Rosewell

I saw cotton and I saw black
Tall white mansions and little shacks
Southern man, when will you pay them back?

Neil Young “Southern Man” 1970

As a photographer I feel that my task is to document and preserve, and by doing so allow others to reflect and comment. Which sometimes is challenging to do when it comes to a place whose history is almost 300 years old, and encompasses the best and worst of our shared humanity.

Best in that when Mann Page began the construction of the Rosewell Mansion in 1725 it would be recognized for its architectural design. Thomas Tileson, an architectural historian, in Mansions of Virginia, described Rosewell as "the largest and finest of American houses of the colonial period.” It was said to have outshined the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg; which was Page’s goal “to build a home that would not only rival the newly completed Governor’s Palace near Williamsburg, but would surpass it in size and style.”

And it was rumored that Thomas Jefferson, a close friend and William & Mary classmate of John Mann, Mann Page’s grandson, might have written a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence here. It is more likely that Jefferson possibly penned “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” (the precursor to the Declaration of Independence) while visiting at Rosewell.

Worst in that, like many tobacco plantations, slavery is also a significant part of Rosewell’s history. Possibly as many as 111 in the 18th century. At the close of the Civil War 68 slaves were documented to be living at the property. After the war and emancipation, African Americans worked for pay. In the spring of 1916, March 24th, the mansion caught fire and was gutted. As it burned it is said that James Andrew Carter, a descendant of slaves, was working in his fields nearby, and seeing the plumes of smoke said, “Let it burn.”

The property was donated in 1979 it to the Gloucester Historical Society, and is available for visitors. I’d advise contacting them before you go for hours. Use this link: http://www.rosewell.org/home.html