POPLAR GROVE 



N the year 1725 Gloucester County embraced that 

 little enclosure ( for it is almost entirely surrounded 

 by water) which is now Mathews County. It was 

 here that Samuel Williams, of Northumberland 

 County, received from George III a large grant of 

 land which passed to his son, Thomas, who built 

 the west wing of Poplar Grove in 1782. Ten years later it was 

 sold to John Patterson, and he, it is said, having obtained the same 

 architect who designed Mount Vernon, added greatly to the house. 



About this time, the feeling between the two parties — Whig 

 and Tory — was very keen and Mr. Patterson, in honor of his 

 political affiliations, called his home Poplar Grove and planted on 

 its lawn numbers of beautiful Lombardy poplars, the symbol of 

 the Whigs. 



With the lawn sloping down a few hundred feet to the 

 water, a magnificent view is commanded of Mobjack Bay. To 

 the south, just fourteen miles away, is Yorktown, and it was from 

 there that schooners, laden with corn to grind for George Wash- 

 ington's army, sailed around York Spit and across the bay to the 

 old mill at Poplar Grove. The old mill is still standing and is a 

 continual inspiration to artists. 



To the west of the house, and extending almost to the water's 

 edge, was the old garden and, across the north end, ran a serpentine 

 brick wall. Through the influence of Thomas Jefferson, this type 

 of wall had become the vogue in Virginia about that date. Separat- 

 ing the garden from the lawn, ran a low brick wall capped with 

 old English crescent-shaped brick. A part of the serpentine wall 

 and all of the little wall still stand. 



Like so many of the old gardens, the flowers and vegetables 

 were in the same enclosure. Along the central walk were three 



[161] 



