Written by Sara Lewis, Development Officer Born in the fall of 1852, Hettie Catlett was the ninth child of 49-year-old John W. C. Catlett of Timberneck (1803-1883) and the fourth child of Frances “Fanny” Burwell Catlett (1814-1903), his second wife. Hettie’s birth was not celebrated in any known letters or journals, perhaps since, in the […]
The Plant-Cutter Riots and Fairfield Plantation
“… whereas many evil disposed persons Inhabitants of this Colonycontrary to their duty and Allegiance on the first day of May in the34th [year] of the King’s Reign and since tumultuously andMutinously assembled and gathered together Combining andpresuming to reform this Government by cutting up Tobacco plantsand to perpetrate the same in a traiterous and […]
Mary Willis Burwell’s Portrait Returns to Gloucester
Written by Sara Lewis, Development Officer On a fall day in 1736, when Lewis Burwell (1711/12-1756) married Mary Willis (1718-1746), it may have been crisp and sunny with orange-yellow leaves rustling under foot, a day not unlike today. Although we don’t know exactly where the nuptials took place, we can imagine that they were as […]
Looking Towards the Future: A Peek Inside the Development of Fairfield’s New Online Museum
Guest blog by summer intern Ashleigh Cannata, a graduate student from the University of Maryland, College Park. Often museums are seen as places strictly with four walls, endless winding hallways, and a plethora of information it would take days to get through. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic and its lasting effects on our daily lives […]
Summer Archaeology Camps 2022
Blog written by Rachel Boyd, Public Outreach Coordinator The summer is over, and school is back in session. Hopefully our summer camp kids will talk about their time at Fairfield Plantation, learning what it was like to be an archaeologist… or how many tunnels they dug in the backfill. The beginning of fall is a […]
Help Us Enrich the African American Story at Fairfield Archaeology Park
By Sara Lewis, Fairfield Foundation Development Officer The Fairfield Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization in Gloucester, Virginia, has used its flagship Fairfield/Carter’s Creek archaeological site in White Marsh as one of its locations for historic preservation and educational outreach since 2000. The organization is planning to open the site to the public as a place for […]
Restoring the Timberneck House
The Fairfield Foundation began the restoration of the Timberneck House in 2020 as part of a long-term lease agreement with the Commonwealth of Virginia to repair and use the house for exhibits and short-term accommodation. This undertaking involves many facets, including historical research, archaeological investigations, design work, building preservation, and more. One of our primary […]
Lives from the Catlett Family Cemetery at Timberneck: Frances King Burwell Catlett (November 14, 1814-April 3, 1903)
By Sara Lewis, Development Officer This blog is part of a series about the Catlett family members buried at Timberneck in Gloucester County. “Fanny” was the eighth child of Armistead Burwell (1771-1841) and Mary Cole Turnbull (1782-1860) of Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Her parents had 13 children in about 20 years and Fanny grew up with […]
Lives from the Catlett Cemetery at Timberneck
William Burwell Catlett (December 29, 1847-October 18, 1865) Blog written by Sara Lewis, Fairfield Foundation Development Officer and lover of genealogy The Catlett cemetery at Timberneck is the final resting place for many members of the Catlett’s extensive family. Our effort to preserve and interpret the house includes stewardship of the cemetery, and our goal […]
Dr. Walter Reed and Yellow Fever: Part 2
In case you missed it: Dr. Walter Reed and Yellow Fever Part 1 When the Civil War broke out, Walter Reed’s older brothers, Tom and James, fought on the side of the Confederacy. The Reed family had left Gloucester County and were living in the Piedmont countryside. Walter, who was barely a teenager at the […]
