Among the many American "firsts" that occurred at Berkeley Plantation are: (1) the first official Thanksgiving: 4 December 1619, and, (2) the first time Army bugle call "Taps" played when on July 1862, by bugler Oliver W. Norton; the melody was written at Harrison's Landing, the plantation's old wharf, by Norton and then General Daniel Butterfield.
Using bricks fired on the Berkeley plantation, Benjamin Harrison IV built a Georgian-style three-story brick mansion on a hill overlooking the James River in 1726. Berkeley would later earn a distinction shared only with Peacefield in Quincy, Massachusetts as the ancestral home for two United States Presidents. Harrison's son, Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the American Declaration of Independence and a Governor of Virginia, was born at Berkeley Plantation, as was his son William Henry Harrison, a war hero in the Battle of Tippecanoe, governor of Indiana Territory, and ninth President of the United States.
During the American Civil War, Union troops occupied Berkeley Plantation, and President Abraham Lincoln twice visited there in the summer of 1862 to confer with Gen. George B. McClellan. The Harrisons were not able to regain possession of the plantation after the war, and it passed through several owners' hands and fell into disrepair.
In 1907, Berkeley Plantation was bought by John Jamieson, a Scotsman who had served as a drummer boy in the Union army during the Civil War. His son, Malcolm Jamieson (who bought out the interests of other heirs after John's death), and Malcolm's wife, Grace, restored the manor, which had been in deteriorating condition. Today the house attracts visitors from the United States and other parts of the world.
The architecture is original, and the house has been filled with antique furniture and furnishings that date from the period when it was built. The grounds, too, have been restored, and cuttings from the boxwood gardens are available as living souvenirs for its visitors. The main house is the centerpiece of ten acres of formal gardens and parterres. The house is surrounded by boxwood hedges forming allées. Large pillars with decorative spires support large hinged gates.
The house is constructed of red brick with thin mortar joints. The two story building's main entrance is in the center of the house, with two symmetrical windows on either side and a central window directly above the door. These windows are double sashed with 12 panes per sash. An entablature with dentil moldings support the gabled roof, which is pierced by three dormer windows and two large brick chimneys.
LARRY PERSONAL NOTE: I WAS UNAWARE THIS EXISTED UNTIL I SPOTTED IT WHILE ON THE WAY TO VISIT JOHN TYLER NEARBY