About Us

Hors Du Monde was orginally purchased in 1773 by Henry Skipwith and Anne Skipwith (formerly

Anne Wayles and sister of Martha Jefferson). Henry Skipwith first started producing

tobacco on Hors Du Monde in 1774 and was one of the largest tobacco growers in the

piedmont of Virginia. The farm remained in the Skipwith family until the early 1820’s.

The farm was split and sold various times between the 1820’s and 1914, when Anson

and Lottie Brown bought the main farm and started raising their family with their two

daughters Elizabeth and Allie. Mr. Brown only resided on the farm for a few short years

before succumbing to the flu of 1919. Ms. Lottie Brown continued to farm Hors Du

Monde with her children by raising corn, tobacco, turkeys, chickens, and a couple of

milk cows. Elizebeth Brown passed away in her early 20’s and Allie married Conduff

Mathews. Allie and Conduff married and had one daughter, Phyllis. Conduff and Allie

remained on the farm where they helped Lottie work the land and cut pulp wood.

Phyllis would meet Gary Groneweg at a hamburger shop outside Fort Lee in Petersburg

where he was stationed for quartermaster training during the Vietnam war  before

being shipped into the conflict. They would marry upon his return stateside and

eventually also reside on Hors Du Mond. Gary and Phyllis would have one daughter

Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth would go on to become a veterinarian in her local community in

Cumberland County and marry Robert Hazlegrove. Robert and Elizabeth have two

daughters LottieMae and Lydia and currently live on Hors Du Monde. The farm now

consists of Registered Polled Hereford cattle and Registered Boer Goats. There is still

a small amount of tobacco being raised on the farm along with hay and corn for feed.