(Excerpted from the original, which can be found at Buck’s Store Museum in Bena. Paul Brown dedicated this work to the memory of his parents, Alton and Lela Brown.)

In the spring of 1808, my friend and I take a ride to Guinea in a horse and buggy.

Names have changed since that early 19th century buggy ride. Let’s use the 1990 names and locations. Let’s start at Bill Smith’s Corner and proceed east. We must be careful, as the road is narrow, full of ruts and very muddy after a spring rain.

We pass a large plantation. The fertile soil seems to burst forth the shoots of new plants. The cattle are now in the pasture after their morning milking, and the sheep are busy grazing. Everyone seems to be busy on this spring morning. We chat as we bump along in our buggy. What a well-run plantation. Everything is in order, even the wash seems to be placed there in precision.

As we come to a fork in the road (known to late 1990 arrivals as Bena) we pass on by and see a beautiful stand of pine trees. We comment on how straight and large the trees are and what good looking timber it is. We ride slowly to give the horse a breather, for Maude is not a young horse any more. We pass a little church. I tell my friend that this is Union Baptist Church of which I am a member. This is a new church, just formed in this area a few years back.

We look to the left behind the little church and see a beautiful plantation. Every inch of land seems to be in use. This is the Thornton Plantation—so well run. It is known far and near for its good crops, even its sale of eggs, geese, cattle and fowl. 1990 will find many of the Thornton descendants still living on part of this plantation. To the right of us across from the church is the Hansford Rowe farm, beautiful and well run. My friend said that the farm ahead belonged to the Ransones. He knew the family and wanted to ask one of the field hands if the family were home; but I suggest we move on, for we want to get a good look at all of Guinea.

For the people of 1990, we must remember the beautiful plantation we first saw was later part of the Joel Hayes plantation and his large store across the road.

The thriving stores at Bena, Mr. Edgar Pointer, Mrs. Clarence Rowe Sr. and Bena Post Office, are many years in the future—so is the First Morning Star Baptist Church. Bethlehem Methodist Church, just east of Bena on Marked Pine Road, is a little over 10 years old.

Let’s remember as we take our buggy ride in 1808 that Thomas Jefferson is President of the United States and our country is very young, not even 50 years old. John Tyler Sr. is governor of Virginia.

Let’s pause at Achilles. Remember, no school, no lodges, no post office, no Otis Hogge’s or Marvin Crane’s Store, no George Ash’s Store, old or new, not even the name Achilles. In fact, there was nothing there, only the fertile soil. In fact the road from Achilles to Perrin is not even there. This came later. The Severn Wharf road didn’t come into existence until 1860. Membership was small at Union Baptist Church. The cemetery was deeded by Joel M. Rowe to the white citizens of Gloucester in 1880.

Shall we move on? Old Maude has rested. The farm on the left belongs to Livingston Rowe, quite a large farm; and on the right a young man by the name of William King is struggling to get his little farm started. His children will come later on. Remember Bob, Jack, Walter and Georgiana?

As we nudge Maude along, we see the Dobson property, many acres of good farm land. We pause to make a turn on the Line Fence Road but decide to move straight ahead in order to see more of Guinea. The Dobson tract seems to stretch for miles. As far in the future as the year 1920, you can see that from the Joel and Milly Thomas porch to Jim Ash’s store at Perrin is all cleared land.

To the left is good cleared land; a stand of corn is being worked by someone. I don’t know who owns this farm. The farmer seems to know how to raise a good crop. (To you of the future, this land will be owned by Button Thomas, Joel Thomas and his son, Joel H. Thomas.)

The Smith farm comes into view, a well-kept house and farm. Sam and Washington, the children, are still in the future. The Dobsons’ Salem Woods on the right still stretch on.

The Friends church, the cemetery on the left and Lafayette (Fate) Rowe, the one who donated the land for the church, have many years to go before they make their mark in life. In fact, Fate’s father, Sterling Rowe, is just a child of two here in 1808.

We seem to talk in riddles here for only our God can predict the future. We are looking back, choosing a date and looking forward.

We are told when the turn of the nineteenth century came, the people pronounced 1800 as eighteen hundred, but 1801 was pronounced “eighteen‘ought’one” and all the way to 1809 was pronounced with “ought” as the third digit. So 1808 was “eighteen‘ought’eight.” This was used as late as 1901 to 1909.

We pass on from the land of the future Friends Church and come upon the plantation of Anthony Smith, all 230 acres. This well-kept farm stretches from the road to the Severn River. There is much activity. We pause to give Maude a rest while I look to see if Mr. Smith is around, for I have a keen interest in him and his family. For in the future, he is to have a daughter, Martha Jane, by his second wife, Sarah, who will eventually be Great-Grandmother to many.

Washington Thomas is soon to be Anthony Smith’s neighbor. He will in the future inherit from his father, James Thomas, 98 acres. Look out, Martha Jane Smith, there is a dashing young man in the future for you. Washington Thomas will produce a young man that will make you stand up and take notice.

As we look east, we see the King farm, new, large and well kept.

We turn to the right here and head down the road, but wait! This corner is to play an important role in the future. It will produce two stores and a post office, the Hames M. Thomas and Brothers Store; and just across the street and near the marsh, is a store owned by Sheriff William “Billy” Thomas with Severn Post Office housed in the store. We in 1992 call this place Hammond Robins’ corner. Near this same corner, Ralph Rowe will build a house and raise his family, but this is to come later, for Ralph is only four years old in 1808.

We can see more of the James Thomas plantation as we move south, all 550 acres that was bought in 1788 from Robert Thurston and his wife, Frances. Richard Haywood and his wife, Sarah, were once owners of part of this beautiful plantation. They bought it in 1754. Neighbors of James Thomas in 1808 are Thomas Rowe, Richard March, George Belvin, Aaron Belvin, Anthony Smith and Beverley Hall. This plantation of James Thomas will be divided and sold many times by 1990, but to clear our 20th-century minds, this plantation stretches from the Severn River to Brown’s Bay and through the Frank Hogge property. This will take in Severn Post Office and store, the Thomas cemetery, the John Thomas property, Bunny Hunter, George, Jim, Robert and Finny Thomas’s land. All of the Brown’s Bay Road and the road adjacent to it.

Let us pass on down the road and pass the future Severn School, my alma mater, and head on to lower Guinea. The land is low and somewhat marshy, we see a few small houses here and there, a cow tied to a stake, and a man plowing his garden.

As we move on and come to a turn in the road, we can see the beginning of the Warner Hogg plantation that will become very prosperous in just a few years.

To you in the 1990s, you will see Maryus Post Office, Murtie’s Corner, and a couple of stores. The Baptist Chapel will rise and be gone by the nineties. The people of this area are fishermen and farmers in 1808 and will be in 1992, although many of the younger generation will take jobs at the Weapons Station, Fort Eustis, Cheatham Annex and other places of employment. The fish that were so plentiful in 1808 and for many years thereafter will be almost nonexistent as a business by 1990.

As we move on around the circle, we see Jenkins Necks to the left just across the Beaver Dam Marsh. The Bonnywell farm covers many acres. Well-kept homes dot the area; this is a prosperous community. The future will bring at least three cemeteries and many beautiful homes. Familiar names like West, Jenkins, Haywood, and Bonniville will cover that area.

As we pass the Beaver Dam, we see the property of Lewis Hogge, who will in the future produce many fine offspring.

To the left, we see the Perrin Farm, hundreds of acres, it runs from Jenkins Neck to Bethlehem Church, owned by John Perrin. The farm will in the future be sold and divided in homesteads, yielding private homes of beauty and worth. Mr. Perrin’s summer home still stands, but I guess that is a little later than the turn of the 19th century.

We must head back, but first my friend and I will stop under a shade tree and have a bite to eat. We can let Maude graze while we open our dinner buckets of biscuits, fat back and a bottle of molasses. I am thirsty; we must look for a pump somewhere. As we finish our meal and move on, my friend said, “So, this is Guinea. I like what I see.” My comment is, “So do I.” It is not thickly settled now; but some day in the future, it will be. We are a proud people, proud of Guinea and proud to be Guineamen.

I take my friend up the road to his home and then go to my home in Guinea.