Heather Hembrey, M.A., M.A.A.

This month, artiFACTS features shards of a windowpane from the main house at Sully Historic Site. The thick, aqua-tinted shards mend to reveal the name, “…l Hodgson”. Someone in the early 19th century used a very sharp tool to etch her or his name into the glass surface. Who was “…l Hodgson”? A bit of historical detective work may provide the answer.

In 1796, sisters Portia and Cornelia Lee arrived at Sully Plantation to live with relatives Richard and Elizabeth Lee. Portia was 19 years old and Cornelia 16. Their father and guardians had recently died. The young women enjoyed rural life at Sully Plantation, taking frequent trips to Alexandria to visit family and friends. At some point, Portia met William Hodgson, a wealthy Alexandria merchant. They married at Sully on May 2, 1799, resided in Alexandria, and continued to visit relatives at Sully. Between 1799 and 1814, Portia bore eight children, three of whom had the middle name Ludwell. One of the three etched her or his name on a windowpane while visiting Sully.

We don’t know if the engraver was William Ludwell, Cornelia Ludwell, or Sydney Ludwell. William Ludwell Hodgson was born in 1799, Cornelia Ludwell Hodgson in 1802, and Sydney Ludwell Hodgson in 1805. One or all of them may have stayed in Sully’s North Bedroom. This room is often known as Cornelia Lee’s because a windowpane etched with “C Lee 1813” was found there. Cornelia Lee, the Hodgson children’s cousin, was ten years old at that time.

1890, 18-year-old Addie May Shear engraved her name on the same windowpane that Cornelia Lee had signed in 1813. Addie’s parents Conrad and Ann Eliza Shear had purchased the Sully property in 1874. Addie married Cassius W.  Lawrence at Sully in 1893 and moved to Herndon, Virginia, leaving her name, as Cornelia Lee and …l Hodgson had done, etched in a windowpane to document her presence at Sully.