First Stop: Blennerhassett Island

First, I want to thank Carol Cox for filling in while I was gone. She has drawn the winner for Love in Disguise. Drum roll, please! The winner is: Essie. If you would please email Carol at carol@authorcarolcox.com and provide her with your mailing address, she’ll see that you receive your free book.

During my ten day vacation, I had a wonderful time visiting my sister and several other relatives in West Virginia and Virginia. It was a sweet time of reunion, but I also managed to do a great deal of sightseeing, too. So like it or not, I plan to share some of the fun with all of you over the next few weeks.

So here’s a history question: Have you ever heard of Blennerhassett Island? I hadn’t, but I was delighted when my sister invited me to go on a field trip with the teachers and students from Feed My Sheep school where she teaches. Blennerhassett Island is located across the Ohio River near Parkersburg, West Virginia. The old postcard at left shows the island. Once we arrived in Parkersburg, our first stop was the Blennerhasset Museum. What a super museum. I snapped pictures like crazy. Second question: Can you identify the what that is in the picture below? It's ais a Circa 1815-1820 ceramic veilleuse (a French-made combination bedside night light and teacup warmer). Most of the artifacts are from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

After the museum visit, we rode the Island Belle ferry across the Ohio River where we stepped onto Blennerhassett Island. Needless to say, the kids really enjoyed the ride—and so did I! Our trip included the ferry ride, a tour of Blennerhassett Mansion, the Putnam Houser house, and a horse-drawn wagon tour of the upper end of the island. We returned to Parkersburg at 5:00 p.m. for a wonderful dinner at the Blennerhassett Hotel. It was truly a fun-filled day. The brick structure below right, is the hotel. Isn't it gorgeous?

Now, just in case you’re interested, I’ve added some history about Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett, the island, and their connection to Aaron Burr. If I’d ever heard about the Aaron Burr conspiracy in history class, I had completely forgotten, so it was all new and interesting to me.

The mansion was constructed by Harman and Margaret Blennerhassett, a wealthy Anglo-Irish couple. The Blennerhassett Mansion became known during its brief existence as the Ohio Valley’s most beautiful private residence. Beyond its extravagantly landscaped lawns and gardens lay a dark wilderness broken only infrequently by scattered log cabins and a few small settlements.

Harman and Margaret sold their 7000 acre County Kerry estate in 1795 and emigrated to America, landing the next year in New York City. By the spring of 1798, they had located on the upper end of the Ohio River island two miles below the present-day Parkersburg, West Virginia, and started the construction of their new American home.

When they moved into their house in the late summer, 1800, it contained 7,000 square feet of (daily living) interior floor space and a frontage of 186 feet, making it one of the United States’ largest homes. It was designed in the Palladian style with walkways and attached wing buildings curving upstream from a central structure like arms welcoming the approaching river traveler.

The Blennerhassett estate appeared so splendid it was nicknamed “paradise,” “Eden,” and “the Enchanted Island.” But it proved a tragically short-lived haven for those who created it. Harman and Margaret became entangled in the ill-fated Aaron Burr Expedition to the Southwest (1805-1807) and fled their island home December 1806. Burr had been arrested and charged with treason The prosecution alleged Burr intended to take New Orleans by force and make it the capitol of his new western empire. Though later exonerated, Blennerhassett was considered suspect because Burr had visited the island on several occasions during the planning of his conspiracy.

The house burned to the ground in 1811 remaining only a romantic legend until reconstructed 1984-1991 by the State of West Virginia as the centerpiece of its new Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park.

So there you have it—a manmade creation of beauty laced with tragedy—fine fodder for a book, don’t you think?

May you find joy as you explore God’s creation. ~Judy