James Steptoe built Federal Hill prior to 1800. Mr. Steptoe was the clerk of Bedford County for 54 years. James Steptoe was born in 1750, and educated at the College of William and Mary, where he began his lifelong friendship with Thomas Jefferson. In 1815, General Andrew Jackson was en route to Washington after the battle of New Orleans. General Jackson stopped at Poplar Forest to Visit with Jefferson. Jackson and Jefferson had dinner with Steptoe at Federal Hill that evening.
Timothy Robinson's parents moved into Federal Hill when he was in his early teens. He often wandered next door to the abandoned home of Thomas Jefferson, Poplar Forest. Living in this historic setting gave Timothy an appreciation of the past and the inspiration to preserve Virginia's rich architectural history.
Often, Timothy would ride his horse to Poplar Forest and sit amongst the trees and grounds to envision the life and times of the men and women who lived there. Years later, Timothy returned to Polar Forest to witness its restoration. He was pleased to see the home saved but saddened to see the large tract of land it sat on sold off. Developers have built homes within a few hundred feet of Poplar Forest taking away the sense of serenity and quiet that Jefferson must have enjoyed. Mr. Robinson responded to this development with this comment, "To me the grounds and the land these homes sit on are just as important as the homes themselves ".
All of these influences helped develop an interest to protect and restore other key historic locations around Virginia. Recently after years of negotiating, Mr. Robinson and a business partner embarked on one of the largest challenges of his career. For more information, please visit our web site at www.jamescity.org.
Loring
Dean, Timothy's maternal great-grandfather, built the cabin at left around
1910 near Charleston, West Virginia in an area called Loudon Heights.
To transport the logs, Loring would build large log rafts near the edge
of the Kanawha River in late fall. The following spring rain would flood
the banks and he could float the rafts down the river to Charleston. Once
the raft was secured, mules dragged the logs up the steep mountains to
the customer's house site. Many of the log cabins Loring built are still
standing today and have been restored by their owners.
Box 72-A