William Byrd III was a man of great stature in Williamsburg before the American Revolution. His vast holdings included mills, warehouses and ships, and he owned hundreds of slaves. However due to his lavish lifestyle and gambling addiction, he could not live within his income, lost his wealth, and died - it’s believed by suicide - in 1760.
Christiana Campbell operated one of Williamsburg’s most successful taverns, where she hosted the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Washington’s diary includes entries indicating that he dined there ten times in two months.
Robert Carter III was a wealthy owner of land and slaves who fathered 17 children with his wife, Frances Anne Carter. He is best remembered for freeing his slaves as quickly as he could under laws then in effect in Virginia.
These historic figures played parts in the fascinating tableau that makes Colonial Williamsburg - Virginia's first capital, located just under an hour from current state capital Richmond - a perfect place to relive pages from the past. Presentations by authentically attired re-enactors, tours led by factually based characters and a wide variety of other interpretive programs combine to involve visitors in the interest, information and fun.
Williamsburg’s meticulously restored 17th-to-19th-century historic area provides the Revolutionary and colonial-era setting in which chapters from the past are dramatically revived. The 300-acre site clings proudly to countless vestiges of its original appearance and ambience.
Replies