The next morning we decided to head out towards Charlottesville and James Madison’s Montpelier.  We decided to take a long ride through the Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive. This is a 105 mile ridge drive through the Shenandoah National Park with 75 overlooks that give you a view of not only the Blue Ridge Mountains but woods and farmlands. The highest peak is Hawksbill at 4051 feet. The official ground breaking for the construction of this drive was July 18, 1931. The final construction was completed in 1939.

The views are just breath-taking. We stopped a few times to take pictures, but mostly to marvel at what a beautiful land this really is. As we drove up into the mountains, the air became cooler, getting down to 71 degrees. Wild flowers were abundant and birds were flying over and around our car. There is a place towards the top center of this drive called “Big Meadow”. To our surprise, you come over the hill and all of a sudden you are in a huge meadow on top of this mountain. There is a lodge there for the public to stay in. They also have camping and cabins along the route. You can hike and picnic as well. There are several waterfalls that you have to hike to and you do have to be cautious of the wildlife. This is black bear country.  As we were driving along, we came across two rangers who seemed to have been tracking something. One of them was carrying a rifle. But we didn’t see what they were looking for.

We jumped off onto Route 33 at the 65 mile marker so we didn’t take the whole 105 mile drive. One thing, there is a cost to take this drive. At this time, it is $15.00 for a car. I am not sure about other transportation. It is also closed after the first of November until the following spring as they get snow in this area.

As we headed towards Montpelier, we passed through a couple small towns. I was taking notes of their location as there were a lot of antique stores along the way. I see a future trip to go antique shopping! We drove to Gordonsville, Virginia, just a few miles from Montpelier. We have been here many times and know of a great BBQ place to eat called “The BBQ Exchange”. We stopped for a quick bite and started towards Montpelier.

As we drove in, we realized that we only had a couple hours before they closed for the day, but I wanted to go back to get recharged. When we came in, they had a tour group around in the video introduction, so we asked if we could forego the video, since we have seen it before, and jump into the group when they were ready to move to the house. While we waited, we were treated to costumes from a PBS production about Dolley Madison. What style she had!

In the Gallery, I walked around and looked at personal items from the Madisons and was surprised by a picture of Nelly Conway Madison. It was a 3D relief of her that I had not seen before. As I stepped back into the lobby, Brett pointed out on a timeline covering Madison’s life, the part about Nelly Conway Madison going back to Port Conway to give birth to James.

We jumped into the group and headed towards the house. Once on the grand porch, we were greeted by a docent who would lead us through the house. Brett and I have been here so often that I think I could get a position as a docent to lead tours! But the best part is that each docent brings a different take on the history. Our docent, Joann, was warm and would quiz us on the history. Does it surprise you that I got all but one question right? I missed the one on how many grandchildren Nelly had. She had 48 grandchildren.

We started in the sitting room on Nelly’s side of the mansion as we always do, but this time, they had added a different twist. They spoke about a relationship between James and a young slave boy. As we walked into the parlor, I got to see the beautiful wallpaper that I have come to love about this room. It was added after our second visit. I had thought that it would be a beautiful covering for the walls in Belle Grove, but at $360 per 11 foot roll, I don’t think we will be able to do it.

From there it was on to the dining room and then the library where they had added some curtains and other items to the rooms.  As we walked into the side room just behind the dining room, we got the best surprise! This room was used by James Madison during the last years of his life. Unable to go upstairs, he had slept here and received guests here and worked on his final papers here. When we were last here, it had been empty with the exception of a bust of Madison. Not wallpaper or curtains were in the room. This time, it had wallpaper, curtains and furniture! And the best part was the bed! It was a white French canopy with burgundy curtains. Joann explained that this was similar to the bed that James Madison had in the room. Brett and I were floored! It looked so regal, so presidential. It must have been suddenly very bright in the room as both Brett and I had the same idea. We had always thought of placing a bed similar to the dark walnut Tester bed that had been the Madison’s bed upstairs. But this bed made a statement and Brett and I heard it so clear!

We followed the group upstairs to the upstairs library located just above the front door. This is the room that James Madison spent his time in working out the Constitution. It is such an awe inspiring thought to know that we are in the room that the majority of this documented was created. To see out of the windows the view that James would have had and to wonder what he was thinking as he crafted one of the most important documents of our history. I still get chills thinking about it.

We then moved to the balcony that is on top of the Nelly’s rooms. There you can see the front lawns, the slave quarters which are being rebuilt and the backyard with the statue of the Madison and walking garden just beyond. As I started taking pictures of the front lawn, a large bird appeared and flew over and above the trees beside the Temple. I then turned to the slave quarters only to see a single deer quietly eating grass under a tree. It was just a “wow” moment.

Brett pointed out to me that the railing of this balcony had the same style railing as Belle Grove’s riverside portico had. It was like a small connection to Montpelier in a way. Then as we finished the tour we talked with a couple of other tourist and two of the docents. It was funny that one docent looked at our picture of Belle Grove and made an observation that if you removed the porches and portico from both Montpelier and Belle Grove; the structures would look very similar. When Brett and I had drove in earlier we had made that same observation.

But Brett and I couldn’t get that bed out of our thoughts. So we asked if one of the docents could take us back to see it again. Standing there, we tried to memorize each aspect of it. Now we are on a conquest to see if we can find one just like it for the Madison room at Belle Grove.

After seeing the bed again, we thanked Joann for her time and headed to the walking garden. This garden was put in during the DuPont’s time at Montpelier. It was in full bloom and just stunning. I found points that I want to add to Belle Grove’s walking garden from this garden.

Afterwards we headed back to the car. We had one last stop to make before headed out. I wanted to stop at the Madison Cemetery. Nelly Conway Madison is buried here, but there is no tombstone marking her place. She is just to the right of Madison’s large tombstone. I just wished I had had flowers to place there for her. The cemetery was empty and as I walked in you could hear the birds. But it was strange, just as I got to the spot where Nelly is, I softly started talking to her. I was telling her that I hoped she would have been pleased with what we were doing with Belle Grove and that I hoped we were doing what was right in her eyes. It was then that I realized that it was perfectly silent. The birds that had been singing when I arrived had stopped. It was perfect still. I then walked around a moment to observe the other tombstone and made one last stop at Madison’s tombstone. There on the stone were rocks, a penny and a note left by others.

As I headed back to the car, my thoughts turned back to our Belle Grove. There is so much history, so many memories there. I just hope we are doing right by it all. What an honor and awesome responsibility to have. My hope is that future generations will come to understand the lives of these people and the struggles and hardships that they went through to build our great nation. We have so much yet to do and much more farther to go.

As we started to drive out, I asked Brett if he wanted to stay in Orange, Virginia one more night or if he wanted to head back. He felt the need to get home. I could have stayed another month and it would have not been enough. But we headed home. But it was a good thing that we did. Because the best surprise was yet to come….

The Story Continues Tomorrow…

The Best Surprise is the one you don’t see coming!

Special Note:

There was so much that happened this long weekend, it is going to take me four postings to get it all in.

I will tell you the last post will have the most exciting part!

After a very busy week at my current job, I decided it was time for a long weekend. So Brett and I took Monday off and set off on a grand weekend. The best part of the weekend was that we had nothing planned. We took it moment by moment. And I have to tell you, it was wonderful!

When Friday rolled around, I knew that I wanted to head up to Middletown, Virginia. This is the location of the Belle Grove Plantation that was owned by James Madison’s sister, Nelly Madison Hite. It was in part the location that started us on our search for our bed and breakfast.

www.bellegrove.org

This plantation got its start with Jost Hite, a German immigrant who came to the Shenandoah Valley in 1732 with his partner Robert McKay to settle on 140,000 acres with sixteen other families. These acres were acquired through two land grants. In 1770, Isaac Hite Sr. purchased 483 acres that would become the Belle Grove Plantation.

The grand manor house was not the first home on this plantation. There was a large limestone home that was built around 1750 for a tenant farmer. The foundation of this home, later called “Old Hall” can still be seen next to the smokehouse. It was in this house that James Madison brought Dolley to for their honeymoon.

Isaac Hite Sr.’s son, Isaac Hite Jr, who attended William and Mary College and served during the American Revolution, married Nelly Conway Madison, sister of James Madison in 1783. Major Hite’s father gave the couple the 483 acres as a wedding gift. The manor house was started in 1794 and took three years to complete. It was through his brother-in-law James Madison friendship with Thomas Jefferson that Major Hite was able to consult with Mr. Jefferson on the design of Belle Grove. Mr. Jefferson’s influence is seen in the final design.  The manor house is built of limestone that was quarried from the property. It is said that Nelly named the plantation “Belle Grove” after our Belle Grove Plantation in Port Conway, Virginia.

Sadly Nelly Madison Hite would not live very long in this beautiful manor. She passed away in 1803, just six years after its competitions. From my research Major Hite and Nelly had three children:

James Hite Jr – Born January 29, 1793 – Died January 11, 1860

James Hite – Born April 10, 1788 – Died December 8, 1791

Nelly Conway Hite – Born December 1, 1789 – Died 1836

Nelly Madison Hite would be laid to rest in the family cemetery in Warren County. Major Hite would marry Ann Tustall Maury. With his three children with Nelly and another ten with Ann, Major Hite expanded his manor house to include a 100 foot façade to the west side of the house. He would also expand his land holdings to a total of 7,500 acres and would have 103 slaves. He would open and operate a general store, grist mill, saw mill and distillery. The house remained in the Hite family until Ann’s death in 1851.

After the Hite family, there were several owners. In 1907, the Brumback family purchased the plantation. In the 1920’s they would operate an inn. It was sold to Francis Welles Hunnewell of Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1929. He would carefully restore this manor house in the 1930s and 1940s and later bequeath the house and 100 acres along with a $100,000.00 endowment to the National Trust for Historic Preservation at his death in 1964. The plantation would open as a museum in 1967 and is still operating as a museum and working farm to this day.

According to Wikipedi, during the Civil War, this plantation was center stage for the Battle of Cedar Creek, also known as the Battle of Belle Grove. This battle was part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. During this campaign, this area would exchange hands 70 times! In one day it would exchange hands 13 times! This area of the Shenandoah Valley was important to both sides as it would have given a backdoor to either Washington D.C. or Richmond. During this time, General Philip Sheridan had burned his way through the Shenandoah Valley, destroying crops, livestock and homes, much like that of General Sherman’s march through the South.

On October 19, 1864 Lieutenant General Jubal Early launched a surprise attack against the encamped army of Major General Philip Sheridan, just across the Cedar Creek, just northeast of Strasburg, Virginia. During this fight, seven Union infantry divisions were forced to fall back and lost numerous prisoners and cannons. Lieutenant General Early failed to continue his attach north of Middletown and Major General Sheridan, dramatically ridding to the battlefield from Winchester, Virginia was able to rally his troops to hold a new defensive line. A Union counterattack that afternoon route LieutenantGeneral Early’s army.

The Final Confederate invasion of the North was effectively ended. The Confederacy was never again able to threaten Washington D.C. through the Shenandoah Valley, nor protect one of its key economic bases in Virginia.

Our visit to this plantation was even more special as the plantation was also hosting a Family Reunion for the Hite Family. I had hoped to meet someone from the Hite-Madison side of the family, but I kept just missing them. Brett and I were able to meet several of the wonderful museum docents that we shared our Belle Grove with and compared notes on the families.

Since Brett and I had been there, they had added several new exhibits as well as carpeting in the halls. Believe it or not, but Major Hite had full rooms of carpet in the dining room and main parlor! Major Hite was great at keeping records and had saved the receipt for these purchases. The museum was able to trace the purchase back to the company in England, who are still in business. This company reproduced these carpets and they were installed as they would have been during Major Hite’s time at Belle Grove.

Some other points of interest at Belle Grove are outside. In the mortar on the back door wall, you can see the signatures of Civil War soldiers that were encamped on Belle Grove. There is also a beautiful kitchen garden just behind the house. Down past the barn, you can also see a field of stones. This is the slave cemetery of Belle Grove. Each grave is marked by a single stone with no names or dates.

One last story of Belle Grove that is worth telling is the story of the death of Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur. After being mortally wounded during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Major General Ramseur was carried from the field to Belle Grove. There his Union friends Major General George Armstrong Custer, Colonel Wesley Merritt and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander C. Pennington, all whom he had met at West Point sat with him through the night comforting him as he lay dying.

Once Brett and I finished walking around the house and remembering our first time at Belle Grove, we drove over to the Hite Family cemetery. I have to tell you this is not an easy find. It is located down a dirt road that runs along the river. If you didn’t know where to look, you would miss it. It is a small cemetery that has a flag pole in it center. Just as you walk in to cemetery through a modern chain link fence, you see a small grouping of tombstones to the back left. There towards the middle we found Nelly C. Hite. It first, I wondered why they had not placed her maiden name on the tombstone, but then I remembered that she had passed in 1803. Her brother would not rise to fame as the fourth president until 1809.

Story Continues Tomorrow

A Night in Winchester, Virginia