November, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



417 



Stegg, who, being disgusted at the collapse of the Cavalier 

 cause, shook off the dust of Puritan England and migrated 

 to Virginia, where he died shortly afterward, leaving his 

 estate to the young couple, who came to Virginia to claim it. 

 He was born in London, but he had good Cheshire blood in 

 his veins, for he could trace his descent from Hugo le Bird 

 of Charleton. His wife, Mary, was also of good family, 

 for her father. Col. Warham Horsemanden, was a Kentish 

 Cavalier and was descended in a direct line from Edward III. 



Col. William Byrd, the second of the name, was born 

 March 28, 1674. He inherited the vast estate and became 

 the master of Westover. His portrait, together with the 

 portrait of his daughter, Evelyn, hangs in Martin's Brandon. 



Colonel Byrd was much more than a man of the world, 

 for though he spent his childhood days in Virginia, his edu- 

 cation was gained in Virginia and in England, and in school 

 and in trade he was possessed of that training and refine- 

 ment which few men of his day had acquired. While 

 he was devoted to agriculture, and his plantation 



Mr. George Evelyn Harrison, the son of her daughter Eve- 

 lyn, who had married Mr. Benjamin Harrison, of Martin's 

 Brandon, and in this way they came into the possession of 

 the present Harrison family of that estate. 



Colonel Byrd married, in 1706, Lucy Parke, the daughter 

 or Marlborough's aide-de-camp, who carried the news of 

 the great victory of Blenheim to Queen Anne. Her eldest 

 sister, Frances, the year before, had married Col. John 

 Custis, the ancestor of Martha Washington's first husband, 

 and this explains why one of Sir Godfrey Kneller's por- 

 traits of Col. Daniel Parke is hanging in the drawing-room 

 of Martin's Brandon, from whom George Washington's 



was the object lesson of all 

 the country about him, his 

 mind was turned toward in- 

 tellectual and artistic pur- 

 suits. 



Colonel Byrd was the 

 master of Westover for 

 forty years, and during that 

 time he gratified his tastes 

 by the collecting of works 

 of art for the decoration of 

 his house and for the beau- 

 tifying of his garden. It 

 was one of the first estates 



in America to be adorned with statuary. He built elaborate 

 conservatories, the ruins of which are now traceable, fine 

 gardens, and laid out drives and walks from the interior 

 highways and from the river. His library, which was com- 

 menced by his father, was the first private collection in 

 America. The catalogue, which is still preserved, enumer- 

 ates 3625 volumes. 



The famous Westover manuscripts, which were written 

 for private perusal, and were reprinted in the last century, 

 establish him as one of the keenest intellects of his time. 

 They descended to his son, Col. William Byrd, who mar- 

 ried Mary Willing, of Philadelphia; she presented them to 



adopted son, George 

 Washington Parke Cus- 

 tis, derives his name. 



Evelyn Byrd, his 

 daughter, lived a life 

 which was poetic and 

 romantic. She was born 

 at Westover, July 16, 

 1707, and died in her 

 thirtieth year. She 

 early in life displayed a 

 quaint poetic fancy, and 

 her life was spent among 

 books and flowers. She 

 also developed signs of 

 uncommon talents and 

 virtues, both of which 

 were cultivated with 

 great care by her father, 

 who sent her to England, 

 where she was educated 

 in all the accomplishments of a polished gentlewoman, and 

 became a lady of fashion. As she grew into womanhood 

 her beauty became famous, and at sixteen she was presented 

 at Court. The carved ivory fan which she carried at her 

 presentation is now in the possession of Miss Harrison of 

 Martin's Brandon. 



The pathetic romance of Westover is familiar to readers 

 of history. It is said that among the many men whom P2ve- 

 lyn Byrd met while in England was the grandson of the 

 famous Earl of Peterborough, with whom she fell in love 

 and to whom she was actually engaged. But her father for- 

 bade her marrying him on account of his religious views, and 



The Dining-room Is Furnished with Old Mahogany 



