Day Trip: The Peninsula

Marina in Kecoughtan
I have a week of vacation time carried over from last year, so I figured I'd better start using some of those days. I took the day off Monday, and Morris & I hit the road early and drove down to the Virginia Peninsula.

We were specifically interested in seeing Hilton Village in Newport News, and planned to stop at Country Style Donuts on the East End of Richmond to stoke ourselves with sugar, but the shop was closed for remodeling. Chagrined, we continued down the road to the peninsula, and decided to eat breakfast there.

We ate breakfast at the Oasis, which has been welcoming Hampton residents and visitors since 1952. The food was good, and the service was very friendly.

Across from the Oasis was the White Oak Lodge. I don't know if you can get a meal there, but the beer truck was out front early in the day, stocking up for the evening crowd. It had the look of an old honky tonk, with its boarded windows.

The business establishments above on Kecoughtan Boulevard, and the house shown below on Chesapeake Avenue on the James River, are in the Old Wythe section of Hampton. Hampton is the oldest continuously inhabited English settlement in America. The Wythe section of the city honors George Wythe, an important patriot and statesman of our nation who was murdered!
Holy Jessica Fletcher!

Stick around for that stranger-than-fiction story coming up after the next photo!

A stately home overlooking the waters of Hampton Roads
George Wythe, born in 1726 in what is now known as Hampton, was a just & respected man. Thomas Jefferson, once George's student of law, called him "my faithful and beloved Mentor in youth, and my most affectionate friend through life." Wythe's life was filled with accomplishments, too many to list, but a few include first professor of law in America, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Virginia's Chancellor and foremost classical scholar.

Upon his death in 1806, Jefferson wrote "No man ever left behind him a character more venerated than George Wythe. His virtue was of the purest tint; his integrity inflexible, and his justice exact; of warm patriotism, and, devoted as he was to liberty, and the natural and equal rights of man, he might truly be called the Cato of his country."

He also sounds like a nice guy. A widower, he welcomed his law students into his home as boarders, and tried to cripple the institution of slavery in Virginia. His ruling that African-Americans were included in "all men" born free did not survive appeal, but he did free his slaves and provided for their support.

So, how did a venerated man, kind, generous and scholarly, become the victim of arsenic poisoning?

When Wythe became judge of Virginia's Chancery Court, he moved to Richmond. Lydia Broadnax, a freed slave, remained with George Wythe's household as housekeeper, and George added a provision to his will for her. Also, he had taken a young black man, Michael Brown, into his home to teach him law, and the will included funds for his education. Enter George Wythe Sweeney, the Snidely Whiplash of our story, a grand-nephew to old George. George Sweeney had forged checks against his great-uncle's accounts to cover debts, and was an all around ne'er-do-well. He also stole rare books from Wythe's library, and sold them to finance his gambling habit. Lydia saw Sweeney examining Wythe's will late one night when he thought he was undetected.

Mr. Sweeney seethed that his inheritance would be shared, and purchased a quantity of arsenic. He stealthily poisoned the breakfasts of Broadnax, Brown, and his great-uncle one morning, and then left the house before eating. Mathew Brown died within a few days; old George lingered in agony for a couple of weeks, and named his nephew to his doctors when he said "I am murdered." He summoned his lawyer to his bedside and eliminated the bequest to his nephew from his will.

An interesting sidenote: when George Sweeney was arrested for the forged checks, he had the gall to send a a message to his dying uncle asking for bail money. The request was refused.

The only survivor of the poisonings was Lydia Broadnax. She could not testify against George Sweeney because he was white and she was black. Mr. Sweeney was acquitted. Ironically, although he wished to, George Wythe had not eliminated the law prohibiting a black person from testifying against a white person when he revised the Code of Virginia three decades earlier. The law that prevented his faithful housekeeper from giving evidence at his murderer's trial remained on the books until 1867 during Reconstruction.

If you would like to learn more about the death of George Wythe, historynet is a good source. I would avoid wikipedia because that account has inaccuracies.

This house was an anomaly in the midst of colonial and traditionally styled houses. I would love to see the interior. It was a handsome departure from the vernacular architecture along the waterfront. I think it adds a touch of Hollywood glamor to the neighborhood.

James River Bridge

Waterfront near Hilton Village

Hilton Village homes along River Road

Hilton Village home
Hilton Village was the first Federal war housing development, necessitated by the critical lack of adequate housing near the Newport News Shipping and Drydock Company during World War I. German U-boats were sinking ships faster then the U.S. & England could produce them by the end of 1917, and shipbuilding became vital to winning the war. The shipyard had doubled its workforce, but the best-skilled workers were leaving because of deplorable, expensive, and scarce housing.

The community was planned through the cooperative efforts of an architect, a landscape architect, and a town planner. Town planning included schools, shops & markets, churches, theaters, clubhouses, and parks & playgrounds. A streetcar line extension provided transportation to the shipyard for the men.

It was an era when women worked in the home. Remarkably, the planners thought to ask the wives of the shipyard workers what features they wanted in their dwellings. Thus, housing included built-ins, such as dressers and Murphy beds in the bedrooms, and cabinets in the dining rooms. Backyards were deep enough to accommodate gardens. Today, some of the homes still feature claw-foot tubs in the bathrooms. The development's design was that of an English village, and buildings are Jacobean in style.

Hilton Village duplex

Box Office at the Village Theater in Hilton Village
Village Theater

Village Theater marquee
Of course, breakfast at the Oasis had been hours ago, so we sought out another restaurant that dates back to the early 50's.

Rocky Mount BBQ
When we asked about the barbecue pork at Rocky Mount BBQ, the waitress brought us each complimentary samples before we ordered lunch! This restaurant has been here since the early 50's, and I'd definitely visit again. The homemade banana pudding looked scrumptious, but there was no room at my inn by the time I finished my BBQ platter.

Morris & I enjoyed our day trip to an area we had not explored in depth previously. The Virginia peninsula had always been an area to "just get through" on Interstate 64 on my way to other places. It turns out that it has a lot to offer the visitor. I may go back to tour the Mariner's Museum and the Virginia War Museum. Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to dine at the Oasis and Rocky Mount BBQ again.

p.s. This is a new danger zone on Hermitage Road near my office. They serve ice cream from the Homestead Creamery, a small family-owned dairy in Virginia. It'll put a hurtin' on ya, it's so rich & creamy.