Belle Grove Plantation – captain jack

Belle Grove and the 1920s

Mar. 2nd 2013

When we left off, we had talked about our owner, Captain John F. Jack or as he was better known “Alfalfa Jack”. We still haven’t been about to find much more on his personal life. Just that from the newspaper in our area and the photographs from California. We do know that he owned Belle Grove from 1906 to 1916. But the last piece of information about Captain Jack is a newspaper article dated July 20, 1911.

This article talked about a fire in the barn at Belle Grove. The barn and 250 tons of alfalfa were lost along with a large amount of farming equipment. The origin of the fire was never known. It resulted in a $10,000 loss. Captain Jack did not have insurance on the barn or equipment.

: 1911 July 20 Free Lance Star

From here the trail grows cold. I have not been able to find any other information on Captain Jack. We had written that he had sold the plantations in 1911, but we have since found out that it was 1916 when he sold it. So the fire had not been so bad that it was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”. Only time will tell as we hope to under cover the mystery of whom Captain Jack was and where he ended up.

Captain Jack sold Belle Grove to William H. Allen and Otto F. Brandt also from California. But sadly, we have again run into a brick wall with their history. We haven’t even been able to find newspaper articles. So we are going to have to hope some oral history will come forward sometime to direct us in the right direction.

I can’t tell you how much we have under covered thanks to oral history! Through the blog and through our newspaper articles that have come out we have found names of plantation managers, caretakers and field hands. This is history that would have been lost had these individuals had not come forward. This is the history we hope to save before all those who know are gone.

One of those who came forward is a family member of a past plantation manager. From our research on this plantation manager, we have placed him at the plantation some time in the 1920s. It was through this individual that I received several photographs of this plantation manager and his family at Belle Grove.

Charles Kendall Hearn

Charles Kendall Hearn was born February 22, 1878 in Walnut Grove, Virginia. His father was Samuel Batson Hearn VI (1841 to 1917) and his mother was Mary Virginia Gibbs Hearn (1850-1921). Charles’s middle name “Kendall” came from his grandfather. His family lived in Port Royal, Virginia, which is just across the river from Belle Grove in the 1880.

Samuel B. Hearn circa 1869

Mary Virginia Gibbs Hearn circa 1900

In 1897, Charles was a pursuer on the Weems Steamship line out of Baltimore. He was appointed to the position of Purser on the Steamer Westmoreland, formerly held by Mr Ruggles Taliaferro of Baltimore.

In 1898, Charles married Mary Etta Bruce. According to a paper I found on Ancestry.com, Charles was not yet 21 when he married Mary. It seems back then you needed permission from your parents to marry if you were under 21 years old.

Permission for Charles K. Hearn to marry 1899

Permission for Charles K. Hearn to marry December 19, 1898

Marriage Certificate
December 21, 1898

Charles Kendall Hearn

Charles and Mary would have two daughters, Nellie Brooke Hearn (1901-1993) and Lucy Kendall Hearn (1904-2001). In 1906, Charles was listed as a farmer, blacksmith and wheelwright near Port Royal. In 1916, he was part of a business called “Hearn Brothers” who were blacksmiths and wheelwrights.

Lucy Kendall Hearn

Sometime in the 1920s, Charles became the plantation manager for Belle Grove Plantation.

Taken along the Rappahannock River at Belle Grove when Charles K. Hearn managed the estate there.

Nellie and Lucy on the Riverside of Belle Grove 1920s

John Thomas Hearn, brother of Charles on the Riverside of Belle Grove

Belle Grove Plantation

Mary Etta, Luch and Charles Hearn

In 1924, a group of citizens raised $75,000 and established a bank in Port Royal. There were seven directors of the bank and Charles Hearn was one of them. The bank would close in 1934.

Charles and his brother John Thomas Hearn purchased a home in Fredericksburg in 1922. Charles’s family and his brother’s family would live in this home until he later purchased his own home.

Charles Kendall Hearn, about 1940

Charles would pass away on June 25, 1940 in Fredericksburg at the age of 62.

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Posted by Michelle Darnell | in Belle Grove History, Year of the Virginia Historic Homes | 46 Comments »

Captain Jack Sails the Rappanhannock

Feb. 3rd 2013

When I began my search for Captain Jack, there were very few leads on him. So I first turn my research to the internet. Knowing he was from California, I started my search there. Libraries and museums have been some of my best resources of information so I looked to those located in Los Angeles. This search would reward me with one of the best finds I have had in regards of Belle Grove’s history.

I found the Seaver Center located at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles County. Here I found within its collections a group of photographs that were from John F. Jack. The photographs weren’t on the website to see. So I had to email the Seaver Center and request information on them. They told me that it was collection of photographs of Rappahnnock River and James River. I requested that they make copies of them and send them to me.

I have to tell you the wait was terrible. I didn’t know what they were of and I could only hope they would give me some ideas as to what it was like during this period at Belle Grove. Wild thoughts ran through my mind. Could there be a lot of pictures of the Mansion and grounds? Could there be pictures of Captain Jack himself? At this point, no one knew what he looked like. So I just held me breath and waited.

We were rewarded handsomely…

This collection was marked as 1906.

This would means they were taking during his search for the right land to try his experiment on alfalfa farming.

Emmanuel Church adjoining Belle Grove Plantation. We are assuming the man is Captain John F Jack. 1906

A Tenant and His Family on the Walsingham Plantation, next door to Belle Grove Plantation
1906

Barns on the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Barns on Walsingham Plantation
1906

Building on the bank of the river on the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Farm Building on the Bank of the River
1906

Granary near the old home site on the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Granary on the Back Field of the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Old sheds on the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Old Tenement House on the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Showing Mill for shelling corn and apparatus for discharging grain into schooners on the river
1906

Showing method adopted by the Government Engineers for deepening the channel of the river
1906

Teams plowing on the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Tenants Quarters on the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Tenement House on the Back Field of the Walsingham Plantation
1906

The Spring House at Walsingham Plantation
1906

The steamer Middlesex passing the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Walsingham Plantation on the Northerly Shore of the River. Lumber on the Port Royal Side
1906

Loading of Freight on a Steamer at Port Conway
1906

Looking up the Rappahannock. Railroad Bridge in the Distance
1906

Preparing for Departure
1906

Schooners loading grain from the Walsingham Plantation
1906

Showing Port Royal Wharf and Lumber Ready for loading opposite Port Conway. If you look to the left on the high bank you will see Belle Grove. Across the river is Port Conway’s Ferry and Wharf. Today this area is lost to the wooden area around Belle Grove and the James Madison Bridge.
1906