as remembered

The “Ravenscroft” of Robert Henry Downman C.S.A. Robert Henry Downman, younger brother of Harriot Jane Downman Fleming of Green Mont, was the second son of Robert Henry Downman C.S.A of Fauquier County, Virginia. Their family home was called Ravenscroft, a frame house located about a mile north of Remington, VA, and just across the road…… Continue reading Ravenscroft

My brother, R. B. Lee Rust, has a clearer memory of where that 1/4 ton of sand we picked up from Piedmont Lumber in the 1931 Model A Ford pick up truck was dropped off. He thinks it was not for the bridge project but for a sandbox, up under the tree next to the…… Continue reading The bridges, and the blocks

The Corner Cupboard The backstory to Roberta Fleming’s antique store and tea room is that, her sister Mary was an antique furniture enthusiast, to say the least. Her accumulation of antiques overwhelmed her household. Such a surplus was generated that she engaged her sister Roberta to sell off the excess, which conveniently allowed her to…… Continue reading The Plains, Va. of the Flemings

The photo is Green Mont as it appeared in 1960 The early 1960’s By the fall of 1960, Mr Payne, the Flemings farm manager, had vacated the Green Mont house. We were living in York, PA at the time and started spending weekends and holidays at the farm. I remember the very first night we…… Continue reading Green Mont, Chapter 2, 1960 to 1995

The above is “The Old House-Green Mont” by Betsy Rust, 1939. It  shows the smoke house, the wood shed , and the old log cabin, with attached privy The Land The earliest located record of the land which includes Green Mont is the transfer from Henry Peyton Sr. to his son, Henry Peyton Jr. on March…… Continue reading Green Mont, Chapter 1, 1877-1959

This picture of R. B. Lee Fleming was taken c1882, about the time of his marriage to Harriot Jane Downman of Warrenton, Virginia. He was 33 years old. She was 22. Thomas Fleming, his grandfather Thomas Fleming emigrated to South Carolina from Castleblaney, Ireland in 1798 when he was 13 years old: his father had…… Continue reading Richard Bland Lee Fleming

This photo 0f the Green Mont Dining Room was taken in 1935. I never saw this furniture assembled in one room although quite a bit of it was in Clarissa’s Homewood Dining Room and all the pieces are certainly familiar. The large painting over the sideboard on the right I had always heard referred to…… Continue reading Dining with the Flemings

One important family genealogical resource is Clarissa Fleming’s 1958 book William Downman of Plymouth, England and Virginia, October 1608 and some of his Descendants. Chapter VIII is focused on the family of Harriot Jane Downman Fleming and their life at Green Mont. The photo above shows Green Mont at it’s most capacious, sporting its 3rd…… Continue reading Clarissa Fleming’s “Downman”, Chapter VIII

Written on the back of this photo is “Hattie Fleming, Green Mount, Sep. 26 1882”. It was taken in Washington D.C. It is rumored that she once had a 19” waist. This was probably with the aid of a corset, and certainly before having seven children.   Betsy Rust, Sam Carter, Harriot J. Downman (“amere”)…… Continue reading Harriot Jane Downman Fleming

The above photo is of Minor S. Harris, Mike Harris, and Anne Cameron Fleming Harris, from one of the July 4, 1936 Green Mont shots. Anne Cameron Fleming Harris as remembered by Mike Harris, January 24, 2015. Mother , youngest of the Green Mont family , was born in 1904 at the tail end of the…… Continue reading Anne Cameron Fleming