Big Changes
Belle Grove July 1894
This is the oldest photo we have of Belle Grove
After the death of William Bernard II in 1822, William Bernard I became the trustee of Belle Grove. He held on to Belle Grove until 1839. By this time, William Bernard II’s two daughters Eliza Bernard and Sarah Ann Bernard were married. In 1839, William Bernard I sold Belle Grove to their two husbands for one dollar. Shortly after that sale, they sold the property to a member of a very prominent family in the area, Carolinus Turner.
The Turner Family dates back to Thomas Turner, who first appeared in the records on February 14, 1725 when he purchased 200 acres in Hanover Parish. He would continue to purchase parcels and by 1753 he had amassed 2300 acres, which he named Walsingham. This plantation is next door to Belle Grove on the opposite side of the present day Route 301. It is unclear just when Thomas Turner arrived in Virginia.
Thomas married twice in his lifetime. Both of his wives, Martha and Sarah were the daughters of Richard Taliaferro, who lived in Caroline County at Taliaferro Mount. Richard Taliaferro was a ship’s Captain. His wife, Sarah Wingfield was from Barbados. Together Richard and Sarah had four children.
Thomas married Martha in 1714 and they had two sons, Harry and Thomas II. Harry Turner married Elizabeth Smith of Smith’s Mount, near Leedstown, Virginia and they had one son, Thomas Turner III. Thomas Turner III married Jane Fauntleroy of Naylor’s Hole and they had seven children.
Thomas Turner III would inherit Smith’s Mount from his mother and Walsingham from his father. He would then add another 2400 acres plantation called Nanzatico, which is next door to the Walsingham plantation. The Nanzatico Plantation’s home had been built by Charles Carter in 1769. At the death of Thomas Turner III, his three sons would divide his property. Richard Turner would inherit the Walsingham Plantation. George Turner would inherit the Nanzatico Plantation. Thomas Turner IV would inherit the Oaken Brow Plantation, which was originally part of the Nanzatico Plantation.
George Turner
George Turner would marry Caroline Matilda Pratt, who was the daughter of John Birkett and Alice Fitzhugh Dixon Pratt of the Camden Plantation, across the Rappahannock River from Nanzatico Plantation. Their youngest son was Carolinus Turner. When his mother was pregnant with Carolinus, the Turner’s had already had two sons and were sure that Carolinus was going to be a girl. They had selected the Caroline, which is a family name. To their surprise, their new daughter turned out to be a new son. So they named him Carolinus.
Rose Hill Plantation
(also known as Gaymont) Belle Grove would have looked like this before changes
In 1839, Carolinus purchased Belle Grove Plantation. Carolinus Turner would take this modest Federal style home and convert it into a Greek Revival style home. If you look at the old photos of Rose Hill Plantation (also known as Gaymont Plantation), which was built by John Hipkins (also who built the orginial Belle Grove home) in the 1790s, you can imagine what Belle Grove Plantation started out as. Carolinus would extend the sides and add a small extension on the second floor of the extensions. He would add the porticos that stand out from the house on both the Plantation and Riverside. He would add the curved porches on the Plantation side with circular steps at the front and two side doors. The circular steps in front and the scrolled steps on the Riverside of the home were thought to have been purchased and made in England. He would add the architectural details all along the roof line as well as on the exterior walls.
Back Portico Stairs
Ferry House and Post Office
Port Conway 1925
He would also make changes to the town of Port Conway. In 1860, he set aside a one acre lot that he donated to the local parish for use as an Episcopal Church. This church would become Emmanuel Episcopal Church, which is still in use today. He would also start acquiring the half acre lots of Port Conway and would fold them back into the Belle Grove Plantation.
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Port Conway
In 1847, Carolinus married Susan Augusta Rose at Belle Grove Plantation. They would have five children, Caroline “Carrie” Turner, Anna Augusta Turner, George Turner, Susan Rose Turner, and Alice Pratt Turner.
Tomorrow – Mystery in the Window
Is the door itself curved as well on the back portico?
There are two door at the front of the house (Plantation side) that are curved. It is really cool how the door just fits right into the corner. They are wonderfull details.
The picture of Belle Grove , l894, sent shivers through me. The ghosts of over l00 years just lurking out of sight
It was an amazing find when I was doing my research. We spoke to a paranormal group a week ago and I was showing them our pictures. When they saw this one, they questioned the mist at the front of the picture. Could it be something? Who knows. But it is a really special picture. Just think, the African-American lady on the portico was very likely a slave before the Civil War.
So interesting! Love the old 1894 photo of Belle Grove.
It was one of my most favorite finds during my research. I was so happy to find it.
This story is so interesting. I love all the old photos!
I have to say the story is just getting started. The Turner family has quite a bit of history in our house. I have more old photos to share soon!
beautiful piece of history, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for stopping by! Please stop by tomorrow for a big mystery we are going to share about the house!
Wonderful!….love all the history….if walls could talk….
I agree! And when you read tomorrow’s post, you will understand why we wish they did!
Reblogged this on simple thyme prims and commented:
Wonderful history!…
Thank you so much for sharing this story with your readers! We really appreciate that!
I love the historic photos, and the curved doors are so neat! We saw curved doors like that on the Robert Mills house in Columbia, SC (they were inside doors though). I love those architectural details!
Thank you! We thought the doors were really nice. Maybe next time we can get some close up photos of them when we return to the plantaiton. By the way, I am from Columbia, South Carolina. I don’t think I have ever seen the Mills House, but I grew up playing on the State Capital grounds. 🙂
I’m posting on our visit to the Robert Mills house in the next few days – just trying to find time to polish off the post! I wanted to tour the Hampton Preston house next door too, but we only had time for one. Our tour of the Robert Mills house was really neat!
How cool that you would drop by my blog so I might discovery yours, and hear about your amazing lives. Hopefully my travels bring me someday to your part of the world – I just love history and architecture. What a lovely place! Following you now 🙂
Thank you so much for stoppig by! We are excited to have you along for the journey! We do hope if you are in the area you will stop by once we get the plantation open!
I love the history here and in your other posts! I also follow a blog from Harper’s Ferry that write a lot about history there. It’s fascinating what happened locally all those years ago.
http://steamathf.wordpress.com/
Nancy
We have thought about Harper’s Ferry before, but just didn’t make it yet. Maybe your post will change my mind!
I have several posts on Harper’s Ferry. My employees wanted to see the fall colors so I posted each day I was there. It was fun and we had a great time, although the B&B we stayed at was a big part of it.
Our anniversary is in October which is the fall colors month here. So when we go our of our anniversary week, we always see the falls!