Lower Brandon Plantation (or simply Brandon or Brandon Plantation and initially known as Martin's Brandon) is located on the south shore of the

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

in present-day

Prince George County, Virginia Prince George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,010. Its county seat is Prince George. Prince George County is located within the Greater Richmond Region of the U.S. sta ...

. The

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

is an active farm and was tended perhaps from 1607 on, and more clearly from 1614 on, making it one of the longest-running agricultural enterprises in the United States. It has an unusual brick

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

in the style of

Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be one ...

's "Roman Country House" completed in the 1760s, and was perhaps designed by

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. The Virginia plantation was established in 1616 by Captain John Martin, one of the original leaders of the

Virginia Colony The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colony lasted for t ...

at Jamestown in 1607. The plantation was owned by the

Harrison family The Harrison family of Virginia has a history in American politics, public service, and religious ministry, beginning in the Colony of Virginia during the 1600s. Family members include a Founding Father of the United States, Benjamin Harrison V, ...

for over two centuries, from 1700–1926. Restored by

Robert Williams Daniel Robert Williams Daniel (September 11, 1884 – December 20, 1940) was an American banker who survived the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912, and later became a gentleman farmer and served in the Virginia Senate. Early and family l ...

in the early 20th century, it is a

National Historical Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of ove ...

History

Brandon Plantation was part of a 1616 land grant of approximately on the south bank of the James River to Captain John Martin (1560–1632). Captain Martin was one of the original colonists and a member of the first Council in the spring of 1607, when Jamestown was established. Martin's new plantation built on the 1616 land grant was initially named "Martin's Brandon", apparently incorporating the family name of his wife, Mary Martin (née Brandon), daughter of Robert Brandon, a prominent English goldsmith and supplier to Queen

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. They married in 1586. In 1619, Martin's Brandon was one of the plantations represented when what became the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

, the first representative legislative body in the English colonies, met at Jamestown. The representatives of Martin's Brandon were Thomas Davis and Robert Stacy. During the

Indian massacre of 1622 The Indian massacre of 1622 took place in the English Colony of Virginia on March 22, 1621/22 ( O.S./N.S.). The English explorer John Smith, though he was not an eyewitness, wrote in his ''History of Virginia'' that warriors of the Powhatan "cam ...

which occurred on

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

, March 22, 1622, there were 7 deaths recorded at Martin's Brandon, including one woman and two boys. 347 deaths were recorded during the coordinated attacks along both shores of the James River, from the mouth of the river at Newport News Point on

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

, west to Falling Creek

Captain John Martin died at Martin's Brandon Plantation in 1632. His grandson, Captain Robert Bargrave, inherited the plantation on Martin's death. In 1637, merchants John Sadler and Richard Quiney and mariner William Barker, who patented the nearby Merchant's Hope plantation, bought Martin's Brandon. They and their heirs farmed it until 1720 when it was sold to Nathaniel Harrison (1677–1727). After Nathaniel's premature death in 1727, it passed to his son Nathaniel Harrison II (1703–1791) who built the current manor house around 1765. Brandon then came into the possession of

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Benjamin Harrison (1743–1807). At his death, the property was divided between his two sons, and

Upper Brandon Plantation Upper Brandon Plantation is an historic plantation in Prince George County, Virginia on the James River. It was listed as a Virginia Historic Landmark in 1996. History Upper Brandon plantation was part of a 1616 original land patent of 5,000 a ...

was created. In 1824 tax records show that Brandon had 93 slaves and Upper Brandon had 94. Brandon Plantation (aka Lower Brandon) remained in the Harrison family until 1926, when it was acquired by

, a

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

banker. The Daniels undertook the restoration of the house and grounds and purchased several adjacent tracts of land that were part of the original land grant that had been separated from the estate over the previous three centuries. U.S. Congressman Robert W. Daniel, Jr. (1936–2012) inherited the property from his parents. Brandon was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1969, and was further declared a U.S.

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1985. and (at Virginia DHR, includes map of the plantation) The restored manor house was furnished by the Daniels with 1760s era English and American furnishings. Brandon is a working farm and the agricultural enterprise is one of the oldest continuous farming operations in the United States. The 4487.5-acre property was sold at auction by the estate of Robert W. Daniel, Jr., on 23 June 2013. In late 2013 the purchase contract with the buyer, a real estate developer, fell through and the estate was put back on the market with an asking price of $20 million. Midway through 2014, a Florida family purchased it for $17.8 million (~$ in ); soon after acquiring it, the new owners announced their intention to continue the agricultural operation and to occupy the historic manor house for part of the year.

References

External links

Brandon Plantation

* {{James River Plantations James River plantations National Historic Landmarks in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Prince George County, Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Houses in Prince George County, Virginia Harrison family (Virginia) Palladian Revival architecture in Virginia Tourist attractions in Prince George County, Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia 1616 establishments in the Colony of Virginia

History

See also

References

External links