Historic Gardens of Virginia 



garden, however, centers about the tree-box, which in quantity and 

 quahty, ranks with the finest in the south. 



When the grounds for the Jamestown Exposition were being 

 laid off, in 1906, the owner of Tedington was offered four thousand 

 dollars for the boxwood, but the trees had fastened their hold on 

 their latter-day master, and the offer was declined. Today these 

 trees and lines of boxwood rear their heads as proudly as of yore. 



The widow of William Howell Lightfoot married John Minge, 

 Esquire, and their daughter, Sarah Melville, married Robert 

 Boiling, of Petersburg, Virginia. 



An interesting description of a Christmas at Tedington, by 

 Charles Campbell, the Virginia historian, presents to the reader 

 of today a vivid picture of the season of gifts on an old James 

 River plantation in ante-bellum days. The letter is dated Teding- 

 ton, Christmas, 1841, and reads, in part, as follows: 



"Rainy Sunday. In the drawing-room at Tedington, three 

 sisters, descendants of Pocahontas [evidently the Misses Boiling], 

 Alice, Virginia and Rosalina; Miranda from an Italian city famous 

 for its pictures and palaces. Five darkies put off in a rowboat to 

 meet the river boat. Ten more ladies join the party, afterwards 

 breakfast. 



"Breakfast: Buttermilk rolls, Sally Lund, hominy. Prenala 

 and Miranda ride with two gentlemen, Farrel and Racket. Ground 

 half frozen. The cows stand close together in cowpen, stoically 

 chewing their cuds; several little mules are huddled up in their 

 shed eating their fodder; flocks of wild geese are flying over the 

 broad wheat fields, reiterating their 'cohonk,' 'cohonk,' as they 

 disappear from sight. Later, the ladies are firing 'poppees,' in the 

 dining-room. 



"Dinner: Ham of bacon — in Virginia, sine qua non. With- 

 out it we cannot organize or take any parliamentary action. Ham 

 of mutton (Napoleon's favorite), a venison with jelly, oysters 

 (Back River), stewed and baked, a huge round of beef, potatoes, 

 Hibernians and sweet, salsify, hominy, celery, and cauliflower. 



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