The Tutwilers
The Tutwilers were an instrumental family in the Seven Islands community. After serving in the War of 1812, Martin Tutwiler (1793-1864) came to Fluvanna County from Harrisonburg in Rockingham County, Virginia (1). He was the eldest surviving child of Henry Tutwiler (1768-1841) and Margaret Lushbaugh (1772-1835). Henry Sr. was born in Pennsylvania, where the Martin's grandfather, Leonhart Duttweiler (1739-1804) had originally settled after immigrating to America from Switzerland with his father, Heinrich Duttwiler (1707-after 1753) in 1753. Leonhart moved to Rockingham County sometime before 1773 and had the family surname, Duttweiler, changed to Tutwiler in order to blend in with their community.
Martin's brother, Henry Jr. (1807-1884), was a classmate of famous writer, Edgar Allen Poe at the University of Virginia. Martin married Thomas Shores' youngest daughter Mariah, in October, 1817. In the beginning of their marriage, the couple probably lived with Mariah's parents, Thomas and Susannah Shores, at their Seven Islands homeplace. Using the dowry received from his marriage to Mariah, and other savings, Martin soon was able to purchase Virgins Mill from Mariah's father and within ten years was able to purchase Melrose (the current home of Bob and Ellen Miyagawa), the house that in 1817 was the highest valued in the county (1).
In addition to owning Virgins Mill, Martin also owned a general store and had hundreds of acres of farmland. As it turned out Martin became much wealthier than his father-in-law Thomas Shores had been. By the time he died in 1864 he owned 35 slaves and his entire estate was valued at close to $35,000 (1).
Martin sent all eight of his children off to college. His son Eli attended Washington College in Lexington (later Washington & Lee) and managed the experimental farm at the then small land-grant college in Blacksburg, Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech). Martin's son Wesley owned a boatyard in Scottsville, and his son Thomas was the Commonwealth attorney of Fluvanna County for twenty years (1). His youngest son, Marion L. Tutwiler, attended a local military academy and was a member of the Fluvanna Artillery during the Civil War.
Thomas Shores' Will stated that his homeplace and several slaves would pass to his wife Elizabeth until her death and then would revert to his youngest daughter, Mariah. Elizabeth died in 1853 and Mariah assumed ownership of her father's estate shortly afterwards. In 1860, with his children grown, Martin sold the large and spacious Melrose and moved with Mariah to her recently inherited property. After Martin's death in 1864, Mariah continued to run Virgins Mill. The end of the War Between the States brought many hardships and an aging Mariah rented her interests in the Mill to her son Martin Fletcher (1828-1899) in 1866. Mariah lived in her father's home until her death in 1873. Virgin's Mill and 70 surrounding acres were willed to Mariah's youngest son, Marion Lewis Tutwiler (1842-1904).
As owner of the mill and surrounding land M.L. (as he was known) continued to operate the grist mill until it burned in the early morning hours of March 9, 1895 - supposedly from the sparks of a passing train. A newspaper account from the Richmond Times Dispatch stated that M.L. lost much in the fire: animals, feed, tools, and in fact badly burned his feet trying to save things. Unfortunately, M.L. had no means to provide for insurance on his grandfather's old mill. The fire was a total loss; of the mill that had survived floods and Union soldiers, only the rough stone foundation remained.
M.L. married Carrie Thomas (1854-1926) in February 1880 at her parents, Smith B. Thomas (1808-1889) and Jane Thomas's (1822-1899) home in Central Plains (20 minute walk from Seven Islands). Marion and Carrie had three children: T. Stanford (1887 - 1931), Lewis (1881-1936), and Leona (1885 - 1954).
