Images of 17th century Virginia locales

Here are some images which help us to visualize the surroundings of our Pope, Washington, Wright, and Haynie ancestors, in what is called the Northern Neck of Virginia.

There are two Park Service photos taken near Popes Creek, location of the George Washington Birthplace National Monument.  Popes Creek is named after our ancestor Nathaniel Pope, father of Anne Pope Washington.  (It looks big enough to have been called a river!)

The interior images are from one of the very few surviving 17th century Va. homes.  It's called Bacon's Castle, as some of the rebels congregated there in the 1670s; it was not owned by the Bacon family.

Best of all, perhaps, is the Yeocomico Church, because it was actually attended by our Wright ancestors in the 1600s and early 1700s.  I learned that the Yeocomico River or Creek is the dividing line between Northumberland and Westmoreland Counties, where all of these various ancestors of ours lived.

George Washington kinship

This month was George Washington's 280th birthday, and I've learned recently that we are related to him on both sides of the family!

Our Wright ancestors (Haynie side) include Anne Washington, great aunt of the father of our country, who married Major Francis Wright in the 17th century, Westmoreland County, Virginia. Anne's father John Washington, great-grandfather of General George Washington, was the family member who acquired the land where Mount Vernon is located, south of Alexandria, Virginia. Lt. Col. John Washington (born circa 1632) served in the House of Burgesses for Westmoreland County, in the colonial capital of Jamestown; as did our ancestor Capt. John Haynie (b. circa 1624) of Northumberland County, just a few years earlier (1660s and 1650s, respectively). Their home counties are adjacent to each other along the Potomac River, with Northumberland County being situated closer to Chesapeake Bay.

Our Smith ancestors (Tillett side) include Elizabeth Warner and her husband John Lewis. Elizabeth was another of George Washington's great aunts, sister of his grandmother Mildred Warner. Mildred married Lawrence Washington, brother of the above Anne! (Mildred and Lawrence were the parents of Augustine Washington, who in turn - with his second wife Mary Ball - became the father of George.) The Warner-Lewis estate is called Warner Hall and is located in Gloucester County, Virginia.

So, all four of George Washington's paternal great-grandparents appear in our family tree: John Washington, Anne Pope (Washington), Augustine Warner, and Mildred Reade (Warner). Their graves have been preserved, in Westmoreland County and Gloucester County, respectively. The Washington burial site was incorporated into the George Washington Birthplace National Monument; while the graveyard at Warner Hall is maintained by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, or Preservation Virginia, as it's now called.

Elizabeth and Mildred Warner's father and their grandfather, both named Augustine Warner, served for many years in the colonial assembly and also on the royal Council. The elder Warner is said to have arrived in Virginia in 1628 at the age of seventeen. His son, having been educated in England, represented Gloucester County in the House of Burgesses and served as Speaker of the House in 1676 and 1677.

During Bacon's Rebellion (1676), which came about because of differences of opinion in how to handle conflicts with Indian tribes, Warner and other leaders of the Jamestown government temporarily evacuated the area. The rebel leader commandeered and looted the Warner home, for which Speaker Warner sought compensatory damages against William Byrd I, an associate of Bacon, as Nathaniel Bacon had suddenly died. The following year Warner was appointed to the King's Council, where he served until his rather premature death in 1681. The information concerning Warner's efforts to obtain compensation for damage to their home is found in the book Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Burgesses 1643-1776.

The image of Colonel Augustine Warner (born 1642), attached here with that of his great-grandson President Washington (b. 1732), is the earliest portrait we have, to date, of any of our American ancestors!

In addition to the kinship with George Washington, the Warner and Lewis families also connect us genetically to Meriwether Lewis (Corps of Discovery), General Robert E. Lee, and even Queen Elizabeth II.

Campbells of Tuskegee

[This is a replacement for an item originally posted on January 30, 2009.  The photos of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are slightly improved.]

Our ancestor George W. Campbell was a merchant and banker in Tuskegee, Alabama, in its earliest days.  His greatest contribution to history was his leadership role in the founding and support of the Tuskegee Institute from 1881 until his death in 1905, including providing friendship and counsel to its leader, Booker T. Washington.

Here is a quotation from the student newspaper when George Washington Campbell passed away, which in turn is made up of two quotations from 'Principal' Booker Taliaferro Washington:

Although he made no pretensions to public speaking, yet he was continually making very eloquent speeches down at the Macon County Bank, of which he was president.  During the twenty-four years of the school's existence Mr. Campbell has been the only President of the Board of Trustees.  He was a southerner of southerners, whole-souled, generous, and as deeply interested in the success of the Tuskegee work as any one we can name.

George and Eliza Jane Campbell raised eight children:
 
John Walter Campbell
Macy Elizabeth Campbell
Pauline B. Campbell
Ava Lucerne Campbell
Moses Gatlin Campbell
George Lee Campbell
William Wright Campbell
Flora Virginia Campbell

A Revolutionary War soldier in the Walker family

Several months ago I bought a rare book called The Walker Heritage, which I found referenced on line when looking for info on the Wrights, Granny's mother's family.  John Walker was a teenager when he served in the Revolutionary War, and his family lived in Maryland.  After the war he moved to Lincoln County, Georgia, which is north of Augusta.  He was married three times, as the first two wives died.  He apparently was a successful planter and also a Baptist minister, and he is reputed to have served in the State legislature just after the turn of the 19th century.  The child of the second marriage was Elizabeth Walker (Wright), maternal grandmother of Ava Lucerne Campbell Hill ("Granny").

Anyway, John Walker moved his third (and extended) family from Lincoln Co. to Walton Co., Georgia.  He died soon thereafter, circa 1836 --- his will is very interesting reading ---but the Walker descendants evidently prospered there for generations, and our grandmother had a third cousin among them who was Governor in the 1920's.

What isn't clear yet is whether the Wright family ever lived in Walton County.  The material I'd found before implied that after his wife died, John Wright -- who also served in the Georgia statehouse -- and his children, including Granny's mother Eliza Jane who was about 13 years old, moved to Alabama directly from Lincoln County, in the late 1840's.  The will in the book gave a piece of land to the Wrights, but it doesn't say which county the parcel was in.  At any rate, I suspect Wright probably sold their Georgia holdings when they made the move to the Tuskegee area.

More: George W. Campbell

Apparently the Library of Congress owns a copy of our ancestor's picture, as part of its historic collection of Booker T. Washington papers.  This is what is indicated by the caption under George W. Campbell's likeness in the book: The Booker T. Washington Papers, Volume 2.

The business which was operated by our great-great-grandfather, other than his position as President of the Macon County Bank, was called Campbell & Wright.  Since the term merchant was applied to him, I imagine that the firm Campbell & Wright was engaged in some sort of retail trade.  Eliza Jane Wright Campbell's brother William Wright was the other partner in this operation.

I just found another fascinating fact about George W. Campbell and his brother-in-law William H. Wright.  In the book History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (1921) by Thomas & Marie Owen, it is stated that these men and several others established the Tuskegee Railroad Company in 1860, with the object of connecting the town of Tuskegee to the Montgomery & West Point Railroad.  However, the Civil War interrupted this project, and the track was torn up during hostilities.  In addition, William Wright joined the Confederate cavalry in 1863; by the War's end he had been promoted to the rank of army Captain.

In 1871, the railway's "franchise and property" were sold to three parties who formed a partnership: E. T. Varner, Mrs. L. V. Alexander, and Campbell & Wright.  Their corporate name was E. T. Varner & Co.; with E. T. Varner serving as its president, G. W. Campbell as first vice-president, and Capt. W. H. Wright as secretary, treasurer, and general manager.  The railway project was completed, and the Tuskegee Railroad was put into operation effective January 1, 1872.  There were about seven miles of track, a locomotive engine, and six cars including one passenger car.  The total investment [cited in 1915] was $106,150, with no indebtedness.