Walking through gardens
at their home in the 1830's, Richard and Mary would have looked out to a
scene such as this - across the lawn to Old Lexington Turnpike, now Route
714,
Tudor Hall Drive, running the length of the photo above.
Satellite view
below.
by Iris Teta Eubank Wagner
RICHARD NEWMAN EUBANK
was
born December 22, 1792, in Amherst County, Virginia, the ninth child of
John
and Margaret Newman Eubank. The family had sold their property
near Bowling Green in Caroline County
in 1780, and later that year crossed the Virginia piedmont to settle at the
foot of the Blue Ridge in Amherst County. John served in the Amherst County Militia in 1781.
Richard was likely born on the Eubank farm located on the north side of
Tobacco Row Mountain along Horsley's Creek and near the head of Puppies
Creek, near the intersection of two
main north/south east/west roads near Ware's Gap, as shown in the 1864 map
below.
Library of Congress
Geography and Map Division
, Washington , D.C. Drawn during the Civil War by
Engineers of the War Department.
Amherst County 1864
Richard is age seventeen and living with his father and younger brothers Robert, James, Edmund
V., and William E. J. and sister Mary, two other females, and five slaves in
1810. Capt. James Ware, Mary Camden Ware's father, operated his
family's nearby
home as an inn and tavern. See the 1820 Census image below.
1810 U.S. Census, Amherst County,
Virginia -
Ancestry.com
1820 U.S. Census, Amherst County,
Virginia
Ancestry.com
James Ware's Inn and Tavern
was a full house on this 1820 census record. Seven male
children under sixteen years, and thirteen male residents ages sixteen to
forty-five, and one male resident over forty-five. There are three females -
the oldest is James' wife, NANCY GARLAND PENDLETON WARE, and daughter Mary
Camden Ware, and the youngest daughter Ann. Before the year 1820
ended, Mary and Richard would marry on Richard's birthday, December
22. Mary was seventeen and Richard twenty-eight.
The Ware Inn and Tavern was the Ware home, the local social hub, and
welcome respite to migrating settlers. The intersection at which the inn
was located was a major route for early southwest migrations. Waugh's Ferry
at the lower left in the map above was a major crossing point on the James
River for travelers heading west. Amherst initiated a petition to establish the
ferry in 1783. Residents JOHN, GEORGE, and AMBROSE EUBANK were among
the petitioners. Waugh's Ferry Farm was on the Amherst side of the
James River and Thomas Waugh's home was called Verdant Vale.
Mary Camden Ware was born on October 30, 1803. Richard and Mary were acquainted through church, family, and neighborhood. Growing up they would have attended church at the Pedlar Chapel, known for many years now as Saint Lukes Episcopal, located at Pedlar Mills. Both their fathers served as vestrymen in the local Lexington Parish.
The
Ellis Family of Amherst County has for
years been closely associated with Saint Luke's. Major Charles Ellis
settled his Red Hill plantation along Pedlar River in 1754 and was a
frontier officer in the French and Indian War. Charles' son Josiah
gave land for the first church building, and was both organizer and
benefactor in the development of the church The present membership of Saint Luke's is again meeting in
this historic church.
Richard's sisters Ann and
Margaret married sons of Josiah Ellis.
NANCY, christened ANN NEWMAN EUBANK was married first to William Taliaferro,
and
Saint Luke's
Episcopal Chapel
second to Col. John Ellis, Josiah's eldest son. Their
home was nearby Cloverdale plantation, part of Major
Ellis' original tract.
MARGARET NEWMAN EUBANK married
Joshua Shelton Ellis. Their son ROBERT NEWMAN ELLIS, born 1821,
was a merchant at Pedlar Mills, and eventually bought Round Top in 1895, part of the
old plantation, and in 1898 bought the Red Hill Plantation.
Richard's eldest brother THOMAS NEWMAN EUBANK married Josiah's daughter,
JANE SHELTON ELLIS. After Josiah Ellis died his son Richard Shelton Ellis
managed the farm at Red Hill. He also managed Josiah's mercantile
businesses and mill at Pedlar Mills.
Red Hill - built by
Richard Shelton Ellis in 1824/25 - listed on the National Register of
Historic
Places on June 9, 1980.
Description of the house.
Josiah Ellis' family was an interesting one. Josiah and Jane Shelton of Amherst married in the year 1796, and they had eleven children. In addition to the children mentioned above, his second eldest son CHARLES ELLIS was a partner in the mercantile business Ellis and Allan of Richmond. John Allan was the foster parent of author Edgar Allan Poe. Josiah's son THOMAS HARDING ELLIS and Poe were boyhood friends. As a teen and living in Richmond, Poe spent time in summers and on holidays at Red Hill. Back from a year's stay in England in 1820, John Allan and his wife and eleven-year-old Poe lived with the Ellis family for a year. It is the family history and genealogy written by Thomas Harding Ellis in 1849 by which we can identify the family relationships. Josiah's youngest son POWHATAN ELLIS was educated at Washington Academy in Lexington, Virginia, and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He studied law at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, and later served as a U.S. Court judge for the district of Mississippi from 1832 to 1836.
Montgomery, orphan of Thomas Montgomery. The Guardian's
Bond was posted by Richard S. Ellis, Thomas N. Eubank, William Armistead,
and Richard N. Eubank.
June
18, 1835 - Richard was bondsman, along with his brother Thomas N.
Eubank, for their brother William E. J. Eubank, for constable's
certification.
November 19, 1836 - Guardian Bond, Josiah R. Ellis, et al. John Dudley
Davis, guardian. Wards, Josiah R. and Charles S. Ellis, orphans of
John Ellis, deceased. Bondsmen: Elliott Wortham, R.N. Eubank, Jas.
Gilliam.
The James River and Kanawha Canal Company - Richard was among stockholders in the James River and Kanawha Canal Company of Richmond, Virginia. Among stockholders listed in The Richmond Enquirer in the 1830's were Richard N. Eubank, Thomas N. Eubank (Company Commissioner for Amherst County), David S. Garland, William E. J. "Jett" Eubank (Sheriff of Amherst County at the time), William Armistead, Robert W. Carter, John Coleman, Harrison G. Griffin, Henry W. Quarles, George W. Ray, Peter P. Thornton, and William M. Waller (also a Company Commissioner for Amherst.
Tudor Hall - the home of Richard and Mary in Amherst County. They lived here from the early 1820's through 1838. This Eubank farm was located along Old Lexington Turnpike, in those days the major route running from Amherst Courthouse to Lexington, Virginia. The satellite view below shows the old turnpike which on modern maps, as this one on Google, indicates Tudor Hall Drive as route 714. The modern turnpike is route 60. This aerial view shows a modern home with a long drive to it from state route 714. This is the location of the old home. The excavated burrow of the old house cellar was used in preparation for the basement of the new house. The house was built very likely by DAVID SHEPHERD GARLAND, Mary's great granduncle who owned extensive acreage along both sides of the Buffalo River.
.
The house has been gone for years. A long-time resident of the
Sardis area, THEODORE JENNINGS, provided us a field tour of the area in the
early 1980's. His ancestral family owned the land and the old house
during the mid-19th century. Mr. Jennings' ancestors are buried in the
family cemetery at the top of a rise on the property, and he was interested
in sharing his historical knowledge of the area with us. And we are
indeed grateful.
(left) Map from 1860's
Mr. Jennings' ancestors owned the property in
the 1860's. The large dot at the creek, just left of the
"J" in Jennings, indicates the site of
the old home Tudor Hall. The red double-lined road on the map
represents the Old Lexington Turnpike, or now Tudor Hall Drive as shown in
the satellite view. The large dot to the left of the
old turnpike is likely the old Sardis Church.
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Washington, D.C.
In the early 1900's COL. WILLIAM A. RICHARDSON owned the tract, and a surviving family member in the 1980's remembered as a child seeing ruins of the old home. The Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission included the site of Tudor Hall in their historic landmarks survey of 1980.
At the time of Eubank ownership the farm acreage was between 1,500 and 2,000 acres, as documented on the deed at the time of purchase in 1838 by COL. WILLIAM H. GARLAND, husband of FRANCES MARIE ANN EUBANK, eldest daughter of Richard and Mary.
The Colonel and Frances Ann were first cousins, twice removed. DAVID SHEPHERD GARLAND William's father, was a brother to FRANCES MARIA ANNA GARLAND, Frances Ann's great grandmother. William was a first cousin to NANCY GARLAND PENDLETON who was the wife of CAPT. JAMES WARE, father of Mary Camden Ware Eubank.
Richard and Mary were the parents of ten children. Eight children were born in Virginia - FRANCES MARIE ANN EUBANK, SELINA JANE EUBANK, MARGARET N. EUBANK, JOHN JAMES EUBANK, MARY DUDLEY EUBANK, RICHARD NEWMAN EUBANK II, VIRGINIA EUBANK, and CORNELIA SALE EUBANK. WILLIAM WARE EUBANK was born in Haywood County, Tennessee, at Brownsville, and ELLEN and ADA, the youngest were born in Mississippi. The family spent several months to a year in Haywood County during 1838/39, before moving into Mississippi, first to Madison County, then to their plantation in Hinds County near Jackson.
Mary's brothers and sister moved from Amherst County to Tennessee and Mississippi. Mary's eldest brother MANSFIELD WARE had moved to Haywood County by 1830. By 1840 JOHN D. WARE, sister ANN WARE and husband ROBERT PEEBLES, and probably EDWARD WARE (died 1842), were living in Haywood. REUBIN SELDON WARE moved to Wisconsin about 1830.
Mary's brothers who made the move to Mississippi were planter and businessman JAMES D. WARE, DR. WILLIAM ANDERSON WARE, MICAJAH PENDLETON WARE, and GUSTAVIS ADOLPHUS WARE.
e
Richard Newman Eubank and Mary Camden Ware
Part Two : Hinds and Rankin Counties, Mississippi
Original Narrative and Web Site copyright Iris Teta Eubank Wagner 2008-2009
Sources for Part One : Amherst County - Part Two : Mississippi