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From: <>
Subject: [VAESSEX] The "Elmwood" Plantation
Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 12:25:29 -0700

I came across this wonderful history on the "Elmwood" plantation in
Essex County, from the Garnett Family Registry, at MyFamily.com. It was
written by Doug Garnett. I thought it was worth sharing with the list.

Rick Waggener

History of the "Elmwood" Plantation, Essex County, Virginia, USA View

By Doug GARNETT - Jul 12, 2000
Categories - GARNETT Places

Of the many houses and plantations that once belonged to the GARNETTs,
"Elmwood" alone remains.

It was originally built for James Mercer Garnett by his father, Muscoe
Garnett just before the American Revolution on lands acquired by the
elder Garnett in 1767 from Thomas Thorp. Amalgamated within the Elmwood
estate were several other plots of land purchased by Muscoe Garnett from
Bernard Gains, William and Thomas Ayres, and also from James Rutherford.

Entering by the old gate, the road crosses fertile fields and winds
upward through woods,
past stables which once housed a string of thoroughbreds [James Garnett
was a member of the Fredericksburg Jockey Club and often had entries in
the races] until a two and
one-half-story brick building with high pointed gable roof is reached.

This structure once served as an office where the master administered
the affairs of the
plantation and where the young men of the family slept.

A short distance beyond, facing a double row of stately ailanthus trees,
planted it is said as a protection against malaria, stands the main
house itself, with its adjacent kitchen, smoke house and other out
buildings, beautifully situated on a hill opposite the site of "Mount
Pleasant" about two miles away and nearer the river.

The mansion is build of brick, stands two stories high with a basement
and an attic. The
west front overlooking the garden is pierced by twenty windows and two
doorways, and
reveals the ample proportions of the house.

One hundred feet long and thirty feet wide, the house opens into a
T-shaped broad central hall, the walls of which were originally
panelled.

Doors lead off on the right to a music room and to a large drawing room,
always called "The Hall", and on the left to the library and to the
dining room.

"The Hall" compares favorably with the finest of Virginia interiors. It
runs the full width of the house and is twenty-four feet by nearly
thirty feet, with white panelled walls, a beautifully carved frieze, a
ceiling once frescoed, a deep pink marble mantle, and doorways
surmounted by richly ornamented broken pediments, while the doors and
wainscoting are of natural walnut.

Shelves of books collected by several generations---many rare volumes in
French, German and English---once lined the sides of the library, which
is panelled in curly maple. Above the great fireplace originally hung an
oil painting of a Madonna.

There was also a marble bust of Mr. James Mercer Garnett's brother in
law, Charles Fenton Mercer, long a member of Congress.

A wide staircase to the left of the main hall, a space now occupied by a
pantry, originally
connected the two floors, but was removed when Muscoe Russell Hunter
Garnett altered
the house in 1866-7, the stairs being then placed in a tower addition
and finally becoming a spiral to the attic. During the Civil War the
family hid their valuables under a board in the
attic.

On the second floor the five bedrooms open off a hall which runs the
length of the house on the east side, from the windows of which---the
central one of Paladian design---can be caught glimpses of the
Rappahannock about six miles distant. The large bedroom over "The Hall"
is of similar size, and contains a handsome marble mantle and finely
carved woodwork.

The rooms were once furnished with excellent old pieces of
mahogany---massive poster
beds, children's ten beds, graceful secretaries, carved and inlaid
tables and chairs, and in
the pantry could be found quaint old iron lanterns, candle moulds,
platters and old-fashoned pastry-boards.

The Honorable B. Johnson Barbour wrote that whenever he read a novel
with scenes set in a fine old English house, "Elmwood" with its great
hall, library and parlor and its general
spaciousness always rose before him.

John Esten Cooke, the novelist, is said to have written his novel "Surry
of Eagle's Nest" at
and around "Elmwood", and to have taken young Muscoe Russell Hunter
Garnett as the
hero of the story.

Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett while still a youth laid out the garden
that lies behind the
house. Low box-bordered walks wind their way by rose bushes, perennials
and crepe
myrtles, now the size of trees. There are still many rare shrubs since
young Muscoe, like his grandfather before him, was a deovted
horticulturist.

The family burying-ground lies back of the garden in a cluster of cedars
and holly and is
carpeted with ivy, honeysuckle and periwinkle.

Among the graves is that of Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, Essex
County's most
distinguished citizen, which hears the simple inscription: "To his
native State he devoted the culture of his life, and his highest
attainments were for the service of his country".

"Elmwood" was unoccupied save by caretakers after James Mercer Garnett
moved away
from Virginia in the 1890s. During the 1930s the owner of "Elmwood" was
Mrs. Mary Barton Picton Garnett Mitchell, who continued to visit the
home several times each year, and while circumstances prevented her from
occupying it, she retained a deep and devoted affection for the home of
her forefathers.

In the middle of the twentieth century, a later descendent of the
"Elmwood" Garnett
family---suitably named Muscoe Garnett---inherited ownership of "Elmwood
Farm" and
fortunately decided to move down from New York to occupy the property
and to undertake a renovation of the old main house. The Elmwood house
had been left vacant for many years and was badly in need of repairs.
This Muscoe Garnett died in 1979 and his widow Helene Garnett continued
to live there until her own death occurred early in 1997.

"Elmwood was then left to Muscoe Garnett Jr. and he and his wife Roberta
moved into the main house during the summer of 1997. Today the farm is
still in operation and is very active in the raising of cattle and
horses. The current Elmwood Farm occupies approximately 800 acres in
Loretto, Virginia.

Edith Tunis Sale has written a most interesting and detailed description
of "Elmwood" in her book "The Interiors of Virginia Houses of Colonial
Times".

The late Sally Nelson Robbins in writing of "Elmwood" says: "No spot
could be found which gives so easily to inspiration. The far-reaching
fields, the river, the monarch trees and the seductive old garden casts
a spell upon the soul which must break forth into speech and language".

SOURCES: William Garnett Chisholm's "Genealogy of the Garnetts of
Essex County and their Homes", originally published in the Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 42, numbers 1-4 and volume 43,
number 1, dated 1934 and 1935. Additional information about the present
day Elmwood Farm was provided by Muscoe Garnett III, son of the current
owners. This history of the Elmwood estate was edited and abridged for
publication on the GARNETT Family Registry website by Doug Garnett on
July 12, 2000.

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