Burwell Armistead, Sr.

Burwell was the enslaved coachman and gardener at Sherwood Forest prior to 1855. [1] When Julia and John Tyler retired to Sherwood Forest in 1845, Burwell created the graveled circle and pathway that carriages used to enter the property and reach the main house. [2]

A person named Burwell appears on the 1813 Inventory of President Tyler’s father, Judge John Tyler. It is possible that this Burwell could be the same person who was enslaved at Sherwood Forest between 1845 and 1865.

A Freedmen’s Bureau record indicates that Burwell’s last name was Armistead (also spelled Armstead). His former enslaver was John Tyler, and his former residence was Charles City County. His age is recorded as 80. Beside Burwell’s name is a woman named Mary (also written as Maria in other Freedmen’s Bureau records) Armistead, age 65, who might be the same Maria enslaved at Sherwood Forest. [3] She was likely Burwell’s wife, and a marriage record for Burwell Armistead, Jr. supports this further: Burwell, Jr. lists his parents as Burwell and Maria Armistead in 1872 in Charles City County. [4]

[1] Julia Gardiner Tyler to Margaret Gardiner Beeckman, 12 Nov. 1855, Transcripts of Tyler Family Papers, Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation, Charles City County, Virginia.

[2] Tazewell Tyler to Julia Gardiner Tyler, 2 Sep. 1845, Box 7, Folder 3, Tyler Family Papers, Group A, Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library, College of William & Mary.

[3] Virginia Freedmen’s Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872, “Census Returns for Colored Population of Princess Anne County,” retrieved from FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DZR9-ZQ6?from=lynx1UIV7&i=25.

[4] Entry for Burwell Armistead and Louisa Ann Bowman, Genealogical Databases: Charles City County Marriage Database, Richard M. Bowman Center for Local History, Charles City County, Virginia.