“In 1860 former Governor Henry A. Wise purchased the property from his brother John but had to flee two years later in the face of Union occupation of the region. By the time this drawing of Rolleston appeared in the January 6, 1866 issue of Harper’s Weekly, the Freedmen’s Bureau was operating a school for former slaves on the property. Wise eventually regained title to Rolleston but did not return to live there, and the house burned down sometime later in the century.”
Stephen S. Mansfield. Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach: A Pictorial History. Norfolk: The Donning Company, 1996, page 66
“The continued federal presence was intended to assist the black population in its adjustment to freedom. The Freedmen’s Bureau at Rolleston continued to provide lodging and was the site of one of the county’s two Bureau schools, enrolling 130 children and adults. Norfolk had attracted many former slaves who hoped to find employment there, but when they were unsuccessful they often sought farm work in nearby counties. One study concludes that while Princess Anne’s black population after the war was about what it had been in 1860, over two-thirds, replacing those who left.”
Mansfield, pp. 67-68
1st U.S. Colored Cavalry 