Dunton addresses Bacon’s Rebellion and the Shore’s role for Northampton DAR

Photo attached:  Andy Dunton, speaking about Bacon’s Rebellion, addresses a question by NSDAR Sargeant at Arms Betsy Mapp.

(Bridgetown, Virginia)  September 27, 2026 – The Northampton County Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) recently hosted Andy Dunton, President of the Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center, as the guest speaker at their September meeting.  Dunton gave an overview of Nathaniel Bacon’s rebellion against Governor Berkeley who escaped to Arlington, the John Custis II estate in Northampton County.  The failed rebellion took place three hundred years ago in 1676.  Dunton informed the Chapter that Arlington, twelve miles south of the county seat of Eastville, informally served as the Virginia Colony’s capitol while the Governor was hosted by Custis.

Dunton peaked the Chapter’s imagination by using artificial intelligence to superimpose an architect’s rendering of Custis’ house into a color image of the site of Arlington.  This would have been the view by Bacon’s men when they tried to attack the estate and capture the Governor, but failed.  Today, the event is remembered with historical interpretive signage and Custis’s tomb at the historic site on Old Plantation Creek.  Artifacts from an archaeological excavation at Arlington, owned by Colonial Williamsburg, are on display at the county museum in the Eastville county administration building.

The NSDAR, founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education for children.  Chapter member activities include civic education with programs like this Constitution Day event.   The Northampton County Chapter has 50 members.  Any woman 18 years or older-regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background-who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution, is eligible for membership.  For more information about NSDAR and membership, visit www.dar.org or email the local Chapter to jbadg@verizon.net.