Buckingham Houses: Cherry Hill
Cherry Hill. Courtesy Historic Buckingham.
In 1937, Rosa G. Williams surveyed Cherry Hill for the Virginia Historical Inventory. Located twelve miles west of Nuckols in Buckingham County, the first owners of the property were the Berryman family, though, it was the Lackland family who established Cherry Hill. After the Civil War, it was acquired by the Davidson family who owned it into the twentieth century. Mrs. Williams wrote:
“Cherry Hill” was once part of Aspen Level, the Berryman Estate. A Mr. Lackland purchased the place in 1797, and built the Cherry Hill house in 1798.
The original house consisted of six rooms, two basement rooms, two rooms on the second floor and two half story rooms on the third floor. The house has been remodeled, the half story rooms have been raised, new windows were put in and a second story porch was added. Very few changes were made to the interior excepting to the third floor. The basement stands just as it was originally with dirt floors, rock walls and box like sills. The first story flooring is the basement ceiling, it being laid on the sills. The chimneys are huge and are of rock. There is an old fire place in the basement. There are no original outbuildings. Several of the original oak and locust trees are still standing.
Unsurprisingly, the farm was named for the numerous cherry trees that grew on the place.
Coming next: Davidson’s Orchard at Cherry Hill
slate river ramblings . . . . 
I am Thomas Davidson of the Davidson family
Thomas,
Thanks for commenting. Be sure to search the archive for other posts about the Davidson family. Joanne
I love that story of hiding the horse in the basement!
There must be more stories like Bill’s. It can’t be all about burying the silver in the woods!
Joanne
Not to get too far ahead of the story, but the family legend is that Eli Davidson walked his horse down the steps of Cherry Hill to the basement during the War Between the States so that the Yankees would not see it and confiscate it. Eli was the oldest son of Joseph Cornelius and Vitula Monroe (Sandridge) Davidson, and Joseph was the first Davidson to own Cherry Hill (the family had lived in Cumberland Co., VA earlier). Also, the house next-door to Cherry Hill is called Iron Rock, and the Davidsons also owned that. Both Joseph and his son Eli served in the Confederate Army (a record shows that Eli “guarded prisoners,” and his father Joseph joined the Army at Gold Hill). My great-grandfather was Thomas Archer Davidson “I” (married Ada Wilson Lee), and Thomas was Eli’s younger brother. By the way, Joseph Cornelius Davidson is buried in the famous Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA, but his wife Vitula (who died much later) is buried in the front yard of Cherry Hill. The last time that I looked, her broken/detached tombstone was laying under a big tree in the yard. Vitula’s exact grave location is listed in Volume IV (as I recall) of those books on burials in Buckingham Co., VA. A Davidson baby is also buried in the front yard (a stillborn child, as I recall, of one of Eli’s sons).
Bill, Many thanks for this detailed addition to today’s post. There will be a Cherry Hill followup on Thursday. Joanne