Historic Gardens of Virginia 



ford, widow of Lyne Shackleford, and formerly Elizabeth Dabney. 

 The Dabney records say of her: "Elizabeth Dabney Pollard was 

 a very lovely woman, both in person and character." She was the 

 daughter of George and Elizabeth Price Dabney, and had a brother, 

 Chiswell Dabney, who was the grandfather of Chiswell Dabney 

 Langhorne; she had also a sister, Nancy Dabney, who married 

 Judge Alexander Stuart, and was great-grandmother of Henry 

 Carter Stuart, former Governor of Virginia. When Elizabeth 

 Dabney Shackleford married William Pollard she had one daugh- 

 ter, Louise Shackleford, who married Colonel Edmund Fontaine, 

 of Hanover County. The only child of this second marriage was 

 George William Pollard, who inherited Williamsville, and lived 

 there all his life. 



About 1840, Mary Peachy Todd, of King and Queen County, 

 became the bride of George William Pollard. She brought with 

 her much wealth and many accomplishments, for she was artist, 

 musician and lover of the beautiful. She found at Williamsville, 

 the inherited home of her husband, a situation and landscape which 

 could lend themselves to one of the most charming gardens in 

 Virginia. The lane leading from the house had a double row 

 of shade trees for a quarter of a mile, and was a joy to the eye as a 

 landscape feature. There was a lake just outside the yard, with 

 an island in it, and a bridge stretching from it to the mainland. 

 This was surrounded by luxuriant shade trees and shrubbery. 



At the back of the house Mistress Pollard set apart an acre of 

 ground and, with the help of her slaves, she planned and laid out 

 a garden of rare beauty in design. Flowering plants of all kinds 

 she planted, regardless of expense. Boxwood lined the walkways 

 which were laid with white gravel and kept in as perfect order as 

 in a city park. Summer-houses added picturesqueness. These were 

 built with large white pillars, upon which vines and roses climbed 

 in profusion. Inside, were floors of white rocks, and seats to invite 

 visitors to stop and hold sweet converse in these surroundings. 

 The sons and daughters of this beautiful and hospitable home 



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