(From Dee Ann's 'A Tabulated Genealogy of the Shenandoah Valley Family of Robert Mackay Sr.', p. 12-17.)

In Virginia Robert Mackay Sr. had two principle homes, which today no longer exist. Robert Mackay, the elder, and all of his children except Robert Junior, settled on the South River Shenandoah. His first or "Old Home Place" was located at McKay's Ford (now known as McCoy's), about opposite present Limeton, in Warren County, which was willed to his son James. Four Valiant Years 1861-1865 by Laura Virginia Hale, has a picture of this location on page 145. Hunter Branson McKay wrote an account of his visiting this area in 1952:

"When going to the Ford from the Fork or north side of the River, we drove out from Front Royal on Highway No. 619 crossing the River on the bridge at the N & W RR station, and along by Bennets Chapel to Highway No 622, McCoys Road, which leads down to the Ford of same name. The Downing estate is located on both sides of this road, and we visited three of the river bottom farms, now rented, I believe, by Mr. Burke. Mrs. Burke and several of her very attractive children of a family of 15 were at the farm which lay immediately at the Ford, and she directed me to the old cemetery which lies north of and between the road to the Ford and the farmhouse; she considered this to be an "old slave cemetery" because there were no markers, but I am more inclined to believe this was the McKay Family Cemetery. Mrs. Burke stated that she thought there was an abandoned graveyard on the bluff back of the house, but did not know where it was. She told me that Mr. Burke was down on the lower farm, and after directing me to this place, said that Mr. Burke could tell me more about such matters than she could.

Accordingly we drove to this lower farm, that is the third down the river from the Capt. Simpson house at the Ford, by way of the secondary roads NOs. 622 & 623 to the end of the latter at the river bottom, and along its extension, now a private road, for a mile of which has recently burned, leaving only the brick chimney now standing.

We found Mr. Burke repairing his tractor, which he said was now used exclusively instead of horses--I do not believe he had any horses on the farms. In fact the total absence of horses in evidence on the farms throughout Warren and Clarke was one of the outstanding changes to be observed since the time I was there as a boy. In discussing the history of the Ford, and the possible location of the McKay house, with Mr. Burke, he directed me to the site of an old house which formerly stood in the SW corner of the bend in McCoys Road just before it enters the bottom land to the Ford. We examined this spot carefully, and the found remains of a house, now overgrown with trees which I would estimate to be about 50 to 75 years old, and an old rose bush, and the fallen bricks of a chimney or fireplace, now moss covered. Mr. Burke said there was an abandoned well at this site, but I could not observe it. The house foundation area was about 20 X 30 ft. I would roughly estimate, and the house appeared to have been made of wood. I brought one of the brick fragments back with me as a memento, which I hope to have examined to determine, if possible, its age. The absence of any springs or running water around this site, is rather disconcerting in considering it as a possible exact location of Robert McKay's settlement. Possibly the land was better watered then than now, and Mr. Burke said there was evidence of a former spring near this site.

We took several photos of these sites, and returned to Riverton by way of the Old Bethel Church in the Fork, the graveyard of which I found to be in an advanced state of decay, and if I saw the correct site, more limited in the number of graves than I had expected."

To Front Royal (on U.S. 340 North) Map of approximate possible location of Robert Mackay Sr.'s 'Old Home Place' (marked with 'x' circled) The region is now occupied by two private neighbourhood communities which did not exist during the time of Hunter Branson McKay's visit to the area in 1952. They are as follows: Thunderbird Farms which is located at the end of both McCoys Ford Road and Downing Road Poca Bella Farms which is located at the end of Lee Burke Rd.

The fragment of brick taken from the site of the old house at McCoys Ford, was enclosed in a wooden box (which is now in my possession), and the lid of the box labelled as follows:

Some fifteen or twenty years later, and just shortly before his death in 1752, his last house that he had built, there was an account of its construction in the Fairfax Land Suit, it was called "Hay Bottom Plantation". The farm was located farther up the River at a point about opposite present Overall or former Milford, and just about on the border line of Warren and Page Counties. He willed this home to his youngest son Moses Mackay Sr. This land remained in the possession of the sons and grandchildren of Moses McKay, until about 1832, when they sold it to Isaac Overall Sr., and eventually found its way into the possession of members of the Burners, Yates and Keyser families. The deed records of Shenandoah and Page Counties definitely place this land in the bend of the River opposite Overall, partly in Warren but mainly in Page, what Robert called "Hay Bottom" is known now as "Burners Bottom" on modern maps. The farm was then known as "The Promised Land." Hunter Branson McKay in 1952 has an account of his visit to this location.

"It is not difficult to reach the general area of this place, as it is located across the River and slightly south or up the stream from the village of Overall which sits on the Eastside Highway about ten or fifteen minutes drove from Riverton. But to get across the River is another proposition. In the early days I would suppose it was considered just as accessible as many other locations in the County or Counties, for James Leith's Ford was located at or near the mouth of Overall Run which would lead to the lower part of the Bottom and there is ford (easily negotiated by horseback, carriage or by foot) about a mile farther up the River directly opposite the present John Robert Yates' and former Israel B. Burner's "Promised Land", and which I have ever reason to believe was the site of McKays "Haybottom Plantation". But a car is no good here, and there is no road out on the Bottom side of the River--at least at the present time, so Mr. Yates told me.

We stopped at the road sign marked "Overall", formerly "Milford" (the change in name being occasioned we were told later by Mr. Rinker by another place in Virginia, and an older one, having the same name), and looking around we saw that the village consisted of three houses--two of which are located on Overall Run and nearly under the Norfolk & Western trestle, and one of these is the store and post office, and since the latter is on the south side of the Run, should be in Page County. So we pulled off the Highway and drew up in front of it, I being low on Prince Albert tobacco, it made a good excuse for inquiring as to how I might get over to the "Promised Land".

Mr. Rinker, the Postmaster and Storekeeper, told me he had lived about 35 years in that place, and that he came from the Fort Valley between Seven Fountains and Edith P.O., and as I had all my records with me, including the Page & Shenandoah Atlas, we were both pleased to be able to locate his father's on the map. So he told me what he knew of the history of that vicinity: pointed out to me the former Dr. Compton house just a few feet across the road from the store, and the former Triplett house on the bluff across the Highway from the store, now a tourist home and very popular country dining room run by Mrs. Clarence Fristoe; and he also told me how to get over to Mr. Yates'--to go up the Highway to the top of the hill and turn to the right at Carvell Road which would lead down to the River and then to hollow across and that Mr. Yates in all probability would come across in a boat and take me over. Very simple as I look back upon it for that is exactly the way to do it. But the first try we misinterpreted the instructions, turning into a road which we thought was the top, but which turned out to be the entrance to Mr. Charley Jones' summer place, and he being at home at the time, we had a little chat with him during the course of which he said he was an official in the government in Washington-- Housing or Home Loan, as I now recall it--and that although he had lived there in the summer for several years he was not familiar with the country across the River which was hilly at this point and below the Bottom area, but told me to go down the road to Mrs. Fristoe's who was well acquainted with the country and to make inquiry there. He also mentioned that he was well acquainted with Mr. & Mrs. Gruver, the former now deceased and who was formerly the Headmaster or resident of the now abandoned Eastern College at Front Royal, where the Hotel Royal now operates in one of the buildings. He said that Mr. Gruver had been very successful in real estate operations in Washington and that his death was accidental. I related if he was any relation of the Mr. Charley Jones who was related to the Earle family and lived near Milldale when I was a boy, but he said that he was not.

Upon going down to Mrs. Fristoe's and finding her at home, found that she was a niece of the late Mr. Billy Compton with whom I had lived while attending high school in Front Royal, and therefore a cousin of mine, and that she had referred to the letter which I had written her some time ago to her cousin Miss Effie Compton who lives at Riverton, and whom I had planned to see while here, having made inquiry of Mr. Bennett as to where she lived but didn't have time to--see again repeated Mr. Rinker's directions as to how to get over to the "Promised Land", which she knew quite well.

So this time we went up to the top of the hill, maybe a Mile from the village, and came to a signpost plainly marked "Carvell Road" (I have subsequently checked the Atlas of the Springfield District and see that a family by this name is shown on the map at this point) with the notation that the road ended 9/10th of a mile to the west. This road is very narrow but quite passable to the River bank or ford, as there are several houses located on it, the one at the end of the road and just above the Ford, owned by a Mr. Patterson I was told, was built by my late brother Aubrey. Parking the car along with two or three others drawn up by the side of the road, and which we subsequently learned were fisherman's cars who were living in the Yates' "Promised Land" house for the summer, we walked down the bank to the edge of the River and luckily saw two small boys in a boat on the opposite bank. We made them understand we wanted to get across, and were told to wait a while, which we did. And it seemed like more than a while, but as I learned later it was quite a distance to the house and back, so we were just about ready to leave having turned the car around when we heard them call from the other side that they would come over to get us. The boys were quite good at poling but the boat was none too good and the bottom was partly filled with water, so we did not take any of our records nor the Kodak, which I now regret as I should have had a picture or two of this place: it had been my intention on revisiting the place at a later time. The house lies about a quarter of a mile back from the River on the edge of the bluff and just a little up the stream from the ford. Mrs. Yates and Mr. Yates were both there and most cordial to us.

Mrs. Yates told me that the substantial brick house, the "Promised Land", was built by her grandfather, Israel B. Burner, and that the bricks were burned from clay taken from the River bottom land, and that the two very large boxwood on either side the walk in front of the house were set out by her grandmother, Mrs. Israel B. Burner. In addition to the house, then occupied by the fisherman, above referred to, there were several more or less indifferent farm structures about, but no barn in evidence, and from which I would conclude that one must have been present to justify a house of that size but that it had now either burned or fallen into decay. There is a spring at this point and a house above it. The house does not face the River, but is at right angles to it and from which I would conclude that it faced a road that at one time ran from the bluff to the ford.

Cave near Rileyville. This photo was submitted to me by Sabrina Ricketts.

We discussed the possibility that this could have been the site of the new house built by John Wiley and Joseph White for Robert McKay the Senior shortly before 1752, and came to the conclusion that it very likely was, although today there are no tangible marks to verify this, unless it be a pile of stone that was located at the edge of the front yard and slightly toward the river from the present brick house, and from which Mr. Yates said he could well remember taking a substantial amount and quite large pieces of stone, and he showed me one small piece still remaining. There were several sites that may have been graveyards in this general area, I was told, but the only one having marked stones were the Burner plots, and it is quite probable that the Burners would have selected a new location for their Ground. This pile of stone would indicate some type of structure, either a stone house, a chimney or the foundation of a barn.

Of course the McKay place could have been lower down the River on the present Jesse Keyser place, visible from the Yates' place, but which we did not this time visit, or even up the River where he said his (Mr. Yates') brother or brother-in-law lived, there being two other piles of stone in this bend of the River.

While there I inquired of them if they knew of any place along the River where a spring flowed out of a cave, and they said they thought there was such a place above Rileyville on Goode's Lane (the first road to the right), on a farm now owned by Mr. Olin Staubs, and that this was the only one in that vicinity that fitted such a description, and thought it quite likely could have been the place where Barnaby Eagan could have fancied to keep his milk."