Vaucluse
Vaucluse, the Upshur family manor and plantation, sits on Virginia’s finger-like Eastern Shore “in Church Neck in Hungars Parish, Northampton County,” Virginia. Between 1780 and 1784, it is believed Littleton Upshur constructed the first physical structures of Vaucluse, for his wife, Ann Parker Upshur, and their family.
Vaucluse, the Upshur family manor and plantation, sits on Virginia’s finger-like Eastern Shore “in Church Neck in Hungars Parish, Northampton County,” Virginia.
In 1768, Arthur Upshur IV purchased the 550 acres of land that would become Vaucluse. But the Church Neck tract of land was not Upshur IV’s only property. Upshur IV inherited, owned, and lived on over 2000 acres of land called “Warwick” some fifteen miles northeast of Church Neck on the Atlantic-facing side of Virginia’s Eastern Shore.[1]
After the Revolutionary War, Arthur Upshur IV passed the Church Neck property to his twenty-one-year-old son, Littleton Upshur I (1758-1811).[2] Between 1780 and 1784, it is believed Littleton I constructed the first physical structures of Vaucluse.[3] Meanwhile, Littleton I and his wife, Ann Parker Upshur, started their family. Littleton Upshur II and Juliet Upshur were both born at Vaucluse in 1783 and 1784 respectively. Between 1786 and 1801, six other children were born to Littleton Upshur I and Ann Parker Upshur at Vaucluse averaging one child nearly every two years.[4]
Littleton I’s acquisition of the property became official when his father, Arthur Upshur IV, died in 1784. In addition to the over 500 acres of land, Upshur IV bequeathed to Littleton I the individuals enslaved on the Church Neck property.
“Item I Give my son Littleton Upshur and his Heirs forever Five hundred Acres of Land, more or less, lying in Church neck in the parish of Hungars and County of Northampton…Also the following negro’s [sic] on the Hungars or Church Neck Plantation, to wit, James, Isaac, Harry, Pegg, and all her Children, Rachel and all her Children, Rose and all her Children…with the Household and Kitchen Furniture on the said Hungars Plantation…”[5]
Research on the enslaved at Vaucluse is ongoing.
Littleton Upshur I died intestate in 1811 prompting a resurveying of the land one year later. Finding that Vaucluse sat on 758 acres of land, the property was partitioned into eight parts in accordance with their value. The house (Vaucluse) and 30 acres were inherited by Abel Parker Upshur.[6]
It is unknown how much time Abel Parker Upshur was able to dedicate to Vaucluse between 1811 and 1824. His legal studies and burgeoning political career likely kept him in Richmond, the state capital, for long stretches of time. However, in 1824, Upshur penned a poem to his neighbor and sister-in-law, Mary Vaughn Wilson Upshur, which suggested that Vaucluse was in poor condition.
“I have a world of things to do,
To patch and botch and piece and mend,
“Through rags and rubbish without end.
“Hear you my story ‘tis not long,
“But brief and wretched, like my song.
…
“An Irish cabin of Vaucluse,
“Where cow and pig and Pat and Jude
“Huddle together in the mud,
“Until ‘twere difficult to scan,
“Which is the beast and which the man
…
“Hapless! O’er whom this fate prevails!!
“And all for want of garden pales!
“Well, I will stay and nail them on;
“I’ll teach these shameless beasts to shun
“The ground held sacred in my care
“For gallant Knight and Lady fair”[7]Improvements were indeed made during Abel Parker Upshur’s ownership of Vaucluse. He likely funded the 1829 addition to the house. Although because records from these renovations have yet to be uncovered, we can only presume that the work of enslaved laborers made such improvements possible.[8] Later, as a member of President John Tyler’s cabinet in the 1840s, Upshur hosted his fellow cabinet members at Vaucluse. It is unclear if Upshur ever hosted President Tyler.[9]
Footnotes
- ^ Warwick might be considered the Upshur’s first “ancestral home.” Since 1664, five generations of Upshur’s lived at Warwick near Quinby, Virginia, until the British burned the plantation house during the Revolutionary War. Arthur IV reconstructed the house at the close of the war. Littleton Upshur I, the individual who eventually constructed Vaucluse, was born at Warwick in 1758. John Andrews Upshur, Upshur Family in Virginia (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, Incorporated, 1955), 6, 13, 20-23, 31, 41, 44-45, 53, 152.
- ^ The first member of the Upshur family to be named “Littleton.” The second and youngest song of Arthur IV and Leah Custis Upshur. Born April 26, 1758, at “Warwick.” No record of either Littleton nor Abel II serving in the Revolutionary War. However, their father, Arthur IV, commanded a local militia in which the two boys may have served. When Arthur IV, Littleton’s father, dies, he bequeaths Littleton the land that would become Vaucluse in addition to a 1350-acre tract of land called “Manner Plantation.” Littleton married Ann Parker (August 35, 1763-June 18, 1820), a descendant of a prominent Eastern Shore family, around 1781. Littleton and Ann had nine children, all of whom grew up “in the beautiful and cultural environment of ‘Vaucluse.’” Andrews describes Littleton as “one of the most popular and influential men of his time on the Eastern Shore.” Littleton died intestate (without a will) on August 27, 1811, and was buried at Warwick. A lengthy and gushing notice of his death appeared in the Richmond Enquirer on September 6, 1811, and is quoted in Andrews. John Andrews Upshur, Upshur Family in Virginia (Richmond, VA: The Dietz Press, Incorporated, 1955), 53-55. Note directs readers to “Vaucluse,” Appendix, Note VII; AND Whitelaw, Virginia’s Eastern Shore I, 418-420.
- ^ National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (1970).
- ^ Andrews, Upshur Family in Virginia, 55-65. Caleb Brown Upshur (1786); Arthur Brown Upshur (1788); Abel Parker Upshur I (1790); John Upshur (1792); George Parker Upshur (1799); Elizabeth Parker Upshur (1801).
- ^ Will of Arthur Upshur IV, Accomack Wills, Etc., 1780-84, 477-80, quoted in Andrew, Upshur Family in Virginia (1955): 41-42.
- ^ Will of Arthur Upshur IV, Accomack Wills, Etc., 1780-84, 477-80, quoted in Andrew, Upshur Family in Virginia (1955): 41-42.
- ^ Quoted at length in Andrews, Upshur Family in Virginia, 162-163. Copied from the original in the Quinby Papers, Alderman Library, University of Virginia.
- ^ One of the only clues to the details of Abel Parker Upshur’s renovations was found when George Upshur Pope (1884-1931) modernized the house likely in the 20th century. An inscription was found inside a floor board reading, “Angelo A. Townsend – Painter of this Building June 19, 1829.” Andrews, Upshur Family in Virginia, 92, 160.
- ^ National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (1970); Andrews, Upshur Family in Virginia, 160.