Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

BLAND-WETHERBURN HOUSE
Block 9-1 Lot 21

The dwelling house of Richard Bland stood on lots #20 and #21 by 1716. In May 1716, Richard Bland of Prince George County deeded these lots to Colonel Nathaniel Harrison of Surry County. They are described as "two lots or half acres of land on which the said Bland did lately live in the city of Williamsburg on the southern side of the Duke of Gloucester Street--lots numbered 20 and 21…" (York County Records, Deeds and Bonds, III, p. 119.)

At the time of his death (December 1726?), Harrison devised the Williamsburg property unto one of his sons:

"Item: I devise unto my son Benjamin the two lots or one acre of land which I have lying and being in the City of Williamsburg with all houses & edifices thereon to him & his heirs forever." (Will of Nathaniel Harrison - Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XXXI, pp. 278-81.)

The records are confusing as to what disposition Benjamin Harrison made of the property during the eleven years of his ownership, Henry Wetherburn was keeping a tavern on this property, in 1745/46. Harmer and King, merchants and owners of lot #52 (which lot lay opposite to #21 and #22), advertised on Jan. 23, 1745/46:

"The Dwelling House, Out Houses, Store Houses, &c in the main Street opposite to Mr. Wetherburn's in Williamsburg… now the Property of the Subscribers°" (Virginia Gazette, William Parks, ed.)

From 1745/46 until 1779, with the exception of the period ca. 1761-67 when there is no record of the use made of the houses, Henry Wetherburn or his heirs were keeping tavern on this property or renting it for such purposes. Wetherburn died in 1760, leaving the inheritance of his estate, both real and personal, to his nephew, Edward Nicholson and his heirs. Dower rights were given to his wife. The setting aside of one-third of Wetherburn's real estate for his widow, Anne, resulted in the following report of a committee selected for the purpose:

"We the Subscribers have Allotted and Assigned unto Anne Wetherburn Widow of Henry Wetherburn decd the Dwelling House Outhouses and two Lotts of Land No 21 & 22 in the City of Williamsburgh excepting the Tenement in Possession of James Martin Berber." (York County Records, Judgment and Orders, 1759-63, Vol. III, p. 216.

2

After 1767, Wetherburn's heirs rented the property to various tavern keepers. James Southall was there until 1771, when he transferred his tavern-keeping to the Raleigh (York County Records, VIII, Deeds, p. 222). Southall was followed by Robert Anderson: "The Subscriber has taken the House lately occupied by Mr. Southall where he hopes to be prepared, by the ensuing General Court, for the Accommodating of Gentlemen …" (Virginia Gazette Purdie & Dixon, eds., March 7, 1771.)

In September 1779, Ambrose Davenport, town clerk of Williamsburg in 1774,, advertised in the local papers that he had taken over Anderson's taverns

"The subscriber begs leave to inform the public in general, and his friends in particular, that he has opened TAVERN in the house formerly occupied by Captain Robert Anderson…" (Virginia Gazette, Dixon & Nicholson, eds., Sept. 25, 1779.)

By 1786, the former "well frequented tavern" had passed into the possession of William Rowsay, a merchant. He advertised for sale the house "he now resides in which was formerly a well frequented tavern, being the house on the Main Street, nearly opposite the Rawleigh, occupied by Mr. Southall, and afterwards by Mr. Anderson …" (Virginia Gazette or American Advertiser, James Hayes, ed., May 31, 1786)

The Frenchman's Map (1782) shows four houses on what are believed to be colonial lots #20, #21 and #22. It is thought that the four houses from west to east are Tarpley's Store, the Bland-Wetherburn house, the tenement perhaps, and Charlton's. (See Frenchman's Map.)

The College Map (1791) shows the lots numbered #20, #21, #22. Insurance policies of William Russell's property in 1806 bear out this location of Rowsay's lots. (Photostat copy of Policy #618 of the Mutual Assurance Society in Department of Research.)

Rowsay or his estate was taxed for the lots from 1785 through 1819. In 1819, Frances Powell was taxed for two lots. Powell's estate continued to be taxed for what was apparently the tavern lot until 1841. In 1843, Johnson B. Carter 3 came in possession of the property. Carter's property was valued from 1843-47 at $1200., the house taking up the amount of $1100. Johnson Carter transferred the property to William Carter in 1848 (Tax Transfers, Williamsburg). By 1858, the property was owned by John R. Barlow. Land transfers describe the property as "residence and storehouse; McGill's Estate; 1 transferred ..." McGill's Estate, as mentioned in the transfer, came about through Martha McGill who was the daughter of Frances Powell. (For further study of Barlow's ownership see Bland-Wetherburn House History, Department of Research.)

At the time of the Civil War, according to the reminiscences of Mr. John S. Charles, the house was occupied by a Mr. Young, pastor of the Baptist Church, whose wife conducted a "female school" there. (Recollections of Williamsburg written a. 1930. Typed Mss. Research Department)

"In 1889 in a suit which started in 1871, as a result of a Court decree this property of Barlow's was advertised for sale as 'all that valuable lot of land, with the building thereon, situated in the City of Williamsburg Known as the Carter lot bounded as follows: on the North by Duke of Gloucester Street on the East by the lot of Wm. H. E. Morecock being the lot upon which William H. E. Morecock now resides. This lot is well located and highly improved.' The purchaser was R. H. Jackson who paid $790 for the lot and buildings thereon. The property had been valued at $1500 in the 1870's." (Copied from Bland-Wetherburn House History, Department of Research.)

Historical Notes about the Bland-Wetherburn Tavern:

• William Byrd refers many times to eating at Richard Bland's in Williamsburg. (The Secret Diary of William Byrd of Westover 1709-1712.)
• Daniel Fisher in his Diary praised Wetherburn's Tavern. (William and Mary Quarterly, Series 1, Vol. XVII, p. 170.)
• George Washington patronized Southall's tavern in May 1757. (George Washington, Colonial Traveller, by John C. Fitzpatrick, p. 109.)
• Washington frequently dined at Anderson's during the years 1771-1774. (Ibid., pp. 292-357.)

Note: The foregoing facts were taken from the Bland-Wetherburn House History, previously prepared in the Department of Research.