Buckingham Houses: Rosny, 1959, Part III
Courtesy Forrest Guthrie Family and Mary Carolyn Mitton.
Need to catch up? Click here: Buckingham Houses: Rosny, 1959, Part I
In 1959, Charlottesville’s Daily Progress published “Historic ‘Rosny’ Built as Result of Family Spat” written by Mrs. R. J. Wojnicki, who concluded her article with more recent history of this impressive dwelling house:
During a severe windstorm in 1948, “Rosny” was struck by a falling oak, and one of the upstairs rooms was badly damaged. Within the walls of this room were found papers and letters from Gen. Lafayette, dated in the early 1700s (sic). At the same time copies were found of editions of the Virginia Gazette, dated 1804, and one of the Virginia Argus of 1806. These historical papers are now in the possession of the owner, Mrs. John W. Stone.1
How do papers like these get buried in walls?
In 1959, Rosny was the residence of Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Maki. Mrs. Maki was Mary Eliza Guthrie, sister of the owner, Zanie (Guthrie) Stone. At that time, Forrest Guthrie III operated a dairy on the property, owned jointly with Mrs. Charles W. Stone. Mr. and Mrs. Forest Guthrie III and their family resided in another house on the Rosney estate.
Forest Guthrie III died in 2011. According to his obituary, he was born on May 19, 1924 and served during World War II as an officer in the US Army Air Corps, piloting sixty rescue flights over the Himalayans and ferrying supplies into war-torn China. He operated the dairy farm at Rosny for twenty years, later working in banking and real estate. A recovering alcoholic, Guthre taught farming technics and led AA meetings at the nearby prison. Click here to read his obituary at Legacy.com: Forrest Guthrie III.
1This should read 1800s. The Marquis de Lafayette lived 1757-1834.
For more about the Guthrie Family:
slate river ramblings . . . . 
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