| Show 5 A RIC 0 COLON io liva AG OAIN r M az V I 1 kai LM y cl hn D K F efel ler Tr via 4 ra W wa 0 ine giouse rac C I 1 allans headquarters aw A f t acal f I 1 y ML T josf ietek tek iP to 1 v bal 1 v P t S asu 81 ll 11 bai f wa afy fy 4 J 1 R 1 l i 1 ba effs E ss will ancient jail afife if clr s i ayda 3 ydA by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ai turning the clock back y t w is two centuries in williamsburg l ra liia va within two years this cradle cradie S YZ hyx of the united states will be Nichols street in old bur restored to its as nearly an exact replica of the lb thriving riving colo colonial town of the seventeenth century that it onre once was asas aa Is possible for tin an almost unlimited amount of in money ney UP to make that possible by that time approximately will have been spent in the renaissance ais als sance of them the historic capital of the state of virginia and for probably the first tania in modern modem history a whole living city will have bave been turned into a museum of the glorious past where americans can catch the atmosphere of a romantic era that has haa gone forever over an area of something like a mile square all that Is new will be removed and all that Is old put back as nearly as possible as it was waa years ago modern buildings are to be done away with wholes wholesale itle and public and private house houe of the olden days areto are to be replaced in cases where they have not been spared by time back of this amazing transformation Is the story of the vision of two men a minister and a philanthropist the minister la Is rev william A it II goodwin Goodw ln rector cf tile bruton parish church tho the oldest episco pal church in continuous existence in america and a member of the faculty at the college of william and mary blary the second oldest institution of higher learning in this country ile he originated the idea the philanthropist Is john J D rockefeller jr who Is supplying the money necessary for the restoration and who Is giving doctor goodwin a free hand tn in directing the restoration although williamsburg la Is a small city its population probably never exceeded the present figure of some 2000 it Is doubtful if there Is any oti other er town in america with which there have bel been associated so many historic names in its streets have trod such notables as washington jefferson monroe john marshall patrick henry merija benjamin min franklin george rogers dark clark franklin rochambeau lafayette george mason biaso i n george wythe the Randolp randolphe hs the lees and a host of T others whose names are a part of our colonial and adlle revolutionary war history the site of wll was originally known as tile tho middle plantations and in sir francis nicholson at various times governor of virginia maryland aryland Bl and acadia laid out a town there thera and named it in honor of king william ills his first intention was to honor his sovereign by laying out the streets in the form of a mono monogram ram of W and M but avo wo ravines interfered with his purpose so the town was laid out along a main street which ho he named hamed duke of gloucester street honoring the short lived prince queen ann anro eldest son and two parallel streets streeta lie he named francis and nich alch olson honoring himself himsel ft I 1 cross streets were named nassau king palace and queen streets and the parallelogram bounded by these streets marks the area of the present restoration in 1093 1603 there was built at the west end of duke of gloucester street the college of william and mary and chartered by the joint sovereigns of england after whom it was hamd at that time a building designed by the famous amous sir christopher wren was waa already stan standing daig as was thi the bruton parish churk church in iii acm the govern overn ment of the colony of virginia which then extended to the mississippi river was moved froni from jamestown to and me day dai of wll liams burgs glory began at the other end of duko duke of gloucester street was erected the first building in the united states officially ed d capitol which was vas the seat of 0 the council ana thia the burgesses of the colony from 1701 u until attl the upheaval at aj the of the revolution resulted in the house of burges burgesses seq being dissolved absolved and the legislators went down the street to the apollo room room in 1 the Ra lelh tavern besides the capitol and the most important bull building dIng in colonial times was waa the governors palace which stood at the head of tile the palace green a broad avenue running north from duke of gloucester street the rebuilding of the palace presents a particular difficulty for no picture exists which shows show s a complete view of it in its original orl gindl or enlarged form it was begun in 1705 and completed during the governorship of col alexander spotswood founder of the romantic order of the golden horseshoe about 1751 it was reconstructed on a more spacious scale this was during the governorship of robert dinwiddle the dinwiddle who sent a certain young major george washington on the tha mission to the french on the ohio river which led to hla his taking part in the braddock tragedy and the fort necessity adventure the next occupant of the palace after dinwiddle was francis fauquier Fau quler of whom thomas jefferson then a young student at the college was a prime favorite not only with the governor but with the belles of williamsburg as well another participant lu in the gay social festivities at the palace was george washington who dined there with lord dunmore the last british governor of virginia before the break came between the colonies and the mother country when that break cams came my aly lord dunmore collected hla his men went to the powder horn florn built by colonel spotswood in the market square and still standing took the colons col onys supply of powder and muskets and silently stole on board ship under cover of night whereupon a certain patrick henry who had already heard the cries ol of Trea treason soul I 1 treason Treaso nl 1 shouted at certain utterances an ces of his led a party of militia I 1 ir from om hanover king william new kent and charles city counties to demand the arms back again ile he get them but he did force from the pov gov arnor a payment of pounds for the munitions which he be took with him to philadelphia later and deposited in the treasury of the continental tin congress and after dunmore had finally led fled the colony it was patrick henry who occupied tile palace as governor to him in 1778 came another young virginian george rogers dark clark to lay before him ills daring scheme for conquering the vast region of the old North northwest wesL history has recorded how well dark clark succeeded but it Is not so well ivell known that his vanquished enemy gov henry hamilton the hair buyer bayef general of detroit 1 after the surrender at vincennes was sent to williamsburg as a prisoner of war ivar and was confined in the old jail there which still stands having done its duty as a prison for more than years yeara in this prison too were confined fined some of the ass associates ocl ates of the notorious pirate orate black board beard who were executed in 1718 it Is interesting to note by the dav tint these pirates were contributors ro bably to tf the cause of higher lea learning the account books of the college of and mary stands the fact that pounds of bf the original subscriptions for founding the tha college are credited to certain pira pirates teal I 1 A 4 not far from the old jail stands the poor debtors prison almost abutting on the first national bank the building originally known te tc the colonists its as bedlam the flat hospital for insane people in the united states stands on francis street thres thre generations of the galt gait family all physicians served as chief medical officers of the insane hospital over an vo broken period of a century one of the famous buildings of williamsburg the rale raleigh li tavern was destroyed by fire in 1859 it t Is to be rest restored bred tile the ordinary in this tavern tavera was operated in colonial times by henry burll whose wares we were re so favorably martha washington kitchen known that william randolph sold acres of land to fo thomas jeffersons father for henry Wether burns biggest bowl of arrack punch raleigh tavern was twice used as an assembly place for tho the house of burgesses when the royal governor dissolved the assembly for discussing disloyal petitions and resolutions including the decision to set aside a day for fasting and prayer in 1774 when news of the blockade of boston harbor was received raleigh tavern was the birthplace of the phi beta kappa the first chapter of the well known scholastic fraternity being established there on december 5 1770 the little old colonial courthouse on the court green still stands on the north side of the court green Is the colonial home of edmund randolph who was secretary of state and attorney general in cabinet near it Is the peachy house headquarters of rochambeau just before the battle of yorktown and also the building in which gene general e ral lafayette was entertained when he revisited america close to it stands the griffin house on the duke of gloucester street where lived judge cyrus griffin a member of the continental congress the fine colonial brick home of george wythe on the east side of the palace green beside the bruton parish churchyard remains as it stood when washington and lafayette together planned the battle of yorktown there it was built in 1755 and its owner twenty years later george georgo wythe was a signer of the declaration of independence pen dence tazewell hall ball the birthplace of edmund run ran dolph also remains practically as it was long before the revolution its interior finish la Is of solid mahogany the home of another member of the randolph family peyton randolph first president of the continental congress Is not far distant the tucker house in which the wife of john randolph lived before her marriage and a flue fine example of early colonial design in the blair house also remains bassett hall one of the finest ancient buildings in the town stands at the end ot 0 a long lane of trees it was tile the property of burwell bassett whose uncle george washington was frequently a visitor the great grandfather of martha washington Is burled buried in the burton par 1 lah ish churchyard in 1841 vice president john tyler was living at bassett hall when the son of secretary of state daniel webster galloped down the long lane of trees to bring him the news newa of the death of president harrlson harrison and of his own succession tile the house stands in a park of nf several hundred acres of woodland the home of col wilson stiles cary a delegate to the virginia convention in 1770 was frequently visited by washington when he was studying surveying at william and mary college a short walk away it Is said that tho the parents of mary cury cary discouraged the inconspicuous eligI engineers wooing of their daughter and that mary fainted on the porch of this house some years later when slie she was tile the wife of edward ambler and general washington rode past on ids his triumphal return front from ills his victory over gen lord cornwallis Cornwall ls at yorktown marys sister was the wife of lord fairfax besides the wealth of colonial residences williamsburg liams burg still possesses ninny many other old public buildings in william and mary college stand three excellent examples the file hall designed by sir christopher wren Is the oldest college building in america antedating massachusetts hall at harvard the wren building was ravaged three times by fire but its thick walls remained its architectural design la Is almost as it was nally in this building george washington studied and received ills his certificate asa as a surveyor and it also housed three other presidents jefferson monroe and tyler and the great first chief justice of tile united states jolin joh n marshall in their student days the foundations of the first theater in america built in 1710 are to be used again for erect erecting ink a new building as a replica of the original the theater contributed to tle the gaiety and fashionable life tor for which williamsburg was known when it was the old dominion capital at the other end of the duke of gloucester street facing the college nearly a mile away stands the original little office of the clerk of the house of burgesses in which the moine moui i legislative acts of the period were eng rossea it was a famil familiar lur worl working drig place for many of tile the orators and sUite statesmen whose names are arc forever linked with american Awe rican ind independence pen dence |
