"I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids--and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me."
- Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man"
Bushfield Estate
Photo of the Bushfield Plantation, 1937 from the Archives of MVLA. The manor house was totally different in design from George Washington’s Mount Vernon Palladian-style mansion. Bushfield...
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Paintings of John A. and Hannah Washington from the archives MLVA.
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This is a rendition drawing of Venus. Venus was born enslaved on the Bushfield Plantation. She was the personal maid of Hannah Washington and served in the manor house along with her parents...
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_0.thumbnail.jpg "West Ford, 21 years of age")
This is a pencil sketched drawing of a young West Ford (artist unknown). West Ford was born abt. 1784-1787, on the Bushfield Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His mother, Venus,...
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This is the entry signage to the modern day Bushfield Estate which is now a private residence 2022. (Photo credit Angela Allen Henry for WFL).
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This is the road leading up to the Bushfield Manor, now a private residence 2022. (Photo credit Angela Allen Henry for WFL).
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This is a photo of the present day manor house, a private residence, at the Bushfield Estate, the birthplace of West Ford 2022. (Photo credit Mark Hollis for WFL).
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This is a photo of the backyard of the Bushfield Manor house 2022. This is the scenic river view that West Ford and his family would have experienced. (Photo credit Angela Allen Henry...
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Scenic backyard view from the Bushfield Manor House 2022. (Photo credit Angela Allen Henry for WFL).
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This is a photo of a visit to the Bushfield Estate 2022. From left to right West Ford descendants and sisters: Linda Allen Hollis, Joy Allen Stone, and Angela Allen Henry. Bushfield is...
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Family members: Mark Hollis, Joy Allen Stone, Homer Henry and Linda Allen Hollis at Bushfield 2022. (Photo credit Angela Allen Henry for WFL).
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This is a photo of West Ford descendant Angela Allen Henry at the Bushfield Estate 2022. (Photo credit Homer Henry for West Ford Legacy.com)
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This is a photo of West Ford descendants: Linda Allen Hollis, Joy Allen Stone, and Angela Allen Henry. The sisters were visiting Bushfield in June of 2022. The private owners of the...
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This is a two-page list of slaves owned by John Augustine, the master of Venus. The document is dated March 1783. Venus was a housemaid on the Bushfield Plantation and her mother, Jenny,...
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Venus and her mother (Jenny) names appear below. MLV put in the writing next to the names. Data from the MVLA.
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This is a photo of the present day Bushfield cemetery 2022. There are believed to be 13 graves there. It is not known where the enslaved were buried. (Photo credit Mark Hollis for West Ford...
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