Reverend Henry Skyren
Henry Skyren was born about 1729 in Whitehaven, England. Not much is known about his upbringing, home, or family life. It is likely that he grew up in a strongly religious household as he...
My Blog Posts
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Unknown to Known: How Cicero Gained His Identity
In the colonial era, documents mentioning enslaved persons are hard to come by, and even rarer are documents with details about the slaves themselves. Newspaper advertisements for runaway enslaved persons would often mention slaves...
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The Will of Richard Kennon of Conjurer’s Neck
On 6 August 1694, Richard Kennon of Conjurer’s Neck (what was then Henrico County, in present-day Colonial Heights, Virginia), either wrote or dictated to another his will. Around this time, the bridge between the...
Anne Catherine Spotswood: A woman ahead of her time
Colonial Virginia history has many women who hold a place in this Commonwealth, some well-known, but many who are not. One such woman who holds an important place among Virginia’s colonial history was Anne...
Dating Colonial Pipes and Pipestems
Tobacco is one of the main reasons that the colony of Virginia became successful and survived past its turbulent early years at Jamestown. Since its founding in 1607, the Jamestown colony had sought to...
Benjamin Temple: Virginia’s Forgotten Patriot and Statesman
The Year was 1676. There was much unrest in the colony as supporters of Governor Berkeley, those of Bacon, and natives were going around killing one another. Much of the hubbub was the result...
Anthony Arnold’s Treason
The year 1676 saw the colony of Virginia in a state of Rebellion. The unrest that would come to be known as Bacon’s Rebellion, began at a time of discord in the colony over...
David Kendlehart: A Gettysburg Civilian’s Account, July 6, 1863
“and evry [sic] Loyal person was engaged assisting in some way I was at Hoke’s warehouse when news came that our men where [sic] falling back I hurried down but coudent [sic] get my...
Slavery and Its Effect on the New Territories of the American Frontier
Slavery played a large and important role in the new and forming territories in the Western frontier that were acquired through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and with the defeat of Mexico in 1848...
George Washington and the American Foxhound
Most people know George Washington for being the commander in chief of Continental forces during the Revolution and as our first President of the United States. Many know that he served in the French...
Chelsea Plantation (King William County, Virginia)
Chelsea is one of the best preserved and, for the most part, unchanged colonial era homes in Virginia. In about 1705, Colonel Augustine Moore purchased land in King William County, Virginia from the Graves...
Division of Washington Estate Revealed in an Obscure Spotswood Letter
In October of 2020, I acquired an old historic document. But it is not just any random document. It is a letter written on July 31, 1807 by former General Alexander Spotswood (not...
Sorry New England, Thanksgiving Belongs to Virginia
Many of us were brought up believing that Thanksgiving had its roots in a celebration held by the Pilgrims of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Natives of that area in 1620. I remember...
