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William Byrd III
Charles City County - Westover Plantation: At the time of the Revolution this was the home of William Byrd III. Byrd inherited a large fortune which he turned into a very small fortune, through his lavish lifestyle and addiction to gambling. On July 6, 1774, Byrd made his will, disposing of an estate that “thro’ my own folly and inattention to accounts the carelessness of some entrusted with the management thereof and the villainy of others, is still greatly encumbered with debts which embitters every moment of my life.”
Byrd deplored the “frantic patriotism”
sweeping Virginia and urged moderation and continued loyalty to the king. On
July 30, 1775, he wrote offering his service to the king. In November 1775,
however, he changed his mind after Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of
Virginia, offered freedom to slaves who ran away and joined the fight against
the Virginia revolutionaries.
This was too much for Byrd, who now sought
appointment as colonel of the 3rd Virginia Regiment. This came to
nothing, as did his attempt to persuade the Continental Congress to appoint him
as a Major General. In early January 1777, the embittered Byrd killed himself
at Westover.
During
Benedict Arnold’s 1781 raid on Richmond, the British made Westover their base
of operations for a week. William Byrd’s widow, Mary Willing Byrd, was a cousin
of Benedict Arnold’s wife, Peggy Shippen.
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