Bassett Hall 370
The house now known as “Bassett Hall” was built between 1753-1766 by Col. Philip Johnson; his wife was Elizabeth Bray, granddaughter of Nicholas Meriwether II. It was given the name "Bassett Hall" by subsequent owner Burwell Bassett, Martha Washington's nephew. In the late 1920s, it was acquired by Abby Aldrich and John D. Rockefeller and they lived there during the restoration of Williamsburg. In 1979, it was bequeathed to Colonial Williamsburg, complete with furnishings.

Revolutionary War Service (DAR)

Philip Johnson was a member of the first James City County Committee of Safety. He died in 1788.

JOHNSON, PHILIP Ancestor #: A063569
Service: VIRGINIA Rank(s): PATRIOTIC SERVICE
Birth: CIRCA 1728 KING & QUEEN CO VIRGINIA
Death: 3-15-1788 JAMES CITY CO VIRGINIA
Service Description: 1) MEM OF COMM OF SAFETY,JAMES CITY CO

Philip Johnson of James City County was a Col. in the Revolutionary War. Wulfeck (p. 839) states he married Elizabeth Bray, “heiress of James”, and died in 1788. James Bray was the grandfather of Elizabeth (Bray) Johnson. 371

Elizabeth Bray married Col. Phillip Johnson, of King and Queen county, afterwards of Vauxhall, York county. She died in 1765 and left issue. 222

She is proven by the entry in the will of Nicholas Meriwether II “my Grand Daughter Elizabeth Bray… two Negro Boys by name Tom… and Tom… to be delivered her at her marriage…. October 1743 I have delivered those two to Mr. Philip Johnson her husband.” 331

Elizabeth is not mentioned in the will of her grandfather James Bray, signed 18 Nov 1725, indicating she was born sometime after that date.

Full article can be read at: Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library: Archaeological Excavations, Bassett Hall

In the seventeenth century, prior to the founding of Williamsburg, the area encompassing Bassett Hall was part of a 290-acre tract of land purchased by James Bray in 1671. At the time of Bray's purchase, the tract was part of a small inland community known as Middle Plantation that had been established in 1632/33. After Bray's death in 1691, his wife and children inherited the property (Stephenson 1963:2-4). Several years later, in 1699, the colony's capital was moved from Jamestown to Middle Plantation, and the area was renamed Williamsburg. As part of the establishment of Williamsburg, a portion of the Bray estate was annexed for the new capital. In the first half of the eighteenth-century, the remaining portion of the Bray estate descended through several generations of male Bray heirs, until Elizabeth Bray Johnson inherited the estate from her father, Thomas Bray II in 1751 (Stephenson 1963:17). Recent archaeological investigations of the Bassett Hall dwelling house suggest that the original portion of the house may have been constructed during Thomas Bray II's ownership of the property (Kostro 2002:42). Elizabeth Bray Johnson died in 1765, and the estate was then held in trust for the benefit of her children, although her husband, Philip Johnson, was entitled to a life right of her property. After his wife's death, Johnson evidently did not live in the house, and instead rented it out to tenants. Johnson died in 1789, at which time the property was probably placed up for sale (Stephenson 1959:412).

NHM claims she married a Meriwether cousin.

In 1769, John wrote a document disposing of land, in which he mentioned his wife and children: "And whereas the said Elizabeth, the wife of the said Philip Johnson, departed this life some time in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, leaving, by the said Philip, seven children, to wit, James Bray, William, Elizabeth, Thomas, Rebecca, Martha, and Anne Johnson…"