Bacon's Castle and Smithfield, VA - Short and Sweet

Back in May I visited Bacon's Castle and Smithfield, VA while I was working at Colonial Williamsburg. On an early Saturday I took the Jamestown-Scotland ferry over the James River to, well, Scotland, located in Surry County. Sadly, I rode on the Surry Ferry, not ferry named Pocahontas.

I followed Rolfe Highway (named after John Rolfe, of course) into Surry, then cut over on Highway 10 to Bacon's Castle (a town name and historic site). Surry is a classic small town - main street, a few shops, diner, etc. I stopped by the courthouse for a shot of this:

This figure is of a young Confederate soldier, a bronze statue dedicated by the county to the young soldiers of the South. Unveiled in 1910 the inscription on the side states "Our Heroes -1861-65" This is the south, after all. You can read a bit more here.

Alright, back on track. So, after a brief stop by to see our young Southern friend I headed about 15 minutes through beautiful lush green views of the James River and farmland to Bacon's Castle. The "Castle" was built in 1665 and is the country's oldest brick home. With a nice large plot of land surrounding it, gardens and some original buildings, the Castle certainly isn't a castle when you first arrive at it, but, it's history is that of the tales of the great mansions of Europe.

Owned by Preservation Virginia, an amazing non-profit that goes to great lengths to preserve, protect and celebrate Virginian properties and historic sites, it is well maintained and provided me with the best home tour I have ever been on. If you live in Virginia, APVA is well worth supporting, and affordable for many budgets!

Bacon's Castle is one of the few Jacobean architecture marvels in America. It's age is a marvel in itself, and the preservation work has been quite an achievement. The house was built in the 17th century by a planter named Arthur Allen, and despite being technically Allen's Castle the name Bacon's Castle stuck due to rebels from Bacon's Rebellion kicking him out and taking over the home for a time period in 1676. I was not allowed to take photographs inside the home so sadly it's hard to comprehend the home tour itself, but it is worth experiencing.

This is not your typical home tour - "Ooh, look at the beautiful paint job, furniture, novelty, fancyness," this is a history tour. Two rooms, the parlor and Allen's bedroom, do feature furniture, many beautiful period pieces and some original to the Allen family, but, the rest of the rooms of the house have no furniture or decorations aside from what are original to the house.

My favorite area was the basement which served as an extremely large kitchen and storehouse. The cellar was there too, where Mr. Allen kept his vast wine collection. It was noted in his diaries that when he returned to live back at his home, after Bacon's rebels took it over, the largest amount of damage was in the cellar and that no wine was left drinkable. Archeologists from AVPA have found wine bottles broken in fireplaces and areas around the backyard where bonfires took place. They have amazing examples of these bottles reconstructed that are made by the fine people at the Jamestown Glasshouse.

Our docent was a brilliant 17 year old homeschooler. He had a strong passion for history and showed it through his tour of the house. He was honest - he didn't shy away from any topics (including slavery/women's roles in the house) or questions and got everyone excited (I was the youngest person, everyone was 60+) about the history of the site.

Another fascinating aspect of the property featured the gardens, which were believed by oral history and light documentation to be at one place, but, after APVA had the grounds scanned from the sky with radar/satellite photography they came to find the remnants of a garden hundreds of yards from where they believed they were. The gardens flourish today raising crops and flowers similar to what Mr. Allen would have grown himself (he was quite the gardener).

I'm not giving Bacon's Castle the credit it deserves, but, it delivered an honest, passionate and strong history of an amazing home in early America and breaths fresh air into plantation tours and a region that relies on Colonial Williamsburg and historic Jamestown. Don't forget to check out the home's website too.

The smokehouse at Bacon's Castle is one of the original buildings on the property (it has been moved from its original spot and I believe it dates to the 18th century).

The smokehouse exterior.

Bacon's Castle Exterior

After the delight known as Bacon's Castle I headed to Smithfield, home of the famous Smithfield Ham. It's sort of like champagne - it's a law that no other place in the world can call its ham Smithfield Ham, it can only be made in one county, and that's Isle of Wight County. This wasn't my main agenda though, and sadly I didn't eat any ham while there. My main agenda, however, was to check out the town of Smithfield, a historic town surrounded by amazing waterways and then drive up through Norfolk, Hampton Roads, and back to Williamsburg. Well, I did just that. Sadly, I didn't document enough through photographs, but the trip was "okay," it wasn't as exciting as websites and travel documents made it out to seem, but perhaps I'm too demanding on small town attractions.

Heading to Smithfield proper, I passed by Poole's Funeral Home which, according to historic signage sponsored by the state, is the oldest black owned business in the county of Surry dating back to 1890.

Poole's Funeral Home

Lovely old home in Smithfield. (Not the funeral home)

I went to the Isle of Wight Historical Society which had a young woman who for sure had to be a museum studies major working there. (She was young, smart, friendly, and almost seemed hiply out of place for this small town....) It was in a historic building (a bank) in downtown Smithfield and featured exhibits on the oldest cured ham (Smithfield!), the oldest peanut (on display from the 1800s!), some archeological objects from Native people in the region, and an exhibit about the world's largest ham biscuit that was constructed in Smithfield a few years ago. They also have a collection of duck decoys. My attention span catered primarily to the Ripley's Believe it or Not style exhibits and this bizarre general store room featuring two creepy mannequins:

They had a great little gift shop that featured stuffed animal pigs made with Smithfield Ham cloth bags (I bought one for a gift) and awesome postcards, books and other crafts from the county. This historical society was one of the better county societies I had been in. Decent exhibits, hands on activities, and topics that can appeal to all types of people (from war to peanuts).

I walked a block down the street to the old courthouse which was built to reflect the courthouse at Colonial Williamsburg. A delightfully manicured main street featuring quaint shops, homes, restaurants and galleries. However, no time to spend money - I headed straight for the history. No 18th century courthouse is complete without these, of course:


Another APVA owned property they had an informative Elder docent who talked about the dramas that erupted, the final use of the courthouse and how the courthouse provided the soap opera for towns people when it was in session.

Isle of Wight historic courthouse

A really crappy photo of the interior, it looks 95% identical to CW's.

After that, I headed out of town and to the shore area to the military mania part of this daytrip, which will be covered in the next blog.

• Bacon's Castle provided one of the best home tour's I've ever experienced. A passionate docent staff and a focus on history, not just interior design, is what made this stand out from the rest.
  
• A unique history on beautiful grounds, Bacon's Castle is worth visiting for lovers of history, architecture, and gardens.
  
• Smithfield and Isle of Wight County features a fascinating little Historical Society with strange facts that we hold dear in these small non-profits. A delightful visit, and free!
  
• A nice little quick afternoon that could be topped off with some good southern cooking at one of the well reviewed restaurants in the area.

Awesome tree in Colonial Williamsburg:

Basket Making Workshop with Pamunkey Tribe, last Saturday

Last week I spent a good part of my time working on researching Pamunkey and Potomac related basket making techniques.

I went to the Rockefeller Library, which is part of the CW Foundation, and pulled books on Appalachian basket making. The techniques used by Appalachian basket makers are very similar to those of the Pamunkey, and other Virginia Indian groups. They use white oak, which ends in a beautiful, smooth, and natural basket, and durable too.

I spent quite sometime reading about basket making and the history of, including the influence of Indian basketry on Appalachian techniques. Buck chose sections from some of the books to include in a packet we were putting together to distribute to those who attended the class. This included a how-to portion featured in the book Appalachian White Oak Basketmaking, Handing Down the Basket by Rachel Nash Law and Cynthia W. Taylor.

We then copied some photographs from the book Basketry of Appalachian Mountains by Sue H. Stephenson. The images we pulled shows some of the similar technique that we read about in "Indian Notes and Monographs" which was a series of publications discussing Native Americans and First Nations people published int he early 1900s (1915-1925, etc) by the Heye Foundation (which was the original foundation for the National Museum of the American Indian). Anthropologist Frank Speck spent time exploring and living with Native Virginian Indians and wrote an article about the Rappahannock Indians, a tribe that traditionally fell under Powhatan's rule in the 16th century etc. Many of these related Virginian tribal communities have some similar craft styles, so we were able to take the small group of information featured in his document and include that into the packet. This document also featured some images of Pamunkey/Rappahannock basket makers.

Speck featured images, and most importantly some documentation in regards to a special type of rim weaving that is only see in Virginia Indian basketry, something even more specific among Pamunkey weavers.

We also took another article by Speck from another one of the "Notes and Monographs" series, discussing the Powhatan Tribes, which featured information on Pamunkey basketry.

I did some research through various museum websites in regards to baskets in collections. I emailed Crista Pack at the Eiteljorg as to any related basketry that they might have, but nothing was really related to what I was seeking. I did, however, find some baskets on the NMAI website that related to what we were looking for:

This basket was collected by Frank Speck back in the 10s/20s, and came from Potomac Creek, Stafford Co. Virginia. He says that it was made by the "Potomac Bank of Powatans" and that it is a large carrying basket of white oak splints. I'm not too savvy with explaining the aspects of basketry, but, the rim of the basket features a technique with those extra pieces of oak going down to hold the rim down, does that make sense? I'm not sure if it does..but, I'm not a basket expert.

We were also trying to learn more about fish/eel trap baskets that were made in the region. Here is an example, made by Gordon Bullock (c. 1925), which is from Stafford Co., VA, and is also made of white oak splints, from the Potomac community.

This is also in the collection at the NMAI.

We also included directions on basketmaking, provided by our basket making artisans here at CW, and a few things from the books mentioned above.

Buck then took all this information, some of the books, etc, and visited the Pamunkey Reservation last weekend, Saturday, and they hosted a workshop on traditional basket making. I was unable to attend, but Buck said it went well, with a great turnout and a lot of inspiration.

Here are some photos, compliments of Buck Woodard of the American Indian Initiative program here at Colonial Williamsburg:

All these pictures were taking at the Pamunkey Reservation:

Splitting the log, etc, from the white oak trees.

And then the process begins....

And the final product!!

The American Indian Initiative is working with Native communities, locally and beyond, to bring together community members to work together to instill traditional crafts, techniques, and history. This is just one of the many workshops planned off site from CW, which helps to not only reintroduce or work to perfect traditions within communities, but also helps to build a better rapport, relationship and strength between CW's Indian programming and Native communities near and far.

Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians visit Colonial Williamsburg

So, historically, Colonial Williamsburg has been a visiting place for various Indian nations to send delegations, trade, work, etc. 

In research produced by the Public History and American Indian Initiative departments, we have been lucky to discover that many Cherokee delegations visited CW. Some sources say that the Cherokee camped next to the magazine, borrowing tents from the magazine. They had trade goods, met with Virginia leaders and at night they ate, drank and danced. 

This past weekend members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation "set up camp" outside the magazine. We were lucky to have the Warriors Anikituhwa there (though not performing, just hanging out, sharing their history, practices, and crafts) as well as the best basket maker in the Eastern Cherokee Tribe as well as the best buffalo weaver. It was quite cool, and I wish I could have gotten better pictures, but, there were so many visitors all day long that it was tough to get good shots unless I decided to push visitors out of the way :) 

Larry Pourier has been here all week as well, and is staying for the duration of the week. He's Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, and is working in public history advising us on programming and he will be charge of seeking Native talent for our Fall public history programs. He hung out all day, dressed in period as an assimilated Indian in the militia. 

This morning, I met with Larry, Buck and John Standingdeer Jr., the cultural ambassador for the Eastern Band and a surveyor for the tribe. We met various CW people at the Dewitt Wallace Museum to present Standingdeer with a replica of a peace medal that was is believed to have been given to a variety of Indian community members during the 18th century. This is a rare medal, and it's so cool that the collections department worked with our metalworkers to create a small number of replicas.  So, first, here is one of my not so great photos of the presentation, and then some photos from the camp.

The camp was quite cool, I was just sad that I wasn't able to really meet anyone from the Cherokee. However, I'm glad I got to meet John today, he's a really cool guy, full of insight, passion, and knowledge and I look forward to working with him in the future. Same with Larry. 

There was a lot of interesting stuff at the camp. Visitors were fairly well behaved, despite the classic comments of "my great grandma was Cherokee," which was mentioned quite frequently. I'd like to learn more about how Eastern Cherokee, and Oklahomans handle that. Buck and I also got the worst of the visitors, an older man in his late 60s to mid 70s asking me if I was "an Indian" (which I said "maybe...I could be...but no") and proceeded to tell Buck and I that alcoholism is the biggest problem on reservations and that Indians are making a ton of money from casinos and that they are all rich. As he proceeded to tell us this, and Buck diligently handled the man as I almost exploded, one of the Eastern Cherokee basket weavers just glanced at us, chuckled, and continued working on her amazing basket. Quite an experience. 

It's just an honor to finally work closely with these Native peoples, learn more about how they see life, and where I can fit in as a historical thinker, as a politically concerned and active person, and socially. I know that sounds so immature, but, to finally but faces with the names, and link my recent life's work to these individuals that I have read about, studied, watched films of, handled objects once owned by...it's really awesome. 

A member of the collections team, a "random 18th century guy" (as we called him), John Standingdeer, Jr. and Buck Woodard. John receives the medal.

Craftspeople from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee working on river cane baskets, pipe carving and buffalo hair weaving. 

Visitors take the opportunity to fell the soft texture of the buffalo fur and speak with the craftspeople.

Basket maker from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee

Detail of river cane, a plant found on the bottom lands of mountains near streams and rivers. 

River cane soaking.

Craftsman making pipe bowls. 

Willie from the public history department moonlights as an Indian trader sharing traditional European trade goods with visitors. 

Detail of trade goods

The Warriors share their talents, history and culture with visitors. Here people were able to learn about the art of moccasin making. 

John Standingdeer Jr. (Eastern Band of Cherokee), Larry Pourier (Oglala Lakota) and Buck Woodard (Lower Muskogee Creek) man the camp. 

Visitors and members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee.

and now for something completely different

two awesome shots of the carpet at the governors mansion

Sweet! We made Indian Country!

We're quite giddy here today, because on May 6th (we're a little late...yes) our Cherokee Delegation press release went out and made it in Indian Country! This is basically the New York Times of the Indian world. 

You can read the article about the Cherokee delegation coming to camp for the weekend...here!

Dr. Duane King visited, Apr 30

Dr. Duane King, director of the Gilcrease Museum visited last week for a lecture sponsored by us and the Foundation as part of the American Indian Lecture Series.

Our flier for "Cherokee Diplomacy in the 18th Century" with Dr. Duane King. The painting is of Cunne Shote and the medal (front and back) is a recent Virginia metal (rare piece) that could have possibly been presented to tribal members in the 18th century.

Cunne Shote, from the Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Dr. King is a foremost authority on Cherokee history and culture. His groundbreaking research and archaeological work at Chota, has been very important to Native historians and early American historians alike. He works with/for the NMAI, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and other organizations as well.

Dr. Duane King

To hang out with him for two days was amazing, between him and Buck, my brain was exploding with information. His lecture was stimulating and fascinating, all based on his book about Cherokee diplomacy (I can't find the title right now). His writing about Ostenaco and the Cherokee "Kings" who traveled to Europe was so neat to learn about, and their treatment by the English as rock stars, and the failures of the man who brought them there.

It was an honor to help host him, and I look forward to reading his book, and learning more from him perhaps in the future!

Meherrin Delegation at Colonial Williamsburg 4/28

On the 28th of April we hosted the Meherrin Indians from North Carolina at Colonial Williamsburg. It was a whirlwind day of filming, talking, learning, exploring, and more. 

One of the goals here at CW's American Indian Init. is to use tactics of delegation to involve Native peoples who were historically mentioned in the records and involved at CW in primarily the 1760s up to just after the Revolutionary War. The Meherrin tribe is a small, state recognized group who historically fought alongside various groups (Cherokee, Shawnee) at Williamsburg during the Revolution. The Meherrin who visited were friendly and very willing to share their experiences and opinions about being Native in the Southeast. 

This was my first time working with a community of Native peoples, and it was an overwhelming and powerful day for me. 

Here is a link to their tribal website : http://www.meherrintribe.com/

So, we invited a delegation consisting of Chief Lewis and various (often family members) other community members.  Seven came in all, anxious to learn more about relationship potentials with CW and their historical interactions at Williamsburg.

We started out taking a tour of the costume design center (CDC) at CW. I had yet to go here either, and this was a very rare (they rarely allow tours) chance to explore this impressive and amazing center that creates all the clothing that interpreters and actors wear at CW.  We were given a tour by Tom, the head of the department (I believe it's Tom, I've met so many people lately...).  We saw everything - from dry cleaning to where they loan out the clothing, to the bar codes on each article, to the racks and racks of buttons, lace, ribbon and fabric...the conservation area, etc. 

Tom presented a selection of articles related to Native life at CW and in the 18th century to share with the Meherrin's. We saw pieces that were created for a character that is represented during black history month - a slave woman who is kidnapped by Indians (not sure what tribe), is assimilated into tribal life, is traded back to Williamsburg, returned to her owner, and she remains assimilated as an Indian - wearing traditional clothing, etc of the period (which is heavily European actually).  It was quite exciting! We also got to see the first of many trade shirts which are being created for Native interpreters. Chief Lewis received his, which he would be wearing in filming later in the day. 

After CDC we went to Collections, where the department showed us a pair of 18th century moccasins (similar to what the Meherrin's could have historically worn), and a very rare (one of 6 in the world) slave halters. 

I was able to take some pictures, you'll see those farther down.

After collections we went to PP&V for the filming of a scene featuring Chief Lewis! Chief Lewis donned his newly made trade shirt to be involved in a scene featuring Daniel Boone, being adopted into a Shawnee family. The Chief got to bath, apply paint to and "pluck" Boone. Electronic Fieldtrips are ways for people who can't necessarily make it to CW to learn about history connections at CW and beyond. These are DVDs and internet programs that schools use to educate kids. The highest showings are in California and Oklahoma, making Native history a strong priority in the programs. CW prides itself on bringing Native people in to play Native peoples, and Chief Lewis was quite excited to be in the show!

The EF that he was working on is called "Westward!" and tells the story of Daniel Boone. 

http://www.history.org/history/teaching/eft/eft_09.cfm

After a very long day, Buck went out to dinner with the Meherrins and Preston and I hooked up for dinner.  

It was a successful day of learning, exploring and educating. It'll be great to see where things go with the Meherrin's. 

I did get opportunities to speak with members of the community while Chief Lewis was filming, as we sat in the green room. They shared horrible stories of racism. One of the elder members of the group stated that going to school in the 60s in North Carolina - it was horrible, and that her mother had to meet her at the bus stop everyday or she'd come home bloodied and beaten. She went to an all black school - the Native experience in the African American contemporary south, an experience rarely discussed or documented. 

One of the younger Meherrins stated that "It's better to be black then Native in North Carolina, at least blacks have a place there." It was quite an eye opening and powerful statement, I'm still trying to let it sink in.

One of the women spoke of the horrors of having crosses burned on her yards as a child. Another Meherrin spoke of racism, discrimination, and the struggles of being racially profiled by cops. 

It was an eye opening experience, and something I haven't heard much about. It's painful to hear...

Regardless, here are some photographs from our trip to CDC.  Thank you to the Meherrin people for visiting us, letting us take them into our world (my new world!) and thank you for being so open about your life experiences. I look forward to seeing you again in CW and beyond!

A member of the collection team (in white lab coats) shows 18th century Iroquoian moccasins to members of the Meherrin tribe. 

All the objects, especially the moccasins, were well documented by the Meherrin. These photos will be inspiration for regalia making, historical documentation, and also serve as strong connection with their cultural heritage. 

Buck (far left) explains the history of the slave halters. This rare object is one of six (we believe) in museums worldwide. A fragile item used by Iroquoian tribes to transport slaves. 

First Leg of the Trip

I'm finally getting around to getting my images uploaded online. Thanks for your patience. I have very limited high speed internet access around here!

We left Indianapolis on 24th of April, heading to Baltimore for the wedding of two friends. We being Preston and I, who traveled together, and friends being Vivian and Noah. We stayed in the very cute and very cool Baltimore Hostel, which was right across the street from one of the oldest Cathedral/Basilica in the United States and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, which hosts the Edgar Allen Poe Collection. We had time to walk over to the library, and step inside, but we weren't able to see the Poe collection, sadly. There was a giant chess board, and some lovely architecture. Here is a photo:

The wedding was a great success, most of our pictures were that savvy, but, I'm sure better ones will arise for friends who were there. Noah and Vivian are great people, and I am so honored to know them both, and even more honored to have been Best Man in their wedding. We were so worn out from the trip out East and running around like maniacs from the wedding we called the night early (how lame!) and, P was getting a bit sick, so we headed to Williamsburg early to get some rest. 

Remember that song "The Freaks Come Out at Night?" well they come out for weddings too! And yes, that is me, fourth (including photographer) from the right! Shorty!

We cruised to Williamsburg, and we were lucky to get some nice glimpses of the Chesapeake, which brought back fond memories of the Northeast for Preston, and find memories and new memories to be made of the Southeast, for me. 

Preston overlooking the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland

We then arrived in Williamsburg, in the cottage I'm staying at for the week. We took a load off, and work for me started the next day. 

I am working with Buck Woodard of the American Indian Initiative Program at Colonial Williamsburg. I'll have more information about mission statements, etc, later, but our main goal is to incorporate the Native story into the public history at CW. That means, all the stuff that happens on the street (re-enactor/actors etc) and more. 

Buck invited Preston along with us, so after P and I got my parking pass and volunteer badge, we explored CW for a while before meeting with Buck. 

It had been sometime since I had visited Colonial Williamsburg, the last time I had visited was in 1992 or 1993, with my mother, and I was fascinated by it then, and I feel just as fascinated by it now. We entered through the Visitors Center, and explored the new plantation area they had created. This featured African American and White 3rd person interpreters discussing middle class plantation life in the 18th century. 

We were greeted by a African American man playing a slave, who shared with us the details of middle-class plantation life, the different buildings, the amount of slaves owned at the time and the classes of the period in regards to farm life in the mid-to-late 1700s. He was dressed in period clothes, and had two bags around his neck, small bags that looked almost African inspired, for the sake of period dress. I asked him about the bags, he said they are a part of his Native American heritage (remember, this is a 3rd person interpreter, not a person posing as if they are a slave, which would be 1st), so we discussed this and I asked him if they ever have any 1st person interpretation involving master and servant type aspects, he said no, and shook his head with strong fervor as if to say "no, and never."

We moved along and explored different areas of the plantation space. The two African American interpreters were just chilling out by the entrance, while all the white interpreters were working on the farm. Quite a strange situation. 

There was a garden behind the slave room, which could house up to 12 people (and in reality it could house about 2-3 people). Here is an image of the "African Inspired Garden" that was planted next to a traditional Anglo style garden in the back.

It is known that white middle and lower class farmers did work alongside their slaves. Here is a white interpreter manning the fields with his very cute oxen. He later told us to go to the Golden Corral to sample Southern food. Yes, Golden Corral. 

We then moved along to the main area of the old town, exploring some familiar buildings and so forth, eventually we met up with Buck, where we discussed the basics of what I'll be doing, the struggles to incorporate true stories of the Indian experience at CW, and such. 

Here are a few images from our day of wandering at CW...

The gardens at the famous Governors Mansion. We described the smell of boxwood's as a "Delightful dog urine smell," and Virginia has a lot of boxwood's. 

More gardens at the mansion

Very cool burial at the Bruton Parish Church

And more in the next post...above!