Visiting Shirley Plantation on the James River (Hampton Roads Virginia) by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting Shirley Plantation on the James River (Hampton Roads Virginia) by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

My mother came to visit Florence and me right before our family moved to Monterey County (California).

I drove out to Charles City, which is the main town for visiting James River Plantations.  My mother took us out to lunch at the Berkeley Plantation, and then we were off down the road to the Shirley Plantation.

Shirley Plantation is the 18^th century structure and had a 300-year-old tree in the front yard, which Florence played on while we visited for the tour to begin.

The tour participants interested me more than the house.

A German family asked, “When do you plan to hold your next furniture sale?” they asked.

Three African-American ladies asked, “How many slaves were there?  Are the slave ledgers kept with the family books?”

“The slave ledgers are kept in Williamsburg,” our guide answered.

They might be digitized today for easy access and protection of the original ledger, which is probably written on fragile paper. 

I have not seen slave ledgers for plantations, but slaves were treated as merchandise and examined for sale at slave ports as well for people locating African ancestors.

I liked reading Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon in high school and know that it is important to have some roots.  Alex  Haley's book and television series Roots was very good, too, I thought.  Spoiler alert - I did not like Beloved by Morrison, because if you kill your kids, your culture will die.

I am a 15th generation American.  My Jamestown relative did not survive.  However, Isaac Penington did survive "with issue."  He was the founder of the Society of Friends "Church" or Quaker Church. His son settled in Pennsylvania and various branches of the family settled the Appalachian states. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Visiting the Berkeley Plantation on the James River in Virginia with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

Visiting the Berkeley Plantation on the James River in Virginia with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget and Savvy Mom Ruth Paget

The trees around our Norfolk (Virginia) apartment began to change color.  The golden leaves glistened in the sun.  The red and yellow leaves looked like grapes on a vine.

The crisp, fall air felt good to breathe and made you want to snuggle up in your house.  The fall colors made my commute to work in Virginia Beach especially pleasant.

Laurent, Florence, and I admired the fall colors on our drive to Berkeley Plantation on the James River. 

Berkeley Plantation, built in the Georgian style of the 18^th century, boasts an illustrious history like many small châteaux along the Loire River Valley outside Paris.

Our guide, who resembled all the Jamiesons in the portraits throughout the house, told us that:

-bourbon was first distilled at Berkeley

-military taps were invented at Berkeley during the Civil War

-of the Plantation’s original owners, one Harrison president was born at Berkeley – Henry Harrison (elected in 1841)

The Harrisons loved parties and used the whole hallway downstairs as a ballroom. 

None of the furniture we saw downstairs, though, was original to the house.

The Harrisons best friend, who was Benedict Arnold, had the house’s furniture dragged out and burned during the Revolutionary War.

The gardens at Berkeley Plantation extend down to the James River, where the Plantation’s goods would be loaded onto boats for transport throughout Hampton Roads and out to ports on the ocean. 

There was a monument on the edge of the James River commemorating the first Thanksgiving in 1619.

The Virginia Thanksgiving Festival Group promotes public recognition of Berkeley’s Thanksgiving as the first one, because English settlement in Virginia is older than that of English settlement in New England.

When Berkeley Plantation became the property of the Jamieson family, the first Jamieson family member used Berkeley as a hospital during the Civil War (first floor).

Our guide said that people “with powers” felt many vibrations on the first floor.  I was thinking to myself, “Toss the Spanish Moss around and sell séance tickets for midnight gatherings.”

Laurent, Florence, and I made a second trip down to the river’s edge with our picnic hamper.  The sun shone on us without being too hot.

Laurent and I ate cheese sandwiches while Florence ate a chocolate sandwich.  I also packed yogurt, apples, and cheese.  Florence liked making red wax balls from the mini Gouda cheese I packed for lunch.

Satisfied with a beautiful outing, I drove back to Norfolk and spent the evening writing up comments made by the tour guides in my family journal.

By Ruth Pennington Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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