[1] Cf. Morton, Louis, Robert Carter of Nomini Hall: A Virginia Tobacco Planter of the Eighteenth Century, pp. 62-87.

[2] In the issue of the Virginia Gazette for May 24, 1751, Thomas Eldridge of Prince George County advertised the sale of his "Mannor Plantation" and three other plantations. Such references to manor plantations appeared frequently in the Gazette and in the wills of the period.

[3] Cf. Wright, Louis B., The First Gentlemen of Virginia, passim.

[4] William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. VII, series 1, p. 43.

[5] Stanard, Mary Newton, Colonial Virginia, p. 271.

[6] Hornsby, Virginia Ruth, "Higher Education of Virginians," p. 10. Typed M.A. Thesis, Library of the College of William and Mary.

[7] William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. XX, series 1, p. 437.

[8] Cf. Wright, First Gentlemen, passim.

[9] An Englishman visiting Virginia at the close of the eighteenth century stated, with reference to persons he met who had been educated abroad before the Revolution, that he "found men leading secluded lives in the woods of Virginia perfectly au fait as to the literary, dramatic, and personal gossip of London and Paris." Bernard, John, Retrospections of America, 1797-1811, p. 149.

[10] Stanard, Colonial Virginia, p. 290.

[11] Letter of Robert Beverley to Landon Carter, Blandfield, May 19, 1772, in possession of Mrs. William Harrison Wellford of Sabine Hall. Cf. "Extracts from Diary of Landon Carter in Richmond County, Virginia"; William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. XIII, series 1, pp. 160-163.

[12] William and Mary College Quarterly, Vol. XIX, series 1, p. 145.

[13] Robert Andrews, a Pennsylvania youth educated at "the College of Phileda," served as a tutor at "Rosewell," the Page home in Gloucester County, for several years, and two young men from Princeton taught the Carter children at "Nomini Hall." Cf. letter of John Page, Jr., to John Norton. "Rosewell," September 18, 1772, in Mason, Frances Norton, John Norton & Sons, p. 271. See also page 160.

[14] A "falling garden" consisted of a series of very broad terraces, usually connected by ramps covered with turf, oyster shell or other surface material to prevent erosion. In some instances the successive levels were planted in elaborate patterns. In others the whole was covered with turf. The "falling garden" at "Sabine Hall" retains its eighteenth-century design intact.

[15] A ha-ha is a boundary to a garden, pleasure-ground, or park of such a nature as not to interrupt the view from the mansion and may not be seen until closely approached. According to a French etymologist, the name is derived from ha, an exclamation of surprise, uttered by one suddenly approaching such a boundary. The ha-ha consists of a trench, the inner side of which is perpendicular and faced with a wall; the outer being sloped and turfed. The ha-ha permitted grazing cattle and sheep to appear on the landscape, and at the same time held them at a distance from the mansion. In his diary, George Washington refers, on several occasions, to the ha-has on the grounds at "Mount Vernon." Cf. Fitzpatrick, John, The Diaries of George Washington, Vol. II, passim.

[16] At "Mount Vernon" the mansion and its wings together composed three sides of an open square, the main house and its wings closing the side opposite the open end. At "Stratford Hall" four dependent structures formed a square court, inside of which the great house stands. Two offices are set twenty-eight feet in advance of the main house on the land front. On the water front two others are placed in a similar relation to it. At "Shirley" the great house and four principal dependent buildings form a long rectangular court, the mansion closing the side facing the river.

[17] A Huguenot Exile in Virginia, ed. and tr. by Gilbert Chinard (New York, 1934), p. 142. In writing of Maryland early in the eighteenth century, Sir John Oldmixon said: "Both here [Maryland] and there [Virginia] the English live at large at their several Plantations, which hinders the Increase of Towns; indeed every Plantation, is a little Town of itself, and can subsist itself with Provisions and Necessaries, every considerable Planter's Warehouse being like a Shop...." Oldmixon, John, British Empire in America (second edition, 1741), Vol. I, p. 339. Cf. Kimball, Fiske, Domestic Architecture, passim.

[18] A historian who described the Virginia residences at the beginning of the eighteenth century stated that "All their Drudgeries of Cookery, Washing, Daries, &c. are perform'd in Offices detacht from the Dwelling-Houses, which by this means are kept more cool and Sweet." Cf. Beverley, Robert, The History and Present State of Virginia, Book IV, p. 53.

[19] The Tidewater plantation economy had spread into the Piedmont section prior to the American Revolution. A paroled British officer writing of his situation in Albemarle County in 1779, said: "The house that we reside in is situated upon an eminence, commanding a prospect of near thirty miles around it, and the face of the country appears an immense forest, interspersed with various plantations, four or five miles distant from each other; on these there is a dwelling-house in the center, with kitchens, smoke-house, and out-houses detached, and from the various buildings, each plantation has the appearance of a small village; at some little distance from the houses, are peach and apple orchards, &c. and scattered over the plantations are the negroes huts and tobacco-houses, which are large built of wood, for the cure of that article." Cf. Anburey, Thomas, Travels Through the Interior Parts of America, Vol. II, p. 187.

[20] A British observer reported in 1779 that "... before the war, the hospitality of the country was such, that travellers always stopt at a plantation when they wanted to refresh themselves and their horses, where they always met with the most courteous treatment, and were supplied with every thing gratuitously; and if any neighbouring planters heard of any gentleman being at one of these ordinaries, they would send a negroe with an invitation to their own house." Cf. Anburey, Travels Through the Interior Parts of America, Vol. II, p. 198. This same traveller described the hospitality shown the guests at one of the James River plantations. "I spent a few days at Colonel Randolph's, at Tuckahoe, at whose house the usual hospitality of the country prevailed," he wrote. "It is built on a rising ground, having a most beautiful and commanding prospect of James River; on one side is Tuckahoe, which being the Indian name of that creek, he named his plantation Tuckahoe after it; his house seems to be built solely to answer the purposes of hospitality, which being constructed in a different manner than in most other countries; I shall describe it to you: It is in the form of an H, and has the appearance of two houses, joined by a large saloon; each wing has two stories, and four large rooms on a floor; in one the family reside, and the other is reserved solely for visitors: the saloon that unites them, is of a considerable magnitude, and on each side are doors; the ceiling is lofty, and to these they principally retire in the Summer, being but little incommoded by the sun, and by the doors of each of the houses, and those of the saloon being open, there is a constant circulation of air; they are furnished with four sophas, two on each side, besides chairs, and in the center there is generally a chandelier; these saloons answer the two purposes of a cool retreat from the scorching and sultry heat of the climate, and of an occasional ball-room. The outhouses are detached at some distance, that the house may be open to the air on all sides." Ibid., p. 208.

[21] Cf. Wright, Louis B., Letters of Robert Carter, 1720-1727 (San Marino, 1940), p. viii.

[22] Cf. Jones, E. Alfred, American Members of the Inns of Court, p. 41.

[23] Sisters of Anne Bladen Tasker and Thomas Bladen had married Daniel Dulany, Samuel Ogle, and Christopher Lowndes, all men of important political and financial connections in their world.

[24] Four of the seventeen Carter children were born after Fithian had left the family.

[25] Some extracts from the Journal were published in the American Historical Review of January, 1900.

[26] Cf. Philip Fithian's Journal, edited by John Rogers Williams, p. xiv.

[27] Philip Vickers Fithian had left his home at Cohansie, New Jersey, in 1770, at the age of twenty-three, to enter the College of New Jersey at Princeton. Nassau Hall was the principal structure of the college, and the institution was often familiarly referred to by that name. Fithian was graduated there in September 1772. His parents had both died suddenly during the previous February. Andrew Hunter, Jr., of Cohansie, who wrote this letter, was the nephew of the Reverend Andrew Hunter, Sr., of Greenwich, New Jersey, under whom Philip was at this time studying Hebrew in connection with his preparation for the ministry.

[28] Dr. John Witherspoon (1723-1794), a Scottish Presbyterian clergyman, served as president of the College of New Jersey at Princeton intermittently from 1768 until his death in 1794. A staunch Calvinist, Witherspoon exerted a strong influence on American educational, religious, and political development. Owing largely to the labors of his former students, a number of whom went as clergymen and tutors to the Southern colonies, his influence was very extensive in that region.

[29] John Debow, Oliver Reese, Samuel McCorkle and Moses Allen, and Andrew Bryan. With the exception of Andrew Bryan of Baltimore who was admitted to the bar, all of these young men were licensed as Presbyterian ministers.

[30] Elizabeth Beatty, Fithian's "Laura," frequently visited in the home of her brother, Dr. John Beatty, who lived at Princeton. Fithian had known Elizabeth earlier in the home of her sister, the wife of the Reverend Enoch Green, a Presbyterian minister of Deerfield, New Jersey, under whom he had prepared for college. Cf. Williams, John, ed., The Journals and Letters of Philip Vickers Fithian, 1767-1774, p. 55, fn. 3.

[31] The Reverend Enoch Green.

[32] Mrs. Peck was the mother of Fithian's friend, John Peck of Deerfield. The two boys had studied together under the Reverend Enoch Green, and had later been classmates at Princeton. John Peck succeeded Fithian as tutor of the Carter children at Nomini Hall in 1774, and later married Anne Tasker or "Nancy" Carter, and settled in Richmond County, Virginia.

[33] The Reverend Andrew Hunter.

[34] The American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society were rival literary organizations at the College of New Jersey at Princeton.

[35] William R. Smith, who was one of Fithian's classmates, was afterwards ordained as a Presbyterian minister. Cf. Williams, ed., Fithian, p. 34, fn. 2.

[36] Fithian was studying theology in Deerfield under the supervision of the Reverend Enoch Green, at the same time he was being taught Hebrew by Andrew Hunter, Sr., in nearby Greenwich.

[37] William Eugene Imlay was graduated at Princeton in 1773. Cf. Williams, ed., Fithian, p. 41.

[38] Probably Samuel Fithian, the brother of Philip's father. Philip refers to him as "Uncle Fithian" on other occasions.

[39] Henry Lee (1729-1787) of "Leesylvania," in Prince William County, Virginia (known later as "Light Horse Harry" Lee) was a student at Princeton at this time. He was a brother of "Squire" Richard Lee of "Lee Hall" in Westmoreland County. Henry Lee later became the father of Robert E. Lee.

[40] Dr. John Beatty had been graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1769. Cf. Williams, ed., Fithian, p. 90, fn. 1.

[41] John McCalla, Jr., was a friend of Fithian who lived in Philadelphia.

[42] Joel Fithian was the cousin of Philip Fithian, who married Elizabeth Beatty Fithian after the latter's death. Cf. Williams, ed., Fithian, p. xv.

[43] Patapsco River.

[44] Bladensburg, Maryland.

[45] Georgetown, then a small town in Maryland, was later incorporated in the District of Columbia.

[46] Alexandria, Virginia.

[47] Colchester was a thriving shipping center on the Occoquan River, now called Occoquan Creek, in Fairfax County, Virginia, near where this creek empties into the Potomac. The town had been incorporated by an act of the Assembly in 1753 to promote "trade and navigation."

[48] Dumfries, a town on Quantico Creek, had been settled by a group of Scotch merchants, who traded in the colony. Quantico Creek empties into the Potomac. Dumfries had been incorporated by Act of Assembly in 1749. The town had prospered owing to its advantageous position as a center of trade in the western section of the Northern Neck.

[49] Aquia had originated as a Catholic settlement on Aquia Creek about the middle of the eighteenth century. A short distance from the town were located the celebrated Aquia stone quarries which had been opened as early as 1683.

[50] Stafford Court House, the seat of government of Stafford County.

[51] Thomas Ludwell Lee (1730-1778) of "Bellevue" in Stafford County was the fourth son of Thomas Lee of "Stratford" in Westmoreland County, who had served as president of the Council of Virginia.

[52] The Chilton family owned plantations in Westmoreland and Fauquier Counties. Cf. William and Mary College Quarterly, second series, Vol. 10 (January 1930), pp. 56-63.

[53] Benjamin Tasker Carter.

[54] The Fauntleroy family owned extensive holdings and occupied a high social position in Richmond County and other sections of the Tidewater. "Mars Hill" and "Crandall" were two seats of the family on the Rappahannock River in Richmond County, and in the vicinity of the modern towns of Warsaw and Tappahannock. A third manor plantation of the Fauntleroys' was "The Cliffs," also on the Rappahannock, some miles north of the other two. The name of the family was pronounced variously as "Fantleroy," "Fantilroy" and "Fauntleroy." Aphia, Samuel and Henry or "Harry" Fauntleroy were the daughter and sons of Moore Fauntleroy (1716-1791) of "The Cliffs." Information supplied by Miss Juliet Fauntleroy of Altavista, Virginia.

[55] Francis Christian held his dancing classes in rotation in a number of the manor houses of the Northern Neck at this period. After the pupils had been instructed an informal dance was usually enjoyed on such occasions.

[56] Nomini Church, one of the two Anglican houses of worship in Cople Parish, stood on the bank of the Nomini River some five miles from Carter's home.

[57] Isaac William Giberne, an English clergyman, thought to have been a nephew of the Bishop of Durham, was licensed to preach in Virginia in 1758. The following year he had arrived in the colony and was serving as the minister in Hanover Parish in King George County. Possessing a high tempered and somewhat contentious nature, Giberne was involved in numerous sharp controversies. An exceptionally sociable and convivial man, he spent much of his time in visiting and gambling and tippling. Admitted by his enemies at that time to be the most popular and admired preacher in the colony, he had been invited shortly after his arrival in Virginia to preach a sermon before the Burgesses. This sermon was later printed at their request. In 1760 Giberne married a wealthy widow, Mary Fauntleroy Beale of Richmond County, a daughter of Moore Fauntleroy of "Crandall." She had previously been the wife of Charles Beale. Removing to her plantation, "Belle Ville," he was two years later chosen as minister of Lunenburg Parish, and served in that capacity until 1795. He is mentioned in numerous diaries and letters of the period. Cf. Goodwin, Edward Lewis, The Colonial Church in Virginia, pp. 271-272; Jonathan Boucher, Reminiscences of an American Loyalist, passim; letter of Miss Juliet Fauntleroy of November 21, 1941 in Department of Research and Record, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.

[58] Benjamin Tasker.

[59] Robert Bladen or "Bob."

[60] Henry or "Harry" Willis.

[61] Priscilla.

[62] Ann Tasker or "Nancy."

[63] Frances or "Fanny."

[64] Betty Landon.

[65] Harriot Lucy.

[66] Benedict Pictete had first published his Teologia Christiana in 1696.

[67] Priscilla, "Nancy," and "Bob." This school was conducted in rotation at a number of manor plantations of the region by Francis Christian, a dancing master.

[68] The banks of the Potomac River could be seen in the distance from the upper floor of "Nomini Hall."

[69] Yeocomico Church, one of the two Anglican churches in Cople Parish in Westmoreland County. Built in 1706, this structure still stands.

[70] Thomas Smith was the rector of Yeocomico Church at this period. Smith was a man of large means. He had been sent as a youth to be educated in the mother country. He first attended a school at Wakefield in Yorkshire and later entered Cambridge University, where he was graduated in 1763. His son, John Augustine Smith, later became president of the College of William and Mary.

[71] Captain Walker was a friend of Robert Carter and often visited "Nomini Hall." Fithian frequently dined at Walker's home.

[72] Stadley was a German music master who visited "Nomini Hall" regularly at this period to instruct the Carter children. He also taught in a number of other homes in the Northern Neck. Before coming to Virginia, Stadley had taught music in New York and Philadelphia. In one of Carter's account books the musician's name is entered as "Strader." Cf. Waste-Book, No. 2, September 27, 1773 to December 31, 1773, p. 45.

[73] Carter was doubtless returning from attendance as a member of the General Court at this time.

[74] Fithian was preparing for his examination before the Presbytery at Philadelphia at this time.

[75] "Hickory Hill," the manor house of John Turberville (1737-1799) was about a mile distant from "Nomini Hall." Turberville had married his first cousin, Martha Corbin. One of their ten children, Letitia Corbin Turberville, later became the wife of Major Catesby Jones. Their youngest son, George Richard Turberville, married his first cousin, Martha Corbin, only daughter of Gawin Corbin of "Peckatone." Their eldest son, George Lee Turberville, married Betty Tayloe Corbin. The Turbervilles were connected with the Lees of Westmoreland County in a number of ways and possessed large landed properties.

[76] Jane or "Jenny" Corbin was a sister of Mrs. John Turberville of "Hickory Hill."

[77] Cunningham was one of a number of young Scotch merchants who had settled in the Northern Neck. He was apparently a member of a firm referred to in the account books of Robert Carter of "Nomini Hall" as "Messrs. Fisher and Cunningham."

[78] See fn. 51.

[79] Lancelot Lee was the son of George Lee of "Mount Pleasant" in Westmoreland County who had died in 1761. Lancelot's brother, George Fairfax Lee, had inherited their father's manor plantation. Lancelot and George Fairfax Lee were cousins of the Lees at "Stratford," "Lee Hall," and at "Chantilly."

[80] "Nomini Hall" was some ten miles distant from the seat of government in Westmoreland County, which is situated in the present town of Montross.

[81] Richmond Court House, the seat of government in Richmond County, now called Warsaw, is some ten or twelve miles distant from "Nomini Hall." There were a number of enthusiastic turfmen in Richmond County during the eighteenth century.

[82] Colonel John Tayloe (1721-1779) was one of the wealthiest men in the Northern Neck. His manor house, "Mount Airy," was located near Richmond Court House, and overlooked the Rappahannock River, some two miles in the distance. Tayloe was a noted fancier of fine horses.

[83] Dr. William Flood lived at "Kinsail," a plantation in Westmoreland County. He frequently combined the pleasures of horse racing with the practice of his profession. Cf. Blanton, Wyndham B., Medicine in Virginia in the Eighteenth Century (Richmond, 1931), p. 379.

[84] Since it was often difficult to secure a sufficient number of clergymen for the parishes in Virginia, young English schoolmasters and tutors were frequently induced to return to the mother country and take orders so that they might fill such vacancies.