Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

NEALE HOUSE OUTBUILDINGS.
BLOCK 19, #11.
November 7, 1930.

The lot on the corner of Duke of Gloucester and Palace streets where the present "Neale" house stands was colonial lot #161, and the present Peachey lot was #162. There were dwelling houses and probably outbuildings on both these lots as early as September 1738; at which time Samuel Boush conveyed the property to James Geddy, describing it as "one lot or half acre of ground…denoted in the plan of the said city by the figures 162 adjoining the lot wherethe said Geddy now dwells with all houses, woods, etc".

Geddy's widow conveyed the Neale house lot to her son, James Geddy, a silversmith in 1760 for £ 100, a large consideration, deeding "all houses, yards, buildings and gardens".

James Geddy then made the following agreement with Hugh Walker, a merchant, and Walker's partner, John Goode of London, in September 1760 to build a shed, and an eastern wing to the dwelling house:

"Whereas in pursuance of an agreement made between the Parties aforesaid, the said Hugh Walker and John Goode have at their own proper cost and charge repaired and improved a messuage or tenement situate…and are to build a shed on the same 16 feet long and 10 feet wide with an outside chimney upon the lot of ground belonging to the said James Geddy where he now dwells … in consideration of the repairs…do let part of the messuage or tenement by them repaired and improved as aforesaid, that is to say the E^{ast end}, or room of the house, with the Chamber or room over the same, and the Cellar underneath with the said shed when built aforesaid, in the whole containing 16 feet in front, and 26 feet in width, with leave to erect and build an outside chimney to the back room or shed, also the free use of the necessary house and well belonging to the said house."

That James Geddy's jewelry shop faced on Palace street seems well-supported by the following data from the Virginia Gazette, for Hugh Walker and his successors held the eastern portion of the house and lot throughout the time Geddy was in business, and from the 2 deeds and mortages on lot 162 (peachey) the shop between the Geddy house and brick house was also rented to some one else. Geddy's inventory indiacates that his shop was not in his house:

October 28, 1768: James Geddy sells jewelry at his shop next door to the Post office.
July 25, 1771 — The store adjoining James Geddy's shop, lately occupied by William Russell is for rent.
October 17, 1771; Mary Dickenson sells millinery etc in a shop next door to Mr Geddy's near the Church.
June 4, 1772: James Geddy has a neat assortment of Plate, Watches and Jewlery … the Reasonableness of the above goods, he hopes, will remove that objection of his shop's being too high up town…

Since the original Neale house lot was 82½ feet long on Duke of Gloucester street, an insurance policy insuring the lot that was later subdivided from it (between the present Neale and Peachey houses) might describe outbuildings also on the present lot. According to older residents of the town there were great numbers of outbuildings on both the Peachey and Neale lot, and the Frenchman's map of 1786 shows also a very large building or group of buildings adjacent to the house on the north.

The following outbuildings are listed in a policy for this subdivided lot issued to Peachey Wills in 1806:

Storehouse (means shop) valued at $100, 1 story high, 14 x 16 feet.
Kitchen, valued at $120, 1 story all wood, 30 x 15.
Dairy, valued at $100, 1 story, brick walls covered with wood.

In addition to these outbuildings, which may fall within the eastern boundary of the Neale house, and the shop foundations which might be expected to exist along the Palace street lot boundary, there is an insurance policy issued to Roscoe 3 Cole in May 1830, at which time he owned both lots. The appended blue print is from the drawing on the insurance policy and gives the arrangment of outbuildings on the Neale lot for that date.

JAMES GEDDY
Notes by George B. Cutten

Copy

The first James Geddy of Williamsburg conducted a smithy and foundry. In 1738 he advertised guns, brass work and small cast bells. His will was proved on Aug. 20, 1744 in which he named his children, among whom were David, James, William, and John. David and William continued their father's business, advertising in 1751; James became a silversmith. This silversmith's first advertisement, of which we have record, appeared in 1766, in which he said he had left a supply of jewellry, gold and silver work for sale at Mr. Bennett White's in Newcastle, but it seems probable that he was in business before this, perhaps as early as his two brothers. In 1767, James Geddy, goldsmith near the church in Williamsburg, advertised silver teaspoons, tongs, and shoe and knee buckles; and later in that same year he was chosen (a councillor) to the Common Council of Williamsburg. In 1768, he listed his importations from London. In 1769, he said he had on hand a neat assortment of country made gold and silver work; he had not imported any jewellry that season. In 1770, he still had on hand a neat assortment of country made gold and silver work, likewise a small assortment of imported jewellry (ordered before the association took place).

In 1771 and 1772, he advertised imported goldsmith's and Watchmaker's tools, plate, watches, and jewellry, of which he gives a list, and in the latter year says that mourning rings and all kinds of engraving are done at the same shop by William Waddill. He named one of his sons for Mr. Waddill. A receipted bill for work done in these two years for Col. William Preston gives the correct spelling of his name. In 1773, he attended a meeting to promote manufacturing in Virginia and to encourage home production, and later in the year advertised goods imported from London. He also wanted an apprentice and had a silver watch stolen from his shop. Always referring to himself as a goldsmith, he tells in 1774 of having imported plate and jewellry from London, but says he has likewise all sorts of country made gold and silver work which he will sell at lower rates. He pays 2 seven shillings an ounce for old silver. In 1775, he gives a list of jewellry for sale and says he has just procured a watch finisher. On Oct. 16, 1777, he notified the public that any kind of ore that may be found within this or the neighboring states, and brought to Mr. Geddy's shop in this city, anytime before the month of December, would be assayed or refined gratis.

But at that time he was preparing to move from his native town; on May 2, 1777 he offered for sale "houses and lot whereon I now live in Williamsburg." Again, on Dec. 5, 1777, he offered his house for sale and also at his shop in Williamsburg "sundry tools and materials in the Goldsmith and Watchmaker's Business." His house was finally sold to Robert Jackson, a merchant of Williamsburg, and in the deed, dated Dec. 11, 1778, he was referred to as "Jeweller of Dinwiddie." There are two additional items which indicate his new location and surroundings. The Personal Property List, Dinwiddie Co. for 1782 contained the following: James Geddy. 3 Free male tithes, 10 Negro tithes, 6 Negroes under age, 6 Horses, 24 Cattle, 1 Wheel chair. An advertisement, dated Sept. 18, 1784, read as follows: For Sale. The land and plantation whereon the subscriber lately lived, on Nottoway River in Dinwiddie Co., containing 400 acres. It lies about 30 miles above Petersburg. James Geddy.

In 1783, his second and probably final move took place and was announced by him on Oct. 4, in the following manner: "James Geddy, Goldsmith and Watchmaker, has lately removed to Petersburg to follow his business in its various branches. His former customers and others who choose to employ him, may depend upon having their work/done faithfully, expeditiously, and reasonably… He gives the best prices for old gold and silver." On Oct. 22, 1785, James Geddy attended a meeting of the Petersburg Jockey Club, to which he was a subscriber, and attended again Sept. 26, 1787 1877. At a meeting at the Golden Ball in Petersburg Sept. 16, 1786, to consider the migration of certain persons to the commonwealth, James Geddy voted, and later was one of those who protested to the governor concerning the meeting. In 1788, he served as a vestryman of Bristol Parish.

3

Most of the information we have concerning him in Petersburg has been obtained from the Records of Deeds. When he moved here he probably leased a shop from William Wright, silversmith, but a year later, on Nov. 30, 1784, he bought from James Fawcett one-half of lot No. 2 for 600 pounds, and, two years later obtained one-half acre of land on the north side of Water St. from Erasmus Gill for 150 pounds. Two years after that he again bought land from Erasmus Gill, this time Lot No. 5 in Gillfield, Petersburg, for £24-16-2. In 1791, he bought Lot No. 45 on the north side of Bollingbrook St., and the same year James Geddy and Elizabeth his wife sold one-sixth acre of land on Water St. from the corner of James Geddy's shop. In 1794, he sold to benjamin Smith Lot No. 5 in Gillfield for 40 pounds, and the same year he bought from John Baird a lot adjoining his land on Water St.

The next three transactions were by way of gifts to his children. In 1800 he deeded to William Wadill Geddy the lot on Water St. he had bought from John Baird, and to James Geddy, Jr., Lot No. 45 on the north side of Bollingbrook St.; in 1802 to John and Elzabeth Taliaferro, the latter his daughter, the life use of half of Lot No. 2, after which it should pass to their eldest child. The consideration in these transactions was the love and affection he bore his children. The final entry was different: on July 9, 1802, James Geddy, Sr., silversmith and watchmaker of Petersburg, was about to marry Jane Bradley, and their marriage agreement was here reorded.

The newspapers return us to usiness considerations. On March 26, 1805, James Geddy wished to take as an apprenice to the gold and silversmith business, a lad 14 or 15 years of age, of respecable connections and discrete deportment, and, on Oct. 8, of the same year he inormed the public that he had moved next door to Dr. Bragg's where they may be frnished with any work in his line (warranted) with dispatch on easy terms.

It was good of you to send the suggestion concerning the use of "Common Council," and I was especially glad to get the name of James Geddy's first wife.

Since sending you the sketch, I find that he married Jane Bradley on July 10, 1802, service performed by Rev. Andrew Syme.

You are welcome to make what use you care to, of the material I sent.

Did you notice an article in the July 1, 1947 (Sunday) edition of the Richmond Times Dispatch on the "18th century Silversmiths of Richmond?"

I was thinking of writing an article on "The Silversmiths of Williamsburg." Do you think it would be worth while, and would Colonial Williamsburg welcome it? My problem with Williamsburg is just the opposite from my usual one: with most communities I find it difficult to get pre-revolutionary material, but with Williamsburg my difficulty is in finding material concerning silversmiths from 1780 to 1850.

P.S. I wrote the article on Richmond S.S.

Thank you for letting us see your material on James Geddy. We are especially interested in the Petersburg references, as most of them are new to us.

The only suggestion I can make is that you change the word "councillor" (page 1 line 12) to "a member of the Common Council" — to avoid confusion with the Governor's Council, members of which were always called councillors.

A note by Lyon G. Tyler tells us that James Geddy "married Elizabeth Waddill and moved to Dinwiddie County. The tombstone of his wife is in Blandford Churchyard, according to which she was born in 1735 and died December 7, 1799. Their daughter, Nancy Geddy, married John Brown, emmigrant from Ayrshire, born 1750, died November 2, 1810." James Geddy was a member of the vestry of Bristol Parish in 1788. We do not find any further information concerning him in the Vestry Book of Bristol Parish (ed. by C. G. Chemberlayne); and have not found the date of his birth or of his death.

We have made a copy of your notes on James Geddy, which we will place in our file of material concerning him, if this is agreeable to you.

I am returning your sketch herewith.