Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

LOT #353, BLOCK 13-1
[The Rectory]

^{obsolete 1944}

Few records of the lots and buildings in this block have come to light. The loss of the Williamsburg Hustings Court Records, and of those of James City County, and of the General Court constitute one of the reasons for the scarcity of records.

The Frenchman's Map of 1782[?] furnishes the first known evidence that there were houses on this lot. The arrangement of the buildings on the lot is as illustrated: Lots #353 & #354
These Lots have not been excavated. Enlarged. Not drawn to exact scale.

The Unknown Draftsman's and the Annie Galt Maps show the name "Perry" and the lot number "353" in this lot. This lot is bounded on the west by a lot marked "Taliaferro" and on the east by one marked "Greenhow". The two lots south of Lot #353 contain no names of owners.

The late eighteenth century owner of Lot #353 is believed to be Hartwell Perry. A Hartwell Perry was the head of a family of five in Williamsburg in 1782. Perry owned no slaves. (Census taken in Williamsburg of heads of families in 1782 and used in the U. S. Census of 1790.) Nowhere has this name been found in any earlier record. Perry had a small account with Humphrey Harwood, Williamsburg carpenter in 1786. (Ledger B, p. 102.) For mending the plastering in which lime and hair were used, Harwood charged 8s 4d.¹

The Williamsburg Land Tax Records show two lots in the possession of Hartwell Perry in 1791 and 1797. In 1801, Perry's name is on the tax records, but the figures are folded in. The Tax Transfers for 1803 (In the Virginia State Library, Archives Department) show that Frances Timberlake had received 2 lots "via Perry". Other records quoted below show that after Hartwell Perry's death in 1800, his widow who with their three daughters inherited Perry's real estate, married Francis Timberlake. It is believed that Timberlake lived on lot #353 after marrying Hartwell Perry's widow. In 1806, 9, 10, 11, and 1821 Francis Timberlake "Residing in Williamsburg" was one of the appraisers of property in Williamsburg for the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia. (See Photostat pp. 7, 11, 24, 25, 27, 29, 34.)^*

Further proof that Timberlake owned lot #353 is found in the insurance policy [No. 1516, p. 19] taken out by Jessie Cole on his property on lot #352 in 1815. In describing the location of his lot, Cole gave Francis Timberlake's lot as his eastern boundary. (See photostat copies of insurance policies taken out with the Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia.)

The Williamsburg tax records show that Francis Timberlake was taxed for 2 lots from 1806 through 1819. The annual value which was place by the tax assessors on Timberlake's two lots rose from $50 in 1806 to $100 in 1812 and remained at that value through 1819.

In 1820, when a different system of recording property values began, Francis Timberlake is shown as the possessor of one lot on which there were houses valued at $1200, houses and lot at $1400. It is believed that the recorded of taxes listed as one, two or more contiguous lots. The record for Timberlake so far as number of lots and value of buildings and -4- lots were concerned remained unchanged in the tax records until 1835, at which time the lot was recorded as "Francis Timberlake's Est.".

After Timberlake's death [in 1833] Ann Sharp, one of the three daughters of Hartwell Perry, brought suit against Jesse Cole, one of Timberlake's executors, for the rent due her deceased sister who had never sold her share of Hartwell Perry's house to Timberlake. The facts brought out in her bill of complaint are an important source for this house history, it is believed. Her lawyer stated

That Hartwell Perry died in 1800 seised of a House & Lot in Williamsburg, leaving a widow & three children, viz. The Complt Ann, her sister Anna, who died last year, [1834?] without child or heir Except the Complt & her sister Sally, who afterward married Wm Crew; the said Sally is dead leaving no heir except the Complt, her sister. That the widow of Hartwell Perry kept possession of the House until she intermarried with F. Timberlake, & he held it until his death in 1833. That Timberlake never accounted for the rent of Sarah Crews' portion of Sd House &c &c. That the Complt & Anna sold their Interest in Sd House &c to said Timberlake, but Sarah never did -- & Complt in Entitled as only heir of said Sarah to her portion of House & Rents. (Folder 182, Southall Papers, Library of the College of William & Mary.)

The house and land were sold for $487. (Ibid.) It is not known to whom it was sold. In fact from 1835 on until about the time of the Civil War, there is a gap in the records concerning this lot.

Two citizens of Williamsburg in the 1920's recalled the appearances of houses at the time of the Civil War and some of the facts regarding the history of these houses. Mr. Charles said that Mr. John James built the house known as the Episcopal Rectory¹ on this lot. The annex that stood on the west and the porch on the front he thought were recently constructed. He recalled no outhouses on the grounds in the 1860's. Mrs. -5- Victoria Lee said that it was a comparatively new building in the 1860's and that the Episcopal minister, Mr. Ambler,¹ lived there. (Typed Mss. "Recollections of Williamsburg in the Nineteenth Century" by Mr. John Charles, Mrs. Victoria Lee, and Mrs. Martha Vandegrift, pp. 28, 81.)

THE RECTORY - 9
^{Block 13}

According to the memoirs of a former aged resident of Williamsburg, this house was built and owned by John T. James (J. S. Charles, Recollections of Williamsburg, p. 30). The building was described as being comparatively new about 1861, and was occupied about that time by the Rev. Thomas M. Ambler, minister of Bruton Church. (Mrs. Victoria Lee, Williamsburg in 1861, p. 19.) It served for many years as the Episcopal rectory. (According to Mr. Moorehead, this building is the domestic neo-Greek style of architecture.)

RESTORATION HOUSE
COLONIAL LOT #353, Block, 13 - #34.
June 23, 1932

From tracing records in the tax books it seems that this house was built in 1844 by John T. James, the man who also built the Wolfe house.

This building was occupied by Mr. Ambler the Episcopal Minister and has been owned by Bruton Parish until recently. There are two descriptions of the building as it was shortly before the war:

(Mr. Charles "Recollections of Williamsburg.") ...The next house looks much like it did in 1861, except the annex to the western end with porch around to the front, which is of recent construction. This house was built and owned by John James, who has already been noted as owner and builder of the "Wolfe" house. There were no outhouses in the yard of these premises, according to the writers recollection. ...

(Mrs. Victoria Lee "Williamsburg in 1861.") ...The Episcopal rectory, which, at that time, was a comparatively new building, where Mr. Ambler, the Episcopal minister, lived, has changed very little. Both the Cole paper shop and the Cole residence are unchanged; and both of these buildings were owned then, as they are now, by the Coles. ...

The house may have been built near the site of a much earlier building as one is shown on the Frenchman's map on the line of Duke of Gloucester Street as were all the houses on the main -2- street.

At the present time little is known about the house on this site, although there may be additional insurance policies that would cover this point.