TUCKAHOE : A word used by the Indians to denote a plant whose root was edible and served as a nutritional food source. From New Jersey to Virginia the tribes fed upon these plants and often named the waterways on whose banks they abundantly grew, Tuckahoe. There is a Tuckahoe River in New Jersey, a town named Tuckahoe in New York, a Tuckahoe Creek in Maryland as well as the Tuckahoe Creek and District in Henrico, all having the same Indian origin. In the 17th Century, near where the Tuckahoe Creek flows into the James River, William Randolph of Turkey Island granted a tract of land to his son Thomas Randolph. The estate became known as Tuckahoe, taking its name from the creek and a nearby Indian town. The Randolph home on the estate was built around 1698 and its boxwood garden is one of the most interesting in Virginia.Tuckahoe Plantation, boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson, is a National Historic Landmark. It is considered by architectural historians to be among the finest early 18th century plantation homes in America. A guest at Tuckahoe in the late 1700s commented that the house seemed “to be built solely to answer the purpose of hospitality”. Built between 1730 and 1740, this unique Randolph family plantation home and its outbuildings have persisted through a rich American history. Almost three centuries have passed, and Tuckahoe still fits the description of southern hospitality. The Jeffersons’ time at Tuckahoe. William Randolph and Maria Judith Page started their family at Tuckahoe in the 1730’s. By 1745 their three children were orphaned at Tuckahoe after the untimely death of both parents. Before his death in 1745 William ensured that his children would be cared for and educated at home should he die. In his will, he named his good friend, Peter Jefferson and cousin Jane Randolph Jefferson, guardians of his children. After William Randolph’s death, Peter and Jane Jefferson moved to Tuckahoe with their children, including two-year-old Thomas, to care for the plantation and the Randolph children and stayed until 1752 when the young Thomas Mann Randolph came of age. Thus it was that Thomas Jefferson spent his youth at Tuckahoe and received his first education in the small one-room school house that still stands today. It is interesting to note the architectural features of Tuckahoe, including elaborate cornices, alcoves, grand staircases, and domed ceilings that may have influenced Jefferson’s thoughts on architecture.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 14:01:58 +0000
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