Older Section of Berry Hill, 1930s. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

The extensive Hairston family saga of plantation history began during the frontier days as a British Colony. They traveled across the Atlantic in the early 1700s, breaking the link from their Scottish roots to try their luck in the New World. In line with the Perkins and Wilson families, they became prominent planters and merchants in Virginia and North Carolina. Over forty plantations were held by the extensive Hairston family throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 

The early patriarch Robert Hairston (born circa 1717) married Miss Ruth Stovall and established Marrowbone Plantation near the river of the same name in Henry County, Virginia. Years later, in 1776, their son George Hairston Sr. (born 1750) established a plantation in the northern part of the county called Beaver Creek. The early courthouse and other public buildings were constructed on the land donated from his holdings. The original home burned and was replaced with a grand manor house in 1837. George’s brother, Peter Hairston (1752-1832) established a plantation in 1786 down in Stokes County, N.C. called Sauratown Hill. He also operated several other plantations, including Royal Oak in Pittsylvania County, and in 1817 he purchased Cooleemee Hill in Davie County, N.C. Both Peter and George married into the family of an early settler named Nicholas Perkins (born 1718).

Following the curve of the mighty Dan River into Pittsylvania County, Nicholas Perkins established a plantation before the American Revolution that grew very large over time. He willed the property to his son Peter Perkins who married Miss Agnes Wilson (born around 1742). Her brother John Wilson established Dan’s Hill, another well-documented plantation. According to local legend, the Perkins home served as a hospital for wounded soldiers during the Revolutionary War as well as a burial ground for the deceased. In turn, the home was called Bury Hill which later changed to its modern name of Berry Hill. Around 1810 the Berry Hill property passed to Agnes’s nephew Maj. Peter Wilson of Dan’s Hill–another well documented plantation. He married Miss Ruth Stovall Hairston, a daughter of Sauratown Peter. Maj. Wilson managed several other nearby plantations including Brierfield and Goose Pond. Following his death in 1814, Ruth remarried several years later to her cousin Robert Hairston (born 1783) who owned Leatherwood Plantation in Henry County. He lived at Berry Hill until he moved his family and operations down to Lowndes County, Mississippi in 1837.

Near Berry Hill, Robert’s brother Samuel Pannill Hairston (born 1788) established Oak Hill Plantation around 1825. He was a son of George Hairston Sr. and former Miss Elizabeth Perkins of Beaver Creek. His wife, Miss Agnes John Peter Wilson (of Berry Hill) was also a cousin through her grandfather Sauratown Peter Hairston. The Federal brick home stood strong until 1988 when a fire left it as a shell of its former self.

Oak Hill, 1930s, Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Samuel P. Hairston’s brother, George “Old Rusty” Hairston Jr. established a plantation in 1836 called Hordsville. His daughter named Louisa Hardyman Hairston married Peter Wilson Watkins. His plantations “Shawnee” and “Camp Branch” then joined with the Hairston family. Another daughter named Susan Maria Hairston married William Martin, a grandson of Gen. Joseph L. Martin (founder of Martinsville). Their home “Magna Vista” was close by to Marrowbone and is now the site of a high school. A nephew of the Oak Hill and Hordsville Hairstons named Samuel Harden Hairston established Chatmoss Plantation east of Martinsville in the 1850s. He married his first cousin Alicey Hairston, a daughter of Samuel P. Hairston. 

Lastly, for this brief overview, Windsor Plantation was established close to Berry Hill during the Civil War for Samuel Pannill Wilson. His father Robert Wilson lived at Dan’s Hill. Samuel married Miss Ruth Stovall Hairston of Oak Hill. A handful of her cousins also bore the same name.

The extent of the Hairston family influence is an endless rabbit hole of research. However, this condensed list should help create a timeline and orient oneself historically. Some of the homes still stand as a testament to Virginia’s roots while others only exist in the light shed on its memory.