Tidewater Virginians Name Their Homes

Abstract

FOLLOWING AN INHERITED PRACTICE, the first settlers in Virginia gave names to their houses. For at least two centuries naming home places in this country served a useful purpose; today, although the custom is no longer of practical value, since any house can be identified by reference to its position on a street or road, the romantic and nostalgic appeal of the practice makes naming homes continue without abatement. It makes no difference whether their homes and holdings are small or large, modest or pretentious, limited or extensive, many people in Tidewater Virginia, like people in other parts of the United States, still devote a good deal of thought to selecting names for their homes. An examination of these Tidewater names provides a kind of entertainment and also throws light on practices and patterns in onomastics that have long been well known. In the simplest possible manner of naming houses, some places in Tidewater Virginia have been called merely by the names of their owners. In the early days of the Virginia settlement, for example, in the former Elizabeth City County a tract was called Ceeley's simply because a man named Ceeley patented the land and lived upon it. In Prince George County a place long called Maycock's is referred to by Captain John Smith in his General History of Virginia as 'Master Maycocks Dividend,' but the shorter form soon came to be used. Smith also mentions 'Master Thomas ShefJelds Plantation,' which came to be called merely Sheffield. In James City County a large holding that was patented by Richard Kingsmill is still called Kingsmill, but the popular notion is that a mill formerly stood on the place. Combining the owner's name with house or hall adds a dignity and an elegance that the owner's name alone lacks. Thus, the document ending the hostilities of the Revolutionary War was signed near Yorktown in the Moore House. Elsewhere in eastern Virginia there are places with such names as the Adam Thoroughgood House, the Rolfe House, and the Waller House; and there are also places with names like Bassett Hall, Lee Hall, and Warner Hall. Bacon's Castle in Surry County seems to be the only home in Tidewater to be graced with the designation castle, but on the Eastern Shore there is a home called Old Castle. Although plantation has never been a widely used name element in Virginia, Bennett's Plantation and Tyree's Plantation are old names in Isle of Wight and James City counties. Owners of other places have combined their names with words that seemed to them picturesque and harmonious. A variety of combinations is seen in