Henry Taylor Cary

https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Cary_Henry_ca_1650-by_1720

Henry Cary was a leading contractor in colonial Virginia. Born in Warwick County, Cary spent much of his life constructing public buildings. His major projects included the York County courthouse (1697) and a new prison and Capitol in Williamsburg (by 1705). His success in these projects led to his appointment in 1706 to oversee construction of the new residence for the governor. A dispute in 1711 with Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood over progress on the governor's residence led to his dismissal from the project. With his career in Williamsburg effectively at an end, Cary retired to his Warwick County plantation. He died on an unrecorded date before September 1, 1720, when his will was proved in the county court.

Cary was born in Warwick County and was the son of Miles Cary (d. 1667) and Anne Taylor Cary. His father immigrated to Virginia from Bristol, England, probably early in the 1640s and became a member of the governor's Council before mid-March 1664. After his father's death, the orphaned Henry Cary and his underage brothers inherited Warwick County plantations, his being called the Forest, and that of Miles Cary (d. 1709), surveyor general of Virginia and member of the House of Burgesses for more than twenty years, being called Richneck. By the spring of 1671 Cary had married Judith Lockey. They had three daughters and two sons, the elder of whom, Henry Cary (d. by March 2, 1750), became one of the principal building contractors in the region.

There is no evidence that Cary trained in the building trades in preparation for his career, but the loss of the Warwick County records leaves many aspects of his life poorly documented. His first recorded involvement in construction was a proposal to the governor's Council in December 1695 to build a platform for the defensive cannon at the new port of Yorktown. In 1697 Cary contracted for 28,000 pounds of tobacco to erect a new courthouse for York County on the north side of Main Street in Yorktown. He completed the work by the end of the year. Given its relatively low cost and the speed with which it was constructed, the building probably resembled other courthouses of the period, a frame structure with exterior clapboard sheathing and a few windows lit by wooden casements. The building was replaced with an arcaded brick courthouse early in the 1730s.

With this public building experience and perhaps other private commissions that have left no documentary trace, Cary seized the opportunity to secure the contract to build the colony's new Capitol after the previous statehouse in Jamestown burned in October 1698. Cary's petition to oversee construction of the new brick building in Williamsburg was granted in November 1699. During the next half-dozen years, Cary procured materials, supervised dozens of skilled and unskilled workmen, and coordinated the erection of the two-story, double-winged building at the east end of Duke of Gloucester Street. Although he was not the designer, he was able to shape many of its details. In the midst of this project, Cary also erected a prison for the colony, a one-story brick building located a few hundred yards north of the Capitol. He had completed both structures by 1705, to the satisfaction of government officials, not an insubstantial feat in a colony where public works on that scale had not before been attempted.

Cary's achievement led to his appointment in 1706 to oversee construction of the new house for the governor. He may have been responsible in part for the building's design as well. Under his direction between 1706 and 1708, the two-story, double-pile brick residence rose at the north end of what became Palace Street. Cary's success with the Capitol did not guarantee success on his second ambitious undertaking. By 1708 he had exhausted all the money appropriated for the building, his craftsmen threatened to stop work unless they received back wages, and roofing slate arrived from England so severely damaged that it proved unusable. Although the General Assembly reluctantly advanced money to keep the project from foundering, Cary was forced to move into the unfinished house to protect it from damage, an action the Council perceived as an attempt "to maintain his whole family at the publick charge." When Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood arrived in Williamsburg in 1710 and discovered that his residence was an unfinished shell and that there was little money left to complete it, he turned his wrath on Cary for mismanaging the project and charged that he was incapable of the business of building. The Council complained of Cary's extravagance in April 1711 and in December ordered him to present an account of his expenses. Soon afterward Cary was dismissed from the project.

The fiasco of the governor's house ruined Cary's chances for further government work. In 1711 he proposed to supply materials for the new Bruton Parish church, but Spotswood considered the price too high and ensured that the contract went to a competitor. Recognizing that his career in Williamsburg was at an end, Cary retired to his plantation in Warwick County. Possibly he continued to work outside the capital on occasion. In 1719, for example, Richard King's agreement to erect the Swan Tavern in Yorktown allowed him to bring in Cary to appraise the building if the compensation agreed on did not cover the construction costs. Except for a fragment of the prison, all the public buildings that Cary erected in Williamsburg have been destroyed, making it difficult to judge the quality of the work that Spotswood condemned. Cary died, probably at his Warwick County plantation, on an unrecorded date before September 1, 1720, when his will was proved in the county court.

Time Line

ca. 1650 - Henry Cary is born in Warwick County to Miles Cary and Anne Taylor Cary.

Spring 1671 - By this time, Henry Cary has married Judith Lockey. They will have three daughters and two sons.

December 1695 - Henry Cary submits a proposal to the governor's Council to build a platform for the defensive cannon at the new port of Yorktown.

1697 - Henry Cary contracts for 28,000 pounds of tobacco to erect a new courthouse for York County on the north side of Main Street in Yorktown. He will complete the work by the end of the year.

October 1698 - Henry Cary secures the contract to build the colony's new Capitol after the previous statehouse in Jamestown burns.

1706 - Henry Cary is appointed to oversee construction of the new house for the governor.

April 1711 - The governor's Council complains of Henry Cary's extravagance in his construction of the governor's house.

December 1711 - The governor's Council orders Henry Cary to present an account of his expenses for the construction of the governor's house. Soon afterward they dismiss him from the project.

September 1, 1720 - Sometime before this date, Henry Cary dies, probably at his Warwick County plantation.

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HENRY CARY I was born ABT 1650 in Warwick County, Virginia, and died BEF 1 SEP 1720 in Warwick County, Virginia. He was the son of 2. MILES CARY and 3. ANN TAYLOR.

He married JUDITH LOCKEY BEF 24 MAY 1671 in Warwick County, Virginia, daughter of EDWARD LOCKEY , JR.. She was born ABT 1655 in York County, Virginia.    

From http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=80772&id=...

The immigrant's second son, Captain Henry Cary, the builder, inherited and lived upon the plantation in the interior of Warwick known as The Forest. His enterprising son of the same name was one of the pioneers to take up wilderness lands in the upper valley of James River, and, removing his own residence to the head of navigation near the Falls, where the city of Richmond was soon to grow, there built Ampthill House.
Ampthill House, built by Henry Cary in 1732, still stands on the brim of the river valley about seven miles below Manchester, on the Richmond-Petersburg turnpike. It looks over a characteristic James River bottom which yields bountiful crops of corn, now cultivated by a single tractor instead of a troop of negroes. Some distance downstream, but within sight of the house, is the skeleton of the mill which was erected during the nineteenth century on the foundation of that of the eighteenth. Across the river, on the Henrico shore, is the Randolph place, Wilton. While lacking repair, the house is a notable example of Henry Cary's Flemish bond brickwork, substantial timbering and oak paneling. Except Elmwood, it is the only Virginia house extant which was inhabited by the immigrant Miles Cary's family in the eighteenth century.
Named for his Hobson grandfather, he was devisee under his father's will of the Warwick plantation called The Forest, being the western half of Zachary Cripps patent, adjoining Richneck. J. P. and Captain for Warwick. He was a contracting builder and constructed, among other public buildings, the court-house of York County, 1694 (York records), the fort on York River, 1697 (Va. Mag., xxiv, 401), the first capitol at Williamsburg, 1701-1703, William and Mary College (reconstruction after the fire of 1705), and the Governor's palace, 1705-1710, in which he lived during construction. (See Hening, iii, 226, 485, iv, 95; Cal. Va. State Papers, i, 125, 146.) His petition last cited is interesting evidence that bricks were burnt in Virginia as early as 1709, not imported as the tradition is in respect to so many eighteenth century houses. It is not known where he was buried.

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• page x of The Virginia Carys: An Essay in Genealogy By Fairfax Harrison

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GEDCOM Note

Henry Cary (Miles5, John4, William3, Richard2, William1); b. circa
1650; m. Judith Lockey, daughter of Edward Lockey Jr, by 24 May 1671;
1st wife.
He resided at 'The Forest', Warwick Co., VA. He was a buider,
buildings include the Capitol at Williamsburg and the Governor's
Palace. He left a will on 27 Jan 1716 at Warwick Co., VA; proved 1 Sep
1720.

Known children of Henry Cary and Judith Lockey include:
i. Elizabeth Cary; b. circa 1678; m. Capt. John
Scasbrook II, son of Lt. Col. John Scasbrook and
Elizabeth, circa 1698.

8. Bridget Cary (Miles5, John4, William3, Richard2, William1); b.
1651; m. Capt. William Bassett, son of William Bassett and Anne, 1670.

Capt. William Bassett immigrated before 1665 to Virginia. He
resided at Blisland Parish, New Kent Co., VA. He left a will on 28 Aug
1671; proved 4 Jan 1671/2. He died in 1671.
Known children of Bridget Cary and Capt. William Bassett include:
13. i. Hon. William Bassett, b. 1671; m. Joanna Burwell.

9. Elizabeth Cary (Miles5, John4, William3, Richard2, William1); b.
circa 1653; m. Emanuel Wills before 11 Apr 1670.

Emanuel Wills died by 21 Aug 1697. He resided at Warwick Co., VA.
Known children of Elizabeth Cary and Emanuel Wills include:
i. Miles Wills; m. Hannah Scasbrook, daughter of Lt.
Col. John Scasbrook and Elizabeth, after 2 Apr
1694.
He resided at Warwick Co., VA.

Henry Cary was named for his Hobson grandfather.

Dorman, John Frederick. 2004. Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5. Genealogical Pub. Co. 4th edition. Vol 3, Page 294, book lookup by Hill, C. [03/20/2024]