Jefferson Tidbits: The Nevils at Bonaire
Visiting Bonaire, 2011. Photo by Luella Coleman.
Need to catch up? Click here: Anna Scott Jefferson
Randolph Jefferson’s daughter, Anna Scott “Nancy” Nevil, had four children: James Lilburne, Louisa, Lafayette, and Jefferson Madison. From 1810 until the mid-1820s, she and her husband Zachariah, lived at his home plantation in Nelson County, Virginia: Locust Grove (a.k.a. Mount Lebanon).
After Nancy’s death, Zachariah purchased the James River plantation, Bonaire, in 1827. Built in the 1790s by George Cabell, the house may have been designed by Thomas Jefferson. If not, its tri-part design certainly reflected his architectural preferences.
Zachariah Nevil did not live long to enjoy his new home, dying unexpectedly in 1830. As a result, Randolph Jefferson’s grand-children inherited two significant plantations.
Learn more about the Nevils of Nelson County in my newest book: Peter Field Jefferson: Dark Prince of Scottsville & Lost Jeffersons.
Coming Next: Lafayette Nevil
slate river ramblings . . . . 
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