Article in the Sep 14, 1994 edition of the Clarkesville (VA) Courier:
Where We Are Now

What is now Grafton School began as a part of Audley Farm. Audley was George
Washington's home place in Clarke County, and was passed down to Martha
Washington's family.

In 1905, Mr. G.A. Bowen, of Cincinnati, Ohio, bought one of the Audley
tracts from Mr. Carter Lewis, a Washington descendant, and built this house
(then called Brentwood) between 1905-1908.

Mr. Bowen originally bought 45 acres and later added several other tracts of
the Audley land until the property consisted of 206 acres.

In 1919 the property was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Aubrey Harwell, who changed
the name to Questover. They had spent many years looking for the right house
and now felt their "quest was over". The Harwells came from New York City.

The house was sold again in 1930 to Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Crockett from
Columbus, Ohio, and in 1946 to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Sturm from Long
Island, New York, who never lived in the house. In 1955 Mrs. Sturm sold
fourteen acres and Questover to Dr. William Porter, who used the building as
a veterinary office. During this time horses entered by the front door and
were operated on in the formal dining room. Dr. Porter sold the house in
1962 after bringing several lawsuits against his neighbors (and even a
low-flying pilot).

Questover was bought and renovated by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Nelson who came from
California. Mrs. Nelson used the basement as a kennel for over 100 Bassett
hounds. It was during her tenancy that the famous shooting occurred in the
front reception room and the house was auctioned off and repurchased.

Grafton School bought Questover July 3, 1967. The addition, finished in
December 1967, was built on the back for use as classroom and dormitory
space. In September 1974, five duplex motel units were erected adjacent to
the house for additional dormitories.
. . . .
The part about the 100 Bassett hounds intrigues me - can you imagine the
response when someone rang the doorbell?? Maybe that happened one time too
many, which explains the shooting in the front room ....

Also, Aubrey and Kathleen (Lewis) Harwell [my great uncle/aunt] loved the
property, but upon her death in 1825, Aubrey could no longer bear to live
there, and moved to Birmingham, Alabama, near to where he was born. Upon his
death in 1942, his body was shipped to Berryville, VA, for burial at Green
Hill Cemetery, next to his wife.

As stated, Aubrey's wife Kathleen was a Lewis, and family tradition holds
that her Lewis's were somehow related to Meriwether Lewis's family. My own
research traces her confirmed lineage back to Exum Lewis (c1732
VA/Nansemond - 1790 NC/Edgecombe) and Elizabeth Figures. Exum Lewis was a
Colonel in the NC militia during the RW.

Does anyone know of a relationship between these Lewises, and members of the
family of Meriwether Lewis?

Thanx!
Michael Flanagan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Edward James Redmond" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 3:17 PM
Subject: Re: George Washington and Lawrence Lewis


Ms. Kercheval Bennett:

>From the Papers of George Washington:
<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html>


[Thursday December 15 1785]

Thursday 15th. Thermometer at 40 in the Morng. 45 at Noon and [   ] at
Night.

Moderate & clear all the fore part of the day with the Wind at So. East, but
not fresh. In the Afternoon it began to lower--at Dusk turned very cloudy
and in the Night set in to a constant rain.

Mr. Shaw went up to Alexandria, after dinner, to a Ball I presume. And in
the Evening Joseph Winzor & Willm. Kirchwall 2 of my tenants from Frederick
came in & stayed all Night.

TENANTS FROM FREDERICK: GW had bought two lots totaling about 570 acres at
George Mercer's 1774 sale of a 6,500-acre tract in Frederick County. The
land, now in Clarke County, was on the Shenandoah River near the present
town of Berryville. Late in 1784 Joseph Winzor of Maryland bargained with
Edward Snickers, who was acting as GW's agent in the matter, for a 14-year
lease on 172 acres of the land. Although GW preferred a shorter lease, he
honored Snickers's agreement with Winzor for a lease commencing 1 Jan. 1785
and ending 31 Dec. 1798, at a rent of £17 4s. per year. William Kirchwall's
(Kercheval) lease for 172 acres was for 13 years, commencing 1 Jan. 1786 and
ending 31 Dec. 1798 at a rental of £17 6s. per year. Both men had their rent
increased slightly after the 1789 resurvey, when their farms were discovered
to total 1741/2 acres each (CHAPPELEAR [3], 33--36; GW to Battaile Muse, 28
July 1785, DLC:GW; GW's rental accounts, 1788--90 and 1791, ViMtV).

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