On Saturday, Preservation Virginia, the organization that owns Bacon’s Castle, hosted “Descendants’ Day” there at the property. 58 of us whose ancestors had either owned the Castle, lived there or worked there attended.
Descendants of the Allen family were there (Arthur Allen built Bacon’s Castle, known then as Allen’s Brick House, in 1665. It was passed down through several generations of Allens).
I also saw name tags of Bacon family members (Nathaniel Bacon was most likely never at Bacon’s Castle, but his followers briefly took over the property and used it as a fortress during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. Following that, the house was known as Bacon’s Castle.)
I met members of the Hankins family (who owned the house during the Civil War era).
Although I didn’t meet them, I’m sure other families were represented. But, to my knowledge, I was the only Warren family descendant that attended. (William Allen Warren, an ancestor of my maternal grandmother, bought Bacon’s Castle in 1880, and was the first of three generations of Warrens to own the property.)
Staff members from Preservation Virginia were there to greet us, give tours, answer questions and help with genealogical research.
We were asked to bring old family photos, so, with Motor Man’s help, I put together this collage.
My display was set up in one of the upstairs rooms. There, I met Mr. Johnson, who was very interested in my photos and actually remembered my grandparents. He is a quiet, humble man who told me that, as a young child, he lived in a house there on the property. We were looking out of one of the windows in the direction of that house when he softly said: “I sure would like to have a picture of that.” So I went to Will, one of the staff members that I’d been speaking with earlier, and mentioned it to him. He immediately asked Mr. Johnson for his address and promised to send him a photo.
A short time later, Motor Man and I caught up with Mr. Johnson on the porch of the house he lived in many years ago. This house was originally used as slave quarters, and funding is now in place for it to be renovated.
Before the event ended, we gathered for a group photo. I’m third from the right in the picture, standing behind the railing. And yes, that’s my buddy, Mr. Johnson, standing beside me.
Of course, since Motor Man and I were married at Bacon’s Castle, we never pass up the opportunity to have our picture taken there.
It was a very nice event, one that I was honored to attend. As I mentioned to someone, I’m always ready to talk about the Castle.
I’m sure our ancestors would have been pleased that we gathered to remember them at this very special place that connects us all.
~These Days Of Mine~
these days of mine 