Audio
Jackson Death Site Audio Tour, #2, Chandler House Site
Transcript
The space outlined on the ground in front of you was once the site of a large, brick house known as Fairfield. John Thornton utilized enslaved labor to construct this house and an extensive plantation in the 1820s. During the Civil War, the Chandler family and the people they enslaved lived at Fairfield.
Prior to the creation of Fairfield Plantation, this land was part of the Ormesby Plantation, which dated to the early 1700s. In 1806, members of the Thornton family divided the Ormesby Plantation three ways. John Thornton received 465 acres of Ormesby, which included the land on which the Stonewall Jackson Death Site now sits. During the 1820s, John Thornton funded the construction of a house here, which became known as Fairfield Plantation. Then in 1828, John Thornton ordered the construction of a plantation office building, the only original building that still stands today. It is likely that he utilized enslaved labor to construct the main house and outbuildings. During John Thornton’s ownership of Fairfield, he increased the size of the plantation to 753 acres. After John and his wife, Mildred, died in 1844 and 1845, Thomas Coleman Chandler purchased the property at auction.
In the lead-up to the Civil War, Thomas Chandler lived at Fairfield with his wife, Mary, and their ten children. The Chandlers enslaved 66 people, who they forced to labor in the surrounding fields and in the main house. Thomas Chandler also employed an overseer, Pearson Payne, to manage the plantation. In 1854, Thomas Chandler funded the construction of a new, two-story, brick house in place of the original house. The Chandlers temporarily moved into the office building during its construction. Chandler likely utilized enslaved labor for the construction of his new house. The site of the Chandler’s house is outlined here in front of you. Thomas Chandler’s plantation records reveal that his family enjoyed many luxuries at Fairfield, such as molasses, sugar, and coffee, while the enslaved people had a limited diet and lived in poorly constructed quarters. Virginia laws denied enslaved people basic rights, including the right to legally marry and to read and write. The luxuries enjoyed by the Chandler family came at an immense cost, a cost that the people they enslaved paid with their daily toil.
In contrast to the environment today, Fairfield was not a calm, quiet place during its time as a working plantation. In 1860, the buildings present at Fairfield included the main house, smokehouse, office, barn, stables, outhouse, and quarters for enslaved workers. The Chandlers also had a three-terraced garden in front of their house as well as large quantities of horses, cows, sheep, and hogs. Thomas Chandler benefitted greatly from his home’s proximity to Guinea Station, evidenced by the many items he had access to, such as guano fertilizer from Peru. Yet, Fairfield’s location beside the RF&P had a second consequence that was realized when civil war broke out in 1861. The Chandlers’ plantation was directly in the path of traveling armies. As war spread through Virginia, the lives of the Chandlers, as well as the lives of the people they enslaved, were forever changed.
The next stop on the tour is the plantation office building. The building is open to the public during summer months when staffing is available.
Description
For the second stop on the Jackson Death Site Audio Tour, learn about the history of this site as it developed into a busy slave plantation in the 1800s. What was life at Fairfield like in the years before the war? How did the lives of the enslaved people and the Chandlers differ? What type of changes would war bring to this place?
Credit
NPS
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