had a small platform, and one entrance on Main Street. This house was owned by Mr. Talbot Sweeney who made his home there. The small restored shop, now called the Cole Shop, which looked then as it looks now, stood just west of Mr. Talbot Sweeny's house. (Williamsburg in 1861 by Mrs. Victoria M. Lee, p. 19, copy in Research Department.)

Mr. Charles refers to the shop known as the "Cole Shop" as "The single story house, on the adjoining lot, now used as a Millinery Store, … In 1861 it was used as a shoe and hat store. The Hat Shop in the front with the shoe shop in rear room. At one time it was used as the post office. A fence enclosed the lot with a gate 9 and narrow alley-way leading to small yard in the rear." (Recollections of Williamsburg, p. 30)

Records have not revealed the date at which the Maupin family came into lot #354. However, the will of Catherine M. Maupin, widow of John M. Maupin, dated April 16, 1879, reveals that her son, Samuel J. Maupin, was bequeathed "the building in my yard known as the office with a lot of land commencing on the Main Street of Williamsburg in line with my dwelling house and Extending on the same line to my garden fence…" (Williamsburg and James City County Court Records, Will Book I, p. 313) In the light of references by Mr. Charles and Mrs. Lee to a small house located on the lot around this period, it seems reasonable to believe the Maupins had come into the property after the Burress and Tilford families. Further title to the property until 1929 when it came into the hands of Colonial Williamsburg, can be found in the chain to title, Accounting Department, Colonial Williamsburg.

In 1930 the James Galt Cottage was moved from the grounds of the Eastern State Hospital to this lot. The Galt Cottage faced upon Ireland Street according to the recollections of Mr. John S. Charles.

IN SUMMARY:

Lot #354 was one of three lots conveyed by the trustees of Williamsburg to John Custis in 1714. In order to hold his interest in the property according to the Act of 1705, Custis must have built a house thereon. Indirect evidence seems to point to Peter Scott, carpenter, as renter of the Custis lot from around 1733 to 1776. In 1755 the Virginia Gazette carried a notice of Scott's stating that his "Shop near the Church" held "sundry Pieces of Cabinet Work, of Mahogony and Walnut, consisting of Desks, Book-Cases, Tables of various Sorts, Tools and some Materials." Scott also advertised his two lots "on the Back Street, near Col. Custis's on which there is a good Dwelling House, …" A short time after Scott's death the house known as "Mr. Custis's Tenement, where Scot lived, opposite to 10 the Church, was burnt to the ground…" The Frenchman's Map (1782) indicates no buildings on the lot. This fact would lend support to the belief that it was on this lot that Scott's tenement was located and later burned. It appears that John Greenhow, merchant, was owner of the property in 1782, followed by his son, Robert Greenhow, in 1788. There were several owners of the property before William Edloe acquired possession in 1836 "Via Robert G. Richardson who purchased of Benjamin Bucktrout." When John M. Maupin acquired lot 355 (east of 354) the property was bounded on the west by "a lot formerly the property of Robert Greenhow lately purchased by Benjamin E. Bucktrout, and now belonging to William Edloe." The College Map (1791?) and the Bucktrout Map (1803) both show "Greenhow" on the lot. By 1851 the valuation as given in the Land Tax Records for Williamsburg has risen from $100 to $2000 indicating that building was done within that period or additions made to houses then on the property. By 1856 on the property was a "Dwelling-House, Store and sundry out Houses on the Main Street, & Lot and Double Tenemented house on the Back street, in rear of the one on Main." Mr. John S. Charles in "Recollections of Williamsburg" during the Civil War period noted that there were two dwellings on the lot, both of frame: one "a two story building with one story addition to the west"; the other "a very large frame house, very old, with its roof projecting over in front supported by posts set in the ground. The house extended nearly the entire width of the lot and was used as a kitchen and servant's quarters. It was destroyed by fire not many years ago." In 1870 Talbot Sweeney described his property as "a large commodious house and lot with appurtenances." In 1871 the property is described by the new owner, John C. Tilford, as bounded "North by the main street, East by Mrs. Maupin's lot, South by Crawley's lot and west by the Parsonage, and being the same formerly owned by Talbot Sweeney, …" Sometime after 1871 John M. Maupin who owned the property east, came into lot 354. Records have not revealed the date the lot was acquired. However, in 1879, the will of Catherine M. Maupin, widow of John M. Maupin, indicates that the Maupins were owners. She bequeathed to her son, Samuel J. Maupin, "the building in my yard known 11 as the office with a lot of land commencing on the Main Street of Williamsburg in line with my dwelling house and extending on the same line to my garden fence..." In the light of references of Mr. Charles and Mrs. Lee, old citizens of Williamsburg, who recall a house on the lot at this period, it seems reasonable to believe the Maupins were owners of the lot after 1871. Until archaeological excavations are completed for lot #354 it will be impossible to make any definite statements as to the exact locations of houses on the lot or the approximate age of the houses. Further title to the property, after 1929 when Colonial Williamsburg became the owners with certain restrictions, can be found in the Accounting Department, Colonial Williamsburg.

Illustration #1
Lot 354

FROM FRENCHMAN'S MAP 1782?

PHOTOSTAT COPY OF THE WILLIAMSBURG PLAT IN "WILLIAMSBURG, THE OLD COLONIAL CAPITOL" BY LYON G. TYLER

Illustration #2
Lot 354

Illustration #3

MAUPIN SHOP - NO. 21 (1940 Map Folder)
Block 13, Colonial Lot 354

No definite records relating to the ownership or use of this small shop have been found. It seems probable that the ground upon which it stands formed a part of the lot which adjoined it on the east, which during the early years of the nineteenth century was in the possession of the Maupin family. (See Recollections, by Mr. Charles, Mrs. Victoria Lee, and Mrs. Vandegrift. pp. 29, 79-80, 94.)