Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library

LOCATION:

Lot #234 is located on the north side of Nicholson Street opposite the Market Square. The lot is not numbered on late eighteenth century maps of Williamsburg but is marked, "Lee". On the east, the lot is bounded by Queen Street. (Illustration #1, Appendix)

HISTORY:

The first records yet discovered pertaining to the lot was a grant of land from the trustees of the city to William Robertson in 1714:

November 11, 1714.

Trustees City of Williamsburgh
to
Robertson, William from Trustees Lease
Consideration: 5 shillings

...Eight certain lots of ground in y^e City of W^msburgh designed in y^e platt of y^e said city by these figures 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 207, 208, with all Pasturages, Woods...
...Shall within 24 months begin to build and finish one good dwelling house on each of said premises according to An Act entitled Building of the Capitol and city of Williamsburgh ..... (York County Records, Bonds and Deeds III, p 28)
Release Deed was given on November 12, 1714. (Ibid, p 29)

It is assumed that Robertson built on the lot in order to comply with the Act of 1705.

A year later Robertson conveyed lots #233 and #234 "with Houses" to Philip Ludwell:

December 19, 1715

Robertson, William of the County of James City
to
Ludwell, Phillip¹ of y^e same County
Consideration: 30 shillings

... two Lotts of Ground in the City of Williamsburgh 2 lying on the North side of the Market Place and denoted in the Plan of y^e said City by the figures (233, 234) With all & singular Houses, Yards, Gardens... (York County Records, Deeds and Bonds, III, p 95) Recorded Jany 16, 1715. (Ibid, Orders, Wills, Bk 14, p 471)

From subsequent records to follow chronologically, we know that Ludwell's son, Philip III, had a dwelling on lot #234 of considerable size which he used at times when he "lodged" in Williamsburg rather than at his plantation at Greenspring near Jamestown. We know, also, that he owned other property in the city (lot 45 known as the Ludwell-Paradise House), and the "Blue Bell" behind the Capitol. In 1755 Ludwell advertised a "commodious Dwelling-House" to be let immediately. From sources which appear later in the report, it seems that the house offered for rent in 1755 was the Mansion located on lot #234:

To be LET, and ENTERED on Immediately,
A Very commodious Dwelling-House, with a Well of very good water, Out-Houses, Garden pailed in, and other Conveniences, in perfect good Order, and very Convenient for a private Family, or Lodgers, and situated in One of the most agreeable Parts of the Town...
Philip Ludwell.

After the death of Ludwell in 1767, the estate in Virginia and the lots in Williamsburg were bequeathed to Ludwell's three daughters: Hannah (who later married William Lee); Lucy (who married John Paradise) and Frances who died single shortly after her father's death. In the Ms Papers of William Lee in the Virginia Historical Society, there is a memorandum account of the division of Ludwell's estate (1770/71) noting "Mrs. Lee's Part" thus:

M^rs Lee's Part
The Lands at Green Spring with all the Improvements, Slaves, Stocks &c £13697.6
Houses & Lotts in W^msburg viz Warrington's¹ Tenement where Col^o Ludwell used to Lodge 300.-.- 3 Brick House ...................£750
Blue Bell ..........................250
...[lands] £14 997. 0

The Virginia Estate valued by the Trustees of the late Honb^le Philip Ludwell Esq^r to £15602.10.- Virginia Currency or £12482 Ster^g & by them conveyed to Hannah Phillipa Lee-via---1770
Greenspring Estate... 1024 acres... Rich Neck
Williamsburg Estate consisting of 3 freehold tenemts viz
Warringtons, or the Mansion House £ 300
Brick House 750
Blew Bell 250
£ 1300
to be paid in Money by Mrs Paradise 141.3.6
£15602.10

In these two items supplied William Lee in England by the appointed trustees in Virginia-, the division of Ludwell's estate is apportioned. Lee who was living in England found it difficult to manage the property at a long distance, so he began to think of selling the lots in Williamsburg though this sale was not consummated for some years.

In July 1770, Richard Henry Lee, brother of William Lee and one of the trustees in the settlement of the Ludwell estate, wrote from Chantilly to his brother, William, in London:

July 7, 1770.

Dear Brother... I came a week ago from Williamsburgh, about 5 days before the assembly was prorogued, and I was present when the division was made between you and Mr. Paradise. The conveyances were not made, but Col^o Corbin promised they should immediately be set about by an able conveyancer, and the whole recorded at the next General Court. The houses in Williamsburg were divided by lott (having been first all valued by an experienced workman) and the large brick house that Rind lives in; the Mansion as it is called, where my Uncles family lived 4 in Town; with the Blue Bell, a large house just behind the Capitol, fell to your share; and you were charged in account with their valuation. The first rents for £60 a year, the other 2 rent for £20 each, making £100 per ann. in the whole. With respect to them, I think fortune favoured you, they being to be chosen in preference to the rest .... (Lee Ms Papers beginning 1770 (folder) Virginia Historical Society)

From the above letter we see that Lee's property assigned to him in Williamsburg had been rented, and that the Mansion rented for £20 per year.

In writing to Robert Carter Nicholas, one of the trustees in the division of the estate, Lee said:

Ap 23, 1772 London

... As it appears that the Houses in W^msburg when rented do not let for 8 p C^r on the value to w^ch they were appraised, w^ch p^r c^r p^r are less than what is common for houses, I sh^d think it w^d be best way to dispose of them all, & as I suppose the appraisors only fixed that value on them, w^ch they w^d be willing to give, I shall be very willing therefore to take for them all, the appraised price, & shall esteem it very kind in you to negotiate this business for me. That is, to sell all the houses in Williamsburg, not under the appraised price, nor w^d I have one house Sold without the whole. When the Bargain is made you shall have what Conveyances you think proper... (Lee Ms Papers, Virginia Historical Society)

Another letter from Lee to Nicholas on August 3, 1772, indicates that the houses had not been sold as yet:

...Shou'd you approve of my plan of selling the houses in W^msburg the sooner they are disposed of the better & I shall be perfectly Satisfied with the value they were appraised at---...

The houses were not sold but rented for some years.

In September, 1773, the tenements of William Lee were advertised for sale:

For SALE,
THE three following TENEMENTS in the City of Williamsburg, which formerly belonged to the Honourable PhillipLudwell, and are now held by WilliamLee, Esquire, of the City of London, in Right of his Lady; namely, the large wooden House, on the Back Street; next Door but one to Mr. Speaker's; the Brick House on the Main Street, where Mrs. Rind Lives; and the House called the BlueBell, below the Capitol, opposite to the Playhouse, and in which Mr. Brammer5 formerly lived, together with all the Lots and their Appurtenances. The Terms may be known of the Subscribers. If these Tenements should not, in the mean Time be disposed of, they will be offered at publick Sale before Mr. Southall's Door, on Friday the 29^th of October, at four o'clock in the Afternoon.
RICHARD HENRY LEE.
FRANCIS L. LEE.
RO: C NICHOLAS. (Virginia Gazette, Purdie & Dixon, eds., September 23, 1773.)

The above quoted notice fixes the "Mansion" lot as "the large wooden House, on the Back Street, next Door but one to Mr. Speaker's." Peyton Randolph was Speaker of the Burgesses at this period and lived on Nicolson Street at the intersection with England Street. (See: Randolph-Peachy House History)

The Frenchman's Map (1782) of Williamsburg shows no building on the lot though there is a building on the lot west (also owned by the Ludwell estate which had come to Paradise). What happened to this "large wooden House" after 1773 is not known. Probably it fell a prey to fire or the vandalism of the enemy in the Revolution.¹

According to Richard Henry Lee's letter of 1770 (above quoted) "I think fortune favoured you, they [the lots] being to be chosen in preference to the rest [Paradise's lots]." Yet in 1782 the Williamsburg Land Tax Records indicate the same valuations of Lee's and Paradise's property:

1782--	William Lee Estate	------3 lots	----£7
	John Paradise Estate	------3 lots	----£7

(copy from originals, Virginia State Archives)

The College Map (1791?) indicates "Lee" on the lot as does the Bucktrout Map (1803). Sometime before 1843 Thomas G. Peachy had come into the lot along with the lot to the west adjoining his property. Samuel S. Griffin who owned the lot on which the Tayloe house is now located, gave Peachy as his western boundary in a deed of date February, 1, 1843. (Southall Ms Papers, Legal Cases and Estates, folder 293, William and Mary College) In 1853 A. G. Peachy, heir of Thomas G. Peachy, conveyed to Richard W. Hansford "a certain lot with the houses thereon situated in the City of Williamsburg,^{containing between three and four acres of land, and} ...bounded north by the property owned by Robert H. Armistead, south by the Court House Square, east by the lot of S. S. Griffin, since purchased and now owned by the said Hansford, and west by England Street." (James City County & the City of Williamsburg, Deed Bk 1, p 336) This sale comprised four lots (marked "Peachy," "Peachy," "Paradise" and "Lee" on the College Map.

Court Records were destroyed by fire during the Civil War hence it is impossible to give a clear title to the property until ca. 1868 when the records were begun again. In 1868 Charles C. Hansford and Richard W. Hansford gave a deed of trust to Robert F. Cole to secure W. W. Vest. (Ibid, I, p 123)

In 1884 Vest forced sale to satisfy default in the deed of trust, and M. R. Harrell became the owner at the price of $2035. (Ibid, Book 2, pp 79-80) After passing through several hands the property came into the possession of Letitia Gregory Warburton who in 1920 conveyed said property to the Williamsburg Holding Corporation. After division, a part was sold to W. A. Bozarth who in turn conveyed to E. D. Spencer. In 1927 Spencer and wife conveyed to Dr. William A. R. Goodwin 7 as trustee, for Williamsburg Restoration. For further study of the property, consult the Accounting Department, Colonial Williamsburg.

All archaeological evidence which might have been discovered has been removed by the digging of a tunnel through the lot. See: Illustration #3 for drawings of foundations uncovered December 1938 & March 1940.^{not correct [illegible]}

IN SUMMARY:

Lot #234 is located on the north side of Nicholson Street opposite the Market Square. The lot is not numbered on late eighteenth century maps but is marked "Lee." In 1714 the trustees of Williamsburg granted to William Robertson the lot along with lots #232, 233, 235, 236, 207, 208. A year later Robertson conveyed lot #234 along with #233 to Philip Ludwell II with all houses, yards, gardens &c. In 1767 Ludwell's son, Philip III, who had been owner after his father's death, died leaving the property to his daughter, Hannah Ludwell Lee. In 1770 it was described as "Warrington's Tenement where Colo Ludwell used to Lodge" and also as "Warringtons, or the Mansion House" valued for as much as three hundred pounds. Another description of the property was "the Mansion as it is called, where my Uncles family lived in Town." In 1773 Lee's property was offered for sale and noted thus: "the large wooden House, on the Back Street, next Door but one to Mr. Speaker's." During the Revolution Lee's property was used by soldiers as barracks and hospitals. Lee claimed damages to the amount of more than £500 but this was not allowed by the Assembly. The house was not standing in 1782 judging from the Frenchman's Map (1782). It may have been burned by Cornwallis or torn down. A French soldier who was stationed in the city in 1781 wrote that Cornwallis tore down or burned only three houses of private citizens - these citizens having "openly declared themselves as partisans of Independence." The Peachy family held the property from ca 1839 to 1858 when the Hansford family came into ownership. M. R. Harrell, John Dahn and Letitia Gregory Warburton held the property at different periods. In 1920 Mrs. Warburton conveyed 8 the property to Williamsburg Holding Corporation. W. A. Bozarth was the next owner followed by E. D. Spencer who conveyed in 1927 to Dr. William A. R. Goodwin as trustee for Williamsburg Restoration. Farther chain to title can be found in the Accounting Department, Colonial Williamsburg.

Illustration #1
The Mansion
PHOTOSTAT COPY OF THE WILLIAMSBURG PLAT IN "WILLIAMSBURG, THE OLD COLONIAL CAPITOL" BY LYON G. TYLER

Illustration #2
NOTES ON PHILIP LUDWELL II, PHILIP LUDWELL III AND WILLIAM LEE

Illustration #3

FROM FRENCHMAN'S MAP 1782?