Buckingham County Houses: Ivy Hill, Part I
Sketch by Margaret Pennington. Courtesy Historic Buckingham.
Ivy Hill, once the home of Col. Walter Lloyd Fontaine, who was a volunteer in the war of 1812, has special significance for me. My ancestor, Talton B. Woodson, a brick mason, contributed to the construction of the house. Payment receipts for his work survive at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
Woodson lived in Albemarle County and agreed to the job on December 23, 1842, writing:
I hereby agree to make, burn, and lay for Walter L. Fontaine in the spring of 1843 the brick he may want about a building he intends to erect, I am to find all & do all I am to receive for the brick when laid nine dollars pr. thousand, I am to furnish good and an abundant quantity of mortar for laying the brick I am to give said Fontaine twenty five cents for the soil for each thousand of said brick, he is to pay me for the work when done one half of the amount, the other half he is to pay me 25th December 1843 witness our hands & seals date above.
T. B. Woodson
W. L. Fontaine
It is currently unknown how Col. Fontaine became aware of Woodson’s reputation as a brick mason. It seems exceptional that Fontaine would hire a man from Albemarle County to work on his house.
Coming next: Buckingham County Houses: Ivy Hill, Part II
slate river ramblings . . . . 
Judy,
Many thanks for your comment. I have found Tarlton/Talton B. Woodson’s name recorded both ways, but prefer Talton. His son, my ancestor, was John Talton Lewis Woodson, with no “r.” You are correct about T. B. Woodson’s death by drowning and the Agee-Agee marriage.
You’ve inspired me to post information about T. B. Woodson’s death as a followup.
How are you connected to the Agee family?
Joanne
Interesting post. I’ve always wondered about the given name Talton because it is written with an “r” in so many records as Tarlton. I’m curious to know which is correct, particularly because it is passed on, and on! My interest is in the son, Talton/Tarlton Woodson Jr., who married into our Agee family, to Mary Elizabeth, daughter of John Agee (b. 1785). As I understand it,Talton Jr. tragically drowned in the James river in 1846. Mary Elizabeth Agee Woodson then married a cousin, Thomas Meredith Agee, who helped raise her son by Woodson.