as remembered

Transcribed and edited by William F. Rust III (February, 2017) [Editorial note: The notes were written in pencil in a small pocket calendar diary. A few minor spelling errors have been corrected, and punctuation has been added throughout, since there are practically no commas, periods, or capital letters in the original ms. by RBLF, whose…… Continue reading Diary of Richard Bland Lee Fleming’s trip to Scotland and England in 1866.

…as remembered by Beverley Carter Coffman. “Sam” was born at Ravenscroft on July 17, 1921. His father, Samuel Henley Carter (called Henley), was managing the Ravenscroft farm while his mother, Frances Fleming Carter, was in charge of supervising the construction of the home. The Ravenscroft property was owned by Frances’ Uncle Rob Downman (the younger…… Continue reading Samuel Henley Carter, Jr

My friend and cousin, Mike Harris, died rather suddenly on April 24. Mike’s wife, Bonnie, brought the family together at the home they had built together. I had never been there before. In fact, I had not seen my dear friend since I had moved to California some 20 years ago, about the same time…… Continue reading Minor Sadler “Mike” Harris Jr.

I know only bits and pieces of Lomax Gwathmey: newspaper clippings saved by adoring Fleming great aunts; some heresay regarding his last years and untimely death; and, just recently, I received a few photographs of him as a very young boy at Green Mont that came through Mike Harris from his mother’s photo albums.   …… Continue reading Lomax Gwathmey Jr.

Several days ago the Warrenton Cemetery was vandalized. Some 50 gravestones were toppled in the older part of the cemetery. There was no apparent motive and there was no evidence that it was a “hate” crime. It was just a crime of disgraceful disrespect and incivility. I went by to see if there had been…… Continue reading The Fleming Plot

2525 St. Charles Ave. My daughter, Isabelle, called me from New Orleans, yesterday, where she found herself standing outside the Robert H. Downman home at 2525 St. Charles Avenue. She had called to ask “aren’t we related to R. H. Downman?” “2525”, as it was known, has been inhabited by Downman descendants since it was…… Continue reading More on the Downmans

For those of you who are into name dropping, it may be useful for you to understand your relationship to Robert E. Lee when you make your pilgrimage to The Plains this summer. (At that time,  you will perhaps notice that all of the side streets in The Plains are named for Southern Generals; Ewell…… Continue reading Cousin Robert E. Lee

Just some pictures of cousins. Oct 28, 2017: I just got these next ones from Kip Brundage, I lifted them from a photo montage he had made for in remembrance of his mother, Betsy (Mary Elizabeth Lee Rust Brundage). I’d never seen that view of Green Mont before, let alone this particular photo.   Got…… Continue reading Cousins

Winnie Jackson scratched her name in the outhouse wall; but hers was not the only tagging that had been going on at the farm. While sifting through the remains of the collapsed log cabin (school house?), I found that some of the former students had left their mark on the upstairs stair rail. Anne definitely…… Continue reading Tagging

When Robert H. Downman assembled the six farms that became his “Ravenscroft” in The Plains in 1912, he connected them all with his own internal road network. My father would tell me that these roads were MacAdamized, a system of road building pioneered by John Loudon McAdam, a Scottish engineer, in the early 1800’s. McAdam’s…… Continue reading The Road to The Plains