Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

Colonial Lot #52

Lot #52 was granted by the trustees of Williamsburg to Samuel Cobbs on January 10, 1720, with the proviso that he build one or more good dwelling houses on it within the ensuing 24 months. [York County Records - Deeds, Bonds - Vol. III, p. 351]

Apparently several structures had been erected on the lot some time prior to May 3, 1735, one of which stood on that portion of the lot facing on Nicholson Street. The first division of the lot was made in May, 1735, when Cobbs and Edith, his wife, deeded all of it except "one House then letten for Lodgins to William Randolph, Esq., situate at the back of the Garden, with the ground whereon it stands and the ground eastward and westward the breath of the said House across the said Lott--" to John Harmer and Walter King, merchants. [Ibid. - Deeds - Book V, p. 181]

The portion of the lot sold at this time apparently remained in the possession of Harmer and Kind for some years, for in 1746 the two merchants inserted the following advertisement in the Virginia Gazette:

January 23, 1745/6

THE Dwelling House, Out Houses, Store Houses, &c. in the main Street, opposite to Mr. Wetherburn's in Williamsburg, (the most convenient Spot in the City for Trade, and a well accustomed Store,) now the Property of the Subscribers, will be exposed to publick Sale, to the highest Bidder, at the said House, on Tuesday the 4th of March next, in the Afternoon: As also a Quantity of very good Houshold Furniture;...[William Parks, editor]

The lot number was not given in the advertisement, but the map by an unknown Frenchman (1781 or 1782 of 1786) showed that lot #21, on which Wetherburn was located in 1746, was directly opposite lot #52, apparently the property described above by the two merchants.

2

For some reason the sale did not take place on March fourth, for Harmer and King inserted another advertisement in the Virginia Gazette which ran from March 20, 1746, to April seventeenth of the same year:

THE Dwelling House, Out Houses, Stores Houses, and Household Furniture, of the Subscribers in Williamsburg, which were lately advertiz'd to be Sold on the 4th Instant, and the Sale being then put off, are now to be Sold to the highest Bidder, on Wednesday the 23rd of April. [William Parks, editor]

No record of the sale of the property at this time has been found. In August, 1746, John Harmer advertised his intention to leave for England in a short time. [Virginia Gazette, Parks, August 21-26, 1746] It seems not unlikely, however, that Kind may have previously sold his share to Harmer, his partner, and in November, 1746, Harmer apparently sold all of the property formerly owned jointly by the two men to King.

November 17, 1746

Harmer, John - Merchant
to
King, Walter - Merchant
Consideration: 215 Pounds

All that messuage and lot of ground, denoted in the plan of the City of Williamsburg by the numbers 52, which said land was granted and released unto the said John Harmer and Walter King by Samuel Cobbs and Edith, his wife, May 3, 1735, excepting out of the same one House then letten for Lodgins to William Randolph, Esq. situate at the back of the Garden, with the ground whereon it stands and the ground eastward and westward the breadth of the said House across the said Lott to them the said John Harmer and Walter King their heirs or assigns, forever in joint tenancy except as before excepted. [York County Records - Deeds - Book V, p. 181]

The records are not clear as to what happened next. It is probable that Kind kept the lot and used it for business purposes. He, too, decided to return to England [Virginia Gazette, August 8, 1751] and the York County Records reveal the fact that young George Gilmer, son of Dr. George Gilmer of Williamsburg, was his companion on the trip there. [York County Records - 3 Wills, Inventories -Book XX, p. 257] It seems likely that that portion of lot #52 which King owned passed from him to Dr. Gilmer, since the association between the two men was a close one, and a deed of 1765, found in the York County Records, indicates that Dr. Gilmer had come into possession of a lot immediately west of lot #53 by that time. In that year James Carter deeded a portion of lot #53 to James Craig, a jeweler, which was described as being "bounded on the West by the lot of Dr. George Gilmer, deceased---." [Ibid. - Deeds, Book VII, p. 167]

Dr. Gilmer died in 1757, and when his will was probated on February twenty-first of that year, it was found that he had bequeathed his "brick store and house with the lot and every other house thereon--to my son George now in England." [Ibid. - Wills, Inventories - Book XX, p. 423] There is no definite proof that this item in Dr. Gilmer's will referred to his property on lot #52, but it seems likely that it did: the eldest son, Peachy, inherited lots 163 and 164, the property on which Dr. Gilmer lived at the time of his death, and John received Dr. Gilmer's share in the Raleigh Tavern. [Ibid.]

At any rate, on December 4, 1766, young Dr. Gilmer announced his intention in the Virginia Gazette to practice medicine in Williamsburg. It is probable that young Dr. Gilmer carried on his practice in a house on the western portion of lot #52, and that Jane Hunter, a milliner, rented the brick ship which still stands on the eastern side of the lot. In 1767, Jane Hunter advertised as a milliner with her sister, Margaret, "the subscriber having a sister just arrived from London, who understands the millinery business--" [Virginia Gazette, Purdie & Dixon, October 1, 1767] Two years later, Jane Hunter inserted another advertisement in the Gazette to the effect that her ill health made it necessary for her to go to England, that she hoped to return in the fall, and that the business would be carried on by her sister. 4 [Ibid, April 13, 1769] She must have returned at the time she intended, for just one year later an agreement was made between her and Dr. George Gilmer that she should pay rent, for four years, "all that part of a lot of land now in the possession of the said Jane--denoted--by the figures 52, and bounded on the West by the lot of the late William Prentis [lot #51] dec'd--, on the East by the brick shop now occupied by Dr. James Carter and by the lot of Mr. James Craig, and including one half of the stable and all the garden, and on the North by the lot of or part of a lot belonging to Daniel Baxter---." The rent was to be £100 for the four years. [York County Records - Deeds - Book VIII, p. 67]

Apparently the position of Carter's shop and that of Craig's was confused in the above deed. It appears, further, that the house at the rear of the garden which had been used as a lodging by William Randolph had by now come into the possession of Daniel Baxter. Although the records at this point are very confusing, they seem to indicate that by 1770, Dr. Gilmer practiced medicine in a building on the western extremity of the lot; that Jane Hunter rented the brick shop on the east; that lot #52 was bounded immediately on the east by James Craig's property, purchased from the Carters in 1765 and 1766, and that James Carter was on the eastern part of lot #53.

Dr. Gilmer had moved to an estate called Pen Parke in Albemarle County in 1774, and was there to become an intimate of Thomas Jefferson [William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. VII (1), p. 134, n. 1] In 1774, Dr. Gilmer sold to William Russell "the part of a lot... bounded on the East by the lots or parts of lots of James Craig and Margaret Hunter, on the West by the lot of Col. John Prentis, being the greater part of the lot numbered...53." The deed reads as follows: 5

November 15, 1774

Gilmer, George - Dr. Physics
Lucy, his wife
to
Russell, William
Consideration: 410 Pounds Current Money

All that part of a lot lying and being in the said city of Williamsburg, bounded on the South by the Duke of Gloucester Street, on the East by the lots or parts of lots of James Craig and Margaret Hunter, on the North by part of a lot belonging to Daniel Baxter, on the West by the lot of Col. John Prentis, being the greater part of the lot numbered in the plan of the city by figures 53. And all houses. [York County Records - Deeds - Book VIII, p. 461]

From all the facts available about lots 52 and 53, it seems most likely that an error was made in the above deed when the number 53 was used. Everything points to the fact that the lot under consideration must have been #52. It looks as though Gilmer sold the building on the west to William Russell and, in all likelihood, he rented the brick shop to Margaret Hunter, who appears to have taken over her sister's millinery business. By June 20, 1771, she had moved to the corner store in Dr. Carter's brick house on the corner of Botetourt and Duke of Gloucester streets. [Virginia Gazette, William Rind, June 14, 1771]

The evidence indicates that Margaret Hunter later bought the brick shop on the eastern part of lot #52 and conducted her business there. On February 5, 1780, she advertised goods for sale "in her store opposite Mr. Ambrose Davenport's Tavern," and on October 11, 1787, an advertisement in the Gazette announced the sale, on November 12, of

THE BRICK HOUSE the property of the late Mrs. Hunter, situated in the most public part of the city, well calculated for a store or dwelling house, in very good repair, it has a flush cellar, laid with flag stones, and a very convenient kitchen; also two very likely NEGRO WOMEN, both 6 exceeding good house servants, one is also an excellent washer, ironer, and clear starcher, and a good pastry cook; one of the women has four fine children who will be sold with their mother, the other has two very likely girls, they will be sold either with their mother or separately; likewise the household and kitchen furniture among which are a handsome chest of drawers, and a desk and book case, both mahogany, with several very useful articles for a kitchen, particularly a very good jack, with everything compleat.

Six months credit will be allowed for one half the purchase money, and twelve months for the remainder, on giving bond with approved security to EDWARD CHARLTON, Adm'r.

[Virginia Gazette & Weekly Advertiser, Thomas Nicolson]

At the time Davenport was conducting a tavern on lot #21. [Report of the Bland-Wetherburn house, p. 6]

Some time prior to 1803, William Russell apparently came into possession of all of lot #52, for the Bucktrout map of 1803 showed lot #52 in the possession of a person or persons named Russell. By 1806, William Russell was taxed on two lots, and in the same year he was named as the owner of the lot east of Rachel Anderson's property, which was located on lot #51. [Mutual Assurance Society, Policy 669, p. 3]

The tax list of 1810 again showed William Russell with two lots, and two years later the lots were listed as belonging to his estate. From 1815 to 1818, Catherine C. Russell was taxed on two lots, apparently nos. 52 and 22, the ones left by William Russell. By 1819, Leonard Henley was shown to have acquired two lots from a Catherine C. Russell, "a certain house and lot late of the residence of said C. C. Russell." From 1825 to 1861, Leonard Henley and Harriet Henley were taxed on various lots, but there is no evidence to show that any one of these was lot #52.

Describing what was apparently the lot east of #51, Mr. J. S. Charles, in his "Recollections of Williamsburg" in 1861, makes it appear that there was 7 at the time only one building left on the lot in the mid-nineteenth century: "The next building east of the brick house now used as an auto shop. This is a very old building, the first floor of which was much higher than at present, reached by stone steps leading up from both sides in front; it was used for a store and residence." [Williamsburg in the Nineteenth Century." p. 145]

Mrs. Victoria Lee, in speaking of the Williamsburg of 1861, described what appears to be lot #52 as follows:

"Beyond the Lee House was a two story brick store kept by Mr. Tiesen. This building has now been restored and is called the Kinnamon store. To the west of Tiesen's store there were two very small, dilapidated cottages, one of which was occupied by the Bodkins. I cannot recall who lived in the other, however, both of these cottages were shortly torn down." [Ibid., p. 73]

COLONIAL LOT # 52 - WEST
"SAMUEL COBBS"
September 25, 1935

The entire colonial lot 52, which was 82½ feet from on Duke of Gloucester Street, was sold by the Trustees of Williamsburg to Samuel Cobbs, on January 10, 1720, with a building clause providing he should erect one or more suitable buildings on it within 24 months or the lots would escheat. Some building was erected before 1722.

It is probable that a dwelling house was erected on the western portion of the lot about this time and some time later the brick store (still standing) was built on the eastern portion (see separate report on No. 52 - East). Cobbs sold the property in 1735 to John Harmer and Walter King, merchants. On January 23, 1746, they advertised the property for sale in the Virginia Gazette.

Virginia Gazette, Wm. Parks, Ed.

January 23, 1745/6

The Dwelling House, Out Houses, Store Houses, &c. in the main Street, opposite to Mr. Wetherburn's in Williamsburg (the most convenient Spot in the City for Trade, and a well accustomed Store,) now the Property of the Subscribers, will be exposed to publick Sale, to the highest Bidder, at the said House, on Tuesday the 4th of March next, in the Afternoon. As also a Quantity of very good Household Furniture;... -Harmer & King.

Harmer sold his share to King in November, 1746. The latter left for England in 1751, taking young George Gilmer with him. In 1765 the entire property was owned by Dr. George Gilmer. In 1770 he sold Jane Hunter, a milliner, a building on the western portion of the lot, "including one half of the stable and all the garden".

On November 15, 1774, Gilmer re-sold the property to William Russell, who owned it for a number of year. There is no insurance policy 2 covering this property. Just before the War Between the States, Mrs. Victoria Lee said that there were two very small, dilapidated cottages, one of which was occupied by the Badkins, (just west of the brick store). Both cottages were razed early in the War.