Tusculum Plantation

TUSCULUM PLANTATION
Warren County, North Carolina

Located at:
Arcola, Warren County
Built 1830

Tusculum Plantation was owned by Samuel Thomas Alston (1806-1860)and his wife Ruina Temporance Williams (1814-1897) of Warren County, North Carolina. They were married on September 1, 1831, and a few years earlier, in 1825, the ruins of an ancient city had been discovered near Rome, Italy, situated on the edge of an ancient volcano. The city was called Tusculum, which at one time, had been a place favored by wealth Romans and had ben populated with many large villas. No doubt, Samuel had been influenced by the discovery when it came to naming his own plantation, as had several other landowners throughout the South at that time.

Samuel Thomas Alston was the son of Samuel Alston (1770-1807) and Elizabeth Faulcon (1775-1848); Samuel Alston was the youngest son of Philip Alston (1706-1784) and Winifred Whitmel (1729-1795); Philip Alston was the son of John Alston (ca 1670-1758) and Mary Clark (?)(ca 1700).

Philip & Winifred Whitmel- Alston were also the parents of:
1) William Alston (1747-1795) married: Martha Hardy
2) Philip Alston Jr. (b. 1749-died young)
3) Mary Alston (b. 1751- died young)
4) Elizabeth Alston (b. 1753-bef 1818) married: Col. Joseph John Williams
5) Thomas Whitmel Alston (1755-1809) married: Lucy Faulcon
6) Martha Alston (b. 1757)
7) Henry Guston Alston (b. 1760)
8) Philip Guston Alston (1762-1820) married: Mary Williams Harris
9) Winifred Alston (1764-1809) married 1st: Henry Hill 2nd: Joseph Cocke

Of the above children, William Alston was the grandfather of Valeria Virginia Kearney, whose husband, Robert Edgar Williams, owned Myrtle Lawn Plantation. Philip Guston Alston was the father of George Washington Alston who owned Cherry Hill Plantation.

Ruina Temporance Williams was the daughter of Robert Webb Williams (1792-1822) and Hartwell Hodges Davis (1793-1868) the owners of Vine Hill Plantation in Franklin County. Robert W. Williams was the son of William Williams (1760-1838) and Elizabeth Kinchen Kearney (1769-1863). William Williams was the son of Solomon Williams (ca 1723-1794) and Temporance Boddie (d. May 11, 1784). Solomon Williams was the son of Samuel Williams (ca 1695-1753) and Elizabeth Alston (ca 1700-aft 1792). Ruina's brother, was Robert Edgar Williams, owner of Myrtle Lawn Plantation. Ruina's aunt, Marina P. Williams, was married to George Washington Alston and was the owner of Cherry Hill Plantation.

See Will of Samuel T. Alston which includes List of Slaves