Help save and learn from a forgotten, abandoned, local historic southern Virginia landmark, the Blick Plantation homestead in Smoky Ordinary, Brunswick County, VA. Thought to be long ago collapsed, it was found and we purchased it (back)! I calculated that my children should be the 9th generation there - longer on the land. The family settled in the area in the late 1600s, and when Brunswick County was formed from a larger county (Prince George or Dinwiddie) a plantation was built up and then disassembled/divided over several generations. This home was in the family until it was auctioned in 1919, after my great-great grandfather's death, per his Will. It was lost track of in the mid-1900's. My father Earl Blick, was actively looking for the old family cemetery his entire life. He was last at the homestead when he was 5 years old and assumed it was gone. He is now 76 so last summer we set out to find it - and we did! He had never seen the cemetery where his grandfather and prior generations were buried. Looking online I discovered that an old schoolmate had been to the property and photographed the headstones over a decade ago so I reached out. He sent me an approximate location. I used a very old map and overlayed it with a new one and pinpointed a general area. We drove around and could not find it but found a wooded property for sale. I am a licensed REALTOR so I decided to research the one for sale and when I saw the photograph it had a large old house on it. I immediately knew that was the house because I felt that intense pull, that intuition, and the hair stood up on my arms—years before I had seen a photograph of the home with my ancestors sitting on the front porch. There is an odd spacing in the upper windows and that caught my eye then. I didn't tell my father but with the agent's permission the next day I went to the house! I set out to find the cemetery but did not have any luck. I did find the home though and she is magnificent and in shocking disrepair but the bones were impressive and in good original condition. I could feel that I belonged. I could sense my ancestors. I went straight to the courthouse and verified via deeds and Will's that this is the homeplace and a tiny part of the old Plantation! Once believed to be 1,000 acres now just 10. I told my parents about the discovery so dad and I returned the next day. He has mobility issues and could not walk so I went exploring while he kept guard. Still no luck. Looking at graves online I discovered that an old schoolmate had been to the property and photographed the headstones over a decade ago so I reached out. He sent me an approximate location. The 4th visit was the charm.
I found the ancestral family cemetery behind the family home but not where one would expect it to be! Virginia law gives us eternal access and maintenance rights (with notice to the landowner). The next step was to get my mobility-challenged father to the cemetery. I removed the deck from his beloved riding lawnmower and it worked. The landowner let me clear a path so he was able to visit the cemetery for the first time in his life. God is great! Since the property was for sale, and feeling the pull, I negotiated a contract to buy it! Then it fell apart and we resurrected the contract. We officially purchased the property on my fathers birthday, November 7, 2023. On November 8, 2023, it became a nonprofit! The goal is to make it secure, weatherproof it, clean up, study its construction, and develop a plan to restore it in due time while involving historians. With the encouragement of the Department of Historic Preservation, and Preservation Virginia, we hit the ground rolling. We found out the home qualifies to be placed on the Virginia and National Register of Historic Places. Two of my grandfathers (father/son) fought in the American Revolution War and my great-great-grandfather fought in the Civil War and was a POW from Hatchers Run - he is buried here. His brother, Dr. Joseph Blick is as well. He is also a Civil War veteran. A third brother was "lost at war" in Gettysburg.
I plan to involve the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution along with the Civil War Trust, the local historical society, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and I plan to apply for grants. I need community and public help getting this off of the ground. I plan to honor each donor in some way. Please help us save a piece of American Heritage!
All social media @BlickPlantation
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550050828439&mibextid=LQQJ4d
Thank you - The Blicks
