American Heritage RV Park, Williamsburg, Virginia
Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. When the time drew near for Israel (Jacob) to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.” “I will do as you say”… “Swear to me,” he (Jacob) said. Then Joseph swore to him, and Israel (Jacob) worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. ~ Genesis 47:28-31 (see also Hebrews 11:21) One hundred and forty-seven years! Can you imagine? He still has some important work to do, though. He needs Joseph to promise to bury him with his ancestors in Canaan – the Promised Land. And he still needs to bless his twelve sons. We’ll look at that when the time comes, but looking at the lives of these people just reminds us that God can use anyone for His Great Purpose! By the way, placing a hand behind a thigh was how they swore an unbreakable promise to someone back then. Seems strange to us, doesn’t it? The other thing of note – – back then, oftentimes, people didn’t kneel or prostrate themselves to pray or worship – even when Jesus came. They did it where they stood. Position doesn’t matter to God, it’s the heart attitude that matters, for God looks at the heart. (I Samuel 16:7)
Williamsburg was founded in1638 and became the capitol of Virginia from 1699 (when it was moved from Jamestown) to 1780, when it was moved to Richmond, after then governor, Thomas Jefferson, successfully petitioned its movement during the American Revolution because he believed Williamsburg was too exposed to British invasion.
After that move, Williamsburg began to decline, until in the 1920’s when the rector of Bruton Parish Church, Reverend Doctor W.A.R. Goodwin contacted and persuaded philanthropist, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to finance the place to its eighteenth-century aspect. Here’s my condensed version of how it happened that I found at research.colonialwilliamsburg.org
Goodwin scraped together enough contributions to start restoring the Bruton Parish Church in 1905. The original design had been altered by “innovations” made in 1839, and his plan was to get rid of these.
He held a special service prior to the restoration work. As he tells it,
The old organ which had come down from Colonial days had undergone many local repairs. Parts of it had been tied together with wires and parts with shoelaces. . .
When . . . the organist put her fingers upon the keyboard to play the opening hymn, the organ gave a long and horrible moan — and passed into eternal silence.
This was the beginning of horrors. A thunderstorm came up. A cat and dog took refuge under the Church, and began to dispute with each other the sole possession of this refuge from the storm. . .
Some of the conservatives hinted that it was all an omen of disaster and of divine disapproval.
Despite that omen, restoration was successful, and indicated to Goodwin that his big dream — restoring the entire colonial capital — might be possible. The restoration effort was completed in 1907. He never forgot it during his 15 years at a different church in Rochester, New York, and it was on his mind when he returned to Williamsburg with his new family in 1923.
The town had desperately tried to keep up with the 20th century, and its antiquities seemed doomed to become parking lots and cheap eateries. In the oxcart days of Goodwin’s first residence, its rural funkiness had been at least interesting. But in the Model-T days, it had degenerated to grease-stained filling stations slapped together with sheets of corrugated iron. Utility poles paraded down the middle of Duke of Gloucester Street, sprouting skeins of overhead wires. A tin garage near the Magazine bore a sign reflecting the early ’20’s interest in King Tut: “TOOT-AN-CUM-IN.”
At first, Dr. Goodwin failed to interest Rockefeller and turned to Henry Ford. A few letters tell that story.
To Edsel Ford: “Seriously, I want your father to buy Williamsburg. . . .”
Answer: a form letter: “We regret that Mr. Ford’s many activities are absorbing his entire attention. He is therefore, unable to interest himself in the matter mentioned.”
To S. S. McClure, editor of McClure’s Magazine, asking for help in getting Henry Ford’s ear.
Answer: “My dear Mr. Goodwin: It is absolutely impossible under any circumstances to get Mr. Ford to do anything for anyone. That I know from long observation. Faithfully yours. . . .”
He tried Henry Ford’s brother, William. The only answer was a clipping from the Detroit Free Press: “HENRY FORD ASKED TO BUY ANCIENT VIRGINIA TOWN!”
That kicked off a press “feeding frenzy,” including an amusing editorial in the Baltimore Sun. Goodwin’s answer was to ask the Sun’s editor to come down for a visit “and I will prove to you, on the spot, that my dreams have foundations in fact!” The editor sent a top writer down, and the Doctor quickly won him over.
But Goodwin’s big chance came in March 1926 when John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife and five sons worked Williamsburg into their trip to Hampton Institute. Goodwin met them, escorted them around, and made friends.
When the Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall at William and Mary was dedicated that same year, Rockefeller attended the ceremony, then walked with Goodwin through the great trees behind Bassett Hall. They talked, and then Rockefeller asked to be left alone with his thoughts. After that visit, Rockefeller announced his intention to restore the old city. His moment of thoughtful solitude in the Bassett Hall woods has been described as history’s most expensive midnight stroll.
Rockefeller began the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in 1926 and gave $60 million to endow it.
Holy Moly! That’s the equivalent of $1,004,444,067.80 today!!! More than a billion dollars!
This is a wonderful example of how one person really can make a difference in this world! Thank you Dr. Goodwin! It’s taken nearly one hundred years, but just look at how your persistence paid off for us – personally, and as a nation!
The 301 acres of Colonial Williamsburg contain 88 original 18th century (that’s the 1700’s) buildings, plus hundreds more that have been reconstructed on their original foundations. I tried to uncover how many employees they have, but since they’ve diversified into the hotel and restaurant business, as well as other things, it was impossible. I saw anywhere from 200 – 7,500, so your guess is as good as mine.
Now on with our day.
It didn’t begin all that well once I discovered that I’d left my phone in the ladies room. And that wasn’t until we’d taken the shuttle bus over to town. We had to hoof it back where I first check the stall (of course it wasn’t there), and then were fortunate enough to locate it at the lost and found booth. I was never too worried about it, but Blaine recalled visions of the last time I’d left it behind. Not good.
And now we’re ready.
There was a list of things we’d like to see today, and several ‘performances’ and educational things we wanted to take in. The problem became that the day scooted by very quickly and we’d opted for a one-day pass. I don’t recommend that. If you come, you need at least two days.
We returned to our original starting place, a tour of the Governor’s Palace. It was good, but there were many people, so it was difficult to take pictures without strangers in them.
While we were waiting for our turn to go in, a reenactor asked us a question, “What would you get if you threw all the books into the ocean?” No one answered. “A title wave!” And now we were all smiling or laughing out loud. 😊
That’s a reproduction, but the original is in one of the museums.
a building outside the palace.
The one in the checkered shirt was trussing up a rabbit.
After the palace, it was time for their walking tour titled “Freedom’s Paradox”. It was a one hour walk around the town, that took 1 ½ hours, but very informative about how the ‘system’ worked hard at continuing to find ways to keep people (most notably African-Americans) enslaved. And how important they were to the economy. Hence the paradox. (the word means inconsistency or contradiction) In order for many of our founding fathers to prosper and thus place themselves in the position of power needed to bring about the American Revolution from England, they needed the free labor enslaved people afforded them. The paradox comes when these same men, demanding freedom for themselves and their country from English tyranny, were themselves imposing such upon enslaved individuals. How did they get here? In the beginning they were tribesmen who’d been bested by other tribes and then sold into slavery to other countries. Another way was indentured servanthood – those who sold themselves or were assigned to work as punishment for some crime. The difference between being enslaved and being indentured was that eventually, the indentured were set free once they’d paid off their debt or served their sentence. Also, in the beginning, there were ways even the enslaved could be released from bondage – becoming a Christian, or being born from a non-slave father. This occurred as you may guess, when a white owner had relations with an enslaved woman. Eventually, the laws were changed to stop the enslaved from being set free. It was no longer wrong for a Christian to be enslaved, and they changed the law to follow the mother’s state of freedom. In other words, it didn’t matter who your father was. There was a lot of information shared. It was all quite eye-opening, and sad.
After our walk, it was time to check out some of the shops and trades.
he was only talking about the laws as they pertained to children. We didn’t stay long.
He seemed very stogy and bored with his job at first, but it turned out to be a dry sense of humor.
We enjoyed him!
She talked to us about how the taverns operated and what people were looking for back then
because it was law that every tavern had to charge the same amount, so you didn’t choose where to stay based on the expense. Instead, it was more about whose food you liked and how well they’d take care of your horse.
BTW – it cost more to board your horse than yourself.
Along the way, we met Mrs. Ambler! Remember, yesterday I told you to remember the Amblers? In the course of our conversation, we mentioned we’d just been to Jamestown, then told her her house had seen better days, but true to form (I don’t know how they do it!), she replied, “Really?!? It was fine when I left it!” She was in town to visit her sister. 😊 I don’t know why we didn’t think to take a picture. ☹
Near the end of our day, we were able to listen to James Madison (our future 4th President) talk about his early years, before the Declaration of Independence. It was a monologue and he was spectacular!
By the time he was finished, we needed to make a beeline to the Art Museums and take a cursory walk around, because we had made dinner reservations off-property.
for the 350th anniversary of Jamestown.
They keep the lighting down to protect the artifacts.
Blaine found a restaurant called “Food for Thought” that had really good reviews. And I must say, everything we had there was wonderful! Delicious and hot. And the desserts (which I neglected to photograph) were also outstanding! Flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate Crème Brule!
Some of the things that make this place really unique are the quotes all around the dining room and the conversation starter cards on the table.
One of them read, “If you could give rain any scent, what would it be?”
Blaine’s was . . . . rain! (Bor – – ring!!)
I said baked bread! What would you choose? Talk about it over dinner tonight!
At the end of our day, we received pictures from a photoshoot of Matthew’s first year celebration! Oh. My. Goodness!! He’s sooo adorable! (If I do say so myself. lol)
