Black Walnut is a historic plantation house and farm located near Clover, Halifax County, Virginia. The main house was built in at least three sections beginning about 1774 to 1790. In the 1840s and 1850s, a substantial two-story frame addition was built in two stages parallel to the existing house, along with a connecting hyphen, altogether giving the house an H-shape. The interior features Greek Revival style details.
Also on the property are the contributing brick kitchen, a dairy, a wash-house, two smokehouses, two sheds, a cool-storage building, a privy, a stable, a barn, a slave cabin, a corncrib, two machine sheds, a toolshed, a garage, a late 18th-century schoolhouse, and the family cemetery.
At its peak, Black Walnut Plantation was one of the largest and most successful plantations in Halifax County. The only Civil War battle fought in Halifax County, the Battle of Staunton River Bridge, took place on Black Walnut Plantation in Summer 1864. Confederate troops maintained encampment there during the war alongside up to 800 Confederate slave laborers.
During the September 1939 National Tobacco Festival, Academy Award Winner Mary Pickford visited Black Walnut as Queen of the festival.
Early history The Staunton River Battlefield Project is a collaboration between the Dr. James W. Jordan Archaeology Field School and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation – Division of State Parks. This research is being undertaken at Staunton River Battlefield State Park. Originally the focus was on the Civil War battle that took place on this site in 1864. Following the work on the Civil War site, the focus shifted to the prehistoric past when the remnants of a Saponi Indian village dating back to the Late Woodland period were discovered at the Randy K. Wade Archeological Site.
To date, more than 100,000 artifacts have been recovered from this site and radiocarbon dating has demonstrated that the site was occupied from approximately A.D. 950 to 1425. Paleo-environmental data has indicated that the site was occupied year-round, rather than seasonally, and it is currently estimated that around 200 people lived at the Wade Site. This research has focused on a variety of questions including subsistence strategy and horticultural development, social organization, mortuary practices, and environment reconstruction.
Some of the more intriguing evidence at the site relates to the variability in the burial practices that may indicate social stratification and a shift from Big Man to Chiefdom social organization. Also of interest is whether the site was actually an island in the Staunton River and whether it may have been one at the time the site was occupied. Future fieldwork will continue to seek answers to these and other questions.
Initial survey and settlement, 1700s In 1741, Richard Randolph of Henrico County was granted a land patent of 10,300 acres situated along both shores of the Staunton [Roanoke] River, Licking Hole [Little Roanoke] Creek, and Black Walnut Creek, in what was then Lunenburg County. With the creation of Halifax County in 1752, 3,100 acres of Randolph's original land patent was cut off and annexed to the newly established county. In 1748, Richard devised this parcel to his son, John Randolph. Randolph never resided on this property since the family's primary residence was Henrico County where they owned several plantations along the James River. During this early period, however, the property was referred to as the "Black Walnut Plantation" indicating some type of improvement on the site.
Acquisition by William Sims, 1768 Twenty years later, in June 1768, John Randolph sold the entire 3,100-acre parcel to William Sims of Cornwall Parish, Charlotte County. The deed from John Randolph to William Sims described the tract as being part of a larger tract known as "Black Walnut Plantation" and a small plantation opposite to the mouth of the Little Roanoke River. William Sims and his brothers, David and Matthew, moved to Halifax County from Charlotte around 1770. During William Sims' brief tenure, tobacco was cultivated as the main crop, along with other crops and livestock. After five years of ownership, William Sims sold his 3,100-acre property to Matthew Sims for five shillings. Matthew Sims settled on part of the property and, in February 1774, surveyed off 1,750 acres and sold it to his brother, David Sims.
Early settlement and land-use, 1770s–1800s
Matthew Sims (1773–1790) The lands retained by Matthew Sims were established as his homestead, where he built his manor house. The main house, which dates to the 1770s, probably stood as a 1-story or -story single-pile, four-room house with interior end chimneys. The earliest documented outbuilding associated with the Black Walnut plantation was constructed southeast of the main house and consisted of a -story, wood-frame building (Figure 9). This building terminates in a steeply pitched roof that is sheathed in standing-seam metal. The late-eighteenth-century structure was used as a schoolhouse; the building is still extant on the Black Walnut property.
Matthew took an active role in the Episcopal church, as did many of Halifax County's leading citizens. The boundaries of Halifax County and the Episcopal parish, Antrim, coincided. In 1783 Matthew and several other leading citizens were designated to collect tithes in the western section of the county.
Matthew married Amey (Oney) May of Charlotte County in 1774. Matthew died in 1790 and left behind his wife and nine children. An inventory dated November 1790 shows his estate as including 40 slaves, personal belongings, crops, and livestock. Agricultural crops listed in this inventory included "200 barrels corn, crop of tobo. 1790 supposed 15000" pounds. Livestock included 45 cattle and horses, and 13 hogs. Amey May Sims acquired title to a 325-acre tract of land, including "the mansion house". According to Matthew Sims' inventory, the remaining twenty slaves were divided among his children. His son, Matthew, received "1 Negro man slave, Taylor, 1 Negro woman slave, Page, 2 Negro girls, Julia and Hannah". His daughter, Lettie Sims, was bequeathed "1 Negro man slave, Daniel, 1 boy slave, Lott, 1 girl slave, Dorcas". Charles Sims was left "l Negro man slave, Easop, 1 Negro slave girl, Tamer". Nancey Sims was bequeathed "1 Negro man slave, Davie, 1 Negro girl slave, Jeanney". Martricia received "1 Negro man Slave, Toney, 1 Negro woman Slave, Elie, and child, Visay". Oney was bequeathed "1 Negro boy Slave, Harry; 1 Negro girl Slave, Little Nanney; 1 Negro boy Slave, Ceasar". Elizabeth Sims received three slaves, including "l Negro man Slave, Antony, 1 Negro boy Slave, Emanuel, 1 Negro girl Slave, Unity".
David Sims (1774-1783) David Sims settled on the 1,750-acre portion of the original Randolph land grant that he purchased from Matthew in 1774. David operated the plantation for a decade, from 1774 until his death in 1783. In January 1774, he married Lettice May from Charlotte County. David established himself as a prominent planter and served as vestryman for Antrim Parish beginning in 1782. When David died in 1783, he left behind his widow and four children, Betsy, Priscilla, Patty, and John. His inventory at the time of his death was quite substantial and included 30 slaves, 70 cows, three oxen, 57 sheep, 59 hogs, 11 horses, household furniture, and farming equipment. Most of his real estate was bequeathed to his son, John, and held in trust until 1803, when he became old enough to operate the plantation. During this period, the plantation continued to produce tobacco, in addition to corn, beef, and pork. A 1797 inventory listed 27 slaves, 39 head of cattle, 90 hogs, 45 young pigs, 35 geese, and several horses.
Land-use and development, 1800s-1890s
John Sims (1803-1852) John Sims, David Sims' son, was largely responsible for Black Walnut's success as one of the most prosperous farms in Halifax County. John Sims received his inheritance in 1803, which included the 1,500-acre tract of land and 29 slaves. John Sims acquired additional landholdings in the county throughout the 1800s, becoming one of the largest landowners in the area. Only three other landowners, William Logan, Richard Logan, and John Coleman, held more land by 1850. John Sims operated the Black Walnut plantation for the next five decades, until his death in 1852.
John Sims received his formal education at Hampden-Sydney. In 1809, he had acquired the 325-acre tract and mansion from his uncle Matthew's heirs. The following year, John Sims married Maria Wilson Clark. During their marriage, they resided at the Black Walnut plantation house. John and Maria Sims had four children: Mary Elizabeth, Phebe Ann, Mary Wilson, and William Howson. In 1815, their residence was valued at $2,000.00.Interior appointments included 8 calico window curtains; 1 carpet; 12 chairs with gold leaf; 1 piano; 1 sideboard; 1 mahogany bureau; 1 bureau; 1 chest of drawers; 1 clock; and 2 silver salvers. Maria Sims died in July 1822, and John Sims devoted the rest of his life to rearing his four children and managing the large estate.
The Black Walnut Plantation reached its heyday by the mid-nineteenth century under the careful management of John Sims. The plantation in 1850 was described as consisting of 1,000 acres of improved land and 1,200 acres of unimproved land. His prosperity also was illustrated by the significant increase in slaveholdings. Between 1820 and 1840, John Sims increased his slaveholdings from 77 slaves to 137 slaves. By 1850, his labor force included 150 slaves.
Tobacco was cultivated as the main cash crop, however, the plantation was diversified and raised such commercial commodities as grain, livestock, and dairy product. A second farm in the county that was operated by John Sims encompassed 337 acres and raised a variety of crops, including corn, oats, tobacco, cotton, and butter.
The Black Walnut plantation complex grew to encompass a variety of domestic and agricultural outbuildings; the main house served as the focal point. Domestic outbuildings, including a smokehouse, dairy, kitchen, and icehouse, were placed in a U-shaped cluster to the rear, or west, of the main house. Slave quarters and agricultural outbuildings were more isolated from the main living area. A formal boxwood garden was laid out south of the main house, and a terraced vegetable garden was situated to the northwest. A variety of native and ornamental trees and shrubs landscaped the grounds, and the entire complex was enclosed by woodland. A family cemetery was situated northwest of the house.