Randolph Plantation, Scandal at Bizarre, and Israel Hill
Randolph Planation and Scandal at BizarreAt the corner of E. Second and N. Main Street, once stood the planation home for the Randolphs, a notorious family that rose and fell with the antebellum tobacco economy and founded the town of Bizarre. A prominent founding family in Virginia, the Randolph family gained their wealth in tobacco sales, owned hundreds of slaves, built mansions, and produced generations of statesmen and generals, including Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and Robert E. Lee, whose mothers were all Randolphs. Most notably, however, was Anne Cary “Nancy” Randolph, whose claim to fame began with a family scandal at Bizarre in the late 1790s.Nancy moved to Bizarre with her sister, Judith, and her sister’s husband, Richard Randolph (also the sisters’ cousin). Almost as soon as Nancy arrived in Bizarre, visitors began to suspect that she and Richard were too fond of one another. By 1792, Nancy unexpectedly began to gain weight, causing suspicion. It was 30 miles northeast of Farmville (now at 145 Ampthill Rd, Cartersville, VA), however, at the Glentivar House, when Nancy’s screams awoke the household, only to be suddenly silenced. The next morning, they discovered blood stains on the staircase and bedclothes and in a shingle pile outside: the corpse of a white baby.Israel HillIsrael Hill on the Appomattox was a community made up of freed slaves who lived, married, and did business with white members of Prince Edward County. Thomas Jefferson had himself condemned slavery, but he never believed that whites and blacks could live together, it was his nephew, Richard Randolph (the same one involved in the scandal), who challenged this. Richard Randolph inherited his father’s property upon his death and planned to free the slaves in his will after debts were paid. When Richard Randolph died early – around 26 years old – his wife, Judith Randolph, freed the slaves and deeded over 25 acres to the families 10 years later. Calling their settlement Israel Hill, being their promised land, the community developed commercial businesses in blacksmithing, dairy or tobacco farming, carpentry, and general store management.__________________ReferencesText:Alan Pell Crawford, “A House Called Bizarre,” Washington Post, Nov 26, 2000. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/2000/11/26/a-house-called-bizarre/4ea73982-5c3c-4599-9086-ea209464a666/“Site of the Randolph House,” Historical Marker Project, Sept 20, 2014. https://www.historicalmarkerproject.com/markers/HMK7D_site-of-the-randolph-house_Farmville-VA.htmlMore information: Francis Biddle, “Scandal at Bizarre,” American Heritage, vol. 12, no. 5, Aug 1961. https://www.americanheritage.com/scandal-bizarre“Israel Hill on the Appomattox,” Prince Edward County Virginia. http://www.co.prince-edward.va.us/israelhill.htmlImages:Michler, N. (Nathaniel), "High Bridge and Farmville (1865)," Library of Congress, 1865, https://www.loc.gov/item/99439136/.O'Sullivan, Timothy H., "Farmville, Va., vicinity. High bridge of the South Side Railroad across the Appomattox," Library of Congress, 1865, https://www.loc.gov/item/2018666731/.
Tobacco Warehouses and Fires
The Randolph Warehouse and Farmville WarehouseThe Randolph Warehouse (Old Warehouse), located on the Appomattox River at Mill and First Street, is now occupied by Charley’s Waterfront Café and part of Green Front Furniture Company.In January 1798, Judith Randolph gave permission for warehouses to be built on her land near Rutledge’s Bridge. The bateau wharf located just behind the Randolph Warehouse offered exceptional navigation on the Appomattox River, operating 40 bateaux, carrying a captain with two crewmen and five to seven tons of cargo, much of which were hogsheads of tobacco.By 1818, the Farmville tobacco industry became too big for the Randolph factory alone, leading to the construction of the Farmville Warehouse (Middle Warehouse). By 1836, Farmville housed two warehouses and ten factories.In 1862, the General Hospital of the Confederacy was established in Farmville, serving mostly cases of chronic illnesss to make room in Richmond hospitals. Of the three divisions of the hospital, two were converted tobacco warehouses. With the end of Civil War and the beginnings of Reconstruction, Farmville become the third largest market in the state for tobaccos sales, leading to the construction of a third warehouse in 1875 known as the Planters Warehouse (now Farmville Wholesale Electric). In 1900, W. G. Dunnington became the largest tobacco dealer in Farmville. Fires of 1898 and 1924In January of 1898, a fire raged in downtown Farmville, destroying thirty-six buildings, including all of the original early 19th century riverfront warehouses, and causing $150,000 in damages (roughly $4 million today). The fire reportedly originated in the storage room of Duval Robertson & Co. at the corner of North and Third Street, as the Washington Post informed, “two terrific explosions of blasting powder sent the burning brands on many unprotected buildings and shook nearly every house in the town.” Shortly after, the double factory used by W. G. Dunnington across the street was seen ablaze and quickly overwhelmed firefighters, leading to an emergency telegraph to Lynchburg for assistance. As the Washington Post reported, “there was plenty of water, but not the means with which to use it.” The Farmville Warehouse and the Presbyterian Church were severely damaged, while surrounding buildings to the north were were seen crumbling to the ground.In March 1924, another fire of unexplained origin damaged two tobacco warehouses and the Presbyterian church, causing an estimated $300,000 in losses (nearly $4.3 million today). After a two-hour fight, the flames were put out, unlike the uncontainable fire nearly 25 years earlier, resulting in considerable losses in tobacco industry.__________________References Text:“Randolph Warehouse, Mill and First Street,” Farmville – Prince Edward Historical Society, Feb 2009.Jeff Toalson. Send Me a Pair of Old Boots and Kiss My Little Girls: The Civil War Letters of Richard and Mary Watkins, 1861-1865, New York: iUniverse Inc, 2009, Page 97.Julian and Edwina Covington, "Tobacco Industry in Prince Edward County," in Today and Yesterday: The Heart of Virginia, 2006.“Fired by Incendiary, Blaze in Farmville Causes a Loss of $150,000. Thirty-Six Buildings in Ruin,” Washington Post. Jan 4, 1898, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Page 3.“Tobacco Men to Rebuild: Some of Those Burned Out at Farmville Secure Temporary Quarters,” Washington Post, Jan 5, 1898, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Page 3.“Flames at Farmville Cause $300,000 Loss,” Washington Post, March 16, 1924, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Page 2.Images:“Randolph Warehouse, Mill and First Street,” Farmville – Prince Edward Historical Society, Feb 2009.Jeff Hurt, “The Dunnington Family,” Prince Edward County Historical Society Facebook, June 6, 2019.
Farmville Since 1940s
Since 1940sBy 1955, only two companies remained in Farmville – Dunnington Tobacco and Putney Tobacco Company – one of the warehouses being bought and converted into a factory by the Lynchburg baised Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation in 1935. By 1976, all tobacco warehouses were closed by the Dark-Fired Growers Marketing Association and opened under a single owner near Dowdy’s Corner as the New Randolph Tobacco Warehouse. The auction houses were closed indefinitely in January 2005 after the federal tobacco buyout.The present Green Front Furniture Store began with Richard F. Cralle Sr., who bought Green Front Grocery (located in one of the shops on N. Main Street) and passed it down to his son, Dickie, who “switched from dry goods to home goods.” Eventually the store expanded into multiple buildings downtown and into the old tobacco warehouses at the end of N. Main Street.__________________References Text:"Randolph Warehouse, Mill and First Street” and Julian and Edwina Covington, Tobacco Industry in Prince Edward County, 2006.“About Us,” Green Front Furniture, https://www.greenfront.com/about-2/Images:Jeff Hurt, “Aerial Photo of Downtown (1947-1952),” Prince Edward County Historical Society Facebook, July 25, 2019.“North Main Street 1959,” VDOT Facebook, June 14, 2018.“Tobacco sale at Middle Warehouse, Farmville, Va., 1962-1963,” VCU Libraries Digital Collections.
History of the Railroad
The charter to build the Southside Railroad, which ran from Lynchburg to Farmville, was signed by the state of Virginia in 1846 and the first tracks were laid in 1849. The initial plan was to make the railroad run through a series of county courthouses that would provide business and income for counties in the area. The original plan of the railroad was not to run through Farmville but to skirt around the town altogether and run through what was once the village of Prince Edward Court House and what is now called Worsham, which would have left Farmville void of any of the economic benefits that the railroad was intended to bring. The town of Farmville and its citizens protested the railroad's route and agreed to purchase $100,000 worth of stocks in the Southside Railroad, in exchange for the railroad rerouting to where it came right through the middle of the town. This change of route resulted in track engineers designing a half-mile long railroad trestle that crossed the Appomattox River and the surrounding valley, about 4 miles outside the town of Farmville.The plan was approved and construction for the bridge began in the 1850s. Spanning across the river valley, several large stone pillars were laid by at least 1,000 hired railroad workers. In addition to these people, slave labor was also used in the construction of the bridge in the form of southside railroad workers. In reference to the 1857 painting that depicts the bridge after its completion, trees within the area were cut down to supply the bridge of timber and wood. The chimney of a kiln can also be seen, which would have been used to bake clay into bricks that made the pillars that supported the bridge. Below the railroad bridge was a small wagon bridge that was used for foot traffic and wagons.Image: The completed High Bridge spans across the Appomattox River Valley in 1857. The surrounding vegetation was cut down to provide wood for the bridge and the kiln that made the bricks can also be seen. At the foot of the bridge, a simple wooden bridge was constructed for foot traffic and horses and wagons. The painting was done in 1857 upon completion of the bridge.__________________ReferencesText:Bisbee, James Michael. The History of the Southside Railroad 1846-1870. University of Richmond. 1994.High Bridge. DHR: Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Accessed Dec 1, 2019. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/024-0056/ Vail, Willis W. High Bridge: “The End of Our Fifteen Months’ Labor” The story of building the Norfolk Western viaduct near Farmville, Virginia. (2014. Friends of High Bridge Trail State Park. United States of America.) Page 13.Image:Completed High Bridge. 1857. Unknown artist. Sailors Creek State Park.
Building Southside Railroad
For four years, the bridge acted solely as a commercial route, transporting goods such as tobacco food, and passengers, to and from Lynchburg, Richmond and the areas in between. This went on until 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War. Then the railroad was put to military use, transporting soldiers and military equipment from the central parts of the state to Richmond, the Confederacy’s capital. In April of 1865, the bridge became a target of the war, when the retreating Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee crossed High Bridge and the wagon bridge. After his army had crossed, Lee gave the orders for his soldiers to set fire to the bridges in an attempt to evade the pursuing Union armies of the Potomac, the James, and the Shenandoah, all under General Uylessus S. Grant. While the railroad bridge burned rather well, the wagon bridge was wet from the overflowing Appomattox river and the torrential downpours that had been ongoing for the past week and failed to burn steadily. With the Union army on their heels, the Confederates were forced to abandon any effort of trying to get the bridge to ignite, allowing for Grant’s pursuing armies to continue the chase.__________________ReferencesText:Vail, Willis W. High Bridge: “The End of Our Fifteen Months’ Labor” The story of building the Norfolk Western viaduct near Farmville, Virginia. (2014. Friends of High Bridge Trail State Park. United States of America.) Page 13.Bisbee, James Michael. The History of the Southside Railroad 1846-1870. University of Richmond. 1994.Image:O'Sulivan, Timothy H., "High Bridge over the Appomattox River. North east view." 1865, Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2018672197/
War on the Bridge
Campaign History, Camp Paradise, the Life of a Soldier The High Bridge Trail’s significance comes from a great majority of its military history. The trail and the railroad played a noteworthy part in the Civil War and were used as a backdrop for some of the final events. During the final days of the war, while Robert E. Lee was retreating, the Northern Virginia Army was taking a course through Petersburg while parts of the army headed around areas such as High Bridge. The men residing around High Bridge took shelter in a fort known as Camp Paradise. Built with slave labor and used by the army, the fort served as a midway point between high bridge and Appomattox. Conditions at the battle of High Bridge were rough and men fell ill to, “Lice, blistered feet, and gnawing hunger” (Reflections on High Bridge by William M. Vatavuk).Lee’s Retreat and the Burning of the Bridge General Lee and his troops were in desperate need of getting over from the Appomattox side of the trail to the city of Farmville in order to restock on food and other needed supplies. To halt Lee’s army from retreating into Farmville, the Confederate army set fire to the historic bridge. Sergeant Charles G. claimed that during his experience of the burning bridge, “Men forgot all rules and discipline in the enthusiasm of the moment” (History of the Fourteenth Regiment by Charles D. Page). The burning of the bridge was an extremely violent event as the fires burned upon the bridge, union soldiers used whatever tools they could find to try and put out the fire. The battle of High Bridge was a major point in the war as its occurrence led to the later events in Appomattox The battle was called by historians, “One of the most glorious victories ever achieved in our history” (The Battle at High Bridge by Edward T. Bouvé).***Continue across High Bridge to visit Camp Paradise__________________ReferencesText:Edward T. Bouvé, Civil War Papers: Read Before The Commandery Of The State Of Massachusetts, Military Order Of The Loyal Legion Of The United States Volume II (Boston: MCM, 2012).William M. Vatavuk, Reflections On High Bridge (N.P).Charles D. Page, History of the Fourteenth Regiment, Connecticut Vol. Infantry (Connecticut: The Horton Printing Co., 1906) John Day Smith, The History of the Nineteenth Regiment of Maine Volunteer Infantry 1862-1865 (Minnesota: The Great Western Printing Company, 1909) Online Sources:https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/high-bridge-trail-state-parkhttps://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/high-bridgeImages:Caldwell, Harry. "Davis on Bridge," 2019O'Sullivan, Timothy H., "High bridge of the South Side Railroad across the Appomattox," 1865. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2012649849/
Rebuild of Bridge to Today
After the war, High Bridge was repaired and used until it was replaced by the Norfolk & Western Railroad in 1914 to accommodate heavier rail equipment. Willis Willson Vail was employed as the resident engineer on the massive project. The new steel trestle, constructed in 1914, ran parallel to the old brick pillars of the old bridge which were left intact. The new bridge’s design consisted of twenty one towers. It’s estimated that several hundred men worked on the 1914 bridge project facing dangerous working conditions. Workers used the town of Farmville as a place to pick up supplies as well as spend free time.In the early 1900s, a new railroad was built a few miles away and more traffic was rerouted to this railroad from the route going over High Bridge. The old route still existed and served as a backup route until 2005. The final regularly scheduled passenger train to cross the bridge was in 1979 and the last train to cross the bridge was in 2005.After the closing of the railroad, Norfolk Southern Railroad (successor to the Southside Railroad) company donated 31 miles of former railway from Pamplin City east to Farmville and then southeast to Burkeville to the state in 2006. The donated land was converted into a multi-use trail, known as High Bridge Trail State Park and was opened in 2008. Work on rehabilitating the bridge to make it safer for pedestrians was completed in 2012. Standing at 160 feet tall and 2,400 feet long the bridge remains one of the longest bridges in the nation.______________ReferencesText:Bill Lohmann. Media “Near Farmville, a historic railroad bridge gets a facelift.” General News Service. February 29, 2012. https://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/near-farmville-a-historic-railroad-bridge-gets-a-facelift/article_4e2579ec-fe8d-5b67-b00d-3c4490448e21.html.“High Bridge.” Stone Sentinels. https://stonesentinels.com/less-known/high-bridge/Flippen, Bob, and Richard McClintock. High Bridge: "The End of Our Fifteen Months' Labor". Friends of High Bridge Trail State Park, 2014.Images:Allison Ellis, High Bridge, 2018
