The Rambler was the pen name of J. Harry Shannon who wrote for the old Evening Star. He visited the Seat Pleasant area in 1917. I found this information online through the Fairfax Va library. In his article he said that Seat Pleasant was the name of a mansion owned by a Thomas Harper and then passed to the Berry family. There were other owners whose names were illegible, apparently, in the microfilm. Jackson is one of the names. He was the one who sold it to David Rollins. The mansion was located at the junction of Central Avenue and Addison Road. At any rate, the mansion burned in 1880 and David Rollins rebuilt it, and sold it to a Mrs. Drowns. There was a murder there. The house burned again in 1895 and was not rebuilt. The Rambler article was published on 2/18/1917 in the Star.
--Previous Message--
: Family lore has it that my
: great-grandparents--Pinkney and Hester
: Rollins--lived in a home which was named
: "Seat Pleasant" (allegedly, the
: origin of the city's name). The home is
: believed to have burned down in the 1890s or
: early 1900s. I'm looking for information on
: this home, and on the origin of the name
: "Rollins Avenue".
: