Ellerslie, located just half a mile from Bacon’s Castle, has a colorful history. It was recently purchased by Madelin and Logan Worrall, proprietors of Riverbound Farms, a Suffolk-based cut-flower business that supplies local florists, shops, and farmers markets. The Worralls plan to expand their flower farming to Ellerslie.
The Ellerslie tract was split off from land originally belonging to Bacon’s Castle, a large plantation and site of the oldest remaining brick house in North America, in the late 18th century. By the mid-1820s, the property was owned by planter Thomas Simpson. In 1824, Simpson married Sally Wallace, granddaughter of Allen Cocke, a member of the Virginia Convention of 1776 and owner of Bacon’s Castle during the Revolution.
Around the time of Thomas and Sally Simpson’s marriage, they commissioned a large, stylish house built on their 500-acre plantation. Thomas Simpson described it as being a wooden house “built of the best materials, two stories high, four rooms on each floor, with a large passage running through the centre, all well painted, with an excellent dry cellar underneath.” They named it Ellerslie, a nod to Sally’s maiden name and Scottish roots (Ellerslie was the name of medieval Scottish leader William Wallace’s home).
Despite its rural location, Ellerslie lay in a surprisingly busy neighborhood. Next door at Bacon’s Castle lived Sally’s aunt and uncle, Ann and Richard Cocke. The Cockes operated a stagecoach line carrying travelers and mail between Norfolk and Surry, ensuring a steady flow of goods and information to the area. Sally’s cousin Martha also lived within a few miles, along with her wealthy planter husband, John Peter, and their three children. Coming from two well-established Surry families, Thomas and Sally Simpson had countless other relatives and friends in the county as well. The Simpsons’ manor house was built to display wealth and comfort, and it’s likely they put it to good use.
Ellerslie was a well-equipped plantation, outfitted with “every necessary out-house,” including a smokehouse, kitchen, barns, and quarters for the seventy enslaved people who labored for the Simpsons’ prosperity. Although Ellerslie had no gristmill of its own, enslaved servants like Davy or Lucy could walk to one owned by the Cockes, where they could hear the latest local news from Miller Joe, the elderly enslaved man who worked there. Mills like the one near the Bacon’s Castle-Ellerslie property line were important community hubs in the nineteenth century, especially for enslaved people with family on other plantations. This meant that Ellerslie was near the heart of daily life for many Surry residents, and was likely a local landmark, much like Bacon’s Castle.
The Simpsons (and those they enslaved) farmed at Ellerslie for a decade. But during those ten years, Thomas Simpson managed to get into considerable debt. In January 1834, Thomas listed Ellerslie for sale, along with all his farm equipment, and planned to move himself, Sally, and their two children out of Virginia altogether. Where they intended to go remains uncertain; Thomas died in November of that year, Ellerslie still unsold. Thomas’ will directed that nearly everything he owned would need to be auctioned to pay his “great debts.” Thomas did, however, request that six enslaved people remain with Sally: Jacob Wallace, Davy, Lucy, Nancy and her daughter Betsy, and Iris. Whether the other sixty-four people the Simpsons had enslaved were sold remains unknown.
The death of Sally’s husband came soon after the loss of another family member: her cousin Martha Cocke Peter. Martha’s widower, John Peter, needed a mother for his two surviving daughters, and Sally Simpson was in dire financial straits. Peter purchased Ellerslie and shortly afterwards he and Sally were married. The two raised their combined four children together. Sally Simpson Peter was able to stay at the house Thomas built for her until her death in 1853, when Ellerslie descended to their son.
Today, Ellerslie has been abandoned for decades, its yard and outbuildings periodically maintained by its last owner, who grew up in the house as the son of tenant farmers. But Ellerslie is no stranger to a comeback story. Preservation Virginia staff visited the site in spring 2024 to bring awareness to its historical significance, and again in January 2025 to meet its new owners, the Worralls. Although the Simpson family home needs work (like any old house) it stands as a testament to the power of community and the things that are possible with good neighbors. And it seems fitting that two hundred years on, Ellerslie will again be adding color and life to the Surry County community.
Keep an eye out for our new neighbors at farmers markets in the Hampton Roads area! For more information about Riverbound Farms, visit their website at riverboundflowers.com.