Berkley Plantation, VA

Right after Jamestown  was settled in 1608, the property which came to be known as Berkley Hundred Plantation in 1619 was settled. 23 people on a ship landed. This is where the first Thanksgiving was given on this American soil. 

 

You can see the landing spot. They leave some masts up so you get the idea.  The picture on the left is the spot where they knelt in prayer and gave Thanksgiving after they arrived.   

This sign says it all! I was amazed all that actually happened on this site!

This is the home where the family has lived for many generations! We got a tour of the house. No pictures inside. The family still lives in the upstairs portion. Was beautiful and all original!  William Henry Harrison (9th US President) lived here. He actually was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

 In early 1812 he was out in Indiana Territory fighting the Indians. They were trying to take the Indian Trading Post (equivalent to our Washington DC) called Tippecanoe. There were two indian brothers, one was a prophet. This prophet told the indians that the white man's weapons would not hurt them. So when Harrison's army showed up and killed lots of them, the indians left and stripped their prophet of his duty. This is the battle that actually started the war of 1812 with the British.   After the war, Harrison was asked to run again (2nd time) for the White House.  They used the campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!" Tyler was his VP running mate.  They won. William asked Daniel Webster (the dictionary man) to write his Inaugral Address. After standing outside for 2 hours giving his speech he caught a cold, it turned to pneumonia and he died 1 month later! Tyler then became President.

His grandson, Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the US. So a lot of history has taken place on just this one plantation!

 

Here are some photos of the beautiful lush gardens that were all around the Berkley Plantation. I just loved the gardens.  The weeping willow trees brought back lots of memories of me growing up in South Carolina with the Spanish Moss trees.



 The photo on the left I wanted Curtis to pretend like we were in Sound of Music! He thought I was crazy! It was perfect!

The sign on the right is where the original hymn TAPS was written.   It was like a "Wow, really?"

  

 This was a restroom for visitors that was converted from old slave quarters.

 All the wood was still original.

The door to the actual bathrooms had this sign on it. I thought it was totally appropriate! That is what they used to call the restroom or bathroom back then.