Old Avent Home, Greensville Co., VA

 

 

Here is a picture of an old Avent home, in Greensville Co., VA, near Emporia, VA, courtesy of kinsman Roy Avants. Here's what he says about it: 

 

"A few years back we visited my daughter in Richmond VA. We had a short time to look around Emporia. We were told about the home from an individual in the Library. We were not able to make contact with the owner, but we were told that plans were in process to make repairs to the house. From the looks of it some one will have a big job in ahead of them. A descendant still owns the home and property." 

 

The webmaster came across some information about this house in the book "Sketches of Greensville Co., VA", by Douglas S. Brown (1968): 

 

It was built circa 1840 and was called "Oaklands" or "Dry Bread Plantation". In 1868 it was purchased by Tamlin Avent (Tamlin Avent -> Samuel  Avent -> William Avent -> John Avent -> Col. Thomas Avent) who lived there until his death in 1875. It was willed to his grandson William Turner Lundy, and it has remained in the Lundy family ever since. On a recent visit to the site, the webmaster found that the house (located on a dirt road called 'Lundy Lane' in Greensville County, on Dry Bread Rd. about five miles west of the town of Emporia) has, since the below picture was taken, collapsed completely and is now, sadly, in ruins. In 1968 it was described by Douglas S. Brown as follows: 

 

"This is a very pretty house located in a spacious grove of large oaks. The house is a large square two story frame with a one story porch and has a five foot foundation of bricks. There are two large brick chimneys, one on the side and one at the back. The two rooms in the basement are used for a dining room and kitchen. The entrance of double five-paneled  pine doors, opens into the hall, where the plain one flight staircase is one string with square banisters and newel with a round hand rail. the mantels are plain, five feet high and painted mahogany. Shop made nails, wooden pins and pegs are used throughout the house."

 

 

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In the 1930's an inventory was done of all the old homes and homesites in the Emporia, VA, area, and there were two that were Avent-related. One of these was for a Tom Avent and the other for a William Avent, and both were supposedly from the early/middle 18th century. It is hard to say which Tom or William Avent lived there, but the Tom was almost certainly not Col. Thomas, since these sites are SW of Emporia and most of the land he purchased was around Otterdam Swamp, which is NE of Emporia. The webmaster recently visited these sites, and while there is not much there now to see, many landmarks that show up on early Avent deeds (Fountain Creek, Cattail Creek, etc.) are nearby. Near the William Avent homesite is a creek called Massie's Branch, and we know that Col. Thomas's son William married Sarah Massie (another son Peter married Sarah's sister Amy), so that might be a clue. Directly south of these sites, no more than 5-10 miles away, is the likely site of Col. Thomas' property on the Roanoke River, in Northampton Co., NC, which was inherited by son William Avent.