c-span3 and c-span radio. for background on each case or your copy of: cases companion 8.95 but shipping i. next, we toured the governors palace in colonial williamsburg. colonial williamsburg. a historical interpreter brings us through the house and gives us the story of the governor and his family who fled on the eve of the american revolution. hello. i am one of the curators here at colonial williamsburg foundation. our textile these

in needlework exhibition -- right now we are at the governor's palace. it would have been the symbol of power and authority for the british crown and it would have represented power to the columnists of virginia. royal the home of seven governors including alexander foxwood. also the home of our first state governors. and have a very orderly design. it was the third-largest building in town. it consisted not only of the butding we are standing in,

there was a can now, a scullery, a laundry, kitchen. we know that one governor actually had 5000 models in his cellar. the house today is a reconstructed building on an ural site. \ it was open to the public in 1934. since then it has undergone refurbishing and interpretations. one governor arrived in 1774. at the end of that year, lady dunmore gave birth to a daughter . unfortunately, things went sour between the relationship of the governor and the virginians, and

in 1775, the governor and his family fled in darkness, never to return again. have furnished the building as accurately as we can. we used primary documents such as inventory taken when the governor died, when an inventory would be taken of personal possessions. letter, also a floor plan. they remodeled the palace into a very detailed floor plan. the capital moved to richmond, virginia, and thomas jefferson never had the opportunity to do the remodeling. it was also a fashion statement. it was here that the columnists

a good come to discover the latest fashions from england. what we're going to do now is give you a tour of the palace with our costumed interpreters. >> welcome, welcome. impressed.ou are that is what this century hall is for, to impress anyone coming to see the governor, and to impress them with virginia, the best of these colonies. we do not want to forget that anytime soon. the weapons. i know that you are looking at them. all of the men do. these are -- i suppose, a tradition for our governors here. just like with the big castles

over in england, i am told, there are veteran -- there are weapons on the wall. these are all part of virginia's store. they are maintained by our militia. can come here, take these down, and use them in virginia's defense, and they have, several times. actually our governor, lord dunmore, took the weapons off the wall just last year when he went out west. he went to the ohio territories, part of virginia. returned to hear to his house with a few, young shawnee warriors. here, awaiting treaty, which might

give very interesting, seeing as, well, i'm not sure you have heard the news yet. -- oural government royal governor, lord dunmore ran out that door last night. interesting times. you would think he would be in this house, but normally not. normally he would attend to his business right here in the palace, a good bit in the parlor over here. thee is a desk here in parlor. that is for his secretary. he and hisparently wife left last night as well. he has taken some of the servants with him as well. got come -- mrs. scott, the professional english housekeeper.

she never would have left the pantry door open like that. all of the valuable things in that pantry. why, of course, the governor will be coming back. why would they leave all of these things behind in here? especially, all of these, 540 weapons in the display. and they are virginia's weapons. i just mean -- i do not think the governor wants you having .hem right now considering we do not have an official militia at the moment. our governor dissolve the government here before the new militia bill was signed. but now we have something different. at

henryntly mr. patrick made quite the speech in richmond, something about liberty and death? haveow, now, we independent companies. because of that speech, virginia is angry at england. that may have something to do with the governor leaving town last night. as they are not here, what do you say we go upstairs and see the private chambers of the family? right this way. here we are. few stairs.

i guess that is the trouble with high ceilings. so many stairs. this chamber belongs to lady catherine and lady augusta. they are the oldest of the children. they are 15 and 14. things they left in a hurry last night. it seems these young ladies have bedchamber -- that bed over there is for their governance. -- is a french governance governess. we may not like the french, but we do like their style. their father has a seat in parliament.

now the governor has taken his entire family off to his ship. they are sailing of the york river at the moment. they are sharing cabins on the ship. seven children. and the governor. and learners made. and the servants. oh, my. and the nursemaid. i'm sure they are wishing they had this much room again. lord and lady dunmore's chambers are this way. we will pass through a guest room on our way.

i know. i knew you would like it. sharerd and lady dunmore the bedchamber right over here. if you want to take a look, it's not like they will no different. share., they do it's not unheard of, you know. but they actually have an entire suite of rooms. lord dunmore has his own breakfast room through the door, where you see the chamber stool the whole -- ith [clears throat] right. lady dunmore's dressing room, much bigger, of course. and of course, the latest fashions.

it matches the furniture. built -- he see the covers are on the chairs right now because of the summertime. it is to protect the furniture from the dust, from the insects, from her children. pour lady dunmore, she only , sheed here last year arrives here to join her husband from england, brought six of her children with her. she arrived here in february of and then 104, months later, a new member of the family, their new baby daughter, their name to lady virginia. yes, like the colony. she is about to turn 60 months old.

imagine that. this room here used to be the governor's office. it's a nice big room for an office, but then -- well, his desk is now in the dining room downstairs. so, we will see that dining room on our way to the ballroom. our last governor paid out of his own pocket to update these rooms in the latest style. he loved to throw balls. he even had these machines put in the back of the room -- coal burning, you know.

here burningt coal, except for lord dunmore. but lord dunmore owns his own .oal mines but you see, it is expected of our governors here that they will have a large celebration, these balls, in honor that there iiiesties, king george and queen charlotte -- our last ball was in january for the queen's birth night. i doubt we will be seeing a ball in her honor anytime soon. you know what i mean. it has everyone's so angry at the governor these days. a group of british sailors went to our magazine and made off in the middle of the night with

gunpowder. well, everyone here was certainly outraged. the governor has not given back that powder yet. out intly he has ran fear of his life. through the back door , which is right through here in the supper room. much better than that dining room you saw. this is much better suited to the grand occasions. of course, dinner is the largest meal of the day.

it is served at about 2:00, 3:00. so your largest meal is in the afternoon and you have a light supper in the evening area -- in the evening. on china.ve supper oh, that china even has the dunmore crest on it. gotten quite a bit behind in this house. the governor has a very large staff on this property. over 20 paid servants, a dozen in den shirt -- indentured servants, and slaves on the property. he hired servants of gone off with the family, but the rest of those servants and slaves -- they are still here. , but if know about you i were one of the governor's slaves right now and did not know if he were ever coming back

take the might just opportunity of the governor's .eing out of town well, if the governor does not come back to this house, what are they going to do? all of this gold and find furniture? hmm. you might want to remember your favorite pieces in the house here, just in case. and of course, there are the gardens here as well. hope you enjoyed seeing the governor's palace. >> today our visitors see a combination of objects and antiques in the governor's palace. ofse are researched with all the details our curators can

provide. this is just one of the exhibition buildings available for the modern day visitor in colonial williamsburg. >> each week until the 2016 presidential election, american history tv brings you archival coverage of past presidential candidates. next on "road to the white house rewind" we look back to the 1988 campaign and republican donald rumsfeld discussing his presidential aspirations at a meeting of the eastern states sign council. mr. mr. rumsfeld dropped out of the 88 presidential race about three weeks after this event. [applause] dig, thank you for that introduction.