Glebe House
In 1739, Daniel Jennings, Sr. bought 397 acres of land “2 miles from the Falls of the Potomac” River in what is now Arlington County. A dwelling house and adjacent buildings were included. Seven years later, he purchased an additional 195 acres adjoining his land.
In the 1770s, the Fairfax Parish of the Church of England, the established church of Virginia, built Christ Church in Alexandria City and purchased the property of Daniel Jennings, Jr. (inherited from his father) for its rectory and rebuilt the house and accompanying structures. It was called Glebe House. Nestled along 17th Street North, a version of the Glebe House stands today.
Several parish ministers lived at Glebe House from 1775-1808 including Reverends Townshend Dade (1775-1778), David Griffith (1779-1789), Thomas Davis (1792-1806), William Gibson (1807-1811), and William Meade (1811-1813). The Glebe House burned down in 1808, and in 1815 the church vestry sold the property into private hands. A handful of owners from the District of Columbia rebuilt the manor house and farmed the estate including Walter Jones (1815-1829), U.S. District Attorney for the District of Columbia; John Mason (1816-18), the son of founding father George Mason; John Peter Van Ness (1829-1847), Mayor of the District; and John Brown (1847-1869). The octagon shaped Glebe House that stands today was built in the 1850s by John Brown.
From 1740-1847, the Glebe House property teemed with enslaved people – growing tobacco, corn, and grains; tending livestock; and maintaining home and hearth. The Fairfax Parish refrained from enslaving people but allowed its clergy to do so. Reverends Dade and Griffith used enslaved workers to cultivate the Glebe lands and earn additional income. Tax and census records are missing for the period in which Reverends Thomas, Gibson, and Meade lived at the Glebe, so their relationship to enslavement is unknown.
Van Ness was the last owner of the Glebe House to enslave others. His workers operated a labor-intensive silk farming enterprise on the site.
Names of the Glebe House Enslavers and the People They Enslaved
Daniel Jennings, Sr.: Jack, Brister, Harry, Dick, Jaff, Abraham, Patt, Jane, Moll, Doer, Tim, Ann, Phillis, Sarah, Pegg, Bob, Will, George, Mahomet, Nan, and Frank. They were given to Daniel’s three adult children who lived throughout the region, separating loved ones and friends.
Walter Jones: Billy, John, Sophia, Sally, Hannah, John W. Robinson, and 16 more whose names are unknown.
John Mason: 23 enslaved people whose names are unknown.
John Peter Van Ness: Julius, George, Simon, Sally, Bett, and at least 2 other enslaved people whose names are unknown.
Stories
Bett
Bett, short for Betty, was enslaved by David Burns, the patriarch of a prominent and wealthy family from Washington, DC. When his socialite daughter, Marcia, married John Peter Van Ness, Bett moved with Marcia to the Van Ness household.
The Van Nesses’ home became an important social center for the “cultured and educated” in the District. Marcia and Peter hosted important political figures such as President Monroe, General Jackson, and Daniel Webster. Bett would have made this possible by helping to clean their residence and prepare elegant dinner parties.
When the Van Nesses bought Glebe House in 1829, Bett likely joined them in their summer getaways and winter hunting parties, cooking, cleaning and ministering to their needs. Marcia died in 1832, but Bett remained with Peter until his own passing in 1846. In his probate inventory, Bett is listed: “Betty-quite old no value.” According to biographer Allen C. Clark, the inventory disclosed that “all the chattels, including those at the General’s farm, the Glebe in Alexandria County, Virginia and livestock there were sold at auction.” This may have been Bett’s fate.