Building Berry Hill: Plantation Houses and Landscapes In Antebellum Virginia Clifton Coxe Ellis Etowah, Tennessee B.A., Carson-Newman College, 1978 M.A., University of Tennessee, 1982 M.A., University of Virginia, 1995 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty Of the University of Virginia in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Architectural History University of Virginia May 2000 © 2000 by Clifton Coxe Ellis All rights reserved Table of Contents Abstract .. .. ........... .. .. .. ................. ... .. .... ......... .. .... .. ........... ....... ...... ....... .. .. ... ii Ackowledgments ................................................................. ························· ............ iii Abbreviations ..................................................................................•................... lV List of Figures ...................................................................................................... V Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: James Bruce ............................................................................. 17 Chapter Two: James C. Bruce ........................................................................ 44 Chapter Three: Buildings and Contracts ........................................................ 76 Chapter Four: Building Berry Hill . ... ... ........ .. ........... ..... ...... ..... ........ ..... ... .... 96 Chapter Five: House and Household: The Multi-Purpose House ....... 113 Chapter Six: Evolution of the Virginia Great House ............................ 141 Chapter Seven: The Greek Revival: Style and Meaning .......................... 161 Chapter Eight: The Slave Landscape .. .......... .. ....... .. ..... .. ..... ....... .... ....... ... ... 195 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 238 Bibliography 244 Illustrations 258 li Abstract The subject of this dissertation is Berry Hill plantation in Halifax County, Virginia. James and Eliza Bruce built the plantation house in 1842, and it is still considered the finest example of Greek Revival architecture in antebellum Virginia. The house is., however, a radical departure from the plantation house of the eighteenth century. The change in house form is the result of the transformation of women's role in the household during the nineteenth century - - in plan, Berry !-!illresponds to Eliza Bruce's role as mistress and mother, and she took an active role in planning the house. Over the next decade James and Eliza Bruce shaped, with the help of slaves and local builders, an extensive and intricate plantation landscape. Berry Hill was not the vision of one man, but rather the result of negotiations between husband and wife, master and mistress, slaves and slaveholders. This plantation landscape served a large community of whites and blacks. Berry Hill planta�icn was a response not only to larger '�c:tio r,.,1 l i<:-::�_:es cf pcli�cs and ,1esthetics, but of complex social relationships that revolved around issues of class, race1 and get,der. iii Acknowlegments A simple thank you seems too small a gesture1 but is nevertheless gratefully offered to: my mother Nell Dunn Ellis1 and my sister Cynthia Jane Ellis; my friends: Mark Grayson1 Judith Kucharskt and Hal Sharp; my advisor: Prof. Camille Wells; my committee members: Profs. Daniel Bluestone1 Carl Lounsburgy1 and Maurie Mclnnis. I am very grateful to the staffs of Alderman Library's Special Collections at the University of Virginia; The Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina; The Virginia Historical Society; The Library of Virginia; and The Library of Congress. Many thanks to friends I made along the way: Mr. Howard Staht Mr. Henry Lewis1 Mr. Chip Pottage1 and Ms. Margize Howell. Thank you to Mr. Richard Jenrette and Mr. Richard Nicol for arranging access to Berry Hill plantation during renovations. "My son1 beware ... Of making many books there is no end1 and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 11 Ecclesiastes 12:12 lV Abbreviations BFP Bruce Family Papers EWB Eliza Wilkins Bruce JB James Bruce JCB James Coles Bruce LOC Library of Congress LOV Library of Virginia UVA University of Virginia UNC University of North Carolina VHS Virginia Historical Society VMHB Virginia Magazine of History and Biography WMQ William and Mary Quarterly V List of Figures Figure 1.1. Map showing properties of James Bruce. Source: Roberts. Figure 2.1. St. John's Episcopal Church, Halifax County, Virginia. Source: Carrington. Figure 3.1 Archaeological site of the Carrington House: Source: Higgins. Figure 3.2 Sketch of Tarover. Source: WMO, Figure 3.3 Drawings by Philip St. George Cocke. Source: Rogers. Figure 3.4 Halifax County Courthouse. Source: Peters, Virginia Courthouses Figure 3.5 Conjectural Plan of Berry Hill. Source: Based on Berry Hill contract BFP, UVA Figure 4.1 Mecklenburg County Courhouse. Source: Peters, Figure 4.2 Site plan of Berry Hill Plantation. Source: Halifax County, Virginia Deed Book 47 /138, Halifax Countytax maps Figure 4.3 Four Phases of Construction at Berry Hill House. Drawing by Jason Gibson Figure 4.4 Plan of Berry Hill house as built. Drawing by Jason Gibson Figure 4.5 Plans and Cross Sections of Berry Hill house. Source: Waite. Figure 5.1 Axonometric drawing of Berry Hill house showing slave circulation. Drawing by Jason Gibson. Figure 5.2 Photograph of colonnade shed at Berry Hill house. Source: VDHR. Figure 5.3 Axonometric drawing of Berry Hill house showing Eliza Bruce's daily routes through the house. Drawing by Jason Gibson Figure 6.1 Clifts Plantation c. 1675. Source: Neiman. Figure 6.2 Clifts Plantation c. 1725. Source: Neiman. Figure 6.3 Plate LVIII from James Gibbs's Book of Architecture. Source: Waterman. Figure 6.4 South Elevation, Mount Airy, Richmond County, Virginia. Source: Waterman. Figure 6.5 Plan, Mount Airy. Source: Upton, 1985. Figure 6.6 Plans, Mount Airy and Berry Hill. Source: Waterman, Gibson. Figure 6.7 South Elevation, Mount Airy. Source: Waterman. Figure 6.8 South Elevatioin, Berry Hill. Source: VHDR. Figure 6.9 Prospect Hilt Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Source: Sharp. Figure 6.10 Prospect Hill. Source: Sharp. Figure 6.11 Prospect Hill. Source: Sharp. Figure 6.12 Plans, Mount Airy, Prospect Hilt Berry Hill: Source: Waterman, Sharp, Gibson. Figure 7.1 North Elevation, Berry Hill. Source: author Figure 7.2 Girard College, Philadelphia. Source: Lewis Figure 7.3 Courthouse, Petersburg, Virginia. Source: Peters Figure 7.4 Presbyterian Church, Petersburg, Virginia. Source: Kennedy. Figure 7.5 Virginia State Capitol. Source: Wilson. Figure 7.6 Rotunda, University of Virginia. Source: Wilson. Figure 7.7 Arlington House, Arlington, Virginia. Source: Kennedy. Figure 7.8 Andalusia, Philadelphia. Source: Kennedy. vi Figure 7.9 Newkirk House, Philadelphia. Source: Lewis. Figure 7.10 Bank of the United States. Source: Kennedy. Figure 7.11 Vermont State Capitol. Source: Young. Figure 7.12 Stair Hall, Berry Hill House. Source: AXA. Figure 7.13 Double Parlors, Berry Hill House. Source: AXA. Figure 7.14 Mantelpiece, Berry Hill House. Source: AXA. Figure 7.15 Detail, Frieze of Mantelpiece, Berry Hill House. Source: AXA. Figure 8.1 Chart showing ownership of slaves, 1860. Source: Vlach. Figure 8.2 Plan, Slave House, Type I, Berry Hill Plantation. Source: author Figure 8.3 Plan, Slave House, Type II, Berry Hill Plantation. Source: author Introduction This dissertation is about Berry Hill plantation in Halifax County, Virginia. James Coles Bruce and his wife Eliza Douglas Bruce built the Greek Revival house between 1842 and 1844, and during the next decade they built and shaped the larger landscape of their plantation. Because the house is the largest and most conspicuous example of Greek Revival in the state, it has been the subject of several articles and local histories, and it has been included in all major surveys of American architectural history. These writings have focused on the biography of James C. Bruce and on the style of the house he built. None have examined the larger plantation landscape, and none have considered the role of Eliza Bruce in planning the house and grounds. Nor have these writings considered how the slaves of Berry Hill helped create not only the plantation landscape that James C. and Eliza Bruce conceived, but a protective landscape, mental as well as physical, of their own. James C. Bruce did not build Berry Hill plantation by himself. Both the house and the larger plantation landscape were the result of a process of negotiation between Bruce, his wife, and his slaves. This dissertation will reveal a more complex story of why and how the Bruces built Berry Hill. Architectural historians have a long tradition of ascribing meaning and value to a building through its style. That tradition judges a building by how successfully it achieves the ideal form of a given style. By this method, the house at Berry Hill plantation is accorded a place in the American canon of architectural history because it is a fine example of domestic Greek Revival architecture; the house has national significance. Berry Hill house was, however, well-known to 2 Virginians decades before it was accorded a place in the nation's architectural narrative. At the turn of the twentieth century, writers who were interested in Virginia's colonial and antebellum architecture developed an appreciative literature on the state's