Jerdone Castle
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Jerdone Castle is a plantation located in Bumpass, Virginia dating from 1742. Jerdone Castle is a Virginia Historic Landmark and registered on the U.S. National Register of Historical Places. Originally 1,100 acres, much of the the plantation's original land is submerged under Lake Anna. The estate currently contains 125 acres.
The oldest section of Jerdone Castle was built ca. 1742 by Francis Jerdone who immigrated to Louisa County from Scotland in 1740. In addition to expanding his original landholdings and building a residence, Jerdone operated stores, mills, and a forge. The later main section of the house was built in 1853 for Francis Jerdone's descendent Sarah Jerdone Coleman and her husband, Gen. Clayton Coleman. The structure's generous size is emphasized by an Italianate bracketed cornice and cupola. In 1879 the estate was purchased by Frank T. Glasgow of Richmond, father of the author Ellen Glasgow. Ellen Glasgow spent her childhood summers at Jerdone Castle, which she later said greatly influenced her writing. In the fourth chapter of The Woman Within, entitled “I Become a Writer,” Miss Glasgow describes lying in the meadow at Jerdone Castle and coming to the realization that writing was to be her future (VLR 280).
The Louisa County, Virginia Historical Society documents that on June 10, 1791, General George Washington was an overnight visitor at Jerdone Castle. Washington's wife Martha was a close friend of Francis Jerdone's wife Sarah.
[edit] Biographical Note
Francis Jerdone, 1720-1771, was a Scottish tradesman who immigrated to Virginia and owned plantations in Hanover, York, Louisa and Albemarle Counties in Virginia. His Albemarle plantation is now the old part of the Clubhouse at Farmington Country Club. His wife was Sarah (Macon) Jerdone, 1731-1818, was born in Virginia. Their sons included Francis Jerdone II, 1756-1841; John Jerdone, 1764-1786; and William, 1769-1772. Their daughters included Mary, b. 1754; Sarah, 1757-1793; Elizabeth, 1759-1830; Isabella, 1761-1825; Anne, 1763-1794; and Martha, b. 1767. Elizabeth was the wife of Alexander Macauley, a merchant of Yorktown, Virginia.
Francis Jerdone II was a planter of Louisa County, Virginia. His wife, Mary "Polly" Byars Jerdone, died in 1821. His sons included John, b. 1800, a planter of Spotsylvania County; Francis III, b. 1802, a planter of Orange County; and William, b. 1805, a planter of New Kent County, Virginia. Daughters of Francis Jerdone II included Sarah Jerdone Coleman and Mary Jerdone Toler.
