The River Road — National Park Service

This map points to the historic sites on the southeastern Louisiana travel itinerary. Burnside and Donaldsonville are in Ascension Parish which shares a border with Assumption Parish.

“Louisiana’s fabled Great Mississippi River Road consists of a corridor approximately 70 miles in length located on each side of the river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The area includes the river, levees, and adjacent lands and cultural resources.”
The River Road — National Park Service

“Located in the little river town of Donaldsonville, once the commercial center for the Bayou Lafourche district, the River Road African American Museum features materials relating to slavery and African American life in the neighboring sugar parishes. No other venue in the state offers such a detailed and intimate portrait of African American life in a particular place and time.

“Exhibits include an interactive kiosk of freedom stories from Southeastern Louisiana’s Underground Railroad plus displays on rural black doctors, Creole life in the town and surrounding countryside, the rural roots of jazz music, black inventors, folk artists, and Reconstruction. To aid in genealogical research, the museum also features slave inventories containing the names of over 5,000 enslaved people from various plantations in Louisiana.”
Louisiana — Feed Your Soul

“Lion’s Tale is a documentary produced and directed by Mary Anne Mushatt.  It provides a platform for residents of Louisiana’s River Road, giving voice and presence to the stories of their people. Members of the African-American community and Houma Nation tell their stories, bringing the lore and legacy of the past into their own homes.”
(27:39)  Tulane University Digital Library, 2000

River Road African American Museum: First Africans in Louisiana
“This video is a snippet from the River Road African American Museum’s kiosk on the ‘Louisiana’s Freedom Journey’.”
(2:30) YouTube, July 12, 2013.

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Rolleston, Princess Anne County, Virginia

“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

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Glencoe and Wallaceton, Norfolk County, Virginia

This photograph of Wallaceton in the late 1800s appears on several web pages but the location of the original image is unknown.

Glencoe
George Thomas Wallace built Glencoe in 1841. According to the 1860 census, Wallace’s real estate was valued at $45,000 and his personal property was valued at $25,000. According to the 1860 Slave Schedule Wallace owned more than 70 enslaved people. The Wallace family home Wallaceton is located just north of the property.

 

Wallaceton in the late 1800s
“George T. Wallace, Esq. of Glencoe and his sons had timber and lumber company Wallace & Sons. Their mill is the large structure on the right bank of the canal in the picture. The post office for the area was in the company store and used “WALLACETON” as the post mark. Wallaceton refers to the stop along the canal the boats used. (West Landing at the end of Cornland Rd., Douglas Landing at the end of Douglas Rd., Wallaceton at the intersection of the Dismal Swamp and Northwest Canals,  Stuart’s Landing opposite Beechwood, and Lynch’s Wharf at the end of Ballachack Rd.) The building in the left foreground is the Superintendent’s House.”

 

Virginia Department of Historic Resources – Wallaceton
The structure served various purposes over time.

 

National Register of Historic Places – Final Nomination Form – Wallaceton – Chesapeake, Virginia – #131-0379 
A map on page 25 shows how close Wallace family residence and enterprises were to the Dismal Swamp.

 

Map of Deep Creek near Lake Drummond
The Deep Creek community is located near the Dismal Swamp which was the source of lumber and timber products for decades.

 

A Guide to the Wallace Company Records, 1783-1975 (Bulk 1875-1945)
George Thomas Wallace bought property along the Dismal Swamp Canal from the 1840s until 1855 — almost 14,000 acres. The lumber and milling business converted “the abundant juniper, pine, poplar, and cedar into shingles, rails, ties, and telegraph poles.” This finding aid provides access to corporate correspondence and financial records as expected. It also describes subject files related to sharecropping agreements and the Wallaceton Colored School.

 

Wallace Family Bible Record, 1840-1991
The Bible record images are online at the Library of Virginia.

 

Reconnaissance Survey of the City of Chesapeake, Virginia, July 1987 
This report includes historical background, maps, and a street index.

 

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Tower Hill Plantation, Sussex County, Virginia

This image appears on page 60 (of 80) in Blow’s Tower Hill Before the Rebellion: A History of the Small Virginia Plantation Before the Civil War.

The Blow family were prominent residents of Sussex County and Portsmouth. William Nivison Blow published his reminiscences of life on the family plantation, Tower Hill Before the Rebellion: A History of the Small Virginia Plantation Before the Civil War. The family papers are at the College of William and Mary; the finding aids are available at “A Guide to the Blow-Cook Family Papers, 1811-1852” and “A Guide to Blow Family Account Books, 1783-1844.”

John F. Baker, Jr. describes his family history research and the enslaved family’s connection to the plantation in this section of his blog,  “The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Posts Tagged ‘Tower Hill Plantation‘”

 

 

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