University of Virginia Library

VILLAGES OF CAROLINE

PORT ROYAL

It is recorded in the Legislative Journals of the Council of
Colonial Virginia, Volume 2, page 941, that on October 3, 1744,
the Council received a message from the House of Burgesses
stating that the House had passed "A Bill entitled an Act for
establishing a town near Roy's Warehouse in the County of
Caroline etc." This message was read the first time when it was
presented, and the second and third times on the following day,
whereupon it was resolved by the Council "That the Bill do pass."
Thus begins the history of Port Royal. This documentary
evidence substantiates the statement of Hayden that Thomas
Roy founded Port Royal, and that the town was called Port
Roy for several years.

Thomas Roy married Judith Beverly Kenner prior to 1740.
She was the widow of Rev. Rodham Kenner, an Episcopal minister.
A daughter of Thomas Roy and Judith Beverly Kenner, Elizabeth
by name, married James Miller whose name frequently appears
in the ancient minutes of Kilwinning-Crosse Lodge of Masons.
Mr. Miller was a Scot and remained loyal to the crown, although
his son was an officer in the Revolutionary Army. James Miller's
portrait was painted by Copely and photographic copies of the
same are now in the possession of his descendants, Mrs. J. E.
Warren, of Newport News, and Mrs. J. H. Rives, of Richmond.

The town of Port Royal is situated on the Rappahannock
River, 22 miles below Fredericksburg and 15 miles east of Bowling
Green, the county seat. It once had an excellent harbor and
enjoyed a large tobacco trade direct with England. Before the
advent of the railroad, when the county relied chiefly on the
river for transportation, it was a place of no small importance.
Tradition has it that Port Royal was considered for the site of
the National Government.

Many famous families and persons have had residence in
Port Royal. Here lived Rev. Jonathan Boucher, George Fitzhugh,
author and professor, Captain Sally Tompkins, of Civil War fame,
and many others. Nearby lived the eminent John Taylor,
James Taylor, John Penn, Colonel Butler, William Bernard, the
Lightfoot, Robb, Magruder, Gravatt, Pratt, Micou, Farish,
Catlett, Gilchrist and other equally prominent families. On the
opposite bank of the Rappahannock, at Port Conway, President

Madison was born and brought up. There were several old
academies nearby at different periods which gave a cultural
atmosphere to the community not surpassed elsewhere in Virginia.
Indeed no part of the South had a more brilliant social
life than this town and its environs.

With the coming of the railroad and the lessened importance
of the river as a channel of commerce, Port Royal, like many
other river towns in the South, dwindled in importance and today
it is but the ghost of its former glory. There are now a few stores,
a bank, a hotel, a garage, and possibly a half hundred residences.
The bank has resources of approximately $75,000 and is conducted
by Dr. J. M. Holloway, R. F. Tankard, W. H. Carter, Latane
Sale, C. K. Hearn, W. T. Powers and A. F. Turner. Many of
these are descendants of men and women who lived in Port Royal
in the days of its prosperity.

BOWLING GREEN

This, the county seat town of Caroline, was established shortly
after the formation of the county, as will appear from the Legislative
Petitions elsewhere in this volume, and received its name
from the estate of Major Hoomes on which it was built, the said
estate taking the name "Old Mansion," by which it is still known.

The Bowling Green, as it was originally called, was once quite
a social centre. The races of the American Jockey Association
were frequently held here in the latter years of the eighteenth
century. Preparatory to these occasions temporary hotels were
erected and the town during the week of the races was wholly
given over to merriment. The sporting journals of the period,
many of which have been preserved, tell the story.

Bowling Green is situated on the old State Road—one of the
first roads to be surveyed in Virginia—and is forty miles north
of Richmond and twenty-two miles south of Fredericksburg.
The railroad station for Bowling Green is Milford, and is two
miles west of the town and connected therewith by two bus lines.
The Richmond, Washington and Baltimore papers may be read
by the residents at breakfast of the day of issue, and the New
York papers at noon. In addition to the public buildings there
are a number of stores, a mill, two hotels, newspaper office (The
Caroline Progress) light and power plant, ice plant, high school,
five churches, a bank, and many of the most attractive residences

in eastern Virginia. The lawns are commented on far and wide
because of their spaciousness and beauty.

An Avenue of Old Cedars at Bowling Green.

The old Stage Road over which passed the through traffic
from North to South in colonial times, is now the main thoroughfare

for automobile traffic between these two sections and in the
spring and autumn approximately a thousand cars daily pass
the village en route to or from Florida and other points. The
Union Bank and Trust Company, of Bowling Green, originally
Caroline County Bank, operated by L. E. Martin, Leroy Dunn,
F. H. Borkey, Richard Barlow, John Cox, George P. Lyon, J. T.
Richards and T. C. Valentine, does a business of one million

The Lawn Hotel at Bowling Green on Site of Old New Hope Tavern

dollars annually. The automobile business of J. W. Elliott and
Sons is the next most important business establishment in town.

An old and pleasant custom, which grew out of the old county
court, is the "Social Court" in Bowling Green on the second
Monday of every month. On this day one may see nearly all
of the citizens of the county in town. Buying, selling, "swapping,"
and speech-making, in political season, and social intercourse,
make it a great day for the county and the county seat. On this
day one may buy anything from puppies to plantations without
leaving the street.

MILFORD

Milford is situated on the Richmond, Fredericksburg and

Potomac Railroad, 40 miles north of Richmond and 22 miles
south of Fredericksburg. The town dates back to November
2, 1792, at which time an Act was passed by the Virginia Assembly
"To establish a town and inspection of tobacco on the lands of

An Avenue in Bowling Green

John Hoomes, in the county of Caroline." See Hening's Statutes
Volume 3, page 576.

This town was once the head of navigation on the Mattaponi,

as will appear from the Legislative Petitions elsewhere in this
book, and had a large tobacco inspection or tobacco warehouse.

Lawn of the Rains Home in Bowling Green

Today there stands farther back from the river and on the east
side of the railroad a large tobacco warehouse erected by the
Co-operative Tobacco Growers Association for the receiving and
grading of Caroline tobacco which was formerly sold at auction
on the open market in Richmond. Here also are located the
plants of the Wilson Lumber Company, the Miller Sumac Extract
Company. The mercantile establishments operated by T. E.
Campbell, W. N. Blatt and Sons, R. Lewis Gravatt, E. G.
Thornton, Farmers Co-operative Exchange and Milford Produce
Company, are among the most prosperous in the county.

The Milford State Bank, organized in 1912, and operated by
Dr. E. C. Cobb, H. D. McWhirt, Walter Wilson, C. W. Colbert,
G. K. Coleman, W. P. Miller and L. E. Martin, is a flourishing
institution and serves a large territory.

GUINEA

Guinea is situated on the Richmond, Fredericksburg and
Potomac Railroad, about 50 miles north of Richmond and 12
miles south of Fredericksburg. The name was originally spelled
Guiney, and was always spoken of in the plural—Guiney's
The name is supposed to have been derived from a family of the
name which once lived nearby. Here are stores operated by E. C.
Allen, C. W. Colbert, Mills and Blaydes; the grist mill of D. L.
Cook, and the plant of the Dill Lumber Company, of Baltimore
of which Mr. E. V. Russell is the local manager. There are
many beautiful old homes around Guinea, among them "Ormesby,"
old estate of the Thorntons; "Hillford," old estate of the Motleys;
"Idlewild," home of the Chandlers and birthplace of Dr. J. A. C.
Chandler, President of William and Mary; "Burton Hall," home
of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Flippo; "Mill Hill," birthplace of
John Taylor; "Nyland," an old Chandler estate and now the
home of the Claibornes; "Spring Grove," home of Mr. and Mrs.
Cutler Beasley; "North Garden," home of the Thorntorns;
"Braynefield," old Buckner home; "Fairfield," old home of the
Chandlers, and many others. David Lloyd George, Prime
Minister of Great Britain, visited the old house at "Fairfield,"
in which Stonewall Jackson died, and standing by the old house
in the presence of Admiral Cary T. Grayson, Mayor Ainslie, of
Richmond, Editor Douglas Freeman and other notables, remarked:
"That old house witnessed the downfall of the Southern Confederacy."
Strawberries are shipped by the carload from Guinea
every year.

WOODFORD

Woodford is situated between Guinea and Milford, about two
miles from the former and seven miles from the latter, and was
named in honor of General William Woodford, who was born
and brought up near the place. For many years the railroad
station was called Woodslane and the post-office about one hundred
feet away was called Woodford. Here are several stores operated
by Dratt, Washington, Southworth and others and on the ridge
lying above the village are many beautiful old homes. At Woodford
are the headquarters of the George P. Lyon Excelsior Company,
the largest industrial concern in the county.

PENOLA

Penola, situated on the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac
Railroad, five miles south of Milford, was named in honor of
John Penn, of Caroline and as nearly the name Penn as possible
without confusing it with an existing name in Virginia at that
time. The original name of the station was Polecat, so called
from Polecat creek which runs nearby.

Here are stores operated by T. B. Jeter, E. M. Coleman
and R. C. Richardson, and excelsior mills operated by W. R.
Jeter, Caroline's largest land owner, and Lyon and Smith. Here
also are the Rose Hill Lumber Company, operated by L. D.
George and John W. Clark, and a flour mill, operated by
George R. Jeter.

There are several well-known estates, among them "Marl
Hill," of the Coleman family, and now owned by the Dews,
"Thornberry," of the George family, "Fairford," of the George
family, and others. It is quite probable that as much mail is
distributed from this office as from any other of similar classification
in the State.

RUTHER GLEN

When the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
was built through Caroline county, the place now known as
Ruther Glen was called Chesterfield Station, from the old Chesterfield
Inn on the Stage Road nearby. But confusion was often
caused by mail and freight being sent to Chesterfield Court
House, and, so, shortly after the Civil War, Major Myers, then
Superintendent of the railroad, renamed the place for an ancient
Scottish town on the river Clyde near Glasgow. The Scottish

Ruther Glen is associated with the Scotch heroes, Wallace and
Bruce, and was made a royal burgh in 1125. It was here that
Sir John Monteith agreed to betray Sir William Wallace into the
hands of the English. Here also stands an old castle taken by
Robert Bruce from the English in 1313.

Near Ruther Glen in Caroline is "Ellerslie" the old home of
the Moncures so named from the home of Wallace in Scotland.
There are a number of well known old estates nearby. Here
were born General Jo Lane Stern and his brother Cary Ellis
Stern who became so prominent in the life of Richmond. Here
also is St. Margaret's Church. The mercantile establishments of
G. K. Coleman and the Flagg Brothers and the excelsior plant
of Mr. Coleman constitute the greater part of the business life
of Ruther Glen.