Battle of Yorktown

4. Custom House

Yorktown, VA

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Captain Daniel Taylor was first assigned Lot 43 now occupied by the Custom House. The terms of the agreement indicated that Taylor should erect a structure on the property within the first year. He failed to complete his end of the agreement, and forfeited the property as a result. George Burton acquired the property in 1706 for 160 pounds of tobacco. The lot was willed next to Christopher Haynes and his wife, the daughter of George Burton. The British created a Customs Collector position in Yorktown to tax goods arriving in the colonies. Richard Ambler was appointed to the position for the Port of York River. On January 11, 1720, he paid 30 pounds for Lots 42 and 43 on the corner of Read and Main streets. Sometime after that he built the Custom House. Richard and his wife Elizabeth lived in a wooden building that adjoined the Custom House. They had nine children, but only their sons John, Edward and Jaquelin outlived their father. Richard Ambler died in 1766. John died of tuberculosis, or consumption, the hereditary weakness of his family, the same year his father died. His brother Edward took John's seat on the House of Burgesses and relocated to Jamestown, but he also died an early death, passing away at the age of 35. Jaquelin, the last remaining brother, continued running the Custom House in Yorktown after Edward died. When the Revolutionary War began, Custom Agent Jaquelin Ambler feared for his family's safety. He moved his family inland, and soon after he left, troops took over the Custom House. Before his departure, the estate was described by the Virginia Gazette as "a very commodious house with four rooms above and four below, as well as a brick warehouse." There was also a kitchen, stable, wash house and a necessary house, and a well cultivated garden. They used the home as barracks and completely destroyed all of his outbuildings, as well as his fences and gardens, and damaged the house to the point where it was "out of his power to make it a comfortable residence for his family." In 1778, he sold the property as it was to Thomas Wyld for 1,000 pounds. Wyld repaired the damages and operated an Ordinary in the home and storehouse until the arrival of the British in 1781. The Custom House was used as a barracks by the British during the Revolutionary War, and the French used it as winter quarters after the British surrendered. The new nation's economy suffered after the Revolution, and the currency depreciated, which left Wyld unable to pay for the property. Ambler filed a court suit and regained his property in 1783. Alexander Macaulay purchased the lot and buildings from Ambler in 1797. Macauley died in 1859. In 1862 the Custom House was used by General J.B. Magruder as his headquarters during the Civil War. During this time, the wooden residence that adjoined the Custom House was destroyed by fire. Civil War photographer Matthew Brady photographed the ruins of the home and the Custom House in 1865. In 1882, the Custom House was auctioned off to Dr. Daniel McNorton for $980. Dr. McNorton, an African-American, was trained in New York as a physician. Dr. McNorton treated African-American clients residing in nearby Slab town and had his office in the Custom House. Dr. McNorton was one of the first African-Americans elected to the Virginia State Senate. The building was used as a general store, and then a bank during the time Dr. McNorton owned it. After the bank closed, a barber shop conducted business on the second floor. In 1917, the Custom House was once again pressed into wartime service as a home for military personnel. From there the building housed itinerant workers and their families who were working in Yorktown on construction jobs. Mrs. Emma Leake Chenoweth moved to Yorktown in 1919. She was an early member of DAR and started a chapter in Yorktown. At the age of 61, Mrs. Chenoweth founded the Comte de Grasse Chapter on February 2, 1922. She then set out to purchase the Custom House. In 1922, Mrs. Adele M. Blow, a descendent of Thomas Nelson, Jr. and a Comte de Grasse charter member, purchased the property from Dr. McNorton's heirs for $10,000. On April 24, 1924, the DAR purchased the property from Mrs. Blow for $6,000. The Custom House was in a very dilapidated condition and in 1929, Mrs. Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans of Hot Springs, Virginia, became a member of the chapter and personally financed a renovation project. Architect Duncan Lee of Richmond and Contractor E.C. Wilkinson were hired to oversee the project, and work on the Custom House began June 1, 1929. The dedication ceremony was held on November 15, 1930. The renovation included replicas of the original dependencies, a walled garden, and structure restoration. The Custom House has been open to the public on Sundays and holidays since 1930. In 1972, the U.S. Customs Service designated the Custom House at Yorktown as one of twelve Historic Custom Houses in the United States. In 1999, the Custom House was listed in the Virginia Landmark Register, and is included in the National Register of Historic Places.