Rippon Lodge, the Home of Colonel Thomas Blackburn

Description

Watercolor on paper of "Rippon Lodge, the Home of Colonel Thomas Blackburn", July 1796, from the Latrobe Sketchbooks, by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. This view shows the larger fenced in yard, Rippon Lodge at center, and other tobacco plantation buildings at right and in the foreground. In the distance is Neabsco Creek flowing into the Potomac River. Rippon Lodge, built around 1747 by Richard Blackburn (1705-1757), was inherited by his son Colonel Thomas Blackburn (1742-1807). Blackburn served as Justice of the Peace and a Representative in Virginia's House of Burgesses, representing Prince William County. He was later a member of the Virginia Convention in 1775 and Aide-de-camp to General George Washington. Blackburn's military career ended in 1777 when he was wounded at the Battle of Germantown. He is buried in the family cemetery at Rippon Lodge.