Virginia
Archaeologists in Virginia unearth colonial-era garden with clues about its enslaved gardeners
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — Archaeologists in Virginia are uncovering one of colonial America’s most lavish displays of opulence: An ornamental garden where a wealthy politician and enslaved gardeners grew exotic plants from around the world.
Such plots of land dotted Britain’s colonies and served as status symbols for the elite. They were the 18th-century equivalent of buying a Lamborghini.
The garden in Williamsburg belonged to John Custis IV, a tobacco plantation owner who served in Virginia’s colonial legislature. He is perhaps best known as the first father-in-law of Martha Washington. She married future U.S. President George Washington after Custis’ son Daniel died.
Historians also have been intrigued by the elder Custis’ botanical adventures, which were well-documented in letters and later in books. And yet this excavation is as much about the people who cultivated the land as it is about Custis.
“The garden may have been Custis’ vision, but he wasn’t the one doing the work,” said Jack Gary, executive director of archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum that now owns the property. “Everything we see in the ground that’s related to the garden is the work of enslaved gardeners, many of whom must have been very skilled.”
Archaeologists have pulled up fence posts that were 3 feet (1 meter) thick and carved from red cedar. Gravel paths were uncovered, including a large central walkway. Stains in the soil show where plants grew in rows.
The dig also has unearthed a pierced coin that was typically worn as a good-luck charm by young African Americans. Another find is the shards of an earthenware chamber pot, which was a portable toilet, that likely was used by people who were enslaved.
Animals appear to have been intentionally buried under some fence posts. They included two chickens with their heads removed, as well as a single cow’s foot. A snake without a skull was found in a shallow hole that had likely contained a plant.
“We have to wonder if we’re seeing traditions that are non-European,” Gary said. “Are they West African traditions? We need to do more research. But it’s features like those that make us continue to try and understand the enslaved people who were in this space.”
The museum tells the story of Virginia’s colonial capital through interpreters and restored buildings on 300 acres (120 hectares), which include parts of the original city. Founded in 1926, the museum did not start telling stories about Black Americans until 1979, even though more than half of the 2,000 people who lived there were Black, the majority enslaved.
In recent years, the museum has boosted efforts to tell a more complete story, while trying to attract more Black visitors. It plans to reconstruct one of the nation’s oldest Black churches and is restoring what is believed to be the country’s oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children.
There also are plans to recreate Custis’ Williamsburg home and garden, known then as Custis Square. Unlike some historic gardens, the restoration will be done without the benefit of surviving maps or diagrams, relying instead on what Gary described as the most detailed landscape archaeology effort in the museum’s history.
The garden disappeared after Custis’ death in 1749. But the dig has determined it was about two-thirds the size of a football field, while descriptions from the time reference lead statues of Greek gods and topiaries trimmed into balls and pyramids.
The garden’s legacy has lived on through Custis’ correspondence with British botanist Peter Collinson, who traded plants with other horticulturalists around the globe. From 1734 to 1746, Custis and Collinson exchanged seeds and letters on merchant ships crossing the Atlantic.
The men possibly introduced new plants to their respective communities, said Eve Otmar, Colonial Williamsburg’s master of historic gardening. For instance, Custis is believed to have made one of Williamsburg’s earliest written mentions of growing tomatoes, known then as “apples of love” and native to Mexico and Central and South America.
Custis’s gardeners also planted strawberries, pistachios and almonds, among 100 other imported plants. It’s not always clear from his letters which were successful in the Virginia climate. A recent pollen analysis of the soil indicates the past presence of stone fruits, such as peaches and cherries, which weren’t a big surprise.
The garden existed at a time when European empires and slavery were still expanding. Botanical gardens often were used for discovering new cash crops that could enrich colonial powers.
But Custis’ garden was primarily about showing off his own wealth. A study of the area’s topography placed his garden in direct view of Williamsburg’s only church house at the time. Everyone would have seen the garden’s fence, but few were invited inside.
Custis delighted his guests with the likes of the crown imperial lily, which was native to the Middle East and parts of Asia, and boasted clusters of drooping, bell-shaped flowers.
“In the 18th century, those were unusual things,” Otmar said. “Only certain classes of people got to experience that. A wealthy person today — they buy a Lamborghini.”
The museum is still trying to learn more about the people who worked in the garden.
Crystal Castleberry, Colonial Williamsburg’s public archaeologist, has met with descendants of the more than 200 people who were enslaved by the Custis family on his various plantations. But there is too little information in surviving documents to determine if an ancestor lived and worked at Custis Square.
Two people, named Cornelia and Beck, were listed as property with the Williamsburg estate after Daniel Custis died in 1757. But their names prompt only more questions about who they were and what happened to them.
“Are they related to one another?” Castleberry asked. “Do they fear being split up or sold? Or are they going to be reunited with loved ones on other properties?”
WARNING: This story contains material some readers may find disturbing due to its graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia Democratic operative is accused of distributing child pornography.
Randon Alexander Sprinkle, 30, allegedly engaged in conversations with an undercover FBI agent in May of this year through the Jack’d app under the name “Randy.”
The 9-page affidavit states that Sprinkle asked the agent to move their conversation to Telegram, where he allegedly wrote “mostly into young, rape, incest – you?”
The arrest has prompted swift condemnation from elected officals who worked with Sprinkle in various capacities.
Richmond City Council Vice President Katherine Jordan said Sprinkle served as her 2024 campaign treasurer, handling campaign forms, events and financial reporting.
“What has been alleged is disgusting and abhorrent,” Jordan said in a statement. “I’m shocked and sickened.”
1st District Council member Andrew Breton also used Sprinkle’s services for campaign finance reports and event logistics.
“The allegations are shocking and disturbing. I am grateful that law enforcement is involved, and that justice is taking its course,” Breton said.
Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, who has appeared in several photos with Sprinkle that he posted on X, also responded through spokesman Jared Leopold.
“Congresswoman McClellan is shocked by these appalling accusations which should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Leopold stated.
Sprinkle previously served as a leader in the Young Democrats of Virginia and held a financial director position with the Democratic Part of Virginia.
He has also been photographed with Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger. Spanberger’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment.
The FBI affidavit confirms that 68 files were extracted during a forensic sweep of Sprinkle’s electronic devices, some with disturbing titles. Legal expert Ed Riley said the investigation may have uncovered evidence of distribution through peer-to-peer networks where individuals exchange illegal video files and images.
If convicted on the single charge of distribution of child pornography, Sprinkle faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison, with potential sentencing up to 20 years.
“If they find the images and they can connect you to the images, you’re not dealing with the merits of the case anymore. You’re dealing with the resolution that it’s going to be,” Riley said.
Sprinkle is currently being held at the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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Things are beginning to slow down for James Franklin since being hired at Virginia Tech in November. Sure, you can say that it never really slows down for a college football coach, but since signing his contract in Blacksburg, he has made major strides in recruiting, bringing the Hokies from near the bottom of the FBS to a Top 25 class with the Class of 2026.
Franklin has also been building his first staff at Virginia Tech. In both cases, recruiting and coaching additions, he has gone back to his Penn State roots to pluck both recruits and coaches. Heck, he is even reportedly bringing back former Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry, who was fired in September to open the door for Franklin to come to Tech, as his defensive coordinator.
The transfer portal opens up next month, and there are going to be several needs that Franklin and his staff are going to have to address. There are going to be several portal targets, and one of them announced he was leaving Penn State and made it clear that he was thankful for Franklin for his time in State College. Is it a sign of things to come when he enters the portal?
Penn State transfer Chaz Coleman opens door for reunion with James Franklin
It was reported by Hayes Fawcett of Rivals and On3 that five-star Penn State edge Chaz Coleman was entering the transfer portal. Coleman quoted the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, and made it a point to thank Franklin and his staff for believing in him.
“After much thought and consideration, I have decided to enter the transfer portal this coming January to pursue other opportunities. I’d like thank James Franklin and his staff for believing in me and teaching me what it means to believe in myself,” Coleman wrote.
Coleman becomes one of the most coveted players when the portal opens, and the Warren, Ohio native will have no shortage of suitors. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound edge rusher played well as a freshman for the Nittany Lions with eight tackles in five games. Several of the top programs are going to be in on him. Don’t be surprised if Ohio State makes a major push for him.
As far as Virginia Tech goes, does Franklin get in the mix? That remains to be seen, but stranger things have happened. He would be a tremendous get for the Hokies, who need help along the defensive side of the ball along the line. Did he call out Franklin by coincidence, or is there an underlying message there? Most likely the first one, but we’ll see.
Pictured: Wachapreague General Store. Photo credit- James Bell, 2021 Wachapreague General Store. Photo credit- James Bell, 2021
Virginia has added eight new sites to the Virginia Landmarks Register, recognizing places across the Commonwealth for their historic, architectural, and cultural significance, including a historic district on the Eastern Shore.
The Commonwealth’s Board of Historic Resources approved the designations during its quarterly public meeting on December 11 in Richmond. The Virginia Landmarks Register is the state’s official list of properties deemed important to Virginia’s history and heritage.
Among the newly designated sites is the Wachapreague Historic District. Encompassing 96 acres, the district includes the waterfront town of Wachapreague, which developed from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries as a destination for hunting and fishing and as a commercial hub with access to the Wachapreague Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.
The district features a concentration of residential and commercial buildings constructed in vernacular, Folk Victorian, and other architectural styles common to the Eastern Shore during the town’s period of growth. While Wachapreague’s population declined beginning in the 1960s, the town continues to attract visitors from across Virginia and beyond.
Other sites approved for listing include properties in Arlington, Bath, Frederick, Loudoun, and Pittsylvania counties; the city of Petersburg; and the town of Mount Jackson in Shenandoah County. Collectively, the new landmarks highlight a diverse range of resources, from a 20th-century airfield built for early commercial air travelers to a mill dam and mill pond complex that once served as a recreational and social center in Southwest Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Historic Resources will forward documentation for the newly listed sites to the National Park Service for consideration for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
State and national register listings are honorary and do not place restrictions on private property owners. Instead, the designations are intended to encourage public understanding of Virginia’s historic places and provide property owners with the opportunity to pursue historic rehabilitation tax credits. Any tax credit projects must comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
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