Smithfield Plantation, as it is called near where I live, is not the same as Smithfield in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Our Smithfield, a landmark seen from the business bypass of 460 W, rests on a knoll and you can see it every time you drive by. Some of the surrounding land became one of the United States’s land grant universities, Virginia Tech. William and Susanna Preston moved there in 1774 with seven of their children; five more were born at Smithfield. The plantation essentially formed part of the western frontier at the time.
© 2014 C. Bertelsen
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 