4i8 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 1907 



she eventually died of a broken heart. Evelyn Byrd had 

 other admirers, among whom was Daniel Parke Custis, who 

 was favored by both his father, Col. John Custis, and 

 Colonel Byrd, but he finally married Martha Dandridge, 

 who later married George Washington, and who is his- 

 torically known as Martha Washington. 



The tombs of the master of Westover and his favorite 

 daughter rest under the shade trees in the grove quite close 

 to the house, and are passed on the road from the boat land- 

 ing to the mansion. The family burial-ground also contains 

 many old tombs which are covered with descriptions and 

 coats-of-arms, among which are those of Cap. William Byrd, 

 the emigrant, and Mary his wife; William Byrd, the second, 

 and Evelyn Byrd, his daughter; Benjamin Harrison, of 

 Berkeley, father of 

 the signer ; Mrs. 

 Harrison, Rev. 

 Charles Anderson, 

 Col. Dalter Aston, 

 and others. 



Col. William 

 Byrd's monument, 

 which is in the old- 

 fashioned garden in 

 the rear of the man- 

 sion, contains a very 

 concise record of 

 his life, on one side 

 being the following 

 inscription: "Here 

 lyeth the Honor- 

 able William Byrd, 

 Esqr. Being born 

 to one of the am- 

 p 1 e s t fortunes in 

 this country, he was 

 sent early to Eng- 

 land for his educa- 

 tion ; where, under 

 the care and instruc- 

 tion of Sir Robert 

 Southwell, and ever 

 favored with h i s 



particular instructions, he made a happy proficiency in polite 

 and various learning; by the means of the same noble friend, 

 he was introduced to the acquaintance of many of the first 

 persons of that age for knowledge, wit, virtue, birth or high 

 station, and particularly attracted a most close and bosom 

 friendship with the learned and illustrious Charles 

 Boyle Earl of Orrery. He was called to the bar 

 in the Middle Temple, studied for some time in 

 the low countries, visited the Court 

 of France anti was chosen Fellow of 

 the Royal Society." On the other 

 side of the monument is: "Thus 



The Drawing-room Chimney-piece Was Imported from Italy by Colonel Byrd 



//lie 



gentleman and polite companion, the splendid economist and 

 prudent father of a family with the constant enemy of all 

 exorbitant power, and hearty friend to the liberties of his 

 Country. Nat. Mar. 28, 1674 Mort. Aug. 26, 1744 An, 

 Aetat 70." 



Upon the death of Col. William Byrd II, Westover be- 

 came the property of William Byrd III, who was born at 

 Westover on September 6, 1728. He was only sixteen years 

 old when his father died, but he acquired the education of a 

 gentleman and became one of the most accomplished men 

 in the colony, and naturally followed in the footsteps of his 

 ancestry. 



When George Washington was colonel of one of the two 

 regiments of the Virginia militia, William Byrd commanded 



the other which ac- 

 companied General 

 Forbes in his expe- 

 dition against Fort 

 Duquesne, and he 

 enjoyed the esteem 

 and friendship of 

 the distinguished 

 patriot. 



The English 

 landed three times 

 at Westover under 

 Arnold and Corn- 

 wallis. During the 

 Revolution, Benedict 

 Arnold, the traitor, a 

 cousin by marriage 

 of Mary Welling, 

 left New York and 

 sailed up the James 

 River, where he an- 

 c h o r e d and pro- 

 c e e d e d in small 

 boats to Westover, 

 with about nine hun- 

 dred men, and pre- 

 pared to march on 

 Richmond. 



The estate of 



Westover was held by the descendants of Colonel Byrd until 

 I 8 14, when it passed out of the family. 



During the Civil War, when Mr. John Seldon was 

 owner of Westover, it was used as a Feneral headquarters. 

 Fitz John Porter's corps encamped on its wheatfields and 

 occupied the old mansion after the Seven Days' 

 Fight by the Army of the Potomac, which retired 

 to Harrison's landing in pursuance of McClellan, 

 causing the latter's famous "change 

 of base." President Lincoln reviewed 



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1 KZ/ 







eminently fitted for the service and or- 

 nament of his country, he was made Receiver Gen- 

 eral of his Majesty's revenues here, was thrice 

 appointed publick agent to the Court and ministry 

 of England, and being thirty-seven years a member at last 

 became President of the Council of this Colony. To all this 



the troops which were encamped here. 

 The restoration of the old mansion 

 and its quaint formal garden has been done during 

 the past ten years by Mr. and Mrs. McCreery 

 Ramsay, its owners, and the interior furnishings 

 include some of the rarest pieces to be found in America. 

 Mrs. Ramsay is a collateral descendant of the Byrds, and 



were added a great elegancy of taste and life, the well-bred the old place is once again in the family. 



