Week 1: Pages 1-26

Forward, Timeline, Introduction, Early Inhabitants (Monacan Settlements, Land Grants, Plantations)

The people of the Monacan Indian Nation spent significant time in Esmont and Southern Albemarle County, and harvested soapstone for use in ceremonial vessels.

The Monacan Indians: Our Story, an indigenous history of the tribe written by tribal members, was Albemarle’s first Community Read. Copies of the book are available at some Jefferson-Madison Regional Library branches
The Community Read book discussion, titled “What is an Indigenous History?,” is available for viewing on the County’s YouTube channel.
More history of the tribe is also available on their website.

Despite the Monacan peoples’ deep ties to the land, European colonists considered the land “available” and established a land grant system to distribute title to the land. In the systems of land grants, some men were given land in the area of Esmont, Porters, and Chestnut Grove, while others purchased land, including Rezin Porter – a road surveyor and likely the eponym of Porters Road.

With land ownership, several families were able to establish plantations in Southern Albemarle.

The Coles family owned multiple properties and plantations over the years including Enniscorthy, Old Woodville, Estouteville, Tallwood, and Coleswood. Prominent members of the family include Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois, and his father John Coles II, who did business with Thomas Jefferson.
Canaan Plantation
Mount Warren Plantation – the home of Wilson Cary Nicholas, a governor of Virginia.
Esmont Plantation

Did you know?

Historian Sam Towler has done research on the Harris family, owners of the Canaan Plantation, and the community enslaved there, many with the surname Carey. Some of his research in a slideshow format is available for viewing on the county website [WILL LINK].

Regina Rush, a reference librarian at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia, has written about her “genealogical quest” to find out more information about her Chestnut Grove-area family, including Nicey Ann Coles and Isham Rush. Earlier this year, Rush presented to the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society regarding her research and her scholarly article "Over the Brick Wall: A Genealogical Journey to Discover My Family’s Roots,” which was published in the 2018/2019 double volume of the Magazine of Albemarle Charlottesville History.

Reading Questions
Please share your responses in the comment section below.

What new information did you learn from reading these chapters/the book?
What feelings did these chapters/the book evoke for you?
What did you find surprising about the information presented in these chapters/the book?

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Week 1: Pages 1-26

Forward, Timeline, Introduction, Early Inhabitants (Monacan Settlements, Land Grants, Plantations)