Chesterville

Chesterville. Birthplace and Plantation of George Wythe. In a marshy field miles north of here near space-age testing facilities lies the homesite of one of America's most respected founders. Chesterville was the birthplace and plantation of George Wythe, lawyer, teacher, and guiding light to men like Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall. Jefferson called Wythe "my faithful and beloved mentor in youth and my most affectionate friend through life.", Wythe's great-grandfather began the family settlement in 1691 on land that overlooks a tributary to Back River. His grandson, Wythe's father, built a stone house on the property where, in 1726 or 1727, the future leader was born. In 1771, Wythe ordered windows, nails and hardware from London and built a new brick house quite close to his birthplace. Wythe eventually held more than 1,050 acres on which he grew tobacco, corn, wheat, and barley, and raised livestock., Wythe was one of the most respected characters of his time and was entrusted with the honor of placing his signature at the top of the Virginia signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was elected speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, served as Williamsburg alderman and mayor and, at the College of William and Mary was the nation's first law professor. He was a strong advocate of emancipation, openly denouncing slavery to his law students, and set an example by freeing all the slaves he owned after his wife died in 1787. He left legacies to two of them in his will. Greed and resentment of generosity to former slaves contributed to Wythe's death in 1806 as his ne'er-do-well teenaged great-nephew, namesake, and heir, George Wythe Sweeney, in a plot to inherit more of his fortune, slipped arsenic into his food. Wythe lived long enough to write the young man out of his will., Wythe sold Chesterville, and a series of owners lived in the house until 1911 when a kitchen stove exploded and the building was burned down., (captions) , George Wythe Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum , George Wythe's House at Chesterville showing tall Palladian windows that might have been inspired by Thomas Jefferson. - Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum, Cheyenne Collection