The JXN Project considers a gentleman named Abraham Peyton Skipwith as "The Founding Father of Jackson Ward". He was a mixed-race Black man who was enslaved by Jaquelin Ambler and Rebecca Lewis Burwell as early as 1767 in the Williamsburg, Virginia area – both of whom were directly connected to Thomas Jefferson as the former served in his Council of State and the latter was his first love at the College of William and Mary.

In 1782, Skipwith was sold to an explorer named Thomas Bentley, who is said to have helped expand the Revolutionary War into Illinois, and as an enslaved laborer, worked as a clerk in his store. In 1785, he filed a legislative petition for his freedom, which demonstrated his direct connection to the more traditionally recognized forefathers, such as Benjamin Harrison V who served a witness for his petition – who beyond being a signer of the Declaration of Independence was the father of the 9th President and great grandfather of the 23rd President of the United States of America.

In 1789, Skipwith purchased his own manumission from two local merchants in 1789 and soon thereafter relocated to the Richmond, Virginia area. He purchased parcels of land on the northern edge of the City of Richmond for 15 pounds and 5 shillings – building a three-story gambrel-roofed cottage known as the Skipwith-Roper Cottage, which is one of the city's oldest documented dwellings.

In 1797, Skipwith became one of the first known Black Richmonders and|or Virginians, with a fully executed will, where he bequeathed property and possessions to family members, to include his wife, Cloe, and granddaughter, Maria – both whom he manumitted in circa 1794. The will includes items, such as a gun, gold, silver, furniture, china, clothing, livestock, horse and buggy, and guineas to fund the manumission and education of his descendants. His descendants, known as the Skipwith-Ropers, would emerge as prominent entrepreneurs and elected officials in that same northern edge of the city – which would become a gerrymandered political district called Jackson Ward during the Reconstruction Era.

In 1905, the cottage was sold by Skipwith’s last known descendant, Marietta Roper, to Abram Coleman, whose family was forcibly condemned from the property by way of eminent domain by the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike Authority in 1954 – or better known as Interstate 95. In 1957, the cottage was sold by the authority for $25 and soon after, was dislocated for private use in a nearby county – where a renovated version of the cottage continues to sit today on the former tobacco plantation of the Secretary of War for the Confederate Army.

Unfortunately, despite being moved in the name of historic preservation, during its relocation, as well as a recent renovation, most of the cottage's original fabric wasn't preserved. Considering, JXN reconstructed the cottage for interpretative purposes in the heart of Jackson Ward, which served as an opportunity to re-erect the structure with greater historical, architectural, cultural, and geographical accuracy – ultimately reestablishing it as a national historic landmark that honors the life, lineage, and legacy of Abraham Peyton Skipwith.

Jackson Ward is often celebrated during its height as the “Harlem of the South” and “Black Wall Street”. Yet, while its a community steeped in culture and rich in history – it’s a history whose multiple layers have yet to be unearthed as very little extant research focuses on the ward’s origins dating back to William Byrd’s lottery in circa 1768 for the land that would become the gerrymandered political district in circa 1871. This research includes the even lesser-known story of Abraham Peyton Skipwith who became the ward’s first known Black homeowner in circa 1793, as well as one of the first, if not the first Black Richmonders and|or Virginians with a fully executed will in circa 1797. 

As a result of JXN’s partnership with the Richmond-Times Dispatch and Michael Paul Williams, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, JXN uncovered a more holistic and honest history of the house and subsequent highway, also known as the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike, that caused the condemnation of the property, which essentially divested its Black homeowners as the cottage transitioned to private ownership on the former plantation of the Secretary of War of the Confederate Army in a nearby county – and shepherded generations of Black families into nearby public housing facilities. 

JXN is proud to announce “The Skipwith-Roper Homecoming” as an effort to reconstruct an environmentally sustainable recreation of the Skipwith-Roper Cottage as a historic site with the same historical significance and standing as Monticello and|or Mount Vernon – becoming a premiere destination to understanding the Black American experience as its said that 1 in 4 Black Americans can retrace their roots to the Richmond region. This particular initiative in partnership with community partners like the Maggie Walker Community Land Trust presents a unique opportunity not only because of the rarity with being able to leverage one of the city's oldest documented dwellings to interpret the life, lineage, and legacy of a Black American from the eighteenth century, but its also rooted in leveraging research to uncover monuments that have been overlooked while lying in plain sight for centuries.

Since that initial introduction, The JXN Project and Library of Virginia began its partnership with a summer lecture series to share the findings of our collaborative research and "House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History" serves as a capstone to share the untold story of Abraham Peyton Skipwith through the lens of the house he built, also known as the Skipwith–Roper Cottage, and its fate as the Richmond–Petersburg Turnpike devastated the community.

The exhibition will be on display at the Library of Virginia from July 17, 2025 through February 28, 2026 – and will then pivot to its permanent home at the Skipwith-Roper Cottage as part of “The Skipwith-Roper Homecoming.” Skipwith-RoperHomecoming” will celebrate the grand opening of The JXN Haus and Skipwith-Roper Cottage from April 17 to 19, 2026, which will feature a transferred version of “House to Highway: Reclaiming a Community History” in partnership with the Library of Virginia.

On Friday, April 17, 2026 from 6pm to 8pm, JXN will partner with Historic St. John’s Church to deliver a keynote address on “Declarations of Independence: The Story of a Black Founding Father” as part of The Walter W. Craigie Speaker Series at St.John’s Church located at 2401 East Broad Street — the church where Virginia Governor Patrick Henry famously declared “Give me liberty or give me death”. Limited tickets are $25 and available at https://www.historicstjohnschurch.org/events/dr-sesha-joi-moon.

One Saturday, April 18, 2026 from 6pm to 10pm, JXN will partner with Monticello and Chef Manny to host “Feast of Reason: An Ode to Black Culinary Arts” in tribute to the colonial culinary contributions of the Hemings Family at Monticello — whose descendants resided in Jackson Ward. The dinner will feature sounds by the Sam Reed Band and Dr. Naima Burrs Orchestra. Tickets are sold out.

On Sunday, April 19, 2026 from 1pm to 5pm, JXN will partner with Richmond Night Market to host the “JXN Open House and Black Ribbon Cutting” at The JXN Haus and Skipwith-Roper Cottage located at 303 E. Bates Street. The open house will feature sounds by DJ Rayvon and several Black-owned food trucks and vendors — and activations by The Well Collective and Memory Lab at the Richmond Public Library. Tickets are first come, first served with a capacity of 500 attendees and ride share is encouraged. Tickets are free and available at https://theskipwithroperhomecoming.eventbrite.com./.