Stranica 167 [167]
HISTORIC. GARDENS OF . VIRGINIA
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ford, widow of Lyne Shackleford, and formerly Elizabeth Dabney.
The Dabney records say of her: “Elizabeth Dabney Pollard was
a very lovely woman, both in person and character. " She was the
daughter of George and Elizabeth Price Dabney, and had a brother,
Chiswell Dabney, who was the grandfather of Chiswell Dabney
Langhorne; she had also a sister, Nancy Dabney, who married
Judge Alexander Stuart, and was great-grandmother of Henry
Carter Stuart, former Governor of Virginia. When Elizabeth
Dabney Shackleford married William Pollard she had one daugh¬
ter, Louise Shackleford, who married Colonel Edmund Fontaine,
of Hanover County. The only child of this second marriage was
George William Pollard, who inherited Williamsville, and lived
there all his life.
About 1840, Mary Peachy Todd, of King and Queen County,
became the bride of George William Pollard. She brought with
her much wealth and many accomplishments, for she was artist,
musician and lover of the beautiful. She found at Williamsville,
the inherited home of her husband, a situation and landscape which
could lend themselves to one of the most charming gardens in
Virginia. The lane leading from the house had a double row
of shade trees for a quarter of a mile, and was a Joy to the eye as a
landscape feature. There was a lake just outside the yard, with
an island in it, and a bridge stretching from it to the mainland.
This was surrounded by luxuriant shade trees and shrubbery.
At the back of the house Mistress Pollard set apart an acre of
ground and, with the help of her slaves, she planned and laid out
a garden of rare beauty in design. Flowering plants of all kinds.
she planted, regardless of expense. Boxwood lined the walkways
which were laid with white gravel and kept in as perfect order as
in a city park. Summer-houses added picturesqueness. These were
built with large white pillars, upon which vines and roses climbed
in profusion. Inside, were floors of white rocks, and seats to invite
visitors to stop and hold sweet converse in these surroundings.
The sons and daughters of this beautiful and hospitable home
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