Stranica 167 [167]
OCR
HISTORIC. GARDENS OF . VIRGINIA ZS a = — ae " szd — — üst 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 daughter, 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 [102]
