James Steptoe, Jr.

The Honorable James Steptoe, known as the original Old Virginia Gentleman, was born 1750 at Homany Hall in Westmoreland County. His great-grandfather was Anthony Steptoe, the third son of Sir Philip Steptoe.

He was educated at the College of William and Mary, where he began his lifelong friendship with Thomas Jefferson..

He built Federal Hill prior to 1800 In 1815, General Andrew Jackson was en route to Washington after the battle of New Orleans. General Jackson stopped at Poplar Forest to Visit with Jefferson. Jackson and Jefferson had dinner with Steptoe at Federal Hill that evening.

He was the clerk of Bedford County for 54 years.

In one of the grand halls of the Astor Estate of Clivedon-on Thames in England, there hangs a portrait of James Steptoe (1750- 1826) of Bedford County. Painted in the year of his death, Steptoe is depicted seated at his desk, above which hangs an engraved portrait of Thomas Jefferson.
Behind the 76-year-old clerk is a copy of the Frye-Jefferson map of Virginia. The open window shows a distant view of the Peaks of Otter, once the unsettled wilderness of Steptoe's home.

Links

• http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db...
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~warejamesbakercal...

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• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Feb 18 2020, 18:00:17 UTC