Colonial Lot M Block 14 Historical Report, Block 14 Lot MOriginally entitled: "Colonial Lot M Block 14"
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series - 1311
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library
Williamsburg, Virginia
1990
Original and one in Mrs. Goodwin's Office
1st carbon - Architecture Department
2nd carbon - Interpretation
Colonial Lot M
Block, 14
Colonial Lot M
Block 14
LOCATION:
Lot M is located on what-is now designated as Block 14. It is bounded on the east by Nassau street, on the south by Francis street, on the west by a lot, L, and on the north by a lot numbered 350. See: Tyler's adaptation of the College Map (1791?) to follow.
HISTORY OF LOT SUMMARY:
John Tullitt, bricklayer, was the first known lot owner. In 1716 he conveyed Lot M to William Blaikley. In 1718/19 Blaikley sold to John Custis, owner of the property across Francis street to the south. Because the court records for James City county were destroyed during the Civil War, it is difficult if not impossible to secure detailed data on property in this area of Williamsburg. For the next thirty years, approximately, Custis held the property known as Lot M. When his will was filed in 1750, he had bequeathed a lot in the city to John Cavendish, a tailor. Cavendish, apparently, owned the lot from April, 1750 to December, 1751. Charles Taliaferro became owner. He was followed by John Ferquarson who conveyed to William Cole, (butcher). In 1780 Cole conveyed to Sarah Curtis. The [P.G. 2/6/74 Correction This is Lot 77, Block 44] property was described thus in the deed of conveyance: "my house & lots on the south of the Street opposite to the Mad house now in the occupation and use of Sarah Curtis, formerly the property of Charles Taliaferro & by him sold to John Ferquarson of whom I bought them for a valuable consideration". Williamsburg Land Tax records indicate that Sarah Curtis held a lot from 1782 to 1784. The Frenchman's Map of Williamsburg (1782) shows no houses on the lot. Curtis may have conveyed to Taliaferro who in turn sold to Jesse Cole. The Bucktrout Map (1803) indicates "Taliaferro" on Lot M. From the vague sources, it looks as though this conveyance may have happened, for Cole in 1801 gained 6 lots via Taliaferro, and 1 lot via Taliaferro. By 1810 Cole was definitely owner of Lot M. An insurance policy for adjoining property gives this proof. In 1818 the tax records indicate that Cole still held the property and that there was a negro Baptist Meeting house on the lot. Other references to the Meeting house in 1830 and 1861 reveal the fact that the Meeting house was still on the property but there are no statements as to which lot owner gave title to the church or any date as to ownership. Upon the death of Jesse Cole in 1869, most of his estate fell to his son, Robert F. Cole who died in 1887. An inventory of property owned by Robert F. Cole gave: "House Corner Francis & Nassau Sts. appraised at $450." If this house was located on Lot M, it was erected after the Civil War by one of the Cole owners. In 1887 Cole's heirs gave deed in fee simple to the African Church fronting 20 feet on Nassau Street.
Lot M Block 74.
LOCATION:
Lot M is located on what is now designated as Block 14. It is bounded on the east by Nassau street, on the south by Francis street, on the west by a lot designated as "Pickett" and on the north by a lot numbered "350." See: Tyler's adaptation of the College Map (1791?) opposite page. The Unknown Draftsman Map and Bucktrout Map have "Taliaferro" thereon. See: copies in Research Department.
HISTORY:
Sometime prior to 1716 John Tullitt, 1 bricklayer, was owner of Lot M. In 1716 he conveyed the sane to William Blaikley. On January 13, 1718/19 Blaikley sold to John Custis as will appear from the indenture below:
[January 13, 1718/19]
[William Blaikley to John Custis]
THIS INDENTURE made the thirteenth day of January one thousand seven hundred and eighteen/nineteen in the fifth year of the reign of our sovereign Lord George... between William Blaikly 2 Merchant, of James City County of ye one part and John Custis 3 of ye same County gentn of the other part WITTNESSETH; that whereas the said John Custis by one Lease to him by William Blaikly bearing date the day before the date of these presents is in actuall and proveable possession of the premises herein after granted, to the intent that by virtue of the said lease and of the statute, for transferring uses into possession, he may bee the better enabled to accept A conveyance and release... the said William Blaikly for divers good causes and considerations him thereunto moving, but more especially, for and in consideration of thirty pounds Current mony of Virginia to him in hand paid before ye ensealing and delivery of these presents... Hath granted, bargaind, sold, aliend... unto the said John Custis and his Heirs for ever, one 2. certain lott of ground and house, in ye Citty of Williamsburgh near Custis Square, denoted in ye plan of ye said Citty by ye letter M, which lott of ground and house ye said Blaikly purchasd of John Tullitt; as will more fully [torn] by A deed of conveyance on James Citty records dated ye seventh day of November one thousand seven hundred and sixteen from under ye hand and seal of the said Tullitt...
Will: Blaikley [seal] 1[Witnessed by
Robert Cobbs Juner [?]
Joseph Davenport
Saml Cobbs
James Frazer]
The price paid by Custis was £30. There was a house thereon at the time of sale.
For the next thirty years, approximately, Custis held the property. Whether he rented it out or used it for his servants or overseer, we do not know. However, in his will filed in Prerogative Court, Canterbury, England, he bequeathed a lot to John Cavendish. 2 Little is known about Cavendish except that he was a tailor.
Early in April, 1751 John Keef, landscape, herald and house painter advertised that he could be located "at Mr. Galt's, Watchmaker, or at Mr. Cavendish's, Taylor, in Williamsburg." 3
In August, 1751 Cavendish advertised thus:
Williamsburg, August 24, 1751.
THE Subscriber intending for Europe early in the Spring, or sooner if possible, desires all Persons indebted to him to be so kind as to make speedy Payments, in Order to enable him to discharge his Debts.
John Cavendish. 4
By December, 1751 Cavendish was dead. John Blair made this note in his Diary: 3.
"December 25...Cavendish bury'd died 24th."1
Though we do not have proof that Cavendish was willed Lot M by Custis, we can account for other Custis lots in the city at this date-which seems to indicate that Cavendish became the owner of Lot M. Custis's will was proved at a court held for James City county on April 9, 1750. Thus, Cavendish owned the lot only from April, 1750 to December, 1751.
Because the court records of the James City county part of Williamsburg and most of the General Court records were destroyed in 1865, we know nothing further regarding Cavendish. Nor do we know at what date Charles Taliaferro became owner, or when Taliaferro conveyed to John Ferquarson, or when Ferquarson sold to William Cole. From a deed given by William Cole [butcher] to Sarah Curtis, August 14, 1780 we learn the above quoted facts relating to the lot: "for £300 Virginia Currency. . .my house and lots. . .lying on the south of the Street opposite to the Mad house now in the occupation and use of the Sarah Curtis, formerly the property of Charles Taliaferro & by him sold to John Ferquarson of whom I bought them for a valuable consideration. 2 P.G. 2/6/74 Correction. This is Lot 77, Block 44
Williamsburg Land Tax records for 1782 indicate that Sarah Curtis held 1 lot valued for tax purposes at 10 shillings. 3 She held the lot through 1784 when her name disappears from the records.
The Frenchman's Map of Williamsburg (1782) shows no houses on the lot. 4
4.Research has not been able to find the date at which Sarah Curtis conveyed the property to Jesse Cole or to someone else. As the name, "Taliaferro" appeared on the Lot on the College Map (1791?), it may be that Curtis conveyed to Charles Taliaferro and Cole gained ownership via Taliaferro. As the James City county part of Williamsburg records were destroyed in the Civil War, it is well nigh impossible to trace title fully to lots in this area.
The Bucktrout Map (1803) shows "Taliaferro" on Lot M.
It looks as though Cole did not come into the property until ca. 1804, possibly. He owned several lots around this period; one of which he got via Taliaferro (thought to be the lot now known as the "Taliaferro-Cole Dwelling house.") Cole, also, got 6 lots in 1804 via Taliaferro. One of these could have been Lot M though we have no proof.
Cole, definitely, was the owner of Lot M in 1810. An insurance policy, #1011 Mutual Assurance Society, described the William Bryan property as north of Cole's lot. 1
In 1818 there is a reference to this lot when Jesse Cole is charged with "5 lots." A note reads: "1 ¼ Via Francis B. Bryan, house & lot situated on Duke of Gloucester street, bounded on the east by a cross street which divides this lot from Jesse Coles lots, and on the south by the Baptist Meeting house."2
Little can be found relating to the title to this Baptist Meeting 5. house. We know from secondary sources that an African Baptist Church composed of negro membership entirely, was admitted into the Dover Association in 1791. They stated that their membership in 1791 was about five hundred.
There was a black man, Moses, who first preached among them and afterwards, Gowan, a negro, who called himself Gowan Pamphlet. 1
Whether Taliaferro (if he was owner of the lot in 1791) allowed the negroes to worship in a house on his lot, or whether they were given or sold the property, is not known.
In 1830 there is another reference to the "Baptist Meeting house," when John W. Hutchings, owner of the former Bryan property, had his property described as bounded by "the Baptist Meeting house on the south." 2 Though there are other references to Cole's lot as a boundary to the south for the Hutchings property, 3 no other reference is given to the negro Meeting House until some years later.
Mr. John S. Charles writing of Williamsburg as he recalled it during the Civil War period, had this statement relating to the block and location of the African Church:
...On this square and on the site of the present Executive building of the Eastern State Hospital, there stood in 1861, and for many generations before, an old two story frame building which was very much dilapidated, and was torn down. There were no then houses in this block, fronting on Francis street. On the east side of this block, fronting on Nassau street was the present African Church, as it was known. This church looks today on the exterior very much 6. as it did sixty years ago. In recent years it was made a few feet longer in order to provide a vestibule. A belfry was erected at the same time. 1
Jesse Cole died in 1869 leaving a will. 2 Most of his estate fell to his son, Robert F. Cole, who died in 1887 leaving sons, Robert R., Edward P. and Henry Denison. In the Cole Papers, at William and Mary College Archives there is an inventory list of all the property owned by R. F. Cole in -Williamsburg at the time of his decease. A "House Corner Francis & Nassau Sts. [is appraised at] $450." 3 If this house was located on Lot M, it was erected after the Civil War by one of the Cole owners for Mr. Charles stated that there were no houses at this location in 1861.
In 1887 a deed was drawn between R. R. Cole and H. D. Cole, Executors of R. F. Cole, deceased, and the negro Baptist Church:
[August 14, 1887]
This deed made this 4th day of August A.D. 1887 between R. R. Cole and H. D. Cole Executors of R. F. Cole (deceased), of the City of Williamsburg., Virginia; of the first part and William Jones, Samuel Bonner, John Roberts, Dennis Wright and John Cary of the second part, trustees for the First Baptist Church (Col) of the city of Williamsburg, All of the State of Virginia, WITNESSETH, that in consideration of the sum of one hundred dollars, The receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, the said R. R. Cole and H. D. Cole executors of R. F.. Cole do grant, bargain, sell and by these presents doth release, unto the said William Jones, Samuel Bonner., John Roberts, Dennis Wright and John Cary., Trustees for said Church, a certain portion of a lot of land lying in the City of Williamsburg fronting twenty feet on Nassau Street and bounded as follows Viz: on the East by Nassau Street, on the Vest by the lot owned by the Eastern Lunatic Asylum, on the North, by the lot owned by the said First Baptist Church (Col) and on 7. the South by the lot owned by R. F. Cole's estate, and the said R. R. Cole and H. D. Cole executors agrees to warrant and defend the above described property against any and all persons whomsoever-In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 4th day of August A.D. 1887
R. R. Cole [Seal]
H. D. Cole [Seal] 1[Recorded January 18, 1788]
Further details can be found in the Accounting Department, C.W.I.
Footnotes
[Illustration #1]
Tyler Map
From Frenchman's Map
Illustration #2
Williamsburg Land Tax records:
| 1782 | Sarah Curtis | 1 lot | £ -.10.- |
| 1783 | Sarah Curtis | 1 lot | £ -.10.- |
| 1784 | Sarah Curtis | 1 lot | £ -.10.- |
| 1785 | [No Sarah Curtis] |
[1785 to 1861 (when tax records stop) the writer has not been able to trace title to this lot from the Land Tax records.]
To: Mr. Spratley
From: Mary Goodwin
Re: Site of Baptist Church - Nassau Street.
The land on the western side of Nassau Street between Duke of Gloucester and Francis Streets was divided into two half-acre lots in the eighteenth century, in accordance with the acts of 1699 and 1705 for laying out the City of Williamsburg.
Lot 351 (see attached plat) fronted on Duke of Gloucester Street for 115-½ feet, and ran back along Nassau Street for 189-¾ feet. Lot M fronted on Francis Street, with the same width and depth.
The Baptist Church which now stands on Nassau Street is on the rear of what was lot M, its property line falling about 1-¼ feet south of the diving line between lots 351 and M. The church wall is very near its property line.
As both of these lots were in the James City County portion of Williamsburg in the eighteenth century, as both the James City County and City of Williamsburg court records were - for the most part - destroyed in the Civil War, we have little information on eighteenth and early nineteen century owners of these two lots. However, from maps, plats, insurance policies, and recollections of former inhabitants of Williamsburg, we can offer the following:
The Frenchman's Map of Williamsburg of 1782 indicates that there were no buildings standing on Lot M at that time. On lot 351 the Frenchman's Map shows a rectangular building fronting on Duke of Gloucester Street, and three buildings behind it along the Nassau Street line.
Three plats of Williamsburg lots (the information on later ones obviously drawn from earlier plats) give the name "Taliaferro" on lot M and "Bryan" on lot 351. One of these plats is said to be of about 1780, but we believe it to be somewhat later; another was drawn by Benjamin Bucktrout in 1803; and the third was re-drawn from Bucktrout's 1803 plat by Robert A. Lively in 1867.
From advertisements concerning his coach-making business, we know that Charles Taliaferro was established in Williamsburg by 1761; we know that he occupied the present "Taliaferro-Cole" property, across Nassau and we know that by 1782 he owned a number of other lots in Williamsburg. One of these was doubtless lot M. In 1804, when Taliaferro's estate was sold, Jesse Cole purchased seven of his lots, the "Taliaferro-Cole" property and Lot M among them. Insurance policies, as well as surviving tax records noting transfers, prove this.
2.We know of no eighteenth century buildings on lot M. The Frenchman's Map shows nothing on the lot. If Charles Taliaferro or, after 1804, Jesse Cole, erected buildings on the lot, they were not insured with the Mutual Assurance Society. However, buildings on the site of the present "Bryan House" were insured, and policies on this property often mentioned the southern boundary, as follows:
- Policy #106 - April, 1796. William Bryan insured his dwelling-house on the main street "between the house of Charles Taliaferro ['Taliaferro-Cole' House] and that of Wm. Durfey." No southern boundary mentioned.
- #1011 - February, 1810. Bryan's widow, Frances Bryan, insured the above property, described as being "situated south of the main street East of Durfeys lot north of Coles lot and west of a cross Street dividing Coles lots." As noted, Jesse Cole had obtained lot M in 1804.
- #1511 - July, 1815. Frances Bryan insured above property, described as being between "Coles lot, South and Durfeys lot West."
- #5019 - April, 1823. By this date Jesse Cole had obtained the Bryan lot (lot #351) and insured the property - then occupied by Addison Roundtree - as being situated "lots of my own on the west and South - and streets otherwise."
- #7591 - May, 1830. By this date John W. Hutchings had obtained the property (lot #351) formerly insured by Bryan and by Cole, which Hutchings then occupied; the policy described it as a "Dwelling and store" situated between "the Baptist meeting house on the South, the lot occupied by Brooks on the West and streets on the North and East." As Jesse Cole still owned lot M to the south (see following policy), the Baptist meeting house must have been erected on Cole's property by this date.
- #11,006 - April, 1839. John W. Hutchings insured his property, described as being "on the Main and a Cross street in Williamsburg on the East and north and the lot of Jesse Cole on the south and Brooks' lot west."
- #14,395 - October, 1846. John W. Hutchings insured his property, described as being "on the South side of Main Street in Williamsburg and a Cross street East with the African Church lot on the South of it."
- #17,637 - September, 1853. John W. Hutchings insured his dwelling and store, described this time as "on the Main Street in Williamsburg."
- #21,338 - December, 1860. John W. Hutchings insured his dwelling and store, "on the South Side of Main Street. . .and West side of a cross Street at the intersection of said Streets."
The only other references we have found to a church are in the recollections of late citizens of Williamsburg. Writing of Williamsburg as it appeared at the beginning of the Civil War, Mr. John S. Charles said "There were then no houses in this block, fronting on Francis Street," in speaking of the block bounded by Duke of Gloucester, Nassau, Francis, and Henry Streets. He added: "On the east side of this block, fronting 3. on Nassau street, was the present African Church, as it was known. This church looks today on the exterior very much as it did sixty years ago. In recent years it was made a few feet longer in order to provide a vestibule. A belfry was erected at the same time .
On the side of the Person store at N.E. corner of this square, there was, up to about twenty years ago, one of the oldest houses in this ancient city. It was known in later years as the old Hudgins house, as an old fellow named Jack Hudgins lived there and kept a small grocery store "…This old frame house was on a brickwork about four feet high, one and a half story, with dormer windows… ."
Mrs. Victoria Lee, describing Williamsburg in 1861 said: "the southwest corner of Nassau and Duke of Gloucester street was occupied by a small, frame, story and a half house. This house, which stood high about the street, it was build on a foundation about four or five feet high, had no porch, a flight of steps led directly from the street to the doorway. This house was occupied by a man named Hudgins… Later, this house was moved back on Nassau street, near the negro church. The appearance of this building — the negro church — has not changed ."
In summary, all we known about lot M and the negro church is that the half-acre lot (115-½ feet by 189-¾ feet) belonged to Charles Taliaferro in the latter part of the eighteenth century. It passed from his estate to Jesse Cole in 1804. The Frenchman's Map indicated no buildings on the lot in 1782; and Mr. John S. Charles stated that there were no buildings on the Francis Street portion of the lot in 1861. However, buy 1830 a church had been erected on the back part of lot M, although the property was subsequently described as belonging to Jesse Cole in insurance policy #11,006, April, 1839. This may have been an error on the part of the insurance agents, or it may be that Cole allowed the church to use the property, and deeded it to the church later. In 1844 Jesse Cole and Elizabeth B. Cole, his wife, deeded the "Taliaferro-Cole House" property to their son, Robert F. Cole. After his father's death in 1845, Robert F. Cole came into possession of other property of his father - possibly lot M among other lots.
M.G.