Elizabeth Louise Fontaine

Biography

From https://www.dabney-early-virginia.info/getperson.php?personID=I719&...

Elizabeth Louise Winston was born to William “Langaloo” Winston and Sarah Dabney in Hanover County, Virginia.
She married Col. Peter Fontaine Jr. ca 1749. He was born about 1724, a son of the Rev. Peter Fontaine Sr. (1691.-1759) of Westover Parish in Charles County. They had eight children: John, born about 1750, died ca 1792; Peter III, born about 1752, died early in 1759; William, born about 1754, died about 1810; Sarah born about 1755, died about 1793; Mary Anne, born about 1758, died about 1799; James, born about 1762, died about 1784; Judith, born avout 1765, died early in 1769; and Edmund, born about 1767, died about 1792.

Peter was first a deputy surveyor in Old Brunswick County, then surveyor of the south district of Lunenburg County created in 1746, where he was appointed county lieutenant, commander of the county militia. When he became surveyor for Halifax County, which was created from Lunenburg County in 1752, he moved there. From 1752 to 1756, he and his father acquired 8 patents in Lunenburg and Halifax Counties totalling 7,122 acres to provide inheritances for some of Peter Jr.’s siblings and children. About 1757-1759, he moved to Rock Castle Farm in Hanover County to be closer to his father’s estate for which he was executor and manager. In the Rent Rolls for Hanover County in 1763, he was charged with 775 acres. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1764. His father-in-law, Isaac Winston Sr. made him co-executor of Isaac’s will dated February 6, 1760. Peter died ca 1773 in Hanover County, aged about 59.

Bio. contributed by Brian Nilsson.

Elizabeth Winston Fontaine, wife of Peter Fontaine, Jr., was born on 17 December 1734 to William "Langaloo" Winston, who was a planter and well-known frontiersman in Hanover County. She was married on 20 April 1749 with Peter Fontaine Jr. The family first lived on a tract of land on Wool Creek, a branch of Tucking Creek in Lunenburg County where Peter has purchased a tract of land in 1750. The family moved in 1755 to the south side of the Staunton River in what is present-day northern Halifax County to be closer to his work as a surveyor.

The family moved again after four years when they moved to northwestern Hanover County in the neighborhood of his wife's relatives. They settled on land purchased at Beaverdam near the forks of the Pamunkey River. Peter died there in 1773. Elizabeth lived there for many years until her death in 1810.

History of the Land, by Brian H. Nilsson
The Fontaine Maury Society

The first Fontaines who lived at the Beaverdam property were Peter Fontaine, Jr. (1724-1773) and his wife Elizabeth Winston (1734-1810). Elizabeth was from Hanover County, where her father William "Langaloo" Winston was a planter and well-known frontiersman. It is believed that Elizabeth's father originally owned the land. Elizabeth was also a cousin to Peter's brother-in-law, Isaac Winston. Peter and Elizabeth were married in Hanover County on 20 April 1749 but they did not initially live at the Beaverdam site.

The year following their marriage, in 1750, Peter purchased a tract of land on Wool Creek which was a branch of Tucking Creek in Lunenburg County, and there built a house for his family. This enabled him to be near to his surveying (Peter had been commissioned to be the college surveyor for the entire district of Lunenburg, which at the time was a vast area that included all of the Virginian counties south and west of present-day Lunenburg County) and, at the same time, close to his wife and infant son. In 1751 he was appointed county lieutenant of Lunenburg County by the governor, and later a justice of the peace.

Since his surveying carried him further westward over the next few years, in 1755 Peter moved his family closer to his work again. This time they settled on the south side of the Staunton River in what is present-day Halifax County. During the four years the family lived there, he began to prepare for the future of his own children and that of the children of his father's second marriage. Peter patented over ten thousand acres in Halifax and in what would later become Pittsylvania and Henry Counties. This acreage eventually became a major portion of the inheritance of some of his children. Peter also patented another six thousand acres in his father's name to be used as an inheritance for the younger children.

In 1759 he left the south side of Virginia and moved his family to northwestern Hanover County in the neighborhood of his wife's relatives. Peter purchased Beaverdam that was near the forks of the Pamunkey River, where he lived in a home called Rock Castle. The Pamunkey River is today a 93-mile river that flows southeasterly to the York River. It is created by the confluence of the North and South Anna Rivers on the boundary of Hanover and Caroline Counties, about five miles northeast of Ashland. Between 1759 and the time of his death in 1773, he worked his plantation and served in two public offices, as a justice of the peace and as a colonel in the Hanover militia. As a widow, Elizabeth continued to live at Rock Castle for many years, and also remained after it became the home of her son, William. She died at Rock Castle in 1810 and was buried in the family cemetery at Beaverdam.

Peter's son William Fontaine (1754-1810) returned to his father's Rock Castle plantation after the Revolutionary War and became a planter. Between 1782 and 1787, he purchased the interest of his brothers and sisters in Rock Castle.

Although devoted to his plantation and to politics, William found time and money to speculate in land in other parts of Virginia, and in North Carolina and Kentucky. He held over 10,000 acres in northeastern North Carolina and several large tracts in Kentucky, but his landholdings in Hanover County were more important. William had increased his holdings from 650 acres that comprised Rock Castle to over 3,000 acres by 1800. In addition to Rock Castle, he held large tracts of "Offla," "Bridge Quarter," "Beaverdam," and "Fishing Springs" all of which were near or were connected to his original plantation.

In 1789 William had married with Anne Morris who was a daughter of William and Elizabeth Morris also of Hanover County. Either at the time of their marriage or soon thereafter, William built a new house on the "Beaverdam" tract. He appears to have devoted the remaining 20 years of his life to his family and plantation. William died at "Beaverdam" on 6 October 1810. Anne died there many years later, on 21 July 1852. They are buried in the family cemetery at "Beaverdam."

According to the February 1986 Fontaine Maury Society newsletter, Peter Fontaine, Jr., established the first Fontaine home in Hanover County called Rock Castle and that "further speculation leads us to conclude" that it passed to his son William Fontaine (1754-1810) who established Beaverdam Plantation west of Rock Castle also in Hanover County.

William and Anne had nine children. Their oldest son, Peter Fourreau Fontaine (born about 1793), inherited his father's "Fishing Springs" property, about 630 acres located several miles south of "Beaverdam" but there is no indication that he ever lived there. Pre-1865 Hanover County deeds were destroyed in the Civil War. He went to Kentucky as a young man and died there between 1815 and 1820.

William and Anne's sons, William R. (b. ca 1797 d. 1824) and Charles Fontaine (1805-1827) were born at "Beaverdam" and were raised there. Although they inherited a portion of their father's "Offla" and "Bridge Quarter" tracts, located on the South Anna River in western Hanover County (about 600 acres), William continued to live with his widowed mother at "Beaverdam." Neither William nor Charles married, William died in 1824 and Charles in 1827, and their land reverted to their living brothers. William's land, according to records after the Civil War, belonged to his brother Edmund, while the inherited land of the previously deceased brother, Peter, belonged to his brother James.

Edmund (1801-1869) was married in 1824 with Maria Louisa Shackelford, and they made their home at the Beaverdam house that Edmund had inherited from his father. He represented Hanover County in the Virginia Secession Convention and was strongly opposed to secession until President Lincoln called for troops to invade the southern states; he then reluctantly voted in favor. Shortly after the war, in 1867 or 1868, Beaverdam burned but Edmund had it rebuilt. Edmund's wife, Maria, notes survive and are in the Virginia Historical Society. Of the burning of the house, she wrote:

"Then came the burning of our dear old house. In the middle of the night we were awakened by dreadful flames. Nothing could be done to save it. We managed to get out some of our Parlour furniture. Thus in our old age we were deprived of our precious sons and home, where we had been so happy rearing our dear children . . . . Your dear Grandfather had this house built, but did not live long to enjoy it. He closed his long and useful life on the 26th of June 1869."

Maria's reference to her lost sons was to sons Edmund Fontaine, Jr., who died at the First Battle of Manassas, and son Dr. John Boursiquot Fontaine of General Zeb Stuart's Cavalry Corps who was killed at the Battle of Poplar Springs, near Petersburg. Both are buried at Beaverdam Cemetery. General Stuart was a cousin to the Fontaines; his wife and children were visiting at Beaverdam when he was killed at Yellow Tavern.

A new Beaverdam house was built in 1868 with brickwork in the lower part typical of the 18th century and was probably built from bricks from the original house.

William and Anne's son, James Fontaine (1799-1872) also grew up at "Beaverdam." William died when James was eleven; when he came of age, James inherited the "Rock Castle" tract which had been his grandfather Peter Fontaine Jr.'s home and originally the property of his great-grandfather, William "Langaloo" Winston. The plantation was located in the forks of the Pamunkey River and consisted of approximately 600 acres and the home of his grandfather.

James lived for a few years in the old homeplace but, after his marriage in January 1835 with Juliet Morris, he built a new home also called "Rock Castle" (better known as "Rock Castle II" or the Fontaine Farm) where they lived the remainder of their lives. James was devoted to the "Rock Castle" plantation and expanded it to twice its original size. The location of Hanover County placed it almost at the center of most of the military operations aimed at the capture of Richmond between 1862 and 1864. During that period, James's plantation was overrun by Union troops. It was at this house in 1864 that Union troops looted and burned the possessions on a bonfire including the Rev. Jaques Fontaine's manuscript that was quickly recovered from the fire by a Union officer and turned over to the Fontaines' neighbor, Mr. Quarles, who returned it to the family.

The Society visited Rock Castle [II, the Fontaine Farm] during its 1988 annual meeting. According to another Society newsletter, "Charles McKinney, the owner of Rock Castle [II], had thoughtfully mowed a tract through the hayfield leading to the site of Rock Castle I, the building into which Peter Fontaine, Jr. moved some time near the middle of the 18th century. Thus those attending were able to see in situ the diggings…." At the 1988 meeting, archaeologist Kirby Smith and his pupil and associate and Fontaine descendant, Judy Isbell Thomas, presented a slide show on their exploratory archaeological work at the original Rock Castle house site. The McKinneys had bought the plantation in 1947 when retired U.S. Navy Captain Cecil McKinney purchased it.

The same 1985 Society newsletter article cited earlier clarifies that there were two different Fontaine homes, the house at Beaverdam and "Rock Castle." It cites that when Ann Maury completed her translation of Jaques' memoirs, she evidently sent it to Rock Castle and not Beaverdam because when Philip Sheridan raided the area during the Civil War, he burned the C&O Station at Noel near Rock Castle and then "went the quarter-mile to the old house to forage." This was the house that was ransacked and the household items burned in the yard, including the manuscript.

The Noel C&O Station is near the present-day crossroads of Noel and Verdon Roads in northwestern Hanover County (mailing address is Doswell), 2.9 miles northwest of the North Anna Battlefield Park that is also on Verdon Road and 10.9 miles southeast of Beaverdam Plantation.
Contributor: Brian Nilsson (49496399)* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Sep 4 2022, 12:48:25 UTC