Clover Forest is a historic mansion and former plantation house built starting in 1761 and located in Goochland, Virginia. The mansion lies in a large bend of the James River, and is an authentically restored in a Federal-style with portions of the architecture dating to Pre–American Revolutionary Period.
The location of the property is part of what has been called the "Golden Horseshoe", with former plantation houses creating a horseshoe-shape from east to west, including Blythewood, Orapax, Bolling Hall, Pocahontas, Dungeness 1931, Rock Castle, Deer Lodge, Mannsville, Bolling Island, Snowden, Clover Forest, Howard's Neck, Harrison's Elk Hill, and Jefferson's Elk Hill.CeCe Bullard, Goochland Yesterday and Today, Goochland County Historical Society, 1994, pp. 113–137
Since 2003, Clover Forest operates as a private event venue.
Pre–history (1714–1761)
In 1714, the land on which Clover Forest stands was initially included within patented by Charles Fleming, extending along the upper James River from what were developed as Rock Castle to Elk Island farms. Bolling Island was also developed along the river.Gibson Worsham, A Survey of Historic Architecture in Goochland County, Virginia, Spring-Autumn 2003 This territory was eventually divided and developed as the neighboring estates of Rock Castle, Snowden, and Howard’s Neck, and the site of Elk Island. Because of the later colonial and antebellum history of this area, as well as several extant properties, it has been proposed for designation as Fleming's Part Rural Historic District in a 2003 architectural survey prepared for the state's Department of Historic Resources.
Fleming was unable to develop it rapidly enough, and portions "fell back" to the Crown of England. In 1739/1740 Lieutenant Governor William Gooch authorized the sale of for £13 to John Woodson, Gentleman. Woodson split the purchase with Joseph Dabbs, but Woodson and Dabbs failed "to make such cultivation and improvements" to the land as required, and the land reverted again to the Crown.
In 1745, the land was sold again, for £13 to Philip Webber. Webber could not fulfill his obligations for development and again the land reverted. It was resold, this time for £11 15/-, to Arthur Hopkins in 1753. Hopkins apparently accomplished more with the land; under his ownership only a portion reverted to the Crown.Land Patent Book 33, p. 1107 (Virginia State Library)Elie Weeks, "Clover Forest", Goochland County Historical Society Magazine, 5-A, 1973 p. 7.
William Douglas (1761–1763)
On 7 August 1761, the Reverend William Douglas and his wife (née Nicholas) successfully patented for £4 10/-. Their purchase of the property in 1761 has been considered the start of development of Clover Forest. Douglas and his wife may have occupied the house at Clover Forest as their residence, or used the farm to provide produce. They are credited with building what is today the oldest section of the house (the lower part of the west wing). Twenty months later when they sold the land, houses and orchards were conveyed with it.
Douglas is noted, at least locally, as author of the Douglas Register, an important resource for historians and genealogists. He was minister of the vast St. James Northam Parrish of the Church of England, the established church in the colony. It encompassed today's Virginia counties of Goochland, Fluvanna, Louisa, Orange, and Spotsylvania. The original Dover Church in Goochland, no longer standing, was his home church.
As the only legally authorized clergyman of the established church, Douglas compiled (nearly) all births, marriages, and deaths during the period from about 1750 to 1797. He also recreated some miscellaneous records dating to 1705, as no register was maintained before he was called to the parish.William Douglas, William MacFarlane Jones: The Douglas Register: Being a Detailed Record of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, Together with Other Interesting Notes, as Kept by the Rev. William Douglas from 1750 to 1797; an Index of Goochland Wills; Notes on the French-Huguenot Refugees who Lived in Manakin-town, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1966
Bowler Cocke the younger of Henrico County (1763–1792)
On 19 April 1763, Bowler Cocke the younger of Henrico County became the new owner. He kept the property for almost thirty years. He did not appear to live in Goochland but operated the farm for profit. At the close of the American Revolutionary War, Cocke refined his holding, selling a portion here and buying land there, resulting in a continuous holding of .Elie Weeks, "Clover Forest" Goochland County Historical Society Magazine 5-A, 1973 p. 7.Goochland Deed Book 14, 15 June 1787, p. 438Goochland Deed Book 16, 5 February 1791, p. 55 Cocke was an active land speculator, owning many different tracts of land both within and outside Goochland County. Like other speculators, Cocke bought some of the lands in Kentucky and Ohio that had been granted in lieu of pay to Revolutionary war veterans. He may have encountered Captain Thomas Pemberton through such transactions.
Captain Thomas Pemberton: (1792–1828)
Thomas Pemberton's origins are not known. Some evidence points to Buckingham County, but its courthouse burned twice, making research there very difficult. Some evidence points to King William County.Elie Weeks, "Clover Forest", Goochland County Historical Society Magazine, B-1, 1973, p. 9.
Officer, Continental Dragoon and Legionnaire
Pemberton was known to be commissioned as cornet in Bland's Virginia Horse, later the 1st Continental Light Dragoons, on 5 December 1776. (A cornet is the officer bearing the flag or regimental colors). Thirteen days later he was promoted to second lieutenant, and the regiment soon headed north to join General George Washington at Valley Forge. As the Continental Army had little cavalry, the Dragoons were called on for scouting, foraging, and warfare.
Pemberton made first lieutenant in 1778. He was promoted to captain in the 1st Regiment of Continental Light Dragoons on 12 June 1779, after the Regiment's transfer the previous year from the Main Continental Army to the Southern Department. All four regiments evolved from light dragoons units to legions that combined mounted and foot units. The 1st, 3rd and 4th eventually merged and fought together in one unit of four troops under the command of Colonel William Washington (cousin of the General), and officially named the 1st Legionary Corps on 1 January 1781. The First, as Dragoon and Legion, fought in Northern New Jersey, protected Philadelphia, survived the siege of Charleston 1780, fought with Lafayette in Virginia and at Yorktown, and defended the Carolinas in Nathaniel Greene's Campaign.Burt Garfield Loescher: "Bland's Virginia Horse: The Story of the First Continental Light Dragoons", in Journal of the Company of Military Collectors & Historians, Washington D.C., March 1954, vol VI no 1 pp 1–6.
Pemberton retired from military service on 9 November 1782 or January 1783.Burt Garfield Loescher, Washington's Eyes: The Continental Light Dragoons, Old Army Press, 1977, p. 123. For his six years of military service, Pemberton was awarded in Kentucky on the waters of the North Forke. He was one of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia.John Cropper, List of Original Members of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Virginia (1896)
B. Pembertons of Goochland
In 1792 (exact records have not survived) Captain Thomas Pemberton and his wife Dice acquired the property that they named Clover Forest. In 1795 they sold the of Kentucky bounty lands which Pemberton had been awarded for his service in the Continental Army to Bowler Cocke. In 1807 Pemberton had the main part of the house constructed. Over an English basement were built the parlor, the master bedchamber (today the dining room), two large rooms and an annex, and a large attic room under the rafters. On one of the chimneys is a brick dated 1811, marking the completion of the construction. All the wood work in the parlor, the hall and staircase e, and most of the dining room, dates to this period. Of particular interest are the mantles in the dining room and parlor. On one the seal of the United States commemorates Pemberton's service The eagle's head is turned to the olive branch. On the other, agricultural implements symbolize Pemberton's return to agricultural pursuits.
Three generations of Pembertons would live at Clover Forest, longer than any other family. Captain Thomas Pemberton and his wife Dice had six children who lived to adulthood, four daughters and two sons: Ann Coleman (married Ashburry Crenshaw, April 1810); Dice King (married Isaac Quarles, Jr., 4 August 1814); Mary B. (married Archibald Bryce, on 16 January 1811); and Maria A. (married John A. Selden of Westover Plantation, on 24 August 1823); John B. (married Mary Louisa Gilliam, daughter of John Gilliam, on 7 February 1829); and Robert (married Lucy Jane Scott, daughter of Thomas Scott, on 1 May 1828.Ancestry.com. Virginia, Select Marriages, 1785–1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2014.Ancestry.com. Virginia, Compiled Marriages, 1740–1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. Original data: Dodd, Jordan R., et al.. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT, USA: Precision Indexing Publishers.).
Captain Pemberton served as a church warden for the Lickinghole Episcopal Church, on Lickinghole Creek where he helped straighten out the property deed of the Church.Helène Barret Agee, Facets of Goochland (Virginia) County's History, The Dietz Press, Incorporated, Richmond Virginia, 1962, p. 120. He represented the Cartersville Bridge Company in trying to mediate the conflict between the first Cartersville Bridge (chartered 1818, finished 1821) and Randolph Harrison's competing ferry. Harrison offered crossings at a lower toll rate.William E. Trout, III, The Slate and Willis's Rivers Atlas, The Virginia Canals & Navigations Society, Incorporated, 1994 p. 42 The mediation was not successful, and the conflict reached the Virginia Supreme Court, long after Pemberton's passing.Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, Volume 38, 1841, pp. 544–555
Pemberton died on 4 October 1828, a few months after having obtained a pension for his military service. As Dice Pemberton is not mentioned in her husband’s will, she likely died before her husband. They are both thought to be buried in the Pemberton family cemetery on the grounds of Clover Forest. Their graves did not have headstones but were visible at one time.Elie Weeks, "Clover Forest" Goochland County Historical Society Magazine 5-A, 1973 p. 13.
Village of Pemberton
The village of Pemberton was named for the Pemberton family of Clover Forest. Now barely a hamlet overlooking the James River, it was once a hub of activity. Through the years, it was connected to trade by canal and river, and later railroad.
John B. and Mary Louisa Gilliam Pemberton: (1828–1873) John B. Pemberton (b. 13 May 1803-d. Clover Forest 9 Dec 1848), eldest son of Captain Thomas Pemberton, married Mary Louisa Gilliam on 7 February 1829. His father died later that year. The couple had five known children, four of whom lived to adulthood: Polly, Thomas, Virginia, and Richard.
Mary Louisa Gilliam Pemberton was the last of the Pembertons to live at Clover Forest. Born 6 Dec. 1803, she died in September 1873 at age 69. The Pembertons had occupied the property for 81 years. She is buried in the Pemberton family cemetery on the grounds of Clover Forest, near her son John (b. 5 March 1835 – d. Christmas Day 1839) and her husband.Elie Weeks, "Clover Forest", in Goochland County Historical Society Magazine 5-A, 1973 p. 10.
Parrish through Witcamp (1884–1949)