- April 2002 Homes Tour*
*(Taken from the Gazette-Virginian article with permission but edited to exclude all but historical data.)
|
By JERRY BENNETT
Brooklyn, the 14-room mansion that was for over a century the home of the Barksdale family, was and still is one of the loveliest of all the River Road houses. 
Brooklyn's oldest part, at the back, was built prior to 1800. Beverly Barksdale II built the front portion in 1853. and his son Beverly III enlarged it in 1886.
Generations of Barksdales were born at Brooklyn, married there, lived their entire lives within its walls, died in one of the chambers,had their funerals preached in the front hall and then buried in the cemetery back of the mansion. Just after the Civil War, General George Armstrong Custer was in Halifax County and camped at Brooklyn. A sick union soldier was left in the care of the Barksdales at Brooklyn and he died and was buried there. The Barksdales wrote to his family in the north and the family came to transfer his remains to his native soil. For years after the war a relic in the Brooklyn parlor was a cannon ball. Several generations of children used it as a toy, rolling it about the floor, occasionally it even rolled into the fire. In the mid-1950's a cautious modern day soldier saw it and said, it should be tested. When experts came and threw it into a nearby field, it exploded, creating a terrible commotion. Of course the pieces then became relics in a jar. |
| The Halifax County Historical Society Flora Osborne, President Phone: 434-575-5059 |
Return to Historical Homes
Site compliments of Halifax WebWorX. April 5, 2002 |