economic life of the com-

munity as burgesses,

magistrates, church

officials, militia leaders

and county officers.

Circa 1769, William

Harwood (1734-1795),

sixth generation in the

colony, elected to build a

new house on the main

road to Yorktown. The

structure, called Endview,

experienced military

episodes during the

Revolutionary and Civil

Wars, and remained in

family hands for over 200

years. The Harwoods of

Endview have been well

documented because the

house still stands and is

operated by the City of

Newport News as a living

history

museum.

T he surname

Harwood is a famil-

iar one to local historians

and genealogists for they

number among the first

colonists to settle on the

Lower Virginia Peninsula.

Sir Edward Harwood, a

knight and Virginia

Company stockholder

came to the colony c. 1619.

William Harwood arrived

that same year and was

captain of the ill-fated

Martin’s Hundred

settlement.

The patriarch of the

Warwick County

Harwoods was

22-year-old

Thomas, gentleman,

(brother of William), who

immigrated in 1623. His

family first lived at Jame-

stown, but soon moved to

Mulberry Island. By 1632,

he had acquired a patent

to 140 acres on Skiffes

Creek; he regularly added

to his holdings. In 1643

Thomas constructed his

homestead Queens Hith, a

waterfront plantation that

was situated within the

present day Oakland

Dairy Industrial Park.

Throughout the colonial

period, Thomas and his

descendants continued to

amass thousands of acres

of land in Warwick and

York Counties, a practice

which assured them

prominence in the

political and

A New Branch on an Old Family Tree

Mulberry Island Notes J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 1

MEMBER NEWS

- PG. 2

BROOKSVILLE

—PG. 3

IT WAS THE

BEST

HOTEL IN

DENBIGH—1966

DAILY PRESS

—PG. 6

JOIN WCHS

—BACK COVER

M u l b e r r y I s l a n d N o t e s is a publication of the Warwick County Historical Society (WCHS)

14421 Old Courthouse Way, Newport News, VA 23608— wchs-online@hotmail.com—All Rights Reserved @2014

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

$3

For Non-Members

Donations

Appreciated

Cont. Page 4

Mary Kayaselcuk @2014

The Harwoods of Warwick County, Virginia

Endview Plantation , Newport News, VA

O p u b l i c r o a d , I s a y b a c k I a m n o t a f r a i d t o l e a v e y o u , y e t I l o v e y o u , y o u e x p r e s s m e b e t t e r t h a n I c a n e x p r e s s m y s e l f . ~ W a l t W h i t m a n

We welcome member participation; send your news, events and comments to pattigibbs@cox.net

The Old

Free State of

Warwick

Celebrate the History Makers

We take time out of our busy modern day lives to celebrate and commemorate the Old Free State of Warwick and in doing so effect the history of the future. Every time the members of Warwick County Historical Society meet, we perpetuate the memories and events that have shaped our area while creating new accounts that one day will be celebrated as well.

Members gathered at the Matthew Jones House on October 29, 2013 for a picnic hosted by Joint Base Langley-Eustis Cultural Resources Management, aka: Chris, Courtney and Patrick. It was a fine blue sky autumn afternoon on the lawn with friends, abundant food and a couple of Warwickian witches.

Under overcast skies with an intermittent drizzle a valiant group ventured to Ft. Crafford on Saturday, October 12, 2013 touring the site

and discussing its 17th and 18th century roots. Nancy and Ole Rodland made the trek from Charlottesville to attend and later toured the Army Transportation Museum, which they found in Nancy’s words, “an eye popping experience.”

Chris McDaid and John Seburn confer as they walk along the new path at Ft. Crafford. John and Jo Ellen Seburn are new Society members along with Kevin Caulley and Susie Echols who also attended the outing.

Mary Kayaselcuk and Nancy Setty plant a live oak tree to pay tribute to the last acre of Warwick County at the October 16, 2013 season denouement.

August 21, 2013 WCHS rededicated the Women of the Southland monument at its new location in the 1884 Warwick Court-house. Membership Chair of UDC, Virginia

Division, Fran Towberman, spoke eloquently about the sacrifices the Confederate women made in order to honor their fallen heroes.

Mark and Miriam Waggoner donated an 1891 lithograph of downtown Newport News to WCHS. The caption reads: “Newport News, Va., county seat of Warwick Co; population 8000.” Mark purchased the print from the Mariners’ Museum. As the Waggoner’s have no children, they wanted to leave the lithograph to posteri-ty. Mark is a City of Warwick, VA. native and Miriam is from Niles, IL.

Finally we should honor ourselves by remem-bering to care for the monuments we erect and the prescient vision of those before us.

The 2013 season was a highly productive one for the Society; so let us join together in 2014, as a historical family, to once again delve into the history of the Old Free State of Warwick.

The Pedestrian . . .Member News by Patt i Gibbs

The move proved to be a hardship for many. In Newport News, a Centennial History , Marian Ashe Williams relates her parent's experiences at the Warwick County Reunion. Her father was drafted and sent to Camp Stuart; “Fortunately, my mother came to Newport News, where she lived in a two-room flat on six-teenth street. She made ends meet by taking care of the children of a white family on West Avenue." Mrs. Williams went on to say that; "When she learned of the impending government buyout of Mulberry Island, she advised her parents about some property for sale on the city's outskirts which had been set aside for blacks." Deacon and Mrs. Williams Wooten were the first neighbors in 1917.

Mark Waggoner

"Their example encouraged others to make the pilgrimage to establish new homes," says Williams. As lots were sold, "Brooksville" came into being. The community was named for Walter Brooks as was the school built on the corner of Orcutt Avenue and forty-First Street for black children. ~

I n times of war, families are often displaced, none more so than

those African-American families who lived on Mulberry Island in 1917. When the U.S. government acquired the island for Camp Eustis, residents, parents and grandparents had lived on Mulberry Island for many years after Emancipation and Reconstruc-tion in the nineteenth century, fol-lowing the Civil War.

The federal government re-located these families to the New-port District of Warwick County in an area in the southeastern end of the county. It was comprised of five tracts of land which began at thirty-sixth street in Newport News (the city limits) and extended to forty-fourth street in Warwick and included Orcutt, Roanoke and Chestnut Avenues.

Brooksville Mark Waggoner @2014

V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 1

P A G E 3

(1) Newport News, a Centennial History, 1996, p. 94

(2) Ibid (3) Ibid (4) Ibid (5) Helen Mears Mitchell, “History of

Brooksville, The Neighborhood Community-Yesterday & Today,” World Book Encyclopedia

P A G E 3

Mulberry Island (Fort Eustis), Virginia

1918 Property Owners Map

MULBERRY ISLAND NOTES

Mulberry Island and

adjacent properties - approx-

imately eight-thousand

acres—were purchased by

the Federal Government for

a total of $538,000 on

March 7, 1918, for an aver-

age of $65 per acre. Those

living there were given thirty

days to clear off

their property.

Right—

A 1940s view

of the bustling

City of Newport News

Marian Ashe Williams

P A G E 4

M U L B E R R Y I S L A N D N O T E S P A G E 4

he held until 1924. He and his

family lived “on the Boulevard” at

1001 Chesapeake Avenue in a well-

built brick house. His 1942 obitu-

ary wryly commented on his busi-

ness economy, noting “virtually to

the day of his death he drove an

automobile he had purchased 21

years ago.”

Even more in the public spot-

light was his brother Washington

William, who began his career as a

merchant on 28th Street, east of

Washington Avenue. By 1896 he

had associated with James M. Cur-

tis (future city treasurer); under

the name of Harwood & Curtis

(see receipt below) they conducted a

profitable wholesale grocery and

feed business. An invoice dated

1900 depicted their two-story

brick office and warehouse at 30th

Street next to the C&O Railway.

W.W. eventually acquired Mr.

Curtis’s share of the holdings and

continued as head of the firm un-

til his 1918 retirement. In addi-

tion, he was variously a director

and board chairman of the Citizens

and Marine Bank, and a city council-

man for several terms. Such was his

esteem that at his 1942 funeral ser-

vice, the list of active and honorary

pallbearers (numbering 36) read like

a Who’s Who of city luminaries.

W.W.’s wife, Montague Weisiger

Harwood (1857-1943), hailed from

Amelia

County and

was the

daughter of

Judge

Thomas

Weisiger.

She amply

contributed

to the city’s

education-

al, civic,

religious

and social

life in her

own right. From 1890-1894, she

served as the principal of the 28th

Street School, located between War-

wick and Lafayette Avenues;

One of the lesser-known

figures in the family lineage is

farmer Humphrey, shown in the

1870 census as being 40 years of

age, residing with his wife India

and five children in the Stanley

District. Among his offspring

were twin boys, Washington Wil-

liam Harwood and Edmund Har-

wood,

born in

1853. Like

previous

family

members,

they

would

leave their

mark on

the coun-

ty. How-

ever, they

forsook

agriculture

in favor of

commerce to play a pioneering

role in establishing the southern

end of the county as an industrial,

mercantile city.

In 1887, they came to the

village of Newport News to engage

in the buildup of the town being

created by railroad and shipping

magnate Collis P. Huntington.

Edmund was intimately involved

with the community’s growth as

real estate manager for the Old

Dominion Land Company, a post

A New Branch on an Old Family Tree

The Harwoods of Warwick County, Virginia

Washington

William Harwood December 1853-June 24, 1932

~ Daily Press

Montague Weisiger

Harwood February 1857-April 1, 1943

~ Newport News Woman’s Club

Continued from Cover

Invoice for two bags of rock salt purchased by J.W. Clement of Lee Hall from Harwood & Curtis, general commission merchants and dealers in flour, meal, grain, feed, hay, etc., dated July 26, 1900. The busy scene at the warehouse depicts several horse drawn wagons being loaded with supplies and a steam engine belching alongside it. ~Tidewater Genealogical Society

M U L B E R R Y I S L A N D N O T E S

P A G E 5

V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 1 P A G E 5

this was the city’s first white

public school. In 1894, she estab-

lished the Newport News Female

Seminary in a substantial brick

structure in the 200 block of 29th

Street. It continued in existence

until 1902. The academy in-

cluded among its students old-

er girls, many of whom came

from outside of Virginia. Of

significance is the fact that Mrs.

Harwood built and owned the

school. She, her husband and

their only child Julia resided

there for a number of years

before constructing a home in

North End. They attended

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4

Julia Harwood (second from left) as a young girl—

March 1883-December 26, 1946

~ Newport News Public Library System

continued

Page 8

North End was the city’s first sub-

urb, connected by trolley service

and paved roads to downtown.

The neighborhood was a mix of

impressive homes commanding a

view of the James River and small-

er houses on the side streets for

middle class families. City mayor

and Shipyard president Walter

Post built a grand manse at 5600

Huntington; a subsequent Ship-

yard president Homer L. Ferguson

resided with his family at 5700 in

a solid brick dwelling.

As befitted their economic and

social status, the Harwoods also

choose to live in style. Conse-

quently, in 1900 Edmund sold his

brother five Old Dominion Land

Company lots at the corner of

Huntington and 54th Street.

There, W.W. and his wife erected

an expensive three-story brick

abode with a full basement. It

featured a two-tier wraparound

porch, widow’s walk, two smaller

porches and a two-story carriage

house. All was enclosed with

wrought iron fencing and brick

sidewalks. The interior included

an oak paneled receiving foyer,

two large parlors, formal dining

room, ballroom, seven bedrooms

each equipped with a marble sink,

generous closets,

Trinity Methodist Church, con-

veniently located across from the

school. Julia Harwood served as

the school’s librarian. For a dec-

ade, the family’s scope of opera-

tions was contained within the

narrow four square mile area that

comprised the city’s original lim-

its. Even more precisely, it fo-

cused on the blocks of 29th and

30th Streets framed by the river

and Lafayette Avenue.

However, W.W. and Monta-

gue’s business success afforded

them the opportunity to build a

commodious Colonial Revival/

Queen Anne style residence in the

countryside of Warwick. Even

before the turn of the century, the

new city’s well to do was relocat-

ing from cramped lodgings down-

town beyond the outskirts

of Newport News.

Newport News Female Seminary 1894—1902 ~NN Public Library System

5400 Huntington Ave, Newport News, VA

It was a big day on the Warwick Courthouse grounds… the date: May 1, 1920. When it was May Day, all the folks, for

miles around would gather at the old Courthouse. And, when this photograph was taken, Mrs. E. C. Madison, who

taught the sixth and seventh grades at Morrison High School, was in charge of the annual festivities. The car at right

center served as a float for the day’s parade, and the bus and cars next to the fence (extreme right) belonged to the

Snidow family, which resided where the Stoneybrook Estates is now located. In the rear of the photo is Smith’s

Hotel, now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Morton. The Smith’s Store can be seen to the rear of the monument,

which was dedicated in 1909.

May Day Festival 1920… Warwick Courthouse at Denbigh, Virginia

I n the years from 1888 to 1898, the

hotel was home to schoolchildren, two

of whom were

Nancy Garrow’s

kin – a brother,

John Toomer Gar-

row, who later

became a lawyer

and was

Commonwealth’s

Attorney of

Hopewell, and a

sister, Georgia

Garrow, for many

years the

Warwick County

Commissioner of

Revenue.

IT WAS THE BEST HOTEL IN DENBIGH DAILY PRESS - Newport News – Hampton, Va.,

Sunday, September 25, 1966 – by ED LABORWIT

The teacher at the school was Molly

MacKenzie, a stern Petersburg woman,

hired by Levin Smith and James T. Gar-

row.

“Miss Molly MacKenzie was a strict

teacher,” recalls Nancy Garrow. “Many a

day I saw my brother come home with

welts on his back, the result of his misbe-

havior.”

Molly MacKenzie, the school teacher,

too, was a part of the area’s history.

She was deeply in love with Dr. Young,

the bachelor owner of Denbigh Planta-

tion, the old Mathew’s Manor property.

Nancy Garrow also remembers Wilbur

Smith as a boy:

“Wilbur Smith was a rascal of a boy,”

Nancy says. “He got everything he wanted

and he was a good, hard-working business-

man, just like his father.”

“When he was a boy, he used to take

goods from the store and sell them down at

the (Oriana) station at half price, and he

never gave his father a cent.”

Wilbur Smith, as a youngster, used to

build coffins for the residents of the poor-

house, located a half-mile from the hotel.

It was into one of these coffins that Wil-

bur once placed Nancy Garrow “just to get

the right measure.”

Continued Page 10

M U L B E R R Y I S L A N D N O T E S P A G E 6

P A G E 7

Photo courtesy B. B. Underwood whose mother was Virginia Underwood. This panoramic photo (top) was lost until it was uncovered from an attic after fifty years.

This is a copy from that original panoramic photo that was rolled up and damaged; this is our best effort in making it presentable.

May Day Festival 1920… Warwick Courthouse at Denbigh, Virginia

Identifiable in the photo (above) are: Aubrey Curtis, Jake Dozier, Elizabeth Garrow, Marion Freeman, Francis and

Lucille Williamson, Julia Bergh, Virginia and Lillian Snidow, Virginia Underwood, Julia Sawyer, Helen Harwood, Jack

Curtis, Fauntleroy Bentien Smith, Alec Harwood, Jr., Margaret and Douglas Patrick, Harrison Walker, Mr. Pride, the

Morrison High School principal; Mrs. E. C. Madison, Miss Tupper, Miss Clarice Wine, Miss Hostetter and Miss M. How-

ell, who taught music and the fourth grade at Morrison.

V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 1 P A G E 7

This is the house that Levin Smith bui l t . Known simply as “Smith’s Hotel ,” i ts 16 rooms held lawyers , judges , jur ies and witnesses in the heyday of the Warwick Courthouse.

I t was , without quest ion, one of the finest hotels of the day.

Continued from Page 5

M U L B E R R Y I S L A N D N O T E S P A G E 8

18-year-old Christina

Hutchen had replaced

them.

As arbiters of culture

within the community,

the Harwoods used their

elegant home for many

functions. In addition to

accommodating family

and friends, Mrs. Har-

wood hosted the Method-

ist churchwomen, the

Newport News Woman’s

Club (of which she was

the first president), the

ladies of the Comte de

Grasse chapter, Daugh-

ters of the American Rev-

olution, Daughters of

Colonial Wars

and the local

public

handsomely carved

fireplace surrounds,

indoor plumbing, ornate

steam radiators, combina-

tion gas/electric light fix-

tures and a Bell telephone.

The value of the home in

1930 was $18,000.

To manage such a large

household required serv-

ants, including those who

lived on the premises as

well as those who came on

an as needed basis.

Warwick County census

records of 1910 listed 19-

year-old Scottish lass Han-

nah McCrae (maid) and 25

-year-old Laura Dickens

(cook) as occupants. The

1920 census indicated

39-year-old

William

Figg

and

A New Branch on an Old Family Tree

The Harwoods of Warwick County, Virginia

The house on

Huntington remained a

place of activity, includ-

ing the venue for several

funerals. Montague’s

younger sister, Lelia

Weisiger Ferguson, came

from Richmond to

Newport News for a visit

in 1929. She stayed next

door at the Gayle home

(315 54th Street) where

her son-in-law, daughter

and grandchildren lived.

Unfortunately, she con-

tracted pneumonia and

died there. Lelia was laid

out in her coffin in the

parlor of 5400 because it

was a larger house and

able to handle more

guests. Likewise, W.W.

Harwood’s rites were

conducted in the parlors

when he suddenly ex-

pired at home in 1932 at

age 79. The service en-

gaged two ministers, the

pastors from Trinity

Methodist Episcopal and

First Presbyterian

Churches. The

Harwoods’ daughter Julia

was en route to Europe

when she was notified of

his demise by telegram.

She had to transfer from

her sailing vessel in the

Atlantic in order to re-

turn in time.

library board (of which

she was a charter mem-

ber).

Daughter Julia, no

doubt, invited the various

beaux who courted for

her hand during the brief

period she resided there.

She was in her late teens

when the family moved

to North End. Julia wed a

man ten years her senior,

Capt. Lawrence Priddy of

Blacksburg, Virginia. He

was a veteran of World

War I and broker with

the New York Life

Insurance Company. Her

adult life was spent in

Manhattan raising their

children, Lawrence, Jr.

and Montague. At some

point, her marriage

faltered for in 1925

she went to Reno,

Nevada to obtain

a divorce.

5 4 0 0 H u n t i n g t o n A v e n u e w a s n o t e d a s b e i n g o n e o f t h e m o s t

e l e g a n t h o m e s i n t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d . ~ L e l i a P e e b l e s

V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 1 P A G E 9

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4

Mrs. Harwood

continued to reside in the

big house after the loss of

her husband. Between

1933-1943, the city direc-

tory noted she was the

“wid [widow of] Washing-

ton W.” In her last years,

she apparently had a res-

piratory condition such

as tuberculosis because

Julia brought her mother

to New York to oversee

her care. Montague

passed away in 1943 at

the Clifton Springs Sani-

torium [sic]. She was 86.

Her body was brought

back to Newport News

for interment next to

W.W.

After the death of her

mother, Julia returned to

Newport News to settle

the estate. Her intent

was to sell her parents’

home. She accomplished

this in a relatively easy

manner. When the house

went on the market,

James W. and Maude L.

Courtney, neighbors who

lived across the street at

5401 Huntington, pur-

chased it. Mr. Courtney

was a coal merchant and

businessman of good

standing. The Courtneys

had long wanted a brick

house and could afford

the upkeep of a large resi-

dence. Julia completed

the sale on August 4,

1943, returned to New

York and died just three

years later in 1946 at age

63 of a cerebral

hemorrhage. Her chil-

dren and grandson who

remained in the North

have vanished into the

pages of history.

The families of

Edmund and Washington

William occupy a section

of Greenlawn Cemetery

near the central core of

pioneer citizens, adjoin-

ing the Elk’s Rest. The

area is marked with posts

and an upright stone in-

scribed “Harwood.” Each

family member has an

identical tablet noting his

or her name and dates of

birth and death. Aligned

on the left side is

Edmund, his wife Eugenia

W., infant son Clarence

H. and daughter Mrs.

Richard L. Cave. Facing

them is Washington Wil-

liam, Montague W. and

their daughter Julia H.

Priddy. Thus ends the

saga of this short-lived

branch of Harwoods,

which began at one end

of the county and neatly

tied up at the other. ~

Postscript:

The author, Mary

Kayaselcuk, a native of New-

port News, 36-year city

employee and local historian,

is the present owner of 5400

Huntington. She invests her

spare time and resources

restoring the house to its

former 1900 grandeur.

Mary Kayase lcuk

T h e H a r w o o d p l o t s a t G r e e n l a w n C e m e t e r y . E d m u n d a n d f a m i l y a r e a r r a y e d o n t h e l e f t . W . W . a n d h i s k i n a r e s i t u a t e d o n t h e r i g h t . ~ Mary Kayaselcuk

THIS, for the most part, is the

story of Smith’s Hotel, the centerpiece

of much of the history of Newport

News, Warwick, and Denbigh.

The names that became associated

with this area are familiar today,

either as descendants or street names

– Underwood, Curtis, Harwood, Snid-

ow, Walker, Patrick, Garrow, Dozier,

Williamson and, of course, Smith.

Indeed, “things haven’t been the

same since…well, since Levin Smith

died.” That was back in 1909. Yes Sir,

this place always had something going

on. People sure knew how to have fun

in those days…they had fun just doing

nothing but enjoying themselves.”

Those are the words of an elderly

woman as she reminisces, as she

recalls and as she remembers “those

days.” The woman is Nancy Garrow,

an energetic lady, who talks about the

poker games, the good meals in the

dining room and, in general, “those

days”.

Nancy Garrow never discusses her

age, which isn’t an unusual thing for a

woman. But her memory is a tattle-

tale. And, the fact that she graduated

from State Teacher’s College in

Farmville (now Longwood College) in

1910 doesn’t do a thing to hide her

years.

ASIDE from anything else,

Nancy Garrow is two things: she is the

honorary Mayor of Denbigh, a title

she inherited at this year’s Denbigh

Day celebration; and she is something

of the central point of this story of

people, a

general store,

a dining

room, a

courthouse,

and one of

the

“grandest”

hotels ever

built on Pen-

insula soil.

M U L B E R R Y I S L A N D N O T E S P A G E 1 0

Levin Smith’s Hotel (ca. 1883), as it proudly stood in 1937 behind the brick wall built by Wilbur

Smith in the early 1930s. It was operated as a hotel from the time of its construction in 1883 until

Levin Smith’s death in 1909. Afterwards, it served as a school and the private home of Levin’s grand-

daughter, Wilbur Cary Smith Morton and husband, R. W. Morton. The Smith Hotel was a significant

structure that was a part of the fabric of Denbigh; it witnessed the passage of an era. Standing for 102 -

years, it was demolished in a dispute over code violations, Wednesday, November 13, 1985. (see back cover)

Wo

rks

Pro

gres

s A

dm

inis

trati

on

Rep

ort

~D

oro

thy

Diff

en

der

fer,

19

37

I T WA S T H E B E S T H O T E L I N D E N B I G H DAILY PRESS - Newport News – Hampton, Va.,

S u n d a y , S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 1 9 6 6 – by ED LABORWIT

Continued from Page 6

Nancy Garrow (on right)

with sister Jesse (ca. 1925)

This is the last surviving

photograph of Levin Smith,

the man who built the grand

hotel that faced the Warwick

Court House. Both the hotel

and court house were built in

1883. Mr. Smith died in 1909,

two days after the Confeder-

ate Monument was dedicated

on the court house grounds.

This is the last surviving photograph

of L e v i n S m i t h , the man who

built the grand hotel that faced the

Warwick Court House. Both the

hotel and court house were built in

1883. Mr. Smith died in 1909, two

days after the Confederate

Monument was dedicated on the

court house grounds.

• • •

It was 83 years ago [131 years in 2014],

in 1883, that the Warwick Courthouse

was built. It was an imposing

structure, its height topped by an

“in-session” bell that still rings today.

In the same year, Levin Smith

built his hotel. There were 16 rooms

in the Smith Hotel, and all the rooms

had fireplaces for heat. The was no

inside plumbing and no electricity.

And too, in that year of 1883,

James T. Garrow opened his

store on the front of his house.

IT IS presumed, and it is a fairly

accurate presumption, that Messrs.

Smith and Garrow were shrewd busi-

nessmen, eyeing the new Courthouse

as a place that would bring many,

many customers to their respective

enterprises.

And they were so right.

Says James T. Garrow’s daughter,

Nancy, “All the lawyers and judges

would get off at Oriana Station and

they stayed for two weeks; they would

have the grandest time. It seems they

looked forward to the long spells in

court, just because Mr. Smith’s hotel

was the home for some of the biggest

poker games around, and the food in

the hotel dining room was the best.”

At this point in the story of Mr.

Smith’s hotel comes G e o r g e S .

D e S h a z o r ,

J r . the current

Clerk of Courts

in Newport

News.

From

January 24, 1924

to the consoli-

dation of Newport News and Warwick

on July 1, 1958, DeShazor worked in

the Warwick Courthouse, surrounded

by the saga of the Smiths and Garrows.

“The old hotel really didn’t have a

name,” says DeShazor. “It was known

for miles around as Smith’s Hotel or

Capt. Smith’s Hotel.”

DESHAZOR recalls, “Travelling

was pretty difficult in those days, and

when court was held once every two

months, it lasted for two weeks. The

hotel housed the judge, the juries, the

witnesses, and the lawyers, and it was

a case of doubling up in the 16 rooms.”

“Also, it was a nice place to stay.

The food was the best available and it

was like one big party. When court was

in session, the people came to trade

horses, stories and anything else. They

had horse races, too. It was a general

gathering place.”

Adjacent to the hotel was the gen-

eral store owned by “Smith and Hudg-

ins,” and this place was also one of the

“gathering places” of the day.

But the focal points were the hotel

and the courthouse, at least until May

29, 1909 when Levin Smith died. The

date was two days after the Confeder-

ate Monument was dedicated. The

hotel was soon closed as a hotel, and

an era ended right there.

Today, the old hotel is home to

Mr. and Mrs. R. W. Morton and their

children. Mrs. (Cary) Morton is Levin

Smith’s granddaughter, and it was her

father, Wilbur Smith, who operated

the general store.

Wilbur Smith, coincidentally, also

died on May 29, 1946 while Cary was a

freshman at the Boston Conservatory

of Music. (Mrs. Morton in addition to

being a past president of the Newport

News Democratic Women’s Club, is a

busy piano teacher.)

THE STORE was destroyed by fire

in the mid-1950’s, leaving a gap be-

tween the hotel and the home of

Cary’s brother Henry Curtis Smith.

This house, still looking much the

same way it did in the days of Smith’s

Hotel, was built in 1734 and is believed

to be the oldest standing house in

Newport News.

V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 1 P A G E 1 1

1883 Warwick Courthouse (ca. 1890)

James T. Garrow in front of his Denbigh store

Continued Back Cover

Built in 1734, this is believed to be the old-

est standing home in Newport News. Wilbur

Smith’s son, Henry Curtis Smith, lives here.

[This home, known as Stony Run, was at one time a

tavern with two substantial chimneys noted—it was

later sawed in half to construct the Smith Store—and

like almost everything else, it was demolished

in approximately 1990.]

Stony Run ~ Library of Virginia

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4

History Buffs Wanted! Yes, you!

WCHS is looking for a few good men and

women with an interest in local history,

genealogy, or archaeology to seize the day!

No degrees needed, only enthusiasm.

Members…

Attend monthly Luncheon Meetings

Mulberry Island Notes Newsletter

Explore Mulberry Island w/group

Educational & Local Research

Visit Historic Fort Crafford

Visit Matthew Jones House

Historical Presentations

Research Library

Guest Speakers

Pot-Luck

and more…

Contact us by E-mail…

wchs-online@hotmail.com

Meetings are held from Feb-Oct

every 3rd Wednesday at 11:30 am

in the 1884 Warwick courthouse

To Join—Send a check for $30 per

member to: (household spouse included)

Warwick County Historical Society (WCHS)

1810 Warwick Courthouse

14421 Old Courthouse Way

Newport News, VA 23608

- along with the following info:

NAME: ___________________________

ADDRESS:_________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

TELE:_____________________________

E-MAIL:___________________________

__________________________________

INTEREST:________________________

“The Warwick County Historical

Society was formed in November 2010

to broaden the scope of interest to

all of old Warwick County, Virginia”

Our predecessor group:

“The Fort Eustis Historical and

Archaeological Association was

established in 1965 to uncover,

preserve and protect the history,

locations, artifacts, and family

histories of Mulberry Island”

Mulberry Island Notes is a publication

of the Warwick County Historical Society

(WCHS) @2014

… There hasn’t been much change in

the area since Levin Smith built his

hotel in 1883. The store is gone, of

course. The courthouse is now the

Denbigh Community Center, and is

ringed by a stone wall, which replaced

an iron picket fence. In the early

1930s, Wilbur Smith built a stone wall

around the hotel, and this wall

replaced a wooden picket fence.

But, while the hotel register has

been replaced by the address 14420

Warwick Blvd., history still seeps

from its walls – letters dating from

1862 and bills of lading from Smith

and Hudgins, dated from

1879 to 1882. ~

Postscript— History no longer seeps

from the walls of the Smith Hotel. Wilbur

Smith’s deteriorating brick fence still

partially stands to mark the outline of the

forgotten and overgrown lot on Old

Courthouse Way and an era in Denbigh.

Continued from Page 11

IT WAS THE BEST HOTEL IN DENBIGH DAILY PRESS - Newport News – Hampton, Va.,

S u n d a y , S e p t e m b e r 2 5 , 1 9 6 6 – by ED LABORWIT

T h e S m i t h H o t e l ’ s demise was

reported by the Daily Press in a short

article dated November 15, 1985; the

significance of the loss to local

history is still being absorbed and

mourned nearly 30-years hence.

To Mr. Smith’s Hotel - May its time come again!