Augustine Moore (planter)

After sailing to Virginia, Moore initially settled in Isle of Wight County, then bought land to the west in the York River watershed. He gained the nickname "Old Grubb" because he cleared so much land.^[11] Chelsea is near the Mattaponi River in King William County, about six miles upstream from its junction with the Pamunkey River which thus forms the York River at present day West Point. Augustine Moore bought the land from the Graves family in 1705, and by 1709 had erected a weatherboard house with a brick foundation. Between 1723 and 1740 Moore built a Georgian style brick house on the property, which his son and principal heir, Bernard Moore, expanded to fit his large family circa 1755–1760.^[12]

Augustine Moore farmed tobacco at least in part using enslaved labor. He held local offices including on the vestry of the local parish and as an officer of the local militia. He also hired the painter Charles Bridges to paint portraits of his family, which were hung at Chelsea, but most of which are now owned by the Colonial Williamsburg foundation. His descendant, future CSA General Robert E. Lee, often visited his grandmother at Chelsea and spent time in the room where they hung, reportedly saying, “I don't like to leave my ancestors, these old Romans.”^[13]

Moore became a friend of Governor Alexander Spotswood, and family tradition claims that the Knights of the Golden Horseshow were organized at Chelsea, then proceeded across the Mattaponi River to rest the next day at the home of Robert Beverley, before a rendezvous at Germanna in then-vast Orange County.^[14]

Old Grubb Moore died on July 28, 1743, survived by his widow and several children, including Bernard Moore, who inherited Chelsea and named his firstborn son (who eventually represented King William County in the Virginia House of Delegates) after his father. His grandsons Bernard and Alexander Moore fought for independence during the American Revolutionary War, and General Lafayette camped at Chelsea shortly before the Yorktown siege that ended the conflict.^[15]

Moore's descendants sold Chelsea in 1874, and it passed through several hands before being restored and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. The Historic Virginia Land Conservancy has held a conservancy easement on the property since 2012.^[16]