“Clermont Farm was a living puzzle that Elizabeth felt driven to solve, using a lawyer’s mind, a historian’s curiosity, and a steward’s dedication.”
Bob Stieg, CEO, The Clermont Foundation
Elizabeth Rust Williams (1945–2004) was a trailblazing lawyer, judge, journalist, farmer, and preservationist whose life and work left a lasting mark on Clarke County and the Commonwealth of Virginia. A native of Clarke County and the last in her family’s direct line to own Clermont Farm, she combined a sharp legal mind, a deep love of history, and a fierce commitment to service. Her vision transformed Clermont into a place where Virginia’s past and future meet.
From the courtroom to the fields, Elizabeth championed both justice and stewardship. She was one of the first two women admitted to the Clarke County Bar, the first female judge on Virginia’s 26th Circuit Court, and a recognized leader in historic preservation.
Her Enduring Gift to the Commonwealth of Virginia
At her death in 2004, Elizabeth Williams ensured that Clermont Farm would be preserved in perpetuity. She gave the 360-acre farm and its historic buildings to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) and established The Clermont Foundation to support educational and preservation activities at the site. Her total gift—valued at $15 million—represents one of the most significant private donations ever made to the Commonwealth for heritage preservation.
However, the impact of her gift extends far beyond the dollars. She insisted on protecting not only the architecture but the living landscape of Clermont, which reflects centuries of agricultural history, including the lives of hundreds of enslaved African Americans. Some of these same lands became Josephine City, Clarke County’s largest freedpeople’s community after Emancipation, named after Josephine Williams, a woman formerly enslaved at Clermont.
Today, thanks to Elizabeth’s vision, Clermont serves as a hub for education, agriculture, and history, used by students, working farmers, and researchers alike.
A Life of Purpose: Timeline of Elizabeth Rust Williams
1945 – 1959: Formative Years
1945: Born June 19 in Clarke County, Virginia.
1949: Taught to read and write at three by cousin, Rose MacDonald Skoggs (1871-1953), an influential educator, author, local judge, and the first woman to serve on the Virginia State Board of Education (1930-53), a model for Elizabeth of independent female identity.
1950–1959: Attended Blue Ridge Country Day School, grades 1-8 (renamed Powhatan School in 1957), graduating from 8th grade in her class of ten in 1959.
1958: Her parents, living next door on former Clermont land, buy Clermont from her father’s four first cousins, including the first Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic Admiral Lynde McCormick, all grandchildren of Edward and Ellen McCormick who owned Clermont before, during, and after the Civil War, and great-grandchildren of Dawson McCormick, who bought Clermont in 1819.
1959: Began high school as a boarding student at the Madeira School in McLean, VA.
1960 – 1969: Education & Early Ambition
1960: The Williams family moved to Clermont Farm.
1963: Graduated from Madeira School. Served as a bridesmaid at her first cousin Anne Peyton’s wedding.
1965: Earned her associate degree from Pine Manor Junior College in Wellesley, MA.
1967: Worked as a receptionist for a Washington, DC law firm. A bridesmaid for the wedding of Madeira friend Nancy Huidekoper at the National Cathedral
1968: Completed a B.A. in Journalism at George Washington University and began her career as a reporter.
1969: Present at U. of C. Berkely People’s Park Protest
1970 – 1979: Journalism, Travel, & a Return to Virginia
1970: Traveled extensively throughout Europe, Russia, and North Africa.
1971–1976: Worked as an investigative journalist in Philadelphia and consulted for the city during the Bicentennial.
1979: Returned to Virginia and married Toby Talbot in Berryville.
1980 – 1988: Legal Career & Local Leadership
1980: Edward McCormick Williams, Elizabeth Williams’ father, and model of community legal service, dies.
1981: Earned her J.D. from American University; inherited Clermont Farm following the death of her mother, Caroline Rust Williams.
1982: One of the first two women admitted to the Clarke County Bar; opened her own law practice in Berryville.
1983–1988: Served as President of the Clarke County Bar Association.
1984: Divorced from Toby Talbot and did not have children.
1986: Appointed the first female judge in Virginia’s 26th Judicial Circuit, presiding in the same 1836 courtroom as her great-great uncle Francis had from 1856-1860, in which her cousin Province was the Commonwealth’s Attorney from 1840-1866, and in which her father was Clarke County’s longest-serving Commonwealth’s Attorney, from 1936-1972.
1986: Honored by the state bar as “Outstanding Woman Attorney of Virginia.”
1987–1988: Took on roles as Commissioner in Chancery and Assistant Commissioner of Accounts for the Clarke County Circuit Court.
1993 – 1999: Writing & Legacy Building
1993: Honored for exceptional pro bono service by the Virginia State Bar.
1994: An avid hunter throughout her adult life, and at the end of each season, Elizabeth hosted a Hunter’s Dinner at Clermont to thank the farm’s volunteer hunters.
1996–1997: Authored two significant historical works: Clermont: The People and the Place and Clermont and McCormick-Williams Family Index.
1998: Became Commissioner of Accounts for Clarke County.
1999: Stepped down from her role as Substitute Judge.
2004 – 2009: A Gift That Endures
2004: Elizabeth Williams passed away at Clermont on July 8 at age 59 and was buried at Green Hill Cemetery in Berryville, surrounded by her parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.
2004: Bequeathed Clermont Farm to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and her remaining assets to establish The Clermont Foundation.
2005: The Virginia General Assembly officially accepted her gift. The Department of Historic Resources places Clermont Farm on the Virginia Landmark Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
2009: Her portrait was placed in the Clarke County Courthouse alongside generations of her family who served the local judiciary.
2010: The Virginia Department of Historic Resources initiates a long-term lease of the farm to The Clermont Foundation, a local nonprofit organization that funds the site’s management, maintenance, and programs.
2011: Nine papers by historians explore themes from Clermont’s history related to Elizabeth Williams’ research, including agriculture, architecture, African American life, women’s roles, and military history.
2013: The Foundation expands on Elizabeth Williams’ early research with an 800-page Historic Structure Report, prepared by a ten-member professional team, which incorporates additional social history and technical analyses, including extensive tree-ring dating and paint analysis.
2015-2028: Three large grants from the Historic Preservation Fund of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, have provided major support for preserving Clermont’s historic buildings. The first in 2015 restored the log Slave Quarter, key to interpretation of the site A subsequent Semiquincentennial grant in 2022-25 preserved the 1755-56 Owner House, Smokehouse, and Springhouse, while another for 2025-28 is rehabilitating the interiors of the Owner House, other historic service buildings and protecting several archaeological sites. The Semiquincentennial grants specifically honor sites related to and illustrative of the founding of the nation on its 250th anniversary. In Clermont’s case, this includes the site’s position on the Virginia frontier, its survey by the new nation’s future Commander-in-Chief and first President George Washington, Washington’s friendship with Clermont’s first four owners, the support those owners and their friends gave Washington before, during, and after the Revolution, and their own active military and financial contributions to the founding of the nation.