WARSAW—Preservation Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula (PNNMP) members and guests on June 27 hosted Rosewell Foundation Inc. executive director Katrina White Brown at St. John’s Church.
In a dramatic presentation, Brown portrayed Polley, a Mann Page II slave. Speaking in the first person, Polley greeted imaginary guests at the door of Rosewell sometime in the mid-1700s and, as they waited for Mrs. Page to receive them, she shared her thoughts with the audience. House servant Will had overheard conversations that led the enslaved community to believe some might be sold due to the poor tobacco harvest for two years.
The audience learned that Polley sewed gowns for her mistress, traveled to Williamsburg with her and had “jumped the broom” with cook Frank. She thought of Rosewell as home and the staff as family and lamented the possibility of leaving it and of having her real family separated, reported vice president Marsha Sitnik.
