Colonial Homes
of
Williamsburg, Virginia
Wythe house
Wythe, George (1726-1806), American Revolution
patriot and jurist, born near Yorktown, Virginia, and privately educated. A
member (1754-1755, 1758-1768) of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he drafted
(1764) the protest of that body against the proposed Stamp Act. Elected to the
Continental Congress in 1775, he was one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence. Wythe was a member of the federal convention of 1787, which framed
the U.S. Constitution. From 1779 to 1790 he was the first professor of law at
the College of William and Mary. Among those who studied and worked under him
were the future Supreme Court justice John Marshall, presidents Thomas Jefferson
and James Monroe, and the statesman Henry Clay. Wythe was judge of the Virginia
Court of Chancery from 1778 to 1786 and chancellor of the state of Virginia
after 1786. One of the earliest American abolitionists, he freed his own slaves
and provided for them in his will. His writings include Decisions in Virginia by
the High Court of Chancery (1795).
Text from Microsoft Encarta
George Wythe's office
bedroom
garden view of the house
the garden and the service buildings
the pigeon loft
(raised for food)
kitchen
food that was prepared
Randolph house
Randolph house
rear of the house
Randolph, Peyton (1721-75), prerevolutionary American politician, born in
Williamsburg, Virginia, and educated at the College of William and Mary. He was
an influential member of the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1748 to his death,
and in 1764 he rallied the opposition of the burgesses, or legislators, against
the threatened Stamp Act. In 1766 he became Speaker of the House, an office he
retained for the rest of his life. Randolph was appointed to the first
Continental Congress at Philadelphia and served as its president in 1774 and
1775.
Text from Microsoft Encarta
dining area
Other Colonial homes
built in Williamsburg style
