Clifton

Clifton is a Virginia historical marker in Cumberland County, dedicated 2017.

Rte. 690, 100 feet east of intersection with Rte. 605

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Clifton, one mile northeast of here, was the home of Carter Henry Harrison (ca. 1736-1793). The Georgian-style plantation house was built in the mid-18th century. Harrison, a member of the Cumberland County Committee of Safety, wrote the Cumberland Resolutions, which instructed the county's representatives to declare for independence at the Virginia Convention in May 1776. Adopted on 22 April, these were among the earliest such instructions approved by a public body in Virginia. Harrison furnished supplies to American forces during the Revolution. More than 125 enslaved African Americans labored on his property in the 1780s. Harrison is buried in the family cemetery at Clifton.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

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Princeton University Library

Historical maps covering this location

1733 · A map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish settlements adjacent… (Princeton University Library)
1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1781 · MARCH of the ARMY under Lieut:t General EARL CORNWALLIS in VIRGINIA, from the JUNCTION at… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1862 · Seat of war in Virginia (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of Clifton, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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Clifton

Historical maps covering this location

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